Audiology Brain

I've decided, I have this condition called "Audiology Brain".  Now whenever someone says an acronym or condition my brain automatically flashes to hearing loss and how it relates to Audiology.  I also seem to have lost all sorts of common sense.  I can rattle off otosclerosis or any other disease etiology, pathology, and prognosis, yet I'm stumped by the word 'purpose'.  I actually had to look it up in a dictionary the other day.... pathetic I tell you!

In other Audiology related news- I am LOVING my placement yet again this semester.  I'm at a local hospital so I can take the bus in 15 minutes rather than drive 1.5 hours each way :) It's a great place and I love getting to do all the special balance testing and newborn hearing tests but I just wish there was more stuff going on!  One of the ENTs that is attached to the office is off on vacation this week so the patients are rather sparse.  I only got 4 hours of work in today when I was there a full 8 hours.  At least I am getting some experience in balance testing, which is hard to come by (fingers crossed no 'splashers', that's the code name for someone who gets so dizzy from the testing they vomit- gross). 

And today I got to play with some pretty cute babies.  Thankfully they were all normal hearing so I didn't have to tell any parents bad news.  I did have my first profound hearing loss evaluation yesterday, and man was it rough.  Long day for both me and the patient.  What was supposed to be a 2 hour appointment turned into 3... man was I stressed.  Here is to hoping the most powerful hearing aids on the market will help this poor woman regain some contact with the world.

I'm currently coming down with something- dang sick people from the hospital! But, I need to get over it quickly, because boyfriend is coming into town for the last long weekend of block leave!
Football tickets and Illini apparel have been purchased, and there is rumor of a date night out on the town.  Go away sinus crap, I have some soldier spoiling to do.  I'll be sure to post photos, I'm very excited to go to my first football game at my grad school.

Holy cow it's September!

Oh my goodness have I been a bad blogger!  There is no excuse really, I’ve just been busy chasing around a soldier and starting up another semester. 

Labor Day weekend I went with boyfriend and his family and made the 8 hour trek from home sweet home to their family farm in Nebraska.  This was going to be the first time for me to meet the entire extended family.  We got to Iowa, picked up boyfriend’s little brother and drove on out.  Saturday night we spent with his grandparents and one aunt/uncle before they left for Las Vegas.  It was really a shame they booked the trip during the weekend, but oh well we made the most of it. 

The first night we got to see the farm and got to go for a ride in his grandparent’s restored 1938 Ford.  It was the car his grandfather and grandmother took out to Colorado for their honeymoon.  Needless to say, we got a lot of flak while riding in the car.  It was romantic though, and I loved going on a sunset drive around the farm and near the lake.  

1938 Ford his grandparents drove to CO on their honeymoon.  They had it restored for their 60th wedding anniversary.

Waving and driving up the lane.

Boyfriend's family plus me.

Sun setting on the lake on the farm

Backseat with the windows down

The next day I got shown around boyfriend’s mothers’ hometown.  I saw the church his parents were married at and had some of the local cuisine.  Shortly after that we went to his other aunt and uncle’s house for a full family picnic to celebrate their 40^th wedding anniversary and boyfriend being home.  I had such a blast and although it was overwhelming to meet practically everyone in one go, at least there was plenty of beer and Yakima to keep it light hearted.  Later that night we all sat around the campfire and talking and I really got to know his cousins.  I had such an amazing time, and was told I got the “2 thumbs up” approval and the official welcome to the family. Gee, its not like boyfriend gets the say in this or anything ;)

I’ve just been getting settled into the new semester and re-adjusting to classes and working, hence the long absence.  I think things should get better this week, I finally have a handle on juggling my workload.  But here are some more photos from the trip- enjoy!  

Old rusted farm truck, looked like a postcard.

Playing with the player piano.

Only photo from the BBQ, and for good reason haha! The wine was flowing pretty heavy at this point :)

Reintegrating.

Hello long lost bloggy world.  I promise I’m around, I’ve just been really distracted by a certain boy that is finally home :)

This past week I was told by my professor an exam I thought I would have was moved to after Labor Day weekend, thus giving me a 4 day weekend with little to no homework.  Boyfriend notified me he found a new house to rent and was going to be moving this weekend.  I decided on Tuesday that I’d pop on down and give him another set of hands. 

I drove down and arrived Thursday just in time to go out to dinner and have a real date night together.  We ran into a few guys from his platoon leader days so I got to meet some of the guys and their wives/girlfriends/fiancés for the first time. They were nice, and enjoyed giving me and boyfriend a hard time about being together so long and still not married *rolls eyes* like we haven’t heard that one before! But it was nice to joke around and dish it right back over a few beers.

The following day was filled with reintegration training for him in the morning and packing and moving the rest of the day.  On Friday we managed to move completely from his house he shared with roommates to his new place starting at 11am and completely moved all boxes into the new place by 4:15.  There wasn’t much furniture to move so that made things go much faster.  I no longer have any desire to move a washer or dryer ever again.  Ugh, thankfully a long hot shower and chocolate cures most moving related aches and pains. 

Saturday was spent shopping for furniture, unpacking, putting together the new furniture, and decorating the new place.  It was fun “playing house” and putting together a household.  Saturday over dinner we had some very frank conversations about the whole LDR situation and his thoughts on where his career is going with the Army.  He mentioned the Special Forces, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly terrified.  I know he’s just putting in a packet and seeing where things go, and he’ll regret it if he doesn’t try.  Again, with the wait and see game. 

We discussed how we are both so ready to live near each other and experience living together rather than being apart all the time.  It’s unavoidable and necessary right now while I finish my education, but in a perfect world we’d be able to relocate by now.  We seemed to step right back into where we were before deployment with only a few hiccups.  I thought we were crazy about each other before he deployed, but like the Brad Paisley song, "I thought I loved you then".  To keep from going too nuts I think I'll just have to keep repeating my mantra of “delayed gratification”.

Just a few more days and I’ll be off to his grandparent’s house to meet the entire extended family for the first time… eeep!! Let the awkward conversations with people I’m meeting for the first time begin.  I’ll have my new camera by then, so I’ll be sure to share photos. 

He's finally back!

After 4 plane delays he finally made it in :)  I spotted him right off the plane and couldn't stop the happy tears then.  I've been all smiles ever since the ceremony.  His family and I got to have dinner with him and then he and I had few hours to ourselves last night before leaving early this morning.  Unfortunately it was a very brief visit, but block leave will be here soon enough.
Now I just need these next few weeks of classes and work to fly by so that I can go with him and his family for an extended Labor Day weekend for a welcome home party out in Nebraska.  Oh boy, things are getting serious, finally meeting the whole family after 6.5 years ;)

Photos from the day:

Finally spotted him coming off the plane.  Look at that big smile :)

Welcome home hug and kiss.

I was shaking at this point.

Lost in conversation.

The family plus me.

His momma and I.

And this is the face you make when your 15 minutes are up.

Look at all those bags!

I should be sleeping.

Tonight, I should be cuddled up with my soldier, chatting about anything and everything, and getting all caught up on our lives from the past 3 months since R&R.  I should be giving him the back rub I promised and listening to his plans for leave while talking about where we go from here now that he is home.

Instead the Army decided to have other plans.  They decided they needed his journey home to take another 2 days.  His parents and I rushed down here yesterday after getting the official phone call thinking there may be a change of up to 24 hours after the call.  Boy were we wrong.  It got pushed back another day, and this afternoon it got pushed back yet again. 

I'm just beyond frustrated, and starting to feel a little bitter.  I don't know if this is a normal thing or if it always just seems to happen to us.  I know I should be really thankful he is on his way, but I just want him here now! I guess I have another day to spend with his family and hoping that things maybe get moved forward.  At this point, if he gets delayed anymore it'll just be a quick "hi/bye" and we'll have to hit the road again so I can get to school.  So much for having a long weekend together.

Come on Army, get the guys home already!  I'm off to the hotel vending machine to eat my feelings a little bit.  Is this typical??

Raw Emotion

Today, I finally got the information I’ve been craving for almost a full year, a homecoming date.  I’m not 100% sure of the exact time, but it’s nice to finally have some finality to this deployment.  Nothing makes a morning like a message saying “I’m on my way.  See you soon”.

"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

Going into this year, I was naive about the nights I’d spend alone, and the amount of communication I’d be able to have with my soldier.   But here I am, still standing strong despite the year apart.  I never thought I’d be at this point, it certainly took its time in getting here! If he had come home on his original date, I’d be in his arms tonight.  But duty called and Uncle Sam wanted him a few more days so I guess I’ll just have to wait.  I do know that I can count the number of days on one hand and it is such a relief to know that he is en route to me right now.  

I’m trying really hard to have realistic expectations about the ceremony and not over romanticize the entire day.  I know he will be tired, his family is going to be excited as well, and that I am going to have to work hard for some alone time while respecting his family’s time as well.  

I’m already crying about the day, it’s like I can finally breathe again.  I’ve been walking on eggshells and felt like there was a huge weight on my shoulders this last year.  Now that I know he is moving, the weight has been lifted and I can feel some of the anxiety I’ve been holding in about the entire year.  Tonight I let myself have a good “ugly cry” because it’s finally over and I can start to get excited about this. I think I’m just in a very weird place emotionally. 

It didn't help that I was at a wedding alone yesterday thinking about how he should have been with me.  I've attended many weddings alone and while I was so excited for the couple,  I was throwing a pity party that everyone had a date and a slow dance partner while I was sitting at the table alone with my drink. I was the only person in my group of friends without a +1 in attendance.  At least the weddings I'll be going to in the next year, he'll hopefully be at my side, and I'll have someone to whisper sweet nothings to during slow dances. 

I'm hopeful this week will fly by, and I'll enjoy some time alone together where we can catch up and get back into our LDR routine.  At least, I'm excited to know that after that hug, just a few days of redeployment training stand between the two of us and block leave. It's not looking like we'll get a quick weekend together on Labor Day, instead I'm going out to Nebraska with his family to meet the whole fam-damily.  Maybe at Christmas-time we'll finally get that elusive vacation together.  

I'll try to update with photos as soon as I get the chance, but odds are, I won't be updating until next week when I return from the long weekend down at his base.  Thank ladies for all your support and kind words that have gotten me through this year.  Seeing all the love from the blogging community has really been beneficial, so thanks again :) I'm hopeful about our future with the Army because I've seen all of you balance through the good days and the dark days as well.  So hats off to those of you with multiple deployments under your belt. You're the ones that have kept me going some night with your optimism and blunt truths about military life.

Single Digits, and Vertically Challenged.

Well, the donut told me I'm vertically challenged.... but in real life I am far from it- ha!  I opened up my Donut today after taking a few days away from looking at it, and enjoying some much needed girl time in the STL.  I was SO incredibly excited to see such a small percent... goodness where has this year gone?

In this last year I have:
1) Completed 3 full semesters of grad school
2) Moved to a new town and explored it where I no longer feel like a tourist.
3) Welcomed back some BFFs from their semesters abroad.
4) Made some great new friends in grad school.
5) Become an even bigger ear nerd.
6) Started to gain a ton of clinical skills.
7) Figured out my future life goals (for the most part).
8) Become an even stronger person than I ever felt I could be.
9) Learned to cherish a 10 minute phone call.
10) Fallen even more madly in love than I ever thought possible.

I am so ready to welcome him home, now it is just a matter of keeping myself occupied.  I know tomorrow is going to be really tough having to say "see you soon" to two of my BFFs before they leave for China next week, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology I know I will still be able to talk to them lots and lots.  Just a wedding, starting some clinicals back up, and before I know it, I'll be back with boyfriend just like I ought to be.