Dis.Gus.Ting!

Yesterday Mike and I went to the store for a few things. We were going to have spaghetti for dinner and decided to get some french bread. We walked over to the french bread rack and there was someone already there. This man had clothes on like he just got off of work at a mechanic shop, which is fine. But.. as he was browsing through the french bread he was pulling the bread out of the package and looking at it and then putting back. Gross!!! He was TOUCHING the FRENCH BREAD!! Ewwww!!!

Blessing

So today Mike and I decided to go get the oil changed in the Subaru. Mike has Mondays off but I had taken the Subaru to work today. As soon as I got home we left and we went to get the oil changed. We pulled up to the place and there were a lot of cars there. We walked in and the guy at the desk said it would be a while. We really needed the oil changed so we agreed. We headed across the street to Big Lots and walked down to Kmart. We didn't have any cell phone service in Kmart and while we were walking around a voice mail went through to Mike's phone. It was the guy at the oil changing place and he said he may be closing up early and our car was done. Great. So we left in a hurry and walked REALLY fast to the oil changing place. When we got there they were still open. Thank goodness. We walk in and a guy from the garage came in and checked us out. I was worried about this because even though we had a coupon he needed a synthetic oil change or something which is like 70 or 80 dollars! Anyway, the guy that came in from the garage asked what car we had and we told him and then Mike tried to give him the debit card and the guy said "don't worry about it, its on us". Mike and I were both in shock. We asked if he was sure and he said yeah and we walked out smiling.

Mike and His Back

This pas week has been a difficult one. Last Sunday night Mike and I were cooking dinner and messing around. I hip checked Mike and thought nothing of it but then about 30 seconds later he moved a little bit and had a really bad pain in his back. He hurt so bad!! We tried everything from walking around to loosen a possible muscle spasm, ibeprofen, icing and heating, and trying a back massage. He still hurt in every position he was in whether it was laying down, sitting or standing up. We went to bed that night and hoped he would feel better on Monday. On Monday he still hurt and on Tuesday he was hurting but his back was feeling a little better. On Wednesday he hadn't improved much so I talked to a friend at my work who goes to a chiropractor and gave me his chiro's number. I called the chiropractor and told him I needed to get Mike in that day if possible because he was hurting a lot and thought it may be his sciatic nerve. The chiro was really really nice and even though his day was pretty packed he got us in that evening. We got Mike in and found out he had a bulged disc in his lower back. The chiropractor suggested spinal decompression and an adjustment. So we did both of those and went back Thursday for the same thing. Mike's pain level for his back has been dropping but he is still hurting. He is going back in on Monday and Tuesday. We are really hoping he gets to where he doesn't hurt soon. We have been icing his back a lot and trying to rest him a lot so he is laying down. He has really been working on his posture which should help. We are just hoping it goes away soon and won't bother him anymore!

Birthday

Well, I made it. I'm 21. I had a great birthday! Mike woke me up by singing his own version of happy birthday. I opened my presents the night before my birthday so I didn't have to wait till after work Mike got me 3 blu ray movies (National Treasure, Get Smart, and Toy Story 3) and he got me some Little Big Planet doll figure things :) Mike took me out to dinner for Chili's and that night he gave me a letter he wrote to me for my birthday saying why he loved me etc. It was sooo cute. At work some of my friends decorated my desk, and they decorated it The Office style. It included half inflated balloons, masking tape, Schrute Bucks and Stanley Nickels. It also had a sign that said "It Is Your Birthday." It was awesome. My friend Jaclyne brought me a pudding for lunch! It was a really good day. At Chili's I got a free chocolate shake cuz it was my birthday!! YUM!

Well..

I have no excuse for not blogging. Again. In the last month or two we have made peach jam which turned out delicious, cleaned the whole house including the basement so now we can have company over, went to multiple doctors appointments only to be told nothing is wrong with me, built a dog house, finished painting the house, and a whole bunch of other things.

Medical stuff first. My outer ear infections are now back and bothering me. I need to go back to an ENT but I don't want to go to the same one. I didn't care for him. I've gotten seven UTI's in the past year so after my seventh it was strongly recommended I go see a urologist. I go see the urologist and he told me that was very unusual and very concerning so he decided I needed to go through various x-rays and have a scope done and tests and stuff. After all the painful stuff the doctor told me he couldn't find anything wrong. Which bothers me because its not cheap to go to all of these tests and appointments so to do all that to be told "oh I can't find anything wrong" makes me mad and makes me feel like I wasted a lot of money and time. Blech.

Mike and his dad started building a dog house in the backyard for our dogs. Mike's dad had to leave before it was done, so Fred was kind enough to help Mike fix it. We had Fred over for dinner and it was really fun to see him and play cards. Thanks Steve and Fred!!

The other day we were invited to go to a Jazz game with my uncle Ben and his girlfriend Natalie. We had a lot of fun!! Thanks Ben and Natalie!

We finished painting our house (its about time) and the spare bedroom was painted a light gray. I painted diagonal stripes on two walls and they are blue and red... the Boston Red Sox colors!

I'll have to post pics of the room and the dog house, but I don't have pics of them on my camera and I am too tired right now to go take some.

I am thinking about making my blog private so only those invited can read it. Those of you that have private vs non private blogs what are the pros and cons of doing so?

Love you all!

Long Time..

I have been slacking on the blogging department. Oops!

Mike and I had a wonderful first anniversary! Mike took the day off so we could spend it together. We went to the Bountiful temple did sealings which was really nice. We ate at Chipotle and then came home and watched The Office (one of our favorite pastimes) and that night we went out to Christophers, which is downtown and it is an amazing steak/ seafood house. Our food was AMAZING!!! I highly recommend it. A few hours before we went I called the restaurant and told them I had a letter for Mike I wanted them to bring out. Soo.. the manager on duty and I planned it. So Mike and I got to the restaurant and when we were seated I asked where the restroom was and followed the manager (who seated us) and then I gave him the letter. So we ate and had fun and at the end they brought me out a bread pudding cake thing with chocolate and raspberry stuff and it was amazing. It even had a sparkler in it :) The manager also came out and told Mike that he took the liberty of making him something and gave him a plate with a lid on it. Mike took the lid off and there was my letter I wrote him. I think he liked it! It was an amazing first anniversary. I gave Mike a Nixon watch and on the back I engraved a message for him. Mike gave me this BEAUTIFUL clear plaque thing and wrote something and had it engraved. It is so pretty and I love what he put.

Mike got me flowers last week, which was so sweet of him. They are beautiful and it was the first time he got me flowers. So its special enough to blog about :) He is a sweetheart.

On Sunday we had a family in our ward over for dinner. They are around Mike's age and have two kids. We made Cafe Rio burritos and had watermelon and brownies and Mike made his famous smoothie. The little boy named Jake (around 2 years old) LOVED the smoothie. He is a cutie. After dinner we were cleaning up and I asked if he was done and he said "Yeah.. Can I have a box?" LOL! He wanted a box for his food haha. Hilarious. It was really fun having them over.

That is about all I can think of currently, f I think of anything else that has happened or of importance I will blog about it sooner than 2 weeks after!

Evolv

We got a new puppy and his name is Evolv. He is so cute! Tweeg really likes him and they play rally cute together. Tweeg has been more mellow now that we have Evolv. They are really cute together.

Chucks

I wore my chucks today. Its been a while. Believe it or not I've had these shoes since 9th grade. They still fit and they've seen a lot. They and I are really good friends. Its like that old friend you were best of friends with and over time you don't talk as much and don't spend as much time with them. You get other friends along the way, and things happen in life and you are busy and you just don't have time to be with that friend and they get slid to the back of the closet with the newer friends in front. But that friend still holds a special place in your heart. They are still there for you no matter what. And they are waiting in your closet of friends. Waiting to be reconnected with.And once you reconnect with that friend you think, you are so comfy! Why did I ever let you get pushed to the back of the closet? You may not be the prettiest with your rip on the side, you have the triforce and U2 written on you, and your laces are a dull gray. Some of my other friends are more comfy or nicer looking, are lower rise on my ankle and cleaner and newer, but you have always been there. Just waiting for me to pick you back up and wear you. Just waiting for me to slip you on and think of all my good memories while wearing you.We had trying times together, the chucks and I. But they made me invincible.

In 9th grade we knew how to play Sting and the only reason we didn't dominate is because I didn't have a good throwing arm. We had a mean foot in hacky sack though.

In 10th grade we moved schools but made friends pretty fast. I felt like I was being tugged down a little with my current friends and I jumped with those chucks out of my comfort zone and made new friends. Those shoes remember I did track. They remember when I started developing shin splints and it effected my jumping. Being worn fewer and fewer times my chucks still cheered me on from the sidelines. They remember the next year, jumping and this time running in track and rocking the 400. Those chucks remember when I told my coach at a meet I wanted to compete in the 800 and when he laughed in my face but said I could try. They remember when I crossed the finish line triumphantly in 3rd place out of 8.

My little chucks remember in 12th grade, track starting and losing too much weight at the beginning of the season and picking between my job and track. They remember sitting in my closet a lot while I was off at work or hanging out with my friends, but they always waited for my stories next time my feet slid in them and told them of my life adventures.They remember when I got accepted to BYU, how surprising and what an awesome opportunity that was. The triforce and U2 now faded but still edgy on the faces of them as time ticked by. Getting packed to head to Provo.

Cheering me on and making me invincible from the closet, I took a leap and jumped across the ravine to the other side out of my comfort zone. I made friends, I went 80's dancing, I did homework, I got way too little sleep, I got awesome at rock climbing, and I loved it.

They were there when I moved back home and took my job back. I still had those shoes the night I was proposed to and they snuck a peek at my ring through the crack in the closet. They used their laces and feelers like insects to hear my story again and again.They remember getting packed up and thrown into a strange new closet and sat there day after day waiting for their turn. Occasionally it came, and it was wonderful.

Today, I took those chucks out. I dusted them off looking fondly at their dull laces, their faded faces of U2 and the triforce, and slipped them on. Invincible. I could feel my feet relaying every detail of things going on now to my chucks since the last time I wore them. Once my chucks were caught up they said to me "Emily, I may be old but I do know you've got an awesome life." And I said "Yes, chucks I do. And you've made the journey with me. Thanks."

They smiled up at me worn, tattered faded and all. I put them in my closet.. until the next time I need to be invincible.

Garden

We are getting stuff out of our garden! Its so exciting! We also have another watermelon growing.. which Tweeg will not get to. Hooray!!

Ears, ENTs and Baby Watermelons

Well everyone, I finally go into an ENT about my ears. For you of those that don't know I have had an outer ear infection in both ears for around 5 years. I've gone to doctors and they always gave me ear drops saying the ear drops would clear it out. Well, they would work for a while, but then the infection would come back. It isn't super painful, but my ears look disgusting and they are always draining fluids and such. I went to a doctor a few months ago and I told her I had used multiple ear drops and would like another solution but she just gave me ear drops again. But a "different" kind. The "different" kind worked for about a week and a half. And then the infection came back. On Tuesday this week my left ear was really bothering me and hurt. It made me dizzy and I felt sick, so I decided I needed to get into an ENT soon. I called and they had a spot open the next day with Dr. Aoki. So I went to the ENT on Thursday and told me I had a "very severe, or chronic, outer ear infection. (DUH) and he went on to say I was one of the worst cases he's seen. (Later that day he had to be to an emergency surgery.. they changed my appointment time because of it.. so I was guessing he was a good doctor because he was going to do surgery. Or they thought he was good because he is Japanese or something like that) He then cleaned out my ears with this tiny tube vacuum thing. He got a lot of stuff out of there and I felt kind of bad cuz I guess the stuff in my ears kept clogging it up a little bit. I've had doctors tell me not to clean my ears with q-tips because my ear canals are too small and if I did I would just push stuff back in my ears and damage them so I figured there was just a bunch of wax or something back there. I felt bad I kept clogging his little tube vacuum and to tell the truth I felt pretty gross that whatever was in my ears was clogging his little tube vacuum. After, I asked if that was all ear wax or what it was. He said "there was some ear wax, some dead skin, mostly pus." WHHHHAAAATTT?! PUS?! In my EARS?! Que freak out inside of me while he is rambling on about pus. PUS.. Ewwwww... Totally grossed out. So, sometimes now I just feel like a giant pus ball is on top of my shoulders. If I knew all that stuff coming out of my ears was PUS I would have gone to see an ENT sooner. GROSS. Anyway, he cleaned out my ears and that kinda hurt and he gave me some more ear drops (go figure, even though I said I wanted to do something else since those don't work evidently) and I have to go back and see him next Thursday. Oh yeah, and I can't get my ears wet. So... no swimming even though my Dad's Client Appreciation Pool Party is on Saturday (It was supposed to be Friday the 6th, but the thunder and lightening would not let the party happen) and I also have to shower with cotton balls in my ears. Not comfortable at all. Now I am just hoping HOPING HOPING this will work and I will be rid of my giant pus head and ear infections forever.

Lately I have been having nightmares again that wake me up multiple times at night so I don't get good sleep and I'm always waking up with my heart pounding or half crying. I hate it. I hope it will stop soon.

Tweeg got a watermelon out of our garden. I was so mad. It was bigger than my hand. Dumb dog. So the next day I went to Lowe's and got a chain and anchor to put in our yard so Tweeg has a 15 feet radius to wander. That worked great.. for a day. Then I woke up this morning and looked out the back window. I thought "where is his collar?" His collar was no where to be found. We still have not found it.So I went and got another one without a clip, so hopefully he will not break free of this one and ruin my other watermelon that is growing.