Day in My Life

Day 15 A Day in the life.

This will be boring. I wasn't lying when I said I don't have much to do. 
 
9:45am Wake up and immediately check my phone to see what time it is. I don't have a clock in my bedroom. Should probably buy one. I check my email, scroll thru twitter, and instagram. It's apparent I have a severe addiction with no plans of quitting anytime soon.

10:15am Crawl out of bed, go to the bathroom, and then turn on my Yoga DVD. Roll out my mat and try to do my 15 minutes of conscience relaxation. Realize that my body is super stiff and in bad shape. I should just constantly be in a state of stretching. It's that bad.

10:30am Make my first cup of coffee. And go lay on the couch while I have KLG and Hoda on in the background and read thru some blogs on my iPad.

10:50am Start to make breakfast. I've been on an omelet kick lately. Two eggs, add some cheese. In the meantime, I heat up a whole wheat tortilla in the microwave for 15 seconds and then spread some organic guacamole on it. I put the omelet on top of it, top it with Sriracha and wrap it up. Cut up an apple and voila. Make second cup of coffee.

11:05am Eat breakfast and turn on the Price is Right. Proceed to pretend like I'm on the show and bid out loud and call other contestants out on bidding too high or too low :)

12:00pm Lay out all my pills and quickly get them down. WOO!

12:15pm Start laundry. Blah

12:30pm Make bed. And then start Swiffer-ing the entire house. I have hardwood floors and tile so it's a bitch. BUT it's still better than vacuuming.

 1:15pm Clean up all the dishes I left after breakfast. Take out the trash. And put clothes into dryer.

1:30pm Change into workout attire because I'm too lazy to actually look put together today. Throw a hat on, put on sneakers and head out the door.

1:45 Target. Walk around and end up only buying two things. Unbelievable.

2:30 Go to get my car wash. Realize I left my debit card at home when I go to pay. Thankfully my first stop was Target where I always use my Red Card. How embarrassing would that have been if I didn't have my card to pay. End up CHARGING $10 on my credit card because I REALLY need these love bugs off my car.

3:00 Make it home and put together a plate of snacks/late lunch. Cheese, crackers, some turkey, cucumber, green peppers, hummus, and grapes. NOM! Eat all of it while simultaneously playing on the internet, checking twitter, Facebook, instagram.

4:00 ELLEN is on! Also painted my nails. Still debating if I like the color.Essie: aruba blue

5:00 Just lay around some more and see what else is on.

6:30 Finally will myself to get up and go outside. I end going on a walk to a nearby park and end up sitting on a bench and stretch for a good hour. I love that it stays light out til almost 8:30 and the weather was perfect. Very little humidity.

7:45 Drive home. And pour a glass of wine. Start cooking a simple pasta dinner. Angel hair noodles in a butter, milk, herb sauce..also known as Pasta-roni. I have no shame :) I DID saute some mushrooms and bake some kale and added them to the pasta.Watch TV, talk on the phone with my mom and gradmother, and browse the internet some more.

9:00 Hop in the shower. And then put on a black mask. Pour second glass of wine :)

10:30 Take my pills. And crawl into bed :) zzzzz

Happy Wife..Happy Life

Have you ever heard that saying? I'm a firm believer in it - even if all I've ever been is a girlfriend :)

Day 14 Ten things that make you really happy

Coffee. When I wake up in the morning I almost always say, "I need coffee." My family are big coffee drinkers. Except for my mom. She drinks decaf. Which is like drinking non-alcoholic beer, what's.the.point? 

Clean sheets. There's is nothing more cozy then climbing into bed with clean sheets. Especially my bed. I probably have the most comfortable bed known to mankind and I always make sure to put cleans sheets on right before I go to bed so I can get the most out of them.

A hot shower. Especially if you're really cold - like if you've been skiing all day - like either of things happen  living in Florida, ha! Either way I love taking hot showers, but I don't really take long showers. My friends never could imagine how I was in and out so quick if we had to get ready together. My question is how are you in there that long? What do you do in there? Don't answer that :) Either way, short or long, I love it. That's what she said.

Finding a good deal. I love saving money. Actually what's better than saving money is when you are going to buy something no matter what and when you check out it's less than what you thought. Always a good thing.

My pets. None of them live with me but I love coming home and seeing them. I have a cat, Coco, that now lives with my Grandma and she's adorable. She doesn't like me anymore because she doesn't recognize me, but that doesn't stop me from screaming... "COCO, OH  MY GOODNESS, I'M GONNA COME PICK YOU UP AND GIVE YOU A BIG KISS!!!" And then she freaks and runs and hide :) And my dad has three dogs, Lola, Charlie (girl), and Rambo (I KNOW, THREE!). They're not mine but I still love them to pieces. If I could I would take two of them home with me, Rambo can stay with them.

Being with my people. Whether it's friends or family I love seeing them and hanging out. Warms my heart.

And to contradict the above statement, my alone time. I am an only child. I lived alone throughout college - except for my freshman year, which just further encouraged me to live alone after the bat shit crazy roommates I had :) I love to just lay around, do my thing. I don't really get bored. Which is an only child thing. You learn to entertain yourself at a young age and it just sticks with you.

When my sports teams win. Nothing better then when the Seminoles win a football game. I have high hopes for this football season..."Seminoles, where next year is our year..always.." haha

Really good food and wine. I love food. LOVE IT. It's amazing I'm skinny. Thanks Mom and Dad. BUT, I am kind of a picky eater. I will not touch, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, Salisbury steak..basically most comfort food. Not a big fan of fruit. I'll eat apples (only royal gala or granny smith), blueberries, strawberries, bananas (only if they have been peeled and cut), pineapple, red grapes, sometimes cantaloupe/honey-dew melon. And I think that's it. If a dessert has a fruit in it, I probably won't touch it. Oh and I love wine. Obvs. Chardonnay, Pinot Nior, Malbec, Shiraz, and Red Zin.

My TV shows? I'm running out of ideas. I have a few I love. Downton Abbey, Parenthood, and Homeland. And I love Sex and the City. I've seen every episode a million times but I still watch it if it's on tv.

Weekend (and last week) recap!

First, I drove home and surprised my dad for his Birthday :) Second year to pull it off! I was at the restaurant (Whale's Rib) waiting for him to show up. Sneaky :)

The next day, I got a new car! My lease was up on my TSX and I traded it in for a mini SUV. So far, I'm in love! Meet Black Betty. I was debating between Jeep and Acura but since I had a previous Acura they gave me a really good deal. No one even came with me. I did this all by myself. I can't believe I negotiated. "I scratch your back, you scratch mine." (I didn't actually use that line). 

Health UPDATE: Tomorrow I'm 6 months old. I can't believe it's been a half of year since transplant! Time sure does fly. My doctor's appointment last Wednesday went great. My counts were awesome and my doctor is so thrilled with how well I'm doing! He reduced my immune-suppressant medicine another 25% and if all goes well, I'll be completely off immune-suppressant next month. That is AMAZING! Some patients are on it for YEARS. Hopefully I won't be on any pills in the next couple of months. After my normal appointment I had to rush across the street to UM Hospital for my dermatology appointment. I had a mole checked out about a month ago and it unfortunately came back per-melanoma. BLAH. So I obviously had to have more removed. I now have 4 1/2 toes on my right foot, ha! Not really but they did take out a good chunk and toes aren't that big to begin with. I will say after EVERYTHING I've been through, this was like TOP 5 pain. OW. I guess because off all the nerve endings?? It didn't hurt as bad as my leg or my Hickman catheter, and the entire month of August..but it hurt more than everything else.

Thursday I drove up to North Palm to spend the night at my Aunt and Uncles. My Aunt's niece turned 21 recently and us two partied it up in the Gardens. Good grief. I promise I didn't drink much. But I did dance and stay out til almost 3am. Dancing, plus stitches in a toe, equals you will not be able to really walk for 3 days after. OW. Not my smartest move but it was probably the most fun I've had in a REALLY long time. We got these really fun glasses and we basically wore them the entire time, ha!

Yesterday we celebrated Mother's Day! My Mom, Aunt, and Grandmother went to brunch at a tea room and then went to go see The Big Wedding. It was a great day celebrating :)

And now I'm back in Tally and my brand new car is covered in Love Bugs. Stupid Turnpike.

xo

Blogging in May

And just like that almost a week has passed since my last post. Seriously slacking. Time to catch up :)



I'll try to make these short and sweet :)
Day 8 A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.
Don't sweat the small stuff. Try to stay as positive as possible and don't get upset over tiny things.

Day 9 A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)
Well, since I am recapping and this was supposed to be from Thursday. This was taken Thursday morning as I was drinking my coffee :)

Day 10 Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 
I was debating what to write here - because I definitely have a story. BUT something happened this morning and it was probably the second most embarrassing thing to happen to me EVER, so here it goes.
I was driving back from South Florida to Tallahassee this morning. Before I got on the road I needed gas and coffee. I first stopped at the gas station. I was wearing a strapless cotton dress. I got out of the car, swiped my card and put it in between my cleavage..this dress doesn't have pockets. Fast forward 10 minutes and I walk into Dunkin Donuts. I order my coffee and unzip my wallet and *gasp* WHERE'S MY CREDIT CARD? I thought about it for a second and it hits me I never took my card out of my cleavage when I got back in my car from pumping gas. I start feeling my chest, all the while the lady behind the register is staring at me. o_O When I realize it wasn't there I patted a little lower and could feel the card just below my chest, but above my belly button. I start laughing nervously and I'm sure the girl behind the counter didn't know what to think. So then I start thinking...do I go down my dress to get it..or UP my dress to get it?!?!?! I ultimately decide UP is probably better because I'm not wearing a bra and I am wearing underwear  - albeit very tiny underwear but whatever. Anyways I start to kneel and then slowly reach up my dress, grab my card, and hand it over. haha I literally couldn't stop laughing the entire time I waited for my coffee and "wake-up wrap" to be made.
Day 11 Sell yourself in 10 words or less
Genuine, charismatic, funny, spit-fire woman you just have to meet.
Day 12 What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)
Working.  It's been 10 months since I've worked and I truly miss it. I also miss my paycheck, ha!
Day 13 Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.
Oh boy. I don't even know where to start with this topic. I'm sure I owe my parents plenty from when I was a teenager. I KNOW I owe all of my ex boyfriends apologies for my less than perfect moments ;) 

Scary Stuff

 The thing(s) you're most afraid of..

I'm not really afraid of anything. I don't mind flying. I don't mind heights, or roller coasters. I could care less about bugs, spiders, lizards...iguanas and snakes do freak me out but I don't lose sleep over it.

Actually every time someone asked what I was most afraid of I would answer with "Not being able to have children. Dying. Losing someone I love and public speaking." In the past year I faced two head on.

The day that I got diagnosed the first question I asked was, "Will I lose my hair?" the second was, "Can I save my eggs?" Unfortunately, with the leukemia I had, there was no time to save my eggs. I was diagnosed Thursday and started chemotherapy about 15 hours later, on Friday. I did keep asking, but every time the doctors response was my life was more important than my eggs. At first, I still got my cycle. I had it in July, August, September, October, and for about two days in November before I started another round of chemo (the most powerful round, right before Transplant). Since then, nada, nothing, zilch. I will say not having to worry about it is kind of good. But I secretly pray one day I'll wake up and have it. I'm technically in early menopause. I get hot flashes about once or twice a day and some other symptoms that women go thru when you go thru menopause...kind of TMI so I won't type it out here. I haven't been fertility tested but plan on doing it eventually, maybe wait a few more months?

I have definitely shed some tears that I might not be able to have children. Before transplant I had to sit down with my doctor as he listed every possible thing that could go wrong and all the negative side effects. It was not fun. I left that appointment very upset. I came home and just sobbed for a couple of hours. And I'm sure I will sob again because of this. I've always said I wanted to be a wife and mother when I grow up. Always. I know I will be a mom but it's just something I have to grieve that I can't physically carry the child. I also have a hard time accepting that I can't give my future husband a child. I don't want to take having a biological child away from him.

I know I have a ton of options and as time moves on so does technology. And I'm open to adoption, egg donation, surrogacy, etc.

I try to stay as positive as possible. Even if I'm told there's a 1% chance of having children, that is still a chance. I already told my doctors/nurses I will constantly have sex if there is a chance, ha! Just need to find a man, first ;) so if you know of any hot, single, 30-40  year old man that doesn't mind have sex around the clock, send him my way :) KIDDING MOM AND DAD KIDDDDDDIINGGG!

I also try to remember that I never knew if I was able to have children before cancer. Everyone thinks it's so easy to get pregnant, but it's not. Just because you have your period doesn't mean you ovulate. I will never know either way and for some reason that helps me deal with it all.

My second fear, dying. Ugh. If I think too much about it I start crying. I had a panic attack when I was about 11 or 12 when I first realized I would die one day. My dad literally had to hold me and calm me down. I know I'm going to die. We all are. And I'm not as scarred as I was of it after this past year. After my first round of chemo didn't work and I was told I still have 80% of leukemia cells in my bone marrow I lost it. I was strong for three weeks and finally broke down. I was terrified. My nurses had to give me a Xanax to calm me down and the next day I took another one and decided that was the time to shave my head, ha! In August, I ended up in the ICU. I don't think anyone really knew how sick I was other than my parents and close family. On my blog, I try to stay positive but in reality I was very close to dying. I was almost put on a breathing tube and the chemo I had in August kicked my ass. I woke up connected to a bunch of wires and could barely see. I was told I had congestive heart failure and that my oxygen levels were scarey low. I don't remember much of August and that's my only saving grace. I don't remember being scared or being really sick. If I were to die that would be the way to go.

Sorry to talk about two really sad things but that is what I'm most afraid of. I promise to lighten it up from here on!

5 and 6

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Back to the "Blog Everyday in May" challenge. 

Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member  

Oh my goodness, there are just too many to choose from. I have been reading some for more than five years and others I just found a few weeks ago. I will say that I tend to tune in more to the blogs I have a "personal" relationship with. And by personal I mean we talk on twitter :) Just to name a few....in no particular order..

PIPM is amazing. Her knowledge on skincare and her sense of style is out of this world

Grits has the prettiest blog. Her photography. Her chickens. Her recipes...swoon.

Plan Acourtingly is a fellow Seminole :) Love her and we live in the same city!

Hello! Happiness is adorable. From her cute house to her adorable daughter. I love her everyday life.

A. Liz Adventures has the best weekends, ha! I just want to jump thru the screen and grab a cocktail with her.

Fifi Cheek has an impeccable home. Seriously she is favorite decor blog.

3 Peanuts has the cutest family. She is like a Suzy Homemaker.

Style Me Swanky is just that, swanky. Her blog covers everything from wedding planning to skincare to style. It's a must read!

 I could go on but that's "Myspace" Top 8 :)

Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

Oh wow. Now-a-days I do a lot of trips to Target/Homegoods/TjMaxx/etc, a lot of decorating, a lot downtime. I wish I had a better answer but right now I'm just a stay at home person. I love to relax, blog, cook/bake, and watch the Price is Right, ha! I try to go see my friends as much as I can whether it's for dinner, lunch, or Happy Hour. Ask me again in 6 months when I'm not so restricted :)

Day 4 - Quotes

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. Every heartache, every choice, everything life throws at you. I can give you a millions examples just on my life alone but I think the quote is powerful and I think it helps me when I start to get upset over something.