An Update: Finally!

I know it has been a while since I've posted anything and for that I apologize. I'm not really sure where the past few months have gone!

Here's what's been going on:

--I finished my class about a month ago. It was pretty easy and it went by quickly. I got an A.

--I am still teaching the 3 and 4 year old Sunday school class and still loving it.

--I am still doing childcare for the women's Bible study on Tuesday mornings. We still only have 3 kids. It ends the first Tuesday in May.

--I am still a Cubbie leader on Wednesday nights, although that also is ending, at the end of April.

--I am still working 40+ hours at Culver's, although I did receive a promotion and a raise. I am now the co-2nd Assistant Manager.

--I am still looking for an apartment. I haven't really looked at any, except one today, but I'm having a hard time finding one that is in my price range, allows dogs, and has washer/dryer hookups.

New things that are happening:

--VBS (Vacation Bible School) is coming up quickly. I will be heading up the preschool department and teaching the lessons. I'm excited! :)

--Also, this fall, our church is starting a new curriculum for preschool through sixth grade. It is going to be a big change for everyone, but it is very exciting stuff! I will be teaching the lessons for the 3-5 year olds for that, as well.

--Snowbelle is still healthy, so to speak. Recently, the vet tested her to see if she has Cushing's Disease, like he thinks she does. The test came back a strong positive, so this past Thursday, we started her on medicine to help treat the symptoms of Cushing's Disease. The disease is caused by a tumor on her pituitary gland, which is too small and too hard to access to remove it with surgery, which leaves us with the medicine. In two weeks, I will have to take her in to have her tested to make sure the dosage of the medicine is correct. I will have to do the same thing at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and every year after that. I'm hoping that in a few weeks, we will notice some positive changes in her!

Busy, busy, busy...

I have been keeping busy these past few months, as I'm sure you all have as well! And, as if I wasn't busy enough, I just added two more things to my schedule each week.

Here's pretty much how it goes for the next 8 weeks:

--Today marked the first day of an 8-week online class that I need to finish my Iowa certification. There are assignments due every week, by Sunday.

--Today also marked the first day of me providing childcare during the Women's Bible Study on Tuesday mornings from 9-11:30am at my church. Today was an easy day--only three kids.

--Every Wednesday night, from 6-8:45pm, I am again at church, as a Cubbie leader in AWANA. The Cubbies are the 3-5 year olds. I am a co-leader of the yellow group, which consists of 7 kids, one 3 year old boy, three 4 year old girls, two 4 year old boys, and one 5 year old boy.

--Every Sunday morning, from 9-10:15am, I am the lead teacher for the 3 and 4 year old Sunday school class. We usually have 11-12 kids each week.

--On top of all of that, I am also working 40+ hours at Culver's Restaurant as a Crew Chief (manager).

Sounds pretty crazy doesn't it?? It doesn't feel that busy....yet. Of course my class also just started....

In other news, Snowbelle had another appointment with the vet, during which they collected urine from her bladder and tested it for crystals (which eventually turn into stones) and for bacteria growth (which turns into an infection). Both tests were negative, which means, at this point, Snowbelle is completely healthy. Yay! She is restricted to JUST her dog food---no human food (which we have been following for several years) and NO treats! I think that will be the hardest part on all of us! Although, we have decided that when she would normally get a treat (after a bath, getting her nails clipped, etc), we will just give her a small amount of her dog food. We also have to soak her food in water in an effort to increase her water consumption, which will hopefully keep her bladder clear of infections and stones. She really could care less that she now pretty much laps up her food instead of chewing it...except for the wait period between when we put food in her bowl and when she actually gets to eat it (we soak it in water and she has to wait for it....which she hates!) I also have to take her in every 6 months to repeat the two tests mentioned above. Hopefully, with the strict diet, increased water consumption, and the frequent check-ups, we will be able to catch any infection or stone growth early so she does not ever need surgery again. I am not sure if the vet even would consider a 3rd bladder surgery on an aging dog (she turns 11 in May).

As far as the apartment search goes, I am still working on paying off my car (less than $200 left!) although I do have all of Snowbelle's medical bills paid off! Hopefully in the spring/early summer, I will have enough money saved up to get an apartment. I have, however, packed up a good portion of my room (all stuff that I don't need/use right now). The guest room next to my room has several stacks of boxes already! Although I will dearly miss living with my parents and brother, I can't wait to have a place to call my own!

Recovery

Snowbelle's surgery last Thursday went great! I dropped her off a little after 7:30am that morning. By noon, I heard that she was out of surgery, but still under anesthesia; the vet wanted to know if I wanted her teeth cleaned as well. I said yes, then later I got another call saying she was awake and alert! They removed all of the stones without any complications (Praise God!), and the surgery went quicker than expected! I was originally told that she would have to spend the night and I could pick her up Friday. However, the vet felt so great about the surgery and Snowbelle was doing so well, that he discharged her Thursday night and she got to come home.

Considering she just had surgery a few days ago, she is doing fantastic. She is practically herself, except when it comes to eating. We think that is because her mouth might hurt some from her teeth being cleaned and having some teeth pulled. She still eats, but she just takes a little bit longer to eat than before. She is currently on 3 different medications: one for pain, one antibiotic, and one for inflammation. The antibiotic and the anti-inflammatory one are both liquids, so she takes those fine. And, even though she has been taking antibiotic pills for over 2 weeks, she really fights us with this new pain pill. Apparently it tastes horrible, and no matter how far back in her throat we try to put it, she still tries (and usually succeeds) to spit it back out. Sigh, oh well.

Anyway, I have to go to work soon, but I just wanted to let you all know how great Snowbelle is doing! Thank you all for your support and prayers!!

Snowbelle

In light of the recent happenings over Thanksgiving, I feel the need to express all the thoughts and memories that have been running through my mind the past several days.

I remember the first time I heard you whine.

Mom had just transferred you from the box in the garage to the birthday bag to bring you inside.

I had already received your food container, rug, and food/water bowls, but I figured it meant I was getting a dog soon, not that day.

Then I heard you whine as Mom brought you to me.

I gasped.

I remember pulling you out of the bag.

You had a pink bow in your fluffy, white fur.

My heart melted immediately.

None of us can quite figure out how you knew you were MY dog, but you definitely knew.

Since that very first day, you have been my shadow, my puppy, my friend.

You used to sleep in my bed every night, usually under the covers, sometimes by my legs, sometimes by my arms, always tucked in close.

Now you have your own bed, due to the inability to jump up on my bed and the lack of desire to cuddle close anymore.

I love the way you get so excited to go to bed.

I love remembering how I would walk in the door to see you waiting for me at the top of the steps.

I love the fact that you would lick away my tears when I felt so alone.

I love the eagerness in your eyes as you beg for food, or a treat.

I love that you have been with me for over 10 years now.

I love remembering how you would nip my heels if I ran up or down the stairs.

I love seeing you plow through the snow to go to the bathroom, even though there is a cleared place for you.

I love remembering how you and Bashful used to play together, chasing each other around the house.

Some say that having this kind of a relationship with a dog is unreal. However, I did not work for this relationship at all; it simply happened. While others may not understand it, looking back, I feel that God put you in my life to help me through some rough times. Sometimes you were the only one that I could pour my heart out to and you would simply listen and do your best to comfort me with your presence and your kisses. I can't imagine the day when you will be gone from my life, but I hope it is a long time in coming.

I love you, Snowbelle Princess.

Christmas:)

It's officially Christmas season!! :)

I am soo excited for Christmas this year...like always, I suppose! :) We put our tree up this past Monday night. I had to work til 8 (ended up getting off at 7, though), and it was cold and rainy, so just the guys went to go get the tree. (Yes, Mom and I trusted them enough to get a good one all by themselves :P) They picked out an AWESOME and BEAUTIFUL tree!! It's about 7 feet tall and about 5 feet wide at the bottom. The guys ended up putting 1500 multi-colored lights on it and it is GORGEOUS! Then, of course, we all put our own ornaments on the tree, but it was very different this year because only Kaleb's and my ornaments were put on so there are a lot more of my parents' ornaments this year!

The other exciting part about this Christmas season is that I have almost ALL of my Christmas shopping done so far! All I need is my mom's present. The rest are already wrapped and under the tree! Woohoo!! I am NEVER this prepared for Christmas.

On the not-so-bright side, my dog, Snowbelle, got very sick over Thanksgiving weekend and we had to take her to the vet. She would not eat; we had to force her to drink, and by Friday night she couldn't even stand on her back legs. I had to literally support her back end so that she could pee. :( It was pretty sad and scary. It turns out she had a really nasty fever/infection, which was quickly taken care of by antibiotics and fluids. However, they found out that her bladder stones are back again. 15 months ago, she had surgery, during which they removed too many stones to count from her bladder. She had to go on a special diet and eat this food (that is really expensive) that was supposed to prevent the stones from coming back. Now they are back, but this time there are only about 13. From talking to our new vet, it sounds like the stones last time were 90% made up of the type of stone that wouldn't come back with the food, but 10% made up of stones that some dogs (including Bichons) just naturally produce for some reason. What our vet said is that she probably naturally produces these stones (nothing we can do about that), but then her bladder gets infected and the other stones form around the existing ones. So, unfortunately, my 10 year old dog is scheduled for her 2nd bladder surgery in 1.5 years. However, it sounds like we might be able to do more to prevent them from causing problems in the future. Obviously with any surgery there are risks, and even more so with an older animal and a 2nd surgery, but I am praying that it is God's will that she survive, for a little longer anyway.

Anyway, sorry to end on kind of a bad note, but it has been on my mind a lot lately. Good news is, she is doing much, much better than she was, so she should be as healthy as possible before her surgery next Thursday.

Oh, random note....it snowed today!! Unfortunately, it didn't last long, but enough to slightly accumulate! It's soo pretty! :)

It's about time!

A lot of you already know, but I wanted to make sure! :)

I FINALLY received my Missouri teaching license in the mail on Wednesday! YAYYY!!!

It had officially been 12 weeks since they told me my certificate was printed and ready to be mailed. I am still trying to figure out exactly how long it takes to put a piece of paper in an envelope, address it, stamp it, and send it out. Apparently, in Missouri, it takes 12 weeks. I'm sure they were very backed up, but I just can't imagine it taking that long to get caught up. Oh well, at least I finally have it now!

The next step is to take my Human Relations class (which I am already signed up for) and send in my application for an Iowa license! My class does not start until January, though, so it will still be awhile before I am completely and officially licensed to teach in Iowa.

Tiny Update

I thought you all might appreciate a little bit of an update on things, although I really don't have a lot to update you on!

The biggest thing that I'm waiting on right now is my Missouri teaching license, which if you remember, was going to be mailed to me in 2-4 weeks from July 20. Well, obviously it has been more than 2-4 weeks and I still haven't received it! I finally emailed someone on Monday and I was extremely disappointed to learn that they are EIGHT WEEKS behind in mailing paper certificates. Sigh....so the waiting continues!

In the meantime, I have still been working at Culver's as a manager and actually last week I was promoted to the next manager level. Previously, I was called an "in-store trainer" and now I am called a "crew chief". I also received a small raise with the promotion! Oh, and I just heard today that the owner wants to give us a bonus for the first half of the year, so I will be getting that, too! Yay!

That's really pretty much all I have for now!