Just When I thought It Couldn't Get Worse

I didn't think things could get any worse than having a stomach bug with no water but yet again it keeps getting worse. I have been to the doctor and I have a kidney infection and kidney stones.

I have been in doctors offices since Sunday evening. I kept feeling horrible with my back, dizziness, nauseated, etc... I put in 3 1/2 hours at work on Sunday and was feeling terrible. I came home and spent the rest of the day in bed I was in so much pain that I decided to call my camp director's wife Rochelle and see if she could take me into town to the 24 hour clinic. She is a teacher and was at the school working but said she would meet us there.

The doctor saw signs of kidney stones and an infection. He gave me 2 painful shots in my bottom and we went to Amarillo to pick up 2 prescriptions. Yesterday I was feeling better but needed to go in for a CT to see if I did have stones and how big they were. Today I woke up getting sick again and the pain was back to what it was on Friday so a friend from work Britney took me back to Canyon and they found my CT results and sure enough I had a stone maybe 2. Because of how I was feeling they gave me 2 more shots before I went to Amarillo to see a urologist. After x-rays and looking over everything the doctor felt I would be able to pass them on my own. If I get worse though I can call him and he will surgically remove them. He has also told me that I can't work till the 6th of May.

Take care and miss you all!

24 hour Stomach Bug

The last 48 hours have been rough ones for me. Yesterday morning around 10:30am I started having back pains, nauseated and just wasn't feeling well. I had decided to not go to lunch because I was feeling horrible. Well come to find out I caught a stomach bug and was in the bathroom once every half an hour till 3 am this morning getting sick. I had already warned my boss about me getting sick and about 10pm last night I called and told him I wouldn't be at work today because I was still getting sick. He understood and was very helpful.

The lesson I learned from this is that things can always be worse than they appear initially. I never thought anything could be worse than having a stomach bug but it can be I promise. At camp we have been having problems with the water pump to our housing units going out well yesterday it went out. So I had a stomach bug with no water in my house to flush the toilet, rinse my mouth out, or to drink. I really didn't think things could be any worse than a stomach but yesterday I learned that having one with no water is the worst it can get. After an hour and a half of no water at all I made a phone call to the office and thankfully people at camp came to my rescue and brought up bottled water for me to drink and two 5 gallon buckets of water for the dogs, and my toilet. The sad part was that when I had finally gotten water in the trailer not even 1/2 hour later the water was turned back on.

I didn't go into work today because I wasn't feeling the best and I wasn't sure if I was still contagious but I do plan to go in for my 4 hour shift tomorrow morning. I am finally able to keep down food and water. Although my food has only been yogurt, soup, crackers, pudding, water, and chocolate milk but it stayed down. An improvement over yesterday. This morning I did get my trailer cleaned and sanitized so hopefully I don't get it again (toilet, dishes, and sheets) and my boss sent me some disinfectant to spray too. Thank you camp!

Just Whose Bed is it? :)

This morning I decided to document on film the regular morning routine. My pups sleep with me every night. Wreckless transitions from the floor to the bed all through the night but usually ends on the bed at the foot of it. Daisy-Rose is the one that never leaves the bed. She starts at the food of the bed and every morning when I wake up she is curled up with her head on the pillow next to me. When I get out of bed and start getting ready I come back in my room and low and behold it never fails Wreckless is laying exactly where I sleep. :) So who does my bed belong to? :)

We were talking at the dining hall yesterday about making our beds. An older woman I work with could not understand people who don't make their bed. I looked at her and said I try every morning to make my bed but it is really hard when you have a big black dog who loves to cover himself up. So you make the bed and when you get back to the bedroom all your sheets are at the foot of the bet and him curled up next to them (because he can't get under them without help) or you have a little brown dog that sees you trying to make the bed and she sees it as play time and is jumping everywhere while you are trying to straighten out the sheets. My friend smiled and said she could understand my reasoning for giving up.

So this morning I was laughing as I thought about our conversation at work and decided it was time to take pictures and show yall. Unfortunately Daisy-Rose moved before I could get her picture but I promise I will get it with her sleeping on the pillow like she is a real person. :)

I love my pups and they really are a huge blessing!

Prayers for Ceta Canyon

This afternoon when I went to work my boss in the kitchen Micheal sat me and Liz (new head cook) down and told us that he has put in his resignation. He will be staying for 3 more weeks to help out and then he is gone. Please pray for us! We are so short handed and with Michael leaving the kitchen it is possibly going to be a rough summer if his position doesn't get filled. Even if we do find people to cover all the positions we need filled everyone will be new. It is scary having a change like this prior to summer. Thank you for all that you do to encourage me as I strive to do His will. May the Lord bless and keep each of you as you serve Him!

Beth Moore Kick

I know I haven't shared in a while what I have been studying. I am actually on a Beth Moore kick I suppose. I am reading 2 of her books for the retreat I am helping to develop for Ceta Canyon. Both of which I am reading to see if either would be a good idea to possibly give to each girl/woman that attends the retreat. The books are "Praying God's Word" and "Get Out of That Pit:Straight Talk about God's Deliverance". I have also just started "Esther" the most recent Bible Study that came out by her.

Both the books have been so encouraging and good. I am not sure which one to suggest or if we will do this but both would be good I think. If yall have read them which would you suggest (there is recent info about the retreat in previous posts)?

Fun With Wreckless

The other day while I was cleaning one of our buildings here at camp I found multiple beach balls with a smiley face on them. I asked if I could take one home and see what the pups would do. Daisy-Rose was not interested at all in it and Wreckless chased it and had a lot of fun for about 5 minutes. He had a hole in it before I could finish taking pictures. :)

I Survived Becoming 30

30th Birthday Memories

First Gift: Tulips to start a garden with from my neighbors Mark and Nikki

Most Exciting Gift: George Strait tickets at the new Cowboys stadium from my parents

Cutest Gift: my neighbor Rochelle found a cake in the shape of a puppy and got it for me

People Who Called Me: Dad, Grandma, my friend Nina, and Sister (unfortunately I missed her call)

People to Come and Visit Me: Audrey, and Rochelle (both neighbors at camp)

Memory I Will Never Forget: gutting a baby pig with Jeff (my neighbor)

Story of how I came to gut a pig for my birthday:

I had gone for a walk after going to church and watching a movie. While I was walking I saw something rummaging around in the leaves near the tabernacle and it was black. I moved closer to see what it was and at first I thought it was a black cat that has been running around on grounds but it seemed really big to be a cat. All of the sudden it looked up at me and I saw it was a little pig. Jeff has been trying to catch this little thing for a couple of weeks now so I decided to walk on home because he had been working outside all that day. Sure enough he was still there. I told him about the piggy I had found. He said he would give me one of his guns to go kill it. I looked at him wrinkled my nose and told him that was alright. I have shot a gun but it has been years and my Dad has always been present. Plus I don't think I could kill anything that is living especially a baby of any kind. He looked at me and asked if I would at least go with him. I was willing to so he went to get his gun and came back with 2. We started hiking down and as we got closer I told him where I had seen the poor little thing that was soon to meet death. He snuck up and looked around and shot her. He was too close though so when he shot her it went in her back and came out her belly along with her guts. The hole in her back was huge! He picked her up and shook her a bit to get some of the blood off so she wouldn't drip. He carried her about half way and then I carried her the other half of the way. She was so cute if a pig can be. While we were walking home he asked if I wanted to help gut her. So I held her little legs while he gutted her. We looked at all the different organs (female parts, heart, lungs, liver, intestines, etc...). It was quite interesting. The whole time Jeff had no idea that it was my birthday. After we finished I came home, washed my hands, and went to church. After I got home I saw that he sent me a message on facebook asking me when my birthday was because he saw all the wall posts wishing me a happy birthday. After I finished writing him back his wife Audrey came to the trailer to wish me a happy birthday and I got to wish her one too (we share the same day for our birthdays). She told me that as they were leaving she asked Jeff if he knew if I had gone somewhere for my birthday. She said that he looked up at her and said not that he knew of because I helped him gut the pig. I think she felt sorry for me but it is like I told her it made my 30th birthday very memorable. :)

Sweet Time Away from Camp

Last night I returned home after making a trip to Snyder for my Grandma's 91st Birthday. It was so good to be at Grandma's again. I haven't been to Snyder since January when I went for Christmas. I think this has been the longest I have been away from Snyder.

While I was making a trip to Grandma's my new found friend Sheila (who is a beautiful example of how the Lord is able to turn the ashes of our lives into beauty) met with me in Sweetwater. Sheila is the person who is helping me with the retreat we are working to develop for Ceta Canyon. Her and I met for about 3 1/2 hours and visited, got to know each other, planned, outlined, and shared our thoughts and ideas. She was such an encouragement for me and I felt so relieved when we finished our visit together. I really felt like we were able to bring all our thoughts together and accomplished something. There is still a lot to do but it was a good and sweet time for me. We came up with a goal and purpose for the retreat, dates to consider, a schedule for the retreat, a theme as far as what we will be teaching, and so much more. The Lord is really working to bring this all together. We have been praying and seeking His wisdom and guidance as we work through the planning. We have talked to different friends/family to gain insight and thoughts from them. As we talked yesterday everything seemed to start coming together. I have been so overwhelmed lately wondering how this retreat would ever come to pass with all the changes here at camp, and the busy season just around the corner. Then the Lord reminded me of something I have prayed for one of my friends many times it is Psalm 61:1-2:

"Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto you, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."

I realize and know that the only way this retreat will happen is if God wills for it to happened. Before meeting with Sheila this was my prayer. After all was said and done I believe that I was lead to that Rock who is higher than me. I am not feeling overwhelmed by this now. The Lord provided a vision a year ago and in His good timing He really is working it out. It will be awesome to see what will occur. There are still changes that could be made so I am not going to post anything definite but I will post more details over the next couple of months. Hopefully by the end of May. I will say that our goal as far as dates are concerned is mid October to mid November and it will be from Friday evening to Sunday around noon. There are still so many details to work through though.

Prayer Needs for Retreat:
godly wisdom and guidance throughout this process of planning
counselors to help with small groups
that the retreat will be affordable
pray for those that the Lord brings to the retreat(He already knows who will be there)
unfinished planning

Now to why I went to Snyder. :)

My Grandma's birthday was yesterday and it was such a wonderful day. She is one very popular lady. Her phone started ringing early and continued till we left for her birthday lunch. My Grandma is such a precious woman with so much love and care to offer. I pray that as I grow older that I would grow old gracefully as she has. She turned 91 years old and looked at it with joy. I am about to turn 30 years old and this is a hard age transition for me. This is the first birthday I have dreaded. I look at my Grandma and she was so thankful for another year.

My Grandma has taught me so much over the last 10 years but the one thing that stands out the most that I feel so thankful for that she has passed down to me is the ability to quilt. I am not a pro like her by any means and she couldn't teach me everything due to partial loss of her sight but what she was able to teach me I am thankful. She has taught me to use my hands well. She passed on a legacy and as she has said I was rightly named (I was named after her). I pray that I too will pass on one day what my precious Grandma has taught me. She truly is a virtuous woman (Prov. 31:10-31) and I feel very blessed to have gotten to know her and have the time that I have had with her over the last 30 years of my life. I pray that one day I will be worthy in Christ to be called virtuous. One of my greatest desires is to be a virtuous woman.

Thank you Grandma for all you do! I really do love you and cherish you!

Adventures at Camp March 30th

I had a very entertaining day at camp on Monday.

To start off the day my Dad came to get my car to get the poor thing healthy. Well I am embarrassed to say that nothing was wrong with it. My checkbook is very thankful that nothing was wrong but it is embarrassing that all the fuss happened because the radiator cap wasn't screwed on tight enough. My poor parents drove all the way to camp to take my car to get an oil change and a tire rotation. Oopsie!

Our goal at work for the day was to get Ceta Lodge all put together for this weekend. We were working on it during the windiest day of the week which was wonderful (I am being sarcastic). After moving some beds to staff housing Mark and I were taking stuff up to but in storage and drop boxes off at the burn pit and we started smelling something different. We were almost to the pit when I mentioned it to him and he thought it might be something from the work the septic guys were doing close by but he said that we would check it. The smell got stronger and stronger so when we stopped the pickup we got out and inspected to make sure all was okay. Well the engine was smoking. We went to lift the hood to let it cool off and low and behold flames appeared! We had a small electrical fire under the hood of the pickup. I got in the pickup and was looking for a fire extinguisher while Mark called on the radio to Bronc for help. Bronc got there very quickly to put out the fire. Bronc to the rescue!

After we put out the fire and got things situated we went back to Ceta Lodge to help Michael move more beds to storage. I was being blown all over the place. The wind would catch whatever I was carrying and it would turn me in circles. I was helping Michael load up full size box springs during the second load and after loading the first one all the sudden I couldn't catch my breath. My mid and upper back were hurting bad too. I didn't say anything right away but when I went to get the next box springs I could not lift it and I couldn't breathe well. I looked at Michael and told him I thought I had hurt myself and they sat me down and then I laid down because it hurt so bad. After 2 aspirin and resting for about a half an hour they told me to go home for the day and see how I felt the next day.

As for an update on my back. Yesterday I did my boss Michael's job. I wrote the schedule, made a menu, did a food order, etc... and now I am off for a couple of days. I have to be back to work on Friday at 3pm. My back is still hurting but between Aleve and rest it is getting better.

I hope that your week has not been met with this kind of entertainment. The lesson from the pickup fire is that I plan to get a fire extinguisher for my car. :)