Wednesday, September 21, 2011

♬ "Conjunctivitis, from Clogged Sinus!" ♬

(Sing title to the tune of School House Rock's, "Conjunction, Junction") 

This is not a pitty post, I promise. I am simply recording life's most current events, which just so happen to include mucus and pink eye. Honestly, maybe don't read this entry, as it is written for myself more than anything. It is a bit gross, but maybe if you are down on esteem, or need a good laugh, it will make you feel pretty (as I most certainly do not feel pretty at all).

Last week, I started feeling awful. I cooked a delicious, creamy chicken meal for Vance and myself, and several hours later regretted it. I have not been to a doctor, but I know from experience that dairy is not my best friend (which is rather unfortunate, because I love dairy in all of its forms- milk, cheese, soups, ice-cream.....sigh). 


It takes real self control to pass things like this up


I have a breathing/swallowing problem. I have for at least 7+ years from what I can remember (I am going to trace it back to my case of mono, Senior year of High School but it could have been longer).

My nose is constantly getting stuffed, and even worse, my throat will never clear out, and for lack of a better analogy, always feels like there is a slug hanging out in it. Any food that I eat (especially sugar and dairy products) instantly turns my saliva into slime, so basically, I feel like a nasty frog all the time. As a result, I have a terrible time sleeping, and quite frankly, it is just an embarrassing, uncomfortable, and inconvenient problem. On top of that, I have had horrific hayfever/allergies since I can remember, so when these two issues combine, I am not a happy camper.

Go ahead, tell me I should use this or do that to prevent the problem. I have tried every concoction and remedy in the book. I have talked to multiple doctors who give me lame over-the-counter medicine and mediocre advise. I have even almost kind of given up dairy (not quite though, because to me a life without cheese is not a life worth living).

Just about one of my favorite things.....

Thus, I spend many sleepless nights because of my congestion, and last week just did me in. Whether it was related to my creamy meal incident or not, I suppose I will never really know, but for the sake of my own story, I'm gonna go ahead and say that it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I spent possibly the worst 2 nights ever after eating that deliciously creamy meal. I was exhausted and sleepy as ever, but when my nose and/or throat are misbehaving so badly, I absolutely cannot sleep.  I usually take a little NiQuil or melatonin and an expectorant pill so I can sleep at night, and rub a little Vix on my face and chest. BUT when I wake up at 3am, I am ususually doomed with no hope of easily drifting back off to sleep.

When I do get up in the morning, I feel like a zombie who's head has been smashed from both sides by a frying pan.

I feel soooo refreshed!


My poor husband who has to share a room with me......I am a disgusting creature :( If there be any readers out there, you may officially call me Frog Girl, Snot Head, or Slime Freak. I'll respond to any. 

Hi, my name is Annika, and I love mucus!
Work was horrible because I had gotten very little sleep for the past few nights. Keep in mind, I am NOT sick. This is not a cold, or allergies. This is simply just my head not knowing how to clear itself out. Finally, towards the end of a miserable Thursday, my head cleared up enough that I took some medicine and slept surprisingly well. I woke up Friday feeling much better, and had a productive day at work. I came home and was happy to tell my husband how much  better I was feeling...

I should have knocked on wood after a statement like that, because just after the words escaped my mouth, my vision started clouding, and goop started coming out of my eyes. Great, I thought. I'm so clogged that now it's coming out my eyes!

Which it did all Friday night and Saturday. Eye drops, cloth on face, and rest seemed to do the trick and by Sunday, I was back to my normal B- feeling self. Or so I thought.

Monday I woke up with my eyes glued shut. Washed my face, put lots of drops in my eyes, no make-up, glasses, and went to work with blood red eyes. Tried not to look at a single soul all day at work because I looked so hideous (but of course that was a day that people kept coming to my desk to talk to me.....).

Tuesday morning, I woke up with eyes glued shut again. Eyes so bloody red I dared not go to work. Went to the eye doctor, and he told me I have viral conjunctivitis, most likely due to my sinuses and prescribed me some special eye drops. (Sadly, the song Conjunction Junction, What's Your Function? would not stop playing in my head after he said the word "conjunctivitis.")

"I can't seem to function this conjunction, 'cause I have conjunctivitis"
I explained everything to him. He tested the pressure of my temples, outer nose, and then lymph nodes. While there was no pain, (just discomfort), he could feel the swelling in my throat, and based on the looks of my eyes, he urged me to go to an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat doctor) as soon as possible. Truth is, I have been wanting to get looked at for a long, long time.

I should have gone before I got married, but now that I am married, I have been waiting to make sure my new insurance will cover visits to specialists before I schedule an appointment. I suppose I am also afraid that I will spend the money on the visit, and or medicine, and they will not detect anything wrong with me (even though I know there is a problem), and I'll just continue to suffer and always feel like a C+ or B at best, when really I want to feel like an A+ (but I'd happily settle for an A-....).

This morning, I contacted my health insurance agent, and she said that my insurance just started back up on its full coverage, so I can indeed make the much needed appointment! Tomorrow I will search for a good place to get looked at by a specialist and make an appointment for next week.

Wish me luck. I just want to swallow and breath and not feel like a slimey frog anymore. I want to sleep like a peaceful angel at night. 7+ years has been too long.

I'm hoping a specialist will kiss my frog self (in a figurative way of course), and I will turn back into a princess!

From feeling like this every morning and night
To this! "Ahh....I feel great! I feel so well rested and not the least bit congested"

Now, if only someone could cure my hayfever while we're at it....


Did someone say the word cat? AAAAACHOOO!!!







Thursday, September 8, 2011

a Reason to Smile :)

My week started out a little bit crummy. I suppose that's the consequence of a wonderful weekend in the mountains; reality sits waiting at your doorstep and then slaps you in the face as you open the door.

Crummy #1- I lost my phone in Idaho. I stupidly left it in a bathroom and someone took it. I just laughed and shrugged it off. That's all you can do, right? It really wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it was rather inconvenient (and foolish to have forgotten. What if I forget my child in a public restroom someday, and when I come back, she too is missing???)

Crummy #2- Bills, bills, school books, tuition, rent, food, bills. Blah. I feel like our paychecks are gone before we ever even see them. That and Uncle Sam takes so much money out of my hard earned paychecks every dang week, it hurts my heart a little.

Crummy #3- Work = Stressssssful. Big guys breathing down my neck, projects and un-met deadlines out of my control. Nobody listens to me because I'm a woman. True or not, that's how I feel sometimes.

Crummy #4- Cops. I received my very first speeding ticket TODAY. Normally, I've gotten off with a warning, but not today. Of course not this week. I broke the law so I must pay. And have a ticket on my record for 3 years now. Yay!

Crummy #5- 3 Large loads of clean laundry waiting to be folded up and put away. I HATE folding clothes. Even more so, I hate hanging them up, or trying to get them to all fit into our much too small, unorganized filing cabinet turned dresser.


long pause.........deep breathes



Positive #1- Vance sees that I am upset, so what does he do? Takes me to my favorite restaurant, of course! My husband always gives me a reason to smile.


Maria Bonitas. A delicious hole in the rock place in Orem that I absolutely love. Where the sweet little Mexican lady ALWAYS greets you at the door with a big hug and kiss and calls you a princess or a champion (depending on your gender).

The chips and salsa are homemade and fresh, they bring you out a brothy soup with rice in it before your delicious entrée arrives, it only costs 35 cents more to have three enchiladas opposed to 2, and there are always dramatic Spanish soap operas playing on TV in the background to set the mood. I love it there.

This breath of fresh air was just what I needed to turn my perspective around.

So let's turn this week's crap into something positive, shall we?

Negative #1 turns positive!- I lost my phone.
BUT, luckily I have insurance, so I can get a brand new phone free of cost. I'm currently using one of Vance's old phones and I actually kinda like it. Thanks to a little thing I like to call a sim card, none of my numbers or contacts were lost. All is well.

Negative #2 turns positive!- Money. 
We'll have one heck of a tax return come next April, just like we did this year. Plus, someday we'll be filthy rich and swimming in our own money, so this is just laughable now! Ha Ha Ha (evil laugh) 

Negative #3 turns positive!Work. 
I get to design stuffed animals and play around on Photoshop and Illustrator for a living. I get plush animals at a great discounted rate, and people love me for it.

Negative #4 turns positive!- Speeding Tickets. 
There is no positive to this one. Sorry, I tried, and there just isn't.

Negative #5 turns positive!- Laundry. 
This means we have lots of clothes. YAY! And least it's clean, right? That's 1/2 the battle :)

I just started reading Happy Like Jesus, by D. Kelly Ogden, and it is a large dose of just what I need. I want to learn more about my Savior, so that I too can be happy like him and not let the tiring little things drag me down. I want to become more positive and willing to make the time to study the scriptures and teachings of Christ and the prophets (living and dead) so that I too can help others out rather than being so self absorbed all of the time. I want to become a patient and loving wife to my husband. Not a nagging, overwhelmed, grouchy one. 

Gordon B. Hinkley once said, "Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out." 

I am just now learning to trust that quotes and scriptures like these are true, and do indeed apply to me as well. And this gives me a reason to smile. Things WILL work out. Life truly is good.

I love this cover.
It is so warm,  happy, and full of light, it melts my heart.
I'm sure this is how the scene really looked too.
I'd love to hang this picture up in my home.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Summer at a Glance

WARNING: Lots of photos. So sit back and enjoy the ride! 

Okay, so I wasn't incredibly detailed at keeping track of this whirlwind of a season called summer, so let me redeem myself now with a little photo tribute to the summer of 2011. Although I feel like all I did this summer was sit in my little corner of the office, eating greasy chips and listening to my i tunes while I work all day, my Pictures folder tells me otherwise. We did indeed have a number of small adventures. Some of these adventures included:

• A Mexican cruise, as I have already past mentioned on here.



• Parades, one in which Vance won a tie

The Orem Fest

•  Goofy times in the Zoobies warehouse

Vance is the Croc. I was the photographer.
•  A couple of really fun concerts- Jonathan Jones and Josh Groban :)


• Good times with some old friends


• As well as lots of time spent with family

On a hike up Soldier Hollow on a lazy Sunday afternoon
My sweet (and sassy) nephew Bronson on the 4th of July!
And the oh so smiley Cael! He made my day by visiting me at work :)
Waiting for FIREWORKS!!!
Damon (nephew) LOVES Grandpa Joe!


I love this goofy little Halle! (niece)
And while Vance went on a cross country motorcycle trip with his father, aunt and uncle to Nauvoo, Illinois during the 4th of July........ (lucky duck...)....

NOTICE: Vance took some AMAZING photos! I'll have to drag him on here so he can caption the photos and tell the story ;)







Isn't my stud muffin so adorable?! :)


Father and son



Yaba Daba DOOOOO!
Vance and Dave with the wonderful DeBirk's!

They even met past presidents! Mt. Rushmore :)


Sad :( Flooded city



I love this picture! Hyrum and Joseph Smith statue in Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo Temple on the 4th of July! Both sporting patriotic colors :)
My love :)



Vance with Brother Joseph and Emma Smith! (Cousins Alex and Melinda DeBirk)
Father and son with Brother Joseph!
 

The Community of Christ temple in Independence, Missouri





• .....I sold my first commissioned painting :)


This summer we also:

• Captured a few sunsets
View from our front yard
 • Went to a few rodeos! Yeee-haw!

Vance being goofy at the Nephi Stampede

Still being goofy........

With my cute sissy, Alison

The Days of 47 Rodeo with Neen and the Shmock
Drake, our adorable and fun little cousin
The Shmock and I liked to cheer when the baby calves ran away from their ropers
And what can beat Heber City's Rodeo Stampede? Look at that lovely Mount Timp view :)

With Mikel and Lindsey (Houk) Parry. Thanks Mama Margo!

• Enjoyed some boating


 • Attended Neen Camp (pictures soon to come....)


• Enjoyed some breathtaking gardens at Thanksgiving Point (I hope this is what heaven looks like)







My adorable sweetheart

My future backyard. A girl can dream, eh?


The Paget's and the Brown's looking spiffy by the columns


Vance drinking Thad's pee.....


Goofballs :)
 And last but certainly not least....

• We went on a GORGEOUS river rafting trip to the Payette River in Idaho with Vance's parents. It was simply breathtaking, relaxing, and especially great to enjoy God's creations and escape reality for a little while. I wish we were still there....

Livin' the good life :)
Neen and Dave

Does life get better than this?



Vance sitting in the perfect bowl shape in the rock
Us
You can't go to Idaho and not eat at THE Wicked Spud!
Nuff said :)
I guess you could say Vance and I love nature and our families!

Summertime is so much different now than it used to be as a child. As a young, gangly, tan legged girl, every day was summer- filled with endless outdoor activities. As an adult however, I have quickly realized that getting to play, go out to dinner, check out concerts and venues, and enjoy nature is a rare privilege and not a right.

It may sound cheesy, but I appreciate every moment spent outside enjoying nature. I am so happy, relaxed, and at peace. It clears my mind and frees my spirit (that is when I don't have awful allergies, which is ALWAYS...). It inspires me to read, to write, and to paint. It reminds me how significant I am and how much my Father in Heaven loves me. It gives me my spiritual highs in life!

Thank you Summer 2011 for being so kind to Vance and me in our first summer as a married couple. We had a blast and loved every opportunity you had to offer us this year. We worked hard, but tried to play even harder when time allowed us to. I cannot wait to greet you again next year. But in the meantime, welcome FALL!