2007: A Year in Review

Happy New Years' Eve! I first want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and if you are going out tonight, make sure to be careful on the roads and if you plan on drinking, make sure to use a designated driver.

This is always the time of year when you sit back and reflect on the year that is coming to an end, and see just how far you have come, and just how good and bad things have been. It is also a time to be grateful that we made it through another year, and are lucky to be able to see another one.

For me, 2007 turned out to be a year of surprises, and full of things I didn't expect. At the first of the year, I was out on the dating scene, meeting a few nice people, but unfortunately, a lot of unsavory fellows. I had truly gotten to the point where I did not think there was any good men out there and figured I would just spend my days being alone. But that all changed on May 9th, when I met a man who in an instant changed my life in so many ways, and that was Phil. Our romance was definitely whirlwind, on our first date we both knew we were meant to be together and fell in love with each other, and exactly a week after our first date, he asked me to marry him, to which I said yes. I know that many thought we were crazy and that our relationship would fizzle out, but next Sunday we will have been together for 8 months and we're still going strong.

2007 also saw me finally being able to move out on my own, as I never had the ability to live on my own financially. Phil and I moved into a small, but cozy apartment that we have made our home, and as much as I miss being able to spend everyday with my parents, especially my mom, since her and I are so close, it is nice to be able to finally start my life and have a home of my own, one where I can decorate how I want and can take care of.

Unfortunately, despite all the good things that have happened this year, there have been some bad. Besides some financial hardships we have encountered, I have dealt with a few medical problems that have put me in the hospital twice. I developed a kidney infection in November and while in the hospital, I had a miscarriage at 7 weeks. It was devastating and it is still something that we are getting over, but everything happens for a reason. Then a month later, the infection came back and I was back in the hospital. For now I am feeling good, and I have a doctor appointment this week to get checked out to make sure the infection is gone or is going away, and hopefully 2008 will be a better one medical wise, and no more hospital visits.

We also welcomed a new addition into the family, our 8 month old Australian Shepard Mix puppy, Brandi. She is definitely a bundle, but she is so adorable and she really is a good puppy.

I hope that on this New Years' Eve, as you reflect about the year that has passed you, that you have had more good times then bad, and that 2008 will be a good year for all of us. For me, I am looking forward to getting married and having a good new year with my family and friends.

Happy New Year blog friends!!!

Christmas Celebrations

Hi there blog friends! I hope you all had a happy and safe Christmas. I don't know about you, but I am glad that it is finally over. As much as I love the season, now we have 11 months to relax before doing it all over again.

This Christmas was the first one that Phil and I spent together, and it was a busy weekend. It started Saturday with dinner at my Grandma Beth's house. She made us dinner and gave us some great gifts, including the fish pen for Phil (now he can fish whenever, where ever), and for me a scrap booking kit that I can't wait to open up and start using as soon as I print out some pictures, and the new Harry Potter movie, which I was so happy to get since I missed seeing it in the theater.

Sunday we spent at my Grandma Joan's house with my mom, where we had another dinner and Phil and I received an amazing gift from her, a 26 inch LCD Flat screen HDTV. It is a Christmas/Wedding Present, and let me tell you, you haven't really watched TV until you have watched it in High Def. I swear, it is like you are right there. When they say you can count blades of grass, they really aren't kidding!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we spent at my parent's house. Mom and I made dinner together, just like we used to do when I was living at home, and it was just a fun and relaxed holiday.

So needless to say, Phil and I were happy to be able to spend the holiday with family, but very glad that Wednesday we had no where to go and could just spend the evening at home. Of course, this is when I decided I needed to get a cold, and have been dealing with it for the past few days. It doesn't seem to be a very long cold, seeing as I am feeling a lot better then I was yesterday, and it seems to be just a head cold, but it is never fun. At least I wasn't sick for Christmas like I have been the past few years. And I should be all better by New Years'. We are staying in New Years' Eve, since there are so many drunks out there on the roads, but I am going to make a nice dinner and then some snackie type foods for later in the night while we ring in the new year. It should be fun.

I am also working on a blog, sort of a review of my 2007. A lot has happened in my life over the past year, some good, some bad, so look for that blog to come out in the new few days.

Merry Christmas!

Here is wishing all you blog friends a safe and Merry Christmas!

My Christmas celebration starts today, when Phil and I have dinner over at my Grandma Beth's house. Tomorrow we are meeting with my parents at my Grandma Joan's house for another dinner, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be spent over at my parents house. So it is going to be a busy next four days, but it should be a lot of fun. This is my favorite time of year and there is nothing better then spending it with those you love, and especially better since I am feeling so much better from my latest bout of the kidney infection I have been dealing with.

This will be my last blog until after Christmas, when I will blog about all the holiday fun and wonderful presents I might receive. I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and I hope Santa brings you everything you ask for!

Not Again...

Guess who was back in the hospital again :(

I've been feeling really good and was so glad to be on the mend, when Tuesday night my right side where my kidneys are starting hurting very bad, and kept getting worse through the night. In the middle of the night I starting getting violently sick almost every hour, and I knew then that I was passing another kidney stone. The next day Phil took me into the ER where after a cat scan and ultrasound, they said I passed a stone AND the infection never went away the first time. They sent me home and told me to come back the next day for a checkup, and the next day I felt worse, so I was admitted and put on heavy antibiotics. I was in there for three days and on Sunday, the doctor tried to keep me another day because he said I was anemic, which I always have been since I have arthritis, and it is nothing new. I told him no, I was feeling so much better and would have rather seen the bed go to someone who could have used it instead of me who wasn't even using an IV.

So I am feeling a lot better. The side is still tender, and I even once in awhile will get a little twinge of pain, but the nurse said that is normal until the infection clears up. I am also on the heavy antibiotics for the next seven days, and then the medicine stays in your system for a month, so that gives me enough time to get in and see my primary care doctor and see what we can do about making sure the infection is gone for good, and stays gone.

Luckily, I am home for Christmas! I baked yesterday with my grandma and I was so disappointed. I love baking and my oatmeal raisin cookies are what everyone raves about, but they came out so bad in my oven, flat and ugly and even though they taste good, there is no way I would want to give them to anymore for Christmas. I guess it is just an old stove. So now I have a ton of oatmeal raisin and chocolate chips cookies. I am going to try making some sugar cookies later in the week, maybe they will come out better.

This is going to be a busy weekend for us. Saturday we are going to my Grandma Beth's house for dinner, and during the day we are going to finish up some Christmas shopping. Sunday night it is over to my Grandma Joan's for dinner for her and my parents, and Christmas Eve and Day we are spending it both at my parents. My parents and I always have the tradition of opening our presents on Christmas Eve, and then having a big dinner on Christmas Day. So I am looking forward to it so much, and I will be sure to take lots of pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Video Blog: Brandi and Xmas Decorations

The most wonderful time of year

Wow, I feel like I haven't blogged in such a long time, even though it was just after Thanksgiving. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you blog friends, I just wasn't feeling like myself. I had no energy after coming home from the hospital and didn't feel like doing much of anything. But I am happy to report that I am doing so much better. I am feeling more like myself, I am able to do more around the house without having to take a nap afterward, and I even feel like cooking again, which makes Phil happy because he loves my cooking more then his.

I am so glad I am feeling better, because this is my favorite time of year: Christmas Time! The weather has been getting really nice and cool here, even downright cold at night, meaning I have been bundling up anytime I go outside. People have Christmas decorations and lights up which I love to look at, and can't wait for when we take a ride around this weekend to different neighborhoods that we know of that have really nicely decorated houses. And Phil bought us our very first Christmas tree. We got a fake tree, because they look nice and last for many Christmas seasons to come. I wanted a 6ft tree, but we have a small apartment and with how our furniture is arranged, there just isn't a place where it would work, plus Brandi is at that age where she chews at things, and we don't need a doggie chewed tree. So Phil went to Wal-Mart and found a cute 3ft tree that fits so nicely on on of our end tables. As soon as he came home with it, we fluffed it up and he put on lights and we put up some ornaments and even tinsel. But the tree isn't done yet. We went over for dinner at my parent's house this past Sunday and my mom gave me some ornaments from the many that she has, so now I need to put those on the tree and finish decorating the house with my many snowmen things that I have. Yup, I love snowmen.

Another thing I love about this time of year is that I get to do all my holiday baking. There is nothing I love more then spending the day in the kitchen baking goodies and then watching people enjoy them.

I hope that all of you out there love the holidays as much as I do, and I am sure you all have your own traditions that you love to do this time of year.

Merry Christmas!