And I thought May was a crazy month...

What a month it has been!  I've had some strange health struggles (more on that below), but I've also had a lot of really great moments in the midst of the madness.  So here's a brief recap of the month of June:

We started off the month with a visit from Ryan's mom.  I was supposed to go to Buffalo to see my girlfriends, and Sally was going to watch Noah while I was gone.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I got really sick when I started taking a medication that was supposed to help with my fertility, so the doctor and I decided that I shouldn't go to Buffalo after all. :(  (Super bummer, to say the least.)  Though she would no longer be watching Noah on her own, Sally came to Denver anyway to help me for a few days.  It was amazing to have her here.  She grocery shopped, cooked, made freezer meals, watched Noah while I planned for our move, and essentially saved the day!  I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Noah had a grand old time following "Gra-ma" around.  He helped her cook, watched her do her hair in the mornings, took her on a day trip to the aquarium, and enjoyed all of the gifts that she had brought for him, including a new (adorable!) quilt and a couple of Lightening McQueen and Mater toy cars.  Noah loves looking at the quilt because it has "engines" and "freight cars" (in the words of Noah--thanks, Thomas the Train!) on it, as well as airplanes, trucks, and wagons.  What more could a little boy want?  He asks me, "Cover up?" every night now, so I tuck Grandma's quilt around him in his crib. :)  Noah also loves his Mater car.  He goes to bed with it most nights, and it often falls behind the crib, so first thing in the morning, I hear him calling, "Mater?  Where are you, Mater?  I'm gonna find you!"  He kills me with his cuteness.

After Sally left, I had about a week of good health, and then one morning, I woke up feeling awful and nauseous.  I threw up and had some other digestive problems (I'll let you figure out what that means), so I thought I had a stomach bug.  But the symptoms pretty much disappeared by mid-day, which seemed odd to me for the flu.  When it happened again the next morning, I started to think maybe I was miraculously pregnant.  No such luck.  When it happened on day three, I started to get a little concerned.  Almost two weeks later, I am still throwing up every morning and feeling pretty awful, and the doctors aren't sure what's wrong.  They think it's unrelated to the medication that made me sick earlier in the month, but might have something to do with a lemon-sized hemmorhagic cyst on my ovary (TMI? Probably!).  They are going to remove it this Thursday with a laparoscopic surgery.  I've had a laparoscopy before, but for some reason, I am feeling really nervous about this procedure.  I hate going under general anesthesia, and this is really horrible timing for us because we move to Idaho in two weeks.  I hope I have a quick recovery so I can help Ryan pack boxes next week!  More than anything, I am nervous that I am still going to be sick even after they remove the ginormous cyst, since the doctors can't guarantee that the cyst is the problem.  Ryan and I both prayed for guidance and felt really strongly that I should do the surgery now instead of waiting, so I believe there must be a reason.  Sorry to get so personal on here and share such lovely details about my ovaries--I just thought I'd let everyone know what is going on so I can get a few extra prayers this week, if you're willing!  I feel like I need them!

To end on a happy note, Ryan and I got to go on a little getaway this past weekend.  He will be done with his residency this Friday (he will get his own blog post for that huge accomplishment!), so we decided to go to the mountains to celebrate.  My sister watched Noah, and Ryan and I spent two days and two nights hanging out together and exploring Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was blissful.  We had no schedule and no where to be.  We enjoyed beautiful drives, held hands and walked through Estes Park, talked about the upcoming changes in our life, went on a lovely hike to a mountain lake, and just enjoyed each other's company.  I was still sick every morning, but I felt good enough during the day that the trip was really fun and relaxing.  Such a relief after the couple of crazy weeks we'd had.   Thank you, Sary, for watching the Noah Bug for us!!!

One of my favorite moments from the trip was when we pulled over in Grand Lake because Ryan was so tired from all the driving: he took a nap under a tree, and I sat on the dock and felt the wind on my face, listened to the sound of the water lapping on the shore, and whispered an audible prayer to my Father in Heaven.  For me, the biggest blessing that comes from trials and difficult times is the closeness that I feel to Him.  In the month that I haven't been feeling well, I've really slowed down the pace of my life and spent more time than usual praying, reading scripture, and pondering.  I've felt vulnerable and weak, and so I have turned to God in earnest to help me get through.  I have felt His peace and have witnessed little miracles along the way, letting me know that He is aware of me.  It is super humbling, and I am so grateful.

In regards to this mysterious illness and my upcoming surgery, my dad keeps telling me, "Everything is going to be okay."  Hearing those words from my dad gives me a lot of comfort.  I know he is right.

So here's to a healthier July!  And Ryan being done with 11 years of post high school education (college, dental school, and residency)!  And a new life in Twin Falls, Idaho in just a few weeks!

On to the next adventure, right??