The Cyst(ish) Removal

The last five years or so I thought I had a Ganglion Cyst in my wrist.

Emphasis on *thought*

I had gone to the doctor about 4 years ago and had a cortisone shot  put in it, thinking this would ease the pain and make it disappear.  It did nothing.

When I moved to the Provo Campus I had two of my coworkers try the "Bible Method", which is where they just smack it with a heavy book. All I got out of that was a bruised wrist. (Before you say, "DUH!!"--Just know that my oldest sister had a cyst grow back and her husband hit it and it DID go away!...Just saying...)

So as of January 1, 2013 I officially went back on my parent's amazing insurance and scheduled an appointment with a hand doctor. He checked it out, confirmed it was a Ganglion Cyst, and scheduled me for surgery on January 15th.

Here you can see the bulge at the top of my wrist where it bends.

Pre-Op! (Please notice the sexy socks)

And this is what I woke up to!

After they woke me up the nurse told me that it turns out I didn't have a cyst, but an EXTRA MUSCLE in my wrist.

Yes. That's right. 

EXTRA MUSCLE.

The doctor later said that the reason I was having pain when I would bend my wrist is the random muscle was located between some of my nerves and such. He said it didn't really control anything, aside from a little movement of my middle finger. So he cut it on out!

Normal, right?

I had to be to the hospital at 7 am so Bryant was able to drop me off before class, then he came and picked me up around 9:45 am. He took me across the street to Kneaders and we took some French Toast home and chilled out together.

Edgar came and "cuddled" with me for a while.

(Or tried to kill me while I slept. However you decide to see it)

The next few days held lots of swelling for my poor, fat little sausage fingers. I couldn't wear my wedding ring for a few days.

After the swelling went down I had some lovely bruising to go along with it.

It felt like forever, but after 10 days of having my hand constantly wrapped up, I went in to get my stitches out.

I swear my skin doesn't look this nasty! The band-aids really rip your skin up!

And now I have this beautiful scar! Tonight is the first time I've really tried to bend my hand pretty far. It hurts quite a bit, but I guess that's normal for the next few months.

Thanks to everyone who showed so much concern over my lame little wrist. You guys are the best! :)

Top 12 of 2012

*Let me start by saying this idea was completely stolen from our good friends Jackson & Celeste Olsen!*

It's crazy to me that 2012 is already over! Bryant and I have had one of the most amazing years and I had a hard time narrowing my list down to just 12 items. But here is my personal list of the Top 12 Events of 2012 in the lives of
Bryant & Alexis:

12. Projects

2012 saw a slew of D.I.Y. projects for me. For some odd reason I thrive on the challenge of taking on a task that most people would assume a girl can't do.

Painted over "The Pink Room"

Replaced Bry's mirror on his car he broke off

Cleaned the carpet in my entire house

Built Willis a new house (that he destroyed)

Hung Christmas lights on my entire house

Replaced my kitchen faucet

11. Haircut

I finally got a MUCH needed haircut. It was a solid 7" I chopped off.

10. Fantasy Football

 2012 was my first stint with Fantasy Football. I used to roll my eyes at Bryant and anyone else who would play, but low and behold, I was in THREE leagues this year.  One was a couples league that we played with some friends and Bryant and I took first and second place respectively. The second league was with my coworkers--all guys. I finished second in that league too. (I sense a pattern.) The last league was with Bryant’s brother and a bunch of strangers. Pretty sure I was terrible in that league. Oh well.

9. Amazing Cami

Bryant's baby sister, Cami, finished her senior season of soccer at BYU. It has been awesome being able to live so close to BYU so we could attend all her home games and even a few away games. They made it all the way to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament. (The Herald Journal wrote a really nice article about her.) We love Cami to death and are SUPER proud of all she has been able to accomplish.

Her overtime penalty kick to help send them to the  Elite 8

8. Bryant is almost a real LAWYER!

Bryant completed his 2^nd year of law school and is now ONE SEMESTER away from graduation!!!!!! SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!! This year he has been doing his internship at Kirton McKonkie, a firm that is located at City Creek in downtown Salt Lake.

7. Third Anniversary

Can you believe Bryant has survived three whole years with me? Poor guy.

This year he surprised me with a horseback riding trip in Heber City. (Cute, right?) He had never been on a horse before and I am a self-proclaimed cowgirl. Love that thoughtful lil guy.

We also had dinner at La Caille in Sandy. 

Yes, he spoils me.

6. Twin Nephews

In July my brother's wife had twin boys, Chaz & Will. The both weighed in at around 4 pounds. Look at the handsome little buggers! I now have 11 nieces and nephews (two sets of twins!).

5. Lake Powell

Being the great wife that I am, I ditched Bryant and went with some great friends to Lake Powell. (What? Don’t give me that face! Bryant was interning at Kirton McKonkie so he couldn’t really leave.) The Gladfelders are seriously the best hosts ever and I’m grateful they let me tag along!

4. First NFL Game

I was finally able to go to my first ever NFL game! And it was to see my Saints play the stupid Broncos. (I really quite like the Broncos, but not when my evil husband rubs their win in my face…) Plus I got to see DREW  BREEEEEEES!!! My life is now complete.

3. Promotion

Work is going great! I’ve now been with Stevens-Henager College for four and a half years! (Sheesh!) I was recently promoted to Senior Financial Planner. There's definitely a lot more work and responsibility involved, but it's still exciting! I love my job and I’ve been very grateful to have it so I can support us while Bryant finishes up school.

2. Europe Trip

Europe was the trip of a lifetime. (I really wanted to put this as my #1, but Bryant said college is a bigger deal...) We got to see some amazing sights! 

Dublin & Belfast: Titanic Museum, Ferry ride across the Irish Sea. 

Liverpool & London: Beatles sights in Liverpoool, House of Parliament,  Abbey Road, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, “Rules” Restaurant. 

Paris: Eiffel Tower,  The Louvre, Notre Dame, Versailles, Arc de Triomphe

AND SO MUCH MORE!!    

Belfast

"Rules" est. 1798, London

Train to from London to Paris

Musée du Louvre

Eiffel Tower

1. Graduation

After years of studying (or avoiding it, to be completely honest) I finally graduated from Utah State University with my Bachelors degree. Hallelujah! The funny part is that I was doing homework while in Europe. We got home on May 3rd and I graduated May 5th. Talk about cutting it close...

I loved everything about 2012 and I am even more excited for 2013. Bryant will be graduating in April and taking his Bar Exam at the end of July. When and where he gets a job will greatly affect the rest of our year! Who knows where we'll be at this time next year? That's the exciting part of life though!

I can't wait!!

KSL Classifieds Are AH-Mazing

I've decided that if people don't already use KSL Classifieds, they are completely missing out!!

Tonight I decided to sell one of Bryant's old desks that we bought when we first moved to Springville but he ended up hating it.

In seriously 45 minutes I received a text from a lady in Provo asking if she could buy it. 

Good RIDDANCE!! 

3L and he knows it...

Bryant started his FINAL YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL last week!

Can I just tell you how HAPPY I am?!

So in honor of him being one of the big kids on campus, here's an obnoxious video that last year's graduating class made. 

Brace yourself.

Chop! Chop!

After YEARS of wanting to cut my hair, it finally happened!!

I was at work when I stumbled upon this picture of Mena Suvari

I couldn't get over how much I LOOOVED this cut.

So I consulted with my Personal Advisor:

Marisa....or as everyone actually calls her: "PAIGE"

(Look how adorable her hair is! OF COURSE I'm going to trust her!!)



So here is my gnarly before picture.

And here is the AFTER! :)





I felt SOOO much better after I cut it. I hadn't had hair past my shoulders since 6th grade and I was constantly worrying that I'd look as AWFUL as I did in that school picture. (Granted, I had no makeup, braces, and an awkward flipped out 'do. It was horrible!)

So a HUGE thanks goes out to Paige for pretty much forcing me to do what I was too big of a pansy to do!



EUROPE: London, Pt. 2

Saturday, April 28th we awoke to rain. (Shocker.) And it was a balmy 47 degrees. (Please remember that I was an idiot and packed clothes for 70 degree weather. I deserved all the punishment I received.)

One thing that Trip Advisor recommended we go see was the Churchill War Rooms. 

We waited in line, in the rain, for over an hour.

Once inside, we were just grateful to be out of the wind and rain. (At least I was anyway. I was SOOO COLD)

Everything is set up exactly as it was left at the end of the war

Minus the creepy wax people. They obviously weren't there...

Churchill's Suite

Our snack during Afternoon Tea

Probably my favorite propaganda poster.

After we spent a couple hours in the Churchill Museum, we wandered over to St. James Park.

Buckingham Palace

The biggest fight that Bryant and I had on our entire trip was all centered around visiting "Abbey Road", the iconic Beatles location.

While trying to figure out how to get there, we looked at the London Tube (subway) Map and saw that there was a stop called "Abbey Road". One would naturally assume that it would be the stop of choice...right?! WRONG. The stop we should have taken first was "St. John's Wood."

Look at this!! Ridiculous... 

So this was the stop that we made that wasted over an hour of subway riding time.

It was cold, rainy, and DESERTED. Kid you NOT.

Kind of a dodgy area too.

So once we figured out that we were in the completely wrong area, we hopped back on the Tube and started making our way to St. John's Wood.

We stopped along the way and saw London Bridge.

Look. It's raining.

And FINALLY we found ABBEY ROAD!!! YAY!!!

(It was still raining. Boo.)

Abbey Road Studios is where the Beatles recorded a lot of their albums.
It's still a functioning studio.

I also picked up a new umbrella at London Bridge. (What killed me is we finally bought a second umbrella after we were rained on in Dublin, Belfast, Liverpool, and now London.)

I'm blurry in the picture. Boo.

My sister's friend who grew up in London made sure to tell me that I HAD to go to a pub and order a "Black Currant and Lemonade". It was super yummy! (It reminded me of Black Cherry Shasta...but better.)

Black Currant and Lemonade

Bryant's Bacon Burger.

Fish and Chips

Sunday, April 29th rolled around and this was the view outside our window:

Looking toward the House of Parliament.

We ordered room service for breakfast since it was our last few hours in London before we had to catch our train to Paris.

Best. Breakfast. EVER.

We didn't have much time to make it to see Buckingham Palace, so we hopped in a Black Cab to expedite the process.

Inside the cab

All of the following pictures were taken around the Palace:

For all of you Harry Potter fans, "Kings Cross Station"

Our train station

The Madness

 

Next stop: PARIS!