The surgery went well. My mom and grandma came up to be with me, which was really nice. I had to be there at 6 a.m. on Friday, and they got me going pretty quickly. I figured I would have to wait for a long time, but by 7:30 a.m. I was in the holding area, and the surgeon and anesthesiologist were back there talking to me. Eric was able to stay with me up until they took me in, which made me feel a lot better. It was an outpatient surgery, so when I was done they took me to the recovery room. After I woke up they took me back to the room I had originally been in and I had to stay there until I was able to eat a little and was feeling alert enough to walk without difficulty. I went home about 12:30 p.m. I was really sore the rest of that day and yesterday was pretty bad as far as pain goes too, but today I feel much better. My stomach is all swollen and I still don't feel like doing anything, but it's getting better and I'm thankful for that. Eric has been taking really good care of me and insisting that I take it easy and relax, and that's felt really good. He's taken on everything as far as household duties for the time being, which takes a load off my mind. He's been great. My mom and grandma left yesterday, but it was so good having them here. I was surprised that they came up, but it did make me feel better. All in all everything is going good and after it quits hurting and the swelling goes down I know I'll be grateful that it's over with.

I went to the dr this morning for my appt. He set me up to have surgery on Friday. I'm nervous, but Eric's commander gave him Friday off so it makes me feel better knowing he'll be there with me the whole time. The way the dr explained it, it doesn't seem like it will be too big of a deal, but still the thought of any kind of surgery just doesn't make me feel all giddy inside.

I can't believe it's Friday again already. Thank you for all the nice comments that you all left on my last entry, I really appreciate them. Charla asked me how I have lost all the weight, so I thought I'd answer that for this "Gettin' Fit Friday". The way I have lost all the weight is by working at it, hard. I started out right after Eric left for Iraq and I walked on a treadmill for 30 mins a few times a week. Then I went up to 45 mins a day everyday. Then around the time that Eric came home for R&R my mom bought a stationary bike and I started riding that 30 mins, twice a day, four days a week. The other 3 days I was doing Tae Bo. Now I ride the bike 30 mins twice a day everyday, except I have started doing Tae Bo again for the good ab workout. Every week I try and give myself a rest though so that I don't burn myself out. I usually take either Thursday or Friday and cut my workout in half. I also cut out soda all together, and I drink a ton of water. I don't eat sweets except on a very rare occassions. I have loosened up on myself recently since I'm so close to where I want to be, I decided not to be so hard on myself when I give myself a break. When I started out I absolutely refused to cut myself any slack because I knew how I was. If I would have given myself a break I would have stopped all together and I would have stayed where I was. I knew that I had to keep myself on track or I wouldn't do what I had to do. I also prayed alot while I was working out. I just kept saying, "Lord give me the strength I need to keep going." Now I love the workouts. I made up my mind that I had to do what I had to do to get myself under control. I wasn't happy with myself and I hated that. I just can't explain how good it feels to go into the stores that have the clothes that I never used to be able to wear and pick things out to wear and them actually fit me. It's amazing. Anyways, that's what I've done to lose my weight and keep myself motivated to keep going.

I have an appt the 23rd to consult with the surgeon about my gallbladder. I'm not looking forward to that, but I know I have to get something done with it. I went and got a checkup a couple weeks ago and the dr asked me if I smoked, I said no. She asked if I drink, I said no. She asked if I exercise, I said yes. She said, "it just doesn't seem fair that you have gallstones, you do everything right." I agree, it's not fair, lol. But I guess the way I used to live caught up with me. Oh well. Eric took a PT test yesterday and did an excellent job. He did better than he's ever done and I was so proud of him. He had to take it for his packet, he's trying for the Green to Gold Active Duty Option, and so his PT test that he took will look really good in his packet.

I started classes on Monday. I had to drop my anatomy class because it turns out that that particular one doesn't transfer and I need the credits to transfer so I can be a junior when I enroll in the university I'm going to go to. So now I'm taking, Intro to Computers, Web Site Construction, Political Science and Physical Science w/ Lab. I'm not sure what I got myself into, I just hope I can pull it off, lol.

Well, Charla wants to bring back "Gettin' Fit Friday" so I'll join in again. I have been doing good at keeping myself on track, and despite the holidays I was able to keep on top of things. I didn't overeat and I kept exercising the whole time. My support system has been awesome and they have definitely helped me keep going through my down moments. I think that's a big part of keeping things going. You have to have a support system that is willing to back you up. I put 100% of myself in the Lord's hands and I know that He is the reason that I have been able to keep going. Before this time I have tried many times to lose weight and wasn't able to keep myself motivated enough to get anywhere with it. I would ask Eric to go walking with me, and he would, but I would whine the whole time and end up giving up. When he left thoughI turned it over to God and asked for help and I have been going ever since. I also think that a big thing is that you need to be ready for the change. I was tired of being overweight and tired of not liking the way I looked. I was ready to stop feeling sorry for myself and get up and do something about it. My family has been awesome and they are always encouraging me and telling me how proud of me they are. My brother, who used to very rarely ever complimented me, has been telling me how pretty I look and gave me the best compliment I think I've ever received. He told mom that Eric fell into a gold mine with me. I thought that was so sweet. Then of course there's Eric. He has been a big motivating factor for me. Yesterday he wrapped his arms around me and said, "come here my skinny wife." Music to my ears. So, to date I have went down 13 inches in my waist and I have lost 87 pounds. I have approximately 5 pounds before I am at my goal weight. I never thought I would be this close and I'm so proud of myself. Nothing beats that feeling. Here's a picture of me that Eric took today in my new shirt.



Also, we're not moving until the fall semester. The military sure does have a way of not rushing things, especially when it comes to paperwork. Oh well, I really wasn't too disappointed about it when Eric told me. Of course I did pack almost everything, but I figure we only have about 6 months left here and we are for sure going in the fall, so it's no big deal. I'm actually looking forward to staying here for a little while, considering we just barely moved into this place. Plus, with everything else, like having to have surgery and needing to take care of various other things, it's better we stay here for now. It will also give me a chance to catch up to Eric in school work and we will end up graduating with our bachelor's at the same time, which I think will be pretty neat. All in all I know that it's better that we stay here, the Lord has a plan for us, that's for sure.

The past couple months I keep getting this intense pain in my back and it comes up and settles right between my rib cage. I've ignored it as best I could, but on Tuesday it got so bad that I couldn't stand it anymore. I called my mom and she said to go to the hospital, so Eric took me. I hate the hospital. I was so sick though. I went and they hooked me up to an IV and gave me some pain medicine that knocked me out. They said it was my gallbladder and I had to go yesterday and get an ultrasound done on it. I have gallstones. Which means I have to have surgery. The dr told me yesterday that it's not infected and since I wasn't in pain right now it's not an emergency and that the surgery department would be getting ahold of me sometime to set up an appt. They called today but I wasn't here. So I tried to call them back but they were gone by that time, so I'll have to wait until they call me again. I'm going to see if they can do the laser surgery and just dissolve the stones instead of taking the whole thing. I'm not a fan of having to have one of my organs taken out. If everything goes ok I'm going to wait until we get to OK before I have the surgery though, that way I won't have to worry about it now, but we'll have to see. The way it looks we might have to wait until the fall to go down there anyways, but it's in the Lord's hands and we'll just have to wait to see what happens.