.. my auguri for 28 ..

incase you were wondering 'auguri' is wishes in italian. i decided to make my goals wishes so they were exciting when i reached them. so without further ado.. here are the 28 auguri..

1 { get prego, it's time to have a babe my friends }

2 { move into our own place, this will be on my list until it happens }

3 { learn italian, i just need to do it }

4 { have a girls night out }

5 { hike to stewart falls, possibly bring jet with }

6 { take a self portrait every month around the 28th for a year }

7 { journal once a week }

8 { take tennis lessons }

9 { take a couponing class, so i can be pro when i am ready }

10 { try a different form of art - sewing, watercolor, scrap booking, beading.. }

11 { push my photography business, i for sure want more business }

12 { only say nice things about others, be positive and someone people want to be around }

13 { have a kissing session in the rain }

14 { make a gratitude journal and fill it with all the things i am grateful for }

15 { attend a professional sports event, i am leaning towards football but we will see }

16 { try 5 new dessert recipes }

17 { go to disneyland or disney world with cody }

18 { visit italy }

19 { learn that it is okay to say no, and be fine with it }

20 { teach photography at timpview high school, i have wanted to do this for years }

21 { watch Friends from start to end }

22 { make a pizuki }

23 { have our family pictures done }

24 { go to seattle and visit pike place market }

25 { learn how to play chess }

26 { get my concealed weapons permit, this one is odd i know but with Cody teaching and being gone i don't want to be stuck and not be able to defend myself if i need }

27 { make a snow angel }

28 { make a skirt with pockets on my own }

what will you do this year?

.. an update to 'the list' ..

I am sure you all remember my list, you had it taped to your mirror right?! what you don't? alright fine, click here to get a refresher. since my goal was by my 27th birthday which happened a few days ago, i thought i would update you on what i accomplished.

1. Travel - check!

{i went to 4 international islands on a cruise, went to NYC, and oklahoma}

{picking up jet in oklahoma}

{cruise, this is in st. kitts}

{new york at the world trade center}

2. photograph more - check!

{took way more pictures and did 3 rolls of film on the cruise alone}

3. shoot with the holga - half check

{the roll is still in the holga with 3 shots left..}

4. shoot on the instax - check!

{i documented getting jet, some self portraits, and the cruise on it}

5. see wicked with cody - miss :(

6. read at least 10 books, one new one - check and check!

{ i read 17 books since making this list, 3 new authors and some old}

7. go to the gym every week - check!

{i have gone every week that i have been allowed. the dr won't let me with my shoulder surgery}

8. try snowboarding - fail

9. move into our own place - fail

{we are still very much working on it, cody's school is taking longer than we expected}

10. get crafty - check!

{i did a sewing project for a friend- rag doll, and i created a necklace board}

11. find a photo project i am interested in - semi check

{i am working on doing more fine art stuff, not really anything specific and of course self portraits}

12. have a GNO - fail.. sad

{wanted to, and talked about it but never got to it.}

13. get a dog or preggo or both - check!

{not pregnant, trust me you will know when that happens, but i got a pup!}

14. learn italian - semi check

{ i am still working on this one, i try and find time and when i do i practice not as much as i should..}

15. learn to be understanding and patient - checkish

{i feel like this one is an ongoing thing, so an eternal checkish.}

16. make a few mini books - check

{i made quite a few, one for jet, one for the cruise and one for a friend}

17. be more adventurous. - check!

{i started wearing skirts and dresses to work, HUGE. and on the cruise i did a zipline, so fun and scary}

18. have an art show - check!

{i had my BFA show in october}

19. make a snowman - fail

{i made the list and it snowed and i decided the cold was not my cup of tea, lame i know}

20. enter an art contest - check!

{ i entered the national photography contest}

21. make a tyke book - check

{ i got a photo album and put every picture we have of him in it}

22. have a picnic - check!

we did this a few months ago with the jet man

23. be more romantic - semi check again

{i think this one is like #15, an ongoing thing}

24. make a choice daily to be happy - check!

{this year was much better}

25. be a better wife, sister, daughter and in-law - check

{i improved all those relationships and am going to continue to work on them}

26. do a 5k- fail

{we were planning on one, my MIL and I but she got sick a few days before so we didn't}

27. be punctual - checkish

{i still have a bit of an issue with this one, but i have made leaps and bounds towards the right direction}.

so there you have it. i did some, 21 to be exact so i only missed 6. but it was fun trying to do new things. stay tuned for my new list.. i do turn 28 next year.  

.. just a little bit of jet ..

our little jet man is growing up so fast. i thought i needed to put up some pictures and fill everyone in on his growing ups. he is now 7 months old. he is a whopping 23 pounds and is solid muscle. he loves

car rides

chasing daisy around the house and backyard

sleeping next to dad

treats of any kind

doing laps

{this is a new thing, at night he will start in the bedroom and run from the room out to the family room, around the couch and back to the bedroom. he does this about 4-5 times}

racing

{you ask him is he wants to race, and before you can count to 3 he is gone. beats me every time, even when i cheat}

going on walks

giving kisses

the new doggy door

playing guard dog

{this was day two after surgery, when i was living in the lazy boy. he laid there almost all day}

he doesn't like

fireworks

loud noises like thunder

baths

being told no

tracks the cat

{long story on this one. he liked tracks, he tried to play with him one day tracks wasn't into it and chased jet into a corner and bit him. he doesn't like him now. wonder why}

being made fun of

{if you mimic his breathing or panting and he sees you, he will stop and glare at you and then proceed to attack your face}

we love him to death and think he is pretty great. how can life getting any better?

.. cruise preview anyone? ..

alright, so i thought i would post a sampler of the cruise to get you excited to hear about our wild adventure for 10 days. it started out kind of rough got better, had a down and then got great! so for the preview i give you a picture and two videos.

{the grand tour of our bedroom.. narrated by yours truly}

{video from maho beach, cody's favorite i'm sure you can tell why}

{me at maho beach on st. maarten}

.. it's just a little cut ..

okay lets rewind and review.. thoracic outlet syndrome. remember the post i had way back when on this? alright. so after we did all the testing i made an appointment for surgery, since the surgeon is booked 6 months out. you heard me right, 6 months. i made the appointment in February for august 24th. it was his earliest appointment. it could be cancelled if therapy and strength training worked in restoring my feeling and motor skills. i started working extra hard with my trainer, doing stretches and following directions to a t. after 6 months of effort, nothing had changed if anything it had just gotten worse. so surgery was the only option left, other than dealing with it which we determined wouldn't really be a good option. 

i was told to show up at the hospital at 11am and check in. we did that and i did the whole pee in a cup draw blood put on a funny gown and attach bracelets and a tube to me deal. i was ready to go by about 11:45. we were sitting in our room waiting and the nurse came in an informed us that his surgery this morning took longer than they expected and that he was running about 2 hours behind. wonderful, cause starving to death was on my list of things to do that day. so we tried to keep my mind off of it, we watched some Steven seagal show on tv that happened to last 2 hours. perfect. after the movie i did one last potty break, just to make sure and when i got back to my bed the nurses moved me into the quarantine  room. your family can't be there the only people who can are the nurse and the anesthesiologist. so i waited for another 15 minutes and my dr showed up. he talked to me about the meds he would give me and asked if i had a bad history with anesthesia. after we chatted, you guessed it. i waited. shortly after a nurse showed up to pull me into my OR. yes i was awake for this whole thing. i had my surgery in OR 9. they wheeled me in and had me move beds. i climbed onto the other bed, adjusted my gown (i.e. untied it for the dr) and they gave me some oxygen. and i waited. after about 5 minutes i remember seeing my dr and then the world disappeared. i woke up in the recovery room with a huge bandage that went half way up my neck, to my arm pit and half way down my chest. and it killed. i was crying it hurt so bad. the nurses gave me meds and pillows and within about 20 i was feeling good. i had to stay one night there due to the fact that breathing can puncture your lung, nice huh? so they prepped me to move. we left the recovery room and out to the elevators where they tried to find cody. he wasn't in there, apparently he was going to the bathroom but his biological dad was there. yep so not the person i want to see when i first wake up from a painful surgery. i told the nurse i didn't want to see him and to take me up and come back for my husband. 

i was taken to my room 468. i was promptly greeted by my nurse and my pca. they hurried and changed my gown from the stupid itchy paper one to a nice cloth one, got me situated with my leg pumps (to prevent blood clots) and ice. sweet girls. within about 10 minutes cody got there and started feeding me ice and water, i was on a liquid only diet which later proved to be a good choice. i ordered some dinner, if you can call it that. it was tomato soup, diet coke and pudding. it arrived and i ate. after eating it was time to try and walk. this is where the liquid diet was my friend. i did well until about 3/4 of the way then i felt really faint and sick. cody had to run and get me a bucket before i lost it. yep everything came back. so it was off to bed and a dose of heavy duty anti-nausea medications for me. I did have a few visitors, my family all came and saw me in my super hot purple moo moo. Cody stayed with me until 11:30pm, bless his heart and then i told him to go home and sleep good. Good thing i sent him home. the night was filled with wake ups every 1-2 hours. the pca would come in every 2 hours and check my oxygen levels and blood pressure and then my nurse came in every three to give me more pain and nausea meds. crazy night, i think i slept a whole 4 hours between it all. the only plus was i was drugged so i was out within minutes of them being done. 

the next day i had some pudding and water and was up to walk again. good news, this time we did 3 laps, felt great and was in hardly any real pain. the dr came by, he took off the bandages and told me it went well. the surgery took a little bit longer and was a tad harder than he expected. he said everything in there was really tight. (really?!?! i could have told you that!) i stayed until 1pm, because they could give me a hospital grade anti inflammatory then that i definitely wanted before trying to survive at home. cody was glad to leave, if he had his choice we would have gone home at 9am. but it was alright. the next few days were spent living in the lazy boy chair at home, the only place that is comfortable, on pain killers and muscle relaxers and living in pj's and blankets. 

i am glad to report that it has since been a week and i have returned to work and normal-ish activity. it still takes a lot for me to wash my hair and to do my hair. i still take pain killers every 4 hours and i still sleep with ice and 7 pillows, but doing much better than before. as for recovery, i can't lift anything over 10 pounds until the end of September, and then gradually add stuff in. so it will be a journey. 

sadly this is the only picture i have from the hospital stay, i wanted to see the cut after the bandages came off the next morning.

.. a belated birthday ..

as mentioned in my 'ketchup' post my baby brother j* turned 17 while we were on the cruise. i did do a birthday shout out that posted on his day of birth but i thought i would do a follow up on what we did to celebrate. 

cody and i decided to shop for his birthday gifts while on the cruise and from the different islands we visited. so we came home with an array of items. we got him cocoa sticks from st. lucia (from a cocoa tree, unprocessed pure cocoa), a lanyard and patch from st. kitts, a bracelet from st. thomas, and a wood machete from st. maarten. 

the day after we got home was the birthday celebration. he chose to see harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2, followed up by cake and ice cream and presents. the movie was awesome, loved it. 

but i read all the books, multiple times and have loved watching every movie. yes i am a geek and proud of it. did have a few awkward moments, but we won't talk about those (no they weren't in the movie). after we finished up it was back to the house for cake and ice cream. he opted for lemon cake, which was quite good. here is a video of my other brother m* and family singing happy birthday to him.  and my brother apparently attempting to be a soldier. 

yes i do have strange brothers, there is no excuse for them unfortunately. we finished off with presents and then calling it a night. all in all i think it was a great day, even if it was 2 days late. 

so j* happy birthday, we are so glad (most days) that you are in the family!

.. ketchup? ..

alright so i realize that it has been entirely too long since i last posted. lets just say it has been a tad busy. so i will give you a quick 'ketchup' of sorts and then we can start posting fun stuff. 

we went on our cruise to the west indies (south Caribbean) BLAST! we left from san juan puerto rico and visited st. thomas, barbados, st. lucia, st. kitts and st. maarten. so much fun. we got sunburned and tan and mostly just relaxed which is great. i plan on blogging about each day and every island we visited when i get all the pictures put together and edited, hopefully this weekend. we got home on sunday august 14th at like 8pm. we went to bed and life started the next day. we celebrated my brother j* 17th birthday with harry potter and cake and ice cream. i went back to work that same day and worked the whole week. talk about busy. that weekend was crammed with stuff to get ready for the next week where i had surgery to have my rib removed. (to come in another post..) so the weekend was slammed with teaching a lesson, doing laundry, running errands and prep all i could for the following week. 

then last week, i worked 2 days. and on wednesday i went in for surgery and spent the last 7 days trying to recover. needless to say it has been a bit crazy. so i apologize. i promise to make up for it with a series of posts to come about our fun adventures, my gnarly scar and a few birthday parties (yes my birthday was on sunday a mere 4 days after the slice and dice). 

so stay tuned..