12.5 hours in a car.

So today was a travel day. We started out super early (5:45 am early), okay so it isn't terribly early but I went to bed at 1 so early.

We aren't too un presentable for an early morning photo op.

So we were off and on the road to Holland Michigan. I slept until probably 10ish in the car and then napped on and off.

We stopped for lunch and the guys were persistent in stopping at the KFC for the buffet. I didn't know KFC's had buffets. I was modest in my buffet pickings....

Eventually in Illinois we had to stop and get gas and I realized just how cheap our gas in Memphis actually is (despite the fact that it isn't cheap...)

After potty breaks, rest stops, stops for coffee and snacks we made it to Michigan and in true Michigan style they had a light house at the welcome center.

After 12.5 hours of driving we made it!!! We had a nice dinner cooked out by family up here and then are now ready to hit the sack. No alarms will be set tomorrow. (to my knowledge.) We are ready for a Great Night's SLeep!!

12.5 hours later and those smiles are real. Mostly because we are ready to be out of the car and settling in for the night. ( in different rooms of course.)

Relaxation

It is finally here. 8 months later. After spending the end of December of 2011 until mid July basically plagued with asthma attacks and bronchitis and working the whole year and rather intensely the past few months for the wedding, I am getting away.

I don't mean to sound like I have just had a horrible year because the reality is it has been amazing compared to what some others around this world go through but in my personal life next to my parasite this has been a very eventful year. I am thankful though and wouldn't change it for anything. I always learn so much during times like these.

In about 7.5 hours I will be leaving for Michigan. I didn't think I was going to make it up there this year but it somehow worked out. I will get to see Eric's cousin M get married to his beautiful bride and I am so excited for that. We stay basically right on Lake Michigan up there so it is gorgeous views, sand beaches, without salt water, sharks, or jellies and basically all the benefits of the beach without the cons of the beach. It also has some of the most gorgeous sunsets every. Since we are on the east coast of Lake Michigan we get to watch the sunset over the lake and it literally sets right into the lake. Memories are made of this stuff. Seriously.

So up for a few days I should go and when we get back it will be time to hit the ground running with only 58 days left till we get married. This means showers, working like crazy, buying some last minute stuff, and all the other wedding craziness shall ensue. It is so hard to believe sometimes. I feel like just yesterday I met him.

As the wedding gets closer I get more and more little jitters. Being the center of someone's attention just makes me sick to my stomach. Oral Comm in high school was horrible and Oral Comm in college....well that has been non existent.

The butterflies I still get when I think about how lucky I am to marry my best friend still amaze me. We have been through a lot already and I know there will be more to come. We will be following a path that God will set before us step by step but E is the only one I would ever want to do it with!

Well I guess i need to finish some last minute packing and get some rest.

Crazy and Exciting Times

I haven't been on here in what feels like forever.  Things have definitely been crazy!

Wedding planning, working full time , making budgets, watching family, and mending myself have kept me insanely busy.

I must definitely say that back at the beginning of July things got super crazy all because of high arches, damaged ligaments, and weak ankles.

You may remember on July 5th I did a good number on my left ankle with a nice, little sprain. This led to conversations between my physical therapist and I of high arches, and chronic ankle sprains which I have had and how now that my ligaments are so stretched that more sprains in the future were very probable wiht running. (Joy)

So many talks of how proper running shoes, proper bracing equipment (for both ankles since I lightly sprained the right ankle last week) were a DEFINITE MUST if I wanted to run at all. Also, ice baths for my ankles have been my new best friend!

The humor in all of this is that EVERY time in my life I have sprained and torn ligaments it has been while i was walking on a basically flat surface not while running on uneven surfaces. Go figure. Haha.

So next week I am looking forward to purchasing the proper shoes so I can FINALLY get back to running. It has been to long. My lungs have fallen back into their wimpy state and are going to love me for whipping them back into shape.

I am looking forward to running again. I feel really accomplished and it is a great stress reliever!

On a completely separate note... there are only 70 days left until I get to marry my best friend! Super excited!!!

Training On Hold

 I have been super excited to get back into running since my whole asthma and bronchitis flare up and also since Eric is getting back into it to. It is great to have a little support system . I have been super excited to train for Disney Half Marathon although I hadn't decided if I was going to do the regular Disney Half or the PRincess Half.

 Well....I managed to do it again. Tore my ankle up. It didnt ask for it. The poor thing.

When I tear ligaments and sprain my ankle it is one of those tears and sprains where the Ortho doctor flat out says you would have been better off breaking your ankle....thats always lovely to hear isn't it? LOl.

The most embarrassing part is always how the ligaments tear. About 2 years ago this happened to my other foot. A few days of popping and pain and ankle rolling and then it finally gave way while coming down the stairs at a friends house during a tornado warning. I tossed and turned the rest of that night while my ankle was swelling and endured most of Sunday in that state. I went to Campbell Clinic the next day to find out that i had torn ligament on the outside top of and inside of my ankle....OUCH. I was then told to that I might as well have broken it and it might have healed more quickly (although would be more painful)....THanks doc but I will stick for the less painful injury. I spend that whole summer in a walking boot....although I will admit it is much better than a cast since the boot can be removed. Now fast forward.

On Thursday I was at David's Bridal with one of my bridesmaids and Eric's mom. My ankle popped a little and had a sharp shooting pain. (story of my life) So I decided to try and walk it off and roll my ankle around. This was painful but I'm a trooper and walked it off. Purchases were made and as we were leaving the store my ankle made a HUGE POP and completely gave way and buckled right in the middle of the street.
Stay calm Allyson. So you are in the middle of the street. Can't walk and there is a car coming. Hobble on over to the sidewalk. I was slightly agitated as I hobbled to the side of the street and the person in the car honked at me to get me to hurry up. Really sir? But, I digress.

So I decided to ice it and elevate it and hope I had just over stretched it a little to far but no tears. Fingers crossed. After a few hours the pain was becoming more and more evident despite the ice and pain killer and I was still unable to put weight on it. So I gave in and went to my job's sister group Memphis Orthopedic Group. After a very rushed visit, the doctor told me I had torn ligament on the inside of my ankle gave me a sports brace and I was on my way.

Thursday night was pain as it should be. Friday morning I woke up and even with the sports brace could not bear any weight on my left foot. I have an old walking boot from my right foot injury so decided to wear that and headed on to work at Ortho Memphis. I spent the majority of that day hobbling in the boot in pain. (Even with the boot I was not able to bear great amounts of weight on it.

One of the doctors at Ortho Memphis ( a foot and ankle doctor) graciously offered to see me that afternoon despite his busy schedule and upon examination came to the conclusion that I had indeed torn the ligaments on the opposite side of my ankle and the pain I was feeling on the inside of my ankle was the bone banging into some cartilage from the lack of support from the outside tendons being torn. He gave me an aircast to completely immobilize the left and right movement of my ankle. This brace helped TREMENDOUSLY!!! He also told me my walking boot was too big and thats why it wasn't helping much because my ankle still had room to move side to side.

I know what you are thinking. Allyson, don't move your ankle from side to side when you walk....I can't help it I have high arches and am a natural underpronator (for all of you who hate me for using terms like that let me simply put it....I walk completely on the outside of my feet not in the  middle from side to side like I am supposed to) which is why I tend to sprain my ankles so often according to the doctor. With the air cast and the walking boot on top of it with a snug fit in place, I am now good to go. I can walk in the boot. I am already starting ROM exercises as tolerates to try to avoid losing any of that. A few PT sessions for strengthening and I can start back walking on tracks in maybe a month but he wouldn't suggest training runs until the end of September or October....progress pending of course.

ALso, some new shoes for people with high arches will have to be bought which the PTs at Ortho Memphis clued me into just means shoes with cushioning or flexibility really.

So with this happening my mind was definitely made up to do Disney's Princess Half and not the regular Disney half since I will now be on the training program for that time schedule and I will just do the St. Jude 5k and the Disney 5k...maybe even the Tinkerbell 5K for practice and endurance. i will now have to run with sportsbraces on both ankles (you know the kind that lace up and then Velcro in about 4 different directions to hold my weak little ankle together as I run. I'm not willing to give up run and spin though. I love them!

Well onto more icing and ROM exercises. Pain is gain.

Faith and Trust

For those of you who know me you know I would have wanted to add on the phrase "and pixie dust" to the end of this blog title to satisfy the Disney freak in me, but I refrained.

Over the past 5 months i have had to relearn something, something that, ahsamedly I admit, I have forgotten. Something that I shouldn't have forgetten. I am learning right now how to completely trust and have faith in God. I guess over the years the familiarity of it all got its best of me. I'm being completely transparent her so work with me.

Having battled various respiratory illnesses and attacks since January has definitely taken its toll on my physically and mentally. I had to forfeit a job at Disney, which actually led me to be home for a very special moment in a friend's life. It has led to me to accumulate numerous bills for ER visits and tests and doctor visits and x-rays and blah blah blah the list could go on and on.

Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to say I have a life threatening illness and that I could die soon because that is definitely not the case. God has actually brought several people across my path or across my mind through blogs that really convict me because of the faith they show during life threatening times in their life. Yet, their faith shines. The smiles on their face and the glory they are bringing to God throughout their times of hardship are such a conviction and encouragement to me.

Matthew 6:25 says, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing?"

I definitely have had trouble with this. Keeping a job has been difficult. I opted to leave Disney and come home simply because I could not stay well enough to work. Fevers and coughing and sneezing don't quite mix with serving people their food or loving on their kids.

So after much prayer I decided to come home both physically exhausted and mentally exhausted. When people tell you that Satan attacks you when you are down they definitely weren't joking. Sadly, there have been many moments when I have fallen into Eric's arms and just asked through sobs, "what have I done for this to happen to me", as I look back on those moments I am so ashamed.

I don't know what the reason for this event in my life but I know God has a purpose for it. I have watched God be faithful my whole life. Even when I came back for Disney and was on a job hunt for a few months. God always provided just enough sitting job or sub jobs for me at old jobs to make bills. He really has ALWAYS been faithful.

One of my favorite quotes right now is by Oswald Chambers and he says "Trustfulness is based on confidence in God whose ways I do not understand."

I don't understand them but I know that God has promised in Romans 8:28 that "All things work together for God to those who love God to them who are called according to HIs purpose."

I told a gentleman in orchestra at my church a few weeks ago, when he asked how I was doing, that "I'm just following this small path of road I see in front of me and when God turns it left or right I just follow it and see where it leads."

Life is a journey and God has already brought me through so many things and it has made me a much better and stronger person because of it. I'm not going to falter and quit trusting HIm now. I had my own little mini revival in my car the other day. One of my favorite songs came on the radio. It has been a song I have claimed my whole life and this song is a song off the great old hymn Great Is Thy faithfulness. As i listened to the song I realized that God has blessed me so much in the past and with all of this sickness I had been relying on my own strength and not the strength and peace that God offers to all who seek it through Him. I had been distracted and frustrated and for that I did ask forgiveness from my Heavenly Abba.  I broke down in tears as I drove down the road and just asked my Abba for forgiveness and for renewed strength and peace. Instantly I felt a peace.

I don't need to worry about this new job I have and whether or not I will lose it because of all of the recent medical things that have arisen. If God wants me to keep it then I will keep it. He will give me the strength to do all that I need to do. I need just trust Him and have faith in Him.

I know there will be times when I falter and worry and rely on my own strength or question His ways, and for those times I am so thankful for a wonderful fiance who can remind me not to worry and to do my best and trust God. I am also so thankful for an Abba who is a forgiving Abba and an Abba I can crawl up into His arms and tell him all my frustrations and leave them all at his feet and know that He is listening and will offer a comfort and a peace to me that passes all understanding.

Once again, I don't want this to sound super dramatic like I am dying because i am not. i just want to share what God has been doing in my life lately. 

I will close with the lyrics to the song that I mentioned above. It is "He's Always Been Faithful". by Sara Groves.


Morning by morning I wake up to find
the power and comfort of God's hand in mine.
Season by season I watch Him amazed,
in awe of the mystery of His perfect ways

All I have need of His hand will provide.
He's always been faithful to me.

I can't remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain.
I can't remember one single regret
In serving God only and trusting His hand.

All I have need of His hand will provide,
He's always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song
the theme of the story I've heard for so long
God has been faithful He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end.

All I have need of His hand will provide
He's always been faithful x 2
He's always been faithful to me.

God is So Good!!!!

Well today I got great news!!! I AM EMPLOYED!! God is so Good!

For a few months I have been led down dead ends in the job search. I have some major bills to pay and a wedding to save for. I know that this is not a huge deal like some people who have been out of jobs and are on the verge on foreclosure, but in my current life place it was a big deal. God has always provided just enough money every month for me to meet my bills so I have learned to trust Him. He would provide me a job that He wanted me to have when He wanted me to have it. I was telling a guy at church I know the other day, in my life right now I am just letting God pave a path a little at a time and I am just following it. It has been an amazing time of discovering Him more!

Today as I was working at Mother's Day Out with the babies and contemplating my plan of action for teaching the preschool Enrichment class I got a call.

This call made my day! Medical Transcriptionist job opportunity! Full time! It was all I needed to hear. They even wanted me to start today. The place that helped me get this job sent me my congratulations email and I was so ecstatic. They told me the place wanted to know if I could start today!!! So, after working out the logistics of having to leave with my boss and supervisors at Mother's Day Out, I came home and got ready for training!!!

This email just got me so excited!
So as I got off this afternoon  I went to Walmart and bought the scrubs I needed. I also went and ordered my glasses. I have needed to order my glasses for months just put it off since I have my contacts. However, I learned today that staring at a computer screen causes your eyes to get dry and your contacts to come out. No bueno. :( So after a small shopping spree today I am ready for my first full day tomorrow and my new job! The colors are slightly distorted in this picture, but my start of my scrub collection :)

 I love that scrubs are so comfy but sometimes I wish they were a little more flattering. Business casual and business dress just aren't for me 40 hours a week though. I love gettig dressed up but i think doing it 40 hours a week takes the fun out of it, and let's face it...who wants to get all dressed up to sit at a computer and stare at the screen all day....NOT ME!

Funny faces and Mini celebrations!

Today was full of happiness for me. i got to go hang out with big sis and Little Miss again :) Day brightener! Little Miss made some funny faces today and we mini celebrated her being one month old! We even got some cute pictures!

Little Miss had a moment and series of faces which just about made sis and I fall on the floor laughing. The laughter did stop long enough due to lack of breathing though. So over a 5 second period of time these are the pictures that occurred. Lets see if you find them as humorous as we did.

I shall leave interpretation of these faces open to the viewers...but we were certain we were going to have a stinky baby on our hand, alas, it never happened. Just a silly series of faces we guess. Can't deny it is too stinkin cute though.


We also had a little photo shoot with Little Miss today for her one month pic. Big sis bought some cute little month stickers to stick on her onsies for cute little photos every month. Today we did her one month pic. I think her daddy needs to try for some photos too because me and sis are def. amateurs at pic taking. Anyway here are a few cute ones i caught on my phone. on my favorite pic she is covering the one though. Stinker Little Miss is she either always had her eyes closed or was covering the sticker.  Oh well she is just  a month old. Here is to 2 months being more successful. still so cute. Here are a few shots.

 I love this little lady and her family :) They warm my heart.

On a separate but random note. There are only 157 days left until Eric and I get married to my best friend.

Also, 6 days until he gets home!!!

I scheduled our engagement photo session today for May 23! I am so excited! Our photographer is super laid back and is so helpful in this process. I can't wait to work with her during our wedding!!!