I've moved!

I decided that this little blog had reached its expiration date, so this is the final post. I won't be taking it down, but I also won't be updating it. 

But...

If you want to keep up with my shenanigans, you can find me over at my new blog: quesoandmimosas.blogspot.com

Thanks for the memories and I hope you decide to visit my new home!

Love,

A

Male vs. Female

I know I've been away for a long time and owe you lots of updates. They will happen, swear it. 

Tonight, I need to rant about health insurance, without bringing politics into it. 

I started an amazing new job in September in an awesome new city. So excited! I enrolled in my employer's health insurance on 12/1. I haven't used the policy since, but I have an appointment tomorrow with a specialist about my foot. (Long-time readers will remember me breaking my foot in 8/2012 at the BFFAE's bachelorette weekend and remember me having 2 subsequent surgeries to repair the damage.) My last (and allegedly final surgery) was on 1/3/13. This removed my temporary hardware, which was put in to heal my break, and install a permanent screw to continue to hold everything together. It's not working. On the 1-10 pain scale, I LIVE at at 6.5/7. That's not good at all. I'm supposed to be better now. I sought the opinion of a different surgeon (who works on NFL players, including one with my EXACT SAME INJURY, that happened ON THE EXACT SAME DAY. That guy is currently playing football. I can barely walk. I saw the doctor for one appointment in May, and he told me to come back after a year. I have an appointment with him tomorrow. We will see what he says. I'm anticipating a third surgery. 

I have new insurance through my employer. I was informed recently that my policy lists me as "male". I am clearly "female". The representative (located in India), informed me that they couldn't take my word for it. He said I had to MAIL HIM A COPY OF MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE. You've got to be kidding me. No. The next representative hung up on me. 

This looks like it will be an interesting journey. Kill me now. 

Anyone else had a similar struggle? I'd love to know I'm not alone. 

Love,

A

Remember me?!

I swear I didn't forget about this little corner of the interwebs. I've had a lot of things change in my life recently, and I just didn't have the energy to share, or really feel like I had much worth sharing. A dear friend recently encouraged me to get back in the saddle...so here I am. 

Here is a brief rundown of what all has happened. 

1. I broke my foot pretty badly back in August of 2012. It required two surgeries, the first in October and the second in January 2013. I've spent countless hours at doctor appointments and in physical therapy, but I'm pretty much back to "normal."

2. I lost my job in November, in the midst of recovering from my first surgery. The job market is tough and I'm still looking. Prayers are appreciated. 

3. Two of my best friends decided to sign me up for some online dating sites as a joke. One site was a miserable flop. The second site provided some awkward dates, but led me to the man that I think is my perfect match. We will get to him soon. (He will probably be a reoccurring theme in future posts. You've been warned.)

For this post, I want to travel back in time and tell you about one of my most awkward match.com first dates. Fasten your seatbelts. 

Brad found me on match.com and we started exchanging messages. We progressed to the point of exchanging phone numbers and began casually texting. Brad was very attractive, tall, and blonde. He seemed to have a decent personality, from what I could tell. We agreed to meet for a "first date" one night downtown. I picked the place. It was a fun sports bar and I thought it was a good low-key way to get to know one another. When I arrived, it was pouring down rain. I was still confined to a walking boot, which is sure to make any cute outfit look unfortunate. We met at the bar and began to look over their massive beer list. I generally stick to what I know, because I'm certainly no expert when it comes to beer. A large-chested bartender sauntered up to take our orders. Brad proceeds to flirt with the bartender, while coyly asking for her recommendations. She admitted that she really likes Bud Light. Shocker. He said that was also his favorite. He then proceeded to ask if they had anything that was basically a "fancy Budweiser." Really?! She said there is this great beer called Stella, and "it's like the fanciest Budweiser." I think I died right there. Over drinks, I tried to make casual conversation, even though it was clear that this date was headed nowhere at a very rapid pace. Brad proceeded to tell me about how he got his job through nepotism, how much he hates Greenville, and regaled me with drunken tales from previous weekends. Fail. At the end of the night, we parted ways. The rain had not let up. Brad did not even offer to see me to my car. Clearly, I did not call Brad ever again. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I spotted a familiar face in the checkout line at the grocery store. It was Brad. Guess what he was purchasing? The fanciest Budweiser, Stella. 

The end. 

Chicks dig scars.

(I found this old, unpublished post from last year and thought I'd share it. Enjoy.)

I started thinking recently about scars. We all have them. Some are reminders of crazy adventures, and others mark sadder moments in our lives. I bruise like a peach and scar pretty easily.

I have a scar on my chin from falling off of the monkey bars in the first grade. I remember that I was wearing my pumpkin jumper, so I know it must have been October. It wasn't a particularly traumatic fall, but I will always have a physical reminder.

I have a scar on my right knee from playing Musical Chairs in kindergarten. It was down to the final round. It was me versus Taylor Smith. I knew I could beat him, and I totally would have...if he hadn't pushed me out of the chair and caused me to slice my knee open. My teacher couldn't find a BandAid, so she taped a cotton ball to my knee with masking tape. My knee healed with cotton fibers stuck in it.

I have a scar on my right thigh from Little's wedding last October. During group photos before the ceremony, I dislocated my knee and went crashing down. The stems of my bouquet gashed my leg. Looking back, it's a pretty funny thing, and I will always have a reminder of that happy day. (A five inch reminder, to be exact.)

I have a small scar on the palm of my left hand. When I was little, I was trying to cut a Q-tip with kitchen scissors and my grip slipped. (I was making a caterpillar out of paper plates and needed antennae, obviously.) It's shaped like a wishbone and I still remember how much it hurt when I did it.

I have a gnarly scar on my right knee from elementary school. We were playing basketball on the asphalt court at recess and Makisha Campbell shoved me down to get the ball. How rude. I remember that I was wearing a purple jogging suit with an appliqué bunny rabbit on the sweatshirt. Hello 1990s. (And yes, I generally associate memories with what I was wearing at the time. My Mom does the same thing.)

Anyone have any interesting scar stories to share? I'd love to hear them. (Does that make me weird?)

Love and Rockets,
A

Decking the halls.

All of the awesome DIYs from this link-up got me inspired and I decided to get crafty last night.  I'm just a day late posting about it.  Don't act surprised.  
Here is the original that I fell in love with on Pinterest.

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I headed over to Michael's and grabbed a foam wreath ring.  Then I browsed the clearance section and found some fall-colored flowers and ribbon.  I was originally going to try to copy this exactly by the fake hydrangeas are $7.99 each and the clearance flowers were at most $2.19 each.  I decided to just use this image as inspiration.  

With a little bit of time and a few sticks of hot glue, here is the final result.

What do you think?  I think it turned out really cute!  Now, I will just have to figure out what to make for next week...
Love and Rockets, A

The C Word

I know I'm a day late on posting and linking up, but better late than never!  And I want to say a very special congratulations to IA on the birth of her beautiful baby boy!


I want to take a minute to talk about the C word.  No, not that one.  Cancer.  It affects way too many people that we know and love.  It is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing. Why am I bringing it up?  I'll tell you.

Two weeks ago, I went to the dermatologist to have a routine check up.  I haven't been in a few years and I wanted to go while my current insurance plan will still pay for it.  (I switch plans on December 1 and it will not be covered.)  I waited almost a year for this appointment.  I wanted the doctor to look at some suspicious moles/freckles.  I had one particular mole on my left breast that has grown over the past few years and had undefined borders.  She was immediately concerned by it and cut it off for a biopsy.  The place she removed was about the size of a dime.  She told me it would be a week or so before she had the results.  The day before my 26th birthday, I got the call.  The nurse on the other end of the line told me that the biopsy showed that I had very severe atypia.  Very severe?  Doesn't that seem redundant?  I questioned what that meant and I was told that that meant that the mole was becoming cancer and that I needed to have it removed before it reached that point, and I needed it removed as soon as possible.  They had not gotten clear margins and would need to go back and  remove part of my breast to make sure that we were in the clear.  It would be a minor surgery that would require stitches.  Well, today is that day.  My appointment is in an hour and I'm not going to lie, I am nervous.  This isn't my first rodeo with the C word.  My cervix thought it would be really cool to grow severely atypical cells my senior year in college.  I had to have multiple procedures to nip it in the bud.  Trust me, colposcopy is never a word you want to hear your doctor say.  (Well, it is in the sense that it is helpful, but it is most certainly not pleasant.  It involves liquid nitrogen, scissors, and your cervix.  I'll let you just picture that for a moment.)  I was finally in the clear, but it was a close call.  In the 3 months between my two procedures, I had progressed from moderate to severe atypical cells.

I have been lucky in both instances for early detection of these abnormalities.  I am very grateful for this.  Two cancer scares before you turn 26 is not ideal.  (I also had a lump removed from my right breast in 2008, but it turned out to just be scar tissue.)  I urge every one of you to keep regular appointments with your physicians.  Take note of your moles/freckles/lumps/bumps and alert your doctor when they change.  You can never be too careful.  Today, I will add another scar to my body, but it's worth it.

Stay classy and stay healthy,
A

Twenty-Six

So today is my 26th birthday.  It's a rather uneventful day.  I'm in my cast after surgery, so I can't walk or drive myself anywhere, so I'm kind of at the mercy of everyone else for my birthday plans.  My dear sweet friend RB is picking me up from work to take me to lunch (so that I don't have to eat alone in my office) and then Mom and I will probably go out to dinner tonight since Daddy is in Vegas.  Like I said, nothing exciting.

The Bible Study I did with my youth group on Sunday night was a continuation on our study of 1 John.  This week, we talked about how God is love.  One of my youth wrote this on her dry erase board and asked everyone what they saw.

Life is all about opportunity and positivity.  Believe me, I have to remind myself of this all the time because it is not my natural inclination.  Do you see "love is nowhere" or do you see "love is now here"?  This got me thinking.  I went around the room and asked each youth to say something positive about their week.  I was surprised with how many of them struggled.  I challenged them for the coming week.  I asked each youth to write down something positive about each day and we will all share our lists next Sunday.  I am excited to hear what they have come up with.

In honor of my 26th year on this earth, I wanted to make a list of 26 blessings in my life.  Here goes...

1. I am blessed to have 2 wonderful, loving, and supportive parents.
2. I am blessed to have a great group of friends that listen to me whine, make me laugh, and uplift me.
3. I am blessed to be a part of a church that always amazes me.
4. I am blessed with an incredible sense of humor. (Don't act surprised that I included this one...ha!)
5. I am blessed to be part of a fantastic sisterhood of Kappa Alpha Theta.  I'm lucky enough to be an advisor and my sweet ladies sent me chocolate covered strawberries and cheesecake when I was at home recovering from my surgery.
6. I am blessed to live in a country where I can get the healthcare I need.  I'm not discussing politics here.  I am simply stating that I am fortunate to be able to have had surgery to fix my broken foot and to also have detected my almost-cancer before it became cancer this week.  (Maybe more on that at another time.)
7. I am blessed to have Princess Fiona as a loving and faithful (although sometimes grouchy) companion.
8. I am blessed to have a cute (but overpriced) apartment, even though I can't live it in right now (because I can't climb the 3 flights of stairs with my broken foot).
9. I am blessed to have lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins that I enjoy spending time with.  My family is a little crazy, but that's what makes them fun.
10. I am blessed with the sweetest Grandmother on the planet.  Seriously, y'all.  She is kind and generous and has the best heart.
11. I am blessed to have had the world's best Granddaddy.  The man was a wealth of knowledge, faith, and compassion.  I miss his laugh and his hugs.
12. I am blessed to have my Wofford education.  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the college of my choice and major in Art History, while having amazing adventures with my new (and old) friends.
13. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to travel all over the world.  I've been able to go to places all over the USA and Europe.  
14. I am blessed to have had the good fortune to study and live in Rome, Italy for 4 whole months.  I would not trade that experience for the world!  I'm dying to go back.
15. I am blessed to have not 1, but 2 jobs in an economy where a lot of people are suffering to make ends meet.  This is not a bragging statement, honest.
16. I am blessed to live in such a great city.  Greenville has really grown in the past decade, and it has flourished into quite the destination.  I am proud to call it home.
17. I am blessed with relatively good health, despite my clumsy injuries (and migraines).  Damn migraines.
18. I am blessed to be able to pursue my passion for art through my jewelry business.  I've been working on a lot of pieces lately and I'd forgotten how much I love it.
19. I am blessed to have such a creative and talented group of friends and family.  They have started their own businesses, mastered their own crafts, and made the world a better place.
20. I am so blessed to work with my youth group.  They are such an inspired group of young people and they are changing the world.  I am so proud!
21. I am blessed to be able to sit down at this computer and share my thoughts, dreams, hopes, sorrows, joys, and flaws with the world.  Not everyone is so lucky and I know I take this freedom for granted some days.
22. I am blessed to have the means to support myself and to help those around me.  I am certainly not rich, and I live a lot of months paycheck to paycheck.  However, when I do have the means, I like to treat those around me and shower them with love.
23. I am blessed to have so much love in my life.  It is nice to sit back and bask in it some days.
24. I am blessed to live in a time where the knowledge of the world is expanding so rapidly.  I feel like I learn at least 5 new things everyday!
25. I am blessed to have woken up this morning!  We aren't ever guaranteed another day here.  One of my youth joked on Sunday and said, "I am happy to have once again broken my record of consecutive days lived.  I hope to break that record again tomorrow."
26. I am blessed to have wonderful readers like y'all!  Thank you from the bottom of my hot pink sparkly heart.

Love,

A