It's been a while...

Because life has been completely insane!

It started 2 days after my last post. I woke up with a really bad stomach ache that went away after about an hour. I went to work and the next day was fine all day. Friday I woke up with a stomachache again, this time worse, that lasted about 2 hours. I had to have Matt come help me finish packing for the Young Adults Retreat we were leaving on that afternoon.

The retreat was absolutely amazing...even though I was sick, seeing how it affected Matt was more than worth what I had to miss because I ended up in bed alot of the time. Sunday it was the worst and I was in bed until we left to go home. Only Advil made it feel better so Sunday driving home I was able to cope but later on that night it got worse so I spent the night at Matt's.

I went home Monday night and the next three mornings it was the same. Woke up at 1:00, 5:00 and 9:00 am to take Advil but at 9 it would be really bad, even the Advil wouldn't kick in until about 11:30 then I would finally be able to fall asleep and I'd sleep until 1:00. I'd basically lay in bed until around 4:00 and then I'd get up and shower and go to either my parent's house or Matt's.

Thursday night I finally went to the dr. and he said I had gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining, caused by anxiety/stress) and gave me medicine. Since then, I've been able to control it with the medicine. I have to watch what I eat (progressively less so as my stomach heals) so that it doesn't aggrivate my stomach until I give it time to completely heal itself. I usually have a slight stomachache in the mornings that goes away in about 30 min. and each day it gets better and better.

That Saturday was Snow Day & we were planning on going to Knotts Berry Farm with the gang but my stomach acted up and Matt came down with a bad cold so we skipped Snow Day :(. I was feeling well enough to go to Knotts so I went without Matt.

Then Sunday, as I was finally feeling way better with my stomach, I woke up with the cold. Sore/scratchy throats, head & body aches, sinuses, stuffy noses, all that good stuff. So I missed another week of work...well 1 1/2 days because I went in for half a day and we had Thanksgiving break.

Thanksgiving was fun...I had a pretty bad sinus headache the first half but some Tylenol and Allegra took care of it and I was able to enjoy myself. I didn't have much of an appetite but that's not that big of a deal. Then Friday we had Thanksgiving at my family's which was fun. Unfortunetly Matt had promised his mom that he'd help her clean out the garage this weekend so he didn't make it.

Saturday I watched the girls while they cleaned the garage then we had a girls day out with my sisters & mom, the tucker girls and danielle and lily and went and saw Enchanted and to Red Robin. We took the girls home and watched some of the Hamel's home videos that we found until about 9 then Jess, Kris, Chelsea, Rachel and I headed back to my apartment for a sisters sleepover.

We were finally getting settled in around 11:30, about to start the movie, when my cell rang. It was Michael calling me to tell me that Matt was in a car accident and that the truck was totalled. So Jess and I raced over (Janna, Aunt Elaine, Uncle Dave, Mike and Michael were already there and Nate and Sam got there right after us). Matt was ok, just really shaken up and had a big bump on his head. I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life. I didn't even feel like I had time to stop and think "Ok, God's in control, it's going to be ok" or pray or anything. I didn't cry, I just was shaking really bad.

He was stopped at a red light in the second lane (next to a the left-hand turn lane) when a car came racing by and last minute decided to turn right from the second lane going the other direction. That car made it but the car behind it didn't. That car plowed right into the front driver-side tire and pushed the truck across both lanes and up into the driveway of the gas station on the corner. After a bunch of confusion getting an ambulance and CHP there, 2 fire trucks, a paramedic and the ambulance arrive. Because Matt said his neck hurt they put him in a brace & strapped him to the back board. I rode with him to the hospital and waited until about 1:15 in the waiting room while Michael & Jess waited for a tow truck and took my car home from the accident scene. We finally got home around 1:30 and I crashed on Michael's futon.

I know people tease me about having been super clingy to Matt when we liked each other, but I don't think I've ever been more clingy in my life than I was yesterday. I cried when I had to go home and then most of the drive home and falling asleep last night...it just scared me so bad, it was so hard to leave him. I'm so thankful that he's not seriously injured; just slight whiplash and some soreness from bumps and bruises. I don't know how my mom's dealt with that numerous times with my dad!!!

Basically my whole month of Novemeber has been a blur. My stomach and our colds are finally clearing up and Matt will probably have to deal with the aches but he's ok. I was thinking this morning how I know that God has some sort of lesson to teach me through all this but it's not really clear what. Maybe it's just that I'm not in control. There was nothing I could do with my stomach, then we had bad colds on top of that, then the accident. I had NO control whatsoever over any of those things. And yet I never struggled with that...wanting control I mean. I struggled with the frustration of missing 2 solid weeks of work because I was feeling so unproductive and I know things have to get done and I feel bad for having someone else have to do them. But I never freaked out because I didn't have control over the situations. Maybe God's showing me my progress...I don't know, I hope I got the point because I'm a little weary of life being so...I don't even know what to call it!

I love where I work...

Hiro at Olson & Carrigan dedication picnic...



Staff meeting antics...Ed & Nathan's cherrio tower building contest...