HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

this boy...

is coming to visit me today! i can't wait to see his cute face!

so eco-friendly!

i found this cool little notebook here and i saw an opportunity to recycle! i had scratch paper and i folded each piece of paper in half and made a cover by gluing cute paper on card stock. i keep all of my papers, assignments, etc in a huge stack waiting for it to come to use, so it was perfect. i had it bound last night and the guy at kinkos gave me the employee discount because he thought it was cool that i was recycling paper. i think i will keep making these.

Today...

I'm missing Romania...

crazy eights!

i got tagged by my friend Lacey! this one is all about eights!

8 favorite movies (it's supposed to be tv shows... but i don't really watch tv)

1. What's Up Doc?
2. Runaway Jury
3. Cinderella Man
4. Hitch
5. I Am Legend
6. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
7. The Pursuit of Happyness
8. What About Bob?

8 things i did yesterday

1. showered
2. shopped with my mom and cousins in Utah
3. drove home with Sam
4. went to work
5. saw Quantum of Solace with my dad and brothers
6. ate some yummy gummy bears
7. talked to my sweet fiance on the phone
8. looked at my messy room and still didn't clean it

8 things i look forward to

1. talking to Jeremy tonight
2. seeing Jeremy in 10 days
3. my blood clot going away
4. painting my rocking chair bright yellow!
5. being able to exercise again
6. Christmas!
7. being in the same town as my fiance
8. getting married in less than 3 months! WOOHOO!

8 favorite restaurants

1. Pei Wei
2. Create (burger and custard place)
3. Cafe Rio
4. Red Robin
5. Chili's
6. Famous Dave's
7. On the Border
8. Jason's Deli

8 things on my wish list

1. find a place for me and Jeremy to live
2. get a cool beach cruiser bike
3. for my blood clot to go away
4. graduate from college
5. get my master's in social work
6. have exremely cute and healthy little kids
7. lose 5 pounds
8. be with Jeremy right now and forever!

i tag my buddies in Romania: Rachel, Kinsey, Robby and Rhett... no pressure though, i know you are probably way busy, but give the kids lots of love for me...i miss you guys foarte mult!

ready to WIN!

riley let me paint his racer for the pine wood derby tonight.
what a nice brother! i took it for a test drive this morning...
and we are ready...ready to win! bring it on!

Get Quirky

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
5. Leave a comment to let them know.

Amy, Jeremy's sister, tagged me, but since her blog is private you can all check out her health blog here. She has great advice on working out and will even make you a personalized workout plan. It's great.

Quirk #1: I like to arrange my snacks, like fruit snacks or m&ms. I usually arrange them according to color and then I make some sort of pattern with them and eat them in some way that makes sense in my head. I caught myself doing it tonight when I was eating some skittles...Taste the Rainbow.

Quirk #2: I love to read, but I hate to start a book. I don't really understand why. I think it's because I know that the author has complete control over the adventure I am about to have. I just get nervous that it won't be a good one. And once I'm reading the book, I usually can't put it down and then I don't always get everything done. It just has so much control!

Quirk #3: I like to arrange the groceries on the conveyer belt when we check out. I put the breads together, the fruits together, the dairy together, the canned food items, the non-food items together, etc. I also make sure we have the breads last and the milk first so the heavy things get put on the bottom of the cart and our bread doesn't get smashed. Mainly, I think too much.

Quirk #4: I have taken up a new hobby of refinishing furniture. Here is a picture of my current project. Jeremy and I found this precious rocking chair at a garage sale for $5. I couldn't pass that price up for this cool thing. When I am done with this its going to some bright color (any guesses?) and absolutely beautiful! I can't wait to get past the sanding part.

Quirk #5: I love my feet. I think they are so cute. I also love to paint my toenails. It is so relaxing and then my feet look even cuter when I am done. So fun!

Quirk #6: I love being the only girl in my family. It works well when I am asking my daddy for money. Just kidding! I love having brothers though. They are way cool and they don't steal my clothes (I usually steal theirs). And Sam and Riley are always up for doing fun things with me. I just love being the only girl! Way less drama and way more fun.

I tag: Jeremy, Emily, Kamy, Tati, Rebecca, and Tara

My vote counts.

Today I voted for the President.

I was able to give the government my opinion about who shoud be running this country and they have to listen to it. My vote counts. My vote matters. How cool; how empowering!
I can vote... and I did... you should, too.

The results are in....

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and fasting in my behalf. The Vascular Surgeon in Vienna that met with us for a short while told me how lucky I was that I was still alive. I know that the prayers and fasting in my behalf have helped me immensly. I know that I am not merely lucky, but I am very blessed. Thank you for all of your love and concern. Now to the medical report...

I tested positive for the Factor V Leiden mutation. This means that I am prone to blood clots and the rest of my family gets to join me in the blood testing fun. The Doctor I saw today has ordered some more blood work to be done and also another ultrasound in December. I will go see him at the end of December to see if the clot is still there and to get the results of the blood tests. If the clot is there I will continue to take Coumadin every day and we will check later to see if it has dissolved. If it is not there then I will be homefree, but I will still have to take a baby aspirin everyday to thin my blood. I will probably have to take a baby aspirin everyday for the rest of my life, but that is easy. I just pray that the blood clot will dissolve by the end of December. That would be so nice if I didn't have to worry about it anymore. The Doctor also said that I didn't have to wear my favorite stockings unless I noticed swelling and that I could ease back into my normal day activities. Yay!

Here is some information pasted directly from good ole' Wikipedia about the Factor V (roman numeral 5) Leiden stuff: Studies have found that about 5% of caucasians in North America have factor V Leiden. The disease is less common in Hispanics and African-Americans and is extremely rare in people of Asian descent. Up to 30% of patients who present with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism have this condition. Factor V Leiden doubles the risk that a person will have a DVT during their life, but it is unclear whether these individuals are at increased risk for recurrent venous thrombosis. While only 1% of people with factor V Leiden have two copies of the defective gene, these homozygous individuals have a more severe clinical condition. The presence of acquired risk factors for venous thrombosis -- including smoking, use of estrogen-containing (combined) forms of hormonal contraception use, and recent surgery -- further increase the chance that an individual with the factor V Leiden mutation will develop DVT. Women with Factor V Leiden have a substantially increased risk of clotting in pregnancy (and on estrogen containing birth control pills or hormone replacement) in the form of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. They also have an increased risk of preeclampsia, as well as miscarriage and stillbirth due to clotting in the placenta, umbilical cord, or the fetus (fetal clotting may depend on whether the baby has inherited the gene). Note that many of these women go through one or more pregnancies with no difficulties, while others may miscarry over and over again, and still others may develop clots within weeks of becoming pregnant.