quick clarification

I think I may have made it sound as if today's appointment was going to give some answers...

I apologize for the confusion. This morning was just the MRI of the brain and a CT of the chest. We won't see the results until Tuesday morning.

Matthew 8:26

Verses from friends and family

We are so blessed to have so many people who care so much about us and are praying for us. Here are some other verses they've shared...

Jeremiah 33:6
Psalm 86:7
Matthew 7:7-8
I Peter 2:24
Isiah 53:5
Psalm 103:2-3
Phillipians 4:6-7
Isaiah 41:10

MRI of the brain and CT of the chest this morning.

The reason for the bible verses

Several months ago, Holmes started playing tennis on a team. He started at a 3.0 level and was doing pretty well, the captain always picked him to go up against the guys on other teams who were probably 3.5s. He enjoyed it and it was a great complement to his running. From time to time, his left wrist would bother him a little, but nothing that slowed down his game or hurt to the point of any significant complaint. Then a few months later, he twinged it pretty good and began to notice the slight pain more often. Two weeks ago, playing basketball at the gym, a guy shoved up against him so that his left wrist bent completely backwards and it hurt enough to make him stop and get ice. Of course, we assume a sprain. He went to our GP, where he had an x-ray done and was sent home with giant aleve and a tiny brace.

The next day, we received a call from the GP about seeing an orthopedist. Apparently the radiologists suggested the visit. This appointment was scheduled for the following week (the 21st). At this visit, the orthopedist tells us there is something there. He doesn't know what...it could be a cyst or other random growth or it could be cancer, who knows, no reason to panic now, blah blah blah. He schedules an MRI of the wrist and a full body bone scan for the 27th. The full body bone scan is to ensure that there aren't any other white spots like the one in the wrist. The MRI is to get a better look at the growth.

The morning of the MRI and bone scan, I pull out the paperwork from the orthopedist that we are supposed to give to the nurses/techs for the MRI. It says something along the lines of suspected aggressive malignancy. Cue slight panic. The only reassurance that morning was that if it were possibly that, surely the orthopedist would have told us to our face...right?

Holmes was able to actually watch the screen during the bone scan and said there were no other white spots that he saw. Very reassuring. After three hours in the radiology clinic, we were put into wait mode. The move and zillion errands needing to be done around the house was a wonderful distraction as we waited for the results appointment.

That brings us to this morning. We met with the orthopedist again. I started taking notes during the appointment because it was so much information. The orthopedist suspects that it is a giant cell tumor on the end of the left ulna. Apparently it isn't a a black or white issue as far as benign or malignant. The doctor said it is probably benign with aggressive tendencies. The doctor wants to consult with a bone tumor specialist and get CT of the chest and MRI of the brain. There is low risk that it has spread since all other bones are clean, but these tests are just to be sure. Surgery to remove the end of the bone is next after the CTs. An ulnar prothesis will be put in, hopefully soon. After surgery, the bone tissue will be examined. The words cancer and terminal were never said by the doctor. The good news is the fact that it is the ulna and not the radius...and that it is his left wrist and not his right. The MRI of the brain and CT scan of the chest are scheduled for Friday morning. The orthopedist will be able to consult with the bone tumor specialist and the oncologist in the meantime. We may need to meet with the oncologist. We are schedule to see the orthopedist again on Tuesday morning to discuss MRI and CT results as well as any news or info from oncologist and bone tumor specialist. Apparently this is "fairly" common at this age and dr thinks we've caught it early. The paperwork says hemangiopericytoma. I googled this. The first site is about dogs. When I add "of the bone" to the search, there are very few results. There is a yahoo group I tried to subscribe too, not sure if that will end up being helpful or not. I chose not to read the handful of medical journal articles including the word. None of them seem to relate to the bone.

So that's where we are. I'm just not even sure what to think. I still feel that there are too many unanswered questions. Maybe the CT and MRI will have those answers. I'm glad its coming out, I think surgery could be scheduled as soon as next Friday.

Deuteronomy 31:8

The Positives

it was caught early (?)

its not in his right arm

there aren't any other spots in his bones

he's not sick

the pain is limited

the prothesis does not have to be custom made

we like the doctors so far

before us

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

The Lord goes BEFORE us. This morning while we are driving to the doctor, the Lord will get there BEFORE us.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Psalm 73:21-28

21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

Moving (Long and probably Boring)

Saturday morning, Holmes and I woke up at 6:30am to start our moving day. Everything was packed, so we planned to hit up a panera or starbucks to grab coffee and breakfast on the way to pick up the moving truck. We passed a Shoney's on the way...yummmm, buffet.

We started loading the 26 foot moving truck at 8:30am. Holmes' parents, Brent and Susan, and brother, Scott arrived at 9:15ish. Holmes' friends, Chase and Adam, showed up a little later as well. We had everything out of the apartment at 11:30. Nothing broken, no one hurt, and everyone happy and in a good mood! After three hours of up and down stairs and around the apartment, I covered two miles! I find that amazing. I also wore my heart rate monitor (yes, I'm a weird exercise dork) and the HR hit over 130 a couple times. Not bad!

After stopping for lunch at Padow's near the new place, we started unloading the truck. With the same crew, we were done at 3:15. We were able to take the truck back early and save a bunch of money. We are so appreciative of Brent, Susan, Scott, Chase and Adam's help! We grilled out burgers and played Wii for our first night in the house. Chase came back by later in the evening with Lara so she could see the place too.

We've been working pretty much non-stop to get things put away. Sunday afternoon, we had all our boxes broken down so Val and Chris could come pick them up (they are moving to Indy, sad!!). At 4:45, a WICKED storm unleashed itself on Midlothian. It was wild. Hail on our skylights sounds quite scary. The boxes were destroyed (we had them on the patio). The power also went out. No power, no cooking. Josh and Kristina were awesome friends as usual and bought us dinner. We got back to give them a candlelight tour of the place. My grandmother had come by from Northside to give us champagne and celebrate, but we missed them! We were able to enjoy the champagne with Josh and Kristina though. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Upstairs was sweltering with no a/c, so we decided to go see a movie. We saw G-Force, it was actually pretty good. Zach Galifinakas is not his usual kind of character, but Tracy Morgan and Jon Favreau were pretty hilarious. The power was still off when we got home, so we had a slumber party downstairs on the couches. The power came on around 2 or so and then another storm passed through and it went right back out. This storm was worse than the first...maybe it just seemed worse because it woke me up and scared me crazy. Hail on those skylights is not exactly whale music.

We were up earrrrrrrrrly for a doctor's appointment in West End for Holmes' wrist (more on that later). Afterwards we cleaned the old apartment and turned in our keys happily. I'm so excited to be out of that hole and off of Broad St. Holmes got some work done while I continued to put some things away. Then we did something very very fun. We went shopping with gift cards. Oh man, that is so inexplicably fun. Our guest bathrooms are fully decorated and stocked. We have proper storage and shower accessories. Our kitchen has every gadget you could ever possibly think you might need. Macy's, Bed Bath and Beyond and Target. Oh so fantastic. As a special bonus, we realized it was dollar burger night at Capital Ale House. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. (Too bad it's on Monday and I have class every Monday night)

While Holmes was at work today, I actually focused on school work for a few hours while waiting on the Verizon guy to get everything hooked up. I finally cleaned up after all the moving mess as well. When Holmes got home, we organized the storage closet. There are only a few things left to do! Once we get everything hung on the walls we'll take some pictures.

It's storming again. Crazy weather. Sweltering hot and rainy. I haven't run since Thursday. I should be able to start again this weekend, I hope. I miss my routine, but this craziness has actually been enjoyable. I have three finals due by the end of the week and I start going to Longwood on a regular basis next week. Plenty of time for boring routine ;) Time to be lazy on the couch tonight with a belly full of grilled potatoes and steak...I'm so lucky to be married to this man.

Hate 6, Working on 4

I love running in the rain. I planned to go four miles, but I started calculating my 15% increase in mileage from last week and cut today's run back to three. I'll run four on Weds, three on Thurs, and five bright and early Saturday morning before we started moving. For those of you who don't know, you should never just start running more and longer all of a sudden. The smartest increase percentage is 10, but I figure I only took a week off, it wasn't because of injury and my overall fitness level is pretty good, so I'm going with a 15% jump for two weeks, then I'll cut back to 10% until I reach 25ish miles a week again. Then I'll hang with some maintenance miles for a couple weeks until I start training again!

This is our last week living in the West End. Every day this place shrinks. We can't even get around the place if both of us are moving. To pass each other, one of us has to back up and wait for the other to go by. And this is not a result of our cruise eating habits.

Should you find yourself incredibly bored this weekend, any help would be appreciated. Mike sprained his wrist and I'm worried he's going to make it worse trying to do too much.

I have finals next week, then the first few weeks in August will be filled with name change fun and getting the new place in order. Any tips on the name change deal are appreciated!

I've run out of things to say. :)

Humidity Attacks

I haven't really experienced our typical southern miserable humidity this year. We've had some really nice days and exceptionally nice evenings up here.

That changed last night. It was in the 90s all day and I don't even like to run in the 80s. Well, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the 70s either. I am a cold weather running lover. I adore being bundled head to toe, everything covered but my nose and mouth. Snow running is quite possibly the best thing in the world. But that's beside the point. Because its not going to be below 65 degrees in July and I refuse to run on the treadmill, so I stick it out in the heat.

That was quite a ramble...I need more coffee...

As I was saying, that all changed last night. Holmes had rehearsal at 6:30 and figured it would be a short one, so I decided to wait on him to get home so we could go on a late run together (and skip some of the heat)! He wasn't feeling well when he got home, so I went out alone. I was sweating the second I stepped out the door, but then a nice breeze blew and I thought, see, this will be fiiiiiine. I was WRONG. The breeze stopped and it was like running through damp cotton. The run itself felt good though, so I pushed hard and was pleasantly surprised with the run overall. It was only three miles, but after a week off with no running and constant eating and drinking, I was worried about this week. I ran twice on Tuesday (both were easy runs and the second was out of boredom and wanting to spend time with Holmes) so maybe that helped, but last night's run was just fantastic. My quads were killing me after the two runs on Tuesday, but last night they felt fine.

I'm so glad to be running again. It's amazing how much I miss it. I don't think I mentioned this in the honeymoon post...We arrived in Ft Lauderdale Saturday morning the 11th around 8:30. Our hotel was on the beach and so we had a decent length cab ride down the beach front road. I have never seen so many runners out in the same place when there wasn't a race going on. When we got to the hotel, at least four runners came down while we were waiting for our room and three others came back in from running. It amazed me. Same thing Sunday morning! It definitely was a beautiful place to run.

I'll probably keep the mileage low for my 'long' run this weekend, then start ramping up...I suppose I'll use the 10% rule, with maybe a 15% week thrown in every once in a while.

Joyce Meyer's Daily Thought from 7/15

Just a nice reminder I think...God doesn't want us to agonize over our sins, acknowledge, admit, ask for forgiveness and move on.

So wonderful to be granted such grace.

Joyce Meyer's Daily Thought
For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.
—Romans 6:10-11

Meditating on all of our faults and failures weakens us, but meditating on God's grace and willingness to forgive strengthens us. Our relationship and fellowship is to be with God, not with our sins. How much do you fellowship with your sins, failures, mistakes, and weaknesses? Whatever time it is, it is wasted. When you sin, admit it, ask for forgiveness, and then continue your fellowship with God. The scripture above says we are alive to God, living in unbroken fellowship with Him. Don't let your sins come between you and the Lord. Even when you sin, God still wants to spend time with you, hear and answer your prayers, and help you with all of your needs. He wants you to run to Him, not away from Him!

Honeymoon

Our honeymoon was everything it was supposed to be.

An entire week of uninterrupted time with just the two of us.

Because we are so blessed with such an abundance of friends and family that wanted to celebrate with us Saturday night after the wedding, we were out quite late. Our ride to the airport (my mom, bless her heart) was coming to pick us up at 5am. We thought it would be a good idea to just try and stay awake, so we ordered pizza and watched a movie. Well, it didn't work and it was one rough morning and just in case you don't believe me, here's proof
(us at the airport sunday morning 5:30am)

After two first class plane rides (thanks soooo much Brent and Susan), plenty of napping and free drinks,
we arrived in Ft Lauderdale. It was so nice not to be rushed to get on the boat that day. We had lunch, went to the pool and then went on our first "date" as husband and wife. If you are ever in Ft Lauderdale, I recommend Rendezvous...the music was a little cheesy, I've never seen a guy play acoustic guitar and sing at a bar with a back up track. It was interesting...but the food was GREAT and the view was really nice too!

We boarded the boat on Monday, early enough to eat lunch...it was a buffett and I've never seen so much food in my life. It was fantastic. In our haze Sunday morning, we ditched our running shoes and planned to forgo exercise the entire week. Looking at the buffett, I wondered if that was such a great idea. Oh well, a honeymoon is a once in a life experience (and we still don't regret the decision!)

The boat is so fun. We played several rounds of trivia, blackjack and poker. We even competed in a battle of the sexes game where we won MEDALS! Mine is gold, Holmes' is silver. I'm just saying. They are currently hanging with our race medals. It was never boring

The ports were great. Key West was our first stop and this is my ONLY complaint about the cruise, it was too early to be in Key West...the town was still sleeping! The bars were open, just pretty empty. We still went :) Hogs Breath, Sloppy Joes, the World's Smallest Bar and El Mason de Pepe (I think).

Our next port was Cozumel and we opted to take an excursion. It was called Passion Island getaway or something like that. This catamaran took about 50 of us over to a beach where they had a buffet, drinks, beach volleyball and other stuff set up. It rained on our way to the beach and on the way back, but not while we were there. It was so beautiful.
Neither of us are HUGE beach fans (sand bugs us) but this was worth it.

The next day was in Belize City. Stormy weather. We opted not to take an excursion and just explore on our own a little, which ended up being a good decision. The restaurant bar where we ate lunch was pretty yummy (lobster tacos and a seafood burrito) and the beer from Belize, Belikin is quite tasty!

We had one full day at sea on the boat and then came back to Ft Lauderdale for another day/night before going home. Again, mega thanks to Holmes' family for everything.

If you know me well, I tend to treasure my alone time. It doesn't seem to matter who you are, I end up needing to "get away" if I spend a long period of time with one person. That didn't happen at all over the honeymoon. Not that I needed a reason or proof that I'm meant to be with Holmes, but it was great reassurance. I enjoyed every single second of our week together. And that officially makes me the happiest girl in the world.

Cruise Animals

back to the real world...and the road

I haven't run since Friday the 3rd. 10 days!

We had planned to take our shoes on the cruise, they have tracks around the top, but in a split second decision Sunday the 5th at 5am, we yanked our shoes out of our suitcases and left them in the back of Mom's car. I didn't miss it one bit.

I can't wait to start building my mileage again though. Couple weeks of rebuilding and maintenance, then we'll start training for the Thunder Road half after the beginning of September (just in time for football!).

At one point last week, while I was reveling in the joyousness that was the honeymoon, I started to wonder if I would go through some sort of post wedding bummed out period, with nothing to look forward to....but turns out, there is plenty to look forward to.

We move into our new place the last weekend in July (anyone wanna help? I'll provide pizza and beer afterwards as always!) And we get start attending our new church regularly.

I finish summer grad school classes the last week of July.

I get to go through the name changing process (so the "means" aren't the fun part, it's the "ends" that's exciting!)

Panthers football starts August 17th...I am beyond excited for this. It's SO CLOSE! And my cousins got us some rockin' awesome Panthers CORNHOLE BOARDS! and we'll have a yard where we can actually play!!!!

I start real grad school the last week in August, going to campus and everything. This is actually slightly terrifying to me, but that's a blog for another time.

September starts college football again, I don't know how many VT games I'll be able to make it to with school, but hopefully at least a few. I already know I have to miss the UNC game...in Blacksburg...because I have class on Thursday nights. Who knows, maybe my professor will be a football fan. Ha. (oh yeah, and Sept has my birthday).

October is Halloween month and we have a place to throw parties again so start thinking of your costumes! (No VT game that Saturday, so Richmond folks are REQUIRED)

November is Thanksgiving and traveling to see family (hopefully some will come to see us? the new married couple in their first home for their first Thanksgiving?)

December is duh, December. Both football seasons are exciting, the semester will be finishing up and it's CHRISTMAS!

In case I lost you on WHY I'm posting these ramblings...my point is that real life is exciting too. Our honeymoon (post and pics still to come) was fantastic. More than I could have ever expected or asked for. But going back home isn't sad, it's time to start my life as Mrs Holmes.

VII IV MMIX

I don't think I can begin to put this experience into words...

and I don't know that you would want to read that much...

I'll hit the highlights (edit: I couldn't stand to leave things out....this ended being very long, I apologize...)

Having a morning ceremony was the best decision of the entire process. I canNOT imagine being forced to wait around all day for that. Miranda and Kristin had spent the night with me at the O'Henry, we were up bright and early and ready to go in no time. April joined us early as well. Dad and JR were staying upstairs and treated us to a bloody mary. Carol arrived at 9:30 to start pictures. We got all the bridesmaids pics done and even a few family shots done pre-ceremony. Another great plan. Holmes had arranged a limo to pick us up. We were early to the Butterfly Garden at the Greensboro Arboretum, so we sat in the A/C for a bit. Good times.

It felt pretty fantastic in the shade and I think most of the guests were in the shade during it. Holmes and I, on the other hand, were "glistening" as the sun was beating directly on us. But I didn't mind. It was perfect and so beautiful with all the green of the garden, the gold of the sunlight, the reds and pinks of the flowers, and the white of the arbor. My Uncle Mike was our officiant, and we want to thank him for doing such a special thing for us. Please pray for him: when he returned to PA the day after the wedding, he was bumped to Level 1a on the heart transplant list. Patrick Rock played acoustic guitar before the ceremony and while I walked down the aisle. To be quite honest, I don't remember what he played as we walked down. Both my father and my stepfather escorted me down the aisle. I was overwhelmed by the amount of people standing in that garden. Talk about feeling special and loved. Two of my bridesmaids performed "Be Thou My Vision" during the ceremony. Kristin signed while Miranda sang A Capella and it was beautiful. Our bridal party consisted of Ben Marks, Chase Hill, Josh Holmes, Brian Williamson, April Boyett, Kristin Swindle, Ben Robbins, Miranda Dauphinee, Kathryn Galloway, Brent Holmes, and Scott Holmes. One of my bridesmaids is currently in California for graduate school but she was able to watch the entire ceremony thanks to Skype and my cousin Wendi, who carried her laptop to the garden. We walked back down the aisle to an acoustic version of "I Go Blind".

The reception was also, of course, huge. It was such a sweet setting at the Proximity Hotel. I loved seeing so much family and so many friends. My only regret was not speaking to everyone or getting to spend more time with the people I did see. I apologize to each of you I missed. A quick thanks to Trunk and Rocky who gave me some advice the night before : don't stress about going up to each and every guest, they would come to me if it was possible. If they hadn't told me that, I really would have worried the entire reception.

The food was GREAT. Patrick Rock and Tim Lambert provided a perfect musical atmosphere. Our first dance was to Dave's new song, You and Me. Yeah, leave it up to me and Holmes to not come across an "our song" until a month before the wedding. Half way through the song, we had the bridal party and family join us in dancing. The rest of the reception is a bit of a blur...the food was fantastic, the cupcakes were even more fantastic (big thanks to Joan Poole for bringing them up for us and to Donna Foley from The Belmont Village (Fayetteville, NC 910-485-8433) for creating them). During the cake cutting, we smushed our "big cupcake" because we tried to cut through one of the sugar flowers, oops. Holmes fed me a piece and I fed him a piece. As we smiled for the cameras and chewed away, the guests let out a collective dejected "awwwww". They sounded so very very disappointed so I picked up another piece and shoved it in Holmes' face. The guests cheered! Guess that's what they were looking for. Bless Holmes, he didn't even try to get me back. After some touching speeches which I sobbed my way through, we finished off all the wine in the place and everyone started to head out. We hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as we did.

We headed up to our room to change for the Saturday night party. Holmes had arranged for another bottle of champagne and some chocolate truffle balls, awwwwwwwwwwwwwesome. We ordered room service from the Proximity's restaurant, Printworks Bistro. Two cheeseburgers and some bacon flatbread. Basic, but so wonderful. We stopped by the Grasshoppers game for a bit to see some family and then went on over to Natty Greene's to meet up with more friends and family. The rest of the night was also a blur but just as fun. We enjoyed seeing even more friends that came out to celebrate with us. We ended the night at Corner Bar, because and I'm quoting Holmes here "Acey HAS to end her wedding day at Corner Bar, she has to or it just won't be right".

We were out pretty late ensuring that we celebrated right with people that had traveled so far to see us! Mom came to pick us up for the trip to the airport at 5am. We woke up at 4:30. It was ROUGH. ROUGH FRIENDS. But worth it.

This is enough rambling, and I'm sure you are sick of reading, if you are even still here...
I'll blog about the honeymoon and post more pictures soon!

Wedding

Do you hear that? those wedding bells???

Here all seeking is over,
the lost has been found,
a mate has been found
to share the chills of winter--
now Love asks
that you be united.
Here is a place to rest,
a place to sleep,
a place in heaven.
Now two are becoming one,
the lack night is scattered,
the eastern sky grows bright.
At last the great day has come!

--Hawaiian song

Wives, submit to your husbands
as to the Lord
--Ephesians 5:22

However, each one of you also must
love his wife as he loves himself
--Ephesians 5:33

So they are no longer two, but one
Therefore what God has joined together,
let man not seperate
--Matthew 19:6

still not nervous

People keep asking me if I'm nervous...

not even the slightest bit

I'm anxious, ready to get to NC, ready to see family, ready to wear pretty new dresses and ready to marry my best friend. It's a good anxiety.

My Aunt Eleanor bought me a book last year when we announced our engagement called "With This Ring". I re-read it last night.
I am the farthest thing from a poet that ever existed, so I'll use someone else's poem.

"The Marriage"
You are holding up a ceiling
with both arms. It is very heavy,
but you must hold it up, or else
it will fall down on you. Your arms
are tired, terribly tired,
and, as the day goes on, it feels
as if either your arms or the ceiling
will soon collapse.

But then,
unexpectedly,
something wonderful happens:
Someone,
a man or a woman,
walks into the room
and holds their arms up
to the ceiling beside you.

So you finally get
to take down your arms.
You feel the relief of respite,
the blood flowing back
to your fingers and arms.
And when your partner's arms tire,
you hold up your own
to relieve him again.

And it can go on like this
for many years
without the house falling.

-Michael C. Blumenthal