Weekend in the Hospital

In the middle of the night on Thursday, I woke up with extreme pain in the middle and right side of my abdomen. After lying awake for about 3 hours, I fell back asleep. On Friday morning, the pain was still there, so I made an emergency appointment with my regular doctor at UCLA. Before I went, I went to my classes and took a test even in extreme pain. When I went to my appointment, my doctor was extremely concerned I may be suffering from Appendicitis, but couldn't say for sure. An extremely nice nurse from the office walked me to the Emergency Room (and even carried my backpack!). She got me settled and left. I was called from the waiting room within 10 minutes and given a bed. Another very kind nurse came in and started running tests upon tests. He said "You will be here a very long time. UCLA is a slow moving beast, but the BEST slow moving beast around." And boy was he right. He was amazing-went out of his way to make me comfortable my getting me extra blankets, turning on/off the lights, checking on me, and even charging my phone so I could call my mom and dad (who live 200 miles away.) When it came time for my CAT Scan, he gave me warnings on how I would feel and I am so happy he did because I was alone and scared. When the CAT scan came back, there was bad news. I had to have an Appendectomy. I immediately called my family and boyfriend and they were on their way. About an hour and a half later, they had me up about to go into the operating room. At that time my parents hadn't arrived yet, and I was scared and started to cry. The anesthesiologist explained everything to me and distracted me all the way until I fell asleep. I am so grateful to her for that. When I woke up, I noticed that my three incisions were covered with gauze like normal, but they were cut into the shape of hearts. What thoughtful staff helped me get through a terrible weekend in the hospital. Thank you Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center!!

So thankful for my mom, dad, and Jordan who drove 200 miles to be with me. I have an awesome family who held my hand all the way through, and awesome ER doctors!

Weekends in Westwood

Every weekend Jordan drives up to Westwood to spend time with me whenever I dont work. I NEVER thought that this would be the situation that we would be in, and I must say I am a bit disappointed. HOWEVER I am so glad that both of us are more than willing to do whatever needs to be done to make sure we always make time for each other when we can. If we didnt do that, we would have major issues!! Haha. Anyways, we never plan ahead-instead we just say "Uhhhh what do you wanna do?" It always turns out super fun!! We have seen Were the Millers, The Conjuring, And Elysim all which were AWESOME. Last weekend, we decided to go to the LA Temple Family History Center just to poke around on the computers. I made a huge find! I found my great-uncle, great great grandma, and great great grandpa! AND I found out that all 3 are buried in Culver City, California which is 10 minutes from where I live! So of course we went and visited. Family history is awesome! Families are forever and I cannot wait to meet mine one day :)

 Gerald Jacob Carmichael, my 18 year old great uncle killed in the Korean War. So heartbreaking...he left a widow home here in the states.

 My great great grandpa Andrew Jacob Carmichael. My dad remembers him as a funny caring man.

 Margaret H. Carmichael, my great great grandma. My dad said he knew her as his "little grandma" haha. Every woman in my family is sooo little!

 In the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetary in Culver City, California. 8/17/2013.

Random side note: My paralegal school had professional head shots done for us. It works :) Haha

This New Life.

Moving from Oceanside to CSUN in August 2009 for my first year of college was scary but okay. I adjusted pretty quickly and I had fun and met an awesome guy named Jordan. I did my four years in college and graduated May 2013. After college, I decided to go to paralegal school at UCLA, and here I am.

On July 19th, 2013, I moved from Oceanside to Westwood. I was pretty excited for a new adventure. Little did I know, I would be miserable. I have had stomach issues that started about a week and a half before I left (which I think is the result of something else) and I have had such high anxiety and I cant stop crying. My whole body hurts all the time and all I want to do is sleep, but I cant ever sleep for more than 30 mins at a time without waking up. I get to see Jordan on Saturdays, which means I get to see him around 4 times a month. This SUCKS because at CSUN I saw him every single day. I am very lonely and always missing my other half. I know I need to suck it up and be an independent adult, but I am struggling! On Saturday night when Jordan drops me off at my apartment, I dread getting out of his car because I know I have to go through another week at this apartment that makes me feel like the worst "me" Ive ever been.

I hope things can be better soon.
Yesterday was amazing, Jordan and I went to Santa Monica Promenade and I saw puppies which made me very happy.

I am trying to stay positive, because it could be so much worse.