2 Years!

Dear friends,

It has been right about 2 years since I've been in the hospital. My last IVs (at this time) were for my sinus surgery/post-surgery pneumonia if you want to even count that as IV treatment. If not, then the last time for IVs was in NOVEMBER of 2008. WOW!!!

I just wanted to post that because it dawned on me today that the end of March was that milestone. How exciting!

Thought I would share in my excitement!

-Andrea

My wonderful April 7

Wednesday, April 7, was pretty great day over all!

It all started when I bolted awake in bed, jumped up, and opened my bedroom door 45 minutes before my alarm because I heard my roommate say to someone on the phone, "the bathroom ceiling is leaking." I ran to the bathroom and sure enough, the flood had returned. It was way better than last time, but still obnoxious. Within minutes, a maintenance man shows up to check it out. After looking at our bathroom, he goes upstairs to our neighbors. About 10 minutes later, he comes back and the leak has stopped. He mutters something to my roommate about water on the floor upstairs and leaves. I learn later from my RA that the toilet upstairs had overflowed the night before and they didn't know what to do about it. So they turned the water off and left it. It soaked through in the floor and into our bathroom. Sick.

After that incident, I continued on my morning about getting ready. It was my anniversary and I wanted to look cute! So I shower, put on a day-dress, dry and straighten my hair, do my makeup and head over to the student center to meet the boyfriend for lunch. The walk there involved a lot of mist. It reminded me of those misting machines at Six Flags that cool you down without getting you soaked. That's what the weather was like. I looked dumb using an umbrella so I put it away. However, I forgot I was blessed with my Mom's hair's natural ability to frizz like crazy. So when I found the boyfriend, he told me I looked nice, and asked me if I straightened my hair this morning. "The weather took care of that." NOO!!!! I flipped out but I knew it wasn't worth it. My hair was a goner.

The next few hours involved class, more class, and then an outdoor biodiversity lab excursion with a friend to collect plant samples. After we finished that, I called the boyfriend to chat about our evening plans. We decided on seeing Clash of the Titans at 4:55. Seeing as it was 4:18, we went ahead and went to the movies. Clash of the Titans was really good, especially if you like mythology.

Then it was dinner time! I had chosen where to eat. We went to a local steakhouse where they preferred you get dressed up. I wore a dress I had gotten for a great price at a local boutique a while back and he wore khakis and a new shirt. Needless to say, we looked GOOD! lol

At dinner, we split a 20oz steak, some fried crawfish tails, and some steak fries. The steak, being massive, took a while to cook so we spent some time just talking. Suddenly, Chris (boyfriend)'s face goes white and then instantly red. He gives me this look... a look I know all too well. A look that says "I just made a mistake and it's embarrassing and funny all at the same time." That "oh crap" look. I reply with "What...?" He smiles and blushes as he says, "I forgot my wallet." I burst into laughter remembering the last time this happened. We were at a local Italian place and he didn't realize he left his wallet until it was time to pay. I was left as "collateral" while he ran back to his dorm. I had to explain it to the waitress who was highly amused.

But last night, he remembered before the food came out. I offered to just pay and he pay me back, but he didn't want to do that. So he went "to the bathroom" and drove back to his apartment to grab the wallet that was left in his jeans from earlier. About 2 minutes after he left, the food arrived. So I ate alone for the next 5ish minutes. It was kinda sad, but I was more worried about him. It was weather outside and I knew he was in a hurry to get back. I prayed pretty much the entire time he was gone and couldn't eat very much since I was so nervous. He came back about 8 minutes after he left with a smile on his face and a wallet in his pocket (and money in the wallet!). The rest of the dinner ran smoothly.

I called Liz (my big) and asked if she could take a picture for me. I wanted a picture of me and Chris all dressed up and nice looking on our anniversary. Of course, she helped me out! And so, to end the night, here are 2 of the pictures.

-Annie

4-year-anniversary

My goodness has it really been 4 years?? Yep, I remember it clearly. April 7, 2006, sometime in the evening on my couch in my old house, my boyfriend asked me out. It hasn't been 4 years "solid" due to a few rough patches along the way, but we're past that. But for the most part, it has been 4 whole years. Ups, downs, and everything in between, and somehow we still end the day with an "I love you too". The worst times were when he was in college and I was in high school. It was just difficult to say the least. He didn't know much about what I was talking about (especially by my senior year) and I had no CLUE what he was talking about in college. But we made it through. He's been with me when I'm in the hospital as much as he could. And when he couldn't be there I'd still hear from him. Things got way better when I got to college. We could finally spend time together swimming, working out, etc. and not have to worry about how to pay for these things. We eat most meals together and I see him almost every day, if even for only a minute. We study together, play games together, watch movies together, go to church together, cook (and do dishes) together. He takes out my trash, he changes my car tire, and drives me to Walmart when I don't want to go but need to. I can be myself around him, no matter how goofy that may be (and he's just as goofy when he's just with me). He works so he can have money to take me out. He goes to college to afford me. And most important, he loves me. :]

4 years holds a lot of memories. I've written a lot of them down over the years on blogs, in journals, and other places and I'm thankful I'll be able to go back later and read them. We've both changed a lot since my freshman year and definitely for the better. I hope everyone has a great day because I will. I'll post about it in the next few days.

-Annie