Moving Forward

This seems to be the common denominator in my life lately, which is more of a positive thing than a negative. I had my surgery on June 6th and that was crazy in itself. Mitch took time off of work to be there with me (he was the only one I allowed to be there). I almost walked out of the hospital twice due to being so nervous. I had my appointment with the anesthesiologist 2 days prior to the surgery since I have a heart condition. This appointment did not make me feel any more comfortable being put to sleep.. My risks were a bit scary. I ended up having to fill out a lot of paper work giving Mitch the right to make decisions on my behalf etc. in case anything were to happen to me. The next day, I made sure that my life insurance was up to date and my will. Surgery came and went and I survived, but not without complications.  I had problems waking up from the anesthesia, I ended up with an infection at my surgery site and then a blood infection as well. I will never understand why doctors feel the need to argue with women when it comes to their body. I have been in mine for 25 years, trust me when I tell you that something is wrong. I had to argue with my doctor for 20 minutes for him to cave in and look into my concerns..and that was when he found my infections. This led to antibiotics and injections. Thankfully Mitch has a great memory for this type of stuff and reminded me of my medicine every day.

I beat both of the infections and thought I was good to go but then a pathology report came back showing that I still have precancerous cells. We started monitoring them and they have elevated in the last two weeks so I got shots, injections to my insides and antibiotics. I go back in 2 weeks to see what has happened and then make decisions based off of the results. I'm thankful that this isn't life threatening right now since we are monitoring it so closely.  But this means no gym time until my immune system is up to par.

In other news, Mitch decided that it was time for us to move forward in our relationship so he asked Jeremy to move out. He will be out in the next couple of months. We started painting the house :) so far the living room and stairs are done. I'm doing the hallway tomorrow and dining room next week. Then our room, Office, spare room, kitchen and bathrooms will be done by September! I found new counter tops for the kitchen, hardwood floors for there too. I'm looking at flooring for the upstairs bathroom.  And curtains are the hardest thing to buy! 

I've eliminated people from my life who just have too much drama in their life or are flakey. I'm 25 and don't have time for that. This has made room for new friends:)

All in all, I'm happy. There have been some very rough points in the last couple of months that no one really knows about but I have found that they were blessings. And forgiveness is such a powerful thing. It helps you more than others. (Random tid bit).

Slacking..

Clearly I have been slacking with my blog, no bueno! I must try to get better with that. So much has happened since the last time I have written on here, I'm not even sure where to start!

Mitch and I are doing fabulous and happier than ever :) we just had a 4 day mini getaway last weekend. Even though we live together and see each other every day, it's still important for us to disconnect from the world and focus on each other and our relationship. I'd be lost without my fella. 

Let's see.. back in March I went to the doctor. I knew that there was something crazy going on with me and couldn't figure out what it was. I was having an insane amount of pain every month on the first day of my cycle. Sometimes it was to a point where I couldn't move my legs. I gave in and went to the doctor after one day (thankfully Mitch was home), I was in so much pain that I was vomiting, drenched in sweat, couldn't walk and was screaming. We knew that something had to give and that I couldn't do this every month anymore. My doctor sent me for a bunch of tests. My blood work came back normal, so the next step was to get an ultrasound. This is where it gets interesting.. Women get their cycle because they release a single egg every month and the cramps come from the egg tearing off the lining of the uterine wall. Well, I'm the lucky lady that releases 3 eggs a month, meaning that 3 eggs are ripping off the lining of the uterine wall every month giving me 3x the amount of cramping. Now, there are 3 eggs released each and every month, which gives me a 95% chance of triplets. I'm not certain on how I feel about that yet.. Since I release so many, I will run out of eggs before most other women, so if we want to have children, I need to start trying prior to my 30's. That's 5 years away. 

That alone is very overwhelming. We aren't sure if we even want children and were thinking of one, two max. The chance of having 3 at once is scary. And if that wasn't enough.. the results from another test came back and revealed that I have cancer. Thankfully they caught it when they did and I'm able to have it removed. I have my surgery on June 6th (first surgery ever). The downfall with this is now I'm at high risk for pre-term labor. I just keep reminding myself that God has a plan.. 

Due to everything going on with my health, I'm no longer working full time. I'm working part time only at the bridal shop. Between all of my appointments and trying to get things done, it just wasn't working out. Plus, our house was always at the bottom of the list so I felt like nothing really got done around here. I'm thankful for a fella that takes such great care of me and allows me to work part time and doing projects around the house and still have my trainer. 

As for this summer, we are getting new windows, putting tile in the upstairs bathroom, sanding, painting and refinishing the porch, getting porch furniture and starting the gardens. I'm so excited! I joke around and tell Mitch all the time that I was meant to be a stay at home kitty cat mommy.. and quite frankly, it works for us. 

I've become friends with the ladies I work with at the bridal shop. One in particular, Mindy, is so wonderful! She works part time as well and has chickens and a love of animals like I do. We joke around that we're "The Real Housewives of Elizabethtown" hahaha. 

Alright, I need to get off of here and get ready for Mitch to come home. The plant had shut down today and it didn't go so well.. time for some TLC for him :) 

Patience, Progress & Praise

Whoa, where is the time going?! Seriously! It's already been almost a month since I've written.. time is just getting away from me. 

Let's see, Mitch and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary last month :-) I'm so thankful to have found the one that I will spend the rest of my life with, maybe (and this is s a BIG maybe) have a little one with.. I'm not sold on the kids thing, yet and having someone to love and love me back. Coming home to him EVERY day is one of my most favorite things in life. Valentine's day was last week and, of course, he made that special :-) He can be romantic at just the right times!

Work has been insane but I'm a-okay with that. My boss is on a cruise for the next 10 days, so things are a bit on the hectic side. I am certainly blessed where I am. For the first time in my life, I enjoy getting up and going to work! I also started at the bridal shop here in E-Town and I LOVE it! I only work one day a weekend and one whole weekend a month so that I can have some time to myself, too. 

I have started hitting the gym at 5am! I must say, I'm not a fan of being awake and moving around at that time, but I feel much better after it's over. I try to go twice a day most days. Mitch tries to convince me to take a day off.. he very rarely succeeds ;) I'm thankful for his support and him making it possible for me to have a personal trainer. That extra kick in the pants definitely helps in the morning! 

We had a great time at Beard and Kerri's house this past weekend! It was the annual winter bbq- always a good time! We were able to meet some new people, too! We decided to stop at a nice restaurant on our way home and have some alone time. We're kind of considering moving down that way. It's just a thought in the back of our minds. We'll see. I want to keep our house forever (mainly because I'm sick of moving.. the military does that to you) but he kind of wants us to pick a new one. I'm trying to avoid that :)

I'm so blessed beyond comprehension. God is working in amazing ways in my life and our life as a couple. He has been opening so many doors for us lately. I'm really getting excited about possibly teaching my own ESL course :)!!! I would be working with adult immigrants. I can hardly wait to see where this takes me! 

There's so much more to go on and on about but I'll be honest, I'm beat. It's time for a few minutes of down time with my fella before we call it a night. 4:30 comes early! (He gets to sleep later than me now that he's on daylight! Makes getting up even harder!).

Random thought of the day: When you're thinking about losing your patience with someone, think about how patient God has been with you. This has been big for me lately.

What A Week!

I survived! 

This was my first week at the new job. I must say, there's a lot to learn, but I'm enjoying it! After being sick all of last week with the flu and then jumping into this new job while recovering, my body is exhausted. Luckily, we got Mitch to the doctor in time so he was able to avoid most of the sickness. I am currently left with bronchitis, but I'll definitely take that over last weeks germs!

I had an interview at the local bridal salon this week, too! I am very excited to be getting back into the wedding world. It's VERY close to home, it's something I enjoy, it's part time and a little extra money in my bank account. I go in tomorrow for a few hours to try it out and see if I like it there. I'm sure I will since I've done this before. 

I made a decision this week and it may come off as very selfish: It's time to put myself, my goals and my needs first. For anyone that knows me, they know that I'm always worried about everyone else and never myself. Sometimes this is okay, but now it's affecting my health, and that can't happen. I've overcome an awful lot of medical obstacles over the years, it's a miracle I'm still alive (for more than one reason). I've decided to schedule an appointment with a specialist and just make sure that everything is okay :) the longer I put it off, the worse it is going to get. 

I'll be heading to the gym starting this week! Now that I know what my schedule is like and I'm almost over this icky sickness, I can get to it! I am also excited about having a normal eating schedule! I've decided that I am drastically cutting down on eating out, too. Mitch might be eating alone hahaha. He LOVES going out to eat and we have done so about 5 times a week for the 2 years we've been together.

Speaking of, this coming Tuesday is our 2 year anniversary! Woo! Time flies! 

Now, time to relax :) 

Opportunity Is A-Knockin'

I don't think I could have made it through the last 6 weeks without Mitch's love and support. After leaving my job, things got a little on the rougher side for me. The economy isn't exactly in it's prime. I've spent this time reflecting on what my goals truly are and what I want for myself as well for Mitch and I and our future.

I've come to see that life is happening right now. You don't get any retakes. This is it and it's time to take it seriously. I've decided to come up with a budget and a stern savings plan that is achievable. No sense in setting yourself up for failure! I've figured out what I want to get accomplished this year and where I want my life to be in a year. Starting out small isn't a bad thing, we've all got to start somewhere.

Mitch got good news a couple of days ago.. He's getting to move from swing shift to daylight for 9 months! He has been offered an amazing learning opportunity to further his career and with that, he will get an awesome M-F schedule! He was on daylight last year for about three and a half months and it was great!

My awesome news came about the same time.. I was offered an amazing position with an even more amazing company. The people are wonderful, the mission and goals are fantastic, growth is unstoppable and the benefits are great! I can't even explain how excited I am to move my career in this direction!

I'm really excited that we will have matching schedules (for the most part) and be able to further grow our relationship. I'm so blessed that Mitch gave me so much support and had the patience to let me find a place where I felt I truly belonged.

This is our year.. I just know it! :)

Time To Be Positive

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

I think most people are familiar with this quote (attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt). Lately I've been feeling ridiculed and torn down by some of the people that are closest to me and every time, these words replay in my mind. We really are in control of how we let ourselves feel. Granted, there will be times of feeling down and out, it's only natural. At the end of the day, we alone are the ones responsible for our own happiness.

After talking things over with Mitch the other night, he reminded me that I don't have to take crap from people. I am a grown woman who has overcome a lot of things and I need to stand my ground and at the end of the day, he will be there supporting me. Everyone has a past and has made mistakes. Some mistakes we've learned from and some we're still working on changing. It's life. It's no one's place to constantly remind you of your flaws nor do they have the right to constantly penalize or bring up your "failures" or what you've done wrong. It amazes me that no matter how much good you've done, that one bad choice will always seem to outweigh it all. 

I recently made the decision to create boundaries. If someone crosses a line, I will let them know (nicely, of course). I am almost 25, it's time to be treated as such. Another thing that I've started doing in order to keep positive is a Gratitude Journal. Every night before I go to bed, I write one sentence stating 1 thing from that day that I'm really thankful for or 1 good memory from the day. It will be neat to look back at the end of the year or even a few years down the road and see all of the good things of the year. 

So with that being said, remain positive. Usually we are our own worst critics.. give yourself a break and ignore the judgmental people of the world. They're usually picking at you to avoid looking at themselves.

Well Hello There, 2O13!

Yesterday was New Year's Eve & honestly, it was the perfect way to close out 2012. Mitch and I were fortunate to spend most of the afternoon with Samboni! We headed out to Lancaster and did a little shopping and then came home to relax before kicking off the evening's festivities. Mitch and I both agreed that we didn't want to throw a party this year, so him and I got spiffed up and headed into the city!

Of course our first stop was the Belvedere. That is one of our favorite bars, mainly because of an amazing bartender; Jamie! Unfortunately that led to a couple of awkward moments, but life goes on. It certainly didn't ruin our night! After a couple of drinks there, we wandered through town and ended up at Marion Court. We had a drink or two and got party hats before heading over to the square to watch the Rose drop! This was our first time there and boy were we surprised at how little it was! The countdown was chanted, kisses were shared and an amazing firework display lit up the sky! We wandered back to Marion Court but decided we should head out of town (especially since people were throwing up all over the bar and bathrooms). We hit up Denny's for a late night breakfast and just enjoyed each other's company. We spent most of our night laughing and holding hands.. I couldn't imagine a better night. I'm very thankful that Mitch works for an awesome supervisor on his new crew and was able to take the night off of work!


Now unfortunately, I'm one of those people that wants to do everything but rarely manages to cross anything off the list. Instead, it seems that I add 5 things a day to it. With the arrival of the new year, I've decided that now is just as good a time as any to make a change. With the whirlwind of this year almost in my rear view mirror, I'm ready to take on 2O13 full speed ahead. With that said, I've created somewhat of a bucket list of things that I WILL accomplish in the next 12 months.

1. Random acts of kindness as often as possible. (Random notes of encouragement, bake goodies or cook a meal for someone, just because, send flowers for no reason).

2. Do some sort of Volunteer work at least once a quarter (i.e. soup kitchen, boys and girls club, etc.)

3. Open a savings account and save at least $100 a month that I will NOT touch ($100 doesn't sound like much, but you have to start somewhere)

4. Incorporate the gym into my routine at least 4 times a week

5. Go camping, fishing and hiking

6. Visit my little brother at least twice this year

7. Take WAY more pictures and create photo albums 

8. Be done with my Christmas shopping by Halloween (except some random odds and ends!-no more stressing!)

9. Spend at least a half hour a day in the Word, and at least one hour on Sundays.

10. Visit Boston, Cape May NJ, NYC and DC

11. Run the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November and at least 3 5k races

12. Learn my way around the kitchen and make at least 2 new recipes a month and keep a recipe box with the good ones! :)

...That's it for now. I'm sure I'll add more as time goes on, but these are DEFINITELY going to get accomplished!