Craziness with a whole lotta happiness

Sorry for the lack of posts, but life has been a little hectic lately.  My dear friend, Molly, just got married last weekend so I have been gearing up for that the month of August.  It was a wonderful wedding and I was so honored to be a part of it.  Needless to say, I handle my anxiety perfectly and danced the night away.  As my Dad said, this is good for you Mags.  It gets you out there being"you" again.  I had a lot of fun, and I was so happy I was able to enjoy the entire weekend.  I did come home Sunday afternoon and sleep 16 hours straight though!  Pretty sore and tired for about 2-3 days but it was all worth it and I have recovered quite nicely! :)

Me and my father... Love him!  Prayers for him... he is on his way to India for  a mission trip of sorts tomorrow helping woman there to increase their agriculture production! :)

Chris and I... fresh off his fly fishing trip to Montana with my Dad and brother and his 28th birthday! :)

My mom and I... my best friend!  I couldn't of gotten through emotionally/physically if it wasn't for her! :)  Always and forever my number one cheerleader! :)

Best friends since 5th grade... So happy she found Neil and I was able to be a part of it! :)

The happy couple... Mr. and Mrs. Neil Mulholland! :)

One of my best friend's husbands, Ryan, took the wedding pictures.  Can't wait to see what he was able to capture on the wonderful day!  The weather was perfect! :)

So... besides the wedding, our house got struck by lightning in July... so we have been without our main computer/wireless.  SO I am writing this on my OLD college laptop.  I will admit that I never realized how much Chris and I relied on technology.  Also... we now have a wonderful technology graveyard!  I won't even begin to tell you how much that little lightning has cost us.  But hey... it could be worse!

So now that Molly's wedding is over I'm looking forward to my favorite time of the year... FALL/HALLOWEEN!  My mom is coming up in  a week to have a Mom/Daughter week.... she hasn't been here since April and it'll be the first time in 3 years that she'll be here without any medical interferences! woo hoo

So... I have sat and reflected this week while I re-cooperate.  Its hard for to think that 3 years ago this week I was diagnosed with my disease.  Two years ago this past weekend, ones when I hit my low point.  I could barely walk, coughing none stop and had a temperature of 103.  That's when I had to go to the hospital.  That is the lowest I have ever felt, as morbid as this is I never thought I would live to see the day that my dear friend Molly got married.  So... Molly's wedding was a triumph of sorts for me against my disease.  God has been good to me and has allowed me to start to lead a "semi normal life."  Slowly, he is starting to show me why he chose me to handle this.  Figuring out life and my purpose one day at a time can be quite joyful.  Well... enough rambling.

OH... I almost forgot.  Happy Allen news... Brant and Kelly are having a boy!  Parker Samuel Allen is due in January! :)  Finally that girly family get a dose of testosterone.

Hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day!  Warmly...

3 Years and Counting

Picture of us after our Anniversary dinner...

So Chris and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on June 28th... with that we also celebrated on June 30th of 3 years since I've been sick.  I can officially say that this was the first time we have had a semi-healthy anniversary.  We are finally on our track to figuring out a normal routine.  Last week I was even able to organize our entire kitchen... i.e. the pantry and my spice cabinet.  So better now! :)

For the most part I've been feeling fairly good, although I do wake up with swollen joints and tenderness due to the humidity, but I find it easier to deal with than when its really cold, so I'll take the humidity any day.  I met with my doctor and its hard to believe that its already time for another infusion.  We're still working out the "kinks" in the timing.  So we're going to try 4 1/2 months.  The earliest I can get my infusion is 4 months.  I'm hoping to not have to do that but we'll see.

So I have infusions starting in a week.  As of this past week, I can start to feel the fatigue coming on a little bit at a time and my dermatoymyositis started to show itself a little bit in the form on my eyelids getting pink.  So although I'm not looking forward to my infusion... I think its coming at a good time.

I'm going to Iowa next week and I'm REALLY looking forward to spending some quality time with my mom. I will also be able to see my Dad for a night before he goes off on a business trip, which is great since I haven't seen him since April.

Chris is back at school and things are going really well.  He seems to be really enjoying his classes.  Hard to believe he already has a full year behind him.  We stayed here for the fourth of July.  It was nice to relax.  We spent time with Chris' mom and then on the fourth we went to our friend's the Nelsons and grilled out.  They just had a baby boy, so it was pretty low key.

Hard to believe its almost August.  We are hanging in there.  Although my disease doesn't have a "remission" status, it does have a "controlled" status.  So things are looking better.  I'm slowly starting to gain a little bit of confidence back as well as the prednisone weight is SLOWLY coming off.  The good news is that my face is almost back to normal. :)

Live, Laugh, LOVE

Chris and I just got back from a wedding in Des Moines.  It was filled with a lot of laughter, a lot of fun, and A LOT OF LOVE!  I was pumped to be able to dance the whole night and was so happy to enjoy this wonderful wedding.  Although... it makes me miss a lot of college friends, etc.  Here are a few pics! :)  Cheers!

Betsy and I! :)

The wives of Alpha Tao Omega!

Adorable centerpieces... so simple and chic! :)

This was the groom's cake... he is obsessed with Shark Week!  Too cute! :)

The beautiful bride and groom! :)

My hubby and I! :)

LOVED her dress! :)

Double dose of good news

So I can continue my blog posts of really good news. First off, last week I went to the pulmonologist and my lung function test showed amazing improvement from February, and comparing it to last year it was amazing. Last June my pulmonary function was 42%. Which pretty much means that when I breathe I was only using 42% of my lungs. I was in then 40's all of 2010. I started to show some improvement in the Fall of 2010. In February my function went up to 50%... I'm even more happy to report that I have now officially hit 60%. I can honestly say that this is the first time I've thought I'm heading towards being able to live a semi-normal life.

It has been extremely refreshing these past few weeks, as our conversations in the Hatch household has been filled with talking about future trips we want to take and the possibility of starting a family in the next few years. It's such a relief to be a normal, boring married couple!!!

On Friday I go into see my rheumatologist... Looking forward to a good report and scheduling my next infusions for July/August. It's going to be a few busy months, but filled with a lot of good things.

So, the second bit of news is VERY exciting!!!!! Chris and I received a phone call a few weeks ago and I can happily, officially report it now. As most of you know I adore my brother, Brant and sister-in-law, Kelly. I adore them even more now that they have given me my adorable, beautiful nieces Keegan and Mia. Well, get ready as Baby Allen #3 is in the way!!!!  I was told via a phone, but my parents were traveling down there to visit for Keegan's birthday and were given a picture frame with three picture slots... two filled with Keegs and Mia.  The third had a note that read... Parker Samuel or Lily Ann???  This is when they figured out what was going on...

The funny, ironic aspect of it is the fact that the baby is due in January. The funny part is Mia was born in February, Kelly in March, Brant in April, and Keegan in May!!!! How funny is that...

Other positive news is I was able to make it to Cedar Falls for my dear friend, Molly's wedding shower. Here is a picture with me and my Mom...

Here is my friend Molly and me, her Matron of Honor! :)  Can't wait for the wedding in August.  Its going to be a lot of fun!

The joy of being able to finish something- start to finish

It has been a long time since I have been able to accomplish a project from start to finish.  I would either wear myself out, end of getting really sore, or not be able to physically finish it... i.e. painting our bathroom.  I still officially cannot bend down on my knees.

Well I can honestly say that I accomplished my first DIY project in a long time.  I took on putting up a kitchen back splash... which we desperately needed as the wall behind our sink was slowly getting destroyed.  Chris helped towards the end with me with figuring out how to extend the light fixtures and as well as grouting.  But other than that... a few Starbucks green teas, some music and I had a VERY productive week last week.

We also did some landscaping, while I'll admit that Chris did most of it, I did transplant all the plants and get all of our other plants ready for summer.  Here are a few pics.  Enjoy! :)  I know I am.

 Our new "royal" crab tree which I named Kate in honor of my obsession with Kate Middleton

The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino

The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino Blogger Templates

Life is good...

I just realized this afternoon that I have been totally MIA for about a month.  WOW!  While that is totally unacceptable, the reason is that I HAVE BEEN FEELING GREAT!  My infusion kicked in towards the end of April and I have been going strong since.

This past week I was busy babysitting my mother-in-law's two kitties... along with our Mr. Kitty, it was quite an active household.  Every where I turned there was a feline waiting and yearning for affection.  It was quite interesting and made me realize that I never want to own three cats.

Anyways, I have been quite busy with projects around the house.  The weather has been decent with average temperatures in the 60's.  I have found that between the 40's and 50's my arthritis acts up a little bit along with rain and anything below 40's causes some pain.  Above 50's and I have been feeling great.  I even have been working out everyday and I can go up to 20 minutes on the elliptical.  Considering I was at 2 minutes in January I think that's an accomplishment.

I'll fill ya'll in on our backyard landscaping project, the fact that I just completed an entire kitchen backsplash, oh and an awesome little thing regarding my amazing husband getting me my dream beach cruiser bike to take to the pool this summer.

SO anyways... Life is good because ONE I'm feeling GOOD and TWO, I got to see these two little ones a few weeks ago.  We surprised my brother for his 30th birthday and flew down to Georgia for the weekend.  We surprised the little ones as well! :)  Can't believe how big they are getting.  Here are some pictures for our weekend! :)

Chris, Brant (my brother) and My Dad at the Atlanta Aquarium

Keegan (Age 4) trying to teach me how to courtesy like Princess Kate

Keegan teaching me how to me "fancy" like Fancy Nancy

Loving my little Kiki

Loving my little Mia

The girls were brushing my hair and playing "rapunzel"

The four year old showcasing her new Rapunzel sunglasses

My brother with his birthday gift from us fellow Iowa Staters

Like I said... Life is GOOD!