I Survived!

For you who didn't see my earlier blog- I just had my wisdom teeth taken out and I'm proud to say "I Survived". If you did read my earlier post you know how much I was not looking forward to getting this done.

I have to say it went a lot better then I expected. The anesthesia worked like a charm and I helped entertained my husband for a while (I guess I get pretty loopy). Also, Sam has made sure I have been a good little patient by making me take my meds and making me ice my face- 20 minutes per side and repeat. And as you can see from the picture above it seems to be working pretty well.

I'm also grateful Sam was there because for some reason I can only remember part of being in the recovery room.While in recovery they told me to avoid hot for today (which I don't remember) so I had a dinner of champions- lukewarm mashed potatoes and chicken both, plus more pills.   

So my plans for the rest of the night is just to take it easy by vegging out in front of the TV and computer. I have to say I was excited to find a mini-marathon of my favorite TV show growing up...

 ALF!

 
What a classic show and it will always remind me of spending time at my grandparents house growing up. I have one of the coolest grandma's because she used to always taped ALF for me off of TV (remember doing that?) each week. And believe it or not, we still have those video tapes around my mom's house.

I hope my recovery keeps going smoothly. Also I really hope I get all the feeling back in my lower soon because it feels very weird putting on chapstick when you can't feel your lip.

The Day of Impacted Doom!

Sometime last year I talked about how a had a "double life". I always enjoyed having my two different jobs, but today I really wish I wasn't in the know about certain things. The reason why- today is the day I get my wisdom teeth taken out.

There is that old saying "Ignorance is Bliss" and for today ignorance would have been great. Being that I was a dental assistance for a while, I have to say extractions were the worst thing to had to watch. I can handle a lot of gross things, but extractions always made me squirm. 

I have seen a number of extractions while I was a dental assistance, however I never been in the big chair myself. I truth, I've been putting off getting this done for many years and now I'm at a point where I can't wait any longer or I maybe facing bigger issues with my teeth.

Today I'll be getting my two lower wisdom teeth taken out which they both are impacted. Also, I'm getting one of my top wisdom teeth taken out because it came in backwards. As for my last wisdom tooth - it gets to stay. Why you may ask? Because I have two wisdom teeth on the other upper side (yes I have 5 wisdom teeth total) and they are being held up by my cheekbone and they aren't going anywhere.

Wish me luck! Maybe I'll put up a nice "after picture" to share with the world. At least I'm being put to sleep to get it done,  I got some good meds to help with the pain, and a husband with a whole day off to take care of me.

Redbirds Reunite!

I've never been good about surprises especially when it comes to surprises for the husband. I always get too excited and end up telling him what we we're doing, but I finally I was to keep my big mouth shut. Yesterday I surprised Sam with a trip to downtown Chicago to go to a beer tasting and brewery tour. However, this wasn't just any date-night, this was an actual event being held by our university's alumni association. So I thought it would be a fun event to go to with the husband and our college roommates.

(Don't feel to bad for Sam- he was the one who decided to live with three girls.)

I'm not much of a beer drinker (that is a really big understatement) but my roommates do enjoy beer so I thought it could be a fun thing to do. The cost was pretty reasonable (only $25) which included 5 beer tastings, light appetizers, and a tour of their brewery. Plus, we got a bunch of free ISU swag!

 The event was held at Revolution Brewing. It's a pretty cool/ hip brew pub with some really good food. After the main event, we decided to stay and order dinner. I have to say for being a downtown Chicago restaurant- their prices are really reasonable. For the 4 of us (which included 1 appetizer, 4 meals, and 3 beers) it was only $75.

 (Picture of brewery for inside the restaurant)

It was a really good time. It was nice to get out of the burbs, to hang out with friends, and do something a little different the our norm.

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

All Things Must Come to an End

I'm sorry I've pretty much fell off the face of the blog earth. Life has been little rough this last week and a half, so I've been dealing with each situation the best way that I can. Today was a good example of the different things that have been happening in my life. Today was my family reunion and lets just say it didn't go they way I expected it to.

Each year the family picks a different place to hold our family reunion. This year we had it a VFW hall in the little town of Springport MI.

This year only my mom and I made the 3 1/2 hour drive and because most people don't know who I am in relation to the rest of my family, my mom and I decided to dress a like so everyone knew we came together.

I was nice to really start piecing together how everyone in the room was related to me and I finally feel like I got it down pretty well this year. However, that knowledge isn't going to be really needed because the decision was made the today that this was going to be the last family reunion we have.

I have to say this did make me kind of sad. Being that we live two states away from most of my extended family, the reunion was a nice with to visit with family we don't often get to see. Plus, this year marked the 65th family reunion so it sad that this long lived tradition had to come to an end.

On top of going to my family reunion today, we also attended the wake of my great aunt Dorris (my mom's aunt). The wake was held in a same town as the reunion so we all just move from one venue to the other.

At the wake there were many photo albums around, but one album really stood out- the album with old photos from a bunch of our different family reunions over the years. I saw pictures of my mom when she was just a baby to pictures of me and my cousins as little kids. There have been a lot memories made over the years at these reunions so it sad to see it end, but at least we still have pictures to remember them by.

I do ask -if you are a religious person- to send prayers to my family as we go through this hard time and transition in our family.

4th of July Recap & Week 5 Weigh-in

Being that the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday this year, I wanted to keep my plans low key because I had to go to work on Thursday. So I thought it would be fun to make a "girls night" of it and go and see Magic Mike.

Also, we thought it would be fun to go to the local movie theater that does a "dinner and show" idea. The theater offers a full menu of food and drinks. Here's how my thinking went: What's better then watching half naked men? Answer: Watching half naked men while having an adult beverage. Plus, this theater is also fun because of the different decor in each theater. Here a pic from the inside our theater-

I love the little winkle lights on the ceiling! It gives the room an awesome look. As for the movie itself- well the storyline was pretty weak and a movie felt like an "indy" film. But I mean who really would go see this movie for the storyline- not this girl. Hot men, shirts off, and tasty drinks- what more could a girl ask for!

As for my weekly weigh-in here is where I was at yesterday:

I'm up about a half of pound, but that's not too bad considering I only made it to the gym every other day throughout this whole week. However, this week I'm back to work and should be back to my regular routine so hopefully that will help.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

The Name Change Game: Part 3

I'm officially another step closer to completely changing my last name. I have been trying to make sure I got to the important things done while I'm still on vacation- so I made sure I focused on changing all the plastic in my wallet. This included both my bank and credit cards.

 

(Source)

First I started by visiting my local bank branches. When I arrived all they really seemed to need is my old ATM card and my new drivers license. However, one bank did want to see my new SS card to confirm the change and another bank where I have a joint account with the husband needed his signature to confirm the name change. Even though each bank did things differently, all of them made it pretty easy to change my name on my accounts.

Changing your bank information is important, but considering how often I use my credit cards I wanted to make sure my name got changed on those asap. For one of my credit cards, it was issued by one of my banks so the banker at the branch was happy to call in the name change to my credit card for me- that was nice. As for my other credit card, all I had to do was call the customer service number on the back of the card, answer some security questions, and they made the change to the account. Now it's just a waiting game for all the new cards to come in.

Summer Days of Fun: Jimmy Buffett Concert

This was my first Jimmy Buffett concert but my friends Mike and Tommy are old pros when it comes to Jimmy Buffett concerts. The video above was taken while we were tailgating before the show and I had to share it with the world. Thanks Mike and Tommy for the entertainment!

If you have never been to a Jimmy Buffett concert let me tell you it's an all day event. First is 4-8 hours of tailgating then there is the 2 hour concert. Here are some of the pictures from tailgating-

 (Sam and I)

(Random drunk lady with fake pillow-boobs we met while walking around)

(Sam playing bartender)

(Our group on the right side of the tent)

(Our group on the left side of the tent)

(The front side of the tent- plus Sam's foot)

Being that I was a "Buffett Virgin" I had no idea how crazy / fun Jimmy Buffett fans could be. People decorated their cars, brought a ton of food and booze, and people even had different drinking games set up throughout the parking lot. Needless to say it was really easy to make friends (like pillow boob lady). 

Once I got into the venue the sea of bodies just amazed me. The place was packed with people of all ages who were just looking to have a good time. 

Also while in the venue we were able to take a few group pictures. (These pictures I had to steal from EverLynn's facebook because for some reason I didn't think about taking out my camera)

(Our group of boys)

(Our group of girls)

All and all it was a great night filled some great memories and new stories that will last forever. The hope is to keep the Buffett tradition alive and there is plans to do it again next year!