Happy Holidays!

2008 proved to be a challenging and blessed year for us...but the goal is boring for 2009! I'm in the process of trying to figure out how/if I can change the blog to be just a family blog, will keep you posted on that issue.
Since the anniversary trip to WI, we've had some good times with friends and our families. We continued the tradition of NPT's PCP (that would be Nathan P. Thomas' Pumpkin Carving Party) with airbrushed shirts and everything. We also got to spend unexpected extra time with Jake's family over Thanksgiving with the passing of Grandpa Pete. We will miss him dearly and were thankful to be able to be there and spend time with everyone. Cooper was a hit with Grandma Ruth and the nieces and nephews...especially Miss Mylie, who after an uneasy start was his best bud. Christmas was spent with my side of the fam. The boys had a blast tearing up the presents and we all even got a special visit out at Gma and pa Younger's from the jolly man himself! The only thing missing was my sis and her fam who couldn't make it. Our first holiday season in the new house was great with only 20-30 tries for a good pic for the Christmas card!
We wish you all a wonderful New Year and will keep you updated on our latest happenings.



















Gma Ruth


















Mylie and Coop















Ma in her new kitchen!














Dontcha love him!

He's gettin' so big!

Man we could be related!

Merry Christmas!

1 Year Down!

So we made it through the first fun filled year of marriage....who lost money on that bet? :) We took a much needed trip away from everything to beautiful Door County, WI. The fall colors hadn't quite all changed yet and the weather was nice and crisp! Here are several pics of the trip!

had to stop and see Lambeau Field!

this is the world's largest Culver's.

the infamous bruise

So I mentioned before that I'd bruised the back of my leg on the metal slide playing the role of cool Aunt "Laan" with my nephew Bryce...when I said bruised, I meant BRUISED! A couple people have asked me about it so thought I'd post a couple shots of it in all it's Cumadin infused glory. The first on was taken the day after and the second one was about 10 days after. Pretty cool battle wound as I think I achieved my goal of continuing to be cool Aunt "Laan." I love that little boy...who's growing up waaaay too fast and is going to soon be way too cool to hang with me.

and no, it's not my butt... it's the back of my leg

seroiously the size of a softball!

Tony, Bryce and Laan at the Aquaplex

29:17 baby!!!

This morning was my first race since the stroke and it was awesome! Liz has been training way more diligently then I have so I was pretty nervous. It went great tho! Posted my best time (29:17) and actually won my age category gettting a little plaque for being so awesome...Liz of course won her category too so we are both very proud of our accomplishment. Don't ask how many people were in the race :)

It's Homecoming weekend at Bradley so Jake is busy busy busy! Went to the vball game last night and are tailgating tonight at the soccer game...should be fun!

Before the race wondering what I'd been dragged into!

Wishing we were done!

We're done! Can't breathe!

First place for both of us!

Back in the real world...

I've been working at United Way for 3 weeks now and loving it! The people are great and the job doesn't hardly feel like work since I get to be out and about meeting new people and getting area companies involved in the campaign this year.

Cooper is gaining weight by the minute and requires constant attention (see carpet pic below). He's training well and has been going on runs with me. I'm running the 5K race this Sat. for Bradley homecoming weekend.

My blood level was a little off this last week (3.5 and needs to be bw 2-3) so the doc has lowered my blood thinner dosage and it's back to weekly checks so we can keep it regulated. boo. I still bruise like a peach. Tony and Laura and the boys came for a visit this weekend and I got a baseball sized bruise on the slide when Bryce and I played tag at the playground. Note to self--I am too old for slides. Jake and I were so glad to see them and were sad that the time flew by so fast!

We're headed out of town for two weddings in Oct. and hope to get something planned for our 1 year anniversary Oct. 27. 1 year!!!!! and you all thought we wouldn't make it ;)

Meet Cooper!

I went to pick up Cooper from the animal shelter today! He's pretty laid back today having just been neutered last night...which has made it easier to introduce him to Macey. They have touched noses just long enough to realize they aren't friends. I'm sure he'll tear up or pee on something of value before the weekend is over being 3 months old, but we're happy to have him! Isn't he cute!

Look at that face!

I made that bed for him!

Macey is not so sure about her new bro.

New nephew, new job, new puppy!

Life continues to be exciting! Tony and Laura have a new baby, Grady, which Nikki and I were home when he was born. He's a cutie just like his brothers. I also got some great news...I'll be working as an Ambassador for the United Way from Sept-Nov. It's a wonderful opportunity for me to not only get involved with a fantastic organization, but also be able to network with all the companies that participate in their campaign. I'm looking forward to going back to work and meeting new people...although it will be an adjustment to my spoiled and relaxed schedule now! Can't use the stroke victim excuse anymore...which is really a blessing!

We are really excited about a new addition to our household that we adoped from the animal shelter! He's a 3 month old yellow lab named Cooper (in honor of our first house on Cooper St.). He's sure to turn our house upsided down and ruin a couple pairs of shoes but we can't wait to bring him home this Friday!

That's all for now...will keep you posted!

Nikki and I got to spend 2 weeks at home together! Yay!

The fruits of our labor from a trip to AK. One whole meal!

2 trips to the ER in 1 day...ugh!

Since things have been getting back to normal around here Macey decided to keep it exciting. After a lovely bout of puking and pooping we made a trip to the emergency vet clinic to find out that she has a urinary tract infection probably brought on by stress. The vet asked if we have any recent changes or stressful events...I laughed. She got a shot of steriods (dexamethasome just like I was on) and I have to shove pills down her throat for the next two weeks.
But...I couldn't let her steal all the attention...so last night I went to grab something off the floor and when I stood back up I smacked my head on the ledge of our fireplace pretty hard. It hurt and I felt a big goose egg swelling up so I grabbed an ice pack and called the after hours care line and explained what happened. Of course they told me I needed to go get checked out within the next 4 hours because of the blood thinners...so out the door we went at 11:30 at night. fun. Everything was fine, they even checked my INR and it was in the correct range still. Back at home by 2 a.m. only to go to sleep and be woken up at 5:30 for a tornado warning so down to the basement we headed for an hour. Poor Jake had to put in a long day at work and I got to sleep in...so did Macey. :)

The 4th of July and neurology news!

With my completion of OT and PT I'm continuing my mission of getting back to normal, especially on the job front and with fitness and exercise. Jake and I were able to go visit his parents and family over the 4th. We had a great time seeing everyone and taking in the parade, carnival and fireworks in the booming metropolis of Rich Hill, MO! :) Jake has been super busy since his promotion and this week he's on the road to NY and Boston and has more trips planned...guess he's gotten over his worries about me not being able to stay home alone! I'm back on the job hunt and have had a couple bites lately...will keep you posted when something comes through.

Now with the great news...watch out Peoria drivers I'm cleared to drive around town! I had a neurology appointment yesterday and got the ok to drive short distances...I've regained my independence!!! The plan is still to check out my brain around the year mark and see how the clot looks and if there are any other issues with veins up there...and if all is good then I'll go off the meds. The only catch is if I choose to go off the seizure med then I will have to stop driving again for a while as a precaution. Since there aren't any side effects many people choose to stay on it and avoid risk of another seizure...we'll see, it's my choice.

So life continues to be full of blessings for us! I've even had mom up to the new house to help me with some finishing touches and deep cleaning...no one better to help get some house projects done then her!

Planning a trip home soon for the arrival of a new niece or nephew from Tony and Laura...and Nikki and the Jack Attack will be in for a visit too! Can't wait!

Here's a pic of us and some of our friends from St. Louis that we got to hang out with on our way through back to Peoria.

Another kind of OT

We just got back from a great vacation to Alaska where we visited Nikki, Brian and Jack Jack. Mom and Dad were up there to so we all got to enjoy the awesome Alaskan scenery, some camping and fishing and a little bit of hiking. I definitely stayed on top of the OT workouts with the fishing, reeling in a 40 lb halibut and a 30 lb king salmon...what a workout! I also surprised myself and I think my sister by going on a mountain hike...definitely felt the burn in my calves and quads! Below are some pics of the trip!

Also, I'm in my last week of PT and actually graduated from OT today. My hand grip is finally stronger in my right hand again and all my strength test scores reached my goal levels! I also got released from my rehabilitation doctor today...so one by one I'm checking them off the list!

Movin' On!

Life just doesn't slow down for a second! We moved in to the new house this past weekend and had a slew of helpers to make it as easy as possible. It feels great to be in a place of our very own...stacks of boxes and all! See the pic below of the moving crew (minus my bro Tony and Andy, a great helper) celebrating at the Burger Barge.
As for me, the moving definitely made PT on Monday morning pretty tough. It looks like I'll "graduate" from both PT and OT at the end of June. I'm excited to be finished but also know it will be all up to me to continue with my exercises. Also still trying to regulate my blood thinner dosage. Since returning from Mayo and dipping back down to 1.3, I've slowly been moving up and got to 1.9 then went to 3.3 (totally skipping over the ideal range of 2-3)...so we'll figure it out eventually. Been battling some continued fatigue, very frustrating and I'm sure the packing, moving and unpacking of boxes isn't helping!
Anyway, we continue to focus on the many blessings in our lives. We're getting ready to head to Alaska to visit Nikki and Brian and Jumpin' Jack Flash and hopefully reel in some big salmon and halibut...and Jake just got a great promotion at work where he's in a supervisory position over the development team and in a lead role in the campaign at Bradley Univ. It's an awesome opportunity for him!
Until next time...

Two Months Out!

Thought I'd share with you what I hope is my last 15 minute of fame due to this whole ordeal! May is stroke awareness month so my story was in the Peoria Joural Star and also a local TV station ran the story they came and interviewed me for at the house a couple weeks back.
Other then that I'm very excited to say that I will be taking my last dose of steroids at the end of the week! Bad thing is that going off of them will mess with my blood thickness levels which we're still trying to regulate. After being excited about finally being in the correct range on Fri., I found out at my blood draw today, I'm on the low end again. Boo.
Here is the link for the TV story http://www.hoinews.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=136263 where you can view the clip.
Below is the story from the paper...here's a link to the story where you can view it big enough to read. You have to scroll down on the left to page 12 and click the title of the article. http://adserver1.harvestadsdepot.com/peoriajstar/ss/079499/

Home Sweet Home

Made it home last night from Mayo with a lot of great feedback and confident remarks from the docs we met with. After reviewing the original films from Methodist, the Neurologists were still confident in what they'd told me regarding the reasons for the stroke, being able to get off all meds in a year, and the seizures being solely induced by the stroke. I was also shown the films for the first time and shown exactly where and how everything happened...wow. The true miracles of what your body can handle, with the grace of God, is really humbling.

We also met with a nurse specialist on Thrombophilia (clotting) and got all our questions and more answered about being on blood thinners and how they should and should not affect daily life. It was great to hear that life really won't need to be lived in a bubble...rather, my new motto should be consistency and moderation mixed with some common sense. That's in everything from eating to exercise.

The final piece to the puzzle was meeting with the Hemotologist. He was extremely straight forward and wanted to make sure I understood every aspect of the genetic mutation (Factor V) I have. The main thing he stressed was how important it is to keep my blood thickness ratio (INR) levels bw 2-3. It hasn't been there since I left the hospital and he bumped my blood thinner dosage up and insisted I get the level checked in 2 days...I'm very pleased to report that my level this afternoon was 2.1! Everyone we've consulted with says how hard it is to regulate because virtually everything can affect it's abilities...hydration, activity level, diet, medicines, weight gains and losses..etc.

All in all we're thrilled with the second opinion! Here are a couple more pics from the trip and one of my brain! I'm no doc, but the white shows blood flow and you can see where it stops when it gets to the top which is where the clot prevented blood flow to a huge part of the front of my brain.

The back of my head is on the right, you can see how the flow stops a little then comes back then completely stops...ta-da a stroke.

More of the Mayo campus...there are beautiful gardens and flowers all over.

Not sure if you can read it...but Mayo Clinic is etched above this doorway.