Things I would rather be doing...

Since I am on the road to recovery, I have led a pretty boring life. I understand that I need to heal and be back at 100% but...

I AM SO BORED!

While I sit here and do nothing, I can't help but think... a lot.

I want to start working out with heavier weights, I want to pack on some pounds (of muscle weight preferably!), I want to go shopping, I want to see my friend(s) (haha!), I want to WORK! I know... it's weird. I want to get back to a routine. I want to walk around without my hips hurting from the catheter scars that are my thighs. I want to drive.

I want to HEM THIS DRESS! But I can't remember how to use this ancient sewing machine!

I want to get back to the gym. I want to start my protein shakes. I want a cheeseburger. (uhh...)

Other Updates:

I emailed back and forth with my recruiter and some other flight medicine people (the day I actually was discharged from the hospital... did I mention I'm a very impatient person?) and I can start the however long paper trail that I have ahead of me. I am not going to hold my breath for the May class date, but I am striving for July. At least Cayman and I can have one little mini-vacation before I am off to years of training (probably just two, but we shall see).

Other than that, I am healing quite well, just some bruises and scars on my inner thighs! I am on some meds for heart inflammation and light aspirin, and I wasn't really feeling much until today. I got upset over something and all the sudden BAM! my heart started beating fast and feeling like it was about to explode out of my chest. My mom and I have come to the conclusion that, when I get upset, my heart rate increases, thus making my heart beat fast and since I just had a procedure on my heart-it's inflamed and cannot handle that! So, I am trying my hardest to not get upset about things, since it actually hurts my chest (heart) a lot!

I should be back to work in a couple of days. I am going to put off working out for another week, or maybe a few more days though, I don't want to strain it and then ruin my life all together. Just because I wanted to work out too soon after surgery!

So there is the update! Here are some pictures of my bruises (and what I did all day), but I can't show you my scars since they are close to my lady parts... (haha!)

  

(my inner elbow bruised so bad because when she was taking my blood for blood work, she didn't have the gauze/tape on good and it popped off and my blood squirted out of my arm... it was pretty sick! But I'm good with needles and blood. She said it was going to bruise pretty bad though!)

Hospital update: WPW

My time in the hospital through pictures...

LETS GET THIS STARTED!

so metal.

thirsty thirsty! After not having anything to eat or drink for 12 hours the nurse is my savior with WATER!!!!

SO TIRED! But all is well so far! Haven't been able to move for the past seven hours, excited for midnight when I can walk around again!
I don't remember much since I was out out for this, but I did feel them taking the catheters out of my thighs and that was HELL!

Mix & Mingle Time!

So I recently became a part of a 'blog hop' after my friend Katie told me about them... I never heard of them or understood what exactly they were until I came across this one:

 

What is a Walkabout? It's a blog link-up party, every week here and with our co-hosts! Simply put your blog address or a specific post in the linky, visit some other people, and make some friends. Easy at that! I can't wait to talk to everyone!

PS: You only have to link up with ONE of the co-hosts!

The Rules:

1. Please follow at least ONE hostess, and let us know you're a new follower and how to follow you! To be entered as next week's Mystery Host, follow all hosts from this week.

Mystery Host Breeanna- The Kidwell's: Our Life as Airmen

Chantal- Scattered Shells

Jane- Taingamala

Sarah- G.I. Joe's Wife

Jamie- Handling with Grace

2. Try to visit 3-4 blogs that interest you. Take some time and let them know where you came from.

3. Grab the button and spread the word! (Not required, but just cool if you do). The more, the merrier.

*****

Side Note!

My surgery is today! At noon (EST), so prayer and good vibes are greatly appreciated!

Bright Colors!!!

Finally off for the weekend before my surgery and I got suckered into volunteering by my mom!
Volunteering wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, but you do see some crazy stuff in Lady Lake!
We were stationed with the opening gate and registering the kiddies for the Easter egg hunt. It was fun seeing the excited one to twelve year olds eager to find some eggs!

a light at the end of the tunnel...

After being selected for a flight position in the USAF, I had to undergo serious medical testing to make sure everything about me... physically... is perfect!

I was approved and awaiting my leave date for training, when they found something bad on my EKG. I was diagnosed with WPW (Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome).

This is what the 'blip' looks like on the EKG.

This is what is going on somewhere in my heart! I have an extra electrical pathway that is messing up my heart rate.

I can live with WPW and it never be an issue, BUT because I am going into a high adrenaline job, I could have issues. When your heart rate exceeds a certain BPM (beat per minute) you can pass out or go into cardiac arrest. Crazy, right!?

So, I guess it's important for me to get this fixed!

I've been dealing with getting appointments with a cardiologist and then an electrophysiologist for about two months now and I am FINALLY seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

I waited 30 days for a consult with the doctor who is doing the surgery and after finally meeting with him, I became a little discouraged, but by the end of the appointment I was ready for whatever came my way! He said it'd be another month before they could get me in for the surgery. I know this isn't something you want to rush, but I am just sitting here, working a dead-end job, away from my husband, not knowing when I will get to see him again, so I am a little tired of WAITING!

The doctor was apologetic when I told him I had waited a month already for this consult appointment, so he fast-tracked my process and I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT FOR SURGERY NEXT TUESDAY!

I'll update next week after the surgery with my results, asking for prayers from everyone for a quick, simple, speedy surgery and recovery and no surprises during it!

 

One Big Family

Being a part of the Air Force and living for the first time around it was something different for me. I lived in Italy at the air base there called Aviano for three months with my husband during this past winter. We grew with other couples and I bonded with other wives and made lots of new friends. These bonds are different than ones I made in high school or even college... and in just three months! I know that I could count on these ladies and their families if it came down to it! The bond between the military and their families are so strong. I am so grateful for that.

The real reason I am writing this post is that after I left Aviano to come back to the states, a tragedy occurred in Italy. A plane went down on a training mission and was off the grid. They couldn't find it and searched for a few days. This was just a few days from me coming home, so of course I was shaken by it. I was JUST there. I was JUST driving by the flight line. I was JUST on that base. Reality hits.

With my position, that I will be starting soon (fingers crossed), I am going to be in those planes. I could have been in THAT plane. It's something that you have to understand but you cannot be afraid of.

So, the plane that went down was found, at least some of it. The pilot had passed, from what they know, and now a family mourns. Being overseas is so hard because you are away from your support system. That is why these relationships you make are so important! They are what you have now. The wife was pregnant with their first child. Another reality check. I cried, now I am a more emotional person, I might even be tearing up now, but this just sucks. Their first baby is going to grow up without knowing her dad. So I vented to my mom and grandma about the whole situation and we took a trip to Target and picked out some goodies for the new baby, Serene and her momma Cassy and shipped them off to Italy.

I've never met Cassy, her husband or their new baby, but I feel like I know them in a sense. We are all related. The Air Force is my family now too. I pray for them, for Serene to grow up to be an amazing woman and for Cassy love and cherish every moment.

I picked up the mail today and got a surprise! Cassy and Serene sent us a 'Thank You' note. It was so sweet and nice of them to send us one all the way across the world!

Our (Somewhat) Arranged Marriage

I've been thinking about doing this post for some time now and I am finally getting around to it! So here it goes...

I was living in Tampa, going to college at USF and serving tables as my source of income. I had just broken up with someone that I worked with at Outback and needed a change. I had put my two weeks notice in at Outback and on my last day of work, I served this one special table.



Cayman's parents, his sister and her fiancé were sitting at my table, on my last shift at Outback and they were seriously creeping on me. His sister asked me a bunch of questions, like what I liked to do, what I liked to listen to, if I had a boyfriend... you know, usual questions you ask your server! She immediately said I should date her brother, Cayman, and they showed me pictures of him, one being his BMT Graduation picture, which was a bad call on their part because he looked so sad and sickly! But I still thought he was cute, so I went out on a limb and contacted him on Facebook.

We exchanged messages for a few days and then started texting. We arranged to meet at a coffee shop in Tampa, I knew he was going to a show in Tampa because he said his friends band was playing and that he couldn't hang out for very long... I kind of pressured him into inviting me to the show, so he did and I went along with him there too!

I had been visiting my family north of Tampa by about an hour and half and the next day I was meeting him in Tampa, so I got ready and headed down to Tampa for the weekend, NERVOUS as ever!! We met at Mema's, which was an Alaskan Taco restaurant, which is now closed down, and I remember stumbling and being so so so nervous upon meeting him. We were both so awkward! We hugged and walked to The Bunker, which is a small coffee shop in Ybor City, Tampa. We talked, talked, and talked some more and then off to St Pete for the show.



We held hands, I met some of his friends, it was like we were dating already. His parents and sister ended up showing up as well to the show and I felt a little more comfortable, but also weirded out! They were such a hit and so welcoming. I knew they were spying on us to see how the date was going, but it was okay! I didn't mind!

I remember it being so loud, that Cayman and I had to lean in to each other's ears to talk to each other inside. When Cayman would lean in to my face, I would get goosebumps all over my body. I know it was something special. At one point, I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek...I know... I'm so aggressive!! I couldn't help it! I was so in love already!

So we kissed. A LOT.

After the show, we went to IHOP with his family and had a late night breakfast, I drove Cayman back to his sister's fiancees apartment, where he was staying, and we talked some more in the car then we went our separate ways! I remember tearing up at this point. I am so crazy!

Now, seems like a pretty simple 'how we met' first date, but there is a big part I left out...

Cayman was home on leave between his Air Force tech school graduation and his first assignment in South Korea. We met on Saturday and he was reporting to duty on Monday. He left Sunday morning for Seattle to take a plane to South Korea for a year. We were immediately separated.

I remember going to my friend, Kaylee's, where I was moving, and crying all night to her and our friend. I remember saying "I'm so in love!! I want to marry him!"... yeah... back to being CRAZY!

Anyways, we Skyped when he was in the Seattle airport and I met some of his AF buddies and they thought we were crazy. We had just met! But we had such a great connection. We were going to make this work from across the world. Instantly. We knew.

We talked for two months and I bought a plane ticket to South Korea to meet the man of my dreams again. I flew to South Korea in May and spent about two weeks there, his parents came for a few days as a buffer, JUST in case something went weird! We traveled around South Korea and explored our first country together! This was the beginning of our story and our relationship apart!

What is your story? I love hearing about others, also other military couples that meet on weird circumstances. My best friend Katie met her husband on an airplane and flew cross country to make it work, read about her experience here. I love how our love stories are so different from the ordinary. Makes for a good story!

p.s.

Oh I forgot something very, very important!

Before Cayman and I met, I started evaluating my life... I prayed and prayed and decided I wasn't going to date for a year. I had been in multiple short lived relationships that were just tearing me down, as a person, my soul, my whole being. I had lost all respect for myself and was living such an earthly life and not caring about myself at all. I was lost, depressed, miserable.

Then I met Cayman... and I felt that God was motioning me to date him. He came into my life at the most perfect time. I couldn't be happier in making my decision to date Cayman, he truly is the love of my life!

The Deep Blue Sea

Our first day out in the Gulf of Mexico in 2013 was a success! Wrangling in 133 fish, from Grunts (Haemulidae) to Triggerfish, since Grouper are on ban until April 1st.

Being out in the middle of the ocean is probably my all time favorite place to be. The sense of calm that overcomes you is the best cure for stress from daily life. I especially love when it's warm, which this trip- it wasn't, because when you jump in to cool off there is a never ending feeling. You can't see the bottom or get close to feeling it unless you're scuba diving. Never knowing what's beneath you is something I long for. Swimming above on the surface where you've been catching all kinds of big fish, or even sharks, is a rush all of its own.

Can't wait to get back out there soon!

Manatee City!!

WE WENT SWIMMING WITH THE MANATEES!!!!!!!!!

Living in Florida, you have SO many opportunities! One would be swimming with an endangered species and getting to interact one - on - one with them! For around $50 you can spend 3 hours with the manatees in Crystal River, which is on the west coast of Florida, but check out Groupon first! We got a sweet deal from there!

The water is 72 degrees Fahrenheit all year around, since it is a natural spring... so basically, outside of the water is colder than the actual water! In Crystal River, they take you up the river to the head of the spring and no joke, there were probably twenty manatee piled up in the spring sleeping. They are such majestic, amazing animals.

I had a few young manatee that were very interested in me! They are attracted to bright colors, so our yellow fins were a hit! It's such an amazing feeling having an animal of this size sniffing and touching your feet and ankles with their sweet little whiskers.

An awesome experience, I recommend it to EVERYONE if you're in Florida around winter time! 

AN AWARD?!?!?!

Well... I didn't know there were such awards like the Liebster Award, but I guess there is!! My best friend, Katie, who blogs at Mr. & Mrs. Foster, nominated me for this award. 

Here are the rules

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award Presenter on your blog and link back to their blog

2. Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees.

3. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they've been chosen.

4. Copy and Paste the blog award on your blog.

Here are the questions she gave me:

1. Who do you admire?

I look up to a lot of my close friends and of course my mom, for obvious reasons... but I really do admire some of my friends. Promise for her awesome sense of style and quirkiness, Katie for her admiration and love that she shows to everyone and her relationship with her husband, Callie's direct and flowing love for God and my sister for keeping peace when we all need it, these girls show me little bits of what it is to be a woman these days.

2. What is your dream job?

If I could be anything in the world, I would be the Editor in Chief at Nylon Magazine... but dreams don't come true, so I'll settle with a Combat Systems Officer in the United States Air Force ;)

3. What is your idea of the ultimate adventure?

Anything with my husband, Cayman. We traveled a lot around Europe during my three month stay there, but I can't wait to travel more! We are planning Australia/New Zealand, South America, Thailand and China within the next 5-7 years. I am thankful for the Air Force and letting us live abroad so we can travel so freely!

4. If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?

I would love to be able to fly. That would be AWESOME! You can beat traffic, you can get around a lot quicker and escape those awkward situations easier!

5. What is your guilty pleasure?

CLOTHES. And no... I don't want to talk about it!

6. Where is the weirdest place you've gotten "frisky"? (Oh yeah I went there.. hah)

In a hostel in South Korea, while 5 other Asians were sleeping around us...

7. If you could have dinner with anyone alive or dead, who would it be and why?


Abraham Lincoln, only because Cayman would be SO STOKED on that!! I guess it'd be cool if he could give me a ride on his shoulders too... if that's not too much to ask!

8. What is the best advice you've ever gotten?

Travel while you're young. Don't have kids too young. Do something with yourself. Get an education. The list goes on!

9. If you won the lottery what is the first thing you'd buy?

I would buy Cayman and I 'around the world' plane tickets.

10. Dream travel destination?

They aren't really 'dreams' since I know they are going to come true... but I can't wait to ride elephants in Thailand and swim in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
11. Most embarrassing moment?

Every day of my life...? Just kidding! I can't really say the most embarrassing, since I don't remember much or I guess maybe I don't embarrass much? But one time Katie and I were in the library in college and we were Skyping someone, either Cayman or Carl and we were talking loud... and an Asian boy at another table yelled at us to basically... shut up. We both were super pissed since we don't get to talk to our boys much and this rude ass dude was telling us to be quiet in an area where you can talk! But afterwards, we kept on with our conversation and no one SAID a word, but we did get lots of stares... oh well!!



11 Random Facts:

1. I have known my husband for just over two years (met, dated, engaged, married).
2. His parents and sister actually hooked us up on... kind of a blind date after I served them in a restaurant I worked at.
3. I have my bachelors degree in Mass Communications.
4. I travel across the world 3 times now for my husband (South Korea twice and then Italy).
5. My first time on a plane was to see my husband in South Korea (which was our first time really meeting besides our first date).
6. I love sweets, I seriously could live off candy and cookies.
7. I love to work. The longest I've gone without a job was six months, three of which I was planning our wedding and the other three I was in Italy.
8. I have been accepted as an Officer in the U.S. Air Force.
9. Yes, my husband will have to salute me, but hopefully not for too long! (until he commissions as well! ;) )
10. I love scrapbooking. I know its nerdy, but it calms me down and I love to look at our memories!
11. I am a mild hoarder. I keep as much stuff from our travels and from Cayman as I can. I just want to remember EVERYTHING!

My questions for my nominees:

1. If you could travel back in time when/where would you go?
2. What is your dream job? 
3. Do you have a hidden talent? If so what is it?
4. What are the top 3 things on your bucket list?
5. What is your favorite vacation spot?
6. What is your favorite TV show at this time?
7. What is one lesson you hope to pass on to your children?
8. What is your favorite app (if you have a smartphone)?
9. What is one thing that you are really proud of that you've accomplished?
10. Where was yours and your S/O's first date?
11. How long have you been blogging?

My Nominees:

By The Lock

Jenny Bodell

Stephanie Speaks

The Air Force Wife

World Traveling Military Family 

(These next four are fellow Aviano bloggers whom I followed while I was there)
Ciao, Blogga

JDomb's Travels

Jessica Lynn Writes

Adventures in Italia

Didn't get 11, but OH WELL!

Don't forget to snag the button!!