After 3 days of driving, a couple of wedding related days in Dallas, and 5 days of moving and unpacking we are FINALLY settled in again.
We've had a looong hard time getting to this point though. You see - just days before we got here we were having major problems with our apartment place again and the night before we left we spent a couple of hours calling other places and researching places to stay because we genuinely thought we couldn't live here. As stressful as it was, we decided to just tough it out. When we got here though they had told us we had to switch apartments. So that means all the addresses we had changed, forms we had written up and everything else had to be altered - JOY! But they say it's a better place and so far we have no complaints, we actually dare I say, LOVE it here! We've got pictures up and quirky little "us" things everywhere and it truly feels like a home now.
Now we've got 3 days before we're back to school and we've still got so much stuff to deal with. We're completely exhausted and trying to enjoy atleast a few hours a day of doing nothing so we don't overwhelm ourselves. Even though we're nearly 8 months out from our wedding (EEK!!) it's all starting to pile on that we actually need to get stuff done. In the meantime we have school to deal with, which is looking to be more and more busy everyday, jobs to handle and start, and preparation for grad school/real world. While Jay plays video games - I'm freaking out inside. How are we going to do everything!?!?
I guess only time will tell.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Last Day in Raleigh
Since today is our last day here, and tomorrow we will start the cross country drive back to Tempe I thought I'd post some pictures of our 3 months here.
Lake Johnson walk
Atlantic Beach
Summer concert
Registering!
Uley's birthday
Registering
SO CUTE
hahaha
Uley first swimming!
The best bbq sauce I've ever had in my entire life!
Well - that was our short summer recap! We've had a good summer here, and other than Uley's illness and a small car accident - it's been all great! Who knows if we'll ever be back, but it's been a great experience none the less.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Leaving Raleigh
With the stress of our beloved pup and the excitement of wrapping up our summer we have been in a whirlwind of thoughts. We've had to get things ready for our place in Phoenix, begin packing up our stuff here, changing addresses blahblahblah.
North Carolina has been great to us. We arrived with temperatures in the 80s compared to the 100s, we only dealt with a few days of heatwave compared to months of it, and we've only had to manage around rain instead of dust storms. All in all - we SO made the best decision of coming here this summer and we don't regret it one bit!
With getting ready to leave though we're pretty excited to be heading back to Phoenix, after all
North Carolina has been great to us. We arrived with temperatures in the 80s compared to the 100s, we only dealt with a few days of heatwave compared to months of it, and we've only had to manage around rain instead of dust storms. All in all - we SO made the best decision of coming here this summer and we don't regret it one bit!
With getting ready to leave though we're pretty excited to be heading back to Phoenix, after all
- We have our ENGAGEMENT party in less than a week!
- I get to go dress shopping in dallas with my mom, grandma and potentially future mother in law
- we get all of our stuff back in a place we can call our own again
- I turn 21 in 2 months!
- I graduate this semester!!!!
- Jay graduates with his PhD in the spring (hopefully!!)
- We may or may not add onto our family
- We're going to Vegas
- I will be looking, applying, and deciding on a grad school, which means...
- We'll be moving away from arizona!!!
and most importantly...
I GET TO MARRY MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!
Who wouldn't be excited to get out of here and get things going :D ??
Doesn't Uley look happy and loved ;)
In an unrelated note:
These 3 weeks have been AMAZING.
Last week the olympics started, they're still going on this week, and SHARK WEEK is next!!!!!
I'm obsessed - I know.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Dog Update
Over the past weekend we watched Uley continue to improve. We were so proud of the littlest things such as going to the bathroom on his own. We were (are) putty in his hands. We slept on the floor all weekend so that we didn't have to worry about him jumping off the bed and falling. We stayed home except for a run to supervise and love on our poor sick baby. His walking was almost normal and his spirits were slowly increasing. I took him to the vet on Tuesday for a follow up and the Dr. said he was looking back to normal YAY! They took some blood for a follow up test and we were sent home in high spirits. A few hours later Jay called me freaking out to get back to the vet now. His blood count was low and they needed to retest because he was at risk for internal bleeding.
I've never got out of the apartment so quickly in my life!
We got back and the Dr. calmly explained that his platelets were low and his liver enzymes were high. She wanted to retest to make sure these were not a mistake as the blood had settled and they wanted to be completely sure before taking any actions.
Well, they were right and his platelets were low and his liver enzymes were high. Something was attacking his body or making his body think that and they were trying to fight off whatever it was. As for the liver they weren't sure if it was related or different. She gave us some steroids and a liver protectant medicine.
So Uley and I went home defeated again. He was sick of being poked and prodded and I was the mean mom to took him there and I was worried about my poor little boy.
Since he's been on the medicine we've seen continued improvement but definite side effects of the steroids. We're continuing to monitor him and love him all we can until we go back Tuesday to get checked again.
In the mean time, we've got TWO WEEKS left in Raleigh. How the time has flown!! We've got two weeks left of summer before driving across the country to start school and work again. :( and heat, oh the dreaded hot dry heat. So we are cramming in all the outdoor time we can, all the vinegar goodness barbecue, and the green beauty everywhere!! TWO MORE WEEKS!
I've never got out of the apartment so quickly in my life!
We got back and the Dr. calmly explained that his platelets were low and his liver enzymes were high. She wanted to retest to make sure these were not a mistake as the blood had settled and they wanted to be completely sure before taking any actions.
Well, they were right and his platelets were low and his liver enzymes were high. Something was attacking his body or making his body think that and they were trying to fight off whatever it was. As for the liver they weren't sure if it was related or different. She gave us some steroids and a liver protectant medicine.
So Uley and I went home defeated again. He was sick of being poked and prodded and I was the mean mom to took him there and I was worried about my poor little boy.
Since he's been on the medicine we've seen continued improvement but definite side effects of the steroids. We're continuing to monitor him and love him all we can until we go back Tuesday to get checked again.
In the mean time, we've got TWO WEEKS left in Raleigh. How the time has flown!! We've got two weeks left of summer before driving across the country to start school and work again. :( and heat, oh the dreaded hot dry heat. So we are cramming in all the outdoor time we can, all the vinegar goodness barbecue, and the green beauty everywhere!! TWO MORE WEEKS!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Dog Scare
We've had a whirlwind of the past 30 hours. I can easily write this now because Uley is home, sleeping, and showing improvement. Let's back up...
Wednesday night we took Uley to the lake with our friends and their dog in the hopes that he would learn to swim. After 15 minutes or so of bringing him in the water and throwing a toy or stick further and further each time he finally got the hang of it. he LOVED swimming! He couldn't wait for us to throw something back in so he could swim and go get it. We were so PROUD! We ended up staying for about an hour and decided to call it a night. Uley was clearly exhausted and I was a little concerned we had overworked him. When we got home he started breathing heavily, his eyes wouldn't really open, wouldn't eat or drink anything - we were concerned. Jay thought I was being overprotective and that he was just tired, so I called my mom to get another opinion and she agreed that he was just tired. I tried to convince myself that, but he wasn't acting right. I looked up an emergency vet and some symptoms just incase of over exhaustion or heat stroke. He started heavily drooling and was lethargic, his breathing didn't slow down at all. We took him outside before bed because we were all tired and then we noticed he kind of collapsed. He couldn't hold himself up and couldn't walk. Now Jay believed that something was wrong and we were both freaking out. He ran upstairs got his keys, checked directions to the emergency vet and we quickly left. Jay drove double the speed limit and even considered running some lights (which he didn't). Uley was unresponsive, looked horrible and we kept trying to assure ourselves we were about to pay a lot of money to hear he was tired.
Jay carried him inside quickly explaining and the worried looking vets (assuring, right?) rushed him to the back to run some tests. We were lead to a room to wait.
The vet came in later, told us his body temperature was abnormally low, he still was breathing heavily and drooling, he was unresponsive, and had a stigma in his eyes. He got all the information we could think of, and they would run some more tests. He came back later and told us his chemical balances were off, his glucose levels were almost double the norm, and he had no idea what was wrong. He thought diabetic but with no previous symptoms it was doubtful. He told us big fancy words of something wrong with his brain, that he could have ingested something in the water or outside or inside without our notice. They continued to monitor him and put him through vet ICU. We were sent home for the night and they would call us if things got worse.
We slept horribly. We kept hoping nothing would happen and that we would only awake from an alarm, not a call. We were so relived in the morning to know he wasn't doing any worse and Jay called to get an update. They said he was doing much better and we could probably bring him home that day. He still wasn't fully aware of what was going on but his glucose had dropped and his chemical balances were normalling out. Jay tried to go to work, but he said he just sat there perplexed about Uley.
He got another call that morning saying that something could be wrong with his brain or spine. He's having troubles walking and still had a slight stigma in his eye, but was continuing to improve so there was not much to do but continue some tests and wait.
I went to visit him and I've never been so happy in my life that he noticed me. He crawled towards me, wanting me to hold him as I pet him and spoke to him calmly. As scared as I was, it was so good to just see him again - since we hadn't since before we brought him in the night before. The Dr. told me again it could be a brain or spine problem, perhaps a tumor but he was showing improvement still and they would run more tests around noon. He took him out so I could see him walk and he had a problem with his left side of the body. You would think he had a stroke with the way his brain wouldn't connect with him walking. He stumbled and fell and it broke my heart. It was hard to leave, but Jay and I would be back after noon.
When we came back the vet said he could go home, his blood tests were almost back to normal and he was still improving. He walked further this time and the stigma had disappeared. The only conclusion we could think of is a brain/spine problem, or he ingested something in the water or something like a mushroom out in the grass.
Jay took Uley and I home while he went back to work. I watched him diligently and laid on the floor with him while he slept. Later that night Jay and I took him out and noticed he was walking better and faster - he even went to the bathroom on his own - we were so proud to see him improving and to have him home!
Today he's still improving and hopefully a weekend of recovery and rest will do him good. We're sleeping on the floor, we've brought our mattress out so he didn't try to jump around or move too much since he's still so weak - I don't want him injuring himself on top of everything. While we still have no clue what happened or what is wrong we're just happy it's improving and hopefully it'll soon be a thing of the past.
Jay and I have never been so scared in out entire lives and we're reassured just knowing he is home with us again.
Wednesday night we took Uley to the lake with our friends and their dog in the hopes that he would learn to swim. After 15 minutes or so of bringing him in the water and throwing a toy or stick further and further each time he finally got the hang of it. he LOVED swimming! He couldn't wait for us to throw something back in so he could swim and go get it. We were so PROUD! We ended up staying for about an hour and decided to call it a night. Uley was clearly exhausted and I was a little concerned we had overworked him. When we got home he started breathing heavily, his eyes wouldn't really open, wouldn't eat or drink anything - we were concerned. Jay thought I was being overprotective and that he was just tired, so I called my mom to get another opinion and she agreed that he was just tired. I tried to convince myself that, but he wasn't acting right. I looked up an emergency vet and some symptoms just incase of over exhaustion or heat stroke. He started heavily drooling and was lethargic, his breathing didn't slow down at all. We took him outside before bed because we were all tired and then we noticed he kind of collapsed. He couldn't hold himself up and couldn't walk. Now Jay believed that something was wrong and we were both freaking out. He ran upstairs got his keys, checked directions to the emergency vet and we quickly left. Jay drove double the speed limit and even considered running some lights (which he didn't). Uley was unresponsive, looked horrible and we kept trying to assure ourselves we were about to pay a lot of money to hear he was tired.
Jay carried him inside quickly explaining and the worried looking vets (assuring, right?) rushed him to the back to run some tests. We were lead to a room to wait.
The vet came in later, told us his body temperature was abnormally low, he still was breathing heavily and drooling, he was unresponsive, and had a stigma in his eyes. He got all the information we could think of, and they would run some more tests. He came back later and told us his chemical balances were off, his glucose levels were almost double the norm, and he had no idea what was wrong. He thought diabetic but with no previous symptoms it was doubtful. He told us big fancy words of something wrong with his brain, that he could have ingested something in the water or outside or inside without our notice. They continued to monitor him and put him through vet ICU. We were sent home for the night and they would call us if things got worse.
We slept horribly. We kept hoping nothing would happen and that we would only awake from an alarm, not a call. We were so relived in the morning to know he wasn't doing any worse and Jay called to get an update. They said he was doing much better and we could probably bring him home that day. He still wasn't fully aware of what was going on but his glucose had dropped and his chemical balances were normalling out. Jay tried to go to work, but he said he just sat there perplexed about Uley.
He got another call that morning saying that something could be wrong with his brain or spine. He's having troubles walking and still had a slight stigma in his eye, but was continuing to improve so there was not much to do but continue some tests and wait.
I went to visit him and I've never been so happy in my life that he noticed me. He crawled towards me, wanting me to hold him as I pet him and spoke to him calmly. As scared as I was, it was so good to just see him again - since we hadn't since before we brought him in the night before. The Dr. told me again it could be a brain or spine problem, perhaps a tumor but he was showing improvement still and they would run more tests around noon. He took him out so I could see him walk and he had a problem with his left side of the body. You would think he had a stroke with the way his brain wouldn't connect with him walking. He stumbled and fell and it broke my heart. It was hard to leave, but Jay and I would be back after noon.
When we came back the vet said he could go home, his blood tests were almost back to normal and he was still improving. He walked further this time and the stigma had disappeared. The only conclusion we could think of is a brain/spine problem, or he ingested something in the water or something like a mushroom out in the grass.
Jay took Uley and I home while he went back to work. I watched him diligently and laid on the floor with him while he slept. Later that night Jay and I took him out and noticed he was walking better and faster - he even went to the bathroom on his own - we were so proud to see him improving and to have him home!
Today he's still improving and hopefully a weekend of recovery and rest will do him good. We're sleeping on the floor, we've brought our mattress out so he didn't try to jump around or move too much since he's still so weak - I don't want him injuring himself on top of everything. While we still have no clue what happened or what is wrong we're just happy it's improving and hopefully it'll soon be a thing of the past.
Jay and I have never been so scared in out entire lives and we're reassured just knowing he is home with us again.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Registry!
Since Jay and I have been living together for over a year we've accumulated quite a bit of stuff together. We already have a great set of knives, a KitchenAid Mixer with attachments, blender, and many other big ticket items that most couples register for. We've got a mismatched set of plates and some glasses and a lot of other fabulous stuff. So when it came time to register we were really unsure of what we should do.
We looked at Honeymoon registry, but weren't sure how guests would feel about this non-traditional route.
We looked at forgoing it altogether, but our families assured us at least some people would want to do this regardless.
So finally we decided that there were some things we could upgrade and we could use some decorating things. So we finally decided to register at Bed Bath and Beyond. We LOVE that place, it's hard going in without buying anything!
So one EXTREMELY hot weekend we decided to spend it indoors registering!!
So excited to have that scanner gun!
At this point we had spent almost 3 hours at this place. We were hungry and tired! So we told our consultant we needed a break and would have to pick this up later on.
The next weekend we decided to go to a different store so we could see the full china. We finished up here fairly quickly now that we knew what we were doing.
We had a really good experience at both stores. We were able to do things on our own but had the help in china and whenever we needed it. It's so nice to be done registering so early since I know once we get back to Phoenix it's going to be a whirlwind of school, work, and finalizing wedding plans.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Diary by Uley
It's safe to say that I have a new best friend (sorry Buffy, Scarlett, and Ricky).
We try to see each other every single day, but our mom's just don't understand us and make us wait a lot!
Mom & Dad think I'm a teenager now because I sleep a lot and only want to be around my friends and am starting to stay up later, but they just don't get me!
EDIT: Did you know it's been exactly one year since I came home to this family?! How time flys!
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