The Big Freeze is here, take cover!

This past weekend was great because Jake was taking a few days off before starting his new job today. Since he didn't have to get up at 5:00 am for work, he actually stayed awake past 8:00 pm with me. It was awesome. Friday night, we went to dinner and then went to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which I loved, but Jake thought "it was good, but you know he's gonna die in the end anyway, so they could have just hurried it up".
Saturday night we went on a double date with a friend, Cassie, that I was in Young Women's with and her husband that Jake and I had never met. We had dinner then watched "Taken". Also another great little flick. During this we also found out that Cassie's husband has got to be Jake's long lost brother or something. They both had very similar histories, mannerisms, personalities, senses of humor, everything. It was kinda creepy. He even managed to fall asleep during the movie just like Jake does. We had a good time with them.
Our church was switched from 1:00 pm to 9:00 am, which kills night owls like me and it didn't help we stayed up talking with our date couple till after midnight on Saturday. But it was nice now that Jake doesn't have to work Sundays, we had a nice time at church then I got to come home and take a nap and still had time with him before we went to have dinner with his parents.
Another big plus to Jake's new job. Since the "Big Freeze of 2009" hit today, Jake actually got to come home early instead of getting stuck having to come home after dark with ice everywhere and inexperienced drivers. I think I could get used to this. :)

Bragging on my hubby

Now that I'm finally back in the grind of school, the most exciting thing I've done this week is get my eyebrows waxed. But I get to brag on my wonderful hubby for a little bit.

Jake is very talented, hard worker and in his personal and professional spheres it does not go unnoticed. He changes jobs pretty often, but most people don't know that he does that because he generally gets around 3 job offers a week. Some are good, some are just down right ridiculous, but if he gets a legitimate offer that helps him reach his goal, he'll pursue it. But a couple weeks ago, he got a good one. The wind told him a Franchise owner was looking for a manager in Oklahoma City. He was getting pretty frustrated with his current job, so he looked into it. The offer ended up being a lot more than just a manager. This Franchisee was looking for someone to take over the store and eventually buy him out and he wanted Jake and Jake accepted the offer and he starts on Monday. Now that he won't have to work 12 hours a day/7 days a week, I get to be selfish and spend more time with him. So I wanted everyone to know how grateful I am for him and how lucky I am to have a husband who's diligent, goal oriented, and hard working.

...But I still have a headache.

First, I had my CT scan on my head yesterday and the result were negative. No tumors, hemorrhaging or cysts, which is very good, but does nothing to help this headache. When my doctor called to tell me the good news the conversation went kind of like this:

Doctor: "We got the results from your scan and it came back negative, so there was nothing there that's causing your headache."
Pause
Me: "That's good" More pausing. "So what do I for this headache?"

With my blood thinners, I can't just go take an aspirin or advil if I have a headache because most pain relievers are blood thinners. So the only pain reliever I can take is Tylenol, but with my liver still being weak I can overdose on it very easily too. Long story short, if I take enough Tylenol to get my headache to go away, it would probably kill me from overdosing on it. Either way, no bueno. I know I sound like a huge wuss even though I do have a pretty high pain tolerance. Unfortunately it was my pain tolerance and stubbornnes that got me in this trouble to begin with, so Jake does not allow me to be stubborn or tolerate pain until I'm completely better.

Now onto the fun stuff. Yesterday I also had the Meg Guess Bridal Show. I had 3 dresses I wore, so it was pretty crazy backstage trying to get in and out of these huge bridal gowns, while not messing up your hair or getting make up on them then getting back in order to go out. But I loved every minute of it. Here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:

When I was in the hospital I lost almost a full bra cup size, so where these dresses had always been tight across my bust, they were feeling like they were going to fall off.

Also, after my rant about how everything went wrong with my intersession class. I heard back from UCO and they dropped the class off my transcript and refunded me the tuition and fees for that class. Maybe school is looking up after all.

Time for another CT Scan

This past weekend was my high school "pom mom's" bachelorette party. Pom Mom's were started my sophomore year in high school when an upper classman would adopt an under classman and help them work on their dance techniques, etc. Basically the same thing as Bigs and Lils in sororities. So the former pom girls that were still in the state all got together to celebrate another one of us gettin' hitched. So here's a fun little picture from dinner:

The best thing about going out with former pom girls is that we were crazy before we could drink and now that we're all "of age" they're all still crazy, now they just fall down more. It's all great times.

Sunday I was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting at church about the Gospel principle that helped me most during 2008. Which it was obvious why they asked me to speak on that, so I spoke on faith. But I really didn't want my talk to be a log of everything that happened while I was in the hospital. Then one of the other people that was supposed to speak was sick, so they asked me to drag out my talk as long as I could and all this with the Stake President there. No pressure. But it still went very well because public speaking is not a fear of mine. My dad did find it hilarious that I said "what the crap" from the pulpit about 4 or 5 times.

Now for the title. I've had a dull, annoying headache for the last week. According to my Coumadin propaganda, if you have a sudden, severe headache or your headache won't go away you're supposed to call your doctor because it could be a sign of brain hemorrhaging, etc. I had to get my blood checked this week, so when they called to tell me the result I figured I'd tell them. They immediately scheduled me for a CT scan of my head. So I have that Thursday morning. Wish me luck.

Then the fight broke out.

During my last little rant blog, I completely forgot to mention some other fun stuff that happened. Here we go:

Jake did everything he could not to celebrate his 25th birthday, which was December 29th. But the family finally prevailed. Alleigh, his ridiculously talented sister, made him a cake in honor of his favorite college team. Check this baby out.

Now in defense of Jake, Orlando was his favorite place that he lived and has been a Gators fan since he was 15, so he didn't become a Gator fan this year because they were doing well. Then we rudely awoken him from his after dinner nap and made him open presents.

For the big OU vs. UF National Championship game, Jake went to an OU and UF watch party. There were a few OU fans and a few UF fans, but by the end of the game the other UF fans had left leaving the victorious Jake with 3 angry OU fans...and then the fight ensued. What started as teasing became an all out wrestling match between Jake and his die hard, OU loving best friend. Luckily, the other guys broke it up when it headed to the coffee table and TV, so no one was hurt.

I was able to meet up with one of my best friends, Caitlin, that I have barely seen since high school and we went game watch party hopping for the most part. Now, back story time. From the time Caitlin and I were in 6th grade all of our teachers called us by each other's names even when we had separate classes and when we met people they would always ask if we were related. So it was a great little blast from the past when I was introduced to some of her friends and their parents and they asked, "are you guys sisters or related somehow?" That was one of those "whoa, haven't heard that in about 7 years" moments--good times. Without further delay this is Caitlin:

The Good, the bad, and the could get worse.

First, we'll start out with what was good about this past weekend.

My childhood best friend and her husband came home for Christmas, so Jake and I went out to dinner with them, then came home and played the game "In A Pickle". It's a great little game, if you ever have the chance to play it--take it.



So in honor of us acting like we were 13 years old again, we took our kung fu picture because we are secretly ninjas.

Something else that I'm excited about is that Meg Guess Bridal and Couture in Oklahoma City (check out her link over to the right somewhere) is having a Bridal Fashion Show next week that I'll be modeling for. I had to stop all the modeling I was doing when I went into the hospital and wasn't able to do any when I got out because I was so weak. So I'm very excited to start modeling again!

Now for my rant....

School started this week and I was already reluctant because I'm bitter about having to start over after being in the hospital and I'm really nervous because my memory is still recovering, so I don't know how well I'll do this year.

So I get up at 5:30 this morning (which is comparable to Chinese Water Torture for me) to get to my intersession class. I show up 15 minutes before class is supposed to start and no one is there, not in the classroom, not in the building, nothing. I decide to sit on the couch outside the class and wait for someone. 30 minutes after class was supposed to start there is still no one there, so I get online to check and make sure I have the right room and....... UCO changed what day class started and didn't notify anyone, which UCO likes to do constantly. It started on Monday, instead of Tuesday. When the teacher finally comes I tell her what happened and asked if I can make up the day I lost. NOPE. She won't let me and tells me, and the other 3 people that did the same thing, that I have to drop.

Then I go the enrollment office to drop and in order to drop an intersession class in which I missed 1, yes ONE, day of I have to get written permission from my professor and write a letter to the appeals committee to get special permission to withdraw. And if they decide they won't grant the withdraw I get a big, fat, stinking F on my transcript. Now is a good time to ask, "hey, didn't you miss a month of school last semester while you were in the hospital and withdrew?"

Why yes, yes I did. I missed an entire month of class last semester while I was in the hospital and to withdraw all I had to do was sign my name on a withdraw form. I didn't have to prove I was in the hospital, no doctor's notes, no documentation. Just showed up and said take me out. But to withdraw from a class I missed 1 day of, I have to do everything short of getting an attorney! What is wrong with higher education system? HONESTLY. That's more confusing than a football bat! So if this semester keeps up like this, I'm saying screw it all and going to cosmetology school.

Okay, I feel better now.

2008 In Review

I've finally decided to give in to the evil that is blogging even though I've been reading everyone else's blogs all year. So here is 2008 in review for the Dahles.

#1- Jake changed jobs a few times before he was promoted as the manager for Big O Tires in Guthrie.

#2 - Kristen stayed steady working at Brewer Carpet One and trying to finish her last year at the University of Central Oklahoma, which came to an abrupt end by #3.

#3 - Kristen was hospitalized for a massive blodclot in her left leg and abdomen. ( I have pictures from that, but you really don't want to see them).

#4 - While Kristen was in the hospital, Jake finished buying their first house in Edmond.

#5 - Jake, much to his parent's disdain and his father's-in-law excitement, bought a motorcycle -- a silver Kawasaki ZX-6R, which Kristen named "Little Kristen", and also sold it this year.

#6 - Kristen and Jake celebrated 4 years of marriage.