Goodbye Mr. Sniffles

For about three years my boyfriend, Jason, has had nasal congestion. It is like he has had a cold that just never goes away. Some days were better then others but on the bad days there was no going near him because he was so annoyed from sneezing and blowing his nose constantly. He said he felt like he was suffocating if I got too close to him. Those days were fun. So of course the loving girlfriend that I am decided to come up with some nick names like Mr. Sniffles and JSneezy (like his gamer-tag JSweezy).

About a month ago one of his friends said that he use to have the same problem and he had surgery to fix it. After we heard that we knew Jason was going to need the same thing. So we took a couple months to plan out which insurance would be best for him to get this surgery. And of course, when he went to the doctor they said he had a deviated septum and his "mucus producers" (Jason's awesome medical lingo) were over producing. So basically the inside of his nose was crooked which was blocking off part of his airway which mucus was clogging his nose. The plan was to straighten out his septum and remove the part that was overproducing mucus.

Now I get to have some fun nursing input on his naiveness, which is always fun. He had to get some pretests done, where they found out he was late on his tetanus shot. So the nurse came in and gave him the shot and after she left, he pretended like he has in excruciating pain. And said that the needle looked like it was too big to go into his arm. It wasn't that big. Then he had to get some blood tests done. They took out about 2 oz of blood into a small tube. First he asked if thats how much blood people give when they give blood... Is that a serious question? Second he said that he felt dizzy because he lost so much blood. Then when we got home he joked about how he cant do anything because he just lost too much blood so he had to relax.

Finally on Friday, he went in for surgery. I had to work but I just happen to work in the same facility he had surgery. I took a 15 minute break when he got there and another 15 minute break when he got out. Here is what he looked like before he went in.



Then he had to get pushed out by staff.



And then when we got home.

 The two strings that are taped to his nose are attached to some gauze that are stuck up his nose to soak up the blood from surgery and help it heal straight. Those gauzes are blocking his airway, so he is not able to breath out of his nose at all which you can only imagine is terrible when you are trying to sleep. Then there is a white gauze that is catching the excess drainage and the blue thing helps hold it in place. Since surgery, he was been laying around and sleeping when he can finally get comfortable.

Skiing the Slopes

My friend, Atusa, and I somehow just discovered that we both use to ski when we were little. I think she always knew I did since my mom was a super skier but I did not know she did too. So we decided that we were going to go skiing over winter break even though it has been 10 years since either of us have gone. We put it off all break until the last thursday of break we finally decided to go.

We went to Afton Alps which is about a 45 minute drive, but it is worth it with all the different slopes. I decided to wear my moms snow suit that good skiers wear. So I thought I was going to look stupid wearing this super nice ski outfit while I tumble down the easy hills.

 

We started on the bunny hill since we were both scared because we have not gone in so long. We did it twice to be safe. Sure enough it was just like riding a bike; it was muscle memory. Next we went down a bigger slope that was just fine. For the next slope, we watched people go down a hill right under the chair lift and thought it looked easy. So we started going down but it was super steep and narrow. Apparently the people we watched were pros that made it look easy. Later that day when we went back the slope was blocked off. Apparently it wasn't even suppose to be a slope...

Later we journeyed over to what was called the highlands, and I mean journeyed. Even with a map it was hard to figure out where we were suppose to go. You can look at the map below later with all the black arrows but it was hard to know where you were. We stood in this open hilly plain area trying to figure out where we were suppose to go. Then I saw these two guys snowboard past us and go through this sewer tunnel thing. I looked at Atusa with big eyes and said "Lets go in there!" I started skiing away hearing Atusa yelling, "NO!" in the distance. Eventually she followed.

The hills in the highlands were a lot more fun because they were longer with multiple choices of which way to go. We started going down one hill that we thought was a medium difficulty hill just like the other ones all around us but it wasn't. About half way down the hill, it looked like the hill was disappearing and you were coming to a drop off. That's because you were. We stopped at the top of this "drop off" looking down and then looking back to see if we could somehow get out of it. There was no getting out. We had to proceed. If you look at the map below, I think we went down the black diamond called "Heather's Highlands". If you look at it, it just looks like it curves right? Nope that is them trying to draw a sharp decline.

The weatherman for that day said there was going to be a 20 degree drop and we started feeling it so we decided to go in the the lodge at the top of the hill to warm up. After that we hit a couple more slopes and called it a day. I am glad I went out there and did it. I hope I can continue to go every year.

There was a couple times I started thinking about my mom since skiing was her passion. I wish I could go skiing with her so she could teach me how to be better. When I was in kindergarden she worked at Buck Hill so I would go around skiing with her since I only had half days at school. Sometimes I ended up by myself because my mom would go so fast and I couldn't keep up. Here is a picture of her from when she went skiing in March with her dad. As you can see she is wearing the ski suit.

Fun-day Friday

After working seven days in a row I figured it was time for a fun-day. So Jason and I planned on going to go to Dave and Busters which is similar to Chuck-E-Cheese but it is for adults. However, the closest one was an hour away and we did not feel like driving that far. Instead we decided to go to a smaller arcade at the Mall of America since Jason has been needing to buy himself earrings anyway. After we got the earrings we decided to get some Jamba Juice and Chipotle.

 

Now that our stomaches were full, we headed off to the arcade where we played a bunch of different games. I beat Jason in all of them (no surprise there). So here are some pictures of his defeat in air hockey and basketball.



Whenever we go to an arcade we always play the game of deal or no deal. In our first game, I picked out our case and we got down to either winning 6 tickets or 400 tickets. We ended up wining the 400 tickets!




Jason picked the case for the next game and we got 200 tickets. Which was still a lot more then we usually get but that means I still beat him right? But we figured that was the end of our luck so we moved on to the next games.

While we were playing other games, I got a phone call saying that my dad's dogs were running around, so we had to quickly leave otherwise they were going to call animal control. We were not able to buy anything with our tickets but we ended up leaving with 1,074 tickets. That is just an excuse to go back and play again!

On the plus side I got to go to my dads house and meet the new puppies for the first time. It just makes me want a dog even more! Unfortunately, Jason is allergic so right now dogs are out of the question, but I hope to one day try out those allergy dog shots on him so we can eventually get one. I just have to be patient I guess.

Other then that we will just spend the rest of the evening lounging around the house like normal. It may not have been the most exciting day but it was a day away from work and out of the house which is something I always enjoy!

New Years Resolutions

I have never actually made a new years resolution and stuck to it. I think in the past I have always made ones that are not tangible such as never eating fast food again or always keeping my room clean. Let's be honest, I am going to eat McDonald's again and I will leave my clothes on the floor. I am only human. So this time I want to make a list of things that are tangible.

1. Keep up with my Blog
I have never really done a blog or a journal of any form. Lately I have so many thoughts going through my head I hope I can finally put things down on paper. I also feel like I am experiencing many firsts so it will be fun to share them and jot down how I felt while it was happening.

2. Be More Girly
Now lets just say my definition of girly and your definition of girly is most likely different. I don't want to do my nails more and exfoliate my skin. I just want to wake up put on something other than sweat pants every day, do my hair (and by do I mean straighten), and put on some makeup. I feel like I have gotten in the grove of wearing sweats all day with no makeup and hair pulled back. Who do I have to impress?  Again I am human and will slack some days so I am saying I will do this at least four times a week. Which seems like a lot to me but I will try.

3. Have More Self Confidence
Hopefully my last resolution will help me with this one. My biggest weakness is my self confidence. I know I am a successful person but I think I have this look on the world like everyone is scrutinizing me and watching to see if I mess up. This makes me less confident in everything I do. Did I do that correctly? Did someone just see me mess up? I wouldn't go as far as calling me a perfectionist but I may be close. 

4. Learn How to Make More Meals
I have officially been living on my own for a year as of January 2nd. I was excited to start making my own meals and being a big girl. Now I feel like I have made the same meals over and over and over again. I want something new! The only challenge is that my boyfriend is the pickiest person alive. I dare you to challenge me on that. He doesn't even like mac and cheese. Who doesn't like mac and cheese? Anyway before I go on a rant with that, it is hard to make a meal for just myself. I hope that after making all these meals he will start to like some of them so I will just have to take my chances. Pinterest will be my friend with this resolution. I have found a couple meals I want to try now I just have to get the motivation to try them. I think I will say I want to try one to two new meals a month. Seems like not that much but with my busy schedule it will have to do.

5. Stick to my Budget
I use to be good at this one. However, after my mom died a lot more expenses came my way and I started to just let go of my money. YOLO, right? I do not want to go completely back to my strict budget but maybe adjust it to give myself wiggle room and then stick to that.