Random "Badass" Adventure: Starring Nic Weldon!!

Today at the end of my stressful shift at work I was surprised by my long lost friend, Nic! After work him and went over to Badass Coffee in Sugar House and ordered some yummy-ish blended drinks. I say yummy-ish cuz they were so sweet that after a few sips it was hard to drink anymore. We hung out at Badass for a while, cuz that's where I take all of my most favorite people and then we headed back to Michaels to drop me off. Nic had mentioned he was looking for a job and it just so happens that Michaels is hiring framers. So I gave him a shoe in by introducing him to the store manager. I'm confident he will get the position. So yeah that's that. Yay for random friend appearances. :D

Random Adventure: Solo Style

Lately I've been feeling like my whole life is one insane juggling act just moments away from toppling down on me. BUT! today I was able to escape all of that (if only for an hour) and it was marvelous. Holly told me about a place called Bridal Veil Falls that is just barely up the Provo canyon.




I pulled into Nun's Park ( i think it was something like that) and walked along the path there until I found a nice place right next the the water to sit. It was a nice big slanted rock that was butted up against an old log which made for a fairly comfortable recliner. I laid back there for a while and thought about things and wrote a little and took a short cat nap. 

After that I walked up the path to the falls and took in it's beauty. This is where I found my lovely friend Hugo. This is him climbing up my arm and here he is on my shoulder. We had a good chat about things and then I let him get back to his business. Unfortunately I couldn't talk him into coming home w/ me. So we said our good-byes.

I spent a few minutes more at the falls but then got creeped out by a guy that was there so I left.






I was nice to get lost in the sound of the river water rushing by and to breathe in some fresh air. I also really enjoyed being reminded of the tickle of little caterpillar feet. Thank you, Hugo for making it a good time even better. :)

Weekend in Cedar

So this past weekend I did a spontaneous trip to Cedar since I had 3 days off in a row. It was a whirl wind of complete and awesome randomness. First of all I got to see my sister new place. That's right my sister has her own place where she and her BF pay rent and everything. I'm jealous, but super happy for them. It's a cute little studio w/ 0 counter space but newly remodeled so everything was new and clean.

Since I had some extra money I bought them some mixing bowls and measuring cups and then we used them to make yummy healthy muffins!

All you need is one box of Devil's Food cake and a can of pumpkin. Don't add the eggs or anything, just those two ingredients is all you need. Mix well but it doesn't have to be smooth. Then put in papered or greased muffin tins and back @ 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Yummmmy! (sorry I forgot to get a pic of them)

Then to go along with our cooking theme we bought apron kits that said they had everything you needed, just cut out the pieces and sew together. Well we got them home and discovered that the kit didn't include any backing fabric. So our quick aprons ended up taking all weekend w/ running to the store several times for backing fabric, seam ripper, etc. BUT we got them done! and they look lovely.

THEN! we heard there was going to be a crash up derby in Parawon and only $6 to get in. In Cedar there's not really a lot to do so we figured why not. We didn't think to come early and we should have known so we ended up sitting in the dirt in front of the bleachers. Couldn't see a whole lot from there but we could see enough. The derby part ended up being a dud but the mini races were exciting so we didn't feel to bad about the money we spent. So yeah that's that. Yay for Kim having her own place!

A lot about nothing

I don't seem to have a lot to blog about lately. It's been a month since radiation graduation so I figured it was about time for another post.

I've been feeling great the past couple of days which is awesome. I think it's because I feel like I'm getting things back on track. I'm caught up on my bills and now have a steady income. I have plans to move in with a couple of great friends soon and I hope to be attending U of U by the spring. There's something I need to get going on, the application for U of U. I'm feeling a lot less stressed and it feels amazing. I did not plan for things to go this way but now that they are I can't complain. It could be a hell of a lot worse. I think that's what always keeps me going, things are never as bad as they could be. Yes, I'm Utah but at least I'm not in Cedar. Portland isn't going anywhere and I made a promise to myself to get back, so I know I will.

I've been walking everyday this past week and I think that is another thing that is adding to the good mood. I forget how good it feels to get moving and a little sweaty. Soon I'm going to be purchasing a pair of skates so as to get closer to realizing my dream of becoming a derby girl. Lol I laugh cuz I really don't think I'm tough enough and I'll probably bawl cuz those girls are mean! at least they were in the movie Whip it. Lol. But I figure why not give it a shot and while I'm learning to skate I will be exercising and that's what it's mostly about.

I've also been working a lot. :) I've been getting close to 30 hours a week and I think I might end up work 10 days straight with this next week. It's not too bad tho I usually just go for 4 or 5 hours and I've made a couple of work friends so that always makes it better.

Anyway hopefully the good mood continues.

Radiation Graduation: finally something to blog about!

 The past 6 + weeks I've been driving from Sandy to the U every morning to get my brain radiated (i don't think radiated is a word). It hasn't been so bad, though I have been worried about the wear and tear on my car and the gas I was having to buy was ridiculous! But it was nice getting there and being greeted by everyone and sitting in the waiting room watching The Price is Right with the other ladies. Also getting the chance to relate some of my recent experiences with hospitals and such to people who knew what it was like was nice.

Most of the ladies there were receiving radiation for breast cancer. I do not envy them. The side effects of radiation are much worse than anything I had to go through. For one they are dosing a larger area and that creates a larger area of skin irritation and I could tell that the fatigue factor was really effecting them. Many of the women were surprised that I was there for treatment since I didn't have to dress down. They also figured me to be no more than 17 years old, but I'm quite used to that by now.


 

Another positive aspect of treatment was the very attractive Dr. Troy who took care of me nearly everyday. He is soft spoken, not too tall with graying hair and had a seemingly genuine interest in my life and well-being through treatment. He would ask me how I was feeling, he was excited to hear I got a job and sad to hear that I had to give up my dreams of Portland. Obviously fueling my silly school girl crush for him. I do have to admit that waking up in the morning to hear his voice was quite, quite nice.

So anyway, on to the actual story here, yesterday was my final day of radiation! WooHoo! Waiting in the waiting room was normal, no one was there so I switched the TV to Price is Right and waited (duh). I was sad when the annoying lady -- I think her name is Melissa, she talked in an extremely high pitched voice and would always touch my leg or shoulder as way of comforting me while I was in the mask. It wasn't comforting... -- anyway the annoying lady called me back and started telling me that Dr "Dreamy" Troy was up stairs at a Doctor's appointment of his own and probably wasn't going to make it back down to say goodbye. She said he felt bad and was going to try hard to hurry through it but she didn't think it would happen. This was quite the bad news.

So I got set up on the table and they did their thing but the whole time I was thinking "Hurry Dr. Troy, make it down here" To my great relief, my mind bullets worked and who's voice did I hear when treatment was done? Dr. Troy's. He said "Ok, Gina lets get you outta here." I was so happy I was smiling under my mask, which is hard to do. As soon as he took the mask off I said " I though I wasn't going see you today, I was going to be sad!" Apparently he told the doctors up there that he had a patient he needed to see and that they needed to hurry. The whole scenario was kind of romantic (and it's not just me that thinks so). Anyway one of the last things he said to me was that he hoped I could get back to Portland someday. That meant a lot.

Melissa interrupted the moment with a surprise blanket for my endurance through all the treatments, and they offered me my mask as a souvenir to which I gladly accepted. I got a hug from her and a hug from Christie one of the other doctors that helped with my treatments. Dr. Troy walked me out, wished me luck and yes, also gave me a hug. What a wonderful day.

 When Baylee got home she was highly interested in the mask of course so we took a few pics w/ her in it.

I will miss you Dr. Troy. And thanks to the rest of the team for making my experience much better than I had anticipated. <3

Backtracking: Part one

Disclaimer: These next few posts are basically for my own records. A friend convinced me that I need to journal my experience (brain tumor) of these past 7 months --something I've been avoiding. I was going to do it in my dairy but I'm running short on pages. Anyway feel free to read but it will probably be mostly boring. Thanks!

While I was in Portland I noticed the headaches I'd been having were getting worse and not letting up. I had started paying close attention to my symptoms: 2 types of headaches daily, one a blinding, stabbing pain above my right eye and the other a dull ache that lasted the majority of the day and would intensify whenever I bent down or moved too quickly. This headache was also accompanied by a few seconds of dark spotty vision and muffled hearing.  I had been experiencing these symptoms for at least a year by this time and I just thought it was going to be a part of my everyday existence. I tried not to let them slow me down but it was hard. I noticed my ability to focus and concentrate was deteriorating and it was really starting to worry me.  It wasn't until I moved to Portland that I was really able to go see a doctor. Oregon requires its students to purchase student health care I recently became insured. For that reason I figured I should probably go to the doctor.

The appointment was set for a little less than a week before thanksgiving last year.

Book List

Book are my favorite form of escapism!

Here are some of my favorites

Interview with the Vampire- The original vampire series and less girly than Twilight but very enjoyable.

Water for Elephants- Just recently finished this one. Good book, especially if you are interested in the old circus times.

Youth in Revolt- I have seen the movie yet. I read the book in High school before a movie was even thought about. I love it. This book will make  you pee your pants from laughter starting with the first page. READ IT!!!

Witch of Blackbird Pond- I read this in middle school so it's meant for a younger audience but I'd like to read it again sometime.

Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks- I don't really know about Brooks' other books but this short series got me through a lot of tough times.  Definitely recommend it if  you are into a little fantasy. But don't worry it's not over the top

A clockwork orange- Gritty and violent and an awesome slang that I would like to incorporate into my vocabulary more often

The Secret- yes it's pretty cheesy but it help me change my thinking habits for the better, so that's good right?

The Hannibal Series- starting with The Red Dragon. Very entertaining. like watching a cop show.

I am currently reading Slaughter House Five which at first I didn't really like but I figured out if you stop trying to figure out what's going on it will save you a lot of brain power and energy. Only 2 more chapters left!

On my list to read are:

The Windup Bird Chronicles
The Beauty Myth
Stranger in a Strange Land
Golden Compass (this one was highly recommended to me by a sound source)

Well the end for now I guess.