This year Neil and I celebrated 12 years of marriage! All I can say is that I love this man so much and am so glad that he puts up with me and loves and supports me through it all. I sure got lucky when I said yes to him. It's the best decision I've ever made. We've definitely had our share of ups and downs over the years, as everyone does, but by putting the Lord, each other and our family first, we always come out stronger.
Neil decorated the driveway before going to work.
This year we just couldn't decide what to do. Is that sad or what:? I really wanted to see a play but there wasn't anything playing so I let Neil decide our activity and I decided on the restaurant. Since the new Hunger Games movie was coming out soon, Neil decided to do a spoof on the movie and have our own Anniversary Games where we would compete in twelve events, for twelve years, and see who the victor was. He allowed each of the kids to come up with a simple game.
Sam's game was next. He filled a bucket with ice water and we had to see who could keep their hand in it the longest. Victor: Neil!
Mikey's game was to see who could build the tallest lego tower in a minute. Being as I am not a master builder I totally lost. Victor: Neil!
Conner's game was who could draw the best self portrait in a few minutes with the kids being the judge. Being as I have no artistic bone in my body, Neil was victor yet again. Are you starting to see a trend here?
After the kids' games we went to the Prairie Schooner for dinner. It was our first time there. The atmosphere was fun. We ate in a covered wagon. We decided to get an appetizer that included onion rings, hot wings and fried mushrooms. Those mushroom were totally worth the visit. So good. I totally made myself sick on them.
So that's the good and now the ugly. As I've mentioned before I've been diagnosed with Hashimoto's which has a ton of symptoms and for me that includes extreme fatigue, weight gain, joint pain, memory loss and forgetfulness and the list goes on and on. It's been really hard and I feel like I've lost the last year of my life. I've been present but not and it's not that I haven't wanted to be, I just physically and mentally can't. I think on our anniversary it really hit me hard. I should have been so happy but I was so tired. I could hardly walk to play mini golf. I had to sit down after every round and rest. I wanted to be fun and all but it was so hard. I just wanted to go to bed. The physical fatigue is so debilitating. What's so hard is that I used to be the mom who could do it all and did and I loved it and I no longer can right now. I have to say no to a lot of stuff. My goal for each day is just to get the kids to school and to have dinner each evening. As long as that gets accomplished I feel I succeeded. Anything on top of that is a bonus. Our house is always a mess and I can't tell you how many mornings the kids come to me saying they have no clean socks or pants. Neil has totally had to step it up and take care a lot of the household chores and he never complains. He just sees what needs to be done and tries to do it the best he could. It has been a really trying year but things are looking up. After my meltdown and realization of how bad things had gotten I finally scheduled an appointment with a specialist, which took 3 months to get into and I'm working with her to get myself straightened out. My thyroid levels were off and so my Levothyroxine was adjusted and I'm beginning to feel a little better. It's such a slow process. Once medication is adjusted it takes 2-3 months to see if it helps. I still don't feel 100% but so much better than I have in a long time.
One of my favorite talks at Conference was The Sacrament a Renewal of Soul by Cheryl A. Esplin. The part that I loved was that she reminded me of the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have felt this in my life more than ever this past year. There have been mornings when I just didn't know how I was going to get out of bed let alone make it through the day with all the demands of our family, church and community and I would find myself pleading to my Heavenly Father for strength and motivation. Like it was stated in the talk, the Savior has helped me be who I needed to be and serve beyond my own capacity. I know this to be true. Through the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we will be able to accomplish all that is required of us even when it seems mortally impossible.
No comments:
Post a Comment