Christmas 2008 photos

Here are a few photos from the Christmas week...I'm sure I'll have more after NYE.

Me and Dustin

Kitty loving the fire

Dad, me and Jamie

Dad and Mom

Kitty

Jamie and Renae

Melissa and I

Nikki and I

Me and Dustin (yeah he's a dork)

Us again

My unwanted Christmas present

First of all...happy late Christmas! Its' been busy as usual here in Nebraska and being sick didn't make things much easier. I guess I will start with last Saturday (the 20th). I was recovering from what I thought was the stomach flu and starting to feel better. That morning I loaded my car ever so slowly and headed off to Kansas. I got there in 9 hours and things were ok. I still didn't have much of an appetite but was feeling better. Each day I ate a little more...fast forward to Monday night, I decided to make goulash (casserole) for Dustin and his dad. This was the first night I felt actually hungry. So I ate a good amount...I was for sure full, maybe too full. At about 10pm I got this horrible pain right below my ribs, mostly on the right side. And I was thinking great...its back. I eventually threw up again and spent the whole night feeling horrible. I couldn't sleep, I was throwing up. I slept maybe 2 hours max that whole night. Finally at 6am Dustin got up and we got ready and went to the ER in Beloit KS, which is like 30 miles away and a rather small town. But big enough to have a hospital. They checked me in, did blood work, etc. I talked to the Dr, told him my symptoms and what was wrong. So he schedule and ultrasound for me. Finally, I got taken in for the ultrasound and they found the culprit....a gallstone!

The lady was like "well no wonder why you are in pain, you have a large gallstone"...we finished up there and got back in the room. Which the Dr was supposed to come back, but he just left. Apparently they didn't have many Dr.'s on staff. He told the nurse that he still thought it was a virus and wrote a bunch of meds for me to take...which I felt it was stupid. Anyway, so I have a gallstone which makes sense thinking back and I would sometimes experience the same pain, just not as severe. The next plan of attack is to get back to Champaign and find a good Dr that has time to help me and go over my options. This is NOT what I was wanting this Christmas...but I'm happy I have now figured out what the deal was!

Anyway, that put a huge wrench in my plans. I didn't get to Lincoln on the 23rd/24th which made me sad. I just slept and recovered all day on the 23rd. Luckily enough I woke up on the 24th and felt I could drive from KS to North Bend...about a 4 hour drive. By Christmas day I was feeling much better but really watched it so I didn't eat too much. I had the plate of a 4 year old for supper that night. Dustin was a trooper, he hauled me all over...to the Dr., sat there for 4 hours with me, to the pharmacy, he got all my meds for me while I slept, brought me food. I know I'm a handful to take care of when I'm sick and he passed with flying colors!

So now I'm still in NB and feeling good. Dustin was here from Christmas day till today. On Friday we took off to Norfolk to meet Melissa and Heath. Then Nikki showed up as well. It was a really good time. I wish I lived closer to home...oh well, maybe someday. I'll be here in NB till Tuesday then I think I'll go to Lincoln, hang out with Tigh, then to KC on NYE! Hopefully I have no more "gallbladder attacks" (yes they are real, I saw it on wedmd) and get back to IL in one piece!

My sick pity party

I'm sick. And I'm having a pity party for one. No matter what you say, it won't make me feel better until I feel better! I'm know for this...for a huge pity party when I'm sick. I get all over emotional and cry and get ticked off. Its all apart of the territory. And this time is no different. It all started Thursday morning at 430am when I woke up feeling iffy. Well I woke up for work and I was for sure not going to work. I'll keep the details to a min but I threw up most the morning...once again in the afternoon. I just laid on the couch all stupid day and tried to sleep it off. The only time I felt really good was last night watching the Husker volleyball game, what a game!!

I thought I would be able to work today or at least go in at noon...wrong again. I got up and slowly got ready. Around 11:30 I left into the slushy mess. Oh yeah last night we had a huge ice storm. By the time i went out this morning things had warmed up and were melting but it was still a mess. Anyway, I went to my mailbox, apt complex office and the post office, then work. By the time I got to work at noon I was spent. What gives?! I stayed there for about 45 mins and decided it was not worth it and left. I missed the work holiday party...oh well. Word on the street was there was a chocolate fountain there. Anyway, I'm mostly worried I won't be able to drive 10 hours to KS tomorrow. I hate it when I get sick mostly cause I can't control it. I have control issues. :) And being sick throws a huge wrench into all my plans. I can't function normal during the day. I've managed to get the gifts rounded up, my old monitor and my clothes laid out on the bed. Then I needed a little rest. Next step is putting the clothes in the bags. I have 4 hours to accomplish that.

If I feel better tomorrow morning I'm off to Dustin's in Kansas. I'm very excited for break but I just wish I felt better. So then I could be normally excited and not be worried about feeling icky. So thank you everyone of listening to my pity party! This was a nice outlet and hopefully my next post will be full of Christmas cheer!

A sad saturday

It occurred to me that tomorrow is a sad sad Saturday. Tomorrow is the first Saturday with NO FOOTBALL. :( That time of year is here and I hate it. It's just a given that from Sept till Christmas that the first thing I turn on in the morning is College Gameday and then put my red Nebraska shirt on. I never have to worry about what to wear on Saturdays. I'm not a pro fan, and I'm not much of a college basketball fan. However, living in Champaign and turned me on to college basketball a little more.

But it was a good season. I made it to 2 games, one home, one away. I also went to an Illini football game and tailgated another. Hopefully Nebraska will do good on New Years day...BO-LIEVE!

Nebraska game - Labor Day weekend

Nebraska vs Kansas State - November 15

Minnesota vs Illinois October 2008

New Laptop!

I've been decently busy since I got back from the Thanksgiving trip. I'm getting my class and the project wrapped up, been trying to buy Christmas gifts, and working some extra meetings at WW. All that added up has had me really busy! I subbed this past Tuesday, I work again tonight, and next Tuesday. Dustin visited last night, we have our unofficial work holiday happy hour (HHH) tomorrow night. And I work 3 meetings at WW on Saturday morning. And on top of all that my LAPTOP arrived yesterday!!!!!!!! I was so excited! I've been having some issues getting a wireless router set up. But I will be working on that tonight after I get done at WW. It was like Christmas came early when I walked into my apartment yesterday after work, there it was!

Anyway, thats the update from Champaign. I'll be home again in about 2 weeks for Christmas, it will be a nice long break again!


Take a look at this beauty!

Thanksgiving 2008

I made it back after a VERY long week on the road. Dustin and I traveled through 5 states all together. Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. That was pretty much the order as well. It goes like this...

Wed: We left his house around 11am and arrived in NB that night. Jamie, Renae, Dustin and I went over to see grandma and grandpa's new house and visit with them. It's always good to see them. After that the family went out to eat and then Dustin and I met up with Christina and Kelly for a few beers.

Thanksgiving Day: Woke up and turkey trotted! Christina and I ran our annual turkey trot in Fremont and my mom and Renae went along to watch. It was a good race. I didn't get last like the first year and it wasn't cold! My initial goal was to try to finish around 20 mins...a 10 min mile pace. But then I quickly realized during training that wasn't gonna happen. So I wanted under 22 mins. I ended in 20:50! Closer to 20 mins than 22 mins. Christina finished in 19:05 so she was extremely happy with that. After that we went home. I helped mom cook the whole big ol dinner. We all ate and then that night the grandparents came over for some cards.

Friday: Woke up and bought a new laptop!!!!!! Thats right my friends, I have a new spankin laptop headed my way. I can't wait! Anyway, back to Fremont for some shopping with mom and grandma. Then back to NB where we watched the game till halftime. Then Dustin and I took off for KS. We stopped in Lincoln along the way to see one of his sisters and got to his friends house around 9:30. That morning I also got a good sore throat going. So by the time friday night rolled around I was feeling less than fun. I tried to hang in there and drink but I didn't make it too late.

Saturday: Got up and traveled 6 miles to Dustin's farm where his dad lives. He went hunting and I showered up and relaxed. That night I actually sat in the truck with his friends wife while they hunted. It's kinda nice to get out in the country every once and while. We ate at his dad's house and watched to OU game. Man I hate them...they can't lose. I have no clue who I want to win the Big 12 game. Neither Mizzou or OU!

Sunday: We headed to Salina for Dustin's family thanksgiving...more stinkin turkey. We ended up staying the night there.

Monday: Headed back to IL!

It was such a busy week. It was a blast seeing everyone and would do it all over again. Well with out having a cold the next time. Here are the photos...start from the bottom up if you want correct order of events. :)

This is what welcomed me home...SNOW!

A little bit of cards

Me, Dustin and his dog, Ruby

Christina and I post-Trot

The turkey ran the race too!

Me waiting in line to hand in my tag.

Christina's done!

I'm in the far back putting up my hood...it was a little windy, but hey the sun was out!

Turkey Trot 2008 Fremont YMCA

Homeward bound!

I'm so excited, I'm going home tomorrow! I haven't been home since Labor Day so I'm pretty excited. I'll be leaving work today at 3:30pm and heading to Dustin's. Which is also exciting cause I haven't seen him in a week. Then tomorrow well will hopefully be leaving his house around 11am. We'll be in North Bend until Friday afternoon and then head to Kansas for all his family stuff. Its gonna be one big loop.

I'm also excited for Thursday. Mainly because I'm buying myself a new laptop! Finally, I will have a new computer. My old POS has seen better days. I can't even have a web browser up and open Excel. Also on Thursday Christina and I are running our annual 2 miles turkey trot in Fremont. This will be my 3rd year. It's always nice to get some sort of running in before stuffing your face. :)

Anyway...I'll be back with some pictures after the weekend!

Nebraska vs Kansas State part 2

Now I'll fill you in on the weekend...as you can see the pictures posted below in the prior post. Anyway, it was a very busy weekend. I drove to Dustin's Thursday night and we left Friday around 330pm. He still had to get some work done so I went and ran in the morning and laid around until we were ready to go. We got to Manhattan around 9pm and had enough time to drop our stuff and Ruby (his dog) off at his sisters. Then we went to this concert in Aggieville (kstates O street). I have to say, the concert was awesome, a huge surprise and totally with the trip itself! We went to see Aaron Watson, I've heard only a few of his songs on the Texas internet radio channel I listen too. Well the DJ before the concert was great and the opening band from Manhattan was awesome also. Then Aaron just capped off the night. The bar place was sweet too...it was one of those small bar venues that I love. After that Dustin had to show me the drunk breakfast hangout and I'm pretty sure we didn't get back to his sisters until 3am.

Saturday got up and got going, we got to Aggieville for lunch and some beers before the game. Then went to the game for a little tailgating...not much. It was a pretty good atmosphere but nothing tops Lincoln and Memorial stadium on gameday! However, I'm biased. :) It was pretty cold out but our seats in the stadium faced east and the field is in a little hole, so we had the wind blocked. The Huskers kicked butt...I had fun but not sure about Dustin. :) Then that night we ate with his sister and her family and his dad and then went out with some of his friends. Which was another late night.

Sunday got up, and we drove to Salina to eat with the rest of his family. And after that we drove all the way back to IL. We stopped in Columbia MO to visit his friend Dan. And I don't think we got to his place until 930 or so. It was a long weekend and were on the go the whole time. But it was a great weekend and I had an awesome time! I am sad that there is only one regular season game left and most likely a bowl game. I swear football season always goes so fast!

Nebraska vs Kansas State!

This past weekend Dustin and I ventured back to Manhattan for the Neb/Kstate game. It was a good game for me...not so much for him. ;) Here are the photos, I'll write more later! PS. If you want the photos in chronological order...start from the bottom up, I hate bloggers photo posting!

Yup, most of the KSU fans left early...

And the stadium is starting to thin of purple and turn to mostly red.

This is when he still wanted to sit next to me...before the KSU butt kicking. Notice a couple Husker fans in the back ,they were my high five buddies.

The pride of all Nebraska

Huskers take the field!

Ok he has a lot of purple on

View from the parking lot

Me and Dustin pre-gaming

11 November 2008

I figured I haven't blogged about anything lately so time for an update. As usual, things have been busy around here. If my loyal readers haven't noticed I've been talking about a boy lately in my blogs. Yup, I have a boyfriend. I am pretty excited about it, but I tend to keep the love life out of my blog. I'm not sure why...maybe cause I've never had much to say. Well anyway, Dustin is his name and we've been dating about 2 months, so far so good. This past weekend I went to his place to hang out. I drove there Friday after work and then Sunday I had to go to Bloomington for a WW conference. I've been very busy with WW lately. We are FINALLY getting computers and we went live yesterday. But first everyone had to be trained. So I had two 3 hour sessions of that. Then I had this all day yearly conference on Sunday. I have to say I actually enjoyed it. I really like working for WW and its nice to have a part time job that is not behind a computer! I am working 4 meetings the 22nd and then 1 meeting the 23rd. Plus I have all the meetings/training/etc from this last month. I'm excited for the paycheck. All that money is going toward a new laptop! GOOD BYE old pos computer I have now!

Anyway, I'm very excited for the rest of Novembers events. This weekend Dustin and I are going to Manhattan KS for the football game! Why would we go to the Nebraska/KSU game? Well because he is a Kstate grad...I know, its a shame. I don't know what has happened to my standards but its true...I'm dating a wildcat. Luckily, the parents haven't disowned me yet. I think I have to deal with self shame more than anything. ;) Everytime I am at his house I have to pull into a driveway with a KSU flag hanging outside. Then inside I have to sit under a big ol KSU flag above the couch. I have lost all self respect. However, its going to be lots of fun! We are going to a concert Friday night. Then drinking it up before the 2:30 kick off. It is kinda bittersweet however, because after this weekend we only have one more game left. Where did the season go????

After that I'll have a busy weekend of working at WW as previously mentioned. Then the Tuesday after that we are headed back to the NE/KS area for thanksgiving! I haven't been home since Labor Day and I'm pretty pumped. I am starting to get homesick and its just time to visit. It will be great to see my family and friends. I won't even be back in IL for a month before Christmas comes around, back home for that! Anyway, busy times ahead but its all fun.

I voted...

....and you should too!

A wonderful fall day

Today was a beautiful fall day! The temp has been unusually warm and I started thinking this morning that when we get the first warm days in the spring, I go nuts. I'm outside all day, finding things to do. But that changes in the fall. However I told myself today to take advantage of it. So my choices were a long bike ride, hike at Kickapoo, hike at Allerton, walk/run at Lake of the Woods in Mahomet. I decided to go with the Lake of the Woods since it was the closest. Its a nice little park and they have good trails, so I ventured onto the 5 mile one. Here are some pictures from the park!

I found Slop's cousin in Illinois!

No, these are not tennis balls, I have no clue what tree these come from.