Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party & Flowers

I love to take a peek in to other's lives--I guess that's why I blog and have bloggy friends.

Well, it's Friday and that means that bloggers unite on Kelly's Korner for the next segment of "Show Us Your Life"; this week is Wedding Party & Flowers.

Matt and I were married June 2nd 2007 in Fort Worth, TX at Texas Christian University, Robert Carr Chapel. I attended nursing school at TCU 1999-2003 and received my nursing pin at Robert Carr Chapel. It is a beautiful chapel and I was excited to be married there.




Of all of the wedding details, I was most excited about the flowers! I love flowers! After searching through many magazines I decided on peonies and calla lilies.

Crutch & Brace Fashion

Its hard to feel cute when you have a huge black mass of metal and velcro attached to your leg 24/7!

It's also really hard to find things to wear that can accommodate the brace without being too tight or too short. Luckily, perfect timing, tights or leggings are in fashion now. Since my incisions have healed some and the swelling is kept to a minimum, I don't have to keep it wrapped with an ACE wrap all of the time!

I bought a couple of pairs of leggings to wear. The black are my favorite because they help my brace blend in.

and the crutches...I guess I'll have to deal with those for a couple of more weeks!

Show Us Your Life - Wedding Dress

Kelly's Korner is hosting a "Show Us Your Life" blog carnival...and I decided to join in on the fun!

This week is "Show Us Your Wedding Dress" Friday!

I LOVED my wedding dress and knew that it was the one right away!

Finding THE DRESS!
I was a travel nurse and lived in Washington D.C. at the time. It was about six months until our wedding and my mom was coming into town in a couple of weeks. My goal was to visit a few bridal salons and pick out a couple of my favorite dresses and choose the one while my mom was there.

So, PJ (my mother-in-law) and I set off on a fun adventure. After visiting a couple of salons we went to Priscilla of Boston. I had a Watters dress that I wanted to see and unbeknownst to us they were also having a sample sale. I described the Watters dress to the attendant and told her my budget and what I was looking.

She returned to the dressing room with two dresses. I tried on the Priscilla's dress first and loved it. It was a sample, a little too big and the zipper was broken. Then I tried on the dress that I had come to see. It fit nicely but was really heavy. As I looked around the room in all the mirrors I saw the Priscilla's dress hanging there and knew it was the one. I still had the Watters dress on when I called my mom (crying) to tell her that I had found THE ONE!

We bought the dress that day and took it home to my soon-to-be in-laws' house to stay in her very special 'dress closet' for the next few months. The purchase was special for my MIL for several reasons. Not only is her first name Priscilla, but my dress continued a tradition because she wore a Priscilla of Boston dress on her wedding day too!

Finally, I had it perfectly altered and pressed for the best day of my life!

I loved my shoes too! SOMETHING BLUE


Just click on Kelly's link below to see other wedding dresses...and post yours too!

Fun with Friends

We had our second summer II exam on Friday then celebrated on Saturday.

Mom, Matt and I went to see the movie The Hangover with our friends Eva Marie and Shandon where we spent more than an hour laughing until we cried!

After the movie we met Eva's husband Josh and our friend Wayne at Gloria's for wonderful dinner and (much needed & deserved) drinks. I have to brag a little and say that I had to buy Eva & Wayne a drink because I made the best grade on this test! (which was just recovery from my first botched test after my knee surgery!)



Here we are, all smiles after full bellies and many mojitos!

3 Weeks Post-op

• It has been a tough few weeks, but I'm starting to see slow progress. I have now had two PT appointments and I am meeting my ROM goals with ease--thanks to the CPM. The hardest part are SLR's (straight leg raises). I get extreme pain around my patella and makes it almost impossible to continue.
  
  
  On July 8th, I had my second post-op appointment with Dr. Bothwell. He was very happy with the x-rays and my progress so far. He is different than most physicians. He sits down to talk; never in a hurry (at least he never leads on to that fact). His bedside manner is superior to most and I really appreciate that.
  
  
  
  It is so different being on this side of healthcare. I feel like I have gained a lot of insight that will make me a better practioner.
  
  
  
  So here are pictures from my most recent visit.
  Again, we changed the steri-strips--it looks pretty good!
  
  
  
  

Matt-my personal nurse and most importantly, the Best Husband, accompanies me to my appointments and asks all the questions that I don't want to!








Matt's knee wanted some attention too!

My ROM is at 90 degrees; which is my maximum for the first 4 weeks so that the meniscus bone plug has time to adhere.

I can't wait to be able to "swim"--okay, maybe not swim but do pool walking
When I asked Dr. Bothwell if I could get into the pool soon he said, "No." Then said, "Let me rephrase that. Hell No!" Of course I further questioned him and he told me about a recent infection in a patient of his after 12 weeks after surgery. Because my bone was drilled and I now have cadaver parts and screws; I have an increased risk for infection and neither of us would want to risk it.

We also talked about our upcoming move to California. Dr. Bothwell has an orthopedic physician friend in LA that he will refer me to for my follow-up appointments out there. It will be an hour or so drive to see him, but should only be once a month. But, until the middle of August, I will continue to see Dr. Bothwell every 2-3 weeks.

We ordered the Rebound Crutches, so I am looking forward to getting those. It is way too hot in Texas in July to crutch around very much. I immediately break out in a big sweat! Thank goodness I have a wheelchair to sit in class and wonderful friends to push me around campus.
Only 3 more weeks of NWB!