Summer Wrap Up

What a summer this has been! I wanted to make a hodge-podge post with a bunch of updates from the rest of our quite eventful summer! The kitchen building is coming along nicely and our renovations are at a good steady pace. Atom has been busy building our custom cabinet pull-outs and other cabinet doors and kitchen things.

The 6×8 island has been framed and is in place. Since this photo was taken, the top plywood has been bolted down and is ready for the concrete to be poured. Just last week we purchased the rest of the wood we need to finish the kitchen (YAY!) so the rest of the cabinets should be fabricated and finished in the near future.

About a month & a half ago I had my third heart procedure within the past year. It was a doozy and we had to travel down to Indianapolis for it where the top cardiologist in the nation for my issue is. I lucked out on scoring him as my new cardiologist. He’s beyond amazing!

It was actually my second time this summer going down but the first time the procedure was cancelled literally at the last possible minute due to it being deemed “too risky.” I was devastated because all I wanted was my heart to be working properly and not have to deal with the awful symptoms that have plagued me so horribly for the past year and a half. The procedure was rescheduled for the end of July and I woke up 7 hours later and for the first time in a VERY LONG TIME I didn’t feel my heart beating. I can’t even describe it. Such a weird, foreign but awesome feeling. Besides the wicked pain I was in I was no longer aware of every single torturous dyssynchronous beat like I was before. I looked up on the monitor in the ICU and started crying. To see my heart rhythm that looked “normal” on the monitors was something I had almost given up hope for. I recovered remarkably fast which was amazing, and within only one week I was back up and ready to take on the world. I had to wait a month to be medically cleared from my cardiologist before I could do a ton but now I’m good to go!! I had used the hashtag #myheartisanasshole for a very long time and I couldn’t be happier to now retire it. With everything I have gone through with my heart over the past year & a half (technically 10 years, but things had gotten a ton worse recently) I knew I wanted an anatomical heart tattoo. Atom designed and drew my lung tattoo that I got in 2015 after I had Bronchial Thermoplasty (my lungs are also a-holes but that’s another story for another day) which symbolizes my own lung journey and also my profession as a Respiratory Therapist. Atom spent an afternoon designing my heart tattoo and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

While I was home recovering the first week after the procedure my neighbor gave me this hilarious kitchen towel as a ‘get well soon’ gift. It’s quite perfect for our haunted mansion!

Our garden is super fun and while we aren’t getting as many veggies as we had hoped for, we are still really enjoying it. We should have started our seeds much earlier than we did but lesson learned for next year. The massive volunteer pumpkin patch has more than made up for it! We currently have at least 20 pumpkins growing! Atom cut one of them off the vine Sunday afternoon and roasted it to have with dinner. It was absolutely delicious!!

A friend of mine gave me a rainbow pepper starter and that plant has taken off and we have purple bell peppers! They’re so much fun and taste really good!

Also growing are tomatoes, green beans (which are our oldest’s favorite to pick and eat raw) cantaloupe, zucchini, and onions. I already have my list of things I can’t wait to grow next year.

Now that it is September it is officially fall in my head. I love Starbucks probably more than I should and it’s pumpkin spice season which makes me so incredibly happy. I can’t wait for the trees to start changing colors.

Getting the all clear from my cardiologist meant I was able to return to my love of worship music. Picking up my guitar last week and preparing for the worship service at our church felt so good. I was amazed how easy it was for me to sing an entire line of a song without having to take a breath mid-way. Total game changer.

Lastly, our boys room (you know, one of the 826370 side projects we have going at the same time) is starting to make some progress. Each of our boys have worked with Atom to design their 15×20 bedroom with beds built into the walls and secret passageways. The three of them worked all weekend to get the frames up.

We found all of these crates on clearance for $1.50 each and the boys picked out what colors they want to be storage inside their closets. Our daughter requested a couple pink ones for her room and for the price we got them, we were happy to oblige.

Atom and the boys worked all day yesterday to get the other wall frame built and into place. It has been a lot of fun watching them being so involved in the planning as well as building their own rooms. They are already thinking of paint colors for the walls and what kind of curtains or shutters they want for their windows. I can’t wait to see what they each decide on!

We are so ready for fall! We have started planning our second annual block party for our neighborhood as well as another taco party complete with an epic dodgeball tournament in our basement, a few private ghost investigations in the building, apple picking trips and other fun fall festivities!

Bring it on!

~Theresa