Grace Family
Monday, July 9, 2012
Picture Post: our summer so far
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Graduations, parties, anniversaries
Its been awhile since my last post. The May and June months seemed over in the blink of an eye and were a whirlwind of fun events. It was a great way to kick off the hot, humid (horrible) Florida summer months.
The beginning of the festivities was that Josh has finally graduated with his undergrad!!!! :-) He now has a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Florida State University. I'm incredibly proud of him that its finally finished and it was such a big deal to him as it has been a long time goal. So to celebrate, we had a great party with family and friends at our house. I even put up luau decorations and Josh fired up the grill. It was such a fun party and also fun weekend as our family in Mariana and Georgia were able to come down to visit for the weekend. Which completely spoiled our puppies. They LOVE it when Josh's family comes to visit. I also, as a surprise for Josh, arranged for dear friends of our's from Mariana to come down for the party. Josh had no idea they were coming until he opened the front door, lol. It was a lot of fun. My grandmother and several other close friends were able to make it to the party too. Since about 8 of the guests were from out of town, we had a full house overnight as well. Which led to a combative game of RISK that evening. I think the game lasted around 5 hours and still ended in a stalemate. Who doesn't love trying to conquer the world? :-)
Then the following week it was our turn to go up and visit our family in Mariana as my nephew Carson turned 2 years old! :-) He isn't a baby at all anymore, so much a little man now. My sister-in-law threw a Mickey Mouse themed party for him and it was absolutely adorable. Josh and I also finally got the chance to meet our new niece Julia. She was born a couple days after my surgery, so we hadn't been able to travel to see her yet and it was wonderful finally getting to see her. So pretty in pink with her flower head band and tutu. She is so sweet already and quite the little princess of the family. :-)
May also held Josh and I's 2nd Wedding Anniversary!! I can't believe that its been 2 whole years already. So much has happened, changed, and developed. Life couldn't be more different than it was 2 years ago and I also couldn't be happier. Its been amazing seeing how God has opened unexpected doors and brought us to where we are. Times haven't always been as smooth as I would like (i.e. would have loved to skip the whole ankle ordeal) but even the difficult times have brought forth positive elements to them. I'm so thankful for the partnership I have with Josh and I love the family and friends that we are surrounded by. 2 years ago, I never would of guessed that I'd have a lovely house (in lakeland!), 2 adorable puppies, and be so happy. I'm certainly blessed and incredibly thankful.
In about a week, it will be 6months since I got hurt and broke my ankle. The nightmare of the ordeal is lessening each week. I still have a pretty consistent pain level and am still limited on how far I can push my ankle. But as of last week- I'm finally walking on my own two feet ALL day. I had previously been having to use the wheelchair in the evenings still, but made it all last week without using it at all. My ankle is still pretty swollen so at the moment I can wear either my running shoes or my flip flops, lol. At my last doctor visit, the doctor gave me a brace to wear under my shoes to give my ankle more support. And he put me on new meds to help with pain. I had managed to stop taking Perocet and Vicodon in Febuary and didn't take anything at all for about 3 months. But when I started pushing my ankle harder my pain increased significantly so I started taking perocet again. Which I really didn't want to do since its pretty strong and wiped my energy levels out completely. So my doctor put me on 1000mg of Naproxen and it made a INCREDIBLE difference. I have been able to walk better and push my ankle so much farther without being crippled by pain. I've had SO much more energy and the swelling in my ankle went done 2 centimeters (according to measurements by the nurse). Its been wonderful. So I took the 1000mg for about 2 weeks and now planning on taking only 500mg for the next 3 weeks. After than I'm hoping to be at a point where I can just deal with the pain since I'm not really a fan of taking meds on a regular basis. I still have a pretty significant limp when I walk, but my doctor has told me that as I strengthen the muscles it will go away. So far I've managed to walk .62 of a mile in 25 minutes. I know that sounds like a long time for such a short distance, but I've still got to take slower steps with my ankle. I'm working hard to build up endurance and push my ankle farther each day. Currently my best way to exercise has been our stationary bike. I've been able to do 20 miles a day with that and its helped a lot. I had been recommended another month of physical therapy, but decided to try and just work on my ankle myself for the next month and see how improvement goes. Since I have done 10 weeks of therapy already, I'm famaliar with the exercises my ankle needs and most of it I'm able to do at home. We decided it would be better financially to try this for a month as my physical therapy has cost about $1,000 so far and added up to the other 6 medical bills it was ridiculously expensive. So I told Josh I would try it on my own for a month and if I don't see improve at my next doctor visit, that I'd ask for another prescription for physical therapy again. I am working hard, so I think my doctor will see improvements.
Another new improvement has concerned our Bluetick puppy Lucy. 8 weeks ago, Josh started the "couch to 5k" running program and has been taking Lucy running with him. The change in her behavior is incredible and she is SO much more pleasant to be around. She is listening much better and seems to love the extra individual attention. Now when she see's Josh put his running shoes on, she gets super excited and tries to open the drawer where we keep her leach at. She has made a fun little running buddy for him.
Despite the past two months being crazy busy, they were filled with fun filled events and lots of time with family. Even a few beach days :-) Definitely going to sneak in several more beach trips before the summer is over. :-)
The beginning of the festivities was that Josh has finally graduated with his undergrad!!!! :-) He now has a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Florida State University. I'm incredibly proud of him that its finally finished and it was such a big deal to him as it has been a long time goal. So to celebrate, we had a great party with family and friends at our house. I even put up luau decorations and Josh fired up the grill. It was such a fun party and also fun weekend as our family in Mariana and Georgia were able to come down to visit for the weekend. Which completely spoiled our puppies. They LOVE it when Josh's family comes to visit. I also, as a surprise for Josh, arranged for dear friends of our's from Mariana to come down for the party. Josh had no idea they were coming until he opened the front door, lol. It was a lot of fun. My grandmother and several other close friends were able to make it to the party too. Since about 8 of the guests were from out of town, we had a full house overnight as well. Which led to a combative game of RISK that evening. I think the game lasted around 5 hours and still ended in a stalemate. Who doesn't love trying to conquer the world? :-)
Then the following week it was our turn to go up and visit our family in Mariana as my nephew Carson turned 2 years old! :-) He isn't a baby at all anymore, so much a little man now. My sister-in-law threw a Mickey Mouse themed party for him and it was absolutely adorable. Josh and I also finally got the chance to meet our new niece Julia. She was born a couple days after my surgery, so we hadn't been able to travel to see her yet and it was wonderful finally getting to see her. So pretty in pink with her flower head band and tutu. She is so sweet already and quite the little princess of the family. :-)
May also held Josh and I's 2nd Wedding Anniversary!! I can't believe that its been 2 whole years already. So much has happened, changed, and developed. Life couldn't be more different than it was 2 years ago and I also couldn't be happier. Its been amazing seeing how God has opened unexpected doors and brought us to where we are. Times haven't always been as smooth as I would like (i.e. would have loved to skip the whole ankle ordeal) but even the difficult times have brought forth positive elements to them. I'm so thankful for the partnership I have with Josh and I love the family and friends that we are surrounded by. 2 years ago, I never would of guessed that I'd have a lovely house (in lakeland!), 2 adorable puppies, and be so happy. I'm certainly blessed and incredibly thankful.
In about a week, it will be 6months since I got hurt and broke my ankle. The nightmare of the ordeal is lessening each week. I still have a pretty consistent pain level and am still limited on how far I can push my ankle. But as of last week- I'm finally walking on my own two feet ALL day. I had previously been having to use the wheelchair in the evenings still, but made it all last week without using it at all. My ankle is still pretty swollen so at the moment I can wear either my running shoes or my flip flops, lol. At my last doctor visit, the doctor gave me a brace to wear under my shoes to give my ankle more support. And he put me on new meds to help with pain. I had managed to stop taking Perocet and Vicodon in Febuary and didn't take anything at all for about 3 months. But when I started pushing my ankle harder my pain increased significantly so I started taking perocet again. Which I really didn't want to do since its pretty strong and wiped my energy levels out completely. So my doctor put me on 1000mg of Naproxen and it made a INCREDIBLE difference. I have been able to walk better and push my ankle so much farther without being crippled by pain. I've had SO much more energy and the swelling in my ankle went done 2 centimeters (according to measurements by the nurse). Its been wonderful. So I took the 1000mg for about 2 weeks and now planning on taking only 500mg for the next 3 weeks. After than I'm hoping to be at a point where I can just deal with the pain since I'm not really a fan of taking meds on a regular basis. I still have a pretty significant limp when I walk, but my doctor has told me that as I strengthen the muscles it will go away. So far I've managed to walk .62 of a mile in 25 minutes. I know that sounds like a long time for such a short distance, but I've still got to take slower steps with my ankle. I'm working hard to build up endurance and push my ankle farther each day. Currently my best way to exercise has been our stationary bike. I've been able to do 20 miles a day with that and its helped a lot. I had been recommended another month of physical therapy, but decided to try and just work on my ankle myself for the next month and see how improvement goes. Since I have done 10 weeks of therapy already, I'm famaliar with the exercises my ankle needs and most of it I'm able to do at home. We decided it would be better financially to try this for a month as my physical therapy has cost about $1,000 so far and added up to the other 6 medical bills it was ridiculously expensive. So I told Josh I would try it on my own for a month and if I don't see improve at my next doctor visit, that I'd ask for another prescription for physical therapy again. I am working hard, so I think my doctor will see improvements.
Another new improvement has concerned our Bluetick puppy Lucy. 8 weeks ago, Josh started the "couch to 5k" running program and has been taking Lucy running with him. The change in her behavior is incredible and she is SO much more pleasant to be around. She is listening much better and seems to love the extra individual attention. Now when she see's Josh put his running shoes on, she gets super excited and tries to open the drawer where we keep her leach at. She has made a fun little running buddy for him.
Despite the past two months being crazy busy, they were filled with fun filled events and lots of time with family. Even a few beach days :-) Definitely going to sneak in several more beach trips before the summer is over. :-)
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