Racing in Chicago!

On June 9th, Travis finally got to enjoy his Christmas present. Trav's parents bought tickets for all the guys in the family for the Richard Petty Driving Experience. They got to ride-along with NASCAR drivers in some of the cars at crazy speeds!! Travis, his dad Allen, his brother-in-law Mark, and a family friend, Randy, all went together to enjoy the experience. Here are some of the pictures from that fun day!

Here is the racetrack...

Travis gets suited up and getting in the car!!


Here is Mark getting in the car for his turn.


Here is Allen getting in the car. They took a lot of pictures because he wasn't sure if he would be able to get in, but as you can see...he did just fine and had a wonderful time!!


Randy smiles for the camera all suited up...I think he is ready to go!


Here is a picture of the car they were getting the ride-along in.


Travis and his dad let us know how great this experience was by giving the thumbs up sign to the camera!

Pain and Prayer

The last few days have been pretty bad pain days for me. I just wish it would end. I woke up to take my medicine at 4am like I do every morning, but I was in so much pain that I couldn't go back to sleep. My ankle is aching so bad I can hardly stand it!!!! I looked at the weather and saw that there is an 100% chance of rain today. Well, that would do it! I think I can predict rain a lot more accurately than the weather people!! I'm hoping church won't be too bad for me today. Since I didn't get that much sleep and I'm hurting badly, it makes it harder to keep a good attitude.

I'm tired of getting told that my ankle doesn't look that bad or that no one would know I'm in pain from the way I act. I'm not sure how people think that my ankle should look or I should behave. It's so frustrating. It feels like one more way that people don't believe me. Sorry to keep going like this, but I had several people comment on how they couldn't tell that I was in pain at a class this past week. For some reason, I feel compelled to try to convince them that I really am in as much pain as I say I am. With all that I have to deal with, I would hope that I would at least be granted the courtesy of being believed.

I guess I can't expect people to understand. Most people have intense pain for short periods of time and during that time they can't function because of it. My pain has been going on so long that you have to learn to function or I would just be knocking myself out with drugs and sleeping all the time. At that point, life wouldn't be worth living. Although, I wouldn't mind that escape from time to time. Just to have a break, even if I was asleep during it.

I was looking for a bible verse that someone said during communion I think two weeks ago, but I can't seem to locate it right now. I'll look for it some more and then post it. It has to do with what to pray for when you don't know what to pray for. I have to believe that God knows what is in my heart even when it hurts so much that I can't put it into words. What a wonderful relationship. Someone that listens to you, gives you advice, and knows what is at the core of you even without words. I feel so lucky for that relationship. Even through all of the hardship I am enduring, I know that my life is better now with God than it was without him when I was pain free. Before my relationship with God, my soul hurt. Now it is just my body and that is temporary. What a wonderful gift I have received. Please pray for my continued faith, patience in tribulations, and that the pain will finally end.

Okay...I found the scripture I was thinking of. It is Romans 8: 26

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

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!!