Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Snow Day #5

As you can guess from the title of this entry, we had our fifth and final snow day today. Overnight we received an incredible amount of snow. We may even have tomorrow off because they are expecting high winds tonight. Once again, we may be closed because of the area right on Lake Erie. If we do have tomorrow off, we will have to make it up in June. I am not happy with that.

Anyways, I kept busy even though it was my day off. I had to plow the driveway before I could even leave. I left the house around 10:00 and went to get my allergy shot. I then had to go to a doctor's appointment that was already scheduled (I guess a positive is that I didn't need to take a sick day). After that I went to my sister Kelly's house (which is near my doctor's office) and hung out with her and her friend, Cindy, for a couple of hours. Afterwards, I went grocery shopping and picked up my prescriptions.

It was a busy day (I didn't get home until four), but it was enjoyable. Maybe if we have tomorrow off I can relax a little bit.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Casting Crowns to Bridal Shower

As you can probably tell from the title of this post, it has been a very busy weekend. But, it has also been a lot of fun! On Friday night, Michelle, Tara, and I headed up to Ypsilanti, Michigan for a Casting Crowns concert at Eastern Michigan University. When we arrived we were very excited to discover that we had awesome seats. Here are a few pictures that I took with my phone (hence why they are blurry).




If you are not familiar with Casting Crowns, they are a Christian band which I have mentioned in a couple previous posts. Click here for the most recent. It was an awesome concert! This is the third Casting Crowns concert that I have gone to and I have greatly enjoyed each one. I would highly recommend that if you ever have the opportunity that you attend one.

Well, after a late night in Michigan, I had to wake up early Saturday morning for my sister, Laura's, bridal shower. Because we currently do not have a church building, we had her shower at Michael's Bar and Grill downtown. Kelly's husband, Monny's family owns the restaurant. They were very kind to let us use it. Many people commented on what a nice place it was. We had a good time (even though it was a lot of work) and Laura and Andy received a lot of great gifts. Here are some pictures I took. Once again, they were with my phone so they are not the best. I meant to take my camera and forgot it.






After all of that fun, Michelle came over on Saturday night and we all played games. I think I am now on a Dutch Blitz kick.

Update On All The Fun!

A while back we had a lot of snow. Actually, we had so much it caused us to have a day off of school. When I posted about that day I mentioned how Elena and I built a snowman at my Mom's house. Here are the pictures from that day.




As you can probably tell, I forgot the carrot for the nose and Mom didn't have any, so we used celery instead. We even used celery for the arms (Mom doesn't have any big trees with fallen branches). By the way, we built the snowman because Kelly had sent this picture of Alex and Makenzie and the snowman they had built (Elena felt left out).



I know...Kelly's snowman looked much better.

Also, just in case you think all of our fun is outside. Jeromy and I went bowling a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun! We need to do that more often. Here are a couple of pictures of us bowling. As you can tell, Jeromy has much better form then I do (actually, I almost fell when he took the picture).




See...you can have fun in the winter in Northwest Ohio!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Deep Thoughts in Music

I decided while working on my blog to include the lyrics of two songs that I find very powerful. Both of them convey God's love for us. The first is Casting Crowns "East to West."

Here are the lyrics:

Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me

Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don't have to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
One scarred hand to the other
From one scarred hand to the other


The other song is "Strong Tower" by the group Kutless. Here are the powerful lyrics expressing how God is always there for us:

When I wander through the desert
And I'm longing for my home
All my dreams have gone astray
When I'm stranded in the valley
And I'm tired and all alone
It seems like I've lost my way

I go running to Your moutain
Where your mercy sets me free

[chorus]
You are my strong tower
Shelter over me
Beautiful and mighty
Everlasting King
You are my strong tower
Fortress when I'm weak
Your name is true and holy
And Your face is all I seek

In the middle of my darkness
In the midst of all my fear
You're my refuge and my hope
When the storm of life is raging
And the thunder's all I hear
You speak softly to my soul


What I think I like about both of these songs is that no matter what we do, God is always there for us. He will pull us out of whatever mess we find ourselves in and carry us. Also, no matter what we have done in our lives He has flung far away. It is ancient history and no longer touches our lives. It is awesome to have such a God.

Still Sick, But Feeling Better

Well, I am still suffering from this flu/cold thing I have going on. I went to the doctor on Wednesday and discovered that I had three things: 1) sinus infection, 2) flu virus, and 3) an infection in the lining of my rib cage (there's a technical name for it, but I don't know it...too bad Jeromy's not home). To help my healing process, the doctor put me on three different medications. An antibiotic for my sinus infection, a steriod for my lungs (Jeromy says that's because I'm an asthmatic who is sick), and Tamiflu (he said it was a little late to go on this, but he was hoping it would speed up my healing process).

I also took Friday off work so that I could rest. Now it is Sunday and I do feel better. I still do not have my voice back 100%, but I plan on taking it easy with talking this week (as much as possible anyways). I also still have a horrible cough and major breathing issues (I am using my inhaler A LOT). Hopefully, I can kick this thing soon. It is beginning to frustrate me.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

I'm Sick :(

On Thursday, I fell ill to the "deadly cold." Over the weekend my cold became steadily worse. But, then, on Monday morning I seemed to be getting better. However, I was mistaken. This afternoon in my fifth period class, I began to choke on mucus (disgusting I know). I left the methods student from UT in charge as I ran to the bathroom. I coughed twice. On the second cough I had a horrible excruciating pain erupt in my chest. I fell almost to the floor and remained there for about five minutes in pain. After the pain eased I went to back to my classroom. Within moments I felt fine. Weird, but I figured that I could survive three more periods.

Then, between periods I went down to the teacher's lunchroom for more water. On my way back upstairs I could not breathe. Then my chest began to hurt again. Now I was worried. So, of course, I called Dr. Jeromy. He told me to call him as soon as I got home. Then, he texted me that he wasn't going into work until 4:00.

When I finally arrived home a short time later, we talked about it and decided to go get my chest x-rayed. He said that if someone came into the ER with the same story I had he would order an x-ray because of the possibility that a hole may have developed in the lung (he had a technical medical term but I don't know it). So I went into work with him and he had one of the other doctors write an order for an x-ray. To make a long story short (I know...too late), everything was fine. Jeromy told me to take it easy and rest for the evening. Also, if I don't feel better tomorrow he wants me to call our family doctor and tell him what happened.

The really good news, four hours after the hospital, my chest is not hurting as much any more. I am planning on going to work tomorrow. Hopefully, I will not have any more issues.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Snow Day #4

Yes, today is Saturday, but yesterday we had yet another snow day. We had a snow storm early Friday morning and every school in the area was closed because of it. Now that we have reached our fourth calamity day, we only have 1 day left. Even though I enjoy my days off, I do not want to make up days in June.

Anyways, even though we did not have school I was able to keep busy. After Jeromy cleared off our driveway and sidewalks, we loaded up the plow into his new Dodge Ram to head over to my mom's house to dig her out. While Jeromy plowed her driveway, Mom, Elena, and I headed to her back yard to build a snowman. There were pictures taken, but I will have to post them later.

Later that night, Jeromy and I went to a poker party at a fellow ER residents house. Neither of us won, but I went much farther then Jeromy.

In other news...I weighed in at weight watchers on Thursday and found out that I had lost another 2.4 pounds. That makes 10 pounds total!