Happy New Year!

Well, the new year has arrived. Drew and I spent new year's eve at home and Chris & Shanna (brother-in-law & sis-in-law) over for some food and FUN!! We played a few rounds of Taboo and Scrabble. Oh, yes, we also had some pre-party dart action going on too!! Anyone who knows me knows I have a competitive soul!! :) I had a couple of wins!!

Soooo.... where do I really start to update you from our last blog?? Well, I think I discussed a Christmas party. That didn't happen. Day of the party Drew and I had planned to have our Christmas pictures taken by Kendall and then we would head over to Kim and Michael's house to start making appetizers. I had a slight stomach ache that morning, but I was functioning. We got ready for pics and I looked pretty cute if I'd say so! I convinced Drew to Drive b/c I wasn't feeling so hot, so he did (Note: we have our two dogs w/ us plus Kendall's dog, Lucy) We weren't even 10 minutes away from the house when I told Drew to turn around and go home. My stomach ache went from aching to the worst pain I have ever felt in my life!!!!!! I laid on the couch and Drew said "I'll be back I'm going to take Lucy home," I said "no you aren't, you are taking me to the ER." I think I got his attention then and he knew it was serious. So to the ER we went, and we waited (only about 40 min, but the kind of pain I was in it felt like a lifetime). They took me back and immediately started doing all sorts of tests... xray, cat scan, blood work, urinated in a cup, and had an ultrasound. I had a KIDNEY STONE, 5mm (which is a big stone)!!! What??? Me?? I'm young, I didn't think someone like ME could have a kidney stone. Finally, I got some really good pain meds and I was feeling good. So they tell me I have to stay over night to see if it will pass. It didn't. I went home with a funnel and hopefully I would pass my stone. 3 weeks go by and still no stone (that is how long the Dr said to wait before I contacted him again). Oh, and of course I can't do that new shock wave procedure to break the stone up b/c they can't see it on the xray. So... this week I am told I need repeat the cat scan to see were that stone went... (I know this is a long story and it only gets better) Ok, so the stone went BACK UP into my kidney AND is bigger, now 6mm!!! What?? How can this be? I mean I know it didn't pass, but I really wasn't expecting the doc to tell me this. So, the Dr wants me to go back that day and get an xray. This could be good news because if they are able to see it on the xray I could have the shock wave procedure done. Dr calls me today and.... THEY CAN'T SEE IT. Again, let down... I was being so optimistic. I have 2 choices the Dr tells me. 1. We can try to treat it w/ meds to try and dissolve the stone- this medication I will be taking only dissolves uric acid stones and the Dr isn't even sure if I have that type of stone (there are 5 different types). IF it is that type of stone I have about a 60-70% of it dissolving. Then I would go back in about 6 weeks to see where it is at. 2. He will go in and retrieve the stone- I really don't want to have to have surgery but there is a chance that the stone could try to pass again and I could be in severe pain. The chances of this size of stone passing are very unlikely. I'm guessing if it did try to pass again they would probably go in and retrieve it right away. I have been pain free for a couple of weeks now. Please pray that I will continue to be pain free and the stone will just dissolve.

I know, that was a super long story but I wanted to share. Hope it wasn't TMI?! So, needless to say we missed our Christmas pictures and party. However, we got to do our pictures the following day (slightly in pain) and they turned out great. :) GOOD LUCK TO KENDALL IN HER NEW PHOTOGRAPHY ADVENTURE!!

We also made our trip to Kansas for early Christmas w/ Cindy & Family and had a great time! I was glad Drew finally got to see all of Uncle Alan's Firebirds. He has tons of them and Drew was jealous! Sometimes I wish Drew still had his Firehawk. It was fun to have in the summer w/ the T-tops down and let the wind blow through our hair. Those were the good ol' days. Jim and Tom (my 17 & 16 year old cousins) each got REAL go carts from Santa. Jim took me on a ride and I think I wet my pants. HA

Christmas was great in Texas also! Drew was so sweet and did awesome, like usual. I got a nice watch w/ some BLING! :) a new bluetooch, gift cards for a mani & pedi and to Victoria's secret!! Poor Drew just got a tool box, kayak rack for our garage, and clothes. He says he liked them all. I love how he is so easy going! We spent time with both families on Christmas day. Dad got a Wii!! Oh my gosh, it is so much fun. Watching Grandma play tennis was a hoot. I was even sore the next day!!

I don't think we have a whole lot planned for 2009. Drew's friend, Josh will be getting married in March and in April we will celebrate our 1st anniversary!! Hard to believe it's almost been a year already! We also hope to plan a trip sometime this year. I don't know where, but there are so many places I want to see. I don't get out too much! Oh, I forgot to mention that Drew and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary of knowing each other on New Year's Eve. So much has happened in 3 years. I can't wait to see what is to come. I LOVE YOU DREW! Thank you for going out with all of us 3 years ago! And thanks to our matchmakers, April and Josh. I'm really not one for New Years resolutions. However, I have realized that maybe if I would blog a little more often I wouldn't have to sit down and write a novel once a month. So, maybe I'll blog a little more. :) I would also like to get myself a little healthier. A little more exercise and make my lungs a little stronger. Cheers to 2009!!

*disclaimer* no proofreading was performed while creating this blog.