Sweet Happy Gifts

Hello friends. I wanted to share a big thank you to Amy at Exquisitely Unremarkable for sending me a sweet happy in the mail. It was such a sweet blessing. I love it and have already been reading through it! Oh, how I needed this little treasure of a book. The first 10 pages spoke to me in such a rich way and truly gave me a reminder of the Beautiful Comfort I really do have during this season in my life. 

Thank you, Amy, for thinking of me and taking time to wrap this and mail this so beautifully to me. From the mailer, to the wrapping and to the sweet book and card it made me smile and feel so loved. 

I felt a little better emotionally today. I appreciate the encouragement from my last post. I also didn't realize that post op blues is a "thing" and then it made sense after I did a little research. So, I do feel like I understand a little more as to why I have been feeling the way I have.

Today, I didn't to go to church as normal. It is weird when you miss as a Pastor's wife. The hubby said service was good. I on the other hand worked on my personal Bible study, prayed through my prodigal book for our children and then listened to a Revive Our Hearts podcast on Psalm 113 about Praise. It was exactly what I needed, and it lifted my heart. 

I did get back outside for about 5 minutes to sit in the garage area (in the shade because there was a heat advisory today and possibly up to 105 degrees) I did take a quick look at my swamp flower that finally bloomed. This is a native plant to our area, and I got it free about 3 years ago at our local nature center that sales and gives out native plants for free on occasion. 

Isn't it beautiful?! The stalk can get to about 6 in half feet tall. The hummingbirds LOVE these flowers and once they begin blooming, I get to see more hummingbirds swing by for a visit. 

I am moving a little better as far as my walking as of today BUT I did feel more pain and discomfort today in my abdominal area. I believe all the pain medicine is actually wearing off, and things are "waking" up as they say. Up until today the pain has been very mild to moderate. There were times this evening I had tears due to the pain. 

A family from our church brought us pizza and cookies Friday evening and also gifted me this huge bouquet of flowers. They are so lovely. My husband trimmed them up and put them in a vase to display in our breakfast nook area. 

My mom sent me the neatest books ever for my birthday!!! They are cozy mystery books WITH CROSSWORD PUZZLES at the end of each chapter. I mean, how genius is this?? 

I love crossword puzzles if you do not know this about me. Like, I am the lady at the doctor's office doing a crossword puzzle or looking at a magazine. I love a good clean cozy mystery book and a puzzle.... so it could not get any better! 

She sent me three books. I am currently reading and working the puzzles in this last one above! So far it has been such a fun little book.

My husband goes back to work tomorrow. He has left me for very short times but tomorrow he will be gone almost 10 hours. I will be alone for a long bit. To say I am not a little apprehensive I would be lying. I got a little emotional tonight thinking about it all. So, we did ask if my daughter would pop in on her lunch break tomorrow to make sure I don't need anything or help with something. You all if I even drop something I can't pick it up! I did get one of those handheld grabber things, but it can't pick up everything. She said she can pop by Monday and Tuesday because she works at the Orthodontist office in our area those days. The orthodontist she works for has three different locations and she travels to two of them weekly. One is in our town and the other is 28 minutes away.  I am glad she can pop in tomorrow though. 

I know it will all be okay! I am not normally needy. My husband has actually said I am stubborn because I forget to ask for help and just do things and then I start hurting. He says that lovingly. Smiles!  I am stubborn. That is truthful. HAHA!!! 😆

You all know that I hike alone, cave explore alone, stay in tiny homes and cabins all the time by myself. I travel by myself often but for some reason this surgery and recovery has me all in my "feels." I don't want to be alone. I mean some of the time I do but 10 hours seems a long time when I have a hard time still getting out of bed. BUT I will survive and this too shall pass. 😊

Anyhoo.... time to wrap up this post. I do plan to get up tomorrow and try to set me up an easy and resting routine to help me have some sort of flow for my day to help me feel a little more grounded. 

Have a super week ahead!

Chrissy T

 

Flowers & Tears

Hello friends. I am post-op 6 days after my surgery that I had on Monday! I thought I would do a little update. I am doing well on the most part. Yesterday and today has been the hardest so far. The pain is mild and not really that bad thankfully.  

I went outside for about 5 minutes today to see the outdoors, get a change of scenery, and hopefully brighten my mood. I will be honest today has been emotionally hard. There have been tears. Lots of tears today. I am not sure why, but I feel so DONE with this all and I know I have so much longer. I think the fact that I know how much longer I have and I truly do not have a choice is weighing on me. A lot of people keep saying embrace this time. I appreciate the sentiment but to be honest I feel I have embraced this season fairly well and truly I am ready to embrace something different. I will be obedient to the Lord's will for me and embrace this stillness. He is Sovereign and in control and knows the plans He has for me. But it is okay I have tears at times.

Isn't this lantana beautiful?! My granny always had lantana on her porch. When I see it, I always think of how much she loved it. 

I love this pot with the mix of lantana and other flowers. It brings a smile to me every single time I see it.

Anyhoo... back to the recovery. My incisions so far are doing well. I do have some pain but in places I wasn't expecting. I will say my stomach so far (as of today) just feels bloated and a little crampy. Coughing has NOT been easy nor fun. I often forget and go to laugh and cough and it is very uncomfortable. I FINALLY got to wash my hair today! Showers are very exhausting. Who would think it would feel like you ran a marathon after a shower. Well, I can testify this is the case. Imagine me and my extremely long hair being washed and dried. NOT FUN! But I am glad it is washed and feels a lot fresher. 

Back to the emotions....I think the fact that I know I will be down for a while and already have been down really has truly been getting to me. It is getting old. Very old. I have tried to be joyful in the midst of it all but today I just want to allow myself to be okay with the feelings that I am sad, tired of it and ready to be back to normal. I don't even know what normal feels like to be honest. From March until now my health has not been good and it has been a long journey. One that I have tried to handle with positivity and grace. Today, I just want to be okay with the tears. I want to be okay that I am frustrated and tired.

(This Wandering Jew plant aka...Tradescantia zebrina... we have had for years and I love it)

Wandering outside and taking some pictures of our small flowerbed and potted flowers was nice. Guess what..... I was crying while doing it. LOL! I was thankful for the peace, the beauty of flowers, and being able to even get outside. My situation could be worse. I was emotional and wanting to get back to normal. 

This is the thing.... I wish all I had going on that was trying and difficult is recovering from surgery and a long stint of health issues. For personal reasons there are things I will not share on my blog. I will say, that while I have been dealing with this, I also have had some major personal things going on as well that has been life changing and difficult. We all have stories! Some we share and some we do not. Grace is always important. 

Oh, this flower turned out so good. Seeing this reminded me how much I love taking pictures in nature. I miss my hikes and nature walks. I have so many beautiful images from my times on trails.

As you know if you are a regular visitor, I try to keep my blog positive as can be and share how I overcome life's hard moments finding little joys and embracing each season that comes my way. Today though for my own journaling and remembrance I want to share that this part of this surgery and recovery has been hard. You know what.... that's okay. It is okay that I am being raw and honest. 

I am so thankful for all of you that have emailed me, commented and blessed me with a happy mail package. I am beyond grateful and treasure you all. I have been so blessed and reminded I am not alone. I will share some of the Love Packages I have received in a different post soon. JUST KNOW I AM BEYOND THANKFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going to end this post and finish my movie I am watching. I watch a little of it and then I pause and do something else and then watch some more. 

It is called Sheep Detectives. It is interestingly neat. :) I will let you know my final thoughts. 

Tomorrow is a new day! 

With Love,

Chrissy T

The Little Things...

Hello friends. I have been pinning a lot of beautiful quotes lately. I want to share some pins that have brought me a smile, a little joy or makes me ponder! :) 

All images I am sharing are from Pinterest. 

I just love this white and yellow. It speaks sunny summer with a smile.

There is really nothing like the above statement. It is so true!

Yes, so true!!!!

The Little Women author is so correct on the sentiment above. I just love that movie by the way. It has been a long time since I have watched it. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

Chrissy T

Birthday Goodies

Hello everyone. Yesterday was a little harder with the recovery process but I survived and today is a new day. I do feel decent today. Exhaustion and all over body soreness is the biggest thing I am dealing with.

Yesterday was my birthday. It was pretty okay considering recovery. My mom blessed me with a beautiful card and gift card. My husband also gifted me one of the prettiest cards I truly ever have seen. It had an actual little frame and ribbon on it. I loved it. The card had such a beautiful writing and meaning as well. Along with some flowers for me to enjoy from my bed and another gift card it was a perfect happy for me. 

Our Assistant Pastor Wife brought a meal for us last night and it was delicious. It was Ranch Chicken on top of potatoes and topped with crumbled bacon, corn and an Oreo Layer Dirt Cake dessert. She also gave me a birthday happy! It was such a nice blessing. 

Our daughter, Hannah, has been coming over after work to help her dad get meals served and clean the kitchen. She also fixes my plate and then visits with me a little. She works really hard long days, so I appreciate her to doing this. She had already taken me for a pedicure before my surgery, but she surprised me with my favorite mini cake from Nothing Bundt Cake (Carrot Cake) and gifted me some Bath and Body Works. It was so sweet and such a surprise!

I haven't eaten the cake yet because we were gifted that Oreo dessert from our sister from church. So, I will enjoy the little carrot cake later today. 

To be honest, I am not able to eat much truly. I have been doing very light and soft foods. Scrambled eggs in the morning, soup for lunch and whatever someone brings (our church is doing a meal train for us for a few days) for dinner. I will eat a small portion of the dinner provided. I have to be careful due to many digestion issues certain foods can cause that cannot be good on my tummy during this time. 

Today has been a little blah to be honest. I had to get out of this bedroom. I have been walking a little around the home to prevent blood clots and etc. but I just needed some sun. I hobbled outdoors for about 5 minutes to enjoy some warmth and sun. I looked a little at my new Victoria magazine. It has so many beautiful pictures! I couldn't focus to read it much though.

I have lot of things swirling in my head on how to survive the next few weeks being down. I will share with you all tomorrow. 

I am daily enjoying my special devotion time with the Lord in the morning. 

My summer Bible Study is by Daily Grace Co. It isn't overly complicated and the message is what I need right now. 

I am also going through this book above. :) I also love these daily little devotionals I get from Revive Our Hearts. 

I am having a hard time concentrating while reading but I am going to keep this a priority because in the end it will be beneficial!!! 

I hope you all have a good day!

Sleep, Rest, Light Walk, Medicine, Eat and Repeat

Hello friends. I am recovering well so far from Monday's surgery. All of my prayers were answered, and I am thankful for that!!! I am spending all most all of my time in bed for now.  I do get up and do a light 2-5 minute slow "shuffle" walk as my doctor requested every couple of hours to prevent blood clots, gas build up and to help aid in recovery. It is not fun to stand up at first, but it really hasn't been too terrible. 

My mom sent me three stickers by number books to work on as I am resting. I enjoyed doing some pages today. I slept off and on, rested by doing some Bible stuff and these books, then I would sleep some more, take medication, get up and shuffle 😆 walk and then rest again, and sleep. It is like a Wash, Rinse, and Repeat Cycle. :) I am eating soft light foods for a few days. 

I am not perfect at lining the stickers up because I am a little shaky still from pain, medicine and I am so cold no matter what I have on. I am usually hot natured, but I am freezing!

I will get better at lining up the stickers but for now it distracts me and brings me joy! I have my little bed tray I bought on clearance last month and it works perfect for this situation. It was on sale for $9.98. It was an excellent mark down for such an item. It has come in so handy for my meals, reading and stuff. 

I put on some folk instrumental cozy music and stickered away. It was a great little joy to me. I am thankful for my mom getting me the books. 

Here are some quotes that I love that I want to share. I found them on Pinterest!

Anyhoo... today is my birthday! I am celebrating from bed! I am just grateful to have another day! 

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Blessings,

Chrissy T

It Went Well

All went well with my hysterectomy this morning. I am home already. Prayers appreciated for my recovery. Thank you all! 

It's All About Him & Prayer Request

Today I am honoring my husband and father to our kiddos. I am thankful for Derrick. He is a wonderful person that carries a lot of weight for us as a family, on his job and as a Pastor of a growing church plant. It is a lot of pressure on him; I am thankful for his dedication, love and support. 

This is my husband with our two older children, Ethan and Hannah at church this morning.

We had a lovely day at church honoring all the fathers and also giving honor to our Ultimate Heavenly Father. I know not everyone has great stories or experiences in the fathering department. I understand. I am one of those. I am however extremely blessed that I have this amazing heavenly father that never leaves me and always holds my hand.... Thank you, Jesus!

Our two oldest children, my daughter's boyfriend (Clayton) and myself with the man of the hour! 

I had a wonderful lady that took on the responsibility of organizing and executing a special Father's Day for the men of our church. She did an amazing job. I normally do it and I was so thankful she stepped in and helped me by taking this off my plate this year due to my health. 

She did a super cute set up for families to get photos! It turned out so well!!! I loved it! All the men thought it was great as well. 

Each man received a box of goodies as a sign of our appreciation. We always give a small gift to men and women on Mother's and Father's Day. 

We also had three baptisms today! It was a full, exciting and wonderful day! My husband preached about the Responsibility of a Man. It was wonderful message and truly counter cultural for today's time. I am so thankful he is a Biblically grounded man and stands on principles. 

My husband praying with some of the sweetest children from Nigeria today that went through a lesson for children with their dad and wanted to be baptized today! Not showing their faces for privacy reasons. 

The church also surprised my husband with a gift of snacks, cards and little gifts in the basket for Father's Day! This is a wonderful helper in the church, and he doesn't mind I show his face. :) 

After all of church activities our grown kiddos and Hannah's Boyfriend joined us for a grill out. My husband LOVES and I MEAN LOVES to grill. So, that is what he wanted to do. We had burgers, baked beans, potato salad and my daughter made brownies. 

We showered him with some cards and gift cards! The kiddos (I still call them this even though they are adults) all went their ways. Derrick and I are relaxing and just enjoying the calmness after a busy day!

Yesterday was busy as he and I worked at preparing our home, getting the kitchen prepped, and all my medicines and items needed for my surgery and recovery that is scheduled tomorrow. 

I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am tomorrow! EARLY! Please say a prayer for me if you do not mind. I will be honest I have had so much peace but today I am very very anxious. Nervous bad. Sick to my stomach nervous. Will you pray that surgery goes well, I do not lose much blood to avoid a transfusion, that recovery goes well, and they do not have to take my ovaries. I would appreciate it so much!

Thank you to those that have emailed me to encourage me! I have felt alone a lot of the time these past few months due to being at home and dealing with all this, but this blog has bought me such joy and fellowship! Thank you!