Aftermath of Surgery

It's been a while since I've posted but seeing as how I had surgery today and have a 2 week recovery ahead it's safe to say the posts will be plentiful. Oh by the way... I got my gallbladder out

Surgery was so much better than I thought! I was so nervous! I saw the nurse anesthetist (Lane) when I was working yesterday and asked him if he would read his scriptures and pray the night before so he would have the spirit with him for surgery! haha And you know what?! He did! He told me that he was reading about the gift to heal and the gift to be healed. He said "Rachael, you have the gift to be healed and everything is going to be perfectly fine." And of course thanks to the meds I got teary eyes. What a comforting thing to go "to sleep" to huh?? The next thing I remember I was in the recovery room waking up and squeezing Lane's hand in my right hand and my Surgeons hand in my left, both for dear life!! I was so out of it my heart rate was 30bpm, I was breathing only 8 times a minute... I'm a lightweight!! I kept asking them all if I had pooped the bed or tooted in their face! Then I had to know if they thought my belly was fat? Apparently I was concerned about that. I told my nurse that I liked her so much and kept asking everyone to be my friend. When I got back to Ben in my room I smiled and told him I didn't toot and I have so many friends!! Haha oh the things we do and say on drugs. Those drugs have a love/hate relationship though. I LOVE that they made me sleep and that I don't hurt that bad but HATE that I've thrown up so many times. Yuck, it's absolutely the worst!!

Here are a few pictures... Hope you enjoy!

These are the incisions with the bandaids off. The one on top looks like kind of gnarly! And yes, my stomach is still ridiculously bloated and swollen :( Oh six pack... where have you gone! Will you ever come back??

I'm not announcing I'm pregnant... They blow your stomach up with gas so they can see all the organs better. I just have 4 little incisions and they white tape under the bandaids stays on for 2 weeks.
These are all the presents people have brought me!! Thank you Jessica, Cort, Tecia, Chelse and Gena. You are all so thoughtful and such good friends I love it. (Not pictures...super sexy panties we give our patients at the hospital)

Health Food: Fact or Fiction?

I like to think we're pretty healthy eaters. We've cut out sweets (well...kind of...). We eat fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and even eat sprouts I sprouted myself! (Thanks mama Vinton!) I have an amazing "eat clean" cookbook with recipes to die for! There have been a few though that we'll definitely only make once. For example... Leslie's eggplant chicken... Need I say more?? When we eat healthy we feel a thousand times better and it's such a good feeling knowing that we're giving our wonderful bodies the absolute best. So along our path of health food consumption, I've been getting a lot of books from our local library, one of which is called You Are What You Eat by Dr Gillian McKeith. She knows so much about food and what's good and why it's good for you. But she is also an extremist. Let me give you a list of some of my favorite and you can decide for yourself.
1- You have toxins in your body if you use a computer or cell phone on a daily basis. (guilty)
2- She groups tap water in the same category as fruit juices, carbonated beverages, teas, and coffee...
3- If you have a line running down the middle of your tongue you lack the necessary enzymes to digest cows milk (Don't we all?? Maybe that's her point...) and we should avoid it at all costs.
4- We must use "food grouping" when we eat to prevent our stomach from fermenting our food and causing gas. For example: fruit must never be mixed with any other foods, meat and carbohydrates must all be eaten separately. You can mix veggies with carbs but not meat (maybe that's my problem).
5- If you're feeling a little "gunky" just go for an enema or colonic hydrotherapy... (Are you for real?? I feel like I have enough experience with enemas to say no way, never, I'd rather die thank you for the offer).

Reading her book has helped me realize that I don't have to do and believe everything I learn on health or nutrition. I need to take a little from all the sources I read and adapt them to our personal life style. Being healthy is important and it truly does make such a difference in every aspect of our life! And it wouldn't be right if I didn't thank my wonderful mother in law for sharing all her immense knowledge. She is amazing!

Oh lovely sunshine... Won't you come my way?

I'm getting the winter time blues, and a pretty bad case at that. We cracked and finally went tanning. I know I'll get cancer, and yes I know I should know better, and yes I'm ashamed yaddy yaddy ya. But I had to do it! I needed to feel warm rays on my skin fake or not! And now... all I have is a lobster red belly and still no sunshine.

I started getting hopeful because it seemed to be warming up. We had a lot of, dare I say, "nice" days where it wasn't snowing, the sun was out, and we only suffered 20mph winds. Let's be real... that's amazing for Rexburg. 20 below is bad enough without the wind searing through your many layers that were a measly attempt at warmth. Our apt is even cold. Don't get me wrong, we love where we live but I swear on my life they left out the insulation when they built it. Ben finally got tired of paying for heat that wasn't even working. As we sat wrapped in blankets with runny noses and frozen toes, Ben came up with his idea of the "warm room". We turned down the heat to 60 degrees except for in the computer room where we also have a small T.V. and lovesac. We close the door and crank it up to 70 degrees. Once we thawed it turned out to be quite delightful and warm. The only downside? Chili for dinner...

Now I know that being from Logan I should be used to cold winters but Rexburg can definitely hold it's own when it comes to lasting, miserable cold. So here we sit in our warm room praying for spring to show is forgotten face and knowing it most likely won't for several more months. Ben cannot graduate fast enough and get an internship in say... Florida?? How blissful it would be...

Inspiration Sensation

Now I'm not trying to toot my own horn but I had a really cool experience with "what goes around comes around" and how motivation can go a long way.

I went running with my friend Amber Hendricks last week (absolutely LOVE her). Well we both went to run on our own, saw each other, and decided to run together. She ended up running 4 miles with me which apparently she had never done before. She wrote about me on her blog that night and said the nicest most amazing things! I didn't even realize at the time that I had helped her so much but running with me had really pushed her to keep going and kept her from focusing on how tired she was.

A few nights later Natalie (my new found friend and marathon partner, woot woot!) and I went to a spinning class taught by this dude Richie (aka cycling machine). Now I'm not sexist but generally speaking guys can bring it like no one's business and as I watched him strap on his gloves and buckle in his shoes I knew he was intense and that I was in for a sweaterrific experience. Boy was I right! We were on the front row so there was no way I could show weakness. Richie was so motivating. He knew just what to say to make me want to pedal faster, increase the resistance, and push through the fatigue. Long story short, the workout was amazing!! At the end he shared some really inspirational things. He talked about a man, weighing in at 300 lbs, who decided to race in an iron man triathlon after watching his brother cross the finish line in first place. He worked at it and just a few years later, did that race. He talked about how only we can decide how fast we run, how far we go, how great we can be, even how righteous we are. it's up to us if we succeed or fail. Our minds can do amazing things and we always have more in us than even we know. In the end, if we quit or give up, the only one we're letting down is ourselves.

If I had been working out on my own I would have quit a lot sooner than I did that night. Instead of focusing on how hard it is or how tired I feel, I need to change my attitude and focus more on how much progress I've made and how amazing I'll feel when finish and reach my goals. I helped Amber meet a major goal by encouraging and running beside her those 4 miles. Richie showed me how strong I can be and how much I have in me for that pedal pumping hour. Whether we're being inspired or doing the inspiring, it feels pretty darn good.

Marathon Madness

So I have finally done it. I've worried, and stressed and debated and planned and pestered Ben until he just can't take it and made the decision... I am going for the full 26.2 sweaty, awesome miles of a marathon this summer in the great town of Ashton Idaho! Ever since my two half marathons and sprint triathlon last summer, I have caught the racing fever! The energy is unlike anything I've ever experienced and the sense of accomplishment is supreme goodness. At first I thought "there is no way I can run 13 miles, ever!" But I did it... TWICE! And this year I'm setting the record. Ben always asks me why in the world would I ever want to inflict so much pain upon myself WILLINGLY?? But that's the thing, to me, its not painful. Not one bit. It's relaxing, and therapeutic and something that's mine all mine. I love the mind numbing sensation that running brings. It's an escape and its so personal. I have time to think and there is no better time than early morning when all the world is quit and peaceful. Running a marathon has always been this foreign concept and seemed like such an out of reach dream. But folks... here it is, only 25 weeks away.

Thank you Chels!

You can all thank my dear friend Chelse for being wonderful enough to finally show me the ropes of blogging. Now I feel less like a bafoon and more like the blogger I long to be. So big thank you to Chels!

Sick and Tired

I am sick and tired of this blog! Everywhere I look people have blogs that are so cute and they have pictures and memories and all I have is this measly stench infested sorry excuse of a blog. BAH! To think I can have so much patience with an 80 year old at 3 am who can't remember where she is but pull out my hair the minute something on the computer isn't as easy as the ABC's. I honestly think everyone I know has a blog but me! Why do I have to make it so hard? This calls for an intervention. My blog may not be pretty but gmail here will soon helo me transform it into such the best I know it.