Here We Go...

Why yes, it has been FOREVER since I updated my blog...I'm so sorry!

Life has been completely crazy lately, but...

I LOVE my new job as a school nurse!  LOVE IT!!!!

The kids are crazy, immature, and down right hilarious!  I can't believe some of the things they come to me for!  It's amazing.  I'll have to share some stories another time! 

...and I promise to do my best to update sooner, next time.  Seriously, Immunizations were consuming my life for the first part of the school year, and now that they've died down, I can hopefully find some sort of normal routine for my week, and I really want a blog update to be part of it. 

So, I'm starting today! 

___________________________
Here We Go...

A few weeks ago I had some MAJOR seasonal allergy issues going on! 

They were driving me CRAZY!

Well, after a few days of Benadryl and Claritin, my allergies seemed to dwindle, but the cough remained...

Then 2 weeks ago, I was doing laundry on a Saturday, and I came up the basement stairs with a 1/4 full laundry basket, and had to sit down to catch my breath! 

NOT OKAY!!!!! 

I'm not a happy person when I have shortness of breath.  It slows me down, and reminds me that sometimes my CF believes it should be in charge.  I, however, feel much differently than my CF and like to show it who's boss!  

I started percussing 3 times a day, as opposed to my normal twice a day routine!  I text my pulmonologist (cuz we're cool like that) and he put me on Cipro (an antibiotic)! 

I was still feeling shortness of breath , but was getting a little better. 

I thought back and realized, "Holly, you haven't been in the hospital, or had any kind of a 'tune up' since July 2005."



I have to tell you, I am EXTREMELY proud of myself for this! 



5+ years I've gone without needing I.V. antibiotics.  Without being stuck in a hospital bed for weeks, bored out my goard and not sleeping at night because NO ONE sleeps in a hospital! 

I mean, truly, this is a beautiful thing.  To have been born and not expected to see elementary school, or more likely even, my first birthday...and I've gone 5+ years without needing some serious medical tuning!  AMAZING!

I'm in awe of this blessing from God. 


~ HE gave me wonderful parents:

who stayed up night upon night to listen to me breathe...

to give me my treatments, even when I fought them on it...

to be my voice, when I couldn't be or was too afraid to be...

to be proactive and tell the doctor's when they thought I needed more...

to be my advocates to tell the doctor's at 3am that 12 sticks for an I.V., they still couldn't get, was enough, and that I needed sleep more than the medication at that very second...

to allow me to hit the therapists with my I.V. board, because I'd told them time and time again they were pounding too hard, and they just wouldn't listen...

to stay with me night after night in the hospital, because I didn't want to be alone (even though I was in my teens and twenties)...

to treat me the same as they treated my sister, never treating me like I was fragile because of CF...

to teach me that I can't let CF stop me, and that I'm bigger than it is!



~ HE gave me a wonderful sister:

who stuck up for me, when I was too little to stick up for myself...

who wanted so desperately to stay with me in the hospital when I was sick, but wasn't allowed because of her age...

who spent the night, in the bed with me, when I was in the hospital my freshman year of college, because she was an adult now, and she could...

who brought my nephew to see me in the hospital, and talked the woman downstairs into letting him come up to the floor even though it wasn't their policy...

who PRAYED, and continues to do so, for me and my health!



~ HE gave me my wonderfu husband

who didn't let CF come between him and me...

who married me, in sickness and in health...

who, for reasons unknown to me, LOVES me...

who, even though he thought I was crazy when I mentioned it to him last week, is going along with me going on home I.V.


Yes...you read that right...I'm going on home I.V. (10-1-10 at 9:00am)

Not because I need or have to...but because I'm being proactive.

I'm making the adult decision...

I've gone 5+ years without needing a tune up! 

I still don't 'need' a tune up...and I'm sooo very proud of this!

But it can't hurt!  It can only make my lungs better!


...and to be honest, the better my lungs are, the better I'll be!

...and the better I'll be, the longer I'll be here!

...and the longer I'm here...

The longer I can praise God, and thank HIM for the blessings HE has given me! 



...and really, isn't that the point?  ;0)

The Story of the Elliott's

I've had a request to hear the story of Chris and I!  I hope you enjoy:


~  Once upon a time, in a land about 1 hour and 15 minutes from here, a precious little boy was born...

Christopher

About a month later, just around 5 blocks from here, a precious little girl was born...

Holly

...and they grew up

Graduated from High School...

and both ended up at Anderson University!

I had been at AU for 2 years at this point, and was working for the campus Police and Security Services.  It was the summer of 2000, and I was working a saturday morning.  One Saturday each month over the summer, new, incoming students (freshmen and transfers)come to campus to register for classes, take entrance exams, and get their student I.D. 

To be completely honest...I don't remembe this part of our story.  I worked every one of those Saturdays that summer, and I can't tell you how many annoying new freshmen I met on those days.  They thought they were the bomb...I was there to bring them back to reality. 

So, per Chris, he came up, said something "cool" to me, and I was like, "Sit down, and smile."  I took his picture, and he thought I was a jerk.

*So was our first meeting...again, per Chris

However, because I don't remember it, here's where our story starts for me ;0)

About a week before classes started, I moved into Myers Hall...

Myers Hall is the upper classmen dorm, and the dorm that many transfer students get moved in to.

Chris (a transfer student) moved down the hall.

Yes, it's a co-ed dorm....at a Christian University.  We both lived on the second floor (there was a fire door between the guys and girls).

I knew Chris' roommate Stew...

 

My sister had just gotten married that weekend before, and I had about a billion of those little fake gold rings that you can buy at a craft store.  So I went down the hall and "proposed" to all the girls on my floor.  When I got to Chris and Stew's room I proposed to them too. 

Chris had no idea I liked him...he thought I was just being silly proposing to people...but I couldn't very well just propose to him or it would've been super obvious!  So I had to propose to Stew too (sorry Stewby, it's the truth...I never really wanted to marry you)!

A few weeks later, I invited Chris and Stew to come to my parents house for the Pendleton Homecoming Parade!  After the parade we went to Applebee's for dinner...

Here's the first picture ever taken of us together!

After that night, we started hanging out alot, but didn't really start dating until a few months after we met (October 14th to be exact). 

We'd take walks on campus at night, and talk about anything and everything.  We would always end up at Warner Auditorium (it's no longer there).  Sitting on a bench outside, this is where he kissed me the first time and where he first told me he loved me!

 We dated for a little over 3 years.   With lots of crazy memories in between!

Christmas 2003,  Chris went home to spend Christmas with his parents and I was with my family. 

The day after Christmas, he called me and said he was ready to come back to Anderson because he missed me.  He wanted to take me out to dinner that night because we'd had a small Christmas. 

He showed up at my door, with a red rose! 

We went to Indianapolis,  to the Cheesecake factory.  While we were eating his jacket fell off his chair and when a woman pointed it out to him, he practically freaked out...

I was like, "What's your deal, it's just your jacket."  He responded with, "Well my phones in there, I don't want it to get stepped on and broken."

After a yummy dinner, we headed downtown toward Circle Center Mall (Chris told me we'd walk around the mall, and I was wanting a new wallet, so we could look for that).  When we got there he turned the opposite direction of the mall.  I thought he was turned around, because at that time we didn't go downtown very often and didn't know our way around it as well.  I kept trying to get him to go the othe way, and finally he said, "I can't take you on a horse carriage ride if we go THAT way!"  

So we went on a carriage ride downtown, and around the circle.  It was an odd kind of warm the day after Christmas that year.  I remember thinking..."maybe he's going to propose on the carriage ride."  

No such luck, the carriage ride finished and we started for the car.  Much to his dismay, I "forced" him into the mall to look for a wallet.

We headed back to Anderson, and stopped at his apartment.  I thought we were going to watch a movie at my house.  He said he needed to stop for something, so this didn't strike me as odd when he walked out with a plastic bag.

Chris lived 2 blocks from campus.  He drove on to campus, and up the Myers Hall drive.  I looked at him quizically.  He instructed me to get out of the car.

We walked up to the door, Chris pulled out a rose and handed it to me.  He told me, "This is where we first met!  We're going to take on a walk down memory lane!"

We then headed to Reardon Auditorium.  He pulled out another rose and said, "This is where we had our first date.  We came to a Jennifer Knapp concert."

We got back in the car.  He told me we had one more place to go, and asked me if I knew where it was.  I was pretty sure I did.

We pulled up to the front of Warner Auditorium.  All the benches were pushed to one spot next to the building so Chris pulled one over to where we always sat.  He asked me to stand on top of the bench (Chris is 6 foot 4, so this way we were more on the same eye level).  He told me to close my eyes.  I did.

He said, "This is where we had our first kiss and where I first told you I love you."

"Open your eyes."

Chris was on his knee, with the ring, and he asked me to marry him.

Here's one of our engagement pictures:

 

We graduated in May 2004 (the last class to have commencement in Warner Auditorium before they tore it down) and were married on October 9, 2004 (just 5 days shy of our 4 year dating anniversary)!

A picture from one of my bridal showers!

And have lived Happily Ever After since...

What my Bar Keepers Friend (and my Hubby) taught me about Faith

Chris and I moved in to my Grandparents house almost a year ago.  My grandparents are the sole owners of the home, they had it built in 1953. 

We have a well, and we have rust in our water.

When we moved in, well actually prior to moving in, we cleaned the house from top to bottom...and I mean top to bottom!!!  There's isn't a square inch of this house that hasn't been touched by Chris, my Mom, Dad, or I to make it the lovely, clean, white walled, new carpeted, new flooring that is is today!

However, due to the fact that our water has rust in it, unfortunately, the sinks and the bathtub have have this annoyingly yellow/orangey stain near the drains. 

I'm a pretty clean person, I don't like for my house to be messy, or for there to be toothpaste, or a glob of soap left in the sink after it's been used.  So, to be perfectly honest, I haven't been real jazzed with the fact that these stains have been looming under me (literally) since we moved in.   Chris told me I should use some Bar Keepers Friend, and the stains would come right now...but what would he know about it...so I ignored him and moved on. 

I was embarassed to have to tell Kevin and Erin (when they stayed for our birthday party) that the shower truly was clean, even though it didn't so much look like it.  Chris again told me I should use the Bar Keepers Friend, again I ignored him.

I've sprayed with bleach cleaners, left in sit for a good while, then scrubbed and scrubbed, and been able to get some of the yellow/orangey stain up, but never to where it was fully gone.  Chris told me over and over that I should use Bar Keepers Friend, and over and over again I ignored him.

My sadness over this staining issue affected me greater when I started noticing a hint of that yellow/orange rearing it's ugly head on our brand new bathroom sink that we installed in the front bathroom right after we moved!  But it came out when I scrubbed, my concern lighted a little.

Then...last week...it happened!

Chris cleaned off the stovetop, and in doing so put the burner grates in our kitchen sink.  They put a square rust ring on my sink bottom....ergghhh...so he said, "don't worry, I'll clean it up with my Bar Keepers Friend!

...and he did, and it came right up

...it was AMAZING!

So last night I'm cleaning the bathrooms in preparation of company this weekend, and I decide I'm going to try out my Bar Keepers Friend on the tub and on the back bathroom sink.

I clean both as I normally would, with the bleach cleaner, and then I pour on my Bar Keepers Friend, and let it sit, for about 2 hours.

and then....

I began with the tub, and lo and behold...the yellow/orangey annoying stains practically wiped away! 

...again, I was AMAZED.

I yelled for Chris to come in and look at the tub...

Being the wonderful husband that he is, he didn't say I told you so, and just told me he thought it looked great.

I moved to the back bathroom and began on the sink...it looks like we put in a new silver drain.

There are no rust stains at all.

*Side note: I realize this is probably not that interesting to you right now...but it will get better, I promise.

My Bar Keepers Friend saved my bathroom tub and sink from their demise, and all is right with the world again.

The moral of my story:  My husband was right (yes Chris, that's in writing, and will be on the world wide web until the end of time).  He and my Bar Keepers Friend taught me, that when things seem hopeless, whether they be large or small...

if you have faith in yourself, those you love, and the tools God give you, you make anything shine like new!

The BIG 3 - 0, Oh my!!!

To be perfectly honest with you...30 does not freak me out!  Not in the least.

Now, knowing that in the next 10 years I'll be turning 40, does freak me out a little.

I don't think 40 is old, mind you...it's just that me, being 40 seems crazy.

Me being 30 actually seems crazy, but it doesn't freak me out.

I mean, when I was born, they didn't expect me to ever turn 1...let alone make it to 30.


*Side note: I'm listening to aol's Awesome 80's station and it makes me happy ;0)

Back to the blog :)
Yet, here I am...30 years old.  Let's ponder on this for a moment. 

When I was little, I thought 30 was old.  I mean, my Mom was in her 30's...and when you're a little kid, you think your parents must have been around when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and that they witnessed Jesus' teachings firsthand.

The thought of being 30 never even enters your mind. 

Throw on top of that, a chronic disease, and the odds of hitting that big of a milestone greatly decreases even more.


But you know what? 


I LOVE IT!

I love knowing that I beat all the odds that the medical professionals put in front of me. 

I love knowing that the dreams I've had for myself, I've made a reality.

I love knowing that I didn't let CF get in my way.

I love knowing that the dreams I still have are no farther out of reach than any of the dreams that have already come true.

I love knowing that when I was born,  the life expectancy for someone with CF was 8 years old, and that today it's 37.5 years old...and I love knowing that when I turn 37.5 the life expectancy will be even higher...or better yet...I love knowing that by that point, we may have a cure for CF!!!!!

So the BIG 3- 0 doesn't scare me...I happily embrace it actually! 

So, thank you, to all of you wonderful people who have helped make these 30 years so wonderful for me! 

I look forward to the fun that the next 30 will bring, and the 30 thereafter!

The Many Happenings of the Elliott Household

I realize I've been a bit absent here lately...sorry about that. It's just that the last few months have been packed full with all kinds of things.

...and so begins this post!

I'd like to begin by saying that Chris and I are soooo blessed! For many reasons: Our Faith, Family, Friends, Health (this kinda makes me giggle when you consider that I have CF and he has Diabetes...but none-the-less it's true), Jobs, etc...

April was Crazy

...and by Crazy, I mean CRAZY!!!!  So CRAZY that even now, I only have time to give you a smidgen of info about what happened during the month...I can't even get to May!

Bonus:  I learned how to uploads pics to my blog!

It began with my trip to Michigan (for a genetics conference), where I got the chance to visit the Michigan Elliott's (let me explain...Chris is the youngest of 4 boys, all the guys and their families are scattered in a straight line up I-69 starting with us in Lapel, and ending with the Michigan clan). Sadly...we hadn't seen them since way before Christmas (don't ask me to pinpoint the time frame...I haven't the foggiest idea, and feel bad enough about that as is) so I delivered Christmas presents to the kids (the adults draw names, and neither of us had each other).

It was so good to see the kids. The little ones have come out of their shells, and it warmed my heart when Isaac climbed up on my lap to sit with his Aunt Holly!

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post of the kiddos, I haven't moved those pics to the computer yet.

 

I was "up north" beginning Wednesday the 14th to Friday the 17th. When I got home Friday night, I frantically cleaned what I could with huge anticipation and excitement for the arrival of 2 of my favorite people on the planet.

Meet the Clemons..aka: The 2nd Cutest Couple on Campus...Chris and I are the Cutest :)

Saturday was a busy day preparing for Saturday night...Chris and My 30th Birthday Party!!!

You heard that right...Chris and I turn 30 this year (he already has, I have 19 more days)!

We had a throw back, rollerskating birthday party, at the Anderson Roll Arena.

Check out our cakes (Thanks Mom and Dad): 

...AND, to make it even more fun, we asked for no gifts, but donations for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!!! Yayer!

Sexy Legs and Pretty Beak were responsible for keeping an eye on the money, and making sure that everyone got their "Holly's Hope" bracelet as they came in the door.

Killian and Keegan made special shirts for our birthday party:

The party was a BLAST...Thank you everyone who came, and everyone who donated for the walk-a-thon!!!  We really appreciate your support!!!

After the party, we caravanned to our house for a bonfire!

When the bonfire fizzled, the few people that stayed moved inside with us, we began playing Drinko (like plinko, only you drink the shot your chip goes into), and the party continued from there...it was a good birthday.

Kevin, you did a great job of making sure the party ran good!  I'm so proud of you!

___________________________________________________

Heads up peeps...

CF Walk is this Saturday, May 15, 2010 at the James A. Dillon Park in Noblesville.  Registration begins at 9am, Walk starts at 10am.

Hope to see you there!

*I plan to update you on our vacation to Myrtle Beach soon!

Brutally honest...

I'm going to be brutally honest for a little bit...

...to be honest...it scares me to be brutally honest with you.

Why?

Because even though I may leave names out of a post, some of you will still know people and situations that I'm talking about.

I don't have anything mean to say, I just look at my blog as a way to get my feelings off my chest. You don't have to agree with them, you may have another opinion because you know the other side of the story. Perhaps pieces that I've never been privvy too!

...and that's okay!

So here it goes:













I have things that happened in my past that haunt me...

That sounds weird!

I don't mean haunt, like if they came up in conversation at a job interview, that I would get turned down for the horrific nature of them...

I mean "haunt" as in it's hard for me to get past them. On a daily basis I'm fine, and then something will hit me, and there "it" is. The haunting returns.

I'm talking about past friendships that for some reason or another don't seem to have worked out.

I say "don't seem" in the present tense, because...I'm not beyond working on the friendship, if that was what the other party wished. But to be perfectly honest about it, I don't think the other party wishes.

Have I asked them this outright?

No!

Do I plan on asking them this outright?

Not currently!

Why?

Because certain things have happened that have led me to believe that my friendship isn't something they wish to have in their life.

Here comes the brutally honest part....













I question, within myself, whether the friendship is something that's healthy for me anyway.



I grieve for this specific friendship, on the days that it pops up and haunts my thoughts...I think, because it is such a huge part of my teenage years, my entire high school life...the Holly that I was from 14 years old to 18 years old.

....and yes, that's only a 4 year period, but think back to that time in your life.

It was a HUGE time in all our lives.

We were learning who we were, on our way to becoming adults...shaping friendships and relationships, that would affect how we interacted with people in the future...to some degree, the path we may take as adults.

You can't see past high school (when you're there), and the friends you have at that point, you can't imagine not being friends with them for your entire life. You're going to go to college, get married, have kids at the same time, and your kids are going to be best friends and follow the same path as you...right?

It doesn't always happen that way.

I know...



...and here comes more of the brutal honesty...I'm sad that it didn't happen that way for me.

There was a falling out...and then there was a mend...

...but then somewhere in these last few years, the mending stopped...

...and I see pictures, and I hear stories...and it makes me sad.


Because I'm not part of it all...

Because I'm jealous that others are included, and I am not...

Becaue I worry about what other people think about me...

I'm still friends with some of the people, and I truly mean it when I want to get together with them, and I am truly sad when I can't make it to whatever event is going on.

...But, to be brutally honest...I get nervous when I know this person will be there.

I don't know what's been said, what others know about the situation, and what their thoughts are on it.

I'm afraid I'll show up, and end up being the loner in the corner that noone talks to...but everyone on the other side of the room talks about.





A few years ago, when Chris and I were at Church at the Crossing, Pastor Rinnick spoke about the fact that sometimes we have to let people out of our lives, because they are a negative influence on us, and a negative influence in our spiritual lives. (I know, I know, our spiritual lives are intertwined into every aspect of our life...hence why we should purge negativity towards our life)!

So a few weeks ago I thinned out my facebook friends...

This person was cut from the team...

Why, you ask, when I'm still willing to work at it if they are?

Because, as aformentioned, I'm not sure if it's a healthy friendship for me.

I recognized that I was way too concerned with seeing what they're up too, and how much fun they're having without me...

...and I realized,

they're not working at this friendship...and they don't seem to want me as part of their life...

and I don't want to be the type of person that continues to work for a relationship if the other person isn't wanting or willing.

It's not healthy for me.

and to be brutally honest...it would be kind of stalkerish to do so.



SO...why am I being so brutally honest?

Because it's haunting me right now...this, friendship that once was, that I periodically grieve for.

...and I need some things.

~I need to remind myself that I need healthy things surrounding my life.

~I need to remember that God has a purpose for this friendship, and maybe it was to teach me that he puts people in our lives for a reason, and some things turn out wonderful and some things end sadly...but we learn and grow from each friendship.

~I need to be reminded that the friends I have are blessings in my life.

~ and, I need to remember that the only person whose opinion of me I need to worry about, is God's

...because in the end



...His is the only one that truly matters.

Just Me and My Sister

For those of you who don't know...my sister, brother-in-law, 2 of my nephews (between Chris and I, we have 10 neices and nephews and one on the way) moved to Indiana mid January.

Heather and I are a little over 2 years apart. Growing up we didn't always get along (as many of you probably understand, if you do have a sibling).

When she went off to college...things changed. Apparently I wasn't the annoying younger sister anymore...

Okay, I wasn't the "as annoying" younger sister anymore...

Okay, I'm hoping I wasn't as annoying, but only she knows for sure. Let's just go with it.

Anyways, we started to hang out a little more, and a couple years after I went to college she moved to Ohio and got married, started having kids (they're precious by the way)...and life moved on.

When they moved to Louisville, Shawn was gone on business the first week in their new house, so I went down and spent a few days with Heather and the boys, helping her unpack. I loved this. It was the first time we'd really spend a good amount of time together, just the two of us (plus Killian and Keegan of course) in I don't know how long.

Just thinking of those days warms my heart.

I can't imagine, going through this life, without my sister.

And now, she's 7 doors down from me (this is not an exaggeration, I counted before they moved in).

I'll be honest...when I found out they were moving so close, I was a little nervous.

Will we drive each other crazy?

Will we hang out all the time?

Will we ever hang out? I mean so many of her friends from home are still in this area, will she ever want to spend time with me?

Will this make our relationship stronger? Will we become closer?

Will this be the last straw and finally make Mom and Dad admit that she's the favorite?

Then they were here...



...and every one of my fears, has been dissolved.



We've talked more, since she moved back, than we did when she lived a state away...and it's not that there's more to say...we just do!

We've talked about things that we have in common, that I wonder if we ever knew we had in common before.

We've shared hopes for our families, that we've never had a chance (or taken the time) to share before.

She probably doesn't know this, but a huge part of why I am the Christ following woman that I am today, is because of her example.

I treasure my sister...and the moments we get to share together, the memories that tie us together, and the memories we have yet to make.

I hope she knows that I'm always here if she needs me.

...and that no matter what, I love her more than she'll ever possibly know.