Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
1 hour ago
Saturday, November 03, 2018
The Saturday Six
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Friday, November 02, 2018
Hospital Visits
You know the saying, right? November comes in like a lion and out like a lamb? Oh wait. Is that not November? Maybe that's just our November! ;)
I wanted to pause here at the end of the week to thank all of you for being so kind to us this week, asking about Ryan's mom, praying with and for us, and not expecting perfection from us. (It's okay if you did expect perfection, but I fear you've been sadly disappointed.)
I thought I'd share with you a bit about our day at the hospital on Monday and also give you an update on Ryan's mom!
As I shared with you earlier this week, the whole surgery thing came up so quickly. She was in the operating room before even a week had passed since she found out she had a tumor at all! Quick, quick, quick!
One of the downfalls of working in health care is that it's hard to get time off work, because your schedule is filled up so far out. But Ryan's co-workers were amazing and pitched in to cover his patients so he could be gone on Monday and spend the day at the hospital. There were (ahem) twenty-seven in Nita's waiting room entourage. I know. It boggles the mind.
We had a beautiful day to drive down to Indy, and our drive was smooth until we got about two miles from the hospital. There, much like a football game, the last five minutes took thirty. (Hello detours, road construction, confused GPS systems, and convoluted hospital campuses.) But we got there!
When we arrived, she was being prepped for surgery, and it took so long, we weren't sure we'd be able to see her at all before they took her back. But a portion of the entourage (a large portion) made a human caravan to the back to give her one more hug before surgery. And she wanted one more picture with the grandkids. I was amazed at how calm she was. (I remember melting down on an O.R. nurse before gallbladder surgery, so I couldn't believe how calm she was over brain surgery.
Surgery was supposed to take four hours. They said they would start at noon, but they actually didn't start until 1:00. Most of the entourage went to the cafeteria for lunch, so we watched all the luggage. (And I worked.)
When they returned, we headed out in search of food. Since it was such a nice day, we decided to walk down the road to cheaper food. :)
We got back right before 3:00 and walked in to hear the news that they were closing her up. It had only been two hours! I won't lie: I thought that probably wasn't good news. They'd said four hours minimum. To be done in two was probably not great.
When the doctor arrived in the waiting room, he was swarmed by most of the entourage and delivered his news quickly. Like he was seriously only there about three minutes. I snapped this during that part. Nita loved it when it showed it to her later.
Everyone was relieved to hear that they closed early because the surgery just went that well, not because they found surprises that warranted giving up. We would have to wait to see her, so Ryan and I waited as we do best:
If there's a hospital coffee shop, we'll find it, baby!
Oh, and I did some of this too:
I think it was close to three hours later when they finally allowed Allen (Ryan's step-dad) and Grandpa (Nita's dad) to go back and see her for just about two minutes. She was awake, joking, and they both felt very relieved that she looked as good as a person can look right after brain surgery.
So when we left Monday night, all we knew was that the surgery went well, and recovery would begin...and answers for the future would come in time.
We also knew we wanted Chick-fil-A.
We did not go back to the hospital Tuesday. Ryan returned to work, I watched our nephews and niece all day, and we had our fall pictures taken that night. But we did get to FaceTime with her at lunch, and the very first thing I noticed was that she had life back in her eyes. I hadn't seen any light or sparkle in her eyes for many weeks. So that was HUGE! She was talking coherently, making jokes, and had great coloring, I thought.
We did go back Wednesday (Halloween) when Ryan got off work. Nita had a really good day that day. She'd been awake a lot of the day, she lost her "mummy" bandage, and she seemed to have a great appetite. We were there about two hours, and in that time, she didn't fall asleep once. (When we had been at her house last Saturday, I had to keep jumping out of my chair literally about every 20 seconds to catch her coffee cup before it hit the floor because she kept falling asleep.) She was extremely alert, carried on great conversations, and she let me take this picture. (I do have permission to post it.)
I told her I was so happy to see life in her eyes, and she said that was the best thing anyone had said to her all day!
Ryan and I took a selfie with the IV pole, but you can barely see it. So it's just a confusing selfie. In an unrelated matter, I had an epic meltdown on the drive to the hospital and ended up crying off every last stitch of my makeup, so I'm sorry. Look fast and keep scrolling.
Ryan's sister came while we were there, so we felt we should probably get in some baby snuggles.
We left and stopped at McAlister's on the way home. Maybe the food was extra good because we were so hungry, but my goodness. It was fantastic. And we had some of the best service I'd ever had anywhere, so I came straight home and took the store survey so I could brag on the whole staff. (Bonus: the manager gave us free cookies!)
We didn't go back to the hospital yesterday either, but we heard she had a bit of a rougher day. My non-medical opinion is that she just had a super great day on Wednesday with a lot of visitors and a lot of awake time and probably just overdid it a little. We know some days will be up and some will be down. So she'll be in another day or two, depending on how things go, and then we'll see what comes next!
Thanks so much for walking this journey with us. We appreciate all of you!
PS - Today marks 71 months for us. Six years ago at this very time, Nita was busy prepping a bridal shower for me, so who knew we'd be in this spot six years later? God. God knew. And He's been really faithful to give us all the strength we need for every single day!
Happy 71 months, Ryan. I love you!
I wanted to pause here at the end of the week to thank all of you for being so kind to us this week, asking about Ryan's mom, praying with and for us, and not expecting perfection from us. (It's okay if you did expect perfection, but I fear you've been sadly disappointed.)
I thought I'd share with you a bit about our day at the hospital on Monday and also give you an update on Ryan's mom!
As I shared with you earlier this week, the whole surgery thing came up so quickly. She was in the operating room before even a week had passed since she found out she had a tumor at all! Quick, quick, quick!
One of the downfalls of working in health care is that it's hard to get time off work, because your schedule is filled up so far out. But Ryan's co-workers were amazing and pitched in to cover his patients so he could be gone on Monday and spend the day at the hospital. There were (ahem) twenty-seven in Nita's waiting room entourage. I know. It boggles the mind.
We had a beautiful day to drive down to Indy, and our drive was smooth until we got about two miles from the hospital. There, much like a football game, the last five minutes took thirty. (Hello detours, road construction, confused GPS systems, and convoluted hospital campuses.) But we got there!
When the doctor arrived in the waiting room, he was swarmed by most of the entourage and delivered his news quickly. Like he was seriously only there about three minutes. I snapped this during that part. Nita loved it when it showed it to her later.
Oh, and I did some of this too:
So when we left Monday night, all we knew was that the surgery went well, and recovery would begin...and answers for the future would come in time.
We also knew we wanted Chick-fil-A.
We did go back Wednesday (Halloween) when Ryan got off work. Nita had a really good day that day. She'd been awake a lot of the day, she lost her "mummy" bandage, and she seemed to have a great appetite. We were there about two hours, and in that time, she didn't fall asleep once. (When we had been at her house last Saturday, I had to keep jumping out of my chair literally about every 20 seconds to catch her coffee cup before it hit the floor because she kept falling asleep.) She was extremely alert, carried on great conversations, and she let me take this picture. (I do have permission to post it.)
Ryan and I took a selfie with the IV pole, but you can barely see it. So it's just a confusing selfie. In an unrelated matter, I had an epic meltdown on the drive to the hospital and ended up crying off every last stitch of my makeup, so I'm sorry. Look fast and keep scrolling.
We didn't go back to the hospital yesterday either, but we heard she had a bit of a rougher day. My non-medical opinion is that she just had a super great day on Wednesday with a lot of visitors and a lot of awake time and probably just overdid it a little. We know some days will be up and some will be down. So she'll be in another day or two, depending on how things go, and then we'll see what comes next!
Thanks so much for walking this journey with us. We appreciate all of you!
PS - Today marks 71 months for us. Six years ago at this very time, Nita was busy prepping a bridal shower for me, so who knew we'd be in this spot six years later? God. God knew. And He's been really faithful to give us all the strength we need for every single day!
Happy 71 months, Ryan. I love you!
Thursday, November 01, 2018
A 40th Surprise Party
It's been the year of surprise parties for us! Back in March, we went to my friend Faith's surprise party, and then of course there was the palooza Ryan threw for me...and last week we had one more! Ryan's step-sister, Lori, turned 40 last week. Her husband and one of her friends put together a really great party for her, and I was put on picture detail. ;)
Here are some peeks at the night!
They had done a good job with the decorations. Nice and simple, but very classy.
Loved the 40!!
Major props for the levels of 90s hair height she was able to achieve. I never could get my hair to do that.
The room was a perfect space for a party.
Found this really handsome guy making punch...
CAKE!!!
She was surprised!
This is Lori with her mom. (Fun fact: waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day when Lori and I were third graders, we were in the same class, and I spent the night at her mom's house one night. Who ever would have known we'd grow up to be related?)
Lori and her dad.
Happy birthday time...
The boys were SUPER excited about the icing.
And then of course, just a sampling of the family. (There are more.)
My date...
Vintage Ryan with the birthday girl...
A good night, and a good party. Happy 40th, Lori!!
Here are some peeks at the night!
They had done a good job with the decorations. Nice and simple, but very classy.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
What I Learned in October
Today is Halloween, and it's supposed to be a mostly nasty day here in Indiana. I feel this calls for a day by the fireplace, with Hallmark movies running on a loop, extra candy at the ready, and scrapbooking. (The fireplace and movie thing will probably actually happen. I won't eat the candy because I don't want to see it later on the scales, and as much as I'd love a scrapping day, I have too much work to do. But a girl can dream, right?)
This has been a c-r-a-z-y month. So much happened, and most of it was unplanned. We are grateful, though. Grateful for the month and grateful to welcome a new one. Meanwhile, here are a few things I learned this month!
1. Black dogs are the least chosen and most euthanized in shelters.
Or so I read. One of the girls I follow on Instagram does dog fostering, and she and her husband are big on rescuing dogs from shelters. She took a new foster this month and said she chose him because he was a black dog and those are her passion. She went on to say they are often not chosen because they don't photograph well and sometimes don't seem as cute in person to people as other dogs. (That photographing thing is no joke. I have THE HARDEST TIME taking pictures of Phoebe and getting her to look like a dog rather than a mop. So hard to see her features!) Anyway. It made me sad, because this girl has fostered some super cute - and really good! - dogs.
2. You can't chew gum in Singapore.
So I will probably move there. I. Can't. Handle. Gum. Chewing. (This was a random fact I read on Facebook one night. My source was reputable, but I looked it up just for fun. Indeed it seems to be true!)
3. I enjoy the challenge of redecorating on a stupid small budget.
We had a guest spend almost a week here, so I decided to use that motivation to overhaul our guest room. (To be fair, I'd never really "hauled" it at all since we moved in, but...technicalities.) I wanted to do as much as I could for as little money as possible. Between gift cards, deal hunting, and shopping the house, I was very pleased with the outcome!
4. Kiwi grapes/berries are a real thing.
Have you ever heard of them? I hadn't. Saw them in Sam's Club one night. I'm not a huge fan of regular kiwi, so I didn't feel like spending the money to see if I liked this alternative version of them, but I guess if you're a kiwi fan, you could try these too!
5. This month went out of control in a fat hurry.
I had such nice plans when the month began, and then things began to pop up. Often. We are now at the end of the month, and I'm both exhausted from the obliteration of it all (Ryan's accurate description) and excited that God thought to use me/us in ways we never would have expected. I kind of hope November stays a bit more on track with what I think will happen, but I'm learning God enjoys loosening my grip on my plans. (And by loosening, of course, I mean removing.)
6. I can do harder things than I thought on a hiking trip!
Ryan and I went hiking at Turkey Run State Park this month (along with a couple of our friends) and I went over, under, and through obstacles I never would have been able to conquer at one point in my life. (And that point wasn't so long ago.) And I didn't just do it because I had to. I did it because I wanted to. I was really proud of myself at the end of that hike!
7. A week in the life of a truck driver makes for very interesting reading.
One of my game night buddies is married to a truck driver, and for a week this month, she traveled with him over the road. She documented their adventures on Facebook, and it was fascinating. She took pictures of the cab (I had no idea there was a closet in there!) and their "lunchbox oven" they used to cook their meals while driving. She also told stories of loading/unloading/truck stops, etc. Brand new info for this girl!
8. The cobblestones in Charleston came over on ships.
One of the couples in our small group vacationed in Charleston recently and said they learned on one of the tours that there are so many cobblestone streets because back in the day, ships coming to America needed more weight on the way over to keep strong against the winds. When they arrived, they needed to get rid of the stones, so they used them to make streets!
9. I don't like being without my laptop.
I had to be without my laptop for a week while it went to some distant place for repairs. Oh my word. I knew I was dependent on it for work and life, but good grief. A thousand props to Ryan for allowing me to exist on his while mine was gone, but it just was not the same. Welcome back, laptop, welcome back.
10. Life can change in a moment.
I knew that, of course, but it is worth repeating. Traveling this new territory with Ryan and his mom (and the whole family) has meant facing the truth that our life is but a breath. Make the most of yours!
This has been a c-r-a-z-y month. So much happened, and most of it was unplanned. We are grateful, though. Grateful for the month and grateful to welcome a new one. Meanwhile, here are a few things I learned this month!
1. Black dogs are the least chosen and most euthanized in shelters.
2. You can't chew gum in Singapore.
So I will probably move there. I. Can't. Handle. Gum. Chewing. (This was a random fact I read on Facebook one night. My source was reputable, but I looked it up just for fun. Indeed it seems to be true!)
3. I enjoy the challenge of redecorating on a stupid small budget.
We had a guest spend almost a week here, so I decided to use that motivation to overhaul our guest room. (To be fair, I'd never really "hauled" it at all since we moved in, but...technicalities.) I wanted to do as much as I could for as little money as possible. Between gift cards, deal hunting, and shopping the house, I was very pleased with the outcome!
4. Kiwi grapes/berries are a real thing.
5. This month went out of control in a fat hurry.
6. I can do harder things than I thought on a hiking trip!
7. A week in the life of a truck driver makes for very interesting reading.
One of my game night buddies is married to a truck driver, and for a week this month, she traveled with him over the road. She documented their adventures on Facebook, and it was fascinating. She took pictures of the cab (I had no idea there was a closet in there!) and their "lunchbox oven" they used to cook their meals while driving. She also told stories of loading/unloading/truck stops, etc. Brand new info for this girl!
8. The cobblestones in Charleston came over on ships.
One of the couples in our small group vacationed in Charleston recently and said they learned on one of the tours that there are so many cobblestone streets because back in the day, ships coming to America needed more weight on the way over to keep strong against the winds. When they arrived, they needed to get rid of the stones, so they used them to make streets!
9. I don't like being without my laptop.
10. Life can change in a moment.
I knew that, of course, but it is worth repeating. Traveling this new territory with Ryan and his mom (and the whole family) has meant facing the truth that our life is but a breath. Make the most of yours!
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Top Seven Things I Missed About My Laptop
It's podcast Tuesday, and we recorded this on Sunday before Ryan's mom's surgery (which took place yesterday). Here is the podcast, and below that is an update on his mom, and below that is today's actual post. If you can follow all that, you get an invisible medal!
UPDATE ON RYAN'S MOM: Thank you so much for your kind comments, texts, calls, etc. We definitely felt very loved! This is a strange update to give, because you'd think (right?) that it would be as simple as the surgery went well or things didn't go as planned. It's not quite all that simple. So here's what I can offer you:
The surgery didn't take as long as expected (two hours vs. four) and the surgeon told the family he was confident he'd removed all of the tumor. As he expected to find, it was a glioblastoma. (If you, too, were educated in the medical schools of Grey's Anatomy and ER, you might not know what that means...so let me help you. Hers, at least, was a fast-growing, aggressive tumor that just kind of showed up without warning or particular reason. If you want to read more in-depth information, you can find some here.)
The surgeon told us she was awake and talking in recovery. Ryan's step-dad and grandpa were able to go see her for just a couple of minutes and were encouraged by her appearance and responses. Having said all that, there are still many things we don't know right now. Pathology reports will take about a week, and the first several hours after surgery are critical to see how recovery goes. So maybe a few days down the road, we'll have a better idea of what's next. But for today, we are thankful for a good surgery, and we'll wait to see what comes next. Again, thanks for loving us through your prayers!
ACTUAL BLOG POST: Last week, Sarah blogged about her three week adventure without her phone. (Pausing for a moment...because oh my word.)
I know. It's just a phone. Except for most of us, it's not just our phone. It's our connection to almost everything.
I just finished a week without my laptop. Sarah has inspired me to reflect on what I missed most about that! Ryan and I both got new laptops almost exactly a year ago, and mine developed a broken hinge. I couldn't close it, which sort of defeats the purpose of having a portable computer, right? So before the warranty ran out, we had to ship it away, (yes, ship it away!!!) for repairs. I promise I heard phantom truck sounds and ran to the window to look for the FedEx truck, only to find out there weren't any trucks on our street at all. I panicked over that little computer until it was safely back in my presence.
So here's what I missed about my laptop!
1. My files.
I'm a writer. I spend half (if not more) of my day looking up things I've done in the past. Old writing. Old pictures. Old lists. Now, fortunately, I back up all this stuff on a hard drive, so I could access it, but it was so different from just popping into my recent files and grabbing what I needed. (And of course, I was in the middle of prepping for a retreat, so I was in massive need of old files.)
2. My email.
Yes, I can check email on my phone, but here's the truth of it: I don't like emailing from my phone. I appreciate the convenience of being able to read it there if I want or need to, but again, I'm a writer. Messages are akin to novellas. I can't novella from my phone. I can't save files from my phone. I can't email appropriately from my phone! I could have logged in on Ryan's computer, but it was such a hassle to toggle back and forth between our accounts, so I didn't mess with it. And I did have it pulled up on my old laptop, but the reason it's my old laptop is because it doesn't work very well. Painfully, painfully slow. So sometimes one medium-length email could take me an hour to write. BLAH.
3. My accounts.
There are some things I use that Ryan doesn't. And some things we both use, but we each have our own accounts. Trying to find logins and passwords to set up or trying to bounce back and forth was just a lot of headache for a temporary situation. So...Pinterest? I've missed you so much. (And I could repeat that a dozen times with other websites, but you get the idea.)
4. My big screen.
Ryan got a nice, small, lightweight laptop. Mine is a beast. He got me a big one mostly for scrapbooking and picture editing. He wanted me to be able to see it all better as I worked on it. (And he's trying to save my 20/12 vision since I'm on the computer for most of my waking hours.) I didn't realize how spoiled I'd gotten with my big screen until I downsized to his small one.
5. Picture organizing and editing.
Even though our computers are very similar (size aside), a few things work differently, and saving and editing pictures are among those things. I finally got the hang of it, but now I have to transfer everything back to mine, switch up the saving system, and hope that I don't lose anything in the transfer!
6. My worn keys.
Ryan's computer is so pristine. Everything about it looks as brand new as the day he got it. Mine had been heavily lived-in for the last year. Because I type for hours a day - with long nails - several of my keys were worn down with grooves and the letters are missing. I missed my broken-in computer home. And I feared breaking in Ryan's a little too much. Funny story: when mine came back, they had replaced all the keys, and now mine is brand new again anyway. I actually thought they sent me a different computer, because it looked way too nice!
7. My routine.
I do all my computer work in a very specific order every day. The lack of my own files and accounts meant that my order went out of whack, and that absolutely upended my Type-A self. I forgot to do things some days because I didn't do them in the order I'm used to observing. I'm way too much a creature of habit, I know.
I was so glad it came back when it did. I was able to take it to the hospital with me yesterday. I edited pictures and worked on upcoming speaking stuff...glorious. Welcome home, laptop. Welcome home.
UPDATE ON RYAN'S MOM: Thank you so much for your kind comments, texts, calls, etc. We definitely felt very loved! This is a strange update to give, because you'd think (right?) that it would be as simple as the surgery went well or things didn't go as planned. It's not quite all that simple. So here's what I can offer you:
The surgery didn't take as long as expected (two hours vs. four) and the surgeon told the family he was confident he'd removed all of the tumor. As he expected to find, it was a glioblastoma. (If you, too, were educated in the medical schools of Grey's Anatomy and ER, you might not know what that means...so let me help you. Hers, at least, was a fast-growing, aggressive tumor that just kind of showed up without warning or particular reason. If you want to read more in-depth information, you can find some here.)
The surgeon told us she was awake and talking in recovery. Ryan's step-dad and grandpa were able to go see her for just a couple of minutes and were encouraged by her appearance and responses. Having said all that, there are still many things we don't know right now. Pathology reports will take about a week, and the first several hours after surgery are critical to see how recovery goes. So maybe a few days down the road, we'll have a better idea of what's next. But for today, we are thankful for a good surgery, and we'll wait to see what comes next. Again, thanks for loving us through your prayers!
ACTUAL BLOG POST: Last week, Sarah blogged about her three week adventure without her phone. (Pausing for a moment...because oh my word.)
I know. It's just a phone. Except for most of us, it's not just our phone. It's our connection to almost everything.
I just finished a week without my laptop. Sarah has inspired me to reflect on what I missed most about that! Ryan and I both got new laptops almost exactly a year ago, and mine developed a broken hinge. I couldn't close it, which sort of defeats the purpose of having a portable computer, right? So before the warranty ran out, we had to ship it away, (yes, ship it away!!!) for repairs. I promise I heard phantom truck sounds and ran to the window to look for the FedEx truck, only to find out there weren't any trucks on our street at all. I panicked over that little computer until it was safely back in my presence.
So here's what I missed about my laptop!
1. My files.
I'm a writer. I spend half (if not more) of my day looking up things I've done in the past. Old writing. Old pictures. Old lists. Now, fortunately, I back up all this stuff on a hard drive, so I could access it, but it was so different from just popping into my recent files and grabbing what I needed. (And of course, I was in the middle of prepping for a retreat, so I was in massive need of old files.)
2. My email.
Yes, I can check email on my phone, but here's the truth of it: I don't like emailing from my phone. I appreciate the convenience of being able to read it there if I want or need to, but again, I'm a writer. Messages are akin to novellas. I can't novella from my phone. I can't save files from my phone. I can't email appropriately from my phone! I could have logged in on Ryan's computer, but it was such a hassle to toggle back and forth between our accounts, so I didn't mess with it. And I did have it pulled up on my old laptop, but the reason it's my old laptop is because it doesn't work very well. Painfully, painfully slow. So sometimes one medium-length email could take me an hour to write. BLAH.
3. My accounts.
There are some things I use that Ryan doesn't. And some things we both use, but we each have our own accounts. Trying to find logins and passwords to set up or trying to bounce back and forth was just a lot of headache for a temporary situation. So...Pinterest? I've missed you so much. (And I could repeat that a dozen times with other websites, but you get the idea.)
4. My big screen.
Ryan got a nice, small, lightweight laptop. Mine is a beast. He got me a big one mostly for scrapbooking and picture editing. He wanted me to be able to see it all better as I worked on it. (And he's trying to save my 20/12 vision since I'm on the computer for most of my waking hours.) I didn't realize how spoiled I'd gotten with my big screen until I downsized to his small one.
5. Picture organizing and editing.
Even though our computers are very similar (size aside), a few things work differently, and saving and editing pictures are among those things. I finally got the hang of it, but now I have to transfer everything back to mine, switch up the saving system, and hope that I don't lose anything in the transfer!
6. My worn keys.
Ryan's computer is so pristine. Everything about it looks as brand new as the day he got it. Mine had been heavily lived-in for the last year. Because I type for hours a day - with long nails - several of my keys were worn down with grooves and the letters are missing. I missed my broken-in computer home. And I feared breaking in Ryan's a little too much. Funny story: when mine came back, they had replaced all the keys, and now mine is brand new again anyway. I actually thought they sent me a different computer, because it looked way too nice!
7. My routine.
I do all my computer work in a very specific order every day. The lack of my own files and accounts meant that my order went out of whack, and that absolutely upended my Type-A self. I forgot to do things some days because I didn't do them in the order I'm used to observing. I'm way too much a creature of habit, I know.
I was so glad it came back when it did. I was able to take it to the hospital with me yesterday. I edited pictures and worked on upcoming speaking stuff...glorious. Welcome home, laptop. Welcome home.
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