Medical Mystery

Like I mentioned yesterday, I went to see my doctor this morning about my stomach pain. After I finished telling her my story and she did a short exam, the conversation went like this:

Doc: Huh.
Me: {Laughs hesitantly}
Doc: Well, I don't know what's wrong, to be honest.
Me: Oh, great.

I'm a medical mystery.

After some more examination/thought-forming, she decided that it is probably a result of my hip. There is a ligament that connects the hip to the stomach, and she said that maybe it was strained, or somehow irritated with the exercises I was doing last week at therapy. The diagnosis is to continue taking Advil, and hopefully I stay ahead of the pain and it goes away.

We'll see. I hate my stupid hip.

If the pain continues, I likely won't be blogging for the near future. The pain is pretty miserable when it's around, and it makes me not want to - and not able to - do much. Hopefully I will be back up and running in no time and able to tell you more about summertime in the South.

Happy Friday!

Five Thumbs Up Friday

I have some exciting technology news that I want to share with you guys... but it's going to have to wait until next week {I'll try not to forget!}.

In the meantime, I've rounded up five fantastically patriotic pooches to celebrate today's five thumbs paws up Friday. Have a great rest of the holiday weekend!

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Now please excuse me while I go play some more Candy Crush... {hint!}

Five Thumbs Up Friday

Happy Friday! It seemed like this week went by with lightning speed. I think it has something to do with having had such a busy weekend last weekend, followed by two full, busy days in NC before making the drive to MD. Coming to Maryland always makes me feel like I'm on vacation!

Things making me happy this week...


Thumbs Up: I did some work at my mom's office yesterday afternoon, on my new Mac (!), accompanied by a delicious dessert. I felt really important and cool. My new computer is awesome, by the way.

Thumbs Up: I'm in Maryland.

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Thumbs Up: These beauties were waiting for me when I arrived on Wednesday. It was my mom's birthday on Tuesday - mom's birthday = my cupcakes!

Thumbs Up: These two cuties were waiting for me, just like this, when I woke up this morning.

Thumbs Up: And best of all, Tuesday was the day I have been waiting for for many long, dark, months. I ran. My therapist let me do about 5 minutes of intervals: walk for 30-45 seconds, run for 30 seconds, repeat. I ran a total of 2.5 minutes, and was incredibly sore the next day, but it didn't hurt. I could tell that my hip was reacting to the running - I was very conscious of it being there - but it wasn't a painful feeling, necessarily. Thus, as promised:

Enjoy your final weekend of June! I cannot believe how quickly this month has flown by. I'm not complaining!

Today.

My friend WB sent me this image to explain today:

Add in almost all of my best friends in the world {missing a couple!}, and it makes for one happy girl.

Dog GIF Friday

Well, another week has come and gone. I wish I could say this week has been happy and grand, but I'm not one to lie. Here's hoping another few days of rest and lazing around will get my hip over its grumpiness.

Since I didn't have all that many exciting or happy things to report this week, this Friday you get five of the best dog GIFs {all sourced from BuzzFeed, thank you BuzzFeed}.

This dog getting ready for bed {top 3 all-time favorite GIFs, by the way}:

 This dog who is too fat to get into his bath:

This dog freaking out over a lime:

This dog grabbing the mail:

 And these mops that are actually dogs:

Have a happy, love-filled, and puppy-filled weekend. xx

Five Smiles For Friday

I know, I know. I've really been falling down on the job lately. I still want to recap my week at camp! I also had a pretty fun and nacho-filled evening last night: JM is leaving for Seattle tomorrow for the rest of the summer, so we went out to celebrate a little bit. And I got us a huge plate of nachos. Obviously. {Side note: they had jalepenos and were insanely hot and I was this close to asking the bartender for some milk.}

Since I didn't do much blogging this week and don't have much to link up with, this Friday I will share with you five smiles from happy dogs. If only we could all be this happy.

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Five Thumbs Up Friday

Friday again?! The week sure flies by when you're dogsitting an incredibly naughty pup and you get very little sleep because said pup keeps waking you up during the night because she constantly walks from one room to another and then sticks her gigantic head in your face just to make sure you're still there. Not like that's happened to me this week.

It's been another good week of life, despite some hip frustrations (yesterday was the 8 week mark, by the way!) that I'm hoping to talk out with my therapist when I get back there on Tuesday. Here are snapshots of 5 things making me happy this week:

Itchy pandas-

The ramp my dad made for our dog so he doesn't have to go up a step to come inside-

 Roly poly fluffy puppies-

Swirly margaritas for a Friday lunch with my bestie SK-

My own sweet adorable {15-year old} camouflage pup-

 Have a safe and happy holiday weekend! Enjoy the extra day!

Question of the Day:
Any plans for the Memorial Day weekend?

Five Thumbs Up Friday

Good morning and happy Friday! It's been another wonderful week {wow, two weeks in a row. I like this!}.

Best things of the week?

Thumbs Up: As you've already heard, last weekend's surprise engagement party was quite the success, and I was so happy to be a part of it!

Thumbs Up: I'd been debating for a long time, but I finally bought a ticket to go see Brad Paisley when he's in Raleigh. This seems like an obvious "yes" decision, but there are a few other things going on that day that made me uncertain whether I could attend. Luckily, I came to my senses and I now have a date with this cutie on June 8.

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{Side note: I have a Stetson - a real one! - that looks very similar to his trademark white one. Basically we're meant to be. Wife who?}

Thumbs Up: Tomorrow I am taking my friend JM on a date to Carolina Tiger Rescue, which is exactly what it sounds like. I interned there two summers ago, and haven't been back since. I can't wait to see some of these guys:

binturong {source}

And tigers, too, obviously. But mostly the binturongs. {Which are seriously cute animals and don't try to tell me differently!}

Thumbs Up: A fabulous mid-week much-needed lunch date with BS, complete with empanadas and a beer that made me slightly less productive than usual on Wednesday afternoon. Whoops.

Thumbs Up: Last night I went to the Beach Music Festival at North Hills with JM, and it was fantastic. The band that played was called Liquid Pleasure, who we are actually quite familiar with, as they often played at fraternity events when we were in college. It was a beautiful night for outdoor music {and a cold beer. And ice cream...}.

post-Liquid Pleasure

I am headed back to Maryland this weekend for an entire week of dogsitting a fluffy naughty 10-month old Great Pyrenees puppy {and an older, responsible one, but that's not nearly as exciting}. Many puppy pictures to come! Have a wonderful weekend.


Questions of the day:

Any exciting plans for the weekend?
What is your favorite wild animal?
Have you ever heard of a binturong?

Five Thumbs Up Friday

This has been a wonderful week! {Boy, I can't remember the last time I said that.} It has been super busy, as will be the rest of my May, but it flew by.

Some highlights:

Thumbs Up: One of my fabulous amigos, SK, bought a ticket to join me & my friends at the Zac Brown Band concert in Raleigh in June {she lives in Maryland}. Muchos excited.

Thumbs Up: My 6-week post-op appointment was a success. The hip is doing great and I am able to progress in physical therapy!

Thumbs Up: Last night I went to a Durham Bulls game with a bunch of my friends. I actually saw my therapist there! {I can't get away...}. The Bulls won, it was perfect baseball weather, and it was a really fun evening.

My photo uploader isn't working very well, so here is a picture of my amigos at the game.

Thumbs Up: My little girls had their last soccer practice on Wednesday night. I won't be at their final game tomorrow, and they all acted sad and a couple gave me hugs. It was precious.

Thumbs Up: I am leaving in just about an hour to drive back to Maryland for the weekend!

See you Monday! Enjoy the weather!

Five Thumbs Up Friday

Friday again already? Last week seemed tediously slow but this week has flown right by (and I am not complaining! I want to get to August already so I can move to Chapel Hill and start school!). Maybe it has to do with the month changeover that made this week so speedy?

Well, whatever the reason, I'm happy it's almost the weekend, and it actually turned out to be a pretty good week:


Thumbs Up: Numero Uno, obviously, is Liberation Day, in all of its excited-gif-glory. It is impossible to explain to someone who hasn't been through it what this process is like - but especially about the crutches/not walking part. I could not be happier that that part is over.

Thumbs Up: I finally pulled the trigger and bought myself a new digital camera. I bought my previous one while I was studying abroad in Italy, and never really liked it all that much, but there weren't a ton of choices and I needed a camera {the one I'd brought with me got stolen}. Anyway, some of the buttons have been broken for a while, and I was holding out, but it was finally time. {Of course now I really want a DSLR camera for taking pictures of dogs & animals, but that's a story for another time.}

Thumbs Up: Me and my friend AK, who is graduating in two weeks from UNC and staying in Chapel Hill, have officially decided to be roommates for the next year. I originally was planning to live alone, but I think it will be a good - and fun! - living situation with AK. It will be nice to have a friend around to complain to during student teaching. And she's down with a dog, so we're gravy.

Thumbs Up: Nashville was really good this week. And I mean really good! So many things I'd been wanting or waiting on to happen happened. And it was grand. If you don't watch this show, you should immediately get on board the Rayna train.

Cast of ABC's Nashville {source}

Thumbs Up: I sort of accidentally fell into committing to three trips to Maryland during May. One for doctor appointments, one for an engagement celebration, and one for dogsitting. Yep, you read that right. Dogsitting is one of my favorite things, and I am more than willing to make the drive to spend a week hanging out with some cool pups. Especially when the pups are two Great Pyrenees. And one is a 10-month old puppy. Who I can only assume looks exactly like this:

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Happy Friday, everyone! I have a pretty busy Saturday, but hopefully a relaxing Sunday. Have a good weekend!

Five Thumbs Up Friday

It has been a long, emotional week for me, and I could not be happier that it is finally Friday. Despite that, there were a few bright spots to share with you...


Thumbs Up: A belated recovery treat delivery: cookie monster cupcakes (the rest are in my belly):

Thumbs Up: Bought a LivingSocial deal for a Durham Bulls (minor league baseball) game on May 9. We're getting a large group of friends to go [post-exams for my law school friends], and it's $1 snack night. Includes hot dogs, fries, and popcorn. Score!

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Thumbs Up: A family friend's delivery of several tasty Tastefully Simple goodies, including this Savory Wheat Beer Bread that I made. Pair it with a soup and it is fabulous.

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Thumbs Up: My order from The Twistband arrived! I bought a LivingSocial deal for 12 of these bad boys, and so far I am pleasantly surprised. I've seen them popping up everywhere, so I wanted to try them out. They definitely won't hold my hair during exercise, but for everyday wear they're fun and colorful - and look prettier on your wrist than a plain hair tie!

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Thumbs Up: I did a little interview with the PR team at work for our blog. They're doing a series of staff profiles to give a little bit more of a human side to our online coursework. I don't know when they'll run it, but probably sometime in May. It was a fun way to break up the workday (and I got to answer a question about Harry Potter)!

Five Thumbs Up Friday

This has been an incredibly long week. For me, for America, for everyone. I had the news on in the background all morning while I worked, but finally had to turn it off because it was just too much. It seems a bit non-PC to talk about trivial things at the moment, but I think it's also important that we try to come up with positives from this horrifyingly violent week.

Thumbs Up: I am walking with only one crutch! Huge news. Awkward/sometimes painful, but progress.

Thumps Up: My friends & I bought tickets to see the Zac Brown Band when they come to Raleigh in June! We went last year, but this is an exciting surprise because we didn't think they were coming back. Luckily, they just announced that they are!

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Thumbs Up: Since I now have one free arm, I was finally able to vacuum the apartment for the first time in three weeks. It was incredibly wonderful to de-dog fur.

Thumbs Up: I get to see lots of my club soccer friends tomorrow in Chapel Hill at the UNC club team's annual 7v7 tournament. There's only one more year of students that were in school when I was, so it's getting bittersweet. I haven't missed a 7v7 tournament since I started college!

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Thumbs Up: Many months later, I finally pulled the trigger and bought the Pitch Perfect soundtrack, and today I'm purchasing the DVD. When I first saw the movie, I rewound it to watch the ending 3 times in a row. Simple pleasures, people.

That's it for me- have a good weekend, y'all. Let's try to spread some positivity, encouragement, love, and strength. Prayers and thoughts for the people in Texas and Massachusetts, and people affected everywhere.

Five Thumbs Up Friday

Happy Friday! I feel like this week has been dragging on and on (on Tuesday I could've sworn it was Friday), so I'm really glad it's finally {almost} the weekend. I have a couple of exciting things on my agenda the next few days, so it should be a good one!

I've decided every Friday I'll recap five highs from my week. With all of my hip issues, I've realized how important it is to keep things in perspective. I will get well eventually, and in the meantime, I need to focus on some smaller victories. If I can look back at my week and see more highs than lows, that's a good thing!


Thumbs Up: I made some excellent chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast today.

Thumbs Up: The little girls' soccer team that I help coach won our make-up game on Wednesday. The girls actually listened to us and were generally in the right spots. Also got a cool coach's shirt!

Thumbs Up: Free Cone Day!

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Thumbs Up: On Tuesday night, I had dinner with my aunt, her parents, her brother + his girlfriend, and her sister. They are not family by blood, but it felt like family. It was needed and appreciated. [Also some great cookies]

Thumbs Up: Saturday night is the World Beer Festival in downtown Raleigh. I did not consider the fact I would be on crutches before I bought my ticket, but that is a bridge I will cross when I get to it. It will probably be a challenging and frustrating evening, but I'm hoping it will also be really fun!

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