Wow. It has been 5 whole months since I touched my little blog here ! I don't even know if any of my fellow bloggers and lurkers are still reading, but I need to update this thing for my own sake.
****This will be a LONG POST because I need to fill in the blanks, LOL ******
I miss blogging, I really do, but it seems I just don't have the time any more with so many things on my plate. Time has truly been marching on & full of life's challenges. Can you believe it has almost been a whole year since I got married ? Our 1st wedding anniversary is just 2 weeks from today ! It has been wonderful to have a life partner because it has been a very challenging first year for us both. Let me catch you up on what my husband and I have been dealing with and going through, the GOOD, the BAD & the UGLY, in no particular order:
UGLY
Back in April, my mother had another stroke and was hospitalized for several weeks. This has been so challenging for us all especially her, as she is dealing with alot of emotions, fear, uncertainty & just the challenges of declining health. She is still currently undergoing physical therapy & cannot drive so my Aunt has to take her everywhere, to the doctor, to her therapy appointments, shopping, etc. She has improved quite a bit and I count myself blessed that she has improved so much in this short time frame.
My biological father had a very serious auto accident just 2 months before our wedding. He was in a T-bone collision with an 18 wheeler & had to be cut out of the vehicle & life flighted to a trauma center. He was in ICU for over 2 weeks. He is currently still in physical therapy & has shown consistent improvement. He recently had to have another operation on his knee that went well but is still healing. I know that I have not gone into many of the details about my relationship with him on this blog, but in the last year or so, we have been working on rebuilding our relationship & he and his wife were preparing to attend our wedding in New Orleans. He survived the accident through God's grace, but was extremely disappointed to not be able to be at my wedding & honestly, I was too.
In June, my husband's step-father had to be hospitalized for kidney failure and was in ICU for several days. He gave us quite a scare. He too, survived by the grace of God, but is currently on daily kidney dialysis. He has a machine at home that he must use every single night overnight while he is sleeping. He is doing much much better & we saw him in August when we went to a wedding in Charleston & he looked good.
Back in July my step-father was gathering up the garbage on the side of my parents house & fell breaking 2 vertebrae in his neck. The situation was complicated by the fact that my mother did not find him until he had been down for almost an hour. It was terrifying & emotional for her to find him that way after not knowing where he was for an hour. My dad already had other health problems and serious mobility issues due to his knees, which is how he fell & of course my mother is recuperating from her stroke & her mobility has been affected also. He was in ICU for several days, surgery was attempted but was unsuccessful so he is currently wearing a Halo on his neck/head & will be in it for up to 8 months. He is currently in a rehabilitation hospital undergoing daily therapy. Needless to say, this is added stress on my Mom.
My mother lost her closest female cousin 2 weeks ago. They grew up like sisters. This death hit my mother very hard. She lived in Chicago, so I had to fly ahead of my mother & Aunt to assist with getting them in and around a major city. It was complicated by the fact that they shut down O'Hare & Midway Airports due to some idiot who set some fires at the air traffic control center last weekend resulting in over 2000 cancelled flights including ours ! It was a nightmare. My sister came to the rescue, driving my family a ridiculous number of hours to Chicago at the last minute, while I was stranded in Atlanta at the Airport all day. I finally was able to fly into South Bend, Indiana & drive in to Chicago. We made the funeral services by nothing short of a miracle. It was a challenging, emotion filled weekend, but we got to see family we haven't seen in years & my nieces & nephew got to visit Chicago for the first time. It was a crazy 4 days !
All of these situations are complicated because I live 8 hours away from my family & my husband lives 16 hours away from his. It so difficult to not be able to have access to your family when trouble comes your way.
BAD
I started my new gig in March. I have a longer daily commute (to Sugarland,TX) and my gas and tolls have increased, but the peace of mind I gained from having a new super cool boss who is housed in another city & having a manageable work load has been immeasurable. However, as the saying goes "nothing too bad or too good lasts for too long" right ? Well, my company has been undergoing some nationwide changes over the last few years and I have been effected yet AGAIN. In short, just 6 months after getting my new job, I along with everyone else in our department had to post & compete for our current positions. We have yet to find out whether we get to keep our jobs or not. There is a possibility that my husband & I may have to leave Houston if I don't get the job I put in for. We are supposed to find out in the 4th quarter which just started a few days ago, so say a prayer for us. HIS will be done. I don't know what to pray for any more !
Needless to say, I have been comforting myself and self-medicating with ridiculous amounts of good food, untold amounts of alcohol, and hours upon hours of laying up with my new husband & hardly any exercise (other than what newly married folks do, LOL ) The end result...... ALL of the weight I lost for our wedding last year has been gained back and then some !!! It is shameful what my stress alleviating behavior has done to my waistline. Now I am stressed because I can't fit any of my clothes. I have promised myself that after we get back from our Anniversary trip to New Orleans in 2 weeks, I am going HAM on this weight gain so I can feel better by the first of 2015. Please say another prayer for me because I am feeling disgusted right now.
Now lets wrap this blog up this on a positive note........
GOOD
It has not been all bad this year. There have been many blessings to appreciate. My husband finished his Master's Degree this past Spring and got certified to teach, which has been a dream of his for quite awhile. He got a job teaching 8th Grade Social Studies & History. He has a heart for children and is such a History Buff this is the perfect fit for him. I am so proud to see how he has challenged himself to follow a dream. His first year has been a bit overwhelming, but he is happy, which makes me happy too.
In August we travelled to Charleston for my husband's cousin's wedding. It was the first wedding we attended as a married couple and such a great time. I got my seafood fix for sure. That same weekend, we became God Parent's to two beautiful children of my husband's closest cousin who lives in NYC. We had a beautiful ceremony in the church that my husband was baptised in as a child on Edisto Island, SC. We are already planning our trip to visit NYC for sometime next summer.
We are blessed with many good friends, a strong support network here in Houston & we have still been able to take the time to celebrate & enjoy the good life that we do have despite life's challenges. We hosted a " Spring Fling" Happy Hour, we had our "Annual Crawfish Boil" (my hubby & I won the dance contest !). We got together with friends for my Birthday, I hosted a "Sunday Brunch" for some girlfriends Birthdays and in August we had a " Downtown Bar Crawl" with some good friends.
Here are some pics from the last few months........
SPRING FLING ON THE PATIO
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| My girls rocking those Spring Colors ! |
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| Good Friends ! |
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| My ride or die partner ! |
ANNUAL CRAWFISH BOIL
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| Me & my Bestie |
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| Killin' those Crawfish |
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| We won the dance contest ! LOL |
BIRTHDAY HAPPY HOUR
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| Beautiful Birthday Venue ! |
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| Beautiful Friends |
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| Best Friends ! |
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| Lovely Ladies helping me celebrate my Birthday ! |
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| SUNDAY BRUNCH WITH THE LADIES Sunday Brunch Hats ! |
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| My Girls ! |
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| Birthday Brunch Honorees ! |
DOWN TOWN BAR CRAWL
VACATION ON EDISTO ISLAND, SC
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| Edisto Beach |
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| Beautiful Canopy of Trees ! |
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| Beach at Botany Bay -untouched |
WEDDING IN CHARLESTON
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| My Mother-in-Love & her twin, my husband ! |
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| My niece & nephew |
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| My husband is the baby whisperer ! LOL |
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| Our Beautiful cousin the Bride ! |
Welp, that about catches you up on the life I have been living for the last several months.
What is going on with you ? Do I still have any readers/lurkers here, don't be shy ?
Thoughts ? Questions ? Comments ?
Beautifully Complex
