Think FAST

So this weekend was Valentines Day. 

I wanted it to be a super romantic weekend because I just finished nursing school and finally feel less stressed. So I woke up early and cooked us chocolate chip pancakes, eggs and bacon and then we went and got a couples massage. We then got home and started to get ready for dinner (we were going to go to a very nice restaurant). Well after I got ready I was looking at myself in the mirror and thought, "wow, my eyes look so weird." So I looked closer and noticed something was up with my pupils. I then went into the bathroom to look where the lighting was better and noticed they were still unequal. 

We learned in school that the eyes are always a clue into what is going on with the brain. So I called my mom and she suggested we drive to the ER. I started putting on my shoes and suddenly got really light headed and felt sick to my stomach. I told Tyler to call 911 immediately because I knew I was having a stroke. I stuck out my tongue and took a picture and it even deviated, my right leg was tingling. I felt so weak and so tired. 

Now flash back to 1999. I woke up to my dad throwing up and shaking really bad. Something was off. He was always sick but this time was different. My mom called 911 and then suddenly my dad started saying, "Oh my head, oh my head." At that point he just kind of laid down. EMS got there and stabilized him enough to get to UMC. But my super young (35 years old) dad had suffered from a full blown stroke. He had a clot in his brain that burst and there was nothing they could do. It was a heart breaking time.

Fast forward to 2008. I had just started college and was feeling like these little break outs that I kept having were ridiculous. I wanted to start birth control to see if that would help my hormones be more regular. Well lucky for me I had a fantastic doctor at the student center who got an extensive family history and decided to run some clotting disorder tests. Turns out I actually have 2 clotting disorders that must have been genetically passed down to me from my dad. Because of these clotting disorders I am at a high risk for clots so I had to be careful.

Now back to this weekend. Tyler brought me over to the couch as we waited for EMS to show up. I just kept thinking of my dad and started to feel anxious. I could tell Tyler was freaking out too. So I told him I think he should say a prayer. He gave a very sweet prayer that instantly comforted me and helped me feel the spirit. The fire department got to our house first and started the vital signs and such. By the time EMS got there and got me up to go to the ambulance my eyes were almost back to normal. 

So I got taken to Centennial Hills Hospital. The hospital called a code white (stroke) and rushed me back to get a ct scan. Scan came back normal. I had less tingling and was feeling better (just super ridiculously high anxiety). The doctor still admitted me and decided I needed to get an MRI done in the morning and meet with a neurologist. I got the MRI done and that came back negative too. So I was discharge to go home with the diagnosis of TIA (transient ischemic attack- aka mini stroke). A TIA is basically a clot in the brain that doesn't cause any lasting damage. Luckily I have a hematologist already and will be seeing him asap to probably start on some blood thinners. 

I couldn't help but think what caused this TIA though (besides the fact that I am a high risk for clots because of the clotting disorder). I am only 25, I am very healthy and I work out all the time. Then I remembered the last month I have had a pain in my right lower calf muscle that I thought was a strain because it hurt every time I flexed my toes. Well, that is a positive sign for blood clot in the leg, but I wasn't thinking about that OBVIOUSLY because I am so young and feel invincible! I am pretty sure now that I had a DVT in my leg and when we got the massage the clot was dislodged into my brain.

If there is one thing this scary experience has taught me it's that there is no greater thing than being surrounded by love. I am so thankful for my sweet husband that never left my side and my amazing parents that were there for me. My awesome friends that called and texted and even left nice Facebook messages. I am so thankful for those sweet thoughts and prayers. I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father who was watching me this weekend and protecting me as well as providing comfort to my family. This was a very scary experience that could have had a fatal outcome. I hope no one ever has to go through something this terrifying and if they do that they will also be able to think FAST.

Right now I am just happy to be home, recovering & snuggling with my husband and puppies.

Peanut Butter Muffins

Hello fall!

This is my absolute favorite time of year. The leaves are changing (kind of), the weather is finally cooling down, & everything is pumpkin flavored (literally everything).

As much as I LOVE pumpkin, believe me it is a lot, my first love is actually something else. Peanut butter. If I could put peanut butter on everything I would. It is my favorite thing to eat (sometimes just straight out of the jar). But I have done such an awesome job getting to my goal weight and now building muscle so I can no longer just allow myself to eat a whole jar of peanut butter while binge watching the office.

So like any other person who is craving delicious food I ventured on to pinterest. I stumbled upon this awesome picture & found this amazing blog (found here)! It looked amazing just the way it was, but almost too healthy to combat my sweet tooth too. So I changed some things up to make it both enjoyable for me & my husband. Because who doesn't enjoy peanut butter, protein, banana, chocolate chip muffins (name still pending lol).

The original recipe only allows 6 muffins to be made (I like to food prep so I doubled it). This is what I gathered up & put in a big mixing bowl.

4 Tbsp. Peanut Butter

1 Medium Banana Mashed

1/3 Cup Oat flower

2 Whole eggs

1 Cup Egg Whites (I eyeballed this)

2 Scoop Vanilla Protein (be careful when adding this because you do not want to dry out the muffins)

2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Pinch (the tiniest pinch) of brown sugar.

2 Tsp. chocolate chips

I mixed that all up in a bowl and whisked it until it was a smoothish consistency.

Then I poured the mixture into the cute little cupcake tin with my Halloween liners until about 2/3 full in each little liner. It should make about 12 muffins.

I baked them at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes (I forgot to set my timer so I had to do a lot of eyeballing on that too).

Overall it was pretty simple and it turned out delicious.

Because I am super health conscious I also calculated out the calories and macros for about ONE muffin:

Calories: 115

Protein: 9

Carbohydrates: 12

Fat: 5

Obviously these muffins don't replace a steak when it comes to protein, but they are SO filling and are going to be a great addition for that weird time between post-workout and lunch. Plus it helps me not want to eat an entire box of cookies, or a jar of peanut butter. 

Side note: next time I plan to add chia seeds. I've done this for peanut butter banana nut bread & it tastes amazing. I just wanted to add chocolate to this batch for Tyler. 

Enjoy!

Celebrations




Goofy Faces

So Tyler had a pretty amazing birthday! We went to the movies, which is obviously Tyler's favorite thing to do. We saw This is the End in the afternoon and then went to Red Robin for dinner with his parents. Tyler being the best person in the world that he is picked it and then suggest to see monsters university, even though he really wanted to see Startrek. And then we spent the rest of the night together hanging out. It was a really fun day though.

Then America celebrated its' birthday. The 4th was pretty fun. Tyler had to work all day so that kind of sucked. But I went to my parents house and went swimming. Basically got a huge sun burn which is now somewhat tan. Basically I don't look like a ghost anymore & now look like I'm alive. When Tyler got off work we celebrated his birthday with my parents by having cake (we did the family dinner later that week so we could celebrate my grandmas birthday too).

Pretty much since then it's been Tyler working like crazy and me waking up super early going to the gym every day and playing with the dogs. Nursing school starts in 3 weeks and honestly I can't wait. I miss being in class and having stuff to do everyday. I love being crazy busy so not having anything to do right now is killing me.



Ready for the end... like the movie ;)

Our kids will be beautiful ;)

No but really, they will be

My husband is so hot

Cutie puppies

Happy birthday America

Cake cake cake 

Fire on the mountain

Sad
 

My dad takes amazing pictures!
This one is featured in Red Rocks calendar.

I did a deep clean of our kitchen

Spot thief.

blessings

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven." -Jeffry R. Holland

I just feel like I need to take a moment and just express how grateful I am for everything that has been happening to us lately. Back in March we hit a rough spot with everything that was going on around us, the apartment got broken into, Tyler's transmission in his truck completely gave out  and I had to get surgery. It was a little bit frustrating, but we knew we could get through it together and we did. I really do think we were blessed because we didn't give up. I got into nursing school, Tyler got a new job recently that will allow him to take more classes at better times and better benefits, and we moved into a beautiful house. So many great things have happened & it's just the beginning.

And even more exciting, for the end of summer we are trying to plan a vacation! Well just a mini weekend getaway. Which is still just as exciting. We want to go to California and spend the weekend at the beach sometime before school starts (which is in like a month for me). 

Tomorrow is Tyler's birthday!! So expect another blog post pretty soon & probably with pictures :)