Happy Birthday Chelsea...

Oh, how I miss my sweet Chelsea!Oregon has never felt so far away, let me tell you! I think I would give a body part just to have her back, I miss her, Shane and the twins so much it literally hurts my heart.
Chelsea has been through just about everything with me (for about the past 10 years)She's talked me though every melt down, every marital dispute, every sadness, every rocky road and every heart break. She's been there for every good moment, every victory, every baby, every event and every joy.

She's been there after babies were born, she helped me paint my hot pink bathroom, she's seen me nursing, she's cleaned my house during early pregnancies, she baked me more cookies than imaginable, we've taken a lot of trips to Target, we've bought each other LOTS of napkins over the years, we've been together for lots of birthdays, been through a few move -out cleans together, had tons of late nights on her couch, fed my pregnancy addictions,we've been to a lot of BBQ's together, family functions, game nights, Goodwill shopping trips and more!
We've pretty much been through it all- the good times, the bad times, the grey times, the pretty times, the not so great times and all the ones inbetween.
I've always been able to turn to Chelsea for anythiing under the moon, and she's been there every time. She's been my rock. She's been my support and she's listened to me vent about everything. I love her like a sister, and I miss her so much I find myself falling apart every once inawhile because it's just not fair. I should be able to drive around the corner to her house, walk in her door, throw my keys down, plop on her couch, eat her cookies and talk for hours- but I can't anymore...

... I hope you have the best birthday Missy. I love you and hope you like your birthday napkins this year! Love you. Love you. Love you.

We have a trampoline!

Let's just say I've lived on Craiglist lately trying to find a darn trampoline for the kids, but apparently, so has everyone else and the 5 seconds I haven't been looking (like 2:00- 3:00 in the afternoon)- everyone has decided to post then, thanks people.

I guess it all worked out though...

I/we've been helping our friend & neighbor clean, pack and move for the past month & a 1/2, and yesterday when it came time to take her trampoline apart and move it to the new house- her oldest son said there were a few parts that needed to be welded together and he thought they should get rid of it. Lisa said we could have it if we wanted to have the 2 parts welded together. After asking 100 times, "Are you sure? It's been fine, the kids have been jumping on it forever." She said, "No, go ahead."

So we carried it home in pieces and put it back together to see what parts they were talking about and if it would still work. We finally got the old one down and the new one up, had the kids test it out and agreed it was fine. The base and 100 springs are supporting the other parts without any movement- so we felt good about letting them play on it. (Trust me, if we didn't think it was ok, it wouldn't be in our back yard!) If we can find a portable welder person, that would be cool to have them fix the 2 pieces- but I think we might be ok!

Thanks Lisa! (all but 1 of her kids are teenagers or in college, so it wasn't being used like it is at my house!)

Vent Session...

So, apparently, I don't listen to God very well.
He tries and tries to get me to- but I'm realizing it takes me something big to finally hear him say: "Slow down, stop working so hard, relax a little or You are not Superwoman, stop trying!"
... so instead I wear myself out and end up with a bladder infection, UTI, mastitius, strep throat, the stomach flu, sinus infections, bronchitos, torn muscles, horrible jaw, neck or back pain, migrains, pressure cookers falling on my face or some other awful pain that forces me to stop and lay down for days/weeks.

Seriously, I should just listen to Him and my body right? Apparently, I don't because it's my stupid neck again and I've been in tears or close to it for days now. Something happened Thursday afternoon- a pulled muscle, pinched nerve, who knows but my vertebre have felt smashed and compacted together and the pain has been so intense. My head has honestly been impossible to lift off my pillow without the help of my other arm, or Trav, lifting it up for support and then slowly turning or lifting to get it up/over.

The first night all I could do was cry. I just layed on the couch so Trav could sleep- and cried. Night time has been awful because I toss and turn NON STOP and when you can hardly do it, you realize how much you do it in a night-and it has just killed! I've iced, I've used heat, I've taken crappy Tylonol, I've rested, I haven't, Trav has rubbed my neck, Tristin has rubbed it, Daisy has, Grace has- I even had Willow at one point applying pressure trying to relieve some of the pain. I've layed in the tub, had the shower beating down on it- everything. It's just hurt to turn, twist, cough, move- anything. I've slept on the couch propped up, I've layed down- I've tried every position and I've just wanted to cut my neck off and throw it off a cliff!!! The thing is- I'm a tough girl, I can handle pain. I may complain about it- but I'm used to feeling a lot of it- so when I hurt, I really hurt, and I probably have for a week without telling anyone.

Last night was improvment though- I could lift my head without support, which was a blessing but there was and still is still tons of pressure. Last time I went to the chiropractor, I was there over a month and spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I was a lot better, but still not where I needed to be (and then we had our lice outbreak in Oct and had to cancell my appointments).

I just wish Trav could have gone into Chirpractic work instead of computers- or maybe a body with working parts! If I feel broken at 32, I cannot imagine how I will feel when I'm 90!

I've been awake since 4:00 AM just laying in bed- so I had to get up, eat Pop tarts and vent. (Actually, I use it to refrence back to my last injury because my memory is awful since having kids!)

So, if anyone finds a new neck at a yard sale for a pretty good price- let me know- I'm shopping for a new one!