I'm coming back.

I missed a week of blogging. And then two more. And then a month went by. And another...
Now it's almost October - how did that happen? Remember when I used to blog every day? Twice a day even?

Honestly, I have been missing my blog so much lately and missing being able to write out my thoughts and experiences. Sometimes over the past few months I've found myself writing blogs in my head as if I was actually typing them out (wierd I know) but I could never get myself to the computer.

I think that after that first week, month, another month, of not blogging I started to feel really overwhelmed about all of the HUGE life events that I failed to write about. I felt that if I started writing I would be obligated to catch everyone up on everything that's been going on and frankly, that was just too big of a task. So there. That's why I've been avoiding my blog.

But I've made the decision - I'm coming back! So here's the "short version" recap of what's happened over the past few months:

1) My braces came off (woo to the hoo!) I can't believe that was the subject of my last post because it was so long ago, but seriously - Best feeling ever! And yes, totally worth it. Here's the picture I took as I was leaving the ortho office...

2) Jaclyn and Stephen got married and it was the most gorgeous wedding! I've never seen so much love in one place. They are just the most amazing couple! So happy for my little sis :)

3) I got a new job! I now work as a brand analyst for Papyrus (American Greetings) full time. It was quite the switch from designing blogs part time but it has been a pretty smooth transition so far. More blog posts to come about the job and its pros and cons (but mostly pros!)

4) I finished my schooling! It's so wonderful to have nights and weekends to do whatever I want now instead of doing school projects :)

5) Jake has been traveling the world a lot. A lot, a lot. He's been gone 2-3 weeks a month since May and that has been quite the adjustment. He's also getting ready to deploy in a few weeks and will be missing ALL of the holidays (so sad about that one). But he really is loving his job and finally getting to do what he's spent so many years training for.

6) Our new house has gotten so much more cozy! I've had a chance to decorate all the rooms except for our bedroom (I'm waiting because we'll hopefully be getting a king bed in the near future). I'd really like to post a video tour of the house sometime soon so that way all my family and friends who live far away can feel like they've seen it in person. Good plan? Here's a peak at our entry way and dining room...

7) Jake and I went on a long-awaited tropical vacation to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic! We've been trying to take this trip for a few years now and finally got to - and wow, it was so awesome! Totally worth the wait :)

8) I also really want to talk more about the squadron and base here at Travis and how it compares to life in pilot training/Mississippi. Overall its been really good so far and the spouse group especially is really great but believe it or not I do miss some aspects of UPT (never thought I'd say that! haha)

9) And then there is one more thing. The thing I hate talking about - me being sick. I'm sick of talking about being sick. I'm sick of being sick. Remember almost a YEAR ago when I first got sick? Yep, it never went away. I just learned how to deal with it. As of now, stomach pain is the big issue.

Every week or so I will get an excruciating stabbing pain in my upper abdomen that is so painful that I literally fall to the ground, moaning in pain and vomiting. Lovely, right? These "episodes" last for about 20-30 minutes and then I'm back to feeling completely fine. It blows my mind that I can go from feeling like I'm dying and then right back to normal again like nothing ever happened. I've seen doctors, specialists... I swear that the people in the ER know my name... I've had tests done, bloodwork, MRI, scans, you name it. GAH! This is easily the most frustrating thing I've ever had to deal with.

Up until today, I actually started to think I was healed. I hadn't had any "episodes" in almost a month and last week the gastroenternologist put me on a new medicine and I have been feeling great ever since! No pain at all. Kind of ironic that yesterday at lunch I told my friend Megan that I thought I finally found the answer to all of this and was so happy to finally be better. Spoke to soon...

Today right after lunch - out of NOWHERE, might I add - this pain decides to come back stronger than ever. When I felt it coming on, knowing it would come fast, I grabbed my things from my office and rushed to the car, desperate to get to my house or the ER or anywhere else - not wanting my boss and coworkers to see me in the agonizing, torturing pain that was about to come over me. Turns out the drive home was not quick enough and the pain came on strong while I was driving. I started vomiting (all over myself, my hair, my car...) and crying in pain. I decided to head straight to the ER. Jake is gone this week so I had to just be strong and deal with this on my own. I barely made it into the ER; literally as soon as I made into the lobby I collapsed in pain and they rushed me back to a room. I'm pretty sure they thought I was dying too. I've never seen people move SO fast to help me! And then, about 10 minutes later, the pain was gone. GONE! Completely gone and I was feeling back to normal. It happens like this every single time and makes absolutely no sense. It almost makes me more mad because the pain doesn't stay long enough for them to actually see it and do tests while it's happening.

Blah.

Anyways I just really wanted to vent about today's experience. Definitely not what I had planned for my day! And then it was hard coming home to an empty house - I just really needed somebody to take care of me, to talk through it and let me complain a little and process the days events.

So that's what led me back to my blog. And you know what? It feels SO good to write again. I have a feeling there's a lot more writing to come in the near future!

In the meantime, please PRAY for this medical mystery I am having. I'm starting to lose hope that it will ever go away or get resolved. I hate having to miss out on fun events and time with new friends because I don't feel well :( And if you need prayer for anything please let me know as well!

It was good catching up :)