November/Thanksgiving

November was kinda crazy to start off. I got very sick and ended up in the hospital for 3 nights. It was a good thing though cause I was experiencing all sorts of tummy issues. The doc changed some meds I was on and was put on IV fluids a tpn, and potassium for extremely low potassium levels. All I have to say is thank goodness for hospitals and good doctors.

All of us being goofy.

Our highlight of November was Thanksgiving. We traveled to Colorado to see Rick's brother whom he hasn't seen in over 3 years, and the last time he had seen Katelynn was over 7 years ago.....crazy, it was also his first time meeting Nick, and it was our first time meeting his kids. But he has been a very busy man, as he is a Green Beret in the Army. It was wonderful because we got to see him and his wife, and there kids. It was amazing and I enjoyed it very much. It was not the first time I had met my sis in law. I met her over 3 years ago and last year I was lucky to get her as a sis-in-law, when they both got married in Italy.

Got guns? They do.
Anyways, we had a good time, getting to know all the kids, and had an even better time bonding and reconnecting with Jared and Jenn.

Here are some pics I thought I would share.

Jenn and I above.

Rick and Jared below.

Katelynn, Sam and Mack with their 'TEAM JACOB" shirts that Jared bought them. He surprised the girls by taking them to see 'TWILIGHT-Breaking Dawn pt.1". Aren't they cute?

Nick and Nicholas, as handsome as ever. They teamed up on video games over Thanksgiving.

We also had the opportunity to stop and spend a few night with Rick's dad. It was so wonderful seeing him. He is a very kind and caring man. It's always wonderful seeing him.



All I can say is that we look forward to seeing everyone again real soon. :)

October

October was a very good month, Rick home from his 2nd deployment to Iraq! YAY! It was also a very busy month. One weekend we went on a trip to Garibaldi, Oregon....a trip from my parents as a welcome home to Rick and to give us some time alone without the kids. There we went on a train ride from Garibaldi to Wheeler and back. It's called the "Oregon Coast Crawler", it was fun. I even went to Tillamook and the cheese factory for my very first time. It was great.
The following weekend, we had a planned trip to the coast with the kids because they had a 4 day weekend. We took them crabbing, it was great, and they loved it. Our first night there we spent at a KOA campground in one of their cabins. They were small but very cozy. We will be doing it again. The next 2 nights we reserved a yurt at the Beverly Beach State Campground in Newport. The yurt is the way to go if you do not want to pitch a tent and you don't have a camper or an RV. (ABOVE)
Pic I took of Rick and the kids on our 3.4 mile walk on the beach in Newport.


After going to the coast we decided to come back the Portland way. Katelynn and I had always wanted to visit the Roloff Farm-family from TLC's show "Little People, Big World". It was great while there getting pumpkins for the kids for Halloween, we met both Matt and Amy Roloff (pics below). They were amazing people. Amy took time and spoke with us for 15 minutes or so.

On to an even better life and health.

A week ago today my life was forever changed. On Tuesday September 6th, 2011 I had RNY Gastric Bypass aka weight loss surgery.
I never thought I would ever resort to a surgery like this. I had reached a point in my life where I was just going to settle with the way I am. I have always been heavy, grade school, jr high, high school, and as an adult. I have always thought for the most part that I am a healthy plus size person and this is what god had planned and I just have to work with what I got. 3 years ago I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. On my 30th Birthday. That was a shock, 30, that’s young. Watching my parents it was a reality check and a wake up call. My dad’s health has declined over the years, and my mom’s started to follow. My mom’s health has gotten bad, and in my mom I could see myself in 10/20 years -Struggling with weight, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, heart problems, that’s a scary thought and it’s hard to watch her be the strong one but her body breaking down at the same time.
A year and a half ago I met with the doctor who was referred to me by family. He said I was a candidate for weight loss but for him to proceed with the surgery he wanted me to lose 75 lbs, before he would. I left that appointment discouraged, and back to square one, just accept what I have. Recently my daughter’s friend’s mom asked me if I had looked into weight loss surgery, (we had prior conversations about it) I told her ya, but, had to lose 75 lbs etc speech. She had bypass 2 years ago and looks amazing. She recommend a different doc, so I thought about it for a while. In Feb I had started some changes here at home, and from Feb to June had lost 30lbs, making subtle changes. I decided in June to go in and have a second opinion. I met with the surgeon and he said that I was a great candidate for RNY. He told me if I got the list of stuff I needed to get done that he could have my surgery done in August. So came July and one of the busiest months ever. Appointments with Psychologist, sleep studies (in this process I found out and was diagnosed with sleep apnea), nutritionist appointments, husband deployed and kids… oh my! I was staarting to think I was going to have to move to Boise. After all of that I was given a date for surgery, August 24th, 2011. I was ready to go. The day before surgery is hard you are required to be on a clear liquid diet the entire day. I had to be at the hospital @ 7:30am. I was Dr. Korn’s second patient that day. So they prepped me and had me all ready to go. I was laying in the hospital bed in the prep area IV and all waiting patiently for my time. 1 hr goes by, then 2, 3, 4, 5 nothing the doc was still in surgery with the patient ahead of me. A nurse came in and told me that they were going to cancel my case, that the doc was having a lot of complications with the patient before me. I was very mad, and told the nurse, “get me the F outta here”. Here I was again, maybe I should just live with myself the way I am. They rescheduled me for Sept. 7th, and a week before they had a cancellation for the 6th. I said yep I’ll take it.
So, surgery went well. Slated to be a 3 hrs surgery, I only took 2 and a half, the doc says I was a very good surgery. I ended up with 11 laparoscopic incisions, he said I am a tall woman, and long torrsoed so it took a few more sites to do it than usual.
I am a week out today, and quite honestly I feel amazing. For anyone who says this is a cheater way of loosing weight, that’s a complete misconception. Not only are you dealing with the healing of surgery, your diet literally changes over night. You go from eating to no eating at all. My diet for the next 2 weeks consists of a 4 oz protein drink for breakfast, a 4 oz protein drink for lunch, a 4 oz protein drink for dinner, and a 4 oz protein drink in the evening. You have the option of having a mid morning snack, and a mid afternoon snack if you feel hungry which consists of 2 oz of the following choices, puréed cottage cheese, sugar free pudding, or a choice of some soups that have to be blended. Pretty blah to say the least. Not only does the diet change, but I am required to take 6 chewable horse pill sized vitamins for life, and have to drink 64 oz of water/fluids a day, and I have to give my self 2 shots of a blood thinner for the next 21 days to prevent blood clots cause of surgery. One good thing that has happened, I am off my Blood Pressure med. YAY!
So far I have met my fluid intake and am tolerating the diet change, though I had my first melt down Saturday. I took my kids to the drive in, and they were eating popcorn without me. Movies and popcorn go together, I cried then told myself it’s ok, I will be able to have it eventually IN A YEAR. It’s all good, and this will all be worth it, it will add to my life. I have my 2 week check up next Thursday and will post again then……ON with the sho’. :D

2011. I hope it's wonderful.

I hope it's a great year, for us. 2 deployments in a row, it's tough, but we are getting through. I am looking forward to many things in 2011. #1 would be our 10 year anniversary on January 20th. I am also looking forward to the get away my husband has planned for us at the end of Feb to celebrate our anniversary when he is home on his 2 week leave, I can't wait. We will see what Vegas is all about then. If you are all wondering, I have only been to Vegas once, and I was 20, about a month and a half shy of my 21st birthday, so I was not able to experience all that Vegas had to offer then, that was 12+ years ago. Yeah, I KNOW, CRAZY!! I am really looking forward to seeing Terry Fator. But hey, the old saying goes, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. :D

I also hope it's a great year for all my friends and my family. May 2011 bless you all with wonderful things.

°•.¸☆
╔╗╔╦══╦═╦═╦╗╔╗ ★ ★ ★
║╚╝║══║═║═║╚╝║ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ NEW YEAR ☆ 2011
╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ♥￥☆★☆★☆￥♥ ★☆..

GOT MILK?

Well, now Rick will. Rick recently told me that the one thing he misses most is real milk, and cereal. I guess the milk they have to choose from in Iraq is not good milk, it's either powdered milk, or goat's milk, neither he cares for. It was the one thing he missed most his last deployment (besides us, of course), and looked forward to having when he came home.
SO- after doing some research on milk, I discovered that they have something called, SHELF STABLE MILK. The link shows just what the difference is between regular milk, and shelf stable milk. The difference is that they process shelf stable milk at a higher degree than regular milk, killing more bacteria. The milk is still the same but processing the milk at a higher temperature makes it shelf stable. The milk unopened has a shelf life of aprox. 190 days. Once opened it has to be refrigerated and has to be used within 14 days, lucky for Rick he has a refrigerator to keep his milk in. All the ingredients in shelf stable milk are exactly the same as normal milk. The only noticeable difference is the way it is packaged. It is packaged in tetra packaging, similar to the packaging soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk is packaged. There are several different brands, Hershey's who also makes chocolate and strawberry flavored shelf stable milk in individual packages, Borden's and the brand I found Gossner Foods Premium Milk, it is made near by in Logan, Utah.
After looking at Costco, Wal-Mart, and a few other stores, and even having my S-I-L Jenn looking for it in N.C., where did I find it? DOLLAR TREE, a dollar store. I had thought I had seen the little individual packs there at one point in time but thought it was peculiar they were selling milk not refrigerated, now I know why. So Jenn had found it in N.C. for approx. $3 for 32 oz, Dollar Tree sells it for $1 for 32 oz. What a bargain, and the expiration date is 9 months from now...........but just to convince ourselves before we sent some to Rick, Katelynn and I had to give it a taste test, the verdict, tastes just like milk, because it is milk, it is best chilled, and will be perfect for hot chocolate, cereal and even to drink some with cookies. So he soon will be able to enjoy some cereal and some milk after a long day just as if he were at home.

Boots Down.

Rick has made it through a month long training in Camp Shelby and after a very loooong day+ of flying from Georgia, to Ireland, to Kuwait, he has made it to Baghdad.
He was originally told that they would be in Kuwait for about 10 days, but, needless to say they landed there and was only there for a few short hours before they sent him on to his station which is in Baghdad. He is currently staying near the Perfume Palace. A little history on the Perfume Palace, well instead of trying to explain that it used to house the Hussain's families mistresses hence the name "PERFUME PALACE", I came across this blog, of a soldier who describes it pretty well. It is a beautiful place.

I also am icluding a picture of the palace and borrowed this one from google images.

Rick will also have a much better job assignment this time around, without going into to many details he will be doing PERSONAL SECURITY DETAIL for any dignitaries that come to visit Iraq. He has already completed one mission, but cannot share any information on what the missions entail or who he may be guarding, but I know he is enjoying it so far and will have many great stories to share when he returns home.

On a lighter note, the day Rick arrived to Baghdad, they had a great USO tour lined up in the evening for the guys, some of the famous people included, Robin Williams, comedians Lewis Black & Kathleen Madigan, Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, & country music artist Kix Brooks. I will soon have some pics to post as soon as they are up on the USFI website.

Missing In Action..

Yeah I know, I have been MIA for quite some time, things were just so crazy while the hubby was gone. When he arrived home from his deployment in May, we kept quite busy over the summer, starting it off with a 3 week trip to Kentucky, Texas, Colorado, and then home. It was a great trip starting of in Kentucky seeing my husband's parents. Then on to Texas where we stopped and stayed with some friends in the Air force in Texas, then it was on to Colorado where we stopped for a day to see my husband's biological father, before we we happy to be home. The kids traveled well, and learned and saw a lot on this trip it was our biggest road trip as a family.
Well here it is November, and The hubby is deploying again. This time when he was asked if he wanted to go back, and he stepped up and said heck yes.

We are doing fine if you were wondering, we feel we are even more prepared this time. Things on my agenda while the husband is away, #1 is to work on my health. I am going to hire a personal trainer, and regularly see a dietitian. It is much easier to do things while he is gone. He is the junk food man of the house. While he was deployed last time, I rarely bought all the junk food. He is guilty of that while he is here, which makes it much harder for everyone. #2 Get my online crocheting store done up and running.
Well that's all for now. I promise, I will start posting more often.