turns out it was more than just allergies...

So you know how I said I had been feeling miserable lately because of allergies?  Well it turns out that I actually have pneumonia.

During the day on Wednesday when I was student teaching I was coughing a lot (and not my normal cough from allergies) and I started getting these bad pains in my upper back.  Then when I got home I just felt exhausted and weak and was having these horrible chills (all of these symptoms had been happening off and on for about a week.)

Then when I woke up yesterday morning I just felt horrible...sharp pains in my back whenever I took a breath and a generally crappy overall feeling.  I went to take Hanna out and I was seeing stars and thought I was going to vomit or pass out.  K was on his way to work so I called and told him I thought he should come home because I was worried about being alone all day.  I had a fever and slept for awhile then I felt a tiny bit better...so I started looking around on the internet and noticed that I had almost all of the symptoms of pneumonia...so K took me to the doctor.

We just went to one of those walk-in places right near me and they were so efficient.  I was in and out in under an hour and they did chest x-rays, a strep test, and a flu test in that time.  Luckily, the doctor said my chest x-ray was ok and she didn't see a "big amount" of pneumonia, but based on everything else she wanted to treat it that way.

Yesterday was pretty rough, my mom and my sister (who is visiting from Boston for the weekend) came and took care of me when K was at class in the evening.  But, during the night I woke up and realized the sharp breathing pain was gone and today I feel much, much, much better.  Still not 100% but getting there.  In fact, we are getting ready to go out to dinner with my family and some friends (I am not going to eat much or drink anything but water...but the doctor said it was fine for me to be around people.)

So that was my most recent drama!  Hope you all have a nice weekend, I'll be doing a lot of resting!

what have I been up to?

Hello there!  I am alive...but barely (ok, slight exaggeration there) but my allergies are KILLING me.  I broke my nose cheerleading in high school and ever since have had a lot of coughing and sinus issues, which during allergy season get even worse.  I keep getting these horrible sinus headaches and my voice is all scratchy.

Even though I hate taking allergy medicine I decided to try to start taking claritin, so hopefully that helps!  Does anyone have any allergy advice?

In other news, I may have gotten a part-time job for the summer.  I don't know all the details yet, but hopefully it will work out!  It would be working for a family friend and it seems like it would be flexible and fun too...plus I could use the money!!!  So hopefully it will all work out, I'm waiting for her to call me back.

Over the weekend almost all the girls from my sorority who graduated in 2007 got together at my college for a little reunion. A lot of my close friends were there (who I see a lot) but it was really nice to be able to see the girls I hadn't see since graduation.  There was a lot of drinking, eating and laughing!

This was our lunch bill...probably the longest bill I have ever seen in a restaurant!!!

We were very excited to see that they still use these letters that we made our senior year....and of course had to have a photo shoot with them!

running

Lately I have been feeling really fat.  I feel like I have slacked off on following weight watchers and exercising.  In the fall K and I started doing Couch to 5k but then it got colder and with the holiday stuff we stopped.  Anyways, I decided to start again (with the help of a cool app. that I downloaded on my iPhone.)  I never thought I would be able to run but in the fall I actually began to really like it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will go as well this time.  My goal is to run a 5k  before the end of the year.

Starting next week I am also going to challenge myself to see if I can only eat vegetarian for two weeks.  I don't want to be a vegetarian permanently but I would like to see if I could make myself eat more veggies.

So, that's what is going on with me...I know this wasn't a super exciting post!

well, that was an adventure

Today I subbed (for a teacher that basically left me no plans...kind of a tiring day) and when I got home all I wanted to do was relax and bake some soda bread.  And prep my corned beef and cabbage.  K and I are having St. Patrick's day early (tomorrow) since we both have class Thursday night.

After doing all this I go to take Hanna outside before I settle in for some TV watching.  Now, just so you know, I live in an apartment complex, which is basically just parking lots with buildings around them and some grass.  Imagine my surprise when we came across a small ewok-like dog just wandering alone.  She looked slightly familiar but wasn't wearing a collar.  So I lured her back to my apartment, fashioned a collar/leash out of one of Hanna's leashes and began knocking on doors.

Of course, no one answered, so I brought her back home.  Hanna was a little leery of her, but basically ok. This is when I started to panic...what they hell was I going to do about this dog?  I decided to knock on my neighbors door and asked them if they had ever seen her, they agreed with me that she looked familiar and together we made a guess at who we thought we had seen her with.

With their help I found the owner and returned the dog.  Turns out she had just had bladder surgery and her owner assumed she was asleep under a bed, but her daughter left the door open so she got out.  She was grateful I found her but had no idea she was missing!

Alls well that ends well I guess, but it kind of showed me that I should try and get to know my neighbors better!  I am very happy that my neighbors (who I have seen around for years, but never really talked to) were so nice about helping me...and that I didn't end up with another dog!

(I tried to take a picture of the dog but she didn't cooperate)

(Promise this won't become a dog-only blog...I just have had a lot of dog activity lately!)

happy birthday hanna!

Today is Hanna's 2nd birthday!  Sometimes, it seems like just yesterday we were picking her out at the breeder.  But other times it seems like we have had her forever!  Having her there to greet when I get home makes me so happy and I can't imagine life without her.

Her first ever picture!  K and I knew right away that she was the one for us!

My dad holding her when we visited her at the breeder a couple weeks before she came home.

Hanging out on the bed.

With her BFF Gryffin (my parent's dog)

little things that make me smile

...K and I both having nowhere to be on a Friday.  Catching up on the DVR?  Yes, please!

...planning Hanna's 2nd birthday "dinner party" (it's just my family coming over but I'm still calling it a dinner party!)

...sleeping in.

...girl scout cookies.

...getting a compliment from a teacher I really respect on my teaching skills.

...playing Angry Birds on my iPhone.

...long talks with a good friend.

...snuggles with this little puppy girl.

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bridesmaids dresses aka a reason to get skinny

This weekend I went bridesmaids dress shopping for my friend J's wedding.  This is my first bridesmaid experience so it is all very exciting (and a little overwhelming too!)  J originally wanted us all to be in different dresses but funny enough, we all ended up liking the same two.  The maid of honor had already picked out her dress which was one of the two we all liked, so that is what we decided on! There are six bridesmaids and we are wearing different colors of the dress (two in indigo, two in eggplant and two in burgundy--- I am eggplant.)  It is a fab dress and I think it will be perfect for J's formal, evening, downtown D.C. wedding.

Front of the dress (It's by Lazaro, more details here)

And the back (that netting is a shawl or something, not part of the dress)