The Journey [Is a Long One]

Dude, hoooooly driving..

Where the trip to South Carolina went off without a hitch, the haul back was quite the contrast:

Cons: There was so. much. traffic. 

There were detours.
Ignorance was running rampant on social media.
Thirteen. Hours. In. The. Car.

PROS: 
Woke up to the smell and sound of the ocean, palm trees and sand.
Tackled the journey with one of my best friends & her beau.
It was gorgeous weather the entire trip.
North Carolina bartenders will make you a specialty Wedding Tea, if you ask!
Plenty of time to peruse and reflect on photo reels from the weekend.
Finished reading City of Bones (now on to City of Ashes!)
Took a stand against ignorance and self-made bigot #forthewin #saynotowestborokids

Traveled back through the 5 states: SC, NC, TN, KY & OH! 

Returned to my family: Rob, Syd & the Pups!

I'm... tired. Like, beyond tired. Today was a gorgeous day, and while I'm here blogging, the newlyweds should be well on their way to their Caribbean honeymoon. I'm so thankful to have been a part of this wonderful weekend, and can't wait to see the pictures!! 

Love, love & sleepinginmyownbedyesssssss... 

xo | cmd 

Happy 29, Best Friend

We have this human tendency when something goes wrong, to focus only on the parts that went sour. I'm guilty of having done this over the past 3 days, with this whole accident thing: 

Rob's injured, and in pain. 

We're 5 hours from home. 

We're holed up in either a hotel or hospital room all day. 

The bike is wrecked. 

We've spent a lot of money on this already. 

We're both missing work. 

When really, while those are legitimate concerns, they should be only be part one of TWO: 

Rob's injured, and in pain... but he is alive.
We're 5 hours from home... but with friends and family to keep watch while we're gone.
We're holed up in either a hotel or hospital room all day... but we are together.

The bike is wrecked... but it is salvageable.  

We've spent a lot of money on this already... but we have saved and will not struggle. 

We're both missing work... but we have jobs that understand the situation.

So today, we spent the morning packing up our hotel room, checked out of said hotel room, and headed back to the medical center to prepare for the day's outpatient surgery. I have to admire hospital staff for their compassion and patience with people like Rob [and very much so myself as well, in these circumstances], who try but don't succeed at hiding the fear of anesthesia, surgery, blades and that unknown gap that comes from being unconscious.

pre-surgery

They wheeled him back for surgery, and I sat patiently in the waiting room, praying for steady doctor's hands and a seamless procedure. The sigh of relief came about an hour later when Dr. Carlson appeared in the waiting area to tell me it went exactly as planned and that Rob was in recovery. 

We are given every single new day and every moment of that day not because we deserve it, but because there is grace and mercy. By the miracles of modern medicine and the exacted training of doctors and surgery technicians, we are able to be put to sleep and awoken again at bidding. Through it all, we are held safe in the protection of God's hand, because He does not leave nor forsake us, even for a minute. It's incredible. 

post-surgery

And that was that. Rob came back to the real world, the sleepy parts of his brain falling back into a conscious step with one another, until he was ready to journey downstairs. We ate lunch in the cafeteria, filled his final prescription, and then loaded into the car for the 4.5-hour ride home. 

heading home! 

beautiful view along the way! 

The first thing we saw upon pulling up to the house was that someone had taken the initiative to mow the lawn. There were about 3 options in my head of who that could've been, but before I could fully process them, the most obvious - and obviously correct choice came walking out of my front door, right between my parents. Becky, you are a saving grace and one of the best friends I think I've ever had.

My parents and Sydni were elated to see us, and Mom wasted no time getting down to business on the dinner she'd prepared in advance as a way to welcome us home and alleviate the burden of cooking dinner on top of a 5-hour drive. They truly are amazing.

Sydni is heading back up to Mt. Vernon with my parents tomorrow, and Rob will stay here and relax. I'll head back to work [finally], and we'll continue on with our week as scheduled.

For now, I'm off to volleyball, because the world doesn't stand still for long, and I've got a game to play :).

Happy 29th birthday to my best friend.. and good night to you, dear blogbots!

xo | cmd

In The Midst of It All

I took a walk this morning. The first thing I thought when I woke up was that I needed, desperately, to get outside, touch my feet to the earth and reconnect myself to it, to the circle and to the Creator. I stopped and sat for a minute, just outside the cabin, and prayed. There isn't enough gratitude in my body to fully express the way I feel today. 

Rob slept through the night just fine, with minimal pain. He went to bed with arms and legs fully in tact and functioning. He has no back injuries. Aside from the visible damage on his face, his head is fine. He is damaged, but he will be okay. Most importantly, he is still himself, but now with a heightened sense of awareness to his own vulnerability. 

But he is still here. He is alive, by the grace of a God that I will never fully understand, but praise and thank daily for the blessings - both big and small - that somehow find me, despite my (our) undeserving state. 

I called off work today. Our first task as a group was recovery of all the bikes; we visited two separate places to get Rob's, then Dillon's. 

there she goes... 

TO THE OFFICER WHO TOLD ME YESTERDAY, AT AROUND 2AM ON THE PHONE THAT ROB AND HIS BIKE WERE ESSENTIALLY TOTALED, YOU OUGHT TO BE CAREFULLY RECONSIDERING YOUR OATH TO HONESTY. You do NOT tell someone's family member a course of events that did not happen, your certainty in the matter stamped only by the status of your badge. We were told that Rob's bike was a complete lost cause, and that upon impact, he had flipped off the bike and into the unknown at that point. 

Does this look like the aftermath of a bike abandoned by flight?! 

bikes going to illinois

 No, it doesn't. 

No.... it... doesn't. Urgghhhh

The guys managed to get her up and onto the trailer, with the help of the backyardigans's flatbed. Sidenote: Here in TN, it's very lucrative to own and operate a tow business out of your house. These guys are pros at it, and if I should ever find myself living in this region, you can go ahead and know now what business I'll be pursuing.

We headed back to the cabin to do the final pack-up of our things and get all 3 bikes situated on the truck and trailer, before saying our farewell-for-now's. Dillon, Matt, Courtney & Cadence took off back to Illinois, while Rob and I made our way back here to Knoxville. We stopped at Panera for lunch, and started formulating a plan on what to do for the next couple of days. As it turns out, we'll be stuck here, since on such short notice, we aren't able to get in to any Cincinnati facilities for the surgery he'll need on Wednesday. Womp womp.

Rob found a hotel on Expedia, and long story short, we're here now, checked in and planted here for the next two nights.

The consultation appointment is tomorrow. I'll put this prayer out in the blog world for tonight: for confidence, easy nerves and painless completion of the whole ordeal.

See you in the morning!

xo | cmd