Healing up

A week ago I was working a 3-11 shift and following up on a dog bite call. I expected to be in and out of the homeowner's house, as the bite was something that happened several days prior to but went unreported.

While at the owner's home I was bit by the same dog. Exactly 7 days ago, to the T, I was bit in the mouth by a pitbull. Initially I thought the dog just nicked my chin. Then I felt the warm sensation run down my chin and knew it was bad. I was trying to stop the bleeding, but it continued to run down my forearms and on my uniform.

They always say waiting for back up feels like forever. It felt like 5 minutes but I can say it was less than 2. My partner rushed me to the hospital. My Sgt. had the painful task of calling my husband and telling him to meet me in the emergency room.

I can see the look on Matt's face as panic. I have never seen him like that. After assessing the damage, a plastic Surgeon came in to stitch me up. I lost 25% of my bottom lip and have a gap about the width of my index finger. I have a small scar on the left side or my upper lip and one on my chin.

I was blessed with so much love and support that night and it has continued. My co-workers are my family and are nothing short of amazing.

The first few days were the worse. Every time I looked in the mirror I was reminded about what happened. It was horrible to look at and even more horrible to explain over and over again what had happened, especially to people who are not on the job. Everyone just expects you to have the time or opportunity to shoot it and I can tell you that opportunity did not present itself that day.

I can say I was kind of depressed but it has gotten better since the stitches were taken out. I lost a few pounds not being able to eat. I found myself having the patience and temper of a child, taking it out on Matt and getting frustrated with the puppy. I feel healthy enough to return to work, but since I run the risk of getting cracked in the face, I'm out of work until enough scar tissue develops to toughen it up. It's going to be a long haul, but I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing Ashley, gardening, painting, and reading a few books.

Again having the love, help, and support of my family in blue, friends, family and husband has been instrumental to this whole ordeal. I love you Matt and thank you for telling me I'm still pretty. I'm a lucky girl. It could have been so much worse.

Dirty Girl Mud Run

Well it was a blast. Our heat started at 3 and we finished by 4. I can't believe how quick it went. The course was not as challenging as I anticipated it to be. It may have been if we ran the whole thing but we stopped to walk a few times. I can't tell you how good it felt to run portions of the mountain without being winded. Granted I wasn't moving fast, but I was moving. Out of the gate I had so much pep and it continued until the end. I'm so proud of my girls and their efforts. Dave, Matt's cousin, came along and got some fun pics of us. B had a waterproof camera and I can't wait to see them.

Now for the downfall. Dirty girl was on cinco de mayo, I had too much fun that night and never made it to Ports 5k the next day. I'm signed up for this weekend and found another one in Milford for the following. So long as I can lay off the booze, I will complete 3 5k's this month.

The 5k's of May

Apparently, I start a lot of post with the work So. So...I'm going to avoid doing that in the future, I hope.  Anyway I am on a mission to lose 8 lbs this month. That being said I am aiming for 20 miles a week (8.3 thus far) and try to avoid extra sugar. I haven't really noticed how much sugar I consume until recent and ITS BAD. I am a hound for coffee. Black with splenda, but I got lazy and ran out of splenda so I went with regular sugar. I only use a tea spoon for a cup but I consume 3-4-5 cups of coffee a day.  Also I don't want to use splenda anymore because of the artificialness of it. I switched to coffee with skim milk. I eat yogurt often. My favs are yoplait and chobani. Also I just recently noticed that it is loaded with sugar. I need HELP and I need to find that courage to avoid sugar for the month of May. And probably carbs too, but one thing at a time here. And alcohol. Thats my vice.

Back to the 5k's of May. May 5 is Scranton's Dirty Girl Mud Run I am super excited. It has been forever since I participated in a 5k. Like maybe 4 years. What makes this 5k even more special is that I am running it with my college roommates. I can't wait to run with these girls. I miss them so much. Its amazing how life changes. I mean I lived with these girls for years. Every day we saw each other, now the better part of 6 months can go by before we can get together. I am making tee shirts tomorrow night for our team. Pink of course!

May 6 (yea, one day later) is Port Jervis 5k. I really would like to do it in under 30. I don't know if its possible but maybe by the end of the summer, I will finish a 5k in under 30. I can run well/easy at 6mph/10 min mile on a treadmill. Outside is another story. I have a hard time with pace, I get anxious to finish, and I will slow down and eventually walk a few feet before running again. I do not know what the deal is, but its absolutely mental.

May 12 (amazingly I have Sats off in May this month) Brooke and I are walking a 5k. It's a charity event for a child with an illness. Honestly, I know nothing about it but I'm happy to walk for something good and I hope the benefits of that day are a success for the young boy.

Well as far as I know there will be 3 5k's in May. I hope to keep at it and do something fun in June. I want to develop a training program for me to do something of greater distance by the end of the fall. Maybe a 10k or HM. We shall see. I'll be back after Sat with pics.

Our Spring Break

So it was that time of year again, where I had to bid my spring break holiday block. It could not have come at a better time. The week before we left was unseasonably.super.warm. We left on Tuesday and it got cold. So cold. But anyway, we were off to sunny FL and did not care. We spent the week with Matt' parents and did lots. We had such a great time and it was great to get away. I'm sure if you saw my FB you will know that United may be the worse airline to fly, but they did put us up in a suite (super awesome), several meal tickets, and a fun night of bar hopping.

But other than that the trip was great. I managed to work out 2x. First we did a family 8 mile bike stroll. Pretty easy trail but still a work out right? The second was a super.hot. jog in FL. I waited way too long and should have went in the am or later that night. 80ish degrees was too hot for me this early. We attended our first baseball game of the season, which was a spring break game for the Detroit Tigers. Super fun! We went to a beach, several bars, visited Uncle Tom, base ball and bike rides. Great time. Thanks for having us Mom and Dad. Here are some pics from our trip!

Gardens

So yesterday I turned 29, which you know what that means. Next year is the big 3 0. My bff Melissa took me to happy hour and Matt stopped in after he got off of work. We, as in Melissa and I, had way to much to drink. My parents stopped in and before you know it I was doing shots. Anyway the whole point of this post is to spring into the back yard.

For my birthday Mom got me 2 packages of bulbs in my favorite flowers. White Calla Lily's and a mix of Anemone. I need to do some research but I can't wait to plant them.We have 3 beds along the side of the garage in the back yard. 3 are full sun and 1 is part sun. Right now I have grape hythacians and pansies in the part sun bed. I also added some tulips to the bed. It doesn't look right, I didn't organize it right and my OCD is getting the best of me. Against my moms better judgement, I am going to dig them up, plant the tulips in the back, hythacians in the middle and Pansy in the front.

Found these at the local garden center. Must plant.

I want to build these

For the next bed I saw a pin, which I'm attempting to replicate it as soon as it warms up a bit again. It consist of hystas and hydragenas. I also pinned a pallet garden and am going to attempt that as well. As for the other 2 beds I am clueless. Any ideas?

Master bedroom redo

We have been in the house for almost 6 weeks. I have accomplished 2 bedrooms and I'm pretty thrilled with the outcome. First, let me say I will never wallpaper again! Second, I will never wallpaper again alone. It was super difficult to do by myself but I was too impatient to wait for hubby to get home from work. Plus we are not on the same days anyway. If I waited for that it still wouldn't be done.

So I ordered the paper and paint from lowes. I papered the wall with less obstruction, like windows and closets and what not.

Valspar paint has been good to me thus far so I went with an eggshell stone mason gray color. Depending on the time of day it can look blue. I just picked up some panels from home goods. Here is the before and afters----->>

Also right now there is nothing on the walls in our bedroom.  It was my intentions to hang something over the bed, but the headboard is super high and now withe damask print wallpaper i was thinking it would be too busy. I plan on hanging a horizontal canvas over the tall dresser and then a vertical next to the long one. The bar walls are driving me insane.

Of course occupying Eli was no eat feat. At one point I had laid down the paper on the floor, applied the paste, and who comes walking in? He stepped on the paper and slid, from the paste, about 10 ft. Looked like he was on a slip an slide. Eli also managed to steal the paint brush and dip his ear in the paint can! I'm in desperate need of a bedroom break, so April and May will focus on the yard, garden, and updating patio furniture. I even plan on making a pallet table for some plants.

how the master looked when we moved in.

another before shot

paint chip and wallpaper

color scheme inspiration



Pottery Barn duvet cover pattern

so hopefully sooner rather than later a tv will cover that wall outlet.

Pet adoption day!

So this past weekend my mom hosted a pet adoption event. I told her I would help out and use Eli for the puppy kissing booth. For .25 donations we pawned kisses out of him. He was so good. It was also the first time I got to socialize him with other dogs. He did pretty well. Together the Port Jervis and Pike County, the shelters brought up pets that were available for adoption. I think the final count was 5 dogs with new homes and about 100 lbs of dog food. I had to restrain myself from giving Eli a sister. She was an adoptable-adorable pit mix that looked like my mom's boxer Layla. Anyway my mom always manages to pull of great events and this weekend was no different. Props to you momma dukes!