Man's Best Friend

It has always been known that man's best friend is a dog. We see posts in the news how dogs will not leave the sides of their master. 

I met my best friend almost 2 years ago. She was a birthday present from Adam. We were both missing our Golden Retrievers back home and wanted a companion in Annapolis. After some solid research we picked out what we thought would be the perfect dog, a Shiba Inu. A small Japanese dog that remains under 25 pounds. The perfect traveling companion for a Navy family. 

I traveled down to Salisbury, NC to pick up my beautiful birthday present. The moment I set my eyes on her, I fell in love. She was so perfect and chose to ride the whole way back to Maryland in my lap. 

Trying to introduce her into her new home was slightly difficult. Crate training was difficult as well. Well, difficult for me anyways. I could not bear to have her sleep alone and cry all night. So Tora started sleeping with me in the bed. She has slept with me every night since. And has been the perfect cuddle buddy. We share such a wonderful bond, she is almost like a daughter to me. I love her so much and she is so special to me. Every night when I lay my head down on my pillow, she curls up on the one next to me. In the middle of the night, she curls up and snuggles against my stomach. I know she will get me through the hard times of deployment. She is truly my best friend.

5 Years Together

Yesterday, Adam and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary together. I still cannot believe that we have been together for 5 years! It seems much, much longer than that. But in the best way possible. Yet with each day I fall more and more in love with him. He is always continuing to find new ways to make me fall in love with him each day and finding ways to keep surprising me. Even when he knows how much I hate being surprised. I cannot wait to start our married life together. If these past five years of dating have been this great, I cannot wait to see how AMAZING married life will be. We are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives as well to start us off successful in our married life. I was blessed with a wonderful bridal shower that supplied most, if not all of my kitchen necessities. I cannot wait to get down to Charleston to organize and cook in our new place together! I have always dreamed of this day! And now it's finally happening in a few short months.

On another note I am finishing up my school semester here in Maryland and waiting to hear back from Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, and Trident Tech. I am hoping to transfer to one of those schools in Charleston to continue my education in nursing. Adam and I are back and forth on when we are going to move to Charleston. He is going Subs and will be entering Nuclear Power school in August. He can report as early as August 9. Until then he will be stationed in Annapolis with the Systems Department at the Naval Academy for a month and then the sailing department until he reports to Power school. Sometime in between we will be attending weddings, moving, getting married, and honeymooning. We are aiming to move sometime in mid-June, but we will see how that will work out. Until then Adam is soaking up every last minute he has and making the most of his time left at the Academy. Graduation is just around the corner.

I am still battling my disease, whatever it may be, daily. I am going back to the doctor next week to schedule my surgery to have my gallbladder removed. I am hoping this will solve most of my problems. Until then I will keep popping pills like nobody's business. ;)

I have just two months and change until our wedding day. Almost everything seems to be finalized. Everything has fallen into place the past several months without my stress level hitting the fans. Actually, I have not been stressed out yet, well... Until now that is! Hey, I am not bridezilla quite yet and I hope I will not get to that level. The flower girl dresses are bought, the bridesmaid dresses picked out and ordered, MOB dress is ordered. All that is left is to buy a few last minute decorations and decide what to do with my hair and makeup. Not too shabby! I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM GETTING MARRIED! :)

Simple Ways to Stay in Shape

1. Park far away. Walking is healthy.
Instead of nabbing that parking spot closest to your destination try parking further away. The walk into the store burns more calories!
2. Take the stairs.
Walking up the stairs is a great way to exercise and stay in shape! Plus it tightens the muscles in your butt! Who doesn't want a cute butt?
3. Walk.
Walk everywhere. If things are not more that 2-3 miles away try walking to your destination instead. Walking is a great form of exercise.
4. Wear heels while walking around the house.
It is known that heels strengthen your calf muscles, and lets be honest. Who does not want better calf muscles? I DO!

I'm a Traditional Kind of Girl

I am a traditional kind of girl. I prefer the same thing over something new. When it comes to trying something new, I cannot do it with ease. It takes convincing and time. I like my favorite restaurants, my favorite foods, my favorite candies, and my favorite brands. 


When I cut my hair, I stick with two styles: long with side-swept bangs and long layers, or a long bob with side-swept bangs.


I like to stick with family recipes instead of buying cookbooks or looking up recipes on the Internet. I prepare my favorite meals and rarely try anything else. It is almost a mental issue. My mind is already opposed to trying new things. New recipes, new meals, new foods, etc. 


So this new lifestyle change is killing me. Growing up in South Carolina, I went to the same doctor for most of my life. When we moved to North Carolina, I was skeptical about a new doctor, but I did not have a choice. I could not drive 10 hours there and back just to see "my" doctor. Now living in Maryland, finding a doctor that will take care of me is harder than ever. Being told that you have an illness that will "drastically change your life" is like a death sentence to me. For those who know me, they know I am not exactly the most healthy of eaters. I graze here and there. I would rather eat junk food over meals and I have a HUGE sweet tooth problem. 


I also have a problem with people not telling me the truth, or the whole truth. My doctors are neglecting to tell me my diagnosis. Which to me, is super frustrating. At the beginning of every test, the technicians would ask how long I have been diagnosed with Chron's or Celiac or Ulcerative Colitis. And I would stare blankly at them in utter confusion because I had not been diagnosed with any. I had only taken medication that treated that disease. So which is it? 


Based off the medication I am currently taking now, I am making an educated guess assuming that I have Chron's disease. Chron's is an autoimmune disorder meaning your body is attacking itself in the location of the digestive system. There is no way to cure Chron's disease, but merely learn how to manage the symptoms and flare ups. What causes it? Well the cause is unknown (yippee). Scientists lean towards genetics and environmental factors for the causes. It targets mainly Caucasians between the age of 15 to 30 years old. 


What next? The next step for me is to learn how to live with this disease (if I am diagnosed with it completely after my upper GI scope). Most people adjust their diets, take medication daily, and try to avoid stress. Ha. That is a joke. My life is full of stress. Stress from work, stress from school, stress from the wedding, stress about moving, the list goes on and on. And of course, there are always complications with the disease that could lead to more surgery. JOY!


How am I supposed to be positive about this? So many thoughts are racing through my mind! Am I going to pass this to my children? Do I need genetic counseling to have this gene removed so that my future children are not affected? (I already have to have genetic counseling for my IgA deficiency). How am I supposed to remove stress for my life? That means just sitting around and doing nothing forever? What about nursing school? Future nursing career? Moving from state to state with the military? I mean, it is almost impossible to remove all stress from my life. I am trying to be positive in that I do not need to change my ENTIRE diet compared to Celiacs where you cannot have anything with gluten. As long as I take my medication, I will be fine. 


This is basically my life in a nutshell right now. I feel like an old person because of how fatigued I am. I am putting all my energy into healing and the wedding. 


Tomorrow I have my upper GI scope which will determine if I have Chron's or not. Wish me luck! Because I am awfully tired of being stuck with needles!


Sayoonara 

97 Days

Ninety-seven days seems like an eternity to me, but 97 days until I marry my best friend! I cannot believe it has been four years and eleven months since I first started dating Adam. I still cannot believe we are getting married! It seems like a lifetime away! But I am so close! I cannot wait! Soon we will be moving to Charleston, South Carolina. We will be closer to our family and friends, and we will both begin new adventures. Adam starts school in August and I hopefully will as well!

Only 97 days until I am Mrs. Adam Albrecht

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,
I am so sorry. I am sorry I did not fully understand the pain you were in the day you delivered my youngest brother. I now understand how much pain you were in that night (not 100%). But I understand the pain of your gallbladder attack. I am so sorry.

And now I am scared. Scared if I have gallbladder problems, and scared if I have to have surgery. I love you and I trust you.

Living on the Edge

There has been one thing that I have learned over the past two months of my on going illness with my digestive system: trust. Trust that God is watching over me. Trust that I am going to be ok. And trust that I am going to make it out in this life.

It has been a constant struggle day to day. A struggle to live my life to the fullest and be happy every minute through it. And now my struggle is bearing down on those closest to me.

It's hard to face tomorrow, when you do not know what tomorrow brings. [Trust] Gets me through the day. [Trust] Gets me through the fear. [Trust] Gets me through the unknown. [Trust] Gets me through the pain.

It's hard to deal with this illness because during this journey, I have lost friends. People who did not want to be around me anymore because I was "always sick". Or that I was not fun to hang out with anymore because of being sick. Or that I complained too much about being sick. When it was friends that I needed the most to get me through this rough patch in my life. I am not bitter, or angry, or even spiteful towards those who walked out. I am glad that I found out who my true friends were, even though it was the hard way.

A little up to date on what is going on in my life. I am waiting for the doctors to figure out what is wrong. I am getting closer to answers, but it is somewhat scary. The answers I am getting closer to are not looking so great. Most of the treatments require surgery. To be honest, I am scared. It's hard to just [Trust] when so many things are unknown. When you do not know what your future holds for you.

So I leave you (and myself) with this:
"God you are my comfort when I am very sad... You are my comfort when I am afraid."
-Jeremiah 8:18

[Trust] That He will comfort you and carry you through your lowest points of your life.