Minnesota and a Wedding!

 

Over the weekend, Stephen and I traveled to Minnesota to celebrate Chelsea Anderson's daughters wedding.  Denni married her high school sweet heart, Eric.  They had a beautiful reception in the back yard of Chelsea's parents home.  Stephen and I helped set up and take down the reception.  We also helped serve food and support Chel in any way she needed.  I absolutely loved being a part of Denni's life. I moved to Hawaii in 2005 to live with Chelsea and nanny Denni.  It was such a fun experience.  Denni is a smart, beautiful, and courageous woman.  

Stephen and I shared a hotel with Chelsea, her boyfriend Brent, and their friend Ramon.  We had so much fun laughing and going to the spam museum. Actually, the Spam museum was the high light of the trip.  I have been to Austin, Minnesota many times but have not been to the museum.  It was fun! 

I am also grateful to have any excuse to hang out with Stephen, just the two of us.  We are still figuring out our relationship as we navigate my changing religious views.  I am working to see where my faith is going as I grow and change spiritually.  I was released as young women's president a few weeks ago and my heart has been so broken.  I am lost.  But I am so glad I have Stephen by my side to love me no matter what.  

 

Grandpa's 74th Birthday Week

 This week was a tough week and yet a happy week.  This week we remembered my Mom.  She died September 16th, 2024.  A year ago.  The pain feels so fresh. I feel like she just left us.  I think of her daily.  I miss her daily.  I still feel so sad and cry often as I miss being able to see her or call her daily.  I miss being able to tell her the thoughts of my heart.  She was such an amazing woman.  We met together and had ice cream to remember her.  

The next day, we went out to eat for my Dad's birthday.  He is 74.  He didn't think he would live another year without my Mom.  But he survived.  He was very sad all year.  I am so glad he is here to be a guiding light to my boys.  They need a strong moral compass in their lives.  My Dad provides this to us.  He is so smart and knows how to do so many important things.  I love him.  I am grateful for his guiding light in my life.  We also got together on his birthday and had cake.  Such a fun week celebrating my parents in two very different ways.  

 

Nasal surgery

 This last week, I had nasal surgery. I had a terrible sore throat all summer that lead me to the allergist. While at the allergist, the doctor did a CT scan of my head. They found I had a severely deviated septum and I needed surgery. I had surgery September 4th. The first day was pretty rough. I had the worst head ache. Luckily, I have the best friends here in town and they brought me dinner four nights in a row. 

I felt pretty crumby for three days but on Saturday, I started to feel worse. I had taken prednisone back in July to help get rid of my terrible sore throat. While taking it, I thought I developed a blood clot. As soon as I stopped the prednisone, the pain went away.  Fast forward to my nasal surgery, the doctor prescribed prednisone to prepare for surgery. I had texted her Thursday asking if it was necessary but she didn’t get back to me until Sunday. Well, I had already stated taking it. I could feel the blood clot in my elbow again. I wanted to be wrong. Well the next Saturday, my elbow was killing me. I could feel the heat and throbbing in my elbow again. It wasn’t getting better. I tried to go to sleep, hoping it would go away. It didn’t. At 3 AM, I woke up and drove to the ER. 

The doctor at the ER said she had never seen a blood clot in someone’s elbow. Well, turns out, I was her first. After all the tests showed it was a blood clot, the doctor said he didn’t know how to treat it and I needed to see a hematologist. I went home and took a baby aspirin. 

I saw the hematologist this last Thursday and she was extremely rude. She acted as if I was wasting her time. She wasn’t helpful and it was a huge waste of time. 

The best part about my surgery is now I can breathe out of my nose again! I can sing high notes again. I can sleep deeper and I feel better. Recovery has been easy especially with my sweet Stephen by my side. We have grown so much over the last month. We have been communicating more and been trying to be there for each other more. I am reminded why I married him. We are so in sync now. I love him and I’m so grateful he is in my daily life. 

Golf, Concert, and more hiking

 Not sure if I said this anywhere in the last few posts, but I was planning to hike the Grand Canyon this October, but it burnt down, so that plan is completely off the table now.  I have been hiking all summer to prepare and now I need to make new plans.  I also learned that I have a severely deviated septum and need surgery September 4 to fix it.  I am not excited.  

Tuesday was my friend, Jeremy Brumley's birthday, so we went golfing with him to celebrate.  We golfed at Sandia Resort and it was beautiful.  I did terrible but really had one of the best games of my life.  That is saying something.  Stephen and I just talked and laughed the hole morning.  After golf, I had to work then I met up with my friend Spencer Morgan to attend the Jimmy Eat World concert.  It was so so so good!! I love that band.  Brings back so may memories.  I made Stephen go with me to their concert when we were dating 20 years ago!  After Jimmy sang, another band, The Offspring, came on and sounded awful!!  I didn't even want to sit and listen as the main singer couldn't hit the notes.  He sounded tired and his voice was worn out.  Too bad because I do like some of their music.   

Running is the one thing in my life that has truly brought me so much joy.  I have worked hard to become a faster runner over the years.  It has been a long journey and I am so glad I started running in college.  It has helped me stay in shape and given me the best body I could ask for at 44.  I am truly blessed.  I get mad at my body sometimes but I am truly grateful that I am strong and beautiful.  

And, while I'm being perfectly honest, my husband has the best body of any 45 year old out there.  He seriously gives me butterflies when I think about him.  Even all these years later.  I adore him.  

 

Learning to love someone

 

 I thought for the last twenty years I had truly learned to love Stephen. I thought I had loved as deeply as I could but I was wrong. I have only nearly touched the surface of what it feels like to truly love someone. He has taught me so much in what it really means to love deeply and be selfless. I learn selflessness daily and it is so hard. I want to be so selfish. I can feel myself being pulled in so many different directions.  I am truly blessed to have spent the last nearly 20 years of my life with such a forgiving, loving, and kind man.  No matter where we go from here, these have been the best years of my life.