Intense Weekend

Friday

Friday afternoon I got some good new from my hormone doctor: Instead of getting back on birth control (that makes me feel like death) Im going to try Metformin. It's made to regulate insulin in diabetics, but its also used off-label to help patients with PCOS. I am excited and cautiously optimistic that this will help.

Friday night Chris and I went out with a bunch of our friends for Stephanies 'coming out' party. Its the first time shes been out since she had her sweet baby Sophie in January. We went to Bumpers and shot pool for a few hours with Chris & Sarah Shuttlesworth, Steph, Bobby, Justin & a few other of Stephs friends. It was a really good time, Im glad we went.

While we were there, Sarah tells me that they are going camping with Justin and Alisa. In my drunken stupor I say "Oh! That sounds like FUN!" She invited me to come. I said yes. I dont know what I was thinking.

Saturday

Though I debated not going camping because Chris N. couldnt go, I decided that camping might actually be fun. So Saturday morning I packed everything I owned into my car and headed to meet Alisa, Sarah & Zoe to head to Fairhope where we met Justin & Chris S. We settled into our Campsite at Blakeley State Park, and hung around for most of the day. Then that afternoon we made a fire, and Alisa taught us how to make hobo dinners that were delicious! Its hamburger meat, carrots, potatoes and onions/peppers all wrapped up in tin foil and cooked in the fire. I was surprised at how good they were! But aside from the food, camping was intense (in-tents, hahah) I am the worst camper ever. This is kind of camping with me went...

Okay, well maybe that was a little exaggerated. But I really did catch a bunch of marshmallows on fire... I like 'em crispy!

After a fun filled outdoorsy day camping, the next morning we got up and Alisa made eggs and bacon (Yum!) and we headed back to Mobile. Overall, it was a good experience. It was my first time sleeping in a tent, and you know, it wasnt THAT bad. Id do it again.

Sunday

Sunday I spent a lot of the day curled up in bed or on the couch with Mobley, trying to catch up on some sleep, and the rest of the day was spent doing school work and cleaning up the house. Around 7:30 Bailey came by with dinner and we watched Army Wives.

Over all, it was a great weekend. I cant wait till our beach trip next weekend, though! Just got to get through this week first!

Pain Scale: 6

I feel like my insides are about to pop. My right ovary has this reoccuring stabbing pain that comes and goes every few seconds to every few minutes. It started at lunch time when Chris and I were eating some delicious sushi, and BAM out of nowhere it was like pain you cannot immagine.
There was a point in time today that I seriously considered going to the hospital- the bullshit pain medicine my doctor gave me is like glorified tylenol. But when I get to the point that I actually convince myself to take something for the pain, its usually way too intense for tylenol to touch. Needless to say, the Tramadol the doctor gave me didnt do a damn thing to help me out today. All it did was make me feel weak in my stomach and made me thirsty.
But every time I think about the hospital I think about the pain scale and how confusing it is. I mean, how could the worst pain i could possibly immagine be on the same page as an cyst rupturing? It confuses me to no end. That is why I love this: (Go check out this blog! You will laugh your ass off!)


You've probably seen some version of that chart before.  You may also have noticed how inadequate it is at helping you.  Based on the faces, this is my interpretation of the chart:

0:  Haha!  I'm not wearing any pants!

2:  Awesome!  Someone just offered me a free hot dog!

4:  Huh.  I never knew that about giraffes.

6:  I'm sorry about your cat, but can we talk about something else now?  I'm bored.

8:  The ice cream I bought barely has any cookie dough chunks in it.  This is not what I expected and I am disappointed.

10:You hurt my feelings and now I'm crying!

 None of that is medically useful and it doesn't even have all the numbers, so I made a better one with all the numbers:

0:  Hi.  I am not experiencing any pain at all.  I don't know why I'm even here.

1:  I am completely unsure whether I am experiencing pain or itching or maybe I just have a bad taste in my mouth.

2:  I probably just need a Band Aid.

3:  This is distressing.  I don't want this to be happening to me at all.

4:  My pain is not fucking around.

5:  Why is this happening to me??

6:  Ow.  Okay, my pain is super legit now.

7:  I see Jesus coming for me and I'm scared.   

8:  I am experiencing a disturbing amount of pain.  I might actually be dying.  Please help.

9:  I am almost definitely dying.

10:  I am actively being mauled by a bear.

11: Blood is going to explode out of my face at any moment.

Too Serious For Numbers:  You probably have ebola.  It appears that you may also be suffering from Stigmata and/or pinkeye.

Anyway. That always makes me laugh; I needed it today. Especially because I just finished reading another heartwrenching Jodi Picoult novel- Sing You Home- about a woman that has PCOS and was never able to have kids. I cried my eyes out in the sauna at the gym. Yeah, it was THAT kind of day.

But I know that tomorrow will be a better day. I am really looking forward to having lunch with Chris and hopefully him coming home early enough for us to play Yatzee and have a glass of wine.

& Yesterday was a good day too. I went on a fabuous dinner date with two of my favorite people, Lindsay & Alisa! We went to Fuego, had some margaritas, dinner and girl talk. I love it when we get together!

As for tonight though, Im going to just lay around on the couch, drink a glass of wine, and watch a movie until its time for bed.

Good night everybody!

Adventures Are Out There!: SB2k11

Day 1

Chris came home from work around 4:45, and I couldnt go back to sleep I was so excited about our trip. We both got showers, dropped Mobs off at Mimi's house, ate some breakfast and made it to South at 7:30 am. We loaded up all of our gear, piled in the SGA Van and headed North to Fort Payne, Alabama. On the way up there we got to know the people that were going with us: Lauren, Patricia, Christina, Shawn, Bryant, Sarah, & DeAnna. The six hour drive was fairly uneventful and long. Here is a picture of our cabin!

Once we got into the cabin, claimed our beds, and ate some dinner we got ready to climb out onto a giant boulder in Cherokee Rock Village on the top of a mountain and watch the sun set. Chris was terrified of the heights. haha, Poooor Chris.  

As it started to get dark, we made our way to the top of the mountain to prepare for our night hike. Okay, guys. When I hear "Extreme Night Hike" I was thinking, okay, we are gong to walk on some trails with flash lights and it will be "extreme" because it is dark. No. I was so wrong. It should have been a clue when they gave us helmets... they were not just to hold the lights.

We spent 3 hours making our way through Cherokee Rock Village. There was very little "hiking" we spent most of our time crawling under rocks, climbing over them, and shoving ourselves through tight spaces. I feel like no words that I say do this hike justice. It was a LOT of work, a lot of fun, and extremely rewarding when we finished. Here are a few of my favorite moments:

Look how close the rocks were on both sides!

Notice how steep the "trails" are!

After we finished our night hike, we made our way back to the cabin, and it was already close to midnight. Most people stayed up for a few hours and hung out in the hot tub, but I was already exhausted; as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.

Day 2

Our morning started at 7:30 so we could be the first to get a shower (sharing 2 bathrooms with 9 people was the only flaw in the whole trip, and even that wasnt that bad). After breakfast we headed to meet our guide, Tyler. (Who, by the way, also lead our amazing night hike. I was going to save this to the end, but go check out True Adventure Sports). We met him at a rappel point that dropped down 85 feet. We rappelled right next to this little waterfall, it was so beautiful!

Our group before the rappel.

I had so much fun! I couldnt WAIT to do it the second time.

Chris, however, was a different story. First of all, he is scared of heights. I was proud of him for just attempting the rappel. But he didnt follow directions and got a really bad blister on the first round. Im just glad he did it the second time, and Im even more excited that he enjoyed it.

When we finished our 4 hour rappelling adventure, we went back to the cabin to eat lunch, and pile some more clothes on for our Wild Cave Tour. Okay, Cave Tour, cool. Im thinking we walk around, maybe climb through some tight spaces, it might be muddy, and maybe, just maybe, we would go through some ankle deep water. I could not have been more wrong. The cave tour was, hands down, my favorite part.

Those of you who know me well, know I am a thrill seeker, I love 'adventures' but only 10 minutes into the tour, I was in panic mode. I was so terrified that I was about to cry my eyes out. I had that im-about-to-have-a-break-down feeling in my chest, my eyes started to water, I was seconds away from an all out freak out.

There really isnt a way for me to describe to you just how hard this part of the tour was, Im going to attempt to draw you a picture. Okay, work with me here. It was pitch black inside the cave, all we had to see were our little head lamps. There was like a 3 foot gap that we had to make it over with the help of our guide, Tyler. If we fell, we would have fallen onto more rocks like 60 feet below. And it wasnt like you could stand up and step over, you had to sit (because of rocks above you) and scoot over the gap. This shit was scary as fuck. But in the end, we all did it and I refrained from causing a huge scene.

Shortly after this part of the tour, we were asked if we wanted to get near the water, and that we might have to get wet. HOLY SHIT, when he said wet, Im thinking, okay, my shoes will be wet, and itll come up MAYBE to my knees. Oh hell no. First time we got in the water, it came up to my neck. It was intense, and FREEZING, but it was AWESOME. (Also, I found out that they offer Cave Kayaking- Im already trying to plan this trip- let me know if you want to go.  It will be well worth the 6 hour drive.)

We did some more exploring in the cave, walking around, crawling around, and just as we were about to leave, we got to crawl through some more water. We were FILTHY.

Look how high the water marks on our clothes are!

We made our way back the the cabin, fought over showers, got some food and started a campfire. Chris and I sat outside most of the night- he tended to the fire and I made smores! It was a nice, relaxing end to a fun filled day.

Day 3

I thought day 3 would be a boring ride back to Mobile. After we checked out of our cabin we drove the 23 mile path along Little River Canyon, called The Viper. It has several "look out points" to take pictures, and a few hiking paths.

We decided to take a hike to the water, and I am so glad we did. The water was cold, but beautiful! We took so many amazing pictures. I want to go back and spend a whole day playing in the water, climbing the boulders, and playing like a kid again.

Chris playing on the rocks. 

Getting some sun & puttin my feet in the water

While the rest of our group stayed back, me, Chris, Bryant and Sarah all hiked down to this little waterfall!

When everybody got really hungry we hiked back to the top, jumped in the van and drove to Little River Falls to take a few pictures before we drove back to Mobile.

We had THE most amazing time on our trip. I cant wait to go back, and take all of our friends with us. Seriously, everybody go check out TAS- trueadventuresports.com

Check Your Receipts

So last week our house guests checked out on Monday. Tuesday was like hang over recovery day & SURPRISE Chris forgot to tell me we were having an old high school buddy of his spend the night on Thursday. So after working all day Wednesday, and class Thursday I did a clean sweep to get ready for Matt to come in town from Oklahoma, or where ever the hell he lives now. It was a stressful few hours trying to get ready for more company, but I am really glad Chris and Matt got to hang out. Plus, I got my favorite margarita at Fuego, so it was a great night for me as well.

Saturday was Hog Wild festival at the fairgrounds in Mobile. Its where a TON of grilling teams come and compete for who has the best bar-b-que, and raise money for United Cerebral Palsy. So I went with Alisa, Justin, Karleen, and 6 kiddies. We had a really good time & the weather was PERFECT.

'

But let me back track just a little and make my point for this blog (as if my blogs usually have purposes...) So I thought I would need cash to get into Hog Wild, so I went to the gas station to buy a pack of gum and hopefully get cash back. Apparently, I couldnt get cash back, but they had an ATM machine. There isnt a bank between my house and the fairgrounds, so I decided whattheheck, Id use the Sketch ATM. (Bad Idea.)  While I am waiting for the ATM to process my $20 request, I notice a little trashcan that says "Unwanted Receipts"... & I thought "Hmm, I wonder if my bank id is going to print out on this receipt." So when I finally got my $20, I headed for the door and glanced at my receipt, which I NEVER do. It says "Requested: $20.00 Dispensed: $40.00 Terminal Fee: $2.50 Charged: 42.50 'Your bank statement will reflect the amount dispensed." REALLY?! Because I only got $20!! So I headed back to the cashier, told her what happened, she called her manager, and I was told to "Come Back Monday." Grr. I was already pissed, but what could I do?

So this morning I left the house early so I could stop by the gas station on my way to work. The woman was a real bitch and told me it wasnt her problem and that I needed to take it up with my bank. Really, Lady, because if I take this to my bank and complain to them they arent just going to give me free money, or take the charge off my statement. This isnt their problem, they didnt do anything wrong. Its your machine, or at least its in your place of business, YOU deal with it. I ended up leaving pissed off, without my money. I asked Chris to call, and Im not finished dealing with them, yet. But I just wanted to remind yall to check your receipts! I am SURE that I am not the only one this has happened to. Most people probably dont even notice! But what do you do?

On a brighter note: Chris and I are leaving for our outdoorsy trip on Wednesday! I am so freaking excited! I cant wait to go repelling. I think Im going to take rock climbing up as my new hobby... like I need one more thing to do, or something. :)

Happy Monday, yall.

Let The Good Times Roll

The last few days have been full of good times with family and friends; I have made so many memories, and Id love to share. Just as a warning, this post is going to be long...

                Friday                      

 I was supposed to work, but Chris was off and wanted to go to a pre-float loading party at the Wine loft, so I took off work to start the Mardi Gras party early. We had a little lunch at Wine Loft, and then walked around the corner to Twist (a new cupcake boutique). The plan was to split one cupcake, but we couldnt decide so we ended up getting 3... For those of you who dont know, Chris doesnt eat a lot of sweets. So after he devoured 2 1/2 cupcakes, he was on a SUGAR HIGH. It went kind of like this 'la la lalala bounce bounce bouncebounce lalalalalalala'. .....pause....stop.... "I think Im going to vomit" Sick. Hah, well Im glad he had a good time.

Friday afternoon we headed to Fred & Gayles to load the cars up and take the throws to the float barn. We met some of the fam down there too; Erick, Pam, Ericka, Jack, Debbie, John, Drew, Rachel, Tarriq, Mike & Kaylin. After float loading we all went to China Doll. Nobody wanted China Doll. It almost became a fist fight, but we tried to play nice since this was only Day 1 in what turned out to be a Four Day Family Affair. I had the best seat of the night though. I got to sit next to John (Chris's brother-in-law) who I found out is FUNNY AS SHIT. I also sat across from Chris and Drew, who kept me laughing the whole night.
After dinner, Tarriq and Drew came home with us. I am under strict instructions to keep all events of Friday night under wraps, but we had a really really good time together. We stayed up till almost 2:30 before I forced everybody to go to sleep.



Saturday

  We all woke up, gathered our things and headed downtown. Chris and I left Drew with Erick, and Tarriq with Fred (sorry 'bout that Tarriq...) and we checked in to our room, got some food and started drinking. Unfortunately around 3:30, Mobile Police Department called the parade off due to bad weather that was headed our way. It put a little damper on the day, Chris threw a little temper tantrum, but in the end all was good. The guys headed to due their 'ceremonial pre-parade things', also known as drinking... and I hung out with Justin, Alisa, Lindsay, SUZY, and Drew. Eventually the maskers made it back, we all got dressed and headed to the ball. We had such an amazing night. Somehow this year Chris and I managed to avoid all drama. Well, kind of. Mike, and Claude assumed Ginger was keeping their children during the ball, but didnt really ask Ginger. And Ginger was staying at our house... We werent prepared at all for having children in our house... Our pantry was basically empty. Opps. But the night was still fun- We danced, drank, took tons of pictures & spent lots of time with friends.

 A few of my favorite moments included:

Erick trying to convince me he looked like George Clooney. I never did see the resemblance....

Hanging out with my parents

Seeing Suzy, Her Mom and Her Date. I miss SueSue SO Much!

Hanging out with all of our friends

Sunday

Sunday morning we crawled out of bed, and headed to breakfast at the Spot of Tea with Debbie, John, their friends Becky and Chris, Pam, Erick, Fred & Gayle. It was delicious and crowded as always. After Breakfast Chris and I headed home to do some homework. I had completely forgotten that there were like 15 people at my house, mostly under the age of 10. Fantastic. But, it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. They were very good while I wrote my paper. As soon as I was finished, we all got dressed and got ready to head down to the Island to grill out and spend some time with our family. This was my favorite part of the whole weekend. The whole family was there; Fred, Gayle, Deb, John, Drew, Rachel, Erick, Pam, Ericka, Jack, Ginger, Tarriq, Summer, Corey, Sarrah, Claude, Wanda, Ashlie, Mike, Kay, Chris & Me. Plus Deb's friends Becky, Chris, and their two boys. It was so beautiful down there.

We grilled out & played beach volleyball... My team kicked Chris' teams butt!!

Sunday night after the big dinner with the fam, Rachel asked to come home with Chris & me so she could play with Mobley. Ginger, Sarrah & Tarriq were also spending the night. By the time we picked up Mobs & got home, somehow we ended up with Ashlie too. We all piled in the living room and watched How to Train Your Dragon. I do have to apologize to everybody there though, about midnight I got TIRED and GROUCHY. Those of you who know me well KNOW that I HAVE to go to bed at a decent hour... 3 nights past midnight started to kill me.

Monday

We woke up, and mostly spent the morning just hanging around the house in our jammies. Chris and I eventually went to the store and came home to make spaghetti for everybody at our house. After lunch we got ready to go down to the parade. Chris, Tarriq and I piled in the car about 3:45 and left Ginger with the girls (sorry, Gin...). When we got downtown, Chris went with Erick to get ready for the parade, and Tarriq and I went drinking with John.

Eventually, the rest of the crew showed up to watch the parade. Here are some of my favorite pictures & a video of Chris riding. Look for my "Happy Birthday Jack" sign. I knocked that out while I had a little buzz Friday night! Oh & sorry about the recording quality, I was trying not to get hit with shit.

After the Parade

After the parade was an adventure of its own. Chris was pretty shitfaced... This is what he looked like coming off the float

We spent probably 30 minutes at the Malaga that Chris doesnt remember any of. He was harassing family and strangers a like. He kept making strangers take pictures with him, those poor people...But as funny as that was, this might be my favorite picture ever. (Chris and John)

I finally convinced Chris to get in the car and head home, and holy crap I was STARVING. I tried to go to Foosacks, but apparently at they are not open at 10:30, sad. So I went to Arbys. For some reason, Chris thought it was a great idea to throw his shoe at Arbys. I took his shoe from him, parked the car, and before I could put his shoe back on for him (yes, he was THAT drunk) he leaped out of the car and tried to run inside. Luckily for me, the door was locked. But instead of getting back in the car, Chris sat on the hood of my car and started peeing. It took what seemed like a very long time to convince Chris to put his wiener up and get in the car. Somehow we made it home without Chris causing a crisis.

Against my better judgement I let Chris take Mobley outside to pee... HOLY SHIT. After about 4 minutes I went to check on them and Chris was laying in our front yard.... I got Mobley to come in, but Chris was a different story. He was perfectly content chilling in our front yard. Im just thankful that our neighbors were already asleep. He finally came inside, and got really excited that I had Arbys. He had already forgotten that I picked up dinner. So we ate, and finally went to sleep around 1.

Fat Tuesday

Im exhausted. My house is a mess. Chris woke up drunk. He decided to finally roll into work about 9:30, and Mobs and I went back to sleep. We slept until 12, and now Im just sitting here wondering where the hell to start. I need a shower, and my house needs to be cleaned from top to bottom, but mostly Im just wanting to sleep all day long.

Its been a long long long few days, but at the same time, I wish it wouldnt have gone by so fast. I love having everybody here. I love Chris' family so much. I cant wait to call myself a Newman!

350 days until Mardi Gras 2012...

Bad News Bears

Before I delve into my rant heres a little background:
1. In September 2009 I was hospitalized for a few days because of pain in my right side. They thought it may have been my appendix, but after a CT scan, they discovered that it was not. I hope I never ever ever ever have to have another CT scan in my whole life. Drinking the die contrast was the grossest stuff ever. Sick, Im gagging just thinking about it. I ran a high fever for several days, but eventually my fever broke and they let me go. They never did quite figure out what was wrong.
2. A few months ago, I started having the pain again. I waited for about 2 or 3 months before I finally went to the doctor. They found out that the reason for my pain was cysts on my ovaries & diagnosed me with PCOS- poly cystic ovarian syndrome.
3. Im taking Progesterone to help decrease the occurrence of cysts. I cannot take birth control because progesterone and birth control counteract each other.
4. I hate taking pain medicine. Most of it makes me feel like a zombie, and I cant function and take it.
 Okay, so heres my rant...
Saturday afternoon I started having pain in my right side again. I went to the ball, had a blast, but by Monday the pain still hadnt stopped. Monday afternoon  I though I was going to die. I left work early, begged my mom to find me some pain medicine, and scheduled another ultrasound for Tuesday morning.
So by the time I get to the doctor Tuesday morning my cyst had already ruptured, which meant they couldnt do anything except give me pain medicine.
At this point, Im extremely frustrated. Theres nothing that they can do to prevent cysts from forming. They can basically just give me some shit to make me not care that Im hurting. & My doctor says that after having kids, my cysts may go away forever. But heres the problem(s). 1. Im not ready to have kids any time soon. & 2. When I am ready to have kids, its going to be difficult to get pregnant;  PCOS causes infertility, so Ill probably have to have in vitro. And you know how when somebody tells you that you cant have something, its the only thing you can think about? Well, thats how I feel. (Now I know I dont need any babies right now, please dont tell me this. I know.) Just the fact that the doctors tell me that I cant get pregnant, makes me want a baby more than anything in the whole world. But again, its just not time yet. Plus, Im trying to remain positive; maybe it'll happen naturally "when the time is right" as Chris says...


Even though my day started out bad, and I was grouchy for the morning, my day really turned around. I forced myself to go to school, and I did well on my test. :) Then Chris took me across the bay to get my dermals changed & to go to Charming Charlie. & HOLY CRAP that place is AMAZING! Good thing its across the bay, or I would go there all the time! Chris bought me a bracelet & some earrings to wear this weekend, & I got a really cute/funky coral colored necklace with a bone-carved-looking elephant on it.

After our Daphne adventure, we helped his dad sort Mardi Gras throws... Well, Chris helped... I watched AFV with Gayle. & When we got home, Chris tried on his Mardi Gras costume. First let me say, I am SO glad I wore my "wild" dress last weekend. Chris's costume is the exact same color as the dress I wore to INCA... we would have seriously looked like we picked out matching outfits if I wore the green & purple dress to MOT.
Also, Mobley hated Chris dressing up. I took a video. If youre really bored, you can watch it. :) But if you have a life, dont waste your time. & Have a good day. Its too beautiful outside for today to be a bad day.