Hanging in Chicago Fun Pics:)

2012 Chicago Olympic Triathlon

Early morning on Lake Michigan

Swim!

Transition!

Bike!

Run!

Finished!

Beat Personal Goal by 3 minutes!

Charlie and Hunter Kemper, 4x Olympian and won this Chicago Tri.

BSP Group Photo 1

BSP Group Photo 2

27... Oh My!

Best birthday week ever! The Saturday before my 27th birthday (Wednesday, Aug 22nd), Annette & Chris, Katie & Robert, Charlie & I all had dinner at Swanky's and then headed to our house for mini fruit pizzas and an intense game of Bandu. It was toe to toe until Robert vs. Me ended with Robert left standing. Don't think he quite understood that you were suppose to let the birthday girl win. Oh well, we had a blast!

My birthday day couldn't have been more amazing. I took the whole day to do things I wanted to do. I went and got a Chai on my way to get a mani/pedi in Green Hills. I then shopped around for a bit and then got my favorite fuji apple chicken salad at Panera where I could read my Bible for a bit. Then I headed over to get my hair done. Charlie was taking me out to dinner so it seemed appropriate. 

What I didn't plan was what happened between my hair appt and dinner. God's blessings rained down. Not only did I not have a headache all day, but my friends were so incredibly generous. Jani brought me a wonderful basket full of baked goods, fruit, and a pedicure gift certificate. Then one of the neighborhood girls, Nichole, came by with our super savor book and a gift of body products as a birthday gift, so sweet. We are facebook friends:). Then, my neighbor/zumba instructor, Lori, came over with a fantastic homemade chocolate cake for my birthday/get well gift. Then Annette called and being sneaky, she left balloons and wonderful peanut butter cookies on my doorstep. I then coaxed her into coming back to chat for a bit. It was all so incredible.

Then, I worked on a puzzle that Katie gave me for a bit. Yes, I really like puzzles. Then I put on a pretty dress and Charlie took me to F Scotts. A fantastic fancy restaurant/jazz lounge that was so wonderful! We are such foodies.

They wrapped up our Happy Birthday menus for a souvenir! 

Lobster Ravioli 

Rabbit hind quarters

Our waiter made me a napkin rose:) to go with our Homemade donuts over lemon curd and blackberries.

After dinner snuggle time.

Down but not out!

Where have you been? This has been the question asked of me a lot this summer. Truthfully and unfortunately, I've been in bed for most of it. I've been battling chronic headaches for over 8 years now and have seen doctor after doctor all over the country. 

I got sick in the spring and had the worse ones yet. This sparked Charlie and I to try again the process of figuring out what is causing them. My general sent me over to the ENT, then over to another neurologist. After clean CAT scans and MRIs and my vitamin levels being "TOO Healthy," I spent 6 weeks on an anti-seizure med that made me really fatigued and depressed. Then, after concluding that it wasn't helping, my ENT felt that I should undergo a septoplasty (sinus surgery). 

Basically, the surgeon straightened my septum and removed my middle turbinate on my right side and crushed the one the left. Recovery took a lot longer than expected. The pain meds made me sick a lot but doing so much better now. To date, the surgery has not been real effective except that I now have a heightened sense of smell which isn't always a good thing:). I haven't seen much improvement on the frequency of headaches but I'm still praying that the Lord will take them away, but if not and these are as Paul says, "A thorn in the Flesh," I pray that He will give me His strength to confront the pain each and every day.

Had to keep the tissue under to catch blood for about 4 days.

My mom and dad came up for the week to take care of me and Ella kept us entertained.