Afflovest-- my opinion

Since I'm rocking some newer hardware, I felt I should give my honest opinion of it.  Please know a few things: 1- no one is paying me for this. 2- My opinion is just for information.  I do not have a medical license and my opinion should not affect you or your health decisions. 3- What may be right or wrong might not be for you.  Please get with your clinic before making any changes.

Here we go!

AffloVest
Basic description: This is another "vest" chest percussion device.  It houses the controller on the user's left side in a pocket and the battery on the user's right side in another pocket.  I have a size "small" and it has 3 adjustable clips in the front to latch it.  It also has several (4 or 5) two-button adjustments in the shoulders to fit the correct length.  To put simply, it is cordless.

How it works: With a charged battery (which lasts approximate 3 hours of usage), the vest is turned on by holding down the button with the symbol for ON (one you often see on computers).  It will boot up over about 5 full seconds.  From there you can run the set program by pressing GO or run whatever setting has been left up by pressing the PLAY button.

You can set a program by using the down arrow until you select Program.  This will bring you to a screen to edit the three Sequences it will cycle through on your program.  I like this because it allows me to set different types of therapy without having to think about it.  Each Sequence can run for a max of 15 minutes.

What the buttons mean:
P- Percussion. This setting vibrates for 1 second on, one second off for the full run time.  This is my favorite setting.
V- Vibration.  This is a solid vibration for the full run time.
D- Drainage.  This targets the lower lobes first, alternating front and back, and vibrates up in different areas.  The idea seems to be to knock crud loose and work it upwards.  I bet this is even more effective when the user is in a downward facing drainage posture.
Three bars: High intensity
Two bars: Medium intensity
One bar: Low intensity

Your mode and intensity can be adjusted at any point during the therapy session.  I saw a "lock" symbol when I set a program, which makes me wonder if it can be locked for kids so they don't change it up.  I haven't opened the flashdrive they sent with instructions, so I don't know for sure.

What's included:
When you get the Afflovest, you get a roller storage bag, the vest with connected controller, one large battery, a battery charger, and a wall cord.  The batter charger plugs directly into the wall and the battery to charge it.  The Vest cannot be used during this time.  They do have a wall cord though.  This can be plugged directly into the wall and the vest for usage when your battery is dead and you really need it.  Obviously, you're bound to the wall at this point, but isn't that what we're all used to anyway?  The cord is fairly long so you can sit on a chair or couch.  They also include a flashdrive of information.  I have yet to open it.

Now the part you've really been waiting for... Pros and Cons

Pros:
-I love the freedom.  I love being able to walk around, cook dinner, dry my hair, put on makeup, etc. while I do my therapy.  The vibrations are different than a typical air-filled vest, so it's not as violent to the entire body.  The vibrations seem deeper and more focused than the air-filled vests, which seem to just try to shake things up without understanding the concept of directional vibrations.
-I like the ease of being able to set the program.  I'm pretty tech savvy but I always struggled with the other vests to set cycles.  I just ran my time on my one setting and that was it.  Now, I feel like I have more freedom with my therapy.
-It works. I'm clearing up some crud. I can feel it makes a huge difference in my day. That's what matters the most in the end, right?

Cons:
-It's heavier than I anticipated.  Mine is 11lbs with the battery.  Sometimes that's hard for me to put on, or I become winded putting it on, but once it's on it's fine.
-The battery doesn't warn you it's low unless you're looking at it.  It just flashes.  I haven't had it die on me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually!
-I wish the programs could run longer than 15 minutes, but that's just me being picky.
-This pairs with the weight, but I expected it to be easier to carry with me when I travel.  It's still easier than the other Vest, but it's just not what I expected.  I'm used to the flimsy vest that I could fold up and pack away (though paired with a big machine), but the Afflovest has the machine built in, so it doesn't fold or pack away as easy as I had hoped.  Again, still easier than other options.
-For flyers: it has a lithium battery so the battery cannot be checked. It will have to be a carried with you.

I hope this helps!

-A

New Vest!

Some of you have been with me long enough to remember this post about my Vest, where I gave it some love.  My more recent friends might only remember this other post about my Vest where I wasn't sure if we were friends or not.  Either way, my Vest was always around giving me grief and giving me clear lungs.  But now, I can retire it because it's time to make room for a new Vest... the Afflovest!  There's no question: we're already BFFs.  When I learned that this Vest might be a real option (around October 2015), it was already a part of my day.  I thought about it LITERALLY every morning.  Any day that I overslept and didn't have time for a morning Vest sesh, I thought about how I could at least get in 10 minutes of the Afflovest while I dry my hair and let the dog out.

If you haven't heard of it, I recommend checking out their website and the YouTube videos posted by people who got the Vest and are demoing it.  The biggest advantage that it brings is I'm not hooked up to vacuum cleaner hoses, but free to walk around with the cordless technology!  It doesn't use air, like the old Vests do, but more true vibrations.  It has 3 settings, Vibration, Drainage, and Percussion (my favorite).  Anyway, not trying to do a promo for them, but I had to share in my excitement.  I mean look at me! I've never been so happy to wear a Vest!

In other news, not much else has changed.  Soccer season just picked back up, I'm singing in the adult choir at church (as I have time), and Zoe is still obsessed with the ball.

Oh! One thing I did was sign up for the Rock CF Kick Backs program.  It's an awesome group of people who, as part of the Rock CF Foundation, provide new tennis shoes to CFers who want to get running or need a new pair from running so much!  It's a really awesome program and I was THRILLED to get my tennis shoes.  Got to keep working hard to stay healthy!

Have a great weekend and a Happy Valentines Day!
-Annie

Overdue update

Well hello world!  It's been about two years since I've updated ... shame on me!  However, life has been busy, exciting, and I owe you an update.  Let's see if I can recap all that has happened.

Before I get there though: one of the reasons I stopped blogging was for fear of losing my job due to my "public" notices regarding my health.  That can't be any further from the truth at my job.  Not only is the company I work for supportive and caring, but the office I work in makes sure I am taking care of myself so I can continue to do my job to the best of my ability.  It's also a perk that our campus is 100% non-smoking.  No longer concerned!

Pics at the END of the post, some of them semi-graphic/gross blister pics-- just as a warning!!

HEALTH UPDATES:
Let's get the boring health updates out of the way first.  Then we can move on to life!
-Overall, doing well.

-Hospitalized summer of 2013.  Rashes, blisters, the usual.  I remember my dressing having to be changed multiple times, even in one day. Definitely NOT fun.

-Hospitalized late December of 2014, which of course is always no fun, especially around Christmas time.  Instead of the typical PICC, I got a midline to see if that would prevent the itching/blisters (see HERE for what I'm referencing).  I also prepped ahead of time by working with my father-in-law (what?! I'll get there) who was in contact with a 3M rep and got me samples of different dressings/tapes, etc.  A huge THANK YOU to the rep and 3M because what I did use was much nicer on my skin than what the hospital provides.  They also recently (in the last year or so) changed what PICCs are made out of, but I still went with a Midline.  Result: no major rashes and no blisters at all.  We changed a lot of things from the last visit, but it worked.  I can't say I like the Midline over the PICC though.  My line wouldn't draw blood so they had to set another IV very carefully in that arm to draw levels.  The Midline was much easier to put in though.  I'll have to make a decision for next go-around, whenever that may be.

-My CF doc and primary NP level the clinic.  It wasn't anything major political so everyone parted ways on good terms, but I'm sure going to miss them!  I go back to my clinic in Nov. to meet the interim doctor, so we'll see how that goes.

MAJOR LIFE UPDATES:
This is really what you've been waiting for anyways, right?
-11/9/2013: Andrew proposed to me.  It was as low key and sweet as I could have hoped for.  Long story short, we spent the weekend in our college town with some friends to watch a football game and see our bricks in the Alumni Walkway. Sunday morning before we went back home, we went to a park that we took walks in back in college.  He took me to a bench and proposed.  He was so nervous and it was precious.  Little sister Morgan was there to take pictures, of course, creeping from the bushes.  The whole thing was precious and apparently everyone knew ahead of time except me!  My parents were just waiting for me call at home, watching the clock.  I knew I didn't want the wedding to be far away so we called our wedding planner and set a few temporary dates.  Final date was set a few days later when we found out venue availability: March 29, 2014.

-During the short time between proposal and wedding, it's a blur.  An absolute wedding-planning filled blur.  My mom, who was not working at the time, did so much of the leg-work while I was sitting in the office.  There wasn't a single day that went by that wasn't at least partially dedicated to the wedding.  Without my mom, this wedding would not have been as perfect as it was.

-3/29/14: My wedding day!  It was held In the Round and couldn't have been more beautiful and perfect.  It was exactly what I wanted, dreamed about, and we worked to bring it to life.  So many special people helped pull it off (music, flowers, etc.) and we were surrounded by ~300 friends/family to help us celebrate.  It was wonderful. And most importantly.. I'm married to my best friend and better half.

-Soon after that we had a little one... a FLUFFY ONE! We got a Maltese puppy who we named Zoe
and she is a handful.  She was born 3/13/14 and she is a WILD ONE.  Stubborn, smart, and incredibly agile and athletic, she keeps me on my toes.  Couldn't have asked for a funnier pup with a bigger personality though.. she's a mess!

-Andrew and I lived in a rented townhouse for about a year.  He lived there since Oct 2013 and I moved in after our honeymoon cruise.  On February 27, 2015, we closed on a home!

-Current status: Andrew and a friend are remodeling our hall bathroom.  It's very loud, but I'm going back to work tomorrow (Happy Labor Day!) so I won't be here to listen to it.

RANDOM OTHER UPDATES:
Other things I feel like mentioning
-Andrew shot his finger with a nail gun.  I have a pic (see below) and it was a big deal for a little while.  He's got almost full ROM back now thankfully.  When the cold weather picks back up, we'll see if it still hurts him.

-I'm coaching soccer!  Last year (Oct 14-May 15) I assisted with a U14 girls team through our local soccer club.  They were also RPL (Regional Premier League) so we traveled a good bit.  This year, I'm assisting with a U17 girls team.

-We did a Spartan Race!  It was held in Austin, TX, in early November 2014.  Our team was me, Andrew, both of my brothers, and one of my sis-in-laws.  It was hard work but a lot of fun!  I posted some before/after pics below.

-I went to Vegas in Aug 2013 with little sister Morgan to celebrate her 21st birthday!  Since then she went a grew up on me.  She just completed her Masters Degree in Dublin, Ireland, and has since found a full-time job over there.  I'm incredibly proud, but miss her TONS. She just came back to visit for a bit.. yay!!



I think that's all for today!  Pictures below... sorry for the major gap!

 2013 Hospital Blister pics

 

Weekend of the Proposal!!

 

Spartan Race Nov. 2013

Wedding!!!

Zoe joins the Family!

Midline

Andrew's Injury

New Home/Car

Morgan comes to visit!!

Construction has begun..

 Thanks for catching up with me!

-A

Back to the grind!

Y'all I'm so happy to be back. Actually, that's an understatement. To have my life back means the world to me. While I don't get to really participate in formal recruitment due to missing so much, it's ok because I have my friends and class and my freedom back!! My arm has almost completely healed already, however the blisters left scars and I have the usual "arm button" (like a belly button) from the actual line, which still has a little more healing to go. I'm feeling pretty good too. I'm a little tired from jumping right back into recruitment and school, but I'll have time to come up for air in a few days.

School looks like it's going to murder me this quarter, but I'm really not stressed about it. I really feel like I can handle anything. The summer quarter, flying by so quickly, taught me how to stay focused and work even when I'm really and truly tired of doing homework. That's what is going to get me through this quarter. I'm taking a full load (12 hours for a quarter system; that's 5 classes for me) and it will be chock full of busy work, homework, papers, and tests. But I can do this. That's not to say I won't have moments where I just cry into a kind shoulder about how much I hate school and how tired I am, but I can do this! I've already found that mentality of "school will never end, you have several years left, suck it up and go" so hey! What's another 3-5 years?....

Time to get a little homework done (yes, already) before recruitment this evening!

My "arm button"!

-Annie

PICC Tales- the last full day (Picture heavy)

I promised pictures, and here they are! Time to finish out my PICC tales for this 2 week session.

So since I've been home, I've had my dressing changed twice. Not fun at all. Each dressing change, due to skin complications, sent me to the edge of tears/passing out from pain. One of my stitches has also been bleeding during all this time and that caused a lot of pain when it had to be cleaned too. My home health nurse Bridget changed the dressing on Thursday, because I developed a spot of something underneath my dressing and it needed to be freshened up. By that night and Friday morning, it was completely ruined and needed to be changed again. Turns out my skin had blistered under the dressings and those blisters had popped under dressings #2 and #3 and required a dressing #4 on Friday. Luckily, this last dressing has lasted. My overall rash is completely gone leaving me with rough skin on my arm and my face, so I'm getting the spa treatment tomorrow after my PICC comes out! The only place that still itches is under the dressing where it hasn't had air to heal.

The broncho-spasms have quieted down thankfully and have not been as bad.

One thing I haven't mentioned that some of you know already is that my parents left the country last Saturday and returned this Saturday! They had their 35th wedding anniversary cruise planned out for months and my hospitalization almost made them cancel! Luckily, after lots of discussions, we worked out a deal where I do the IVs myself (see the picture of the extension below) and my sister-in-law and nephew live with me for the week my parents are gone to help get me through. I'm glad my parents didn't cancel their cruise and trust me enough to let me check myself out of the hospital on Monday and take care of my IVs while they were gone. It was a huge step in me being independent (as if I wasn't already lol) and them trusting me with my health even more.

So, I promised you pictures so here they are, with captions and explinations to walk you through kinda what I've been handling and going through.

Warning: I do have pictures of the exposed PICC (well almost exposed) and blistered skin.

My 3rd dressing, ruined thanks to my blisters.

The blistered skin and uncovered PICC (with Biopatch still on)

The 4th and final dressing- layers of folded gauze to protect the skin and the PICC

The line extension- what's made it possible for me to be independent this week!

Two of my meds in the compression balls- Tobra (L) and Fortaz (R)

Zyvox- my third antibiotic which had to be hung on the dreaded IV pole

I thought I got to leave this thing at the hospital.... nope. I did learn how to set up an IV bag and line though, which was pretty cool.

This was the cool device that set the mL/hr rate. Very cool.

Mom made me this cake when I had 3 days left!

And on a completely different note, I got my new Vest today!

I decided not to take pictures of the alcohol prep pads, the saline flushes, and the heprin just because it was pretty standard. But those have been very common sites at my house since I flush before, after, and in between each IV dose, clean with the alcohol prep pads in between everything, and hep lock with heprin after each IV session ends and flush the unused port for that day with saline/heprin each morning and night. Since this PICC had duel ports, I had to switch them out each day and replace my extension every 3 days. So much to remember but once it became routine, it was no big deal. However, I am very tired these days but I think once I get back in my normal day routine (you know, the one that DOESN'T involve IVs) I won't be so tired! My PICC pulling appointment is at 10am tomorrow (Thursday) morning and my facial is that afternoon. I'm almost done!

See you on the other side!

-Andrea

Hospital Days- with some pictures!

Well these last few days sure have been eventful! Let's recap:

Wednesday, August 17, 2011
I was admitted on Wednesday and immediately had a peripheral IV put in my left arm. I was later started on the doses of my 3 antibiotics: Tobramyacin, Zyvox, and Fortaz (I'm mostly sure on these spellings!!). They are taken every 24 hours, 12 hours, and 8 hours, respectively. (6am, 8am, 2pm, 6pm, 8pm and 10pm) Oh boy am I going to be busy when I get home taking care of all of this! Other than getting moved in and settled, Wednesday was pretty quiet. Oh, I did have a chest X-ray taken too. I mentioned before that one major difference is the care that the RTs take with each patient doing treatment and hand CPT 3 times a day. So I spent my evening treatment being tag-teamed by two RTs beating me, and while I'm not yet again really used to hand CPT, it went well.


(The peripheral)

Thursday, August 18, 2011
Rise and shine at 4am thanks to a youngin' across the hall very unhappy about something. Did I mention I love being on the ped's floor?? No I really do, but that's the one downside... screaming babies!! Oh well. It's a small price to pay. I slept poorly until 5:30 when a familiar face walks in my door for morning CPT! Remember Gaelin, my friend from middle school, high school, and my freshman year roommate? Her brother-in-law is an RT up at this hospital so he came to visit/beat on me! It was quite a nice surprise and I was glad to see him. Around 9am, I was asked to move rooms! Turns out I was placed in the only available room that day and it has special equipment, so they like to keep that room open when possible. Mom had to work out of town on Thursday, so I thought I was going to be alone most of the day... boy was I wrong! Visitor after visitor after visitor! It was a ton of fun. Bad part of the day? Getting my PICC placed. It was so much simpler at the other hospital that I was spoiled! Here, I was a wreck. And post-PICC placement, I had to have a chest X-Ray again to check the placement. I was sick in that room due to stress, anxiety from the PICC procedure, and not eating enough that day. Luckily, I had one of my best friends waiting for me in my room when I got back. The right visitor will do wonders.... I also had a 3rd year med student drop by, an old friend too! He just happened to be doing his ped's rotation this week.
We were hoping that by my evening antibiotic doses, the radiology department would have been able to review my x-rays and I could have used the PICC, but the server was down (ahh, the digital age...) and so I had to use the peripheral again. It hurt, a lot. My veins were screaming, but with a little help from a friend, I made it through another dose. The late evening brought good news of using the PICC, so they flushed it and pulled my peripheral (YES!). I slept much better last night.


(the PICC)


Friday, August 19, 2011
I was awakened at 5:30 again by my same friend RT for my morning treatment. 6am meant antibiotics, but since I was using the PICC, it didn't hurt very much. Today has been very lazy and quiet, I've actually enjoyed it. After mom and I chatted with the case worker about getting home IVs set up, she went to work. I've spent the afternoon/early evening so far catching up on TV shows, writing this post (which is probably as long as my last several posts put together!), and veggin' out until my aunt gets here with my Buffalo Wild Wings dinner! No hospital food for me!!

My PICC pull date is set for Sept. 1 assuming my Tobra levels are good. They took the trough level at 2 and the peak level will be taken at 9. Prayers for the right numbers so I can go home on Monday! I miss my puppy and my house, even though I'll do there what I've been doing here: nothing. I'd rather do nothing at my house than at a hospital. Although I will say, as hospital experiences have gone, this one has been pretty smooth, and I'm so grateful.

Have any of you had the PICC with the two ports before? What's the point? Everyone I've asked just tells me "It's the exact same as the single one" so why the extra hardware? Just curious.

I'll keep you updated!
-Andrea

We have WiFi!

I knew there wouldn't be a surviving hospital without WiFi. Ta-da! An evening post.

I'm on 3 IV antibiotics this time instead of two and the current one is making my face tingle. Weird. I just looked it up and that is a side-effect, so I'm not worried. lol

This is a new hospital for me but it's working out really well. So far so good. They even have, get this, HAND CPT 3 times a day. I'm floored. I'm used to RTs dropping off a Vest and leaving. This is much better, medically. And the people have all been really nice.

My arm still hurts from my peripheral (I'll get a PICC later) so I don't want to type much.

Although I'll leave you with this: Fancy Jello


-Andrea

It's Tuesday!

Like my title? Ha I couldn't think of anything else to put.

So this year I'm in a new apartment with new girls and I love it. There are 4 of us and 2 dogs. Seriously, I'm thrilled. I'm a MAJOR dog person, it's insane. In a month, two of the girls will be leaving, along with one dog, and I'm sad to see them go. We've all been getting along great. I'm so glad that at least one dog will be staying though. I know when I'm away from home, I miss my dog sometimes more than anything else. I mean, she sleeps with me every night! But even though I don't get to bring McKenzy with me to college, I still get a boxer to play with! She's still a puppy so it's tons of fun. She's in that awkward "teenage" stage where she's not used to her legs yet and thinks she's smaller than she really is. I love playing with her, even when I have to pry my fingers from her mouth from time-to-time. She's precious and I'm overjoyed that she'll be here for at least a year with me!



I just got out of my physics class. I can already tell that it will be the class I will have to really study for. It's not exactly a thrilling subject and it's at 8am and my focus is on the nap I'd really like to be taking! I know I know, bad student, but oh well. I'm even doing a good job of going to bed at a decent time (10:30ish) to get enough sleep to get up at 6:30.

This morning however I woke up at 5:10 coughing up blood. Can I just tell you how annoying and slightly scary that still is to me? Even though I understand it now, it still freaks me out. So I got up and took another Vit. K (I took one the night before because I felt that bloody cough coming on) and did my morning albuterol. It stopped mostly. I ended up just sleeping until 7 that morning hoping to give my body a little more rest. I think it worked. I'm not feeling fantastic and I'm a little wary because my lungs feel so fragile right now, but I'm still getting everything done that needs to be done. I'm going!

I have 152.4 hours on this Vest. To quote CFFatboy today, "Unbelievable to think of all that time we have to spend doing things others can't comprehend." Preach it! Dear "normal" people, can you imagine yourself in an inflatable vest being shaken for 20, 30, 60 minutes at a time every day? Being tethered to one spot for a lengthy amount of time? You can't write while doing the Vest, so homework is out. You kinda need headphones to hear anything while doing the Vest (plus the air compressor for treatments) but ear buds tickle while you're shaken. Don't eat or drink (that's really funny to try though). Don't forget, this is EVERY DAY! Crazy, huh? My friends have told my for years "I couldn't do what you do." Yes, if you had to and you knew nothing different, you could. But I see what they mean. They can't even comprehend having to be so constantly aware of their health status and planning a day with chunks of time set aside for treatments because it's not second nature to them like it is to me and my fellow CFers. Just a thought.

In case you live under a rock, the final Harry Potter movie comes out this Friday. Excited doesn't even begin to describe me. I literally get goosebumps every time I see a preview for it. I don't do midnight showings, or really crowded movies at all, but I'll go see this one early in the runnings. I'm stoked.

I'm also excited about that Dallas trip this weekend too with mama dearest. It really will be fun!

Oh I did some reading during my time of nothingness. I had mentioned reading the 7th Harry Potter book again, but I also read a few other books, such as To Kill a Mockingbird. I love that book. I went to B&N and bought Schindler's List. It's a hard read, but so far good. I'm having to put it on hold though with the fast pace of my summer classes. I'll have some time between summer classes and fall classes, so maybe I'll read some more then.

I guess I'm now just getting out all of my thoughts I had kept bottled up during the time I was "uninspired" to write. Enjoy!

-A

Summer. Finally.

The quarter from hell is over. I literally have had the worst quarter so far. It could have been worse, yes, but man this quarter was rough. However, despite all that happened, I still ended with a good GPA!

Enough about the past quarter, it's time to move on. It's time for... SUMMER!!! So far, my summer has been pretty chill, which is how I like it. There has been a lot of Harry Potter Weekend watching. My latest project is going through all the stuff I brought home and trying to weave it back into all the stuff I had left at home and make it all fit. I did clothes first and I have a VERY large stack of clothing/shoes that is going to Goodwill. This is quite a project, but I've got several days to get it done. I also have a scholarship application due soon that I need to get a move on doing. And then come July, I move back to Ruston! So little time! The last thing I want to happen is by the end of June, I finally have my stuff unpacked and situated for living at home, and then I have to turn around and pack it all up again for my new apartment! That would happen to me, lol.

I ordered some CF Silly Bandz recently and they arrived!! I'm so excited! Hear me out, I've *never* had the desire to wear Silly Bandz before in my life. Never. Just never felt the urge to buy a pack to wear or see what the shapes are. But then one day I found the CF Silly Bandz and that was the day I decided I wanted to wear Silly Bandz, but only these. Check them out:
CF Silly Bandz

They compliment my CF Awareness Band from Fatboy quite nicely. My right arm is all "Cure CF"ed out.

Me? I'm doing well. Excited about the future and what it may hold. It's a good day.


-Annie

Wordless Wednesday

Baby Picture time!

As I was looking through baby pictures of myself recently, I found this really sweet picture of me sitting in my mom's lap doing treatment as a baby. I don't think I was even a year in this picture. I was going to post the whole picture, but my mom didn't like her hair in it. Since I didn't ask for her permission to post the picture of her, I simply cropped her out. While this makes me sad, I would rather be sad by cropping than have her unhappy with me for posting it!! But here you go! Me doing treatment waaaaaaay back in the day!



-Annie

Parents, tattoos, and surgeries

Today is Parent's Weekend for Sigma Kappa!! My rents are here, but I thought I'd put in a quick post since I've been really MIA lately. It's been a fun day filled with brunch with Mom, bowling with Dad, and then our banquet this evening!

So... I've been putting this off, but I wanted you dear bloggers to read that I got a tattoo! Check it out:

(That's the inside of my left ankle/heel area)
I've been putting it off because I wanted my parents to see it in person before I put it up here. I was getting it done Monday, but the tattoo parlor was closed. I was getting it done Tuesday, but they had no openings. So finally, I made an appointment for Thursday and got it done. It kinda hurt, but worth it. Joey, the tattoo artist, called me a wuss. Haha.

Beeker had her surgery and is recovering now. She has to stay in one of those cones and I hate that, but it's necessary. Poor baby. :[

Fatboy also had his surgery, but he's not in a cone! He went home really soon post-op and starting eating right away!! Trooper. Read about it here.

10 Days until my doctor's appointment. And sometime before then I need to have lab work and xrays done. Hmm. When am I going to find time for that?

Time to go have fun with my sisters and my parents!
-Annie

Long time no see!

Hey blog readers,

I apologize for my MIA tendencies lately. However, when a lot of things come up at once, my blogging hobby gets put on hold.

So two weekends ago, I went to Dallas with almost 30 of my sorority sisters, just because! It was a blast. Instead of getting a hotel, 5 of us stayed at a mom's apartment and that was no doubt even more fun than a hotel would have been. Here's a picture to share!



The 5 of us piled in a Honda Fit and hit the road. Between the Tahoe, ice skating, shopping, that crazy mechanical dog that laughs, and my sisters, it was one of the best weekends ever.

And, be proud. I didn't bring my Vest, but Saturday morning me and two of my friends ran 2 miles. Yeah, you read that right. 2 MILES. I walked a little bit (a few seconds) of mile #1 but mile #2 was killer. Especially the uphill section at the end that I was unaware of until we got there!! Haha. I was really proud of myself though, and really appreciated my friends who ran it with me. I couldn't have done it without them.

So it's Christmas break! Yay! I'm home again and with my family. The brother/sisinlaw/niece from Austin are here for several days. It's been really great to see them and my precious niece! Yeah, it's picture time again.



Isn't she adorable?! *sigh* she has my heart.

That's about all that I can think of that's going on right now. The next several days will be spent with family and I'm pretty excited about it. My puppy is so tired though. She's working so hard to entertain the babies and avoid the big dogs while chasing the little dog. She's looked like this most of the time:



Oh, and with this little guy, we've hit a whole new level of fun: he's a pro at walking now. He's walking good, standing up by himself, chatty, and happy. He has my heart too, that precious little boy.



Oh, one more thing, I got an executive position in Sigma Kappa and I'm thrilled about it! I've been preparing to go back to school so I can perform my duties well. I just wanted to add that to the blog since it's about my life in general! :]

Until next time, have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a fantastic winter holiday!!

-Andrea