Wedding Picture Fun!

I got to relive my sister's wedding a little today. Beka's pictures were posted yesterday by the lovely Nancy Ray. I had so much fun going through them. I remember all the fun of getting ready with everyone (even though I had a bit of a rough time because I forgot my shoes!) and taking lots of pictures and feeling goofy when Nancy tells you to "look at each other and laugh." We had a great time dancing the night away and watching Nate teach us all how to Dougie.

I love the emotion in my dad's face as he danced with my sister and seeing how proud my mom looked. I love the pictures that capture my sister and Nathan looking at each other with so much love. I love the pictures where the person obviously didn't know their pictures were being taken. I love the ones of baby Jordan! And I love the crazy ones of us dancing and well, just being crazy.

I know I've missed some gems in there, too, and I'll come across them later and get to reminiscing all over again. I picked out a few of my favorites. I tried to narrow it down, I really did, but it's the best I could do! So enjoy! You can take part in the fun, too!

A Big Test

I took a pretty important test today (and no, it was not a pregnancy test, because I know that's where all of your minds just went.) It was a JC Virus Antibody test. If you remember my post from a couple of months ago where I talked about some changes I was making because of my Crohn's Disease, I mentioned there was this new medication that my doctor wanted me to consider, but it's got some pretty bad side effects. Well, essentially, this test will tell me whether or not I have to worry about those side effects. My doctor told me before that you've got about a 50/50 chance of having it.

If it comes back negative, the odds of these side effects drop to almost zero. But if it comes back positive, the odds go way high and basically takes this new medication off the table. I've been on my current medication for about 2 1/2 years now, and it has never really made that big of an improvement in my life. I mean I'm stable and it's kept things at a tolerable state, but I'm looking for some options that can make a big difference. This new medication may be one of those options.

My doctor told me this test just got approved by the FDA in the U.S. and just got the approval needed from the UNC Hospital system like today. So I'm the first one there to have this test done. Don't worry, it was nothing fancy. All they did was take some blood, so it wasn't some weird test I actually had to do anything for.

But now I have to wait. Of course they weren't sure exactly how long since I'm the first one to have it done, but he thought about a week or so. I've been praying all day that this will open up some doors for me. I'll be sure to post an update when I know more. But for now... we'll just keep praying.

Laboring on Labor Day

Not that I'm complaining. I did just have a 4-day weekend. Plus, I got to enjoy my first Pumpkin Spice latte of the year.

Friends of the Forever Kind

I had lunch today with my oldest friend. I have known Anna literally my entire life. I was actually in the hospital with her the day she was born when I was only 3 months old. We grew up together, played Barbies and Power Rangers and dressed up like princesses.

We had our ups and downs over the years. One of my favorite stories to tell about us came from our Kindergarten class. We had gotten into a fight about something, I can't remember what, and Anna stormed off with an emphatic, "You're not my best friend anymore!" and I yelled back, "Fine!" A few minutes later I was called over by the teacher who asked me if I'd told Anna we weren't best friends anymore. I told her, "No, Anna said, 'You're not my best friend,' and I said, 'Fine.'" And then Anna, serious as hell, through her tears said, "But you're supposed to argue."

I am happy to say that 25 years later, she's still one of my very best friends. We don't always keep up as much as we'd like and having lunch together happens too rarely, but we always pick up right where we left off.

I love meeting up with her because I'm always interested to see where her life is heading. She just spent several weeks in Sri Lanka bathing elephants (seriously!). Now, she's planning a trip to New Zealand where she'll spend at least 3 more months there. But she doesn't even know if she's leaving in November or sometime next year. Anna lives in the excitement of the unknown, which makes me a little jealous sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with where my life has taken me, but at this point, I feel that things are sort of planned out. I miss that feeling of not knowing what's coming next. I hate that I don't have an option of moving to some distant land for any number of months. I'd love that opportunity to travel and try new things.

I feel that someday Anna is going to put together a memoir of her life and it would be really exciting to read. I wish that if I put together the story of my life that others would want to read it, but the cold, honest truth is that I don't think it would be that interesting. Like I said, I'm not disappointed with my life in any way, but I would like some sort of legacy to be able to pass along. It makes me want to be more spontaneous and exciting, but then I realize that I have a mortgage and other expenses to think about and being spontaneous usually means expensive. I also know I have my whole life ahead of me and there's no time like the present to start writing whatever story you want.

Dancing in September

"Say do you remember... Dancing in September... Never was a cloudy day..." 

-Earth, Wind & Fire

Fall is ALMOST in the air! The beginning of September always makes me want to get into the Autumn season and pull out the boots and scarves and earth tones, but then I realize I still have another 22 days to go. I try not to wish the summer away because I know as soon as fall gets here that winter is coming right after it, bringing four month of freezing... because I am always cold (just ask Jarrod).

But I am excited about September. I feel that August was spent "catching up." July was a difficult month health-wise which bled over to August and left me pretty exhausted. Plus, my work schedule has been so crazy that I've had little time to myself and has taken a bit more energy that usual. I'm glad to be starting off a month feeling better and ready to take on more.

So for this month...
-As I said in my last post, I want to write more. Here's to 18 more posts!
-Take Rylie for some more walks, now that it's not 100-degrees every day.
-Start planning an amazing engagement party for my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law.
-Finish a couple of my crafty projects that I've started.
-Read a good book. I think I already finished my 12 books for the year, but haven't read a good book in a couple months now.
-Decorate the house for fall on a budget.


-Set up the office. It looks great!
-Start meal-planning again. Did a pretty good job of this.
-Relax. I'm not the best at relaxing, but did alright for me!