Physical Therapy

Once again, I find myself learning how to walk. I'm praying this is the last time in a long, long while. I spent the two weeks before surgery trying to shake a cold that wouldn't go away. I repented of dairy products and spent all my time drinking an insane amount of liquids, soups, and anything with Vitamin C. I even found myself with a Neti Pot in my nose. ( I was desperate.) The day before surgery I was just a tad stuffy, and so they gave me the green light. I don't know if I've ever worked so hard and been so excited to have surgery before. I even brought my own crutches to the hospital, I was ready for this surgery. I however, wasn't ready for the after part. I remembered my last ACL surgery and the crutches for a month, and struggling in therapy for weeks and weeks to be able to roll an exercise ball and bend my knee. It was the most nauseous, sleepless, and painful summer of my life. However, this surgery with a graft from a donor was amazing!!!! I was able to eat and sleep that night, and the pain hasn't been that bad. I went to physical therapy two days after surgery (seriously two days) we took off all the wrappings and my knee looked so good, (well that might be debatable, but I thought it looked good) my therapist started moving it, which I thought would be impossible but it moved, it moved. I think I said, "Oh my goodness ," and "Wow" a million times. My therapist was equally impressed and he even had me start putting weight on it. Wow!!! Oh my goodness! Surgery was two weeks ago and after therapy today, I found myself crutchless, and braceless. It is a miracle! Now I'm just working on my physical therapy, which if you have ever had physical therapy may look easy, but is really sooooo HARD!!!!! Last week, my therapist, who I actually like a lot, had me put an exercise ball behind my back and do squats, which might not sound hard, but oh my goodness! He smiled and said, "Can you feel that you are favoring your right leg?" I smiled, and said through gritted teeth, "Yeah, that is because my left kneecap feels like it is going to explode and my whole leg collapse." My therapist smiled back, "Well just as long as you're aware of it." Yesterday, he had me walk around the gym in a figure eight backwards with one eye closed. That is right, figure eight, backwards with one eye closed, it is as difficult as it sounds. Each rotation he also made me change which eye was closed, which made all of the other people in the gym think I was winking at them as I stumbled around. However, I'm all for anything crazy, because with ever lopsided figure eight, my knee is getting stronger and I'm on my way to walking normally.

Bear Lake

Presidents' Day Weekend I was sick. However, for some reason, I still decided to go up to Bear Lake with 20 other girls. I spent most of my time asleep, or blowing my nose. However, I still loved being with so many friends in a beautiful cabin in the snow. I should probably also mention there was also a chocolate festival. Chocolate covered raspberries, seriously, that alone was enough of a reason to go.
These are some of the other highlights:
On the way up we stopped at Gossner's Cheese Factory. How can you not like a place with flower boxes and squeaky cheese?



I also liked this place because it's very unpretentious with signs like this:



Ummm . . .Root Beer flavored milk, who makes Root Beer flavored milk? And who could resist buying some? Not me, although, I still haven't tried it, well, because it's Root Beer flavored milk, and ummm. . . .I'm saving it for a special occasion.



If you look closely you can see the beautiful lake, it is a gorgeous place.



Coming home, how could we not stop for Aggie Ice Cream, which may not be good for a cold, but sometimes you have to live on the edge.

Cupcake Wars and Basketball Dreams

A couple of weeks ago, happiness struck twice. First, I was asked to be a cupcake tester at a cupcake war. Umm. . . . . 19 different cupcakes, judged on appearance, theme, and taste. Count me in!!! It was heavenly until around number 11 or so. I mean even a little taste of 19 cupcakes is a lot. Seriously, a lot and those little ladies kept coming in and saying, "Oh did you get a taste of the middle, because the middle has my special filling." I'm not going to lie, I was ill by the end, and the monkey brain cupcake just did not get a fair shake. Sorry monkey cupcake, I did give you a great on your appearance though. After the cupcake tasting, I decided never to eat cupcakes again, well until my mom gave me this recipe, which is amazing. Try it.

After coming home and resting a little, we took off to the Suns game!!!! I love being a Suns rebel rouser. We ended up invading the Jazz stadium and found our Suns magnetism attracting other Suns fans who ended up sitting by us. Every time something good happened, our new friend would say, "That's what I'm talking about Home Skillet!" and then he would give us high fives that never connected. Let's just say our Home Skillets weren't super hip, luckily, our team was. Take a look at the score, and know happiness.

You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone

I often hear people complaining about having to go running, or exercising, or to the gym. I know, because I just might be one of those people. However, my New Year's Resolution is to never, ever complain about running or exercising again. My reason began in September, when I was training for a half marathon. (By training, I mean I was a complete slacker and ran a few long runs.) However, when I did run, it felt like someone was taking a knife and slashing it into my knee. After running, my leg would give out on me, and I couldn't even turn over in bed without it hurting. I stopped all physical activity, and pleasantly my knee felt better. However, there comes a point when you have to move again, and so I set up an appointment with a nearby orthopedic.

They took an x-ray and that big screw from my ACL reconstruction was still nicely attached. I breathed a sigh of relief. They sent in a P.A., he moved my leg around, looked at the x-ray and said it all seemed fine. Which should have caused me to breathe out another sigh of relief, except for the memory of my leg giving out on me and nearly falling over as I tried to get up from sitting on a plane. Or the memory of a knife slashing into my knee. So, I shared these vivid memories with him. He didn't seem phased and started to tell me all about all of the people who are just fine and have little tears in their knee. He said that was probably my problem. I don't think I looked convinced, so he started telling me about jeans. Yep, jeans that you wear. He explained how when you have a pair of jeans for a very long time, they just naturally rip because they are so old, but you still wear them because they just have a little tear. I was very confused at the meaning of this story because I am not 80 years old. I think I even turned around just to make sure that there wasn't some old person in the room that he was really talking to. However, he really was talking to me, and I left with no questions answered, but a clean bill of health to do what ever physical activity I wanted.

So, I ran, and the knife slasher, leg giving away came back. So I did what I should have done in the first place, and I called the doctor who did my ACL surgery and scheduled an appointment. I may have had to drive a lot farther away, but it was worth it. When I told him the jean story , he said he was going to immediately call and tell them how ridiculous that story was. I nodded emphatically. I was feeling so vindicated, that I forgot that this must mean there was a much bigger problem. He quickly looked at the x-ray and then moved my knee and it jumped. He stared at me and asked me if I felt it. I did. He shook his head and said, "Well unfortunately the graft is gone." My head was swirling, "Graft, graft." Then I knew. My hamstring used in the reconstruction was now gone, torn, stretched, gone. I wasn't quite sure this was really happening when he continued, "Yeah, that is the bad news, but the good news is I had a cancelation for tomorrow, we could do surgery then." I was speechless and unable to come in the next day, or for that matter until March. He put me under strict orders to not run, twist, turn, yeah, pretty much move. (But I can bike, thank heavens for that.) During music, I tried showing the boys a choreography move and about tipped over, so I've decided this is serious business. Which leads me back to my New Year's Resolution, and I am serious I will never, ever complain about the amazing ability to run or exercise again.

I Was Born in a Small Town

It's true, I was born in a small town, and I love it. One of the best parts of Christmas is coming home. I love the slow pace. I love going into a store and always seeing someone you know. I love the values and the priorities of the people in town. Most of all I just love being at home with my family. Every other Christmas we are small in number, as you can see from the pictures. However, it was still wonderful. We played games, and watched movies and made yummy food. Pretty much we just enjoyed our small family in our small town, and it was perfect.

The Golden Nutcracker

So, I'm not going to lie. I sometimes get a little carried away and create productions out of small things, but isn't it more fun that way? Last year, I was in charge of the school's faculty Christmas party, and I created this golden nutcracker trophy for the grade that had the best decorated table. (I thought it was a brilliant way to get people excited about having to decorate their own table, bring their own food, and supply their own gifts.) Well, I kept talking it up and egging people on and soon we had some pretty nice tables. However, I may have talked it up a little too much and the office staff blindsided me with an over the top skit and decorations. They stole my trophy right out from under me. Well, ever since that day I vowed I would get that trophy back. (Like I said, I get a little carried away.) The office has also been scheming all year. They told me in October they had their theme all picked out and then they started the smack talk. I knew the office was going to be good, and so I began to frantically think of a clever idea. At the end of one of our team meetings, I told everyone they could not go to Thanksgiving Break until we had our skit. Nervously, two of my team members told me they would be out of town during the party. I gave them my teacher look, but it didn't work, and I found myself frantically scrambling for an award winning idea. The theme was Countries Around the World, so I decided we would be "Country." (clever, right?) We dressed up as cowboys, rode in on stick horses, brought cowboy caviar, and recreated the Grand Ole Opry. Those missing teammates, I made into wanted outlaws. The office was gypsies without a country (definitely not as clever) and told each person's fortune. Mine said, "The Golden Nutcracker will allude you again." Gratefully, the office was not real gypsies, and we won, we actually won. Who needs an academy award, this was much, much better.










Here is our little country Christmas skit:
(I hesitate to post it because it is embarrassing, so embarrassing, but so fun, and I promised the majority of my readers I would post it (my family.) So enjoy!

The Pilgrims and the Indians

I love Thanksgiving; it is one of my favorite holidays. I love all the yummy food, being with family, and focusing on gratitude. This year we celebrated Pilgrim and Indian style with all the cute kids.














We visitied with my wonderful grandma.


In attendance were two new sweetheart babies.


We ate delicious food.


We celebrated my niece's 16th birthday, and she had her first date with her dad. How can she be that old when I am still so young?


We had a true blue Cougs party. (The food was great, the company was great, the actual ending of the game was not so great.)






Of course, the best part was just being together.