Life's Lessons

Life is a funny thing sometimes. I graduated with my Master's degree in Education last weekend. Me. Remember how I said I was never getting a Masters? Yeah.

I always told everyone that I HATED country music...I went to my first concert a few weeks ago. It was a country concert. I am listening to country music right now, actually. So that one is obviously not true anymore.

At BYU, it was an unwritten rule that athletic training students were allowed to date athletes because the administration was hoping everyone would get married. At UCO there is a written rule that it is not allowed...However, that did not stop me from completely falling for one of my athletes this year. It absolutely did not go anywhere (I am the poster child for unrequited love) and now he is one of my good friends.

I like to think I am in control of my life and that I run a very tight ship. Well, I am proven over and over again that I am very wrong. And I am not mad.

I am excited to see what the future holds and what else I am woefully ignorant about next. And yes, I am totally contemplating a cowboy boot purchase. :)

Benny And The Jets

So its been an eternity since I last wrote. My bad. Once school ended, I went to Orlando for the most amazing 10 days ever and did not talk to anyone. And I guess since then, I have been trying to convince myself that if I concentrate hard enough, I can teleport back there. Needless to say, it hasn't worked. But I still keep trying.

Christmas really was AWESOME though! I flew out on Mon, Dec 20. Greg picked me up on his way home from work and I chatted with him and Jenn for awhile that night but I was pretty tired so I went to sleep fairly early. I spent all of Tuesday playing with Lindsey and Ryan. I absolutely adore those kids. It felt so good to not have to study or take care of any wrestlers. Just play with my niece and nephew and hang out with my sister-in-law, whom I hope to be just like someday.

Mom, Dad, Jenny and Jason all got in Tues night so we had a little pizza party at Grandma Lee's house. Wednesday was Mommy's birthday so we took her to get a massage and then we went to Gatorland which was super fun! For dinner we went to Longhorn Steakhouse. Yummy! :)

Thursday was Seaworld day. So much fun to take Lindsey around to see all the animals. She was not a big fan of the gators... We ate at Bahama Breeze for dinner which was extremely good. Just FYI.

Friday was the day Chris and Megan showed up to the party! We went out to the beach, even though this was one of the coldest days of our trip. Awesome. We also drove to the Kennedy Space Station. This was a really fun day!

Saturday was Christmas. Presents!!! Lots of eating, story telling, eating, football game watching and more eating. Big Bake Pancake anyone??? We went to see Tron, too!

Sunday was church and hangout day. Uncle Doug's family got to town and we hung out with them. Good times.

Monday was Disney day. Magic Kingdom was...well, magical. We took Lindsey because Greg and Jenn were sick. They watched Ryan too. So I took my cutest little niece ever (also my only niece) around to all the best rides and even got to see some characters!

Tuesday was the first day of the Lee Family Reunion! We all went to the Orlando Hilton (which was freakishly nice) and hung out. We had an outlet mall shopping day. Super fun.

Wednesday was the best day of the whole trip, by far. Universal Studios and.....HARRY POTTER WORLD!!! OMG, it was amazing!!! Words can't even describe how awesome this was. My family thought I was crazy but I seriously spent like 4-5 hours in just that little section of the park. I drank 3 butterbeers. It was high quality good times.

Thursday sucked. Like hardcore. We took family pictures and then I immediately had to leave. I did not want to go. Getting in the car and letting my dad drive me away from Mom and the rest of my family was HARD. Like really hard. I knew it was going to happen but I didn't let myself think about it the whole trip because I just wanted to enjoy every minute of being with family. I LOVE my family. Being stuck here in OK is a cruel form of torture but I learn to deal with it every day. I know I will see them soon. I can't wait for the end of the semester!! Only 12 weeks...

Utah, I miss you! Can you please leave some snow on the ground for when I come see you around the beginning of May?? I would really appreciate it!
Love your biggest Oklahoma fan,
Angela

Um...What??

Well, I finally got some answers about why I have been so sick recently. (If you do not understand what I am talking about, read previous posts.) Anyways, so I had an endoscopy the week before Thanksgiving, where they put a telescope down to my stomach to see if anything was abnormal. Well I got results back today and it wasn't. Just some scarring in my esophagus.

Meanwhile, the nurse thought it looked like I had a rash on my face so did some blood work on me for Lupus. Came back positive. I went to see a doctor from my old ward here in OK today and I don't have Lupus. I have it's cousin, an autoimmune disease called Sjogren's syndrome.  ??? What??

Yeah. That's what I said! I had never heard of it. I had barely heard of Lupus. So it is a disease were the body attacks the glands that produces saliva and tears. It causes dehydration of the eyes, mouth and skin as well as fatigue, joint pain and in my cause, headaches and stomachaches. Isn't it freakin crazy how ALL my problems are related?? It is fascinating. I love how it all fits.

Anyways, that is what I have. I am on a new medicine that should help get everything under control. So, let's hope it does. Thanks for all the prayers and concerns!

Grateful

There is a lot going on in my life right now that requires gratitude. Here is a short list:

1) Modern medicine - Not only does this relate to what I do but I have been pretty sick lately and I have greatly blessed because doctors and medicine. I am still working on figuring out what is wrong. I will keep you posted. Please keep me in your prayers!

2) Priesthood - I am extremely grateful for the power for the priesthood and for the power it plays in my life. I am grateful for a worthy father and brothers who exercise it on my behalf.

3) Family - My family is my everything. I love them so much and even though most of them are so far away from me, I am very grateful to have them in my life.

4) Friends - I have amazing friends who are constantly there for me through all my problems and just make me smile and laugh. TDH. :o)

5) My boys - Even though I do not understand them or their sport, I am grateful for my team and my job. I love my job and being able to take care of them. We have a lot of fun.

This is not even a scratching on the surface of all the things I am grateful for but I am just contemplative today. Remember that Thanksgiving isn't just a holiday, it's a state of mind. We need a thanksgiving people so count your many blessings! 

Just Me

A really good friend of mine, Maya, used to tell me when I was not acting like myself around guys or when I was putting others around me down in order to make myself look better. She was a huge help because I didn't know I was doing it. Now that I am four years removed from that time, I can tell when I am not being real or when I act a different way. Why do I do it? The same reason everyone does. We want to be liked and we are willing to change ourselves in order to be liked.

It dawned on me again this week that I have been guilty of this. The boy? (Because we all know that I am interested in a boy always) I will just refer to him as TDH (tall dark handsome). TDH is someone that I really like and when I am around him, strange things happen. But since this realization, I am going to make a conscious effort to be more myself around him. If he does not like the real me, then I do not want to be with him anyways.

Well, I will be someone else for the next two days while it's Halloween, then I will go back to being me. The real me. By the way, my costume is awesome!!! Just wait.

When Fall Breaks

This weekend was awesome for two reasons. Number one: no work or school due to a wonderful thing that is called Fall Break. I love it. Number two: 5 stake YSA (young single adult) conference in Norman. Super love it.

So I packed up my stuff for the weekend (which ended up being two bags, don't judge...) and drove down to Chris and Megan's where I spent the night and then spent the days hanging out with tons of singles from all over the state. It was pretty fun. It was no very well planned. In fact, I spent a fair amount of time trying to think of how I want to help plan it differently for next year when my stake in OKC hosts it. Super cool, huh? Anyways, there were awesome speakers, Elder Zwick and Elder Fluckiger included, among others. We did do some fun activities but some others were kinda lame. There was an inflatable obstacle course Friday night that was way fun!

The big accomplishment for the weekend was the fact that I carved two baby pumpkins at meals with plastic butter knives. I have witnesses. I got lots of compliments and it was definitely a favorite with the guys. :o)

The sad part of all this is I have to face reality and go back to work and school. I kinda miss being graduated and not having to do anything. I wish I was all grown up and finished with school. Sigh...only a year and half. I can do it!!! Plus, when I do finish, people have to call me Master! Hehe...

Dieting, Dudes and Daddy

Judging by the title, this post is going to be a sweet post right?? Here goes...

I have had stomach problems almost my entire life. For the past few months I have been having increasingly worse pain and nausea. This is getting ridiculous. I went to a doctor out here (which is an unpleasant experience due to insurance issues..) and she told me I was fine and it would go away. Not fine. What a joke of a Dr. Anyways, about a month later I went to a different doctor and he ran a bunch of blood tests. Good news: its not an ulcer. Bad news: he thinks I have celiacs disease, which is a gluten intolerance. Interpretation=suck feast. He also thinks I am lactose intolerant (which I am almost positive is true).

My new diet which I have been following for almost two weeks now ( I am REALLY proud of myself because this is has been REALLY hard for me) is fruits, veggies, meat and rice. Absolutely nothing made of wheat, dairy, anything spicy, fatty or greasy. 

Bread, cheese and milk are my three favorite things to eat and I can no longer eat them. This has be torture. :(

 The best part? I still have stomach pain...

Next topic. Dudes. I have decided that I no longer care about them. That's pretty much all I am going to say about that. Next topic. :)

My dad came in to town this weekend for business and to hang out with me, Chris and Megan. It was good to see him and spend time with some family. I spent the night at Chris's house last night. I slept on the couch, which was surprisingly comfortable. Dad and I spent the morning together. We ate breakfast at IHOP (I did not eat pancakes...) and then I drove him to the airport. I miss daddy. Can't wait for Christmas when the whole family will get to all play together!! YAY! Until then...