Monthly Archives: July 2012

There’s No Place Like Home!

Good afternoon!

I am very pleased to announce that Jason and I are finally back at home! You know what they say, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home!” and baby, is that ever true!!!

YEAH!!

Jason is doing GREAT!!! He is tube free, drain free, and is very happy to be home! According to our doctor, his only jobs right now, and for the next week or so, is to breath, walk, and sip his liquids!! Sounds cushy right? Well, maybe not so much, but he is in agreement that we are sooooo blessed, and that God is taking FABULOUS care of us!!

I have to give him kuddos because this is probably the first time in our 17 years of marriage that Jason has really had to give up the reigns and let me take complete care of him! He is a trooper!!! I know that the day that he can walk around the house without me following and watching him making sure he doesn’t get dizzy and fall, he will feel like a truly free man!! Soon, baby, very soon!! 😉

We are just so happy that he is just on the other side of this surgery! We know that the hardest part is yet to come, and that dealing with all of the mental stuff is going to be the next tricky part to get through – and maybe something he will always have to deal with, but life is really good!! I also have to mention that it has humbled us to the core about how many old friends, new friends, and family members have come out of the shadows to encourage us, and to share there love, support, prayers, and well-wishes. We will be forever grateful for all of you, and pray that even if it is only in some small way that we can return the love back to all of you! 😉

I also want to give a shout out to the AMAZING staff at Salem Hospital, both our surgical team, as well as the SUPERB nurses up on 5NW!!! Every was so attentive, caring, and there was never a time where we felt like we were a nuisance, or a bother! I felt like there was a lot of laughing going on during our entire stay, and that was AWESOME!!!

Anyway, Jason and I are going to have a quiet evening of sipping, breathing, and walking! Yes, Doc, we were listening!!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! :-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Jason’s Post Surgery Update!

Good afternoon!

I apologize for the delay in getting this post out, but we have been a little busy! 🙂

Jason is doing extremely well! He is currently napping, but has been up walking, has had his imaging tests, and upper GI that we are assuming went well this morning, because he has been given the A-ok to start drinking sugar free, caffeine free, non-carbonated liquids! So he is a VERY happy man!!

We did have a bit of a rough night last night. You see, I am not sure what time it was, but we had some of our friends visiting; Dawn, Errin, BobbieJo, Mark, and Heather. The nurse had come in to get Jason ready for his first walk of the night. The goal was to get him to walk at least 200 feet. So, to give him his privacy, Dawn and Errin left for the evening, and the rest of us moved our conversation out into the hallway while Jason was prepped for his walk!

As we were all still laughing and talking, Jason, as well as his nurse, Heather (AWESOME NURSE, BTW!!!) came out of the room, and started their walk. Both BobbieJo and Heather commented that he was walking pretty fast, but I didn’t think anything of it – he seemed to be walking much slower than he normally does to me! So, we kept on chatting, as he says to us, “I’ll be back in a minute!”

I knew he was making the loop in hallway, and so I kept watching for him to come back from the other direction, and noticed that he still hadn’t made it back yet. I didn’t think anything of it, until a few moments later, and I realized he STILL hadn’t made it back. The next thing we know is that there is a bunch of people coming to his room really quickly looking for him, and that is when BobbieJo says, “I wonder what is the matter?” I really wasn’t too worried, until she said that, and it clicked, “DUH! There is a reason it is taking him so long to get back!” and I head in the direction that he initially had taken off.

Who knew that this tiny amount of Crystal Light could make a man so happy!?! 😉

Side note: this is the point that I almost started running to see if I could find him, but realized that running in a hospital might not be too safe, and freaking out really wouldn’t help him or the staff. 😉

So, I mozy’ed as quickly as I could and when I came around the corner I saw a large lump on the ground, and realized that it was Jason!!! GAHHHHH!!! Apparently he had gotten dizzy, and before they could get him a chair to sit down in, he had passed out and had fallen to the floor!!

Now, before I go further, I just have to really say thank you to both BobbieJo and Heather, because before I could really panic, they both reassured me that it was alright, this could sometimes happen, and that they both concurred that he really had been walking quickly when he left the room!! (That is my sweetie, the overachiever!!!) Anyway, I took a deep breath, and calmly (at least I thought it was calmly) went over to him, got down on all fours, and started petting his hair and asking him if he was alright! Thankfully he was, and even though I didn’t see him fall, it sounded like he fell on his bucket (AKA his behind – thank you, Miss Kay!!), and did not hit his head or anything!! He was pale as a ghost, and I think he had just scared himself more than anything, but with the help of some other staff members he was able to get up, and get back to his room, so that he could try walking again later after some more of his anesthesia wore off!!

They checked him out, did a couple of other tests, and placed a couple of more monitors on him, but he is good, and he did successfully complete his first walk at about 3:30 this morning. He not only walked the loop once, but twice, and had the nurses walking with us laughing hysterically! Apparently, the little hospital no-slip socks that they have you wear, Jason decided that he would call them his “pimpin’ socks”, because whenever anyone saw him walking in them all the women would come out to watch! It couldn’t have possibly been because they were all standing at the ready in case he was about to go down again, but who am I to burst his bubble?!!! 😉

The view from Jason’s room!

Anyway, as of right now, he has walked a few times today, without incident, they have removed his catheter, and a few of his monitors. He is a little antsy, going a bit stir-crazy having to be cooped up in his hospital room, but he is still charming the socks off of everyone, and trying to make the whole floor laugh!!! He really is the life of the party, and I almost feel like I should have brought some kind of h’orderves for the festivities!

He had just gotten some vegetable broth delivered before he decided to take a nap, so I expect that we are going to have a quiet afternoon here, which after the excitement of last night – I am TOTALLY cool with!! 😉

I really do thank God for that man of mine, and that he is guarding over him, every step of this journey!!! I have said it before, and I know it will not be the last time I say it, but I really am one lucky, lucky girl!! I love you, B’Spoon!! 😉

Here is to a quiet, uneventful, but FABULOUS afternoon! 🙂

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Better Late Than Never!

Good afternoon!

This is Jason playing with his Sophie girl this morning before we headed off to the hospital!

So as for my updated…

WHEW! It has already been a looooong morning of waiting our turn, but Jason has finally gotten in to get his surgery started! He ended up going back about an hour after he was originally scheduled to.

They took Jason back to his pre-op room first and got his IV started and whatnot, more on that in just a minute, but this is Jason totally excited that he has complete control of the remote control to the television!!! LOL!! He is too funny!!

As for the “other prep” they did, unbeknownst to either of us beforehand, they shaved his stomach from chest to groin!! It kind of looked like they had shaved a bear of his sweater!! It is quite a look! 😉 and it makes me laugh thinking about how badly that is going to itch once it starts to grow back in!!! I am sorry love, beauty can be painful!!! LOL!! 😉

He is in great spirits, and was busy making myself and all of the staff he came into contact with laugh!! He is such a charmer!! Even with his surgical hat which makes me think of him having some kind of jiffy-popped head!!! LOL!! Do you remember those?? 😉

Oh, and I can not forget! Jason weighed in this morning as having lost a total of 67 pounds since he first started this journey in April!! Which means he has lost an additional 6 pounds since just yesterday – the stinker!! 😉 I am very proud of him, and I know he has definitely earned his success!!! 😉

Anyway, it sounds like the surgery is going to take between 3-3 1/2, so I will be busy trying to keep myself busy in the surgical waiting room – hoping that time doesn’t just draaaaag on!!! but we will see!!!

My next update might not be until later this evening, but I will make sure to keep everyone posted on how he is doing!!! 😉

Here is to a long, but hopefully a-atypically-patient-waiting-kind-of afternoon!! 😉

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

 

Off We Go!

Good morning!

Well, we are up and at-em this morning! Just about ready to head out to the hospital!! Jason is feeling “Great!”, but he is pretty antsy!! He even made me breakfast this morning!!!

WHO IS TAKING CARE OF WHOM HERE??? 😉

Anyway, his bag is packed, I have packed a bag for myself, and he is busy playing with his Sophie girl!! Our girls know that something is up – they know what it means when the suitcases come out, and I can tell that Sophie is just begging pappa to take her with him!! Not today little girl!!

Anyway, I am praying that all goes well this morning, and time seemingly flies, so that I can see my sweetie’s smiling face in his room this afternoon!!

God is good, all the time!!!

I will keep you posted!!

Until then….

Here is to a FABULOUS morning! 😉

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Getting Ready for The Big Day!

Good evening!

So tomorrow is the big day; my sweetie is having his gastric bypass surgery in the morning at 11 am. He has worked so hard to get to where he is now. He has gone to every appointment, made every goal, documented and reported everything that was required of him, and lost the necessary amount of weight required of him to get this surgery scheduled, not to mention making it through the last two weeks of his liquid diet!! As of this morning, he has lost a total of 61 pounds within the last 4 months. I am just so dazzled by how easy he has made this whole process look!! If I could just perform half as well as he has done when it is my turn, that would be AMAZING!!! I really couldn’t be prouder of him!!! HE TRULY IS MY HERO!!! 😉

He is doing really well this evening; he is remarkably calm and just ready to get in there and just get the surgery done, so he can get onto the other side, and keep on keeping on with his journey to get fit and healthy!!

I will be making sure to keep posting updates over the next few days! I know he is going to do great. He is in very good hands, not only his surgical team that will be working on him, but also I know that God is going to be in that operating room guiding all of the hands that are going to be taking care of my love, as well as with him throughout his two-day hospital stay!! I know that everything is just going to go swimmingly, and I will make sure to keep all of you posted!!! We really do appreciate all of the prayers, and well wishes from all of our friends and family!!!

With that said, I will make sure to post again really soon!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

A Splash Bash Kind of Sunday!

Good evening!

WARNING: this is going to be a photo-centric post. OK, you have been forewarned!!! 😉

Today was our church’s annual Splash Bash, which by the way, just happened to be my sweetie and my first, Splash Bash!! and let me tell you…it was

SOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!

So what is a Splash Bash? Well, it is a community get together at our church, where there are 5 large water features brought in for the afternoon. Then everyone in the community is invited to join us for some Summertime fun, getting wet, having a delicious dinner and some yummy desserts, spend some time getting to know each other, and generally just have a CRAZY-ZANY DAY OF FUN!!! 😉

The weather today wasn’t as hot as it has been this past week, which would have normally been a downer, but it turned out to be really quite a great day for our water-filled day!!! It was overcast, which meant it was not too hot to be outside, and there weren’t any sunburns to be had -YEAH!!

So, I took so many pictures of today, and really am excited to be able to share them with you, so let’s get this party started!!! 😉

There were these 5 AMAZING blow-up features that were brought in for the afternoon! 3 of them were water features and 2 were regular blow-up type rides, where kids could climb, slide, jump, and play!

 

I did not get wet today – being a “Dry Girl”, and wanting to take pictures – I knew that getting wet was not going to be feasible without ruining my camera! Seeing this ride kinda made me second guess my decision to stay dry!!

You had to run, jump, slide, splash, and try not to fly off the end of the slide!!! That appeared easy for most of the people that were playing on this slide, however, when it came to the big guys playing on the slide – they really had some difficulty stopping and would occasionally go flying off the end!! There were between 3 and 5 adults standing at the end of the slide to try and “catch” the men before they went flying! It was quite funny for all of us bystanders!!! 😉

 

Jason patiently waiting, and wet, in line for his turn! 😉

There was no falling gracefully when it came to this slide!! It was also funny, because when a larger person jumped down the left-hand-side, and a small person was waiting on the right hand side for his turn to go up – the right hand side person sometimes got catapulted into the air! Kind of two rides in one, if you ask me!! 😉

Here is Jason and Bethany, trying to stop Zach from flying off the end of the slide!! Beware if you should happen to be standing behind this group because they splash created when the slider hit the wall was HUGE, and you were almost guaranteed to get wet!!! Lesson learned the hard way! 😉

See what I mean? This was Jason and his splash!! 😉

 

Here is the fearless BoobieJo!

She really impressed me with her ability to fly down this slide!! She had the most graceful slide out of most anyone who slid down this thing!! At least she was able to stay right side up!!! YOU GO MISS BOBBIEJO!!! 😉

 

They also served dinner, and afterward had a HUGE buffet of pot luck desserts!! It was soooo hard to behave myself and enjoy a treat in moderation!! Thankfully Jason was there, and was able to help me keep my dessert intake into perspective!! Thank you, Love! I couldn’t do it without your help! 😉

If the awesome rides were not enough, they even had these cool water shooters that, of course, my sweetie found and quickly proceeded to get into a water fight with these really little kids, who just thought he was the coolest adult every!!!

 

Jason even jokingly started to refer to this cute little guy as his “arch-nemesis”, and would feign pain and fear whenever this little cutie was able to figure out how to work his water shooter!! LOL!!! Jason is the cutest oversized ‘4-year-old’ that you have ever seen!!! 😉

 

Then the calvary AKA, Zach, came in to save the little kiddos! and Jason and him spent the next half an hour or so hiding amongst the large rides, and trying to ambush each other and douse the other with cold water!! I apologize to any innocent bystanders who may have been harmed in this afternoon of fun! I try to keep him check, but alas, there are times when he has the uncanny ability to just run amok!! 😉

This is the face of a man who knows when he has been beat!! LOL!!! 😉

 

and of course, just to prove that I was really there, I decided to slip this little pic in to the mix!! 😉

It really was a great day, and maybe, just maybe, next year I may even convert and become a ‘get wet girl’ instead of ‘dry girl’, but I am NOT going to make any promises!!! With that said, we are both pleasantly tired and ready to have a nice quiet evening at home!!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Hiking Silver Creek Falls!

Good evening!

I have some very exciting news that I am sooooo excited to share with you. Ok, so in all honesty, it is really exciting to my sweetie and I, and maybe not so much for you, but all the same, I am still going to share it with you!! LOL! 🙂

Wait for it…

My sweetie and I walked the 2 and a half mile hike at Silver Creek Falls yesterday morning!

WHOO! HOO!!! 😉

Ok, so 2 1/2 miles may not sound very impressive, but it is quite literally a hike that takes you steeply down into a giant bowl, and then you have to hike what feels like a constant straight up to get back to the top again!

Let me just give you a little back story! The last time a tried any hike at Silver Creek Falls, it was one of the smaller hikes, and let’s just say there was a point, on the way back up, I had the realization that I had let myself get extremely out of shape, and I had a bit of a breakdown, balling my eyes out, crying to Jason. “I am going to die here! *SOB!* I will never make it back to the top, let alone the car! *WHINE!* “Save yourself, and leave me! *DRAMA QUEEN! DRAMA QUEEN!*“
Ok, so admittedly not one of my finest moments!! 😉

So now maybe you understand why hiking the two and half mile hike at Silver Creek Falls is such exciting news??? There was no crying. No whining. No pleading with Jason to save himself.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

There were some pauses. Some quiet time where I just had to concentrate – especially during the last stretch. There was even some praying for help, and prayers of gratitude when I realized that we were so close to the top! It really was an AMAZING experience!!! I even had the ability to take a TON of pictures, so I apologize for the possible overload of pictures that are to follow, but I want to remember this day for a long, long, LOOOOONG time!!! 😉 The day I realized that all of the healthy eating, and exercise is really paying off!! 😉

This is the South Falls.

Isn’t Jason looking great?? He has lost almost 50 pounds!! Way to go, Baby!! 😉

I am not doing too bad either! Even though I have such a long way yet to go, I have lost about 25 pounds! 😉

This is a water tube that Jason was fascinated with. I fear that he would have tried to climb in and of course get himself stuck if I weren’t there! So to his-would-have-been-rescue-team trying to get his booty unstuck from this water tube – YOU ARE WELCOME!!! 😉

Yes, this is what happy looks like!

Thanks to the very kind stranger who offered to take a picture of us together in front of these falls!! 😉

I think you would agree that just those views along were worth it!!! What an amazing day!!! Let’s just say, we will be doing that again soon!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

We Found Our Church Home!!!

Good afternoon!

I am sooooo excited to write today’s post!! To say that my sweetie and I have had a good day is SUCH AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!! Just look at these two happy faces!!!!

It has been a FABULOUSLY BLESSED day!!! 😉

Many of you may not know, but my sweetie and I have been searching for our church home for a LONG time now!! Having, myself, grown up in the church, and having met my sweetie while in church, I have seriously felt that we needed to find a church home. A place where we can find other Christians to call friends, and to grow spiritually in the body of Christ. I am so happy to report that we think we have FINALLY FOUND it! OUR CHURCH HOME!! 😉

This church is called Relevant Life Church. It is a small church that I happened to stumble across while looking at one of my girlfriend’s pics on Facebook! Can you believe it??? I couldn’t either, matter-of-fact this church has been here FOREVER, and I practically drive by it every day to get to work!!! 😉

What impressed me right away was when we walked in, there was such an atmosphere of love and acceptance! It was very easy to feel God’s love in this building!! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. They made sure that both my sweetie and I knew where everything was, to make sure to answer all of our questions, and to help us feel right at home!!!

My sweetie and I were both impressed with the pastor and the sermon. Pastor Kevin has a way of delivering the message which helps make the lesson feel personal to you, and very applicable to your everyday life! After the service, when one of our new friends, Bethany, asked us how we liked it, my sweetie quickly replied, “Did you hear me snoring?” “No,” she replied, looking at him a little oddly. Jason responded, “Then I didn’t fall asleep, it was a good sermon!” (I just love that crazy man!!) 😉

I also loved that after the service, almost everywhere you looked there were small groups of people praying for each other. The feeling in the building is so hard to describe, but the best way that I can describe it was a feeling of unconditional love, joy, and acceptance!! This is what I have been praying for!

It was also obvious to us that this is not be one of those churches where you either have to be really old, or married with young children to fit in, which Jason and I are neither!! The ages of everyone there really varied, and those that were there had an air of artsy-hipster-let’s-have-fun kind of -people AKA OUR KIND OF PEEPS!!! 😉

After the service, my sweetie and I were fortunate enough to be able to go out to lunch with a few people from the church. There were 7 of us in total, My sweetie, myself, BobbyJo and her husband, Mark (who we also happen to know from the bariatric support group we attend), our new friends, Bethany, and her husband (who happen to be the church’s youth pastors),  and another first time attendee visiting from out of town, J.B. We had so much fun just gabbing away!! We ended up there visiting for sooooo long! It was really like we have been friends forever, and just needed to sit down and catch up!! I am really excited that I will have some new friends to go antiquing, used book store shopping, discount bag/vintage shopping, or maybe even camping with!!!

God really is sooooo good, and I am truly feeling so happy, and sooooo very blessed that I happened to stumble upon this little gem of a church!! I can’t wait to go again next week, and make sure that I didn’t dream this place up during my sleep!! 😉

In the meantime, I am going to go enjoy the rest of this lovely sunny day with my sweetie!!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Friday Night Update!

Good evening!

My sweetie and I just got back from having fun exercising in the pool! I am such a lucky girl to be able to have so much fun living and playing with my best friend!! I really do love that man, in case there was any question!! 😉

Anyway, I digress!

Ok, I have a confession. This week has just been a roller coaster of emotions! My sweetie is about 2 weeks away from his bariatric surgery; matter-of-fact, he is getting ready to go on his 2-week-pre-bariatric-surgery-diet. It has really gotten here sooooo quickly, and although I am SUPER happy for him, I am feeling a little left behind. Of course, him being a man, he is losing weight soooooo much faster than I am!! With my surgery almost 2 months away, it feels like it might as well be EONS out on the calendar! I know I am being irrational, and that it doesn’t matter who goes first, or who attains their goal first – we ARE doing this together!! So, God bless my man – he is being sooooo UBER patient with me and my craziness!! 😉

OK, WHEW!!! I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER NOW!! 😉

Anyway, did I tell you that I now have a c-pap machine to help me sleep at night? Not my favorite apparatus, HOWEVER, I finally have a mask that doesn’t hurt, leak, or squeak!!! (3rd times the charm!) Apparently, I have a VERY SMALL nose – who knew??? I am in a petite face mask – PETITE!!! this is the FIRST TIME THAT has ever happened!! HA! HA!!! but, I tell you what – to be called tiny ANYWHERE on my body????

I WILL SOOOOO TAKE IT!!! 😉

What else?? I am sure there has to be more, it has been soooo long since I have last posted, but I am coming up blank right now – my sweetie just commented that is because I haven’t arted in a while, and I am sure he is right! I hate it when he is right!! (not, really love, *WINK*!)

Anyway, my official plan for this weekend, is to get some much needed errands done, try to stay cool on these hot Summer days, and to get some reading and arting done! I also want to make sure I get some new pictures to post, to share more of what is going on in our lives! In the meantime, I am going to open all the windows in the house to see if I can’t get this place cooled down so that we can get some much needed sleep!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!