Gratitude

I know there are a million far more serious procedures out there & mine was fairly mild. I was, at times, a big fat baby. Other times-I was legitimately miserable. But overall, I am glad I did it. I am going to recover slowly but surely over the next couple months & look forward to feeling normal again. I can't promise I won't complain/blog/update about my current state again, but I wanted to blog tonight about something I've been thinking about all day.

How can I thank those who have been so kind to me over the past 6weeks?

My life is truly full of wonderful people & I was made aware of it more than ever during my recovery. First, my sweet husband, who in my opinion should receive a gold medal for his efforts during this time. Not only does he work tremendously hard to provide for us, he has taken such great care of me during this drama (even with the occasional day or two with an empty fridge:)). He has bought girl movies, magazine, and treats. He would make me laugh, carry me to & from the bedroom/bathroom/couch, and he would help me with my ice in the middle of the night. I was a mess. Who am I kidding, I'm still a little bit of a mess! (but thankfully I can shower on my own now) I cannot imagine him ever being attracted to me again after this experience! However, I am so glad I married him. This experience only confirms what I already knew about him--he is a good man.

My sweet friends & family have been so great (and helped Chris by helping me). Cards (Jess & Jason, Ash, Gma, girls in my ward), fruit basket(gma Rita), flowers (J & A), boxes full of books & music & movies (thanks B), meals (Liz Tenney is a SAINT!), cleaning my house/grocery shopping/lunch (MIL of the year, Linda, Lindsey T.), flying out to stay with me (Crystal), calls/texts to cheer me up, etc. etc.

I can't help but think how undeserving I am...I suppose a girl can only do her best to pay it forward & be the type of person she admires.

• 
  

a bagel is a donut with the sin removed

Today, DAY 34, I have come across numerous delicious delights via the internet.
(note: all of which are sweets)

This for instance:
Dare I say these are Red Velvet Pancakes? Indeed.
Found at the Larchmont Bungalow in L.A.

Or this:
A milk chocolate-to white chocolate bar.
They also have combination options including these flavors:
white, tangerine, strawberry, milk, & dark chocolates.
Hello Mary & Matt Chocolate, I believe we should meet.

Then I found these:
Organic Candy, more specifically gummy bears. I love gummy bears!
Yummy Earth Candies

Then I stumbled upon these two delights:
They made me want to pack a picnic & head down to the beach.
How cute are these lunch bags? I just love etsy finds.
I also loved these wooden utensils too.

I also discovered I have a brownie business in NYC. Who knew?
Mari's NY

We mustn't dwell... no, not today. We CAN'T. Not on Rex Manning day.

I love this movie. It makes me happy.

And if you live by TJ's, you must get yourself some of these, so good.
They're keeping me company tonight along with Empire.

I use my blog like it's my personal journal..

Today marks Day 30, FYI.

Since this entire month as felt like one REALLY long REALLY bad day my routine has become a little like the movie Groundhog Day..it consists of:
Waking up with Chris already gone, move to the couch where I spend the day elevating my feet, doing "toe exercises" & pouring massive amounts of Vitamin E on my incisions (gotta fight the keloids somehow), re-wrap my feet, scavenge my kitchen for food since Chris has zero time to buy me food, I was surviving off the groceries Linda brought a while ago..but they are gone now..

(love when she comes! Have I mentioned that? Like for real, I give her a list & she is so sweet she will go get everything on it & I just give her a check..then she stays & chats with me & contrary to all my requests she cleans my apartment while I lay on the couch.
Talk about love, right?)

Anyway, at about 9pm Chris comes home, exhausted. Kisses me on the head, changes his clothes and we eat a late dinner together. At approx. 10:30pm every. single. night. he yawns & says "it's almost my bedtime"..haha no joke. At 11pm he goes to bed, I kiss him on his head this time and hobble back to the couch where I try to get sleepy. Between 1-2am I force myself to try to sleep, carry my pillows to our bed & lay awake between 1-2 more hours.

There is pain, some laughs, some showers, massive amounts of text messages and some exciting things in the mail (got a sweet Get Well Soon card in the mail from Jessica & Jason this week) too...but for the most part, that's the gist of it!
Jealous?!

On another note, remember me promising to post pictures of our new place? I still plan to, but I thought you should know that I live one block away from this, just in case you feel like coming for a visit:

So many friends have said they have no idea where we live! We live in the beautiful & tiny city of Corona del Mar, which is less than a mile from Newport Beach & about 6 miles from Laguna Beach.
The best part is we are 7miles from Chris' office, wohoo no commute anymore!

Yesterday Chris' younger brother Patrick opened his mission call! He will be serving in Argentina! He leaves May 12 & we couldn't be happier for him. He already knows a little Spanish, so hopefully the language will come easy for him. I sure hope we can go pick him up, because Argentina has THESE beautiful falls!
I took Spanish Immersion in Elementary school & one of my teachers was from Argentina. She always told us great stories & made us learn dances from there, as well as taste their traditional drink "Mate"--yuck! I am so excited for Patrick! He's such a great guy & I know he will work very hard while he is down there...but we will sure miss him!

I know this photo is tiny, but I wanted to share! I received a wedding announcement today for my lifelong friend Marnae, and I LOVED it! This photo they included made me laugh. She always had the best sense of humor, I am really excited for her. I wish I could go & meet her guy!

I saw this comic & thought of Christopher. He is a slave at his job, if we are lucky we see each other for 2hours a day. I am really proud of him & know all this hard work will pay off!
(And if you are considering law school, don't talk to Chris...haha, he will talk you out of it!)

someone had a birthday!

How come I suck at posting about birthdays?! What the crap? I should be better about that!

(for those you of you I've missed, I'm SORRY!:( )

Anyway, no better time than now to start, right?
And who better to start with than my big bro Ammon?

A few fun facts about Ammon:

• He wakes up around 6am, smiling & jumping. He is the HAPPIEST morning person I have ever seen.
• He sings constantly--and dances to his songs.
• His guilty pleasure is getting a spoon full of cream cheese frosting and dunking it it a bowl of dry cereal
• He is extremely generous & thoughtful.
• He loves family, and makes sure that they are a priority in his life.
• He often wakes up in the middle of the night for a "midnight snack" and has a bowl of cereal. He has done this ever since he was a kid, I remember waking up to use the bathroom and see him sitting in the dark kitchen crunchin' down..
• He loves animals
  
• He has such a cool job, and I envy him constantly!
  
• He wears colorful high tops & hip leather boots
• He speaks Portuguese
  
• He used to show horses & won in the US Nationals & Canadian Nationals
• When I accidentally call him at 4:30am his time, because I was using my phone (me, having trouble sleeping @ 1:30am here..) When I realize, I quickly hang up. He texts me for the next 25min (since I woke him up anyway) and makes me laugh. I tell him to go back to bed & stop texting me, and he replies "I'll just get up and have a bowl of cereal LOL"
  
• He turned 28, and LOVES it. He always talks about how he "can't wait for his 30's"

Happy 28th Birthday Amms!
He celebrated this year with 60+ friends in his NYC apartment and said,
"it was my best birthday yet!"
and THAT cake!!! WOW.

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am so happy to have this guy for my sweetheart:
'just the two of us, we can make it if we try, just the two of us-you & I'

He was sweet & gave me these. He hand picked each flower, I think he did a good job!

Some other fabulous things that have Love Day written all over them..

Remember my sister in law Jen, MsCreativity ? She cooked up some really cute Valentine's with her kids for their classmates. My personal favorite was Jake's, he loves his iPod, so they made iPod Valentine's! How cute right?! I'm in awe.

Ashley and Joey gave me these when they came to visit yesterday, I love them!!Joey gave Ash & I these New Moon posters, yes they are in German- we were cracking up!

Today I spend Valentine's Day icing my feet, elevated on a pile of pillows on my couch & watching movies. I hope you all have wonderful day filled with love!

Day 20

Fact: I've been laying on my couch, in the same position, for 20 days.

Myth: Couches are always comfortable.

Fact: On Day 18 my husband & I watch 'Dances With Wolves' (which I've never seen before, and failed to finish) during which he tells me my Indian name is now "Gimp with Wild Hair". I name him "Pusher" (since he is my drug dealer), and he contests--"No, I am 'He who Grabs with both hands'!"..Wow! Really? Ill let you figure that one out, lol.

Myth: Chris doesn't believe in giving me drugs, especially sleeping pills.

Fact: My diet consists of Honey Nut Cheerios & Hot Pockets (bleh)

Myth: Hot Pockets are healthy.

On Day 14: I walked without crutches.

On Day 15: I woke up in extreme pain, burning feeling in all of my toes.
On Day 16: I slept til 4pm, didn't answer my phone, didn't turn on the tv or the computer.
On Day 17: Chris rented lame movies & kept me warm
On Day 18: I slept better (thanks to the Pusher), folded Laundry, and begged for a KitKat bar
On Day 19: I cried. Fashion Week dream crushed. Spent rest of the day watching Michael J. Fox on AMC. Walking is much easier & I took my first shower in 19 days!! (with no help might I add!)
Day 20: finish Valentine's for my nieces & nephews..trying not to go insane because I am so so so so so so so sick of laying down on my back.

I'm also wishing I was recovering in this:

make a list, check it twice

i came across this today & loved it.

there's not better time than now, right?

Meet Frankenstein Feet..

Today I had my 1st post-op check up. I walked into the office with the following symptoms:
sore/achy feet
burning toes (literally feeling like they are on fire)
more back pain than I've ever had
a tummy ache
sore throat (don't ask me why)

a headache

and a bad mood (if I'm being completely honest)
but not because I was at the doctor, it was due to lack of sleep and all of the above

They removed my bandages, and after 14 days of only seeing these pretty bad boys:

It was quite a difference seeing these, everyone, meet Frankenstein feet:Puffy, swollen, multi colored and just plain icky-poo-nassy.
The best part is, I LOOK like Frankenstein when i walk...my legs move slow and awkward haha, it's pretty funny actually. It takes me like 5min just to get to the bathroom.

The verdict:
I GET TO WALK MORE! YAHOO! I cannot even begin to explain how happy that makes me, true it is only 15min every 1-2hrs...but that is better than 15min a day! I'll take it!! My back has never heard better news. My right toe has shifted some :(, but nothing drastic-- it just may take longer to heal than my left foot. My feet are healing on schedule, I am still unable to drive (3 more weeks) and I still have to wear those awesome boots you saw above..BUT I can get off the couch, that freaking couch-ugh! Hallelujah.

So although all of my above symptoms are still around, I feel a little less depressed about it all. Now if I could just do something about how crappy I feel..ugh, this dang headache is going to be the end of me.

On a lighter note, I had a HUGE accomplishment today, something that had been driving me crazy for the entire 14 days, I'm serious--I am extremely happy & relieved to have finally accomplished this, it has been nagging at me every single day...

I made the bed!