July 14

Confession: I haven't blogged in a week because I've been too busy catching Pokemon...just kidding, kind of. This past week has gone by so incredibly fast. My friend, Carly, came to visit from Philly and it was such a great trip. We celebrated James' birthday and had time to catch up. The month I got sick, a bunch of my friends and me were supposed to see Luke Bryan at school. Needless to say, I didn't make it. I think due to a combination of bad weather and my friends not wanting to go without me, everyone sold their tickets. Carly and Christin surprised me with tickets to see Luke on the 29th of this month as a birthday present! They had already talked to dusty and Carly has been in contact with the venue to make sure the seats are easily accessible. I'm trying to plan a visit to campus that day as well to meet with professors and just kind of see myself on campus...I think it'll give me a better idea of my abilities and a vision of what it'll look like to return. Which reminds me, I've been accepted back into the program and two of my professors are working on modifying a program for me.. I don't know any details yet, like online vs campus or number of credits, but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm hoping I can get some of the equipment I need, like stim bike and stander/manual glider, so I can do my own therapy (along with joining a gym). 

Paintnite was such a hit last night!! I felt so bad that we had a limited number of tickets because so many people wanted to go. Fortunately, we're trying to plan another and if we can get a large enough venue, like a firehall, we could accommodate something like 70 people! It was so good to see everyone...some people I hadn't seen at all since I got sick and some I haven't seen since I left Magee. We had so much fun and I was so impressed and thankful for everything Maureen did to set it up. She not only organized the whole thing, but even had baskets she put together for a silent auction. It was all such a success and I can't wait for the next one!! Here's my painting: 

Anyone that knows me knows I'm not a quitter. Even during therapy when I'm exhausted, I never take the breaks offered to me. I have a lot I can complain about- how cold I always am, how sweaty I get, how sore my muscles are at the end of the day, how uncomfortable I usually am (seriously, the most comfortable place is when I'm sitting in the car). So that's why I CANNOT stand hearing other people constantly complain about things. I'd give anything to have what they consider their problems. It's so hard to bite my tongue whenever I hear people complaining about insignificant things. I think when you go through something difficult and out of your control, it puts things into perspective and you view things differently. For me, I'm even more thankful for what I have and I know how much worse things could be, so I know how lucky I am. I feel like if I can get through all this, I'll learn at least two lessons: things could always be worse than whatever I'm going through and I should be grateful for even the littlest of things, like a comfortable chair or not waking up with night sweats. Unfortunately, it's not as easy to practice what you preach, but I'm trying.