The winter semester I was surprised to find my leg was sore. I tried to walk it out and tried to stretch it out. A couple of days later I was trying to shave my legs and found when I put my weight on right leg it got really swollen and turned purple. For some reason I had it put in my head that I had a blood clot (I don't know why I knew this except for inspiration, because I thought a blood clot and a clogged artery were the same thing and didn't know anything about either of them). I didn't want to go to the emergency room, so we went to an instacare center. The instacare center said they couldn't do anything and sent me to the emergency room.
At the hospital they took me and did an ultrasound type thing on my right leg. The technician was super confused because she saw all these veins without blood in them, she decided that I had an extra vein system in my leg that wasn't being used and she couldn't find the normal veins. The doctor said that I had a blood clot in my leg called a DVT. I said great give me some pills and I will go home. He said I couldn't go home because those kinds of blood clots are dangerous because they will break off and head to the lungs. I had some already in my lungs (I can't remember how they knew that though, if they heard me breathing funny, or if they looked at my lung somehow). Anyway he said I would have to stay in the hospital for a day until my blood started to thin to make sure I would be okay. Then a nurse came in and gave me a shot of Lovenox in my stomach.
I was super upset about being admitted to the hospital I had it in my head that I would be going home that afternoon. I had been at the hospital all day and that was enough for me. Brian went home and got some stuff and stayed the night with me. Poor guy slept in a bad recliner every night he stayed at the hospital. I was on orders not to get out of bed except to use the bathroom, and I had to beg for that concession. They were worried that me moving around would dislodge the blood clot and send it to my lungs. My parents were also in and out of the hospital and brought us better food than hospital food.
The next day the doctor came in and said that there was a new procedure that they could do where they would go in and put a filter in my vein to protect my lungs, and then break up the blood clot. He said it was better on the vein and the filter would eliminate the risk of the blood clot hitting my lungs. He said it would make me stay in the hospital a little longer. After I talked to Brian we decided to do it. They did it the next day.
They put me under conscious sedation and gave me some painkillers, and they also gave me some medicine to make me not get sick from the painkillers, the last medicine also made the painkillers work better. Then they put a hole in the underside of my knee and drilled out as much of the clot as they could. Then they put a catheter in my leg and put heavy duty blood thinners onto the rest of the clot. The catheter would hurt whenever I moved my leg, or whenever I was moved. But as long as I laid still it was okay. They also put a giant IV thing in a vein in my neck. It allowed them to put in all the medicine they wanted without having to move IVs.
They had not let me eat anything the day before because of the procedure. They planned on taking the catheter and the neck IV thing out the next day. So they didn't let me eat again. Well they let me have liquids, Jello, bad chicken broth and juice. I was also put in ICU because there wasn't enough beds in the intermediate unit for me. Brian couldn't stay the night with me while I was there, but he stayed until 10:00 at night and was back at 6:00 the next morning.
The next day they went to remove the catheter. They found the clot was still there too much to take it out, so they sent me back. Until this point they had only been giving me a half dose of painkillers, but they moved me around too much too fast, and I felt totally out of control (I wanted them to wait just a minute before moving me around all the time, but they were in a hurry to get all the moving and pain over with), so when I got back to my room I got a full dose of medicine and slept for a while. When I woke up there was still more than 24 hours before they were going to take the catheter out, so I got to eat a real meal. You aren't supposed to bring food into ICU, but Brian was able to sneak me in some real food. It was wonderful to eat before another 24 hours of liquid diet.
The next day they took the catheter out and sent me back to a normal room. I was going home the day after! I had been there since Sunday morning and finally on Friday I would be going home. Brian was able to stay the night with me again, which even though the chair he slept in was uncomfortable, he slept better there then he did at home alone. The next day Brian had to go back to school and so my mom came to help me get checked out. While we were waiting for the doctor to come say I could go home my Junior Core group came in and helped me know what I needed to do to get caught up.
When I was finally released they gave me a pass to go get a handicap parking pass for a few weeks while I recovered. My mom drove me from the hospital to the pharmacy where we got more Lovenox and some Warfarin. I had to be on the Lovenox until the Warfarin kicked in. I was on the Warfarin for 6 months, and my body had a hard time regulating it so I had to go in weekly (most people go in monthly) almost the entire 6 months to make sure my blood was in between the 2 to 3 range for thinness. (1 is normal consistency). I got as high as 5 a couple of times, I swear I got more sensitive to that stuff as I went along.
After we went to the pharmacy we went to the DMV to get the handicap parking pass. At that point I was exhausted and looked awful so the lady at the DMV decided I was worse than the doctors thought and gave me a couple extra months usage with the pass. I think I only parked in an actual handicapped spot once or twice and that was the next week to go get the filter removed from my vein. But I did park in professors parking the whole time which was wonderful.
I don't have any adverse effects for the clot now. They decided I got the clot because I was on the birth control pill and they diagnosed me with Factor Five Lieden (the hormones and Factor 5 greatly increase the risk of blood clots), so I am not allowed to take it anymore, and I have to take daily shots of Lovenox when I am pregnant. I also have to be careful on long trips and make sure I move around enough and sometimes I take a baby aspirin to be safe. But other than that I am good.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
First Married Christmas
For our first Christmas we were really excited and wanted to get a tree even though we would be celebrating Christmas with our families. We wanted to have some Christma
s cheer to help us through the last projects of the semester and through finals. We were able to find a good deal on a little tree that we still use.
s cheer to help us through the last projects of the semester and through finals. We were able to find a good deal on a little tree that we still use. My parents gave us the ordaments that people had given to me over the years and few things they didn't want. Then we made a fruit loop garland and bought candy canes and chocolate balls and hung them on the tree and ate them throughout the season.
We wanted to spend Christmas day with my family and then fly out to Tennesee for most of the rest of Christmas break. We also wanted to come back a few days before the semester started to give us a chance to buy our books and restock the fridge. Well we couldn't get tickets early enough to give us a significant amount of time in Tennessee unless we flew out on Christmas. So we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my parents and then flew to Tennessee the rest of Christmas Day.
It was really warm in Utah that Christmas Eve. Instead of doing a typical winter activity like sledding we went biking down by Utah Lake because there was no snow. 
That year my parents got us a camping tent as one of our main presents. We thought that was a good idea so we could go camping the next summer. After we opened presents we got on a plane to Tennessee. We made it to Knoxville by 11:30 that night. So technically we were in Utah and Tennessee on Christmas. We made it to Brian's mom's house a little after midnight. Brian's siblings weren't too happy about having Christmas almost a day late. So when we got there we opened presents right away.
Terry and Bob had also given us a really good gift that year. They bought us a tent. 
We got a good laugh out of that one, but we were able to exchange it for some sleeping bags. Along with the camping gear Brian's siblings gave us we were all set to go camping.
Working in Utah
I thought I would dedicate one post to all the jobs we worked while we were living in Utah. That way there won't be multiple boring posts about the jobs we had. So this is how we earned money while going to BYU.
Brian had applied to some nicer jobs on campus when we were still in Tennessee, but he didn't hear back for any of them. (These jobs you usually have to know someone to get the job, but it was worth a try). So when he got back he went to the custodial office and was able to get another custodial job. Fortunately his schedule allowed for him to take an afternoon shift, so he didn't have to work early morning. Unfortunately he was fully awake while he was cleaning and was fully aware of how bored he was.
Because I was in the Junior Core I didn't look for a job right away. After I got into the groove of the semester I realized I had some time and energy left and we were getting broke fast, so I started to look for a job. Unfortunately at that point all the good jobs were taken, and I had to work around my group members work schedules so I didn't take up the few times that our group could meet together. Well one day kind of on a whim I saw an add for dish help at the Cannon Center. I got the job immediately and I soon found out why. The work was bad enough, but I could easily handle the disgustingness of food left over, and even some of the creations made by freshman to make out lives harder. The real hard part was our supervisor didn't actually do much and go upset when we didn't finish up early enough. He was the only boss I ever had who made me cry (I didn't cry at work, I managed to make it to my car). The real kicker was at the end of the semester I was quitting, but they were bringing in the new people for the next semester to train, so there was about twice as many people in the dish room. I had an exit type interview and mentioned how relaxed the dish room was because there were so many people there. The supervisor replied that there was supposed to be that many people to have a full crew. No wonder it took us an extra half an hour each night. I was so glad to get out of that job.
After I got really upset that day in the dish room I started actively looking for a new job. I remembered that when I was in high school a neighbor in our ward was impressed by how well I did at an accounting competition and said I could have a job if I ever wanted one. He was a partner in a small accounting firm called Johnson and Associates. I called Steve up hopeful he could make some work for me. I was really lucky because they were going into busy season, and one of their employees had just left. Steve wanted me to work 20 hours and I wanted closer to 10 because I was still in the Junior Core and you had to get special permission to work more than 10 hours, so we settled on 15. I started out doing payroll for his clients and the quarterly payroll reports. I also did the secretarial stuff during the summer when they had less employees. I worked on entering the books for the small companies they did taxes for, and by the end I was putting in the individual returns they did during busy season. I worked there until Joshua was born, part time until I graduated and then full time for four months afterwards. I really enjoyed working there and learned a lot too.
Brian was able to move up in the working world too. He only had to be a custodian for one more semester, and then he was able to get a job as a TA for a low level chemical engineering course. He was able to do his homework if no one came in during office hours, and was able to set some of his own working hours. He only worked as a TA for one semester (that's all they will hire you for sometimes anyway, because the class is over).
For the spring and going forward until we moved away Brian was able to work as a research assistant. He worked on updating a chemical data base that BYU had that commerical companies would pay to subscribe to the information. It was a really nice job because he could work as little as 10 hours a week up to 20 hours if he was in school, or full time when he wasn't in school. He was also able to work remotely from our laptop and choose his own hours almost entirely. It was also a real resume booster, so it was an all around winner job.
I also had one other job. One summer term I was going to school and wasn't taking very many classes, and there wasn't very much for me to do at work, so I looked for a job on campus. I was able to pick up 10 hours a week working at FARMS.(I don't think it is called that anymore). They were totally cool about working around my school and other work schedule and for me only working a term. I entered their income and did a few other secretarial things as needed. Then I trained my replacement and it was done. So there are our jobs for when we went to BYU.
Brian had applied to some nicer jobs on campus when we were still in Tennessee, but he didn't hear back for any of them. (These jobs you usually have to know someone to get the job, but it was worth a try). So when he got back he went to the custodial office and was able to get another custodial job. Fortunately his schedule allowed for him to take an afternoon shift, so he didn't have to work early morning. Unfortunately he was fully awake while he was cleaning and was fully aware of how bored he was.
Because I was in the Junior Core I didn't look for a job right away. After I got into the groove of the semester I realized I had some time and energy left and we were getting broke fast, so I started to look for a job. Unfortunately at that point all the good jobs were taken, and I had to work around my group members work schedules so I didn't take up the few times that our group could meet together. Well one day kind of on a whim I saw an add for dish help at the Cannon Center. I got the job immediately and I soon found out why. The work was bad enough, but I could easily handle the disgustingness of food left over, and even some of the creations made by freshman to make out lives harder. The real hard part was our supervisor didn't actually do much and go upset when we didn't finish up early enough. He was the only boss I ever had who made me cry (I didn't cry at work, I managed to make it to my car). The real kicker was at the end of the semester I was quitting, but they were bringing in the new people for the next semester to train, so there was about twice as many people in the dish room. I had an exit type interview and mentioned how relaxed the dish room was because there were so many people there. The supervisor replied that there was supposed to be that many people to have a full crew. No wonder it took us an extra half an hour each night. I was so glad to get out of that job.
After I got really upset that day in the dish room I started actively looking for a new job. I remembered that when I was in high school a neighbor in our ward was impressed by how well I did at an accounting competition and said I could have a job if I ever wanted one. He was a partner in a small accounting firm called Johnson and Associates. I called Steve up hopeful he could make some work for me. I was really lucky because they were going into busy season, and one of their employees had just left. Steve wanted me to work 20 hours and I wanted closer to 10 because I was still in the Junior Core and you had to get special permission to work more than 10 hours, so we settled on 15. I started out doing payroll for his clients and the quarterly payroll reports. I also did the secretarial stuff during the summer when they had less employees. I worked on entering the books for the small companies they did taxes for, and by the end I was putting in the individual returns they did during busy season. I worked there until Joshua was born, part time until I graduated and then full time for four months afterwards. I really enjoyed working there and learned a lot too.
Brian was able to move up in the working world too. He only had to be a custodian for one more semester, and then he was able to get a job as a TA for a low level chemical engineering course. He was able to do his homework if no one came in during office hours, and was able to set some of his own working hours. He only worked as a TA for one semester (that's all they will hire you for sometimes anyway, because the class is over).
For the spring and going forward until we moved away Brian was able to work as a research assistant. He worked on updating a chemical data base that BYU had that commerical companies would pay to subscribe to the information. It was a really nice job because he could work as little as 10 hours a week up to 20 hours if he was in school, or full time when he wasn't in school. He was also able to work remotely from our laptop and choose his own hours almost entirely. It was also a real resume booster, so it was an all around winner job.
I also had one other job. One summer term I was going to school and wasn't taking very many classes, and there wasn't very much for me to do at work, so I looked for a job on campus. I was able to pick up 10 hours a week working at FARMS.(I don't think it is called that anymore). They were totally cool about working around my school and other work schedule and for me only working a term. I entered their income and did a few other secretarial things as needed. Then I trained my replacement and it was done. So there are our jobs for when we went to BYU.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Junior Core
The fall of 2005 was the starting of the accounting junior core for me. I was nervous going in because of the stories I had heard about how hard and time consuming it was. Brian and I agreed that I wouldn't work, at least initially, so that I could focus on school and find out how time consuming the core was going to be.
I was excited to find myself in the smallest section of students. That would mean more professor attention and make it easier to know the other students. We were immediately put into groups of five, to be our group for the entire semester, and given the Waren case. I got along very well with my group, it was new and refreshing to have group members that would actually do work. Up until this point most of my school group experiences involved me doing most of the work. I also go to meet someone who became one of my best friends, Suzanne. We were the only two girls in the group and got along right from the start. The case was very time intensive and we spent many hours together those first couple of weeks getting it done. Suzanne and I would joke about how we saw each other more than we saw our husbands. (Later we were able to get our husbands to meet too, and they got along swimmingly).
I think the case was meant to be a group bonding experience because it wasn't especially hard, it covered fairly easy accounting principles we learned in the past, but it was really detail intensive, and took a lot of time. After that case was over we didn't have to spend so much time together as a group, even though we did a lot of our homework together. Our group got along really well and asked if we could be a group again the next semester. But we were told that we couldn't.
I didn't get along as well with my group the next semester. The second semester you could start to see the drift between the people who wanted to get into the MAcc, who continued to be really over achievers, and those who didn't want to get into the MAcc, who were getting tired of the really intense workload. There was no real drama, but we had some group members that pulled more weight than others. They did all pull through for me when I spent a week in the hospital, and even came and visited me there.
It was a good year and I learned a lot, but I was glad when it was over.
I was excited to find myself in the smallest section of students. That would mean more professor attention and make it easier to know the other students. We were immediately put into groups of five, to be our group for the entire semester, and given the Waren case. I got along very well with my group, it was new and refreshing to have group members that would actually do work. Up until this point most of my school group experiences involved me doing most of the work. I also go to meet someone who became one of my best friends, Suzanne. We were the only two girls in the group and got along right from the start. The case was very time intensive and we spent many hours together those first couple of weeks getting it done. Suzanne and I would joke about how we saw each other more than we saw our husbands. (Later we were able to get our husbands to meet too, and they got along swimmingly).
I think the case was meant to be a group bonding experience because it wasn't especially hard, it covered fairly easy accounting principles we learned in the past, but it was really detail intensive, and took a lot of time. After that case was over we didn't have to spend so much time together as a group, even though we did a lot of our homework together. Our group got along really well and asked if we could be a group again the next semester. But we were told that we couldn't.
I didn't get along as well with my group the next semester. The second semester you could start to see the drift between the people who wanted to get into the MAcc, who continued to be really over achievers, and those who didn't want to get into the MAcc, who were getting tired of the really intense workload. There was no real drama, but we had some group members that pulled more weight than others. They did all pull through for me when I spent a week in the hospital, and even came and visited me there.
It was a good year and I learned a lot, but I was glad when it was over.
Other things we did while living in Tennessee
It was super nice to be only working and not going to school full time while we were in Tennessee. Brian did take one calculus class at the University of Tennessee, but the class wasn't as competitive as those at BYU so it wasn't too bad.
Bob and Terry were worried about me leaving my horse behind in Utah for the summer, so they arranged with their friend who lived near their house for me to come ride her horses. She had two horses one was young and hadn't had tons of training and the other one was really old, but calmer. I rode the young one because I like a challenge, and if I brought Brian or one of his family members they could ride the older horse. I usually made it over once a week, I would go when Brian was working, then I could go over to Terry's for dinner It was a great setup.
Another thing we did that summer was go on a giant family vacation. Bob was unfortunately working out of town in Wyoming, but Terry, Brian, all his siblings, and I crammed into their mini van (there were just enough seat belts), and went to Ohio. We stayed with Bob's aunt and went to a nearby amusement park with wooden roller coasters and a water park. It was really fun, but the part I remember most is Brian's sister was driving close to a 100 miles per hour, was pulled over and Terry talked him out of giving her a ticket.
At the end of the summer Brian's sister Jesse, put in her papers for a mission and was called to the Albanian Mission. She went through the temple for the first time the day before Brian and I left to move back to Utah. We went down to the Atlanta Temple, and Jesse went through for herself and Terry, Bob, Jeremy, Brian and I did family names. After the endowment session we sealed the families together that we could at that point. It was a wonderful day, but when Brian and I got back to Knoxville we had al ot of packing to do to get ready.
Brian and I had ended up working a couple extra days longer than we planned on, and we had started packing and cleaning but hadn't gotten very far. Fortunately Bob and Terry came over that night and helped us cram all of our possessions we had there into the car. Remember we had had another wedding reception while we were in Teneessee. Amazingly we made it. But I wasn't able to do a final deep cleaning like I had hoped for. (Sorry Mamaw).
And the next morning at 6:00 a.m. Brian and I left to return to Utah. The drive was painfully long, but we made it uneventfully.
Bob and Terry were worried about me leaving my horse behind in Utah for the summer, so they arranged with their friend who lived near their house for me to come ride her horses. She had two horses one was young and hadn't had tons of training and the other one was really old, but calmer. I rode the young one because I like a challenge, and if I brought Brian or one of his family members they could ride the older horse. I usually made it over once a week, I would go when Brian was working, then I could go over to Terry's for dinner It was a great setup.
Another thing we did that summer was go on a giant family vacation. Bob was unfortunately working out of town in Wyoming, but Terry, Brian, all his siblings, and I crammed into their mini van (there were just enough seat belts), and went to Ohio. We stayed with Bob's aunt and went to a nearby amusement park with wooden roller coasters and a water park. It was really fun, but the part I remember most is Brian's sister was driving close to a 100 miles per hour, was pulled over and Terry talked him out of giving her a ticket.
At the end of the summer Brian's sister Jesse, put in her papers for a mission and was called to the Albanian Mission. She went through the temple for the first time the day before Brian and I left to move back to Utah. We went down to the Atlanta Temple, and Jesse went through for herself and Terry, Bob, Jeremy, Brian and I did family names. After the endowment session we sealed the families together that we could at that point. It was a wonderful day, but when Brian and I got back to Knoxville we had al ot of packing to do to get ready.
Brian and I had ended up working a couple extra days longer than we planned on, and we had started packing and cleaning but hadn't gotten very far. Fortunately Bob and Terry came over that night and helped us cram all of our possessions we had there into the car. Remember we had had another wedding reception while we were in Teneessee. Amazingly we made it. But I wasn't able to do a final deep cleaning like I had hoped for. (Sorry Mamaw).
And the next morning at 6:00 a.m. Brian and I left to return to Utah. The drive was painfully long, but we made it uneventfully.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Working in Tennessee
Before we were married and moved to Tennessee I had sent my resume out for several jobs I looked up online in the Knoxville newspaper. I had gotten one call back and that was from a temp agency, so I was kind of worried when we went out there. Well on the last day of what should have our honeymoon we were just chilling because I hadn't felt well enough to go to the cabin I got a call for an interview. The next Monday I went out and interviewed at an apartment complex that was doing renovations and they needed someone to oversee the renovations so the regional manager that was doing that could go back to doing regional managering things.
I was hired that day and started the next week. The regional manager ended up doing most of the overseeing because they kept changing their minds about how they were going to do things and what they were going to do. I ended up doing the paperwork for the accounts payable for the renovations and for the regular day to day goings on of the running apartments.
Then a nearby apartment complex that was run by the same company had their manager go out on maternity leave. I had like 3 days training and they had me manage the place for the summer. Fortunately I never had to evict anyone, because they never taught me how to that. On my last week there the regional manager (she had finally figured out what she was doing renovation wise and had hired another lady to run the renovations), and the vice president of the company came by to see how things were going at the complex I was managing. I showed them around the complex, I only had one vacancy and someone was moving in the next week, and I only had three late rent payers, and I knew them by name and apartment number and when they planned on paying. The vice president was so impressed that he told me if I ever wanted to he would find me a permanent managing job. I felt pretty good about that.
When the manager came back I only had a couple of weeks left until we left for Utah again. The managing company had a third complex in the area whose manager had left and had not been sending in the bills to be processed and paid. I spent the next couple of weeks there teaching the new manager how to deal with the accounts payable paperwork and trying to catch her up on the piles of bills laying around.
Brian had a harder time finding a job. He couldn't start work until about 10:00 because he was taking a calculus class in the morning. He also had to stay close to either where I was working or to where we were living because we only had one car. He eventually found a job at Kneaders. The good part was we could get decent food at 1/2 price and sometimes he would bring home something left over from the bakery (not very often though because they donated the leftover food), the crappy part was a lot of the time he didn't start work until 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon, and I got off work at 5:00. He would work until 10:00 or 11:00 at night and sometimes I would fall asleep outside Kneaders in the car waiting for him to get off. He had a lot of lonely days and I had a lot of lonely nights because of the opposite working schedules.
Brian once had to help a secret shopper. When he got the report back he found that he got a perfect score. He did a good job for them, but he was happy to get out of food service when we moved back to Utah.
I was hired that day and started the next week. The regional manager ended up doing most of the overseeing because they kept changing their minds about how they were going to do things and what they were going to do. I ended up doing the paperwork for the accounts payable for the renovations and for the regular day to day goings on of the running apartments.
Then a nearby apartment complex that was run by the same company had their manager go out on maternity leave. I had like 3 days training and they had me manage the place for the summer. Fortunately I never had to evict anyone, because they never taught me how to that. On my last week there the regional manager (she had finally figured out what she was doing renovation wise and had hired another lady to run the renovations), and the vice president of the company came by to see how things were going at the complex I was managing. I showed them around the complex, I only had one vacancy and someone was moving in the next week, and I only had three late rent payers, and I knew them by name and apartment number and when they planned on paying. The vice president was so impressed that he told me if I ever wanted to he would find me a permanent managing job. I felt pretty good about that.
When the manager came back I only had a couple of weeks left until we left for Utah again. The managing company had a third complex in the area whose manager had left and had not been sending in the bills to be processed and paid. I spent the next couple of weeks there teaching the new manager how to deal with the accounts payable paperwork and trying to catch her up on the piles of bills laying around.
Brian had a harder time finding a job. He couldn't start work until about 10:00 because he was taking a calculus class in the morning. He also had to stay close to either where I was working or to where we were living because we only had one car. He eventually found a job at Kneaders. The good part was we could get decent food at 1/2 price and sometimes he would bring home something left over from the bakery (not very often though because they donated the leftover food), the crappy part was a lot of the time he didn't start work until 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon, and I got off work at 5:00. He would work until 10:00 or 11:00 at night and sometimes I would fall asleep outside Kneaders in the car waiting for him to get off. He had a lot of lonely days and I had a lot of lonely nights because of the opposite working schedules.
Brian once had to help a secret shopper. When he got the report back he found that he got a perfect score. He did a good job for them, but he was happy to get out of food service when we moved back to Utah.
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