Soul Surfer

This weekend Fellowship Church had special guest, Bethany Hamilton.  Bethany grew up in Hawaii in a family of surfers.  Her parents had her on a surf board before she could even walk.  At the age of 13, with a promising future as a professional surfer, she was attacked by a shark.  In the attack, she lost her left arm.  Bethany's faith in God and determination helped her through the traumatic experience.  Less than one month after the attack she was back in the water on a surf board.  Bethany never gave up and achieved her dream of becoming a pro surfer.  The recent movie, Soul Surfer, tells her story. 

After seeing Bethany's appearance and Fellowship Church, and watching the movie, there are two things I found incredible.  The first is her strong faith and how she never gave up on God or questioned God's intention.  She knew God had a plan for her and she has used her experience to inspire others.  The second thing is her determination and how she never gave up.  Bethany's surfing career could have been over after the attack, but she was determined to get back on the board and compete on a professional level again. 

It was amazing to see how many people showed up to Fellowship Church this weekend.  You would have thought it was Christmas or Easter.  There were a ton of screaming teenage girls and it was amazing to see how excited they were.  Bethany is such an amazing role model.  Tomorrow is the first day of school in TX and I hope they all go back to school and share Bethany's story with their friends. 

Wisdom Teeth

I know this is not my most exciting post, but I have been laying around the house for 24 hours and decided I would share my experience getting my wisdom teeth out.  Luckily, I only had 2 wisdom teeth!!!  Here are a few things I learned through the experience, for anyone anyone who still has theirs. 

• When your dentist tells you to get your wisdom teeth out, DO IT!  I waited way too long and one of mine started to poke through about 3 weeks ago.  The pain I went through leading up to the surgery was worse than the pain I have felt since surgery.  The worst part was that I was on a family vacation the week before surgery, experiencing extreme pain.  
• Find a great oral surgeon.  I went to Dr. Stamboulieh at Legacy Oral Surgery.  I was in and out of their office in less than an hour for the surgery.  They were ready for me the minute I walked in the door so there was no waiting.  When they brought me back to the room the doctor was already waiting for me so they got straight to work.  I was probably in the office, awake for less than 10 minutes.  I really appreciated now having to wait before or after.  
• Follow instructions!  I have probably over followed instructions and the recovery has gone pretty smooth, so far.  
• ICE ICE ICE - I have had ice on my face since the minute I was home.  So far, I have had very little swelling.  Corn is my favorite thing to use as ice.  I have always heard that, but thought it was silly.  I tried it yesterday when neither of my ice packs were cold anymore and it was AMAZING.  It stays cold for much longer than an ice pack.  Brussel Sprouts have worked well too.  Don't ask why we had them in our freezer, I did not buy them.  Using them as an ice pack is probably the only good use for them.  Can you tell I am not a fan of the veggie? 
• Try to schedule surgery for a Friday morning.  Mine was at 7am so I have 3 whole days to recover before I have to go back to work.  Early morning surgery will also help with the fasting.  If I had to wait until afternoon I may have been starving. 
• Make sure you have someone wonderful to take care of you.  John has treated me like a queen!  It probably helps that he had a horrible recovery when he had his surgery so he does not want me to go through the same thing.  He has made me the most delicious smoothies so I don't starve to death.  He even went to KFC to buy me mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner.  Their mashed potatoes are PERFECT when you cannot chew.  They are pretty much like soup.  
• It is funny how animals can sense when something is wrong.  Chlöe is definitely a daddy's girl and acts like I do not exist most of the time (unless she is hungry).  She knew something was wrong when I got home and sat on the coffee table watching me with concern.  When John left for the pharmacy, she even cuddled with me!  She cuddles with John ALL THE TIME and even sleeps in his arms, but she usually wants nothing to do with me.  I love the rare times when my sweet kitty loves me. 

I hope this was helpful for anyone who may have to go through this in the near future.  

Comfort Food

Since it was a cool 89 degrees in Dallas today, I decided to make "fall food" for lunch.  This summer has been brutal with 40 consecutive days over 100 degrees - 1 day short of tying the record.  This morning, we even woke up to rain!  It has not rained in MONTHS here.  I celebrated the "cool," cloudy day by making chicken and dumplings.  I found the recipe here.  I was a little worried that this recipe would lack taste, but it had good reviews.  I figured I would make it once and then doctor up if it deemed worthy of making twice (I am the queen of not following recipes and making them my own.  The only problem with that is when I don't write down what I did).  This recipe was delish!!!  I will probably add veggies next time, nothing too drastic.  Bon Appetit!