Cold, cold, cold!

Joe is in Vegas for 4 weeks. Up until this Point we have had a fairly mild winter. But, no sooner had he left then the cold started moving in. Last weekend bro blizzard conditions with white out visibility Monday morning. Then last night the polar vortex started pushing our way. Today the temperature was -20 or so when I woke up with a feels like temperature of -48. Tomorrow is supposed to bring -32 by 8 a.m. with the wind chill hovering in the -60 area. That said they actually canceled school. Even the post office is closed for all of North and South Dakota tomorrow. It is 63° in Vegas today Joe owes me big time LOL. Tomorrow we will be huddled up watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. It’s nice to have an unexpected day off :-) 

Sunday we stayed home from church because the weather was too unpredictable. Haylee shoveled the few inches of snow we got since I am still not supposed to use my abs.  She didn’t complain at all.  She is a good kid.  


Today I went to lunch with Keva and Stephanie.  We had a great time as always and could’ve stayed there for hours chatting it up. 

I also took Haylee to the doctor today. She has been complaining about knee pain for several months.  She has had some unexplained pain and lots of cracking and popping in her joints for a few years.  Her knee pain has gotten to the point that it really bothers her.  I have suspected EDS for her for a long time but things have been ok and a diagnosis doesn’t help a great deal.  However, with her knees getting worse and her getting older/closer to being off mom and dads insurance I decided we will head down the road of getting her diagnosed.  At least this time I know what I am doing. After talking with her doc today her doc said to me “you have amazing orthopedic terminology” I told her I am an expert.   lol.  I don’t look forward to having another kiddo diagnosed but it is important to have it docimented, if that is the case for her.  All EDS-ers are different. Haylee’s case is certainly less severe than Sierra’s.  I am thankful for the blessings that come through trials for us all.  And pray always that we will endure them well. 

Stuff

You would think recovering from surgery I would be blogging like a crazy person since life is dull. But it hasn’t been that way at all.  Between Joe being off for a week and my friends visiting and going to lunch I have been a busy lady. :) Had my post op a week  ago and things look good.  She didn’t clear me to do anything but drive which was kind of a bummer. I have still been good.  Just started doing some small tasks and am handling things ok.  We ran around quite a bit today and I was achy tonight. Mostly I feel really good.  Yay!  A few more weeks before I am ready to roll! 

The last couple of weeks we have seen moose. ❤️❤️ finally!  There are three there! 

We have been doing the come follow me curriculum for individuals and families.  We are 2 for 2.  Joe leaves tomorrow for Vegas though.  Hopefully we can figure out how to keep him involved.  We each have a notebook to take notes.  It doesn’t feel like a it’s going super well but I have some new ideas and I am really happy everyone is participating!! With obidience comes blessings. 

Haylee loves skating. She takes lessons once a week and is getting better all the time. 

We went to a hockey game -2 weeks post surgery and I paid for it the next day.  But we sat right at the glass and had a great time! 

We attended our Chief’s group holiday party. They do it in January since there is no way you would find a free weekend for all the Chief’s in December. It was a white elephant party and we decided to give an autographed photo of ourselves as a joke.  It was a big hit. 

Me and my cute friend Amber. Her hubby is a Chief and she is a Chief select!!! 

Our friends Brian and Sommer who were ecstatic to end up with our picture.  Brian hung it in their house the next day!!  lol.  They are going to print this pic next year and give it as part of their gift next year.  🤣

Me and Steph. She is one of my faves!

Joe and I being photobombed my Russ.  Lol. 

Our group. These are some great people!!!  

Yesterday we went to church and watched football.  We were so happy to see the Chief’s in the AFC championship game.  

They lost in overtime due to dumb rules and a couple of bad calls.  We are huge Patrick Mahomes fans.  He is going to be a legendary QB.

Also, it was super cold!  I wore snow boots and leggings to church for the first time.  

Speaking of church. I am struggling with my calling.  I need to pray about it and have faith. It has been really hard for me. 

Last pic is Joe’s stuff packed tomorrow.  He is headed out of town for a few weeks.  We will miss him. 


Just kidding this is really the last one. We got a call this week from the people in charge of that blue and white plane.  The PAG is looking for a new Chief and they reached out to Joe.  It is a five year commitment.  The job is amazing but the timing just wasn’t right.  We did not feel peaceful about saying yes.  It would have required us to move this summer or early next year. Haylee will be a Senior in the fall.  Even though she said she was ok with moving, moving is really hard for her.  When we decided against taking the job we felt really good about it.  Our Air Force adventure will continue. Had we said yes all the adventure would have been removed from this crazy life we live. Doing the AF One job would have put Joe at 28 years. We are eligible for retirement in 2020 (24 years of service) -we don’t know that we will retire but we like having the option.  Life is crazy and unpredictable. Lol. We love it! 

Surgery

Friday the 28th of December I had a total hysterectomy.  The doc took everything but my ovaries.  For the last several years I have been having some decent pain with my periods and ovulation. Last fall (2017) I went to a GYN in Missouri and asked to have a uterine ablation done. She did some tests to see if I was a good canidate and informed me I had some fibroids one of which was very good sized and that ruled me out from having the ablation.  She recommended I have hysterectomy at that time but I was working and Sierra was getting ready to have shoulder surgery and I just didn’t have time. The doc also told me that I was a higher than normal risk of being opened up for my hysterectomy due to the size and location of my largest fibroid. I just wasn’t on board with such a major surgery and the long recovery.  After we moved to North Dakota I decided to go in and get another opinion about whether or not to have a hysterectomy.  My doctor recommended we do another  ultrasound to see if my fibroids had grown. Come to find out they had more than doubled in size! I decided the time had come to have it all taken out.  My poor uterus was the size of someone who was 18-19 weeks pregnant!  Yikes!!  I wanted to wait until after Christmas to have my surgery done so the 28th was perfect.  I wasn’t really nervous just ready to have the whole thing over. The surgery went really well and my doctor was able to take everything out laparoscopically. It was a struggle though and my surgery lasted almost three hours instead of the 90 minutes she had planned.  I had a really hard time waking up from the surgery, which has happened to me before. I don’t like to remember to breathe. They got me back upstairs in same-day surgery recovery and I was happy to see Joe  again but still super sleepy and on oxygen since I couldn’t keep my sats up by myself. After a little bit I wanted to get up and walk and try to go pee.  Joe and the nurse walked on either side of me to the bathroom where I tried and tried and tried to go. My bladder had forgotten how to work. I did that process a few times and still couldn’t go. All the while my blood pressure was climbing and climbing. When my blood pressure got up to 183/108 the nurse decided to call my doctor. The doctor prescribed a really strong pain medication for me so that I could relax. Also, I was really nauseous.  The sight or smell of any food made me super sick.  That was the case for a few days after surgery. The doc said my bladder being so full is what was making my BP high.  The meds worked and I was able to go just a tiny bit. It brought my blood pressure down enough to go home. The worst part that night was the gas that they had filled my abdomen with. It was making my back and shoulder hurt so badly I could not lay down. I slept sitting up for two nights.  I was also dealing with some severe lower back pain. I ended up calling my doctor and she said it may have been the way I was positioned during surgery. We kept using a hot pad and I continue to taking my Percocet. Other than that I have felt really good. Only the occasional pain in my abdomen but my back is better. I don’t have any energy and small tasks make me want to take a nap. Joe and Haylee have been amazing at taking care of me.  Joe Especially. He waited on me hand and foot for the first few days cooking me whatever I wanted to eat and always checking to see how I was feeling. He helped me shower dried me off and re-dressed my incisions. He also dried my hair for me. I told him if I could teach him to use a round brush we’d be in business. He has been amazing and I am so thankful for his tender care. I took a shower by myself today and dried my own hair and I had to take a nap afterwards LOL. 

This pic is us before surgery. 

New Year’s eve HD and Kassi did their gender reveal. We found out that our new grand baby is a boy!!!  We are so excited to spoil this new little man. He is going to be Mimi’s best buddy. His aunties couldn’t be more excited! 

This is me four days post surgery. I put on a pair of leggings and did my make up. We even drove down to the mall and Joe pushed me around in a wheelchair the good part of that was I had found out that the baby was a boy so straight to the target baby section we went :-)

This was my Snapchat from this afternoon. It was the first day I was home by myself all day.  I don’t feel terrible just tired. I can see how it would be easy for someone to overdo it. I have strict instructions for my doctor not to do much of anything for a couple of weeks and I can’t drive until I see her on the 14th. I need it to be extra good as Joe is leaving me for a month on the 22nd.  I have promised myself I will take it easy even though I was really tempted to put in a load of laundry today.

I will update with more Christmas pictures soon. We had a great visit and everyone loved their gifts it was the best.

Christmas Eve

Everyone arrived on the 20th.  We have been having lots of fun together.  Today we delivered cookies and mom and I slipped and fell.  I had to record the story because it is hilarious. 

We have four or five plates to deliver.   Joe, Rick, Mom, Sierra and I.  Haylee stayed home to chill.  She missed the show.  At house 4 of 5 we climb out of the van.  I walk around the front of it, mom in front of me, Joe behind us.  Before I know what has happened mom and I are both on the sidewalk, mom fell flat on her chest, arms splayed out to her sides, I have hit my knee and who knows what else.  Once we got over our shock we started to laugh.  Rick and Sierra jump out of the car to help.  Mom had a gift for our neighbors in a bag -they had let us borrow their guest bed- the bag is ripped the card is wet, the cookies are broken and we both have snow from one end to the other.  We get up laughing and trying to determine if anything is broken.  As we start to walk up to the house again, Joe says “Don’t tell them you fell!” I look at the wet cookie bag with broken cookies, moms ripped gift bag and both of us covered with snow and burst out laughing again.  How were we supposed to explain our appearance and the gift and cookies?  We laughed so hard we both almost peed our pants.  Our neighbors were understandning about us being snowy and wet.  We could not stop laughing for the rest of the day!!!!  Even now with a tweaked knee on the right and my dang tendonitis foot on the left, if I think about it for more than a second it makes me laugh.  We laughed so hard we cried.  Oh goodness.  What a sight we must have been!!  It was so funny.  Poor Mom is going to be bruised up one side and down the other tomorrow.  But we made A memory we won’t soon forget!!! What a day we have had!!  

Pics will come next week when I am laid up.  Night all!  

What in the world?

Lots going on so not much blogging happening.  I’ll catch up after Christmas. For now lots of shopping, cooking, prepping for the holiday and my upcoming surgery.  It has come time to say goodbye to my uterus.  She and I cannot be friends so out she goes. I spent Wednesday shopping, Thursday and Friday cooking so I could have some good freezer meals. Friday my left foot hurt some from being on it all day I assume.  Today I woke up with crazy Charlie horse like pain on the bottom and top of my foot, which came back from time to time throughout the day. I took ibuprofen and sally’d forth as that is what one does when one has a lot to do (also, where did that sentence just come from??) Anywho, we had Joe’s Christmas party tonight.  Super boring and long.  We got home changed into jammies and I cleaned up a bit more from what I didn’t finish earlier. As I sat and watched tv I could feel the muscles/ligaments in my foot and calf getting tight again.  I decided to put some heat on it. As I got in better light and looked closer my foot looks like this!.....

Hence the title of my post...what in the world???? 

I cannot touch that bump on the top of my foot.  It is super painful.  I am going to try to rest it tomorrow.  It is Sunday but I have approximately one million things to do between now and Thursday!  Wish me luck people!! 

December is going to go by fast

We have been doing the usual, school, work, stuff.  Lol.  I was supposed to feed the sisters yesterday but I forgot it is Chief promotion release week. That means lots of “stuff” to go to. Yesterday was the informal “Yay for you” celebration.  My good friend Amber, whose husband is a Chief, was selected for Chief this cycle!!!  She has spent the last year battling breast cancer so this news was extra sweet.  It was fun to hug her and cry some happy tears!! 

I am so thankful for this group of ladies!! L to R, Lisa, Laura, Amber, me, Jessica and down front Stephanie. We have fun together! 

Jack Frost lives in North Dakota!  The frost on the trees is stunning. The photos don’t do it justice. 






Last Saturday was the Chief Spouse Christmas party.  We had a great time!!  That morning I went with the Spouses pictured above (except Jessica) to the bath and body works candle sale, we went several other places and out to lunch. Girl time rocks! 

Sharon and I 

Us again with a photobomb from the beautiful Miss Kris. 

This was Friday night before the Team Minot Holiday social.  Did I mention December is busy? 

Making caramel!!!  My first two batches have been perfection!! 

The funeral for President George H. W. Bush was today, well the DC one.  It was wonderful to hear the funny stories and memories of those who were close to him. And it’s always fun to see our plane. 

In early 2006 Joe got to load President Fords casket onto the aircraft.  An amazing experience for sure!!

These cane in the mail today!  They are my surgery jammies.  :)  since I will be spending a couple of weeks on the couch I wanted something new to wear!  Haylee said they looked like I was in prison.  At least two weeks in the house might feel that way. Lol. And bonus they have pockets!!!  

Night friends!! 

Post trouble

I had a post all typed out for Thanksgiving and it wouldn’t publish!  I am getting back into my old habit of thinking I don’t have the time to do a proper update so I will wait until I do which just results in me not updating at all.  A quick update will have to do. 

One day last week I took Haylee to school. As soon as I got off base I realized I forgot my purse. Not a big deal unless you need your military ID to get back home.  Thank goodness Joe checked his phone and came to rescue me!  

For Thanksgiving we hosted two other families. There were 10 of us in all.  It was a wonderful day with lots of chatting and deepening friendships.  This is the only pic I took! 

The day after Thanksgiving Haylee and I went shopping.  It was great.  The weather was awesome and when I got home Joe washed the van.  That guy is my hero.  For real. 

He had also put up all the outside lights on the house.  ❤️ this porch tree is my favorite.  I love it more every year!! 



Decorating inside.  We got a new tree for this room since our other two are too tall. 

Haylee fluffing up the snowman tree. 

The America tree in the office.  It is beautiful.  

Our house, kinda. Not a great pic. You get the idea. 

The tree in the family room. Not bad for a 99.00 tree from Walmart!  

Sunday we got some snow.  Just a little, it looked fake! 

Like that stuff you would sprinkle out of a bag. 



It was COLD this morning.  

The Spouses Club decorates the club on base so I went and helped with that.  

It was a fun morning. 


Tomorrow we decorate the sports bar on base :) 

Busy Christmastime.  ❤️🎄❤️