Throwback Thursday: One Year Ago...

One year ago, I felt like such crap. My stomach and sides hurt all. the. time. I thought my ribs were broken. It was terrible. Then I had a CAT Scan and found out I had an abscess on my ileum, aka the part of your intestines in the lower right quadrant of your abdomen. And then I got to spend 8 days in the hospital hooked up to an IV for antibiotics (and pain meds that first night).

The past year has been full of lots of doctor visits and more pills than I can even attempt to count, but I have felt better in the past year than I have a long time. That's because I've been taking medication for Crohn's Disease, or Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It's an immune system problem where the lining of your intestine becomes inflamed basically because your body thinks it needs to be in some sort of altercation with it. That's what caused my abscess last year. Or that's what usually causes abscesses in that area of intestines.

Normally, you need a colonoscopy to get a solid diagnosis of Crohn's, or the similarly related Ulcerative Colitis, but my doctor didn't want to upset things further while I was in the hospital and once I got out and the meds were working, he kind of just pushed it off more. So my diagnosis is super unofficial, but since the meds that treat Crohn's are working and I'm feeling good, he's pretty sure that's what's up with my intestines.

Basically, although I felt so terrible for so long last year around this time, I'm actually insanely grateful that it happened because I feel so much better now. Happy one year, Crohn's Diagnosis. Let's keep it the way things are right now because right now, we're good and feeling great. Also, shout out to my fellow Horned Frog alum, Bob Schieffer, for his Colitis diagnosis I just learned about last week. Not only do we love purple for our school, but for our stupid disease (purple if the official color of the awareness ribbon).

If you're interested in learning more about Crohn's and Colitis, check out the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America's website.

Party-Packed Weekend

Let me just tell you about the weekend I had. It was awesome. Here's the run down.

I was supposed to drive home Thursday after I was done TA-ing that morning, but Mother Nature brought big, wet snow flakes to DFW and I fishtailed on my way to class, so I wasn't about to hit the highway and risk that. And with a dog in tow? No. So I stayed home Thursday and took a nap and did homework and watch the Olympics. Gotta love that Grad School Life.

Friday morning, I woke up bright and early and hit the road for home. Friday night it snowed a little in Tyler so my mom and I just hung out and watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. Aside from the snowflake snafu seen round the world, I thought Russia did an excellent job. I love watching the Opening Ceremonies because I love to see the show the host country puts on and Russia put on a show. I loved the history of Russia and the dancing and the girl on pointe. SO GORGEOUS. Although, I was waiting for them to bust out in this song:

Saturday was a busy day for this girl. I got up and got dressed and ran a few errands before heading to co-host a baby shower for one of my besties, Lindsay. I can't believe Lindsay and Chad are having a little boy and possibly the next time I see them will be to meet their sweet baby. We had so much fun at the shower and they got a ton of great stuff!

Lindsay and me - Doesn't she look GREAT?!

After the shower, I headed home to change and get ready for dinner. Anytime Anna and Elliott are in town, we go to Villa Montez, a DELISH Mexican food restaurant, because it's one of their favorite places. Little did almost everyone at the table know, they had gotten engaged the night before in Austin so we were catching up with them AND celebrating! Turns out, one of the tables next to us was so excited for them that they bought our whole table's food. There were 12 of us at our table, y'all. It was an awesome experience and very (for lack of a better word) humbling. It was definitely an awesome way to kick off their engagement!

After dinner, I went over to Lindsay and Chad's to see the nursery because last time I saw it they didn't have their crib or changing table yet. BB is one lucky baby. He has an amazing set of parents and so many people who love him so much all ready. I cannot wait to meet him.

Sunday morning, I called my dad to set up lunch plans. His birthday is Thursday so I wanted to have a Daddy-Daughter date before I drove back to Fort Worth. We changed our minds about 4 times before settling on BJ's and watching the Olympics in the bar. I love my Daddy so much!

My Daddy and me at the Cotton Bowl last month - Yay Mizzou!

When I got back to my mom's I was really exhausted from my Saturday, so I opted for a nap instead of driving back to Fort Worth. Only after checking the weather about 18 times online to make sure DFW wasn't going to have any more frozen stuff falling from the sky (don't worry, that's supposed to be tonight).

This weekend was so much fun, but very busy! What did you do this weekend?

Two Truths and a Lie: Revelation

The other day, I linked up with Sarah at Venus Trapped in Mars for a Super Bowl themed post! I told two truths and a lie: football edition and I'm here to reveal my truths and lie.

Here's a refresher...

1. In college, I had a class with Andy Dalton.

2. One of my elementary school teachers was the sister-in-law of Joe Montana.

3. Johnny Manziel is my cousin.

Now for the big reveal! *drumroll, please*

1. TRUE! I did have class with Andy Dalton. I was in sophomore comp with Andy Dalton in Spring 2008 after his first starting football season. Little did I know back then that he'd help TCU get to two BCS bowls back-to-back and be instrumental in the stadium renovations and TCU to the Big XII, even if he was no longer at TCU when those two things happened.

2. TRUE! My third-grade teacher was Joe Montana's sister-in-law. How crazy is that? She loved Elvis and we played Elvis-opoly on a regular basis.

3. FALSE. Johnny Manziel is not my cousin, but we do share a birth place: Tyler, Texas! And for one year, he went to the high school I graduated from. Then his family moved to Kerrville, just down the road from one of my all time favorite place, CAMP!

Now let's go watch some ads! Oh, and I guess football, too. Go Seahawks!