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

What Would YOU Give.. For Your Best Friend?

At 8:40 AM this morning, Octavian's surgery started, and Ryan was sent back for final prep.

ryan & octavian *

What's happening?

I grew up with a family from my home church in Mt. Vernon. Our families have grown even closer over the years, our parents have been best friends for at least the past six or seven.

Jenni, one of the daughters, is a few years older than me, married to Octavian with two beautiful children. Their best friends Haylee and Ryan, another couple from my home church, have been very familiar names and faces since as long as I can recall. When my mom told me last year that Ryan's kidneys were failing quickly and that a transplant was mandatory, all I could do was pray. And then, via Mom & of course the breaking newsfronts of Facebook, I found out that after rounds and rounds of tests, Octavian was evaluated as a match for Ryan.

ryan, in dialysis :( *

Octavian and Ryan are best friends.
Octavian gave Ryan one of his kidneys today.

It chills me in both an inspirational and terrifying way to see the lengths we will go to for the people we love. I am humbled by Ryan's journey through all of this, and floored by the sacrifice that Octavian is making. I think about this and wonder what I would do if I were called by design to give such a delicate and functional part of myself for my best friend. Would I do it? I want to say yes, but the very thought of it is frightening.

Or at least it was.

Haylee and Ryan keep a blog, detailing this journey through Ryan's dialysis treatments, the struggles they've faced along the way, but more and most importantly the unwavering faith that has fueled them through every single trying day. Talk about motivated. If you have time, read some of it.
Along with their blog, Footsteps Photography captured moments from the bond and incredible story of these two families that moved me to tears when I first saw them.

Jenni posted some shots this morning from surgery prep.

octavian. jenni. ryan. haylee. *

I don't know about you, but while I saw hospital gowns and monitors, I can clearly saw the hope and confidence on their faces. I know they were scared.. who wouldn't be?!

I trolled FB a lot today, to see the updates that both Jenni and Haylee were posting. Finally, just before 3pm, I caught the first post-surgery updates from both, and just about cried:

aaaaaamen!!!

This isn't even my family but I can't help to be floored, yet again, by the miracle that happened today. What an amazing gift, and what a committment of trust and understanding that the there is no risk that can outweigh love when it comes down to the wire.

The last post I saw from Jenni tonight was a picture of her and Haylee, post-op, gearing to head home to rest up and return tomorrow to the hospital. They look exhausted, but gorgeous!

jenni & haylee .. gorgeous! *

Thank you, Haylee, Jenni, Octavian & Ryan for sharing this day with us and keeping us all posted. [My mom is in tears right now!] God is good, ALL. THE. TIME!

With that being said, Sydni and I are going to spend the rest of tonight cuddled up into a our movie and a Skype date with Rob before we hit the hay.

See you tomorrow (:

xo | cmd

*all photos borrowed from Jenni & Haylee!

Don't Touch My Baby :-ϟ

You'll never catch me doting endlessly about myself or anything I've done... however if there is one thing I know for certain about good ole' me, it's that I am fiercely loyal to those I love. There's a lot I would do for a friend in need, and when it comes to my family, specifically Sydni, there is very little that I wouldn't do for her.

So today, as we headed in for a consultation over the small inguinial hernia she has, I was faced for the first time with a tangible sense of maternal instinct. I know, I knowwwww this is an outpatient surgery and it happens to kids all the time, and thisssss, and that.... yes, I know. That doesn't mean I want my monster to have to go through it.

In my head, this is what I felt like I probably looked like today.. or at least how I felt:

don't ........ touch.

Haha. Yeah, I'm a nerd, but Neytiri from Avatar, about to whoop someone if they take one more step in the direction of someone she's protecting... is the first thing that came to mind today. Go figure.

In reality, here's what it really looked like:

hahaha...

True story. The consultation today consisted of more time watching Sydni spin this chair, climb the table, pull that curtain out and dance around the room than it did visiting with the actual surgeon. AND.... this is an outpatient procedure, so whenever we schedule it will be her day in and out of the hospital. AND... it's Children's, so I'm really not worried. It's not like it's Mercy Fairfield.... ☹

So yeah, I need to relax.. I know. I can't help it though, yenno? That's my baby.. and as majestic as Neytiri is.. I really don't see the need to turn into a blue feline-human warrior out for revenge. I'm trying to keep my blood pressure down these days...

Anyhow, all other quips aside, I headed out after all of that to meet up with Kalyn, Keifer, Brittany & her boyfriend Joe, and Tim & Jess at Quaker Steak in Eastgate. It was a five minute stand there before we hauled off to Varsity in Anderson for dinner and a good series of catching-up stories before we all dispersed our separate ways and headed home.

That's now, and I'm spent.
My family comes in tomorrow.. I can't wait!

Time to catch some Z's.

xo | cmd 

DIY Birthday Cards

So this weekend, as I shared with everyone, was a little bit of a trying situation as it relates to my relationship with Rob. Not that anything is wrong or even warranting concern at all, but it's just plain old tough sometimes when the face-to-face contact that so easily solves this kinda thing isn't available. The struggle is real, people... :p .

And then he sends me a picture of his desk space.
... And I smile.
.... And so I took one of mine and threw us both on there and called the whole thing a his&hers kinda deal. It won't seem like much to most of you, but it meant a whole bunch to me today, and I was quickly reminded that I am a blessed girl, in many ways.

his & hers workspaces (:

He's awesome.
& I love that guy..
... a lot. (:
& 'Nuffa that.

One of the BEST perks of all my stuff being out of storage and into my house now is that I have all my craft stuff back. I'm not a true DIY snob, no, but if there's one thing I hate doing, it's buying birthday cards for people from the store. I'll do it if I have to, sure, but why, when I could make one?

this is no game. this... is birthday card time.

Not only did I have reason to make one card, but I have two people with approaching birthdays! (:

The first one.. I cannot show you right now, because it's Rob's, and his birthday isn't until next week, and there's no way the world will see this silly card before he does... so that'll have to wait. The other one is for my boss, Nancy, who I know won't see this.. or if she does, I can pretty much guarantee it won't be until after she's seen the card in person.

stamps galore ;)

Either way, there was MUCH DIY fun had tonight.. with two cards that are pretty fun if you ask me (:


diy birthday card for the 'first lady' of our office!

I'm praying this will be a good week. Sydni has an appointment on Friday for a small hernia that more than likely will require a quick surgery, but I'll know more after the consultation. I'm doing my best not to overreact; I'm trying to stay in that neutral zone of concerned but not panicked on the whole thing, but I've had my moments the past week. The good news is, she's a healthy little ox right now, so I'm just praying for minimal time under the knife and a quick recovery. And no, it's not me pretending to be noble when I say that I wish this was me and not her.... but I really do. *Sigh. I'll keep ya'll posted, but prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Make it a great week!

xo | cmd

Wisdom Teeth, Be Gone!

I remember back a few years ago when I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I ended up with the dry socket from Hades and lost about 14 lbs. It was not a good time. I am just hoping against hope that Joe doesn’t have to endure any of that nonsense after his healing is said and done.

We dropped Sydni off for what we’ll say was both a test run and a huge favor done by the Sandven’s so that we could go to the med building for Joe’s surgery. I was prepared to be waiting for no less than 2+ hours for all of it to be complete, but just a little over 50 minutes in, he was rolling out in a wheelchair with pink gauze tape over his IV mark.

As is the case with wisdom teeth, this is the first thing most of us do after surgery: SLEEP! After unloading a passed out Sydni and a groggy Joe into the house and to their beds, I ran out to pick up some Jello, soup, and other non-clumping foods as the oral surgeon had suggested. As soon as he’s up, it’s soup for dinner and a new gauze.

Yep, so that’s that.

Tomorrow =

.: Express meeting in Edwardsville

.: Eric coming for a visit!

.: Joe recovering from both wisdom teeth and softball flesh wound. Hah.

Also, the house is coming together finally!

Not a bad Wednesday! J