Miracles Never Cease

Most everyone that I speak with regularly or communicate with through Facebook knows what's been going on lately - Nels' dad has been in the ICU since last Monday night. It's been an emotional journey, but the last few days have been all good news and we've all been happy! It has given all of us who have been watching David's progress a new perspective on things. Life is short, do not let petty things get in the way. Don't put off spending time with your loved ones. You'll never know when your time with them will run out.

A lot happened in the last week so I will try to keep this as condensed as possible...just have to write about it to get it all out.

I picked Nels' sister Heidi up from the airport last Tuesday and spent some time with Nels and his tearful family - cousin Heather, his stepmom Laurie, and his aunt and uncle Nancy & Daniel. Daniel is David's twin brother. It was a difficult day. A week ago today, Nels' family was afraid that David was going to die. He was in very bad shape, the flu combined with a severe sodium deficiency caused him to pass out and lose consciousness. His lungs were not working as they should, and he had to have surgery to be on an ECMO machine that delivered oxygen directly into his body. This machine is rarely used, especially on adults, so he had to be airlifted from one of the hospitals in the Quad Cities to Rockford. He was the first adult ECMO patient in the Rockford area. He was in a drug-induced coma and the doctors said they would not know if there was any brain damage until he awoke.

I went back to Rockford Thursday night to stay with Nels for the rest of the weekend, and the mood was entirely different. His whole family was smiling and happy and jumped up to hug me when I walked in the waiting room area. David had made tremendous progress - he had already been taken off of the ECMO machine and was now on a ventilator instead. All signs were showing that he would pull through. He was already able to open his eyes for brief periods of time, squeeze your hand, and nod "yes" or "no" to questions!

One of the most emotional points was when I was with Nels for one of the first times David opened his eyes. Nels leaned over and said, "When you get better, I'll eat dinner with you all the time and go with you to the store, because I know you always ask me to and you like that. I took it for granted before." Just like in a dramatic Lifetime movie, David started opening his eyes. I cried after we left the room, it was so touching.

On Friday morning, they did some CT scans of his brain and lungs. ALL CLEAR. They were expecting some damage to his head from the fall and from his oxygen levels falling so low. He continued to improve hour by hour - staying awake for longer periods of time, "communicating" with us through nodding since he still had the ventilator tube down his throat, and so on.

Sunday afternoon, I said bye to Nels' dad and let him know that his family was still all here and we are all so proud of how great he's doing. He squeezed my hand for a long time.

Here it is a week later and yesterday they were able to remove the ventilator and his lungs are supporting him on their own! He is able to eat soup and is talking and doing well! He may need some physical therapy and they are still trying to determine exactly what happened so that it won't happen again.

I am so happy for Nels and his family that David is still here with us. I know there is so much left of his life to go and so much that his children, Nels and Heidi, want him around for. Over the weekend, I also fell in love with Nels' family even more. I really hope they become my in-laws soon! His aunt, uncle and cousins said I'm already part of the family and one of his cousins is hoping Nels "gets on with it already" in terms of proposing ; ) They are such good, strong, and caring people and I was so happy to spend so much time with them the last few days, even though it was not under great circumstances.

Here are some pictures of our weekend together:


Starting on the left: cousin Heather, Nels, me, Aunt Nancy, Heidi, cousin Beth, Uncle Daniel:



Nels' sister Heidi, cousins Beth & Heather, Nels, and me:

You Don't Make Friends with Salad!!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite Simpson's episodes is when Lisa decides to go vegetarian and Homer and Bart sing "You don't make friends with salad! You don't make friends with salad!"

I'm not a big fan of salad. It's rarely appetizing to me, I never really "want" to eat it, and it feels like an appetizer, not a meal itself.

Well, now I have more reasons to be pissed at it! On Saturday, I went with Nels, my mom, and brother to Long Horn Steakhouse. I really, really, REALLY wanted their chicken fingers - which I never even eat all of because they give you so much - but I decided to "behave" and order a salad. Now, I am well aware that you have to be careful with salads and many times they are worse for you than, say, a burger. I analyzed the list of contents: lettuce, grilled chicken, feta cheese strawberries, mandarin oranges, and pecans in a raspberry vinaigrette. Hmmm, it might be "sort of" bad, but has to be better than fried chicken fingers right?

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I only ate half of the salad, so as I sat here eating the leftovers, I started to wonder about the nutritional information. Thankfully, Long Horn posts the information on their website.

Chicken Tenders: 730 calories, 37 grams of fat. Hmmm. About the range I expected.

Grilled Chicken & Strawberry Salad: 960 calories, 60 grams of fat. WHAT THE HELL?! In fact, out of the 4 salads Long Horn has, my salad was THE WORST of them all. Of course.

When things like this happen, it is really frustrating. This is why I wish it was a law that all restaurants have to post nutritional information ON the menu.

My lesson? Eat what you want in reasonable portions. This is the second time I chose a "healthy" salad over what I really wanted only to find out it's a far worse choice.

Bogus.

My pants are falling off

I don't have any dress pants for work that fit properly. This is both good and bad. Good that I've slimmed down, bad in that I HATE shopping for dress pants!! They're expensive, they never fit right because I'm so short and I almost always have to get them tailored. I get lucky at some stores that offer pants in Long, Regular, and Short length, but not all the time. It's just a pain to shop for them in general. I'm going to try to hold off on buying dress pants till the fall though. A warm-up should be coming next week, and I can get through the summer with skirts, dress, and dressy capris for work.

My bedroom is all finished!! It's amazing what a coat of paint and some reorganization can do! I absolutely love it.

Here are the "Before" pictures:






And "After"!!! : )





My dad did an awesome job.

I'm glad that I still double up on workouts some days, because it helps me out if the rest of the week gets the better of me. For the 2nd half of last week, I was consumed with setting up and re-organizing my room the way I wanted it, plus had to work late on Thursday. That all got in the way of me getting to the gym. Last week I did get workouts in on Sunday, 2 on Monday, and one Tuesday, so still got at least 4 workouts for the week. I don't ever want to dip below 4 days a week for working out.

Yesterday I did 30 minutes of cardio on the Crossramp and boot camp class at night. Boot camp was a great workout. I feel like I'm becoming a bit of a gym snob. Some people in the class were really irritating me with how much they were complaining. Ummm, people, it's not supposed to be an easy workout! Yes I breathe huge sighs of relief after some difficult moves, but it's GOOD pain, I love it. These people are like "Oh my God...I'm dying from exercise..."

Then this morning I got up and did 35 minutes on the Stairmaster, starting at level 7 for a warmup then alternating levels 8-10. I am SO looking forward to resting tonight! I want to catch the last episodes of LOST. I haven't been one to watch every single episode of the show, but my mom and boyfriend keep me in the loop about it and I used to watch some of the other seasons with him. I am dying to know what "the secret" is, that will be taking up my Tuesday nights the next couple weeks!

Cat birthdays, room painting

Since I'm awake 40 minutes before I need to be, I may as well blog. It seems that I'm always up early when I don't need to be and then can never wake up on days that I need to!

I've had 4 tough workouts over the last 3 days, so I'm thinking today should be a recovery day as all of my muscles are aching. Sunday I pushed myself with a strength circuit, stairs, and a 10 minute mile. Monday night was boot camp class. Then yesterday I went to the gym before work for 40 minutes of cardio and then went back later that night for a 30 minute treadmill challenge. It was an interval workout involving sprints and upping the incline. All I did was Google "30 minute treadmill workouts" and you'll find a bunch, many for elliptical too if you prefer. I could use a different one every day if I wanted!

Another reason to make today a rest day is: my dad and I are finally painting my bedroom! Nels' stepmom made me a very pretty quilt for Christmas, it's green, brown, and pink. I've been wanting to repaint my room for awhile, so last night we went and bought the paint. I brought my quilt with to Home Depot and matched up the shade of green I want, but I am REALLY nervous about how it's going to turn out. It seems more key lime-toned than olive-toned, which would better match the quilt. We'll see how it turns out I guess...I'll take "before" and "after" pictures and post them on here.

My room hasn't been painted since I was 13 and still has a random assortment of things on the walls and stuff that doesn't quite go together. I'm excited to change it. Since I'll be saying goodbye to my 13-year-old's bedroom, it also seems like the perfect time to post a blog about this project my friend Rachel sent to me - you write a letter to your 12-year-old self. I have actually been thinking of doing something like this for some time, so I'm glad Rachel passed it along and got me moving on it. This project comes from the blog Pink Moss. A woman named Janae has 6 daughters and she put together this project because she feels her 6 daughters are getting mixed messages from society about what is beautiful. I finished my letter but need to dig out some pictures to post with my blog, so look for that later : )

Finally, the most important matter of the day: It's Lucas' 2nd Birthday!!!!!! Lucas is my cat, and he's the best cat ever. I'm so obsessed with this cat it's ridiculous. He is awesome. He's cuddly, he comes when you call his name, he runs and greets you at the door, and he's freaking adorable. He also likes to steal my pillow and sleep on my bed on his back like he's a person. Everyone who meets him loves him, even people who say they don't like cats. Happy Birthday Lukes!

Here he is as a little baby, awwww!






Yup, he sleeps like he's a person:





He sits like a freak sometimes:



Haha, I tried to dress him up on Christmas:

Employed again and triathlon plans

First, some great news: MY DAD GOT A JOB TODAY!!! He got an offer from Red Robin restaurant for a management position and accepted. He starts next Tuesday and is really excited : ) It's such a relief for our family. Thank you SO MUCH for all your prayers, positive thoughts, and support. I'm so thankful to have such great friends! I'm proud of my dad finding another job in just 6 weeks, especially with this economy. My dad is an extremely hard worker and always finds a way to provide for his family no matter what, and I love him very much.



Haha, 1990:


I'm also excited because I found a perfect training guide for the mini-triathlon: "8 Weeks to your First Mini Triathlon: Beginner Plan." Yup, that has everything I need in it! Since the race is August 15th, I'll be starting this mid-June.

Boot camp class totally kicked by butt tonight. We did so many arm moves I feel like they're going to fall off. Glad to do 'em though : ) I still got the heat blisters on my shins during class, they look so gross. My boss (again, she does marathons & all that jazz so she knows what she's talking about) said she gets them sometimes too. She said that when you tan, it kills off the top layer of your skin so the bubbles are sweat being trapped under the dead skin cells. Makes sense, because this never happened to me before prior to my Florida trip.

Did a good job with my eating today, right around 1,500 calories.

I never quite know how to "end" these blogs.

The End.
=p

Heat Blisters

It was so nice to be back in Sycamore this weekend. Nels and I have been away from his apartment out there for 3 weeks, we were in his hometown, then my parents the following weekend, and then I was out in Florida. We love the Sycamore area and want to live out there eventually.

Spent a lot of the weekend catching up with friends and going out. We had Thai food with our friends Sean & Burcu Friday night then went to Stanley's for some beers. I stuck to MGD 64 and just had a few of those. Then on Saturday, we met up with Robin and Mike in Long Grove for the Chocolate Fest. It was fun, but for a chocolate fest I expected a lot more chocolate creations than I actually saw. One place was selling waffle sticks dipped in chocolate and they were sooooooo good:



My boss, who is big on working out and eating right, said that if you don't eat something for 2 weeks, you'll stop craving it or at the very least it will not be as appetizing anymore. I'm starting to think she's right. Nels and I are all about breakfast skillets at our favorite breakfast place in Sycamore, Eggsclusive. We go every Saturday morning. Well, we've been deprived for the last 3 weeks and of course went this past weekend. While it was still delicious, I didn't feel too great after. The hash browns made me feel really bloated, and I could feel the sodium in my system. I've never been a big salt person, but have noticed lately that I'm a lot more sensitive to salty stuff. It makes me feel thirsty the entire day. I think we need to start making our own breakfasts at home from now on. I also gave in to 1 McDonald's cheeseburger this weekend, which I haven't had in a month, and that was no longer appetizing either. Yes, we definitely pigged out this weekend.

I had a great workout tonight at the gym. I did a weight lifting circuit, 2 sets of the following:
Low row, 60 lbs, 12 reps
Pulldown, 55 lbs, 12 reps
Chest pull, 25 lbs, 12 reps upper, 12 lower
Step up, 30 lbs, 15 reps per leg
Shoulder raises, 5 lbs dumbbells, 15 each of side and front raises
Side crunches, 10 lbs, 20 reps each side
Repeat

Then with my cardio, I could really see an improvement in my endurance. I did 30 minutes on the Stair Master starting at level 8 and then set at level 10 for 20 minutes of the 30. I've mostly been starting at 6 and then holding at 8, so this is definitely an improvement. Then I ran a 10 minute mile at 6.0, which is also an improvement because usually I'll start my runs at 5.7 and slowly build up to 6.

What was not so great, however, was what I discovered on my arms and legs after I got off the treadmill - do you see the little bubbles?



I called my cousin, who is a nurse, and picture texted her this and asked her what the heck was going on. She said they're likely heat blisters. For some reason, they've been happening to me when I work out since I got back from Florida. I don't know if it has something to do with my tan peeling a bit or what. It happened last week on my chest too, which is now peeling. I felt like I was pretty hydrated, I went through a bottle and a half of water for my 45 minute work out. It's so damn hot and muggy at my gym though, maybe I am getting overheated.

I've lost about 10 pounds now this year. I want to get back to my driver's license weight, which is 133 and I'm at 138.5. I definitely feel like I have way more muscle than ever before, and better definition. It feels great to be getting in better shape. Earlier this week I was looking through photos and can definitely see that my working out is paying off. Last summer, I tried to save some money by freezing my gym membership for 3 months with the intention of running outside. I ended up not doing as much running as I thought I would, and so gained a few pounds from a decrease in exercise and no more weight training. Here's a picture from last summer and then one taken this weekend, and you can definitely see a difference:


2009:


2010:


I'm so excited for this summer : ) I found a super cute swimsuit at Target today and was thrilled that I tried on quite a few that I liked.

I also e-mailed my mom's friend this weekend who did her first triathlon last summer, it's the same one I'll be doing in August. She sent me back a ton of information that I have to sort through. It's time to set up a training plan soon, so I'll blog about that in a few days. Sooooooooo nervous!

That's all for now folks!