golf.

I went golfing with Alan today.. and it was hot. That is all.

{fourth of july weekend.}

We had a lot of fun this weekend! We went to dinner Saturday night at Blue Marlin, and then went to see Eclipse, and after that we went to Frankie’s and played putt-putt. We left for Savannah Sunday morning and got down there around 10:00 and decided to take Bella to the park and down River Street. We attempted to go to Tybee Island, but traffic was absolutely INSANE! So we went to the hotel and they let us check in early. The hotel was really, really nice and we had an awesome view of the bridge J We went to lunch at B&D Burger joint .. of course I had a slaw dog with chili though J And afterwards we took a nap at the hotel. We went down to River Street for the fireworks and other celebrations. We attempted to eat dinner down there, but after an hour of waiting for our food (peel and eat shrimp & fried shrimp) we left. So, we watched the fireworks and then just ordered room service at the hotel with Bella! Monday after check out we decided to go to Hunting Island since they allow pets. We went up in the lighthouse there and took Bella in the ocean for the first time! She didn’t quite know what to think of it though. Finally, Alan and I ate at Johnson Creek Tavern. They had the BEST shrimp! …And then we came homeJ And that’s the end of our trip!

bucket list.

On the way back from Savannah yesterday Alan and I got to talking about all of the things we want to do before we die. SO, here is my new & improved "bucket list." It's not finished, but what I already have will keep me busy (and broke) for the next 100 years. I have already flown hundreds of times in my life (my dad is in the aviation industry) so I have been to every state in the US (minus Hawaii and Alaska) and I have seen a great deal of things in our country =) Now it's time to explore the rest of the world! The majority of the things on my list I want to experience with our kids once we have them & they are old enough to understand & appreciate where we go. 

• Get married
• Go skydiving
• Visit New York City
• Have a slice of REAL New York style pizza
• Go to the top of Rockefeller Center
• Walk through Central Park
• Climb a mountain
• Give a heartfelt surprise to someone
• Make a difference in someone’s life
• Perform a kind deed to at least 5 strangers without expecting anything in return
• Have children
• Visit the Eiffel Tower
• Visit New Orleans
• Visit the Golden Gate Bridge
• Visit Yellowstone National Park
• Visit Niagara Falls
• See the St. Louis Arch
• See the Grand Canyon
• See Big Ben
• Visit Venice, Florence & Rome, Italy
• See the Swiss Alps
• See the cliffs in Ireland
• Go on an African Safari
• Go to Germany for Oktoberfest
• Go to Australia and hold a Koala Bear
• See the Northern Lights
• Go to the Florida Keys & take a picture with the “southern most point in the continental US” sign
• Go deep sea fishing
• Take a self defense class
• Run a marathon
• See a sunrise & sunset
• Graduate college and become a special education teacher
• Buy a house
• Learn how to salsa & swing dance
• Backpack across Europe
• Go on a cross-country road trip
• Ride on a camel
• Swim with dolphins
• Visit Fiji
• Pack my bags and set off for a random location with no itinerary planned at all
•  Visit Hollywood & see the Hollywood sign
• Go to the airport and buy tickets for the next departure
• Adopt a child
• Visit a castle in England
• Visit a concentration camp
• Learn sign language
• See the Mona Lisa in Louvre
• Visit a volcano
• Fly in a helicopter
• Volunteer at the Special Olympics
• Volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving
• Visit Barcelona, Spain
• Visit a rainforest
• Kiss under a waterfall
• Learn martial art
• Plant a tree
• Witness a solar eclipse
• Go horseback riding
• Sail a boat
• Take scuba diving lessons
• Visit all of the wonders of the world
• Visit the Middle East
• Visit every continent
• Visit the Taj Mahal
• See the Great Wall of China
• Visit the Colosseum in Rome
• See Egyptian Pyramids
• See Mt. Everest
• Visit Hawaii and learn to hula dance
• Visit every state in the US
• Swim in every ocean
• Try surfing
• Take a cooking class in Italy
• Go whitewater rafting
• Stay in a cabin in the mountains
• Plant a garden
• Go to New York City for New Years Eve
• Go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras
• Change someone’s life
• See a kangaroo in Australia
• Go to Tahiti
• Stay in an over the water bungalow
• Visit a movie set
• Live without electricity for a week
• Ride in a hot air balloon
• Visit Greece
• Find my hidden talent
• Finally learn to whistle
• Witness a cure for an illness (cancer, diabetes etc.)
• Try something new
• Go to a Broadway musical
• Be in two places at once
• Explore my heritage
• Milk a cow
• Visit the Vatican
• Attend the Olympic Games
• Ride on a snowmobile
• Fly a plane  
• See my brother & sister graduate college
• See my family happy again & getting along with each other
• Find the true meaning of life and live mine to the fullest.

{MRI}

So, this past weekend my back/leg/hip pain got significantly worse. I ended up laying in bed all weekend just trying to find a semi-comfortable position where I didn't want to rip my lower body off. Sound extreme, yes--however I had not slept more than 3 hours in 3 nights and like I said, the pain was only getting worse. So I called my doctor first thing Monday morning and she called me in some more pain medicine and scheduled an MRI for Tuesday afternoon. I got this results this afternoon and apparently I have a herniated disc at L4-L5 and L5-S1 as well as degenerative disc disease. I am starting physical therapy next week and looking into getting an epidural to help manage the pain. It's pretty hard to have a positive outlook on things when it feels like nothing ever goes my way. 

On a completely different subject, I love this little girl =)

{birthday's & baby belly's}

{a few wedding videos}

Thank you Brielle & Matt for recording this for us!!  =)

{happy father's day!}

I'm sure everyone knows that my dad lives 3,000 miles away in Tucson, Arizona. It really sucks not being able to see him whenever I want--I really, really miss him!! I know I'm a "grown up" and I shouldn't need my dad around all the time and blah, blah, blah-- but I do. He moved away when I was 17, and while I do agree that it is best he not live in the state of South Carolina (long story-- messy divorce.) It would be nice if he lived a little closer.. 

From the time I started playing softball at 5 years old until I was 18, my dad was always my coach. Back when we still lived in Texas, he was even the President of the softball association. He taught me how to pitch (mostly because I was the only kid he could fully control and make sure I actually practiced, ha!) which I ended up LOVING! When he would make me practice and I didn't want to, I would intentionally hit the bucket he was sitting on to knock him off =) He coached my teams, my little sister's teams, and NOW he is coaching his girlfriend's daughters team! So, he's now been coaching one of our softball teams for 17 years!! That's a lot of little girl hormones and temper tantrums to put up with! =) 

I love you, dad! Happy 22nd Father's Day! =)

On another subject, my baby sister is turning FIFTEEN on June 27th. WHERE has time gone?? I remember the day she was born, and how when she was in 1st grade she would cry every single day about something. Thank God that's over with! Before I know it she is going to be graduating high school, starting college and getting married. AHH! As Ginni always says, "She's only 7-- she does not have a boyfriend, she is not going into 10th grade, she is not about to start driving etc."

Me, Jordan & Derek-- August 1995

Ginni & Jordan at Derek's 16th birthday-- July 2005

Me, Jordan & Derek-- May 2000

Us 10 years later =) -- 2010

It's crazy how much things can change in TEN years!

Disclaimer:

{ I know I blog mostly in pictures, it's how I best express myself =) }

wedding album.

Here is the finished copy of the wedding album. Eventually I will get a nicer one, but for now this works =) It takes a few minutes for all of the pictures to fully load-- there aren't really any white pages..

{many, many random thoughts.}

--So, I now have oral thrush from my steroids. I swear, I have the absolute worst luck of anyone I have ever met. I just started the steroids on Tuesday and all of the sudden Thursday night my throat starting hurting (I have my tonsils out, so I knew it wasn't that), my glads were really swollen and SO sore, and I had one of those annoying bumps on my tongue-- but more painful and larger.  My family is in Washington D.C right now, so I sent my mom a picture and she said she though it could be thrush. I looked it up and one of the causes of it is steroids. Well, by Friday afternoon I could barely talk my tongue was so swollen, so I  called the on-call doctor when I got off. She was kind enough to meet me last night and prescribed me some "magic mouthwash." But of course, freaking CVS didn't have it yesterday so it's supposed to be ready by noon today.


Let's please hope the rest of this year is much better than the first half. There aren't many ways it could get much worse.


--On a much more positive note, I found a website where you can make your own book. I'm not too creative but I am so proud of the wedding album I made! I finished it the other day and I'm still debating whether or not I want to put my Bridal Shower and Honeymoon pictures in our copy.

--Now, on to a completely random subject. WHY are so many people getting divorced already? I know so many people around my age that are already getting divorced and I just don't understand it. I completely agree with certain circumstances like cheating etc., but the majority of these girls are acting like it's no big deal to be 22 and getting divorced. I just don't get it. You made a committment before your loved ones, your husband and God to be together through better or worse, sick times and in health-- til' death did you part. It seems like so many young couples are getting married just for the heck of it-- like they don't have anything better to do on a Saturday. For the most part, I don't think anyone should get married until you have been together for at least 2 years. In less than a year generally you don't know someone well enough to be able to tell whether you could spend your life with them. Alan and I have been through so much even before we got engaged. I knew that if we could make it through all of that, we could make it through most anything. Tough times really are a true test of any relationship.

 --Here's a few pictures of Alan and me throughout the years--

One of our first pictures together. (February 2007)

2008

2009

Our first kiss as husband and wife =) 

2010

..another wedding video.

finally an answer..

I decided to change my primary care physican because I felt like no one was listening to me and everyone was just sending me from doctor to doctor. I went from the OB office that did my surgery, to my old primary care physican, to a general surgeon, then they wanted me to go to a pain specialist, neurologist and a BACK surgeon. That was it, I was fed up. You don't send someone to a back surgeon without even knowing what's wrong.. that's just stupid. So, I went to my new doctor on Tuesday and after about 10 minutes of talking with me and trying to reproduce my pain-- she made a diagnosis. =)

This is what I have. She put me on a few different pain medicines, an anti-inflammatory and steroids. I start physical therapy next  week to hopefully correct this now so I can avoid surgery. She said it's something I will unfortunately have to deal with my whole life, but through physical therapy I will learn some things to do to help it and things not to do that will only make it worse. I am SO thankful they have finally figured this out after being in pain daily since January. The doctor also said that my first surgery in January more than likely caused this, but it would have eventually happened anyway.

{honeymoon part 2.}

While we were in Mexico we met another couple on their honeymoon, Ryan & Shannon who are from California. Since we forgot to pack our camera battery charger, Shannon was SO sweet to let us use one of her extra cameras =) Here are some pictures from her camera. 

Us playing Blackjack in the pool!

It was soo hot there.. 

I <3 my husband!  =)

 Us with Ryan & Shannon at our honeymoon dinner.

One side of our resort =) It was huge!

{honeymoon.}

Cancun! =)

The swim up bar.

 

Our new friend, Iggy. He liked chicken and french fries. 

Chichen Itza. 

The gorgeous water!

Before our snorkeling adventure..