Amazing Grace

How Sweet...How Sweet thy sound....

Sure makes it hard...

...to get anything done when this is what surrounds you.....

Smith Randle Bailey

It's a strange feeling to get older. It's just...interesting for lack of better word.

I remember when I was in 10th or 11th grade and watched many of my friends siblings' get married and thought- WOW, I can't believe they are getting married.

I remember friends graduating and still remembering the days we shared in Elementary School.

I am now seeing my sisters friends graduate college- and I can remember when those girls were in Kindergarten!

I remember how crazy it was when Christine and David got married. (they were the first high school classmates that I was aware of uniting in marriage back then). And now they have 2 beautiful daughters.

I remember many many more of my friends, and myself, finding our soul-mates and embarking on the journey of marriage.

And then many of those have gone and had beautiful children who look just like their parents, and it's strange..because they are like mini-me's of my friends...

....and then I saw some of my friends' marriages fail. Divorce. Are we really old enough for that?? I mean, old enough to have been married and then learn it just wouldn't work and then experience divorce? All in the 9 years since we have graduated HIGH SCHOOL ??? My gosh where does the time go.

Each time a "life event" occurs I just sit and reflect on the fact that life is happening around me. Things that I watched "older" people go through are now becoming my reality, my friend realities. My classmates realities. It kind of stops me in my tracks.

You see, I began reading blogs probably 3 years ago...I have no idea how I came across the first one I read, but the first blog I ever read was: Ashley Adam's Journal and it shared the story of this adorable baby who had multiple organ transplants, and shared the story of her ongoing journey. From there, Ashleys mom would link here and there from time to time and share with her readers, other blogs to read. So before I knew it, I had 40+ blogs "bookmarked" to read from wedding planning, to house decorating, to baking, to babies with illness, and then bringing things full circle when I would click on what I thought was a "new blog" in the blogosphere to find that it was actually an acquaintances blog. It's just been a very small world to me- this world of blogging.

I remember reading so many blogs about babies who were born with life threatening diseases, babies who beat the odds, and babies who would ultimately be called Home far before the people on this Earth felt fair. I remember not knowing these mothers or fathers, or babies or anyone in their family in fact- but my heart still ached for them, and I just can't explain how or why my heart would sit and read and read about these miracles and how many hearts they touched in such a short time.

I remember that the "closest to home" that a story of heartache came- was when Sydney Grace came into the world, but would never breathe a breath on this Earth. For this sweet babe would only breathe in the womb. Her mother attended church with me for years, and I can remember looking up to her growing up- and her now-husband being just as awesome as can be "back in the day". I remember reading the posts that Alyssa wrote in the hours and days and weeks and months and years since Sydney's birth and just being in complete shock that someone I knew had experienced the loss of a child. A child that you had prayed for, longed for, prepared for...just...taken from this Earth. I couldn't imagine. I remember 2.5 years ago when Syd was born thinking "man...we [my friends and acquaintances] are all getting older. These events that I remember simply hearing about in my younger years and being so naive to, are suddenly becoming a very close reality.

Well today I have learned that not only are we getting older- but some of my very own classmates, friends my very same age, who I graduated with, acted silly with, and never dreampt in a million years would experience such a jolt, have said goodbye to their little fighter.


Jon and Kori Bailey said goodbye to their precious son, Smith Randle Bailey, today- as he went to be with our Father. Kori carried Smith for 23 weeks and 6 days before she birthed this teeny, tiny precious baby boy.

Smith Randle Bailey
Born April 29th 2010 at 3:14 am
1 lbs. 8 oz.
12.5 in long!

Jon, and Kori and an amazing team of doctors and nurses would fight right along side with Smith for 12 days as this little boy fought for every minute he was given. I encourage you to head over to this website and watched the amazing slideshow that their photographer put together. There is more emotion in this slideshow than I can even begin to explain. Such a tiny tiny miracle that in 12 days has touched more hearts than I very well have in my 27 years.

Please with our without watching the slideshow if you feel comfortable, head over to Jon, Kori, and Smiths Blog and leave them a thought or two.

I cannot begin to imagine the heartache, the loneliness, the aching of a mother and father's arms to hold their baby once again. I can't imagine the battle with Faith that I would have if this were my child. But I do know- Jon and Kori have amazing strength as a couple. They will look to the Father for strength, guidance and hope. The days where the will to go on is nowhere in sight, I pray they are given the strength by Him to take another step forward.

Jon and Kori- I am so very sorry for this indescribable loss. Smith was loved by so many, and Smith touched numerous hearts. God's timing and plan are perfect- and I am so glad you got to experience Mother's Day with sweet Smith. The words of Mark Schultz's song play through my head over and over..."You are a child of Mine, born of My own design..."

Going to be doing some "Traveling"...

...play on words...pun intended...stay tuned. It's been way too long since I've blogged. If any of yall are still out there, I appreciate you checking in :)

All in a day's work...

...things that I encountered today {just to name a few}...

1) Have an insured named "Let Sei". Only "Let Sei" wasn't driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, it was "Let Boy".

2) Have an insured who's name is: Hung Longh

3) Had an insured who called me LIVID because their vehicle had been repo'd by their lien holder- and demanded I "get it back". When asked if they had been making their payments even their car had been totaled 1.5 month ago and we were still negotiating settlement they replied "NO! I aint's gonna make no currr payments when I aint's gots no curr". {ahem, woman...no car payments=no car...just sayin'}

4) Had an insured who called and filed a comprehensive claim for the theft of their vehicle. Swearing it was "stoled" from their friends apartment. They filed a police report and everything. Upon investigating, it turns out the apartments towed the car for parking illegally. {Here's your sign...}

5) Got called a heffer {again}

6) Came across a claimant who's name is: Dan Colon. Well his wife was driving the car when the accident happened so her name is on the claim too. I learned that she hyphenates her last name so her name is: Linda Loud-Colon. {really woman...REALLY??}

7) Read a police report where the cop stated: Upon arriving to the scene of the accident {where my insured hit 3 cars, and then a home} I saw two Native American men, Blackburn and Tinstar. When talking to Blackburn it was apparent he had been drinking as his breath and person smelled of alcohol. He has slowed and slurred speech while talking to me. In the middle of our conversation, Blackburn began to urinate on himself. When asked why he was urinating, Blackburn responded by saying "I really had to go and I couldn't hold it any longer".





Enough Said......

Zac Smith

I found myself in a "woe is me" attitude towards the end of my day, during my drive to the gym, while staring at myself in the mirror during spin class, and my entire drive home. I thought to myself "why can't this happen, why can't that happen, where did we go wrong, how do we get from a to b, how how how, why why why" . I felt really sorry for myself. I felt really sorry for us. I'm trying to learn how to dance in this rain...I really think I am. Or am I?? This storm is still my storm, but it could be filled with lightening and hail and become a flood. When I got home, I plopped down on the couch to take a load off, and began checking a blog or two with I can guarantee you- a frown upon my face. A frowned pair of lips and frowned wrinkles between my eyes. The first, and I mean very first blog I read today was a post today by another blog friend who had posted this on her blog.

At first I almost skipped watching this video. Actually, let me rewind {and this is how I know this video was meant for me to watch tonight}. When I clicked on this particular blog, I thought I was going to be reading a post about how her little girl is turning 11 months old. I was going to leave a comment about how I remember her post the night before leaving the hospital, and how I remember the first pictures etc etc...However when I clicked on the link for that post, somehow it's almost as if blogger messed up and that post was no longer available to read. Instead- the post that showed up as the most recent post on her blog was the post regarding the video I am about to post below.

I needed this today. I needed perspective. I needed to know that no matter what I am loved. No matter what, He holds my future, our future, my plan, our plan- and no matter the journey- He is Good.

Please don't do what I did and almost click away from my blog and this post. Please take the 4 minutes to regain some perspective.

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Must.Have.It.Now....

So I figured since I didn't have anything too embarrassing, too sad, to thrilling or too boring to talk about, I would post up some of my loves, my favorites, my can't live withouts!.

*Warning* this post will be all over the place. No method to the madness..no rhythm to the beat. It's random, it's all over the place...its probably loony...much like it's author. However, listed below are some of my favorite, favorite things.

1) Baby Chandeliers

Why oh why do these precious babies {no pun intended} make my heart so happy?? I may not know quite when we are going to begin trying for little ones of our own {or maybe I do...and I just can't share yet...I'll never tell!!!} and I may not know the sex of our baby{s} and I may not know when or where they will be born or the color scheme of their nursery...but what I DO know is that the room where our sweet babe will one day lay his or her head will will be home to one of these amazing beauties. They are sweet, they are innocent, they are glamorous, they are low lighting, they are sparkles..they are dainty and sweet. Just one of my loves.

2) Diet Coke

Can't explain the love. It's just...there. It was love at first drink. It's become an addiction. I've tried to stop, and I can't. I stare at the can knowing it's filled with absolutely nothing with positive nutritional value and yet I can't wait to pop that top and feel the "carbon burn" as those first two, three, four gulps head down the hatch...ahhhh there's just nothing like it. Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall...Morning, Noon, Night...Sunday through Saturday..they are my lifeline. {my thighs lifeline too}

3) Mr Clean Magic Erasers

Ok, so I don't know WHAT the secret it to these bad boys {and please don't spoil my innocence and tell me the secret} but these things are seriously the bomb. Did I just say "the bomb" ??? Yes, I did as there is just no other saying to do them justice. Got kids?? They take off everything. Crayon off the walls...markers on the cabinets..they have you covered. I have loved these erasers for years and I use them all of the time when cleaning- but they SERIOUSLY peaked their awesomeness last weekend when I was tackling the shower. I don't know what it is about cleaning the bathroom but yall, I DREAD it. I will clean the ENTIRE rest of the house, walk the dogs, do the laundry, count the number of slats on the blinds before I will tackle the bathroom. So last weekend after I counted slats, stared at the ceiling, trimmed the dogs nails and cleaned out the pantry I decided I had no other option but to clean the stupid room. I did the sink, vanity, toilet, bathtub, floor, etc etc saving the BLASTED shower for last. UGHHH I hate cleaning the shower. Anyway...we have an ceramic tile/glass shower with the exception of the floorplan. Due to the placement of our shower, we were not "allowed" to tile the showerpan {whatever} so it had to be this horrid white showerpan. Well I don't care how well you clean your feet, over time the floorpan had become sort of discolored and just dirty looking. I had {in the past} risked ruining the acrylic on my freshly filled nails *gasp* using brushes, bleach, gloves, comet this and lysol that while on hands and knees trying to get the discoloration off to NO avail and leaving a pissed off Amy, who didn't want to clean the stupid room in the first place. Well this weekend I happened to be using one of the Magic Beauties on the tub and thought I would give it a whirl on the showerpan as I truly had nothing to lose. Scrub, scrub...scrub...scru- wait a minute...scrubscrubscrubscrub..oh my..scrscuscuscuscuscsubbbbb ITS COMING OFF!!!! Yes yall...the dreaded discoloration came off with the help with a little elbow grease and the magic eraser!!! I was sooo excited! I asked Rob to get up off the couch and come look at "something really neat"!!! He politely informed me he was happy where he was, and I said "No babe..really, you have GOT to come see this." So I'm sure he sighed and followed me in the bathroom where I said "SEE!! LOOK!!! I got it off!" He said.."What did you get off??" *Big Huff* "The dirt that was on the shower pan..remember??" He said "Oh..I guess" and smiled and said "great job!" Pssshhh, whatever dude! I was ecstatic. Go buy these yall.

4) Bobbi Brown Corrector & Concealer

Ok so one of the things I wish I didn't have {yet I feel they are hereditary to an extent} would be the dark circles. I have battled concealer after concealer to find one that truly takes the darkness away and as an end result actually has my under eyes looking BRIGHTER than the rest of my face (makeup tip #1). So I asked my sister being the experienced make-up artist/connoisseur that she is- which one she recommended. Trish, Laura Mercier, Mac, Bobbi, Nars...HELP ME!!! So without a moments hesitation she said "Bobbi Brown, hands down". So off to BB I went. Now let me say this..they will CUSTOMIZE colors for you. Mix and match a bottle specifically for you, my dear reader. So I went and got the corrector and concealer. You first apply the corrector (the lighter pod) in order to lighten up the surface so you the darkness is no longer and issue. Then the concealer is applied ontop to even out the skin tone and the creases. It's fantastic yall. The stuff works...it's not greasy and it lasts all day.

5) 409 Granite and Natural Stone Cleaner

Got granite? Does it streak with other cleaners? Get this..enough said. We have "Absolute Black" granite countertops in the kitchen per the Husband's request {ahem, the one who doesn't clean} and those things are a pain in the butt to keep clean! Water marks, drips, streaks...none of which are a problem with a little swipey swipe of a papertowel and a spray of this 409

6)Fekkai Smooth Hair

This stuff is amazing. You apply it to wet hair before drying it and it will leave it as smooth as silk yall!!! I purchased mine at Bath and Body Works. I have seen it at Target (in their professional hair care section) as well at my salon, but I noticed that B&BW has the best price on it (around $20). A bottle will last your forever! I will tell you this too, it makes your hear really really smooth- just super nice...so if you are planning on doing a tease job or a big poof..you might NOT want to use it for that particular style as you typically want your hair not so silky or it won't tease or poof as well! But on the days where I wear my hear down, you can bet your hairstrands that apply this!

7) Nutella

I want to bathe in this stuff. I want life to be made of Nutella. I want a constant fountain of Nutella {with a side of #2}

8) Hobby Lobby

Pretty much want everything in this store. Even the crap in the 80% off section that's broken, chipped and missing letters..I'll take it. I'll make it work. It will end up beautiful. Love the store..love the sales..love gift cards as well! HA!

9) MAC Studio Fix Mascara

I have been on a search since I began wearing mascara. I have wanted one that doesn't clump, that lengthens and separates. I mean, that's what most women are after in a Mascara, right??? Well I'm pretty sure I found it. MAC has a mascara that is pictured above that is called "Studio Fix". I love it. Absolutely love it. It's been rumored to be quite a competitor with it's opponent Christian Dior. What I can tell you is that it's a wonderful product. Great wand, easy to work with, lasts all day and is very easy to wash off with soap! And at a price of $14.50- seriously- that's awesome!

Ok yall...tell me. Tell me what you can't live without. What do I need?? What MUST I run out and get?!?! Tell me, tell me, tell me!!!!

Scent for Spring....

.....my choice in perfume this spring involves.....

I love love love this perfume. I actually am very {annoyingly} picky when it comes to perfumes- hence why I normally can find more body washes/creams/sprays that I like so will typically stick with those. However an unused giftcard presented itself {unused gift card?!?! GASP!!} and Rob told me sternly to go get myself something. So who was I to argue??? So I did. I went and purchased this jewel of a scent which I had been longing for, for a few months :) Just crisp enough, just citrusy enough, just clean enough, just right for this spring!!!

Hope Floats Votes!!!!

Hey Yall!!! I'm coming to ya live here...with a really fun favor!!!!! I'm not sure how many of yall read Kristy Bolte's Blog that can be found here (Waiting for Happy) ...but if there is a woman who I admire for strength, determination, a foundation with her Father who I long to have, and a heart like none other- It's Kristy.

For those not familiar with their story, the Bolte's have 2 sweet precious sons in Heaven, and 2 sons and one daughter here on Earth. After the loss of their first son Isaac, Kristy and Howard tried again. Luke was born as healthy as can be. They then were blessed to deliver a healthy spunk of a son in Benjamin. They became pregnant for the fourth time, and sweet Asher passed away after birth as well. They became pregnant for the fifth time (first time pregnant with a baby girl) and sweet Hope was born with the diagnosis of EB, but the Lord is protecting her from the trauma that this disease can cause as His hand is protecting her sweet body.

Kristy has entered Hope into a contest where the winner will receive a complimentary photo shoot, complimentary adorable Tutu, and $25 towards their portrait purchase. All it takes at ALL to vote is a simple email. That's it yall. No registering, no spam email...just one email.




Kristy and I were emailed recently about how special this opportunity is to her as a mother, because with the diagnosis Hope was given at Birth with EB...having a gorgeous photoshoot to represent the fact that diagnosis don't ultimately define you as a person or the plans that God has for your baby would be such a sweet symbol for this family.

I am asking you guys to do this....yall it's easy...

1) Send an email to this email address: katiemihalakcontests@gmail.com
2) In the subject write: Babies and One Year Olds
3) In the body of the email write: I would like to vote for Hope Bolte

THAT's IT!!!!! Easy as Pie!!!!!

You can vote until this Friday...and if you vote, will you please leave me a comment??? I might just have something up my sleeve for one of my commenters who votes, and leaves me a comment telling me so!!!

Seriously...you know this baby is p-r-e-c-i-o-u-s!! So VOTE!!! Will you?!?!?

{Don't Forget To Leave Me a Comment if you Vote...and you can vote once per email address...but if you have more than one email address..you can vote from all email addresses *wink*}

In the near future-

So my goal in the near future is to share with you guys the following {in no particular order}...

• More musings regarding the conversations/scenarios that I encounter at work
• Our current battle with our HOA regarding our flooded garage/gameroom closet and how I will fight 'til the death for them to cover ever penny of our loss...
• The renovation projects I have taken on in Rob's study, completely with some before/after photos and some "we are building this for in the room" photos as well
• My current love of a new blog involving lots 'o projects I have added to our "to do list"
• And anything else hilarious that happen between now and then....
  

I'll leave it for you to decide...

..I may or may not have eaten an entire box of Samoas in one sitting while reading my Fitness magazine....again- may or may not.

Not for the Sensitive Stomachs....

....puhhhhllleeaassseeeee what am I saying??? Who am I to say ANYTHING in regards to who I think can stomach a certain situation/video/or recovery room!!!!!

Today Rob went and had the stints, stitches, and cast removed from his nose. I saved Rob the trouble of even having to ask me to attend the appointment with him, and immediately informed him that I would NOT be attending this shindig as the bruise on the top of my foot from falling once twice is still sore and I probably should just "take it easy" {ahem, or something like that!}

I mean, really, I probably should have a post-op/post fall/post recovery appointment as well, but I consider myself pretty tough and strong {stop laughing} so I'll just save that copay *wink*

Ok so I'm about to post the video below showing the removal of one of Rob's stints. I actually thought it was going to be much worse seeing how Rob forced me into watching YOUTUBE videos of rhinoplasty stint removal {and I'm the idiot who obliged} and it made looking like birthing sextuplets without any medications like a piece of cake!!! Ok...so the video is below...

When I called Rob after his appointment, I laughed and asked him if he made sure to tell Dr Rohn about my "episodes" in the recovery area. Rob laughed back and said "Oh no...not at all, he said he already knew all about it".

Nice.Classic.ThankYouVeryMuch

While I fainted to the floor, the nurse asked if I was pregnant...

You know, in some aspects I like to consider myself a strong person. I can lift a decent amount of weight at the gym in both my legs and my arms. I am as stubborn and hard headed as they come. I will be there for people through times when others might bail. I can help you move into an apartment when it involves moving couches, beds, washers/dryers, etc as we can get it done- just the two of us. I can hold your hand while you have an IV put in. I am strong....



....or I thought I was until I came thisclose to passing out not once, but TWICE people while my HUSBAND was in recovery.

Yes, you read that correctly.

How about I embarrass myself completely {as if I haven't already with the show I put on at the hospital on Thursday} and tell you all about it! Shall we??? Here we go......

As you most likely read below, Rob's surgery ended up lasting about 4.5 hours- much longer than anticipated. So after the 3 hour mark passed, I grew anxious and more nervous and scared with each passing minute. I was "fine" {whatever "fine" means when your husband is laying on a metal operating table, intubated, while the doctor hammers and chisels away at your husbands face and later says "it's like working under the hood of a car, the way we lift the nose skin up"}. Anyway, I was "fine" the first 3 hours of the surgery because I knew it was going to be 3 hours. But when his original OR nurse came out and told me that A) Her shift was over and she was leaving and B) That Rob's nose was completely jacked up and the doctor was having to make on-the-spot decision about how in the world to put him back together and had no idea how much longer it would be because the doctor was so focused he wasn't talking, I became ridiculously nervous. So much so- that I was 100% ready thrust my arm at the OR nurse's face (elbow pit side up) and demand that she provide me with an IV with a Xanax drip, I kid you not. So what did I do instead?? In true Amy fashion I began to panic and every thought went through my head in about .000001 seconds. i.e, He's back there and this surgery is going to go on for hours and hours and the doctor is going to be so sleepy and finally come out and tell me there is nothing we can do for him except cut his nose completely off and just drill 2 holes in his face for "pretend nostrils" and he will just need a breathing tube forever. And I just knew that Rob was going to bleed out from his nose all over the table and there would be no blood available for a transfusion so he was going to lay there in his own pools of blood and die when the blood finally bled out. Or, that the doctor was going to come out and ask me if I wanted to see him again before he slipped away. I.kid.yall.not- My freak of a strong self thought all of those things. So what is a wife to do???




Call her mom and start demanding things.





Yup. Called my mom and asked her to come by the hospital and get my house key and to please go and let our dogs out and feed them and turn on some lights for me (because, you know, since I was going to be coming home alone-husbandless- I would want some lights to provide some welcoming sight) and to give the dogs a piece of sliced cheese (a real treat for them). So just like any mother does for their child, she totally accepted my plea and came to the hospital and got the key and performed the said duties above. (This happened all around 7:30 PM).

Around 8:10 or so, Dr Rohn comes out to talk to me and explain to me how the surgery went. He told me Rob did really well but that Rob's nose was a hot mess, pretty much. Septum completely shattered, cartilage and tissue intertwined in places it should have never gone...not enough bone here, too much bone there... sawing, cutting, chipping, grafting, sewing...and Ta-Da!!! Rob's done. He told me what to expect the next couple of days and then told me Rob was in recovery and once the nurses felt he was stable enough, they would be out to get me and I could go back and be with him. I thanked the doctor I imagine...ohhhhh...about...hmmmm....132 times and then hugged him and sat back down to take a deep breath and give my thanks to God.

About 8:25 or so I see my mom walking towards me with my key and stuff and so I chatted with her for a second, passed on the news from Dr Rohn and we chatted about the olympics and the most hysterical people watching I had done throughout the ENTIRE day. In the midst of our conversation, the nurse from recovery came out and said "Brown hair, Red Shirt, Jeans and maybe a Camel jacket- you must be Amy???" I said "Yeah, I sure am!! Who told you what all I was wearing?" She said "Rob did!" - I was pretty surprised that he would remember all of that {particularly the word "Camel" for my jacket color- thats a good one for a guy!!!} and be able to tell the nurse so she could find me! Ahem, it wouldn't have been too hard to find me though, seeing as my mom and I were the ONLY two people in the ENTIRE waiting room by this point..everyone else had peaced out and gone home. So anyway, she let us know I could go back and see him and that mom could come back as well. So I grab my 902830192 things and my camel jacket and head back to Rob's room.

I knew that he was going to look rough, as many people had told me to expect. Now keep in mind that I have never had surgery, with the exception of my adenoids being removed when I was 2 which I don't remember and my wisdom teeth being taken out at 18, which isn't really surgery to me. So mom and I walk back there and it's like a ghost town {which in about 2 minutes will become a VERY VERY good thing} except for the nurse I was with and 1 other nurse sitting outside Rob's room. When I first looked at him I wanted to cry. He had a cast on his nose, a bag of ice on his nose, the pulse ox on his finger, blood pressure cuff going on and off, had a cup of juice and some graham crackers, and was the color of the sheets on the bed. They had put ointment on his eyes during surgery to keep them moist, so his eyes were a mixture of tears and ointment which just had me beside myself. My poor husband- and there wasn't crap I could do to make it better. So what do I do?? I stand there fore about 30 seconds while the nurse checks his temperature (which was perfect and normal) and Rob cracks some jokes and tries to APOLOGIZE for having to have surgery. Whatever, honey! The nurse informs us (me, Rob and mom) that he needs to drink his juice, eat the graham crackers and use the bathroom before he can leave. No problem nurse! So I start asking Rob if he can take a drink of juice and he weakly tells me he can and tries to grab the cup. I pick up the cup and hold the straw to his mouth and he softly takes a drink. I begin to set the cup down when I have this ridiculous hot flash come across me. It starts in my head and goes all the way to my toes. My heart starts pounding fast and and I begin to feel like I can't hear very well. I knew I needed to sit down, so I tell my mom and Rob that I'm going to sit down, and find my way to a small chair in Rob's recovery room. I am still hot and having weird flashes of heat throughout my body but my hands were clammy. I look across from me for something to fan myself with and find 2 laminated signs on the wall. They both talked about how to cover your cough to prevent infection, and one was written in English and one in Spanish. So I reach over there, and remove the pushpin and yank the Hispanic sign off the wall and begin to fan away. One of the nurses sees that the color of my own face begins to blend in with the color of the wall. She asks me if I'm ok and what I have eaten that day. I told her I ate an apple and a sandwich and that was it. She tells me to come sit outside and gets me some apple juice and crackers and tells me to sit and take it easy. So my mom and the nurses go back in Rob's room to check on him while he's chomping away on crackers and juice and his wife sits outside her room fanning herself like a fat woman on a hot day. I look at the nurse after she has me SIGN SOMETHING in regards to Rob's care {have NO CLUE what I signed} and ask her what to do since I'm starting to feel worse. She asks the other nurse to get a STRETCHER...yes, STRETCHER and wheels it in and tells me to hop on it. I had never been so glad to see someplace to lay down in my life. In fact, I hopped on that stretcher so quick that I put my feet where my head go and my head where my feet go and the nurses told me once I threw myself on the bed that I did great, except I laid down on the wrong end. Nice.

So I flip around, and they bring me a cold washcloth and my juice and crackers and I hear my husband (20 minutes out of 4.5 hours of surgery) ask me: "Babe, are you ok??? Do you need anything". Yes, again- you have read that right. The gimp husband is asking the perfectly healthy wife if I need anything. To which I reply "no babe...I'm good...I just wanted to see what it felt like to be in recovery, so I'm putting on a show." Truth be told, I think it was an extremely emotional day, I hadn't eaten much, it all came to a climax so quickly, and then seeing him so pitiful and looking so awful was just to much for me. {Or I'm going to chalk it up to that!}

So I lay there for about 4 minutes and immediately start feeling better. I am now cold as can be and sweating, but I am no longer dizzy and I want to go back and see my husband. So I swing my legs over the stretcher..throw away my trash and walk back out into the hallway, and then into the room next door where 2 nurses, my mom and my husband all ask me if I'm alright! "Yeah yall...I'm great...have no idea what went on, but I'm so embarrassed. But I'm good...now what can I do??" The nurses say that Rob needs to eat his last cracker and juice and then try and pee. So we do step 1 and then the nurses get Rob sitting up and unhooked from everything so he can walk the 10 steps out his room into the restroom. I went in there with him to help him, and all is good and I am holding his gown for him, and then I get a hot flash from my head to my feet. Then another one...then my heart is pounding and I begin to sweat profusely and feel like I can't hear. I decide to show my multi tasking abilities and while holding Rob's gown while he braces himself on the handicap bar I throw on the cold water and begin throwing it on my face as fast as my hand could fill up. I kid you not. It's not working and I know what is coming next. I tell Rob that I need to go back outside and leave my 25 minute post-op husband to fend for himself as he tries to get his organs to begin functioning correctly again. Actually, we are both needing our organs to function correctly but he has a REASON for his to be acting up, I do not.

So I drop his gown and I throw open the bathroom door, and tell the nurses "I think I need to sit down again". My mom looks at me and so do the nurses and my mom tells me I have ZERO color in my face, I have no color in my lips and my eyes roll back in my head and I fall out onto the floor of the recovery hallway. Yup- fell completely out. The nurses run over (I am still conscious for all of this) and put a pillow under my head. They tell me I am going to be ok and I start talking and telling them I am so embarrassed. One of the nurses then tells my mom they think I should go to the ER. I shot my eyes wide open and said "No no no no....I don't need to go to the ER, I'm FINE!!!!" Then the nurse said "Honey you have near fainted twice in 5 minutes, so if you do this one more time, we are taking you to the ER" I'm sure I argued back with her and then the stretcher was wheeled out of my "own recovery room" and wheeled out into the hallway. They make me get back up on the stretcher and give me 7up this time and tell me not to talk and to drink. The nurses chat with each other and my mom and ask if I ate all the crackers they gave me. I told them I ate them all and they said "Do you promise???" I advised them to take one look at my thighs and they would soon realize I am not anorexic and that YES, I ate the darn crackers. I then asked them where my husband was since I abruptly left him trying to hold himself up and trying to use the restroom and trying to hold his gown and trying not to fall down face first into the toilet. I then hear Rob walk by me and he runs his hand down my leg and stops at my foot as he walks into his own room and asks me "Babe, is there anything I can do for you". Ahem- HELLO....shouldn't the roles be REVERSED, wifey?!?!?!?!? Should I be the one doing what I can for my gimp husband who has blood running from his nose??? Instead I sweetly reply "no honey, I'm so sorry this is happening and I can't be in there". My mom goes back in with Rob and helps him sit back on the bed and regroup. The nurses let him know he was welcome to get dressed again and asked him if he needed any help- to which he said no...and I politely informed them that I could use some more 7up. So classy Amy, so classy. So the nurse fills my cup with a straw and then they are chatting while Rob is dressing. My mom is stroking my sweat soaked hair and the nurse stands RIGHT outside Robs door and asks me "Is there anyway that you could be....um......" I said NO!!!! No no no no. NO WAY! And they all laughed so hard and she said "well I was just thinking....given what has gone on the past 15 minutes"....I politely informed that as much as I wish that was the reason, I apparently am just a freak who can't see her husband after surgery and has to steal all of his thunder.

Rob gets dressed and it's time to leave. OH! The nurses also determined that they were NOT going to allow me to drive Rob and myself home, so my mother was going to have to drive the 2 of us home and Rob and I would return for our car the next day. Good grief, Amy. So mom leaves to go get her car and drive it up to the front. I get off my stretcher again- after again, feeling much better and having color return to my face. The nurses come around the corner with not 1 but 2 wheelchairs and inform me that I am going to be wheeled out as well. I tried and tried to tell them I was fine to walk out to the car, and they weren't having it. So Rob gets in his chair, and apparently I get into my wheelchair and forget to get my purse, tote, and jacket. So Rob, yes, ROB gets those things and hooks them to the handles of my chair while I sit and sip on my 7up in the hospital cup. We get ready to leave and the nurses say "Are yall ready, do we have everything???" To which I reply:

"We have everything except the newborn that the woman is supposed to be wheeled out with."

{Insert huge bouts of laughter from the nurses here}

So here we go....both of us wheeled out. My husband has nothing except a cast on his nose. Black eyes and some dried blood and it was clearly obvious he had just had surgery. He's content and smiling as we are being wheeled out. Then there comes Amy, being wheeled out behind Rob. Clearly has no bandages, has not had surgery but was forced to be wheeled out holding her hospital cup, and 7up with straw...NICE.....instead of couples massages, we come to the hospital for couples surgery...that's what I could tell people, right?????

They wheel us out the front doors, and my husband asks them to take a picture. So without further ado, I present...us:

Yup......that's right people. Both of us, in all our glory. I'm so proud.

So we both get loaded up in the car and mom drops us off at the house...

Like I said...I'm sure a strong person ya know--except I can't handle my husband recovering from surgery. I MUST steal his thunder.

I'm going to be just glorious in labor one day..........

Hammers, Chisels, and.....Anestesia- oh my??????

8:22 Update: Dr Rohn came out to talk with me and let me know that Rob is in recovery..I will post more about the surgery in a bit...for now I'm going to sign off...and go see him in about an hour.


****8:00 PM Update****
Rob is still in surgery. His nose was broken years ago (as stated below) and he did not haveit reconstructed then. Therefore tonight there is a lot of pre-existing damage and scar tissue that the doctor is having to work with. He has been back there for 4+ hours...and I'm trying not to lose myself now. Again...I know it isn't a super invasive surgery, but for me- this is a lot.


I sit here at Plano Presy Hospital as my sweetie is having the reconstruction surgery on his broken nose. He broke it a couple of months ago boxing. For those that don't know (and I don't think I've mentioned it on here) Rob has taken up MMA (mixed martial arts) as a new found hobby. He and a group of guys go up to a training gym every weekend and learn how to throw each other around, choke each other out, box, and do tons and tons of conditioning. Well a couple of months ago, Rob and his fighting partner, Jeremy, were boxing and Rob looked right into Jeremy's left punch, resulting in a nice broken nose for Rob! The day he broke it, I came home actually didn't notice anything at first. And then I went upstairs and a few minutes later he came upstairs too and got a big bag of ice and slapped it on his face. I looked at him and said "What in the world have you done now??" (because about 2 weeks prior to breaking his nose, he obtained a nice slit open eyelid- go figure!) He proceeded to tell me he thinks his nose is broken :) Glorious honey, glorious.

We were of course in the midst of switching health insurance companies, so the Dr Appt's and such had to wait until we had our new coverage up and running!

So fast forward about 2 months, and here we are. Got here at 12:00 today....doctors previous surgeries during the day had lasted longer than anticipated so we wait..and wait...and wait. My dad came up here about 1:00 to see how we were. The nurse came out about 1:05 and told us about the surgeries being behind schedule and advise us that we were free to go "run around" and be back at the hospital around 2:00. So what did we I do??? Well Rob insisted that we I go and grab some lunch since I had only eaten an apple by that point. Rob hasn't been allowed to eat since 8:00 PM last night, poor thing so I attempted to protest and tell him that I wasn't going to eat in front of him but he was persistent and so I gave in and we went and grabbed lunch.

Came back about 2:00 PM and went back to pre-op. They prepped him for surgery which involved all of the following:

This also involved me continuing to take picture much to his chagrin:

But he was a good sport and we had a nice time waiting before he went back for surgery (well as nice as you can have within a room that is like 6 x 6 !!!!!

They finally came back about 4:00- put on the final touch which involved placing the hat THIS WAY on this head:

(and him deciding he was going to leave it like that to feel like a rapper)

So I sit out here in the waiting room...blogging...drinking a diet coke...perusing the internet and praying for a quick, successful surgery and a minimally painful recovery!

I'll be sure to post some before and after photos soon!

For Now,

XoXo!!!!

Finance or Land ???

I thought I would throw this out there...just because I have no idea who might come across my blog!

If anyone who is reading this post has any networking ability for jobs related to Financial Analysis or Land Acquisition, would you please leave a comment??

It can be a stretch, it can be a shot in the dark...but if you can think of anything at all, please let me know!!!!

It doesn't matter the location either!!!!

Anything at all!

After these messages....

.....we'll be right back!!!

Dear Anyone Reading,

Dear Anyone Reading this post....

I would love the following goodies....ahem...would LOOOVVEEE them!

Hellloooooo GORGEOUS!

And finally...please stay tuned for my next post....I'm having trouble wrapping around something....and here is the hint...