It's That Time!!

We got home tonight from a wonderful trip to Columbia, Missouri seeing Justin's family (pics to come later). As soon as we walked in the door, I pretty much started decorating for Christmas. Who needs to put luggage away and sort through mail after being gone almost a week? Christmas decorating just can't wait.

This is the nativity scene my mother in law got for me. It's from Haiti and is made of clay. I absolutely love it - especially the coconut hut!!! But do you see the little figure on the far right? Why does he have a knife in his hand?!?!

And to top of a wonderful evening of Christmas decorating, we decided to put up the fake tree we bought last year on clearance. The only problem? No top!! Luckily the tree company will send it out "immediately." I hope their "immediately" is sometime before Christmas!

Top 5

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Things I am thankful for:

1. Hot chocolate on a cold day
2. Old Navy Performance Fleece
3. Kitties that nap with you
4. Christmas music
5. Tweezers - unibrows are a no-no!

And of course - family, friends, health and freedom. I can't leave those out!

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

What A Nerd

Caramel's new favorite lounging place. She is just too funny!

Bus Ride

Last Tuesday, we went with some of our Sunday small group (and borrowed the Hutchisons) up to Okarche to sample some of the famous Eischens fried chicken and okra. I've never been and have heard so much about it, so now I can officially say I've experienced the joy of Eischens. I LOVE fried chicken and fried okra. It's so good for you too. :)

Terra's dad owns a charter bus and all 10 of us got in the 40 passenger bus and drove up to Eischens. We had a blast! It was so much fun to go and we got to know each other a whole lot better. Thanks for coordinating this, Myers!

Can You Tell A Difference?

Yeah, me either.

Thanks to the doc's who wrote on me with super stain-y marker - your initals will forever be on my leg.

Greaseball

Today is my big day - Justin is going back to work for a little while and I'm going to be on my own. I'm ready. I can walk. Bring on the day.

I went to my follow up visit with the doctor yesterday and stupidly took a pain pill in the waiting room. Well, this commenced nausea and lightheadedness. We were in the room and they started to take off the bandages to take out the drain in my knee and I had to lie down because I thought I was going to pass out! Then once that was out, I sat up and felt better. Then Dr. Hines came in and while he was talking, I had to lie down again! I can never go into a medical profession. I would be on the floor the majority of the time.

Dr. Hines told me I could start walking with the crutches and graduate to without whenever I felt ready. I used them yesterday from the office to the house but have been getting up to use the bathroom without!!! I am still keeping my constant ice pack on my knee but will probably go without it at some point today.

I am really excited - today I can shower!! I have the type of hair that gets greasy after a day without washing so going two makes me really nasty. That is my excuse for not going into work today - I am a greaseball!

That's the prognosis so far. I start physical therapy with my guy again on Monday. I doubt I can do much but it will be nice to get out of the house!

I Survived!

Today was the big day! Everything went very smoothly and I feel pretty good! We got there about 7:30 am to check in, but then had to sit and wait for a long time to actually get in to surgery. Justin was great and kept me company and in high spirits. Finally I talked with the doctor and anesthesiologist and then a few minutes later, we were off!! I woke up awhile later and felt really good - not too groggy, sick or anything like that. My knee hurt of course but they gave me some drugs and the pain went away.

I spent the rest of the day napping, watching TV and catching up on blogstalking. I'm also trying out a new background - I tend to get bored easily with stuff like that so it might change again soon.

Thanks for everyone who has called/texted to ask about me today. My wonderful in-laws sent flowers! I love them! I told my parents they are going to have to step it up :) I've had several people offer dinner for us and I am so grateful to you for thinking about that!

Tomorrow I will go back to the doctor at 10 to get the tube removed that is removing excess fluid. After that, I should be able to walk without crutches. I don't know how that will go - I got up to go to the bathroom and about passed out so right now, as long as I'm horizontal, I am doing great.

We got this deal today that looks like a cooler...you fill it up with ice water and it connects to a wrap around my knee and constantly keeps it cool and lessens the pain. It is WONDERFUL!! It didn't even hurt when Caramel came to visit me and sat right on my knee. :)

Movie vs. Book

Erin Condict and I went to go see "The Secret Life of Bees" on Friday night. I had forgotten why I avoid the mall on the weekends - or just period. I never know where to park and the people there during the weekends are so...interesting. PLUS we were all ready to stop by Sonic and get a Banana Pudding Shake and Sonic is GONE. We were very disappointed. But we saw lots of people we knew there - so that was fun.

I had just read the book that Erin let me borrow so it was still fresh in my memory. Since I had seen previews before I started the book, my characters already had the faces of Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning and Alicia Keys. So, that was weird, but the book was still really good!!! The movie was okay. I teared up a bit but not a whole lot of other emotions from me. I just wasn't feeling the acting too much, plus I kept thinking about what they left out of the movie (or what was different) that really helps you get involved with the book.

All in all, it's a good movie - I would just say rent it when it comes out on video.

Update

I called the doc's office to schedule surgery and they had an opening on Wednesday!! As in two days from today!! So, I took it since I can have that extra week to recover over Thanksgiving. It just makes sense to me and I'd rather do it sooner than later. I just can't believe it's happening so quickly!!

MRI Results

I've been having knee pain in my right knee for a long time now. There wasn't any instance where I got hurt, it's just been getting worse and worse - especially the days after I've been really active (weekends!). So, I went to the knee doctor to see what he said and his suggestions were physical therapy, medicine and wearing a brace. Well, unfortunately, none of that has worked for me and now I'm faced with the option of having surgery. I went in for a MRI Monday and the results proved that I do have cracked cartiledge under my knee cap which causes grinding and pain. So, I'm faced with figuring out if I want to volunarily have knee surgery. It would be minor - I would be back walking the next day. But my questions are - do I need to have that unnecessary expense? Do I need to try to fit that in near the holidays? Will I regret not having surgery in a few years? (months, weeks?) Will the pain get worse? I'm just wrestling with it because it's surgery. I think that word just scares me.

We Pulled it Off!!!

We pulled off the surprise baby shower for Aubrey Kingcade last night at our Girls Night Out! She was totally surprised! Even though she was a bit frustrated at me for being so relaxed about being late, I think she got over it when she got to Terra's! She is a hard one to delay when we were the ones "in charge." But thanks to her hubby and to actual real delays, we were able to show up fashionably late and surprise Aubrey.

Girls night outs are so much fun. We tried watching Girls Just Want to Have Fun (which, if you haven't seen this, you need to - it is hilarious!!) but girls just talk too much and we had more fun chatting with each other. I haven't laughed that long in a long time!!!

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the night. One of these pictures is just for Mandy Stansberry. She'll know which one.

Hodge Podge

Life in the Cornell household has been rather dull lately so I thought I would post random pictures. Hope they brighten your day!

Arbuckle Wilderness - those animals are SO funny!

Those pinchers hurt!

Caramel's new drinking bowl...

Bug Shields from lasik!! Had to wear these for awhile - I know, very hot.

Freedom

We just completed our second go-round of taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class at MRCC. The first time we took it, Justin and I had just gotten engaged and were trying to figure everything out. The course completely changed our lives and got us on the right path. Since then, we have saved a lot, paid off a lot and even had some for home renovations - goodbye nasty green carpet and moldy bathrooms! It's been a true blessing and I can't imagine not living by the envelope system and knowing where each dollar goes! It's been so...peaceful. This time around we were small group leaders - which, I was surprised we were asked! I was a little worried we didn't have enough "experience" to lead others. But we had a great group and I really think they will ALL succeed and stick to it. Plus it helped us get the "gazelle intensity" back in our debt payoff! We are so close!

I would encourage everyone to take this course no matter what stage in life you are in - it will change your life!! It's definitely a lifestyle change, for sure. Wouldn't it feel great to be debt free and be able to have financial FREEDOM?! It can be a reality! I should be Dave's marketing director :)

Have you taken this course? If so, how has it changed your life?

Disturbing

Friday night Justin and I went through the McDonald's drive-thru to get a sundae and I had the shock of my life. This is what we saw...

Yes, that is a plastic head somehow connected to that back of that truck. I seriously thought it was a real head, gasped and almost called CSI:Oklahoma!! I don't know what kind of person thinks this is funny!!

Flashback

My sister is going to love me for posting these (or actually, my mom will for the first one) but they are some of my favorites.

Always wanting to be like my sister!

We did it up for Halloween. That's our life size ghost behind us.

I love permed bangs. Can't you tell?!

After my last depressing post I figured I needed something more light. These are a few pics I have scanned in that I love.

In other news, we made it back safely from the funeral on Wednesday, but it was a bit of a crazy trip. Between the "alien" wind farm, "six sags", "founding farters" and the wonderful hail storm on the way back, we made it down to Abilene and back home safe and sound - all in 24 hours, it was a whirlwind of a trip. The funeral was very nice and we appreciate all the prayers offered on my family's behalf.

Bebo

Lately I've been feeling very overwhelmed. There are a lot of external and internal factors that all add up to me feeling this way but today I left work just feeling...helpless, exhausted, & flat out overwhelmed. What a rough way to start a week! There just seems to be so much going on and I wasn't sure how to handle it all. But as I was listening to my favorite radio station, this song came on - Pull Me Out by Bebo Norman (how can you not love a song by a guy named BEBO?!) Anyway, I just thought I would share some of the lyrics of the song that really touched me at the moment I needed it and helped me calm myself down. Simple things like that help me realize that God does care for me and understands everything I'm going through- He'll pull me out. :)


tell me now, when does this start feeling
like I understand everything I’m dealing with
first I was young, now it’s all just happening
and what about the way I said that made you turn around
and shake your head like I don’t even know what I’m asking for

this could be all about just letting go
this could be all about just holding on

I can’t get my feet off of the ground
I wanna run but I don’t know how
can you reach down here and pull me out, can you pull me out, yeah
I wanna scream but there’s no sound
I wanna fly to you somehow
can you reach me here and pull me out, can you pull me out

remember when I was young and hungry,
I could take it in, without much money,
I had nothing at all but dreams and time to kill
and now I feel like I’m treading water and I’m hardly real -
I’m just trying harder to make my way on the earth by standing still


Anyway, that's my vent for the day. Sorry it's not more uplifting. If you want to listen to this awesome song, go here.

In Loving Memory

Uncle Mikel - you will be missed but are so glad you are no longer hurting. We thank God for the time we had with you on this earth, but know you are in a better place.