Mystery Illness...

The mystery remains. Just as I was starting to feel better, I got hit with dizziness on Thursday evening. It progressed into a nasty spell of vertigo causing me to vomit at work on Friday morning (that was fun!) and leave early because I felt so nauseous that there was no way that I could stare at the computer screen a second longer. My mom was a lifesaver and took me to the ER. I didn't know what else to do... it's been six weeks now. An EKG, cat scan and blood work yielded no results. I don't understand... this is so not normal. Our family doctor and the ENT specialist couldn't figure it out. I'm going to the eye doctor on Wednesday... just another thing to check off the list of possible culprits of this awfulness. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them... I'm up for trying damn near anything at this point.

The two things that are helping me to maintain my sanity...

Adventures in Eating...

Growing up, I was a picky eater. I'm still not all that adventurous when it comes to food options. I'm the kind of person that orders the same predictable entree at a restaurant, without fail. I want to be sure that I love what I'm getting, and I'm not willing to risk disappointment. Not when food is involved. However Kev has introduced me to several things that now top my favorites list. He has opened my eyes to the culinary world, and I appreciate that he encourages me to try new things and discover new favorites. First and foremost is coffee... there's nothing better than waking up to the smell of fresh coffee and spending the first moments of the day savoring a cup with my husband. Second is avocado, guacamole specifically. Kev makes a killer guac. I don't know why I was hesitant to try it before, maybe the green color threw me off, but it has now become almost an addiction. Lastly, is an adventure that we first embarked on together a few years ago... Sushi. Love it. And we're lucky that we found a phenomenal little Japanese place only 10 minutes from our house. Life is good...

Hello Handsome...

Lots of errands to do today... and in the midst of all the running around, I came across this handsome devil...

Ok. I lie. He was along for the ride. I was thrilled when he agreed to play model so that I can desperately try to come up with images for my assignment, due Tuesday. He's a good man...

Home...

I don't think I ever posted photos of our house, other than the ones used for the listing. So here it is. Our first home. And our freshened up garden...

Another baby step into domesticity... I have an herb garden. Thank you, Rose! There is basil, lettuce, spinach, and rosemary planted so far. I think we're going to get another planter and a pot for tomatoes. Please pray for the survival of my plants... I hope they fare better than my (un)lucky bamboo desk plant...

New Toy...

For a week at least. I'm renting one of my dream lenses this week to see how I like it. A Canon 16-35mm f2.8 II. Camera equipment is quite expensive... and since there are three lenses that I'm currently lusting after I thought I'd rent all three and decide which one will work best for me. This is week 1 of my little experiment. While practical in theory, renting lenses could prove to be dangerous... I don't really want to give it back! Of course, Chloe was bribed to model...

Look at that fat cat in the background! I know, I never feature the cats on the blog. They're neglected.

Another...

Another very welcome sign of spring...And another play with texture. I feel like this one is a little bit better than the last, and that's all that I can ask. A step in the right direction.

Happy Monday!

No more couch fights...

Nothing too exciting, I just wanted to post the newest additions to our living room... Look at those ottomans! We can actually both stretch out our legs... No more being scrunched on the couch. Love them already. They were ordered from Overstock.com. They open up for storage and the lid flips to become a tray. How perfectly convenient.

Full Bloom...

Our garden sprouted practically overnight. It's so nice to come home to this...


Now if we could just have some consistently warm weather and sun, I'd be one happy girl.

Bigger Images!

Woot! I've been working on trying to get my images to post bigger and I think I have it figured out. Let me know what you think... if you prefer the smaller, make you squint images better? What better way to introduce the change than to show Chloe, large and in charge...

Texture...

Kev found the most incredible road that runs along the reservoir, not 10 minutes from our house. He took me last weekend so we could walk the path on an abnormally sunny Saturday afternoon. The road is surrounded on both sides by water, so it almost seems like it should be a beach road. But there's no sand. Only trees and rocks. No matter. It's beautiful. And so peaceful. It's small discoveries like this one that make me smile...

Not the best photo, but I wanted to play around with some texture. My first try! I'll keep at it. =)

What did you DO?

All Boston's must have the same guilty face...

Exactly the reason why we aren't getting a puppy.

Withdrawal...

Thought I'd share a shot that I took for a photography class that I'm taking. I like it. It's kind of dark, kind of moody, kind of appropriate. 

Head nurse...

I don't know what I would have done without him these past two weeks while I've been sick. Recently I've been thinking about how lucky I've gotten in the spousal lottery. I mean, even after dating for years and living together, you never really know for sure what kind of husband he will be. I couldn't ask for more.

Update: Although the nausea and spinning comes in waves, the feeling of imbalance is constant. More tests are scheduled for next week.

Clarification...

If you couldn't tell, Christine is home from Florida for a few more days. She narrowly avoided yet another knee surgery, which is always a good thing. My sister doesn't always look like the photo you see in Friday's post. She's actually quite normal (looking, at least... hehe). See...Isn't she cute? A bottle of wine and a belly full of sushi will make you do weird things.

Loser...

I'm sad to announce that Chloe did not win the MVP Photo Contest. Bummer. We really appreciate everyone who voted for her. Being that they're advertising for a pet hair vacuum, I suspect that they're biased towards hairier dogs. Or maybe I just don't want to admit defeat. We've decided that it would be best not to tell her, I think it would be a blow to her ego... Poor girl.

First signs of spring...

The first little signs of spring are popping up in our garden. It's like a surprise every day for us... Since this is our first spring in our new house, we're not even sure what's growing in there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for daffodils. They're my favorite... so bright and happy and a reminder that summer is so close you can smell it...

Vote for Chloe!

We have entered this photo of Chloe in the Bissel 'Most Valuable Pet' photo contest. The winner of each of the weekly contests will win a Pet Hair Eraser Vacuum but the grand prize is the pet's photo placed on Pet Hair Eraser vacuum and package AND $10,000 donation to a pet cause of the winner's choice! It would be very cool to get to help out a charity like that and to have Chloe's face in the lights. Or on a vacuum box. Either way. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail address. Please click on the link below to vote for the Monster!

MVP Photo Contest

Muchas gracias!

Cutest kid at the party...

My Dad rocks a birthday hat like you wouldn't believe! Cracks me up. Today was my cousin's little girl's first birthday party... Samantha... Happy Birthday little one. Here she is in all her birthday glory...
They grow up so fast.

And in case you're wondering... the vertigo remains. It seems to be playing a cruel joke on me. I'll start feeling ok, and then WHAM... I'll get hit with a nasty bout of nauseousness. I have the doctor's number programmed in my phone for tomorrow morning...

Happy Monday!

Vertigo. Boo.

It's a beautiful day for a nice case of vertigo. Ugh. I'm actually feeling substantially better than I have the past 2 days. I was first plagued with what was diagnosed as vertigo right before Christmas. Kev and I were settling down to watch a movie when I suddenly felt very nauseous. Like everything around me was spinning. And I couldn't stop shivering, despite being in sweats and under a nice, fluffy throw. This led to numerous unmentionable bathroom activities and me pacing for hours around the living room because walking was the only way that I felt like I wasn't going to vomit or faint. It was honestly the worst I have ever felt. Ever. The doctor prescribed me what I believe to be prescription strength Dramamine. She said that it has a 50/50 chance of helping, but that there's not really anything else that I can do but wait it out. I haven't yet figured out if it works or not because when I take it, it KNOCKS ME OUT. 'May Cause Drowsiness' is an understatement. 'May cause you to sleep for an entire day straight' would be more accurate. So, who's to say if it really works or if it just knocks you out so you don't realize how terrible you feel...

Thursday night it struck again. Though I was exhausted, I couldn't fall asleep because that meant that I had to lay down, which meant that I would feel like my world was still moving... like I was stuck on a boat that was stuck in a whirlpool... seasick, dizzy, and nauseous. Fun times. I woke up around 4am and managed to drag my behind to work. I started to feel better during the day. Kev had planned on surprising me and taking me out to one of our favorite restaurants. He let me in on the plan after my bout with vertigo on Thursday night. I agreed that we should still go, as I felt much better after my chiropractor appointment after work. We got to the restaurant and ordered some drinks. They brought out our appetizers and as soon as I took a bite, my stomach turned. The nauseousness hit immediately. When our salads arrived, I couldn't touch mine. By the time they brought our meals, Kev asked if they could box it up for us and I escaped to the car. I felt so bad, but Kev was very sweet and concerned. After a good day's sleep, I feel a bit better... and hopefully after another healthy 12 hours of sleep tonight I'll be back to 100%. At least the weather matches my mood today...
Pity party for me day.