i enjoy being home...

sleeping in my own bed was one of the greatest feelings ever... hehe...

my trip to england was wonderful!!! Canterbury was BEAUTIFUL and the cathedral was just amazing... i would even say breath taking... wow... and one day, we got to visit Dover... that was amazing too... the castle was pretty cool, and the cliffs were neat... the gal from Cummins that was our hostess really did a great job at making us feel welcome and at home... she was super nice, and even gave me her number so we can get together when i move there... in august...

yes, i said august... during my trip to england, i also had lunch with someone from the DoD... i had applied for a job with them a few weeks ago, and during the lunch, he gave me the good news... i have a job in england!!! the only down side is that they want me there mid to late august... i guess that's not really bad, but it just seems so soon to me... hehe... i'm excited about moving, but nervous about moving before chris gets back from his deployment... i've always done great before when i've had to move to new places where i don't know anyone, so i'm sure this will be no different...

so, i had a great time seeing new parts of England, and the news of having a job really made the trip awesome!!! Even getting stuck in cleveland for an extra day didn't ruin the trip...

but as fun as the trip was, being home was nice...

diagnosis...

pulled ligament in my lower spine... and the spasms and severe pain was happening because when the ligament was stretched, it allowed the muscle to move where it wasn't supposed to, sometimes hitting a nerve...

in time, my body will heal itself... but i can do things to help the process along... like not lifting anything over 10 lbs, not bending at the waist, not twisting at the waist, not sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time, and by resting as much as i can...

i was cleared to go back to work, as long as i follow the above recommendations... and cleared to go to england!

if i'm not feeling any better in 2 weeks, i'm supposed to go back to start physical therapy... but if today is any indication, i think i'll be much better by then... today i just have a dull pain, and no spasms... so i feel lots better already...

yay, i'm not completely broken!

laid up...

let me just say, being on bed rest sucks... and i've only been that way for 12 hours...

yesterday afternoon, i bent over to pick up my shoes, and it hurt really badly when i stood up... i laid down for a bit, and did some stretching hoping that would help... as the day went on, my back hurt worse and worse... last night, the pain got so bad that i took myself to the ER...

the preliminary diagnosis is that i have a slipped disc and the "beginnings of a pinched nerve" (they way i see it, it either is pinched, or it isn't, but that's what the doc said)... i've been placed on bed rest for the next two days, with absolutely no sitting and putting pressure on my tailbone... except when driving to the orthopaedist (who, i was told, will most likely extend my bed rest, and start me on physical therapy to correct the pinched nerve before it gets worse)...

they gave me some meds that are supposed to be great for this sort of thing, but so far, i can only tell that it works a little bit... i still feel a bit of pain (especially when i sneeze or cough)...

hopefully the orthopaedist will fix me right up and i'll still be able to make my trip to england next week... but if not, i suppose it is better to take care of my body than go galavanting around the world...

well... back to my confinement... wee...

they're gone...

just as quickly as they came, the foster kids are gone...

turns out, they've been in foster care for most all of their lives... they were raised by separate families in another state up until a few weeks ago, when the mother got cleaned up and received custody again...

well, someone noticed that the mom was junked up again, and the child services in the county where my family lives took over... not knowing the full situation... when the original foster parents found out, they wanted their "kids" back...

so... now my mom waits for more kids...

new members of my family...

well... for now they're just temporary... and i'm not talking about new pets either...

about a month ago, my mom decided that since her disability claim was denied again, she would have to find a way to go back to work... and seeing as how she can't really do the "normal" type jobs that fully healthy people can do, she decided to do something she knows she's great at... being a mom... so she put in her paperwork to be a foster parent...

in the county where she lives, there are more foster children than foster parents, leaving lots of kids in state wards... so her paperwork was expedited, and this week, she was brought two adorable little kids... a brother and sister, 3 and 2... she will have them for at least 3 months, while an investigation into their mom is conducted... if the investigation doesn't go well for the mother, my mom could have the kids for quite some time...

she was really hoping not to get ones that young, but she's so happy to have them... and hopes that she's able to make this difficult time for the kids a little easier...

keeping busy

well... chris left last week for afghanistan... and i'm trying to keep myself busy so that the time goes by fast, and I don't think about missing him as much...

i've been hanging out a lot with my friends from work... this past weekend, we did happy hour at a place that had an awesome 80s cover band! I had such a great time... i sang so much/loud that i had no voice on saturday, and danced so much that my legs hurt! and then on sunday, since some of us weren't able to go visit our moms, we went to one of the amusement parks here... i rode all the big rides... and even did the "Skycoaster" - the ride where they connect you to a harness and then raise you way up in the air... when you're ready, you pull the cord and free fall to the end of your line... it's like bungee jumping but you don't spring back up, you just swing out over the crowd... sounds scary, but i had a blast!!!

yesterday and today the electrical team went to pittsburg to visit a power lab... it was fun... got to see lots of neat stuff... but i was glad to be back home... the van ride was a little stuffy, and very bumpy... and getting stuck in traffic for over an hour wasn't the best time either...

tonight was the Gilmore Girls series finale... i can't believe that i watched that show for 7 years... i felt like i was growing up with Rory and that Lorelei was my friend... so it was sad to see the show end... i don't think i've cried so much over a show ending since Golden Girls (and i still cry when i see their last show in reruns)... but it was a good cry... i hadn't been sad about chris leaving, so the emotional show helped to get that out... like my best friend jackie says "sometimes you just need to watch a show/movie that will make you cry." i feel better now...

actually, i feel very sleepy now... i'm glad to be sleeping in my own bed tonight, with my comfy pillows... mmm bedtime! g'night

i'm back...

well... i've been back for a while... just been busy...

England was good... it was relaxing. Chris had to work everyday, so we didn't get a chance to go anywhere super cool. Not that that's a bad thing... I enjoyed having a vacation where when i returned home I didn't need another vacation. But I did get to see what it would be like for me to be there without a job... and it wasn't a pretty picture. By day 2 I had cleaned chris's place from top to bottom... it was spotless... I had also walked around cambridge as much as i wanted to, and did all the shopping i cared to do. So yeah... definitely need a job to keep me occupied. But it was nice feeling like i was useful... I know Chris had been so busy that he wasn't able to keep up with the housework, so it felt good to do what i could to help out.

The weekend after i got back, i visited my family in SWVA. It was good to see them all again. Both of my brothers have jobs now, and seem to like them. Anyway, i put together easter baskets for all of us, and mom hid eggs... it was good times. I ate waaay too many jelly beans... hehe. I also got to meet my dad's new girlfriend. Well, i guess she's not new, they've been dating for around 6 months. She seems nice enough, and treated my grandma very well... so i like her.

And this last week, we started a mileage challenge at work. I got in 18 miles last week! The winner had 21.2... so i wasn't far behind. This week, i'm determined to win. I've moved my treadmill up to the main level of the house, and my TV out of my bedroom down to the main level as well (for a week i was lugging my TV up and down the stairs, which may seem like a good workout, but it got old). I also had my last hurrah with mcdonalds tonight. Tomorrow i start anew with WW. I have 5 months till my final fitting on my wedding dress, and i'm determined it's going to fit better than the day i bought it. so... go me!

going to see my hero!

i'm leaving for england tomorrow! yay! i'm so excited... i'm sure my coworkers will want to stuff me onto the plane by the end of the day... i've already warned them that i may be of no use... lol...

wedding plans are coming along nicely... i went to SWVA a few weeks ago and managed to find a photographer, DJ, ceremony and reception location! my bridesmaids have their dresses, and i'm visiting the tux place when i return from england... so i think most of the major things are out of the way! yay! and after this week with chris, we should have some of the minor details figured out... it will be super nice to have the majority of the planning done before he goes down range...

here comes the bride...

i found a dress!!! yay! one major item out of the way...

thank you to susan for the filene's suggestion... but the ones around here only have bridal gowns during their special wedding events... in august...

luckily i was able to find something at david's bridal...

now that the first purchase has been made, it's starting to feel very real... wow... i'm going to get married!!!

We've set a date!!!

Mark your calendars: October 20, 2007!!!

more info to come later...

yay! (i'm giddy)

mmm peyton manning...

i *heart* my colts... that is all...

i *heart* my bed...

i've been traveling so much lately... it was good to finally sleep in my own bed last night... so good that i layed in bed till nearly 2pm today!!!

last friday, just a few hours before leaving for vegas, i was informed that i would be going on a business trip the day i returned from vegas... so friday was definately stressful trying to get all of my travel arrangements made... i was definately ready for my flight, and so happy when i got to vegas and saw chris...

my time in vegas was good... it was super cold, though... the coldest weather they had had in nearly 20 years!!! i think i would have had a better time walking around if it had been a bit warmer... i had a good time meeting chris's family... we all went to a show called Tony & Tina's Wedding... it was so much fun! i highly recommend it...

when i got back to maryland on tuesday morning, i had just enough time to go home and sleep for a couple of hours, repack, and head back to the airport... and off to augusta, ga i went... the work meetings went well, and i was glad i got to go... until it was time to return to maryland... the whole southeast US was having a cold spell... complete with ice and freezing rain... lots of flights out of charlotte (where my connection was) were being cancelled, along with my flight out of augusta... so, my coworker and i rented a car and drove to charlotte in hopes of catching our connection... luckily, we made it, and i finally got home after 1am early Friday morning...

and now, i'm off on another trip early tomorrow morning... going to orlando for a class... hopefully it will be warm... at least warm enough to enjoy disney and universal...

as much as i like traveling, i'll be ready to spend some time at home after this...

Happy New Year!

yeah, so i'm a little late with my "happy new year"... i've been busy... okay, not really that busy... just hadn't really thought about it...

anyway... my holidays were good... it was nice seeing my family at christmas... and my new years was fun with my friend renee...

best of all, i bought a new treadmill, and i'm back in my healthy routine!!! i'm psyched about it... i was feeling like a slug eating all that junk food and not working out... i'm getting back to a new me again!

this past weekend, i went with my friend rachel to this place called Let's Dish... they have different stations set up around a "kitchen" and you assemble different entrees to freeze and take home... it was lots of fun, and i made lots of yummy food... i'm excited about trying different meals, but without having to put together the entire recipe from scratch... and all the meals are points friendly!!! so that's a big plus...

in just a few days, i'm going to visit chris in Las Vegas!!! he's there for some training, and i've got a 3 day weekend... yay! chris's brother will be there and i get to meet his dad and stepmom again too... i've only really met them for about 15 minutes, so i'm a bit nervous... i've got to be on my best princess behavior... hehe...

well, i better get to bed... got to get my beauty rest...