I Will Never Catch Up

I will probably never catch up. Never. Sorry friends. We enjoyed Drew's recovery time a little too much. Drew going back to work was one of the saddest days ever. Don't get me wrong- I like having money but really... I can't wait until Drew gets to retire and I can spend all my time with him. I recently decided it was about time I got a library card. The Kindle makes it WAY WAY TOO EASY to purchase books. So we were spending a small fortune on books and more or less not realizing it. Turns out- all the books on my Kindle wish list are at the library for FREE!!!!! I have already read about 2000- yes. Two thousand pages. In the last 2 1/2 weeks. I forgot how much I enjoy a good book. Almost all books were about Paris or France or some historical delight. That's right people. I am feeling pretty nostalgic. I would list the books but frankly most aren't impressive from an intellectual standpoint. I also found out that the library has cookbooks too. Sweet. Also happening was Denisse's 26th birthday. It was an amazing party. I am pretty sure I was the only one there that was not fluent in Spanish. Seriously considering seeing what Spanish language tools are available at the library. Right now I am regretting not living in New York City. I am dying to the see Impossible Conversations exhibit at The Met. DYING. My friends that have gone say it is absolutely amazing. So... I am sad. Other than that- I plan on reading all summer. I have 10 books on hold and 82 on my list waiting to be put on hold. YAY!

Emergency Surgery

It's funny how things change. I had a blog all whipped up in my head about what a great week/10 days we had been having. Drew was feeling great. We were able to see many of our friends in just a short period of time. Miss Jessica Reichman ran the SLC Marathon and I got to cheer her on. Bon Voyage with the French ladies. Star Wars Episode 4 with the Williams. Etc. (On a side note- even if you HATED Star Wars- see them on blu ray. They are amazing. Seriously.) Also- Pasha has been staying with us which has been wonderful. Drew has been feeling better- life has been fantastic. UNFORTUNATELY- I didn't get around quick enough to write my blog post. So now you get a semi graphic update of Drew's trip to the emergency room and the surgery following said trip. I should also re-mention that Drew works China hours and usually doesn't wake up until about 12:30 or 1pm. 10am- Drop Pasha off. 11am- Visiting teachers come over 11:30- get a call from Drew- he is in pain. Needs an enema. 1:30- Enema is given, miralax was taken. Tylenol was administered. 1:45- Drew pukes his guts out. 2:30- Drew says he needs to go to emergency room. His stool is bloody. 3-4- Wait for someone to notice that we are in the emergency room for an... wait for it...emergency. 5pm- Finally see an excellent doctor and nurse. Drew is given dillaudid for the pain. 6pm- CAT scan 7pm- Surgeon comes in to tell Drew he has a bowel obstruction and they will have to do surgery. 7:05pm- Surgery Prep including a tube down Drew's nose that sucked out liquid from Drew's stomach and small intestines that looked like a green smoothie. Seriously gross. 8pm- Drew is given anesthetics. 12am-ish- Drew is out of surgery. Doctor explains what was going on- I don't really understand. THURSDAY I wake up and rush to hospital. Doctor once again explains situation. Drew had small intestinal bacteria overgrowth for about 18 months which he hadn't been treated for until 2 months ago. We think he picked it up right after we moved to Nanjing and the doctor diagnosed it as ecoli. Because the bacteria were eating his small intestines to shreds, the intestines healed together in a massive clump rather than the delightful passageway they should be. The doctor went through and removed all the scar tissue and put the intestines back into working order. The amazing thing is he is able to do this surgery without slicing Drew completely open. Just three small cuts. Also found- a white fibrous tissue all over his intestines. Lab results came back to tell us it is basically a colony of dead bacteria that was still settled in the body. Kinda gross. So Drew has been eating liquids since then. Although rumor has it he had a few bites of ribs last night.... Also- as much as I find all the pictures fascinating I will only add this one... Don't eat street food in China kids.

The Parents Visit (and Bart, Alexis, and Matt)

My parents came into to town for some much needed family time. They arrived on 24 March with their mission call in hand. We had expected them several hours earlier (forgetting they both drive like snails) so Bart and Alexis had come down to hang out. We met the parents at Carl's Jr (which I know is weird, but we don't have them in Minnesota and my Dad is slightly obsessed). And after went home to open the mission call. My parents were called to the  Rochester, New York Mission and will be primarily working in the visitor center (Palmyra/ Hill Cumorah area for a reference point).

The next week was full of family time. My mother and I ran errands, shopped a bit, and gardened while the boys essentially did a lot of demolition in the yard and house. My dad is like a boy at Christmas when he can help my brother out with "handy man" stuff. It is really funny.

Drew also started a new job. He works the China shift which sucks the big one but I do get to see him during the day. He also seems to be feeling a lot better. Still not 100% but he says between 85%-95% depending on the day. Which is awesome.

Just found out my parents were being really slow- Also- how sexy is Drew's beard?

Taking out the deck and pergola. 

Oddly enough- those are the only pictures I have of the 10ish days the family was here. But it was a great time. We had a big family barbecue after the Priesthood session of General Conference and all around enjoyed our time. 

Happy Easter

So I have been reading my blog list and everyone is talking about Easter lately. Makes sense right? Except they are talking about dying eggs, what great things they want in their baskets, and getting pictures taken with the Easter Bunny and it has all made me a little sick to my stomach. Don't get me wrong- I have spent the last few weeks making amazing Easter baskets for my brother and husband. What amazes me though is how commercial and stupid it all seems. Maybe I am not reading the right blogs but not once (oh- I take that back- there was one single blog post) have I read about why we celebrate Easter, it's importance,etc. While I don't consider myself to be a religious fanatic I feel like Easter is one of those holidays that shouldn't just be brushed aside and made a day to party and eat a lot. So here is something completely out of character for me- a blog post where I talk about something serious.

Easter has always been a very religious holiday in our home. Yes we had Easter baskets, an Easter Bunny, Easter dresses and the works. Celebrating in these ways makes it easy for children to understand the importance of a holiday rather than an ordinary day. However, it was very clear that Easter was a very sacred time for us. Without Easter, Christmas has no meaning. What makes Christ the Savior of the world is that He atoned for our sins. He died and three days later rose from the dead. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our Savior and Redeemer. I think everyone would be a little better off if we focused on that part of Easter and not whose hard boiled eggs are the prettiest (although- once again- I do love dying eggs). I just think it is time to be a little more thoughtful about celebrating the atoning sacrifice of our Savior.  If you need some spiritual infusion in your Easter Weekend, may I suggest the following.

1. Read The Living Christ, this is a beautiful testimony written by the Prophet and Apostles of the LDS church in the year 2000. Although it is 12 years old, it still carries a very powerful message. I also love that it is entitled the LIVING Christ. 
2. Open up your Bible and read out of the four gospels in the New Testament. How better to learn about Jesus Christ than to read about his life and teachings? 
3. Listen to Handel's Messiah- yes the whole thing. I love the recording the Mormon Tabernacle Choir did with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the most phenomenal recordings I have ever heard- despite my clear bias. If you can- read the scriptures along with it. 
4. Watch He Is Risen. The LDS Church has put out videos to better depict the life of Jesus Christ. This one is a compliation of a few videos and covers the events from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. It's only about 7 minutes long. 

Oh- and by all means- enjoy your colored eggs and chocolate bunnies. Just remember why we celebrate Easter in the first place.

The Vegas Adventure

The Week of March 11th
Drew had his last day at IDFL this week. The doctors also found out what was wrong with him. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Gross. So with more antibiotics than anyone should really take, we headed to Las Vegas to relax and heal. We went with the Kings who were there to show off their baby. Unfortunately the weather was cold and rainy most of the weekend but we still were able to visit Hoover Dam and the Las Vegas Strip. We had a great time and can't wait to go again!

Updating

There are many reasons I seem to take a hiatus from blogging. First, because nothing is going on and I do not want to bore anyone with details of a bored housewife. Second, too much is going on and I don't have time to blog. Most of the time it is the third reason, my life is packed full of boring things so I neither have the time to write, nor anything interesting to say. Therefore- I am going to make a commitment to blog at least once every ten days even if it is just to check in and let everyone know we are alive. I will start by trying to do several blog updates this week just to catch up.

WEEK of March 4th

 Like many weeks, highlights of this week included Zumba classes with the ladies in my Stake, Bible study with some ladies in my ward, and hanging out with Ben who is home for a record 3 week vacation. We went on a double date with a couple in the Ward and had an awesome time. I also worked on secret craftiness which you can see later. Another highlight was our friend Jared was in town. So we headed down to Provo to see Pavel and Jared, among many of our other friends still in Provo. As you can see above, we had a little photo shoot.

Another thing that stuck me this week was how much I missed some of our friends in Provo. As much as we love living in Sandy, there is something to be said about having an intelligent conversation with people who are currently updated and informed on current events and aren't conspiracy theorists (as I like to call those who are vehemently political on either spectrum). Basically it was this best weekend ever.

Some Real News

Yesterday Drew (and I) went to the doctors. Drew took a hydrogen breath test to see if there was an overgrowth of bacteria in his small intestine. This test usually takes between 2-6 hours (they check for other stuff in hours 4-6). What happens is a patient breathes into a machine and it collects samples of ...something... I have no idea. After that they have the patient drink this sugary drink and re-test the breath. What usually takes between 2-4 hours to show up on a normal patient, took Drew 30 minutes to display. That is right. His bacteria was so festering and present that in 30 minutes the doctors could tell what was going on. The best part- this can be taken care of with about a weeks worth of anti-biotics.

So- looks like Drew picked up a bacterial specimen in China that has been eating away at his small intestines for over half a year. Thankfully it seems that we have finally come to a resolution with this problem and we can start to move on with our lives. Thank you for all our friends and family members that have prayed and fasted for us. We finally were guided to a doctor who seemed to know what she was doing and how to proceed with Drew's issues. We are going to Las Vegas this weekend to relax and have some fun and just get away from all this misery. YAY!