I Sing Because I'm Happy!!

Travis and I went to church on Wednesday night and I went and practiced with the choir. It was so much fun!! This was the second time I went (the first was when I was staying with the Sandersons). Even though it is hard for me to be out at that time of the day because the pain gets worse, it was worth it!! Travis said on the way home that it was one of the only times he has seen me truly and genuinely happy in a long time! He was right!! Thank you Lord for giving me the courage to go and for making everyone there welcome me in such a loving way!!

Another Update

Hi all! This past Tuesday I talked with the person that will be deciding if I am medically cleared to go to Australia or not. I really liked her and she gave me some good advice, but it sounds like even being off the medication that I will be denied medical clearance. They don't think that I will be able to get the care I need there. Pretty disappointing, but all hope is not lost! They can either completely deny me or leave open the possibility of getting a waiver from the office sending us saying that they will cover my medical expenses while we are there. It may be a long shot. They will not be making a final decision until after I see the pain management specialist on June 11.

Travis and I are pretty much expecting not to go at this point. It is pretty disappointing. We both feel very strongly that God was leading us in this direction. We are just confused now. Since there is a good chance we are staying here, we are starting to check our finances to see if we may be able to move into another house. Our current house is just so hard for me to get around in. We went and looked at some model houses in a community right by us yesterday. We're not sure if we can afford that or not. I would be happy getting a house that is a bit older as long as the layout is good for me. Well, we can't really do anything until we hear for sure about Australia, so I guess we just need to be patient!! Please keep us in your prayers!!!

Australia Update

Hey all! Well, I had my last medical appointment to determine if I would be medically cleared to go to Australia on Tuesday, the 15th of May. The physical went well and the doctor even told me that she thought the climate there could possibly improve my condition. All was going well...and then we got called into another room. We were told that I was automatically declined medical clearance because of one of the medications that I am taking. Obviously we were devastated...but we are still working the system to see what we can do.

Yesterday, I went off the medication in question. I am definitely experiencing some more intense pain, but I don't think it is so bad that I couldn't live without the medication. We are also seeing if the medical office will wait to make a decision until we see the pain management specialist on June 11. Hopefully this will all work out...I'll write more when I know anything. Please keep praying for us in this process!

Hyperbaric Treatments Complete!!!

I am so excited that I finished my last Hyperbaric Treatment this past Wednesday, the 16th of May. The treatments seemed to have helped the circulation in my ankle quite a bit. I wish it had helped the swelling and pain, but circulation is definitely good. Thanks to all the people that made it possible for me to make it to all my appointments...Emille, Ramona, Jamie, and Amanda. I want to send out a special thank you to the Sandersons for letting me stay with them while Travis was out of town! You guys are the best!! I wanted to include a couple of pictures that Travis took at one of my appointments to give people an idea of what is was like. Some of the ways that the kids described it was that it looked like a spaceship or a tunnel! Enjoy the pics!

Family Get Together

Travis and I went to my home in Michigan the weekend after the southern wedding. We had another wedding to attend for one of Travis's fraternity brothers on May 4. The next day I got to see a bunch of my family at my grandparents house. Here are some pictures from that get together. And in case you didn't know...we are all HUGE Red Wings fans...and they won the game that day!!! Yippee!!!

Here is a picture of me holding my adorable niece Kaitlyn. She is so big now!!!

Here is my mom, Ginny, and my Aunt Patty. I'm not sure if anyone knows this song or not, but I keep thinking..."Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters"! I think that song is from the musical White Christmas in case anyone thinks I am completely off my rocker!

Here is a picture of my mom, my Grandma, Treva, and my Aunt.

I think this picture is so cute!!! Here my brother Paul is holding Kaitlyn, but I think he took something!! This is so my brother's sense of humor and it makes me laugh!!!

I think this is hands down my favorite picture of my parents ever!!! They were joking around so they were both laughing when I took this picture!! I love how happy they are!!

And last, but not least, here is the group family shot!! The top row from left to right is me, my Aunt Patty, my Grandma, my mom, and my dad, Clyde. The bottom row is my husband, Travis, my brother Paul holding his son, Christian, my Grandpa Don, and my sister-in-law, Heather, holding Kaitlyn. I'm so glad I was able to get this picture. We used to take group family shots every Christmas when I was younger and we just haven't done it in awhile. Hopefully there will be many more like this!!

My First Southern Wedding!

On April 27th, Travis and I were able to go to one of our friends weddings right here in Virginia. We had a great time and it was such a different experience for me. The wedding was so formal and elegant. It was such a wonderful treat! Here is a picture of the UVA chapel where the wedding ceremony was held.

Here is a picture of Leo and Kirsten...the happy couple!!!!

Here are some more pictures. The first is of Travis and Matt. The second is off Travis and I. Our friend Matt tried to take this picture about 5 times. Every time my eyes were either shut or half shut. Will I never escape the eyes closed picture curse?!?!?! People always wonder why I'm not in many of my scrapbooking pictures...=) The last couple of pictures are from the Country Club where the reception was held. Thomas Jefferson actually helped design this room. It was so neat watcher Kirsten throw her bouquet from the Juliet balcony!!! And then they rode away in a golf cart with the light of sparklers all around them!!!