A Lot Going On...

There's a lot going on around here. 

First off: I ended up going home to Illinois for 2 weeks.  It was exactly what I needed.  It was the best dose of medicine, as the doctor says.  I have included a lot of pictures from home in this blog post.  I am so thankful for my loving family and friends.  I can't thank all of you enough for all of your love and support through this crazy journey.  

Marlee nosey at the airport

Nothing like watching Ellen live while flying,
thank you Southwest!

Marlee wasn't too happy with me

My mom and I getting
pedicures

"Auntie" Diane and I

Kaitlyn, my sister, and I
the day I flew home. I was
so tired!

My Bestie Amy!

Kaitlyn, Auntie Jill, and I.
I love this picture of us

My sister and I

Me, our Grandma, and
Kaitlyn

I think this is my favorite
picture EVER that we have
taken!!

My beautiful momma and I

Our momma 

Kaitlyn, cousin Jazmin, and I

Sissy

Dad and his girls

My Dad and I

Me, Kaitlyn, Carole our stepmom and Dad

Megan and I

Autumn and I

Megan, Autumn, and I with the wax Lincoln
family at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Museum.  Thank you so much for coming to
Springfield to spend some time together!!

I just love all of the Westies at my
Mom's.  Marlee had lots of fun
with his sister and cousins.

Thank you so much for
coming to spend the day,
Auntie Diane!

By the end of the 2 weeks, they were so tired!

I knew that it wasn't going to be a good time of the year to be going home and seeing my dad because he would be busy harvesting.  Because he was so busy, I decided to ride along with him for a day in the combine.  I had to take a lot of pictures to show Luis because he's never seen anything like this before. 

This picture does it no justice.
I will admit, it's pretty fascinating
to watch.  

My Dad fixing something

The combine is much bigger than
the one he had when we were
growing up

Since my immune system is so
weak, I wore a mask to prevent
any infections

All sorts of corn

Dumping the corn

Beautiful sunset with the moon out
in the country...very different than
in the city

As good as it was to go home,
it was good to come back to Luis!
Marlee had a better flight back,
thanks to some medicine!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip such a good trip!  Even though it was the longest time I had gone home, it went by so fast!  I am so thankful for all of my family and friends who came to see me.  It was also the most relaxing trip, which is what I needed! 


Second: I stopped taking the Neurontin, the medicine that was supposed to help with my hot flashes.  I was not feeling good at all on it.  I was feeling so spacey and was still having hot flashes while on it.  I would rather have hot flashes than be spacey.  Luis even noticed it and called me out on it.  At the time I didn't know that it was from the medicine.  I didn't know what was wrong with me, just that I wasn't feeling well.  The medicine was working a little because my hot flashes have been really bad since I stopped it last week.  I feel better, in the sense that I'm not spacey, but the hot flashes are horrendous.  I go to the doctor tomorrow and will talk to him about a new medicine for the hot flashes.  


Third: I am returning to work Wednesday after being on disability for 18 weeks!  Yikes!  I'm very nervous, but it'll be good for me to get out of my apartment and keep my mind off of everything.


Fourth:  I resigned from Macy's.  The job is way too physical for my health condition.  Not only do I need to think about right now, but also my future.  I will be returning to Sunglass Hut.  I will be an Assistant Store Manager at 2 different store locations.  When I left Sunglass Hut in August 2012, I was a Store Manager.  I'm happy with being an Assistant, though, because there are less responsibilities and right now I don't need anything extra to worry about.  It definitely wasn't an easy decision and took a lot of time to decide.  But right now, I have to think about my health.  It's my number one priority.



....I'm sick of making decisions, though.  I'm going to go on strike for a little while because I think I've made enough decisions for awhile.  Definitely more than most people at my age.  

On the bright side.... I MADE IT TO THE BEACH 1 TIME THIS SUMMER!!!!  Ok, so it might have been October 16th, so its not even summer anymore, but I made it!  I've never put so much sunblock on or sat in the shade so much.  For those that really know me, you know that was very difficult for me!  I'm normally the one who is using baby oil to try to get as much sun rays as possible and will sit in the sun and roast for as long as possible.  But, that's a little difficult to do with really bad hot flashes and if I got burnt, it would've been even worse!  I am so happy that I made it one day.  It was nice to relax at the beach for awhile and then I took a nice walk along the beach too.  

My Happy Place

Here's to a good week with a fresh start!  Fingers crossed!!