It's Tuesday, and Justin is scheduled for surgery on Friday.

I have a lot to do to prepare for a surgery in this household, so wish me luck.

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers!! I hope for a speedy and healthy recovery.

Man...

Being a caregiver is tough. And to think, Justin has helped me through three major surgeries so far, and he hasn't even had surgery yet.

I'm exhausted! He can't get up at all, so I'm doing everything, which I'm happy to do, but man am I tired. I'm trying to plan for school and failing. I know what I should do or what I want to do, but it's just hard to complete the task of putting it all together.

We slept in the living room last night to make it easier on him (no stairs!), and we woke every two hours for medicine.

Today, he continued the medicine until he started getting sick. We switched him to Advil, so let's hope that's enough for his pain.

I guess it's just bringing me back to the days of my surgeries..it really is miserable, especially when you can't even walk on your own. It's also exhausting. The worst part is having to see J like this -- miserable, weak, tired, and sick. The second worst part is the fact that we are both brand new teachers, and I just don't want this to look bad for us. He will have to miss over a week of work likely, so that would be all of his sick days, and then what?

Such a process...

Please keep J in your thoughts and prayers for a quick recovery.

Quite a Day - Ankle

Hello all!

Today was anything but ordinary. J went to his morning wrestling practice at school and I slept in. It was very peaceful. Mom called to see if I wanted to go to morning coffee with her before J got out, and I was all for it. However, I didn't feel like I had to dress up or even... shower... I know, right? Gross. But sometimes you just don't shower because you expect to go and come straight back -- plus, showering would have taken longer than mom probably wanted to wait.

We headed to coffee, ordered, and tasted it's wonderful qualities.

Then I got the phone call. J had twisted his ankle at practice during training, and he was headed to the hospital with the head coach. Luckily, I was only about four miles from the hospital, so mom and I headed over there to meet them.

At first, I didn't think much of it. Justin wasn't acting that bad, and I didn't see the ankle. Then I got a good look, and oh man, was it swollen. You could tell he was in a lot of pain, but he was hiding most of it. Then he told me what was involved in the injury. He said his foot completely turned to the right while it was flat (45 degree angle), but when he saw it, he took his own foot and forced it back. This is when he said he heard lots of horrible noises and cracks. What a beast. 

After x-rays, we were told he would likely need surgery. The ankle was broken in two spots.

J still feels his foot kind of...moving and cracking around. Until he gets surgery, it's going to feel this way. We don't even know when he'll be able to get the surgery done, or when he'll see the doctor, but let's hope it's Monday.

The difficult thing in all this is that he broke his right ankle.... this means, no driving. It's also very difficult as teachers to have any injury like this when your job is basically standing all day. It's also difficult for me because I want to help him and stay home, but I have to go to work. I will have to use my days off when he has surgery, though, to help him through.

Lastly, we're closing on a house in about three weeks. We're moving in three weeks.

I'm just thankful that it happened on the weekend, and I'm thankful mom was there to help get J's car home and bring us dinner. I'm thankful it's Saturday and not Sunday, so we have time to plan for school and see what the heck we're doing. I'm also thankful that I have such a sweet and joyful husband among all other pains and frustrations.

He's a champ.

ps: I forgot to mention that I saw one of my students -- a senior -- in the room across from him. It was really funny to see each other out of the classroom setting. I was regretting not taking a shower at that point.

Justin and I went to my old church today for the first time in almost four years. I had attended the church since it began wayyyy back as a new church, but during college and afterward, I didn't go anywhere really. I tried a few different places at college, but nothing seemed to work for me.

It was like I was trying not go to back to this church because it was my childhood church. Everyone at this church knows me as a child, too, so to be an adult and go back -- at least I thought -- would feel weird. Turns out, it felt great! (Just like working as a teacher at MY old high school). It was fine. The music was just as great as it used to be, and the people were very welcoming. I was surprised at who remembered me when I couldn't even remember some of their names. Like I said, last time I was there, it was like I was still a teenager...now, I feel much more grown-up, so it was a completely different experience.

I used to sing on the worship band there, and without asking, I've already been recruited again, which was really sweet. I would love to sing again -- I've missed it so much -- so I'm ready to take it on again.

Can't wait to see what it has in store for us and our children in the future. It seems like the right fit for us, so we'll see what happens. :)

The place I call home...

We have moved a lot in the past four years.

2008 Summer Apartment #1 Nice, updated, modern apartment. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths. Open floor-plan. Huge windows. No pool, no grass, but a nice road to walk on. Near the bike trail. No neighbor acquaintances.

2009 Summer Apartment #2 Older apartment, closed floor plan. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths. Smaller windows. Great trees, pond, pool, etc. On the bike trail. No neighbor acquaintances.

2010 Summer Apartment #3 First floor apartment, awesome yard, closed floor plan. 1 bedroom, 1 bedroom, with den. Smaller windows. Pool, trees, etc. Not on a bike trail. Great neighbors.

2011 Summer Townhouse #1 Larger townhouse with little tiny yard. Fairly open floor plan. Two floors. 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. Huge windows. Amazing pool. No trail, not a lot of grass. Nice neighbors.

2011 Fall House #1 2 story home in a beautiful neighborhood. 1 acre lot with grass to run and large oak trees to admire. Farm view behind the yard. In between an open and closed floor plan. Smaller windows. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. Cul-de-sac. No pool. Large deck and front porch. Foyer. Garage. Fireplace. Flat lot. Room for expansion. Large shed.

I'd say we're moving right on up. You know what the best part about the house is? We are hoping to live there for years and years. We'll have our children there. Sadie will run around the house happily. I will sit on the porch and sip coffee with my mom. It's all going to rock. Pray that it all goes as planned with the home inspection and the finances. Can't wait to show you more!

RIP Allie cat

She waited until I got to see her yesterday, and she left us today. 

It's like she knew I wanted to say goodbye.

You were my first cat, Allie, and you will be missed.

Moving forward...

Things have been wild around here lately. We've been so busy!

First of all, I'd like to wish the best and her hubby a wonderful anniversary - they've had four nice years together!

Because it's an important occasion in Dana's life, it calls for another step in ours (ha - not really, but these things tend to happen more than intended). Justin proposed to me on D's birthday (almost midnight) last year, and now we're....

putting an offer in on a house, signed and dated 11/3/11. I should mention that it is also my half-birthday, and this is a lovely half-birthday present for me.

However, who knows what will happen. We are putting in a nice low offer on this special house of choice, but they probably won't take it right away. Without getting into detail, it's definitely a buyers' contract - everything is kind of helping us out. They would have to pay a significant amount to help with things, so we'll see what they decide.

It's a lovely farmhouse/colonial style with a one-car garage. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. .95 acres (it feels so huge and it's beautiful with big trees!), front porch, some hardwood, the rest brand new carpet, big back deck, big storage shed, mud foyer area, dining room, kitchen, living room. It's around 1700 square feet -- no basement -- and it feels like the perfect size for us. It's not too big and not too small. It's also in a great neighborhood, so that's really exciting.

I decided the no basement thing was okay in the end. I have always had one, so I always just assume I need one, but the only real reason is for my phobia of (really, really) bad weather -- hey, it's somewhere to run to -- and since we don't get super bad weather very often, I really don't feel the need to have one. Also, my parents have one, and at no time in the past ten years have we gone downstairs during a bad storm. It's just very rare. Anyhow...

Wish us luck!