one of those weeks...

So much has happened lately. I'll warn you all now, this isn't going to be a joyful and perky post. I'm rather discouraged and bummed right now. I want to crawl into a dark hole and...I don't know, sleep until life returns to normal again.

Here I go....

My mom is very sick right now. She's been dealing with health issues for about three months now. She's been in the urgent care/emergency room 5 times in one month. In the last seven days alone, she's been to the doctors, the urgent care and the emergency room. She's having heart issues, and they can't diagnose her condition. Her chest hurts her very badly, her arms, hands, chest and neck feel tingly and she gets severe head rushes constantly, even when she is not doing anything. Not to mention, her pulse is always very high. This, of course, has been very stressful on everyone in the Ney house. She made an appointment with her doctors, but they can't get her in until next month. So she's been working with a herbalist who has been helping her during the past few days. Hopefully it works. She is literally on bed rest (not by dr.'s orders, but she has no energy or umph to get up and do anything), she's constantly in pain, and looks miserable. Please keep her in your prayers, as well as my dad, the baby and all the kids who are feeling the stress that is going on.

Last Sunday night Jeff started getting really sick. By Monday morning he was throwing up everything he drank (remember, he was on the cleanse and wasn't eating anything). I had taken my mom to the urgent care that morning, we left at noon and I took her home and dropped her off. Jeff and I had been texting all morning, and I knew he was very sick. So, after dropping my mom off, I went to Jeff's house to take care of him. His mom and I tag teamed all afternoon taking care of him. Poor guy, he threw up a total of 19 times throughout that day! He looked horrible and felt horrible too. He had a huge migraine and his kidneys were starting to hurt him. Since he couldn't keep any liquids down, I roded in cayenne pepper (for his headache) and water to keep him hydrated. I kept rubbing his neck, back and stomach with peppermint oil-to ease the pain, as well as having him breath in the smell of lavender to keep him calm. It did help some, but he continued to complain about his kidneys all afternoon, he was in excruciating pain. Around 7:30 he started to complain that his right kidney was hurting way worse, which raised red flags in Debbie's (his mom) and my mind...what if it is kidney stones. Originally we were thinking that he was sick from detoxing from the cleanse (which was to be expected) but as it continued into the evening, (and it had started the night before around 6-ish) we started to realize it was something else. My parents were at home, and were very worried about him and were urging us to take him to the emergency room. At 8:00 we both decided we needed to bring him in. He hardly had strength to stand or walk, but was still so sweet throughout the entire experience. By now, his migraine was gone (thanks to the cayenne!) but his kidney still hurt him very badly. We brought him in and about two hours later he was hooked up to machines and having tests ran. His blood results came back totally wacky, he was very dehydrated and his kidneys were very damaged. Not to mention his white blood cell count was very high (indicating a infection somewhere in his body). He ended up getting admitted to the hospital (and didn't get out until Wednesday afternoon.) In the end, they never figured out what was definitely "wrong" with him, nor why his kidneys hurt so bad. They ruled out kidney stones (though he had all symptoms and signs of that. And it is still possible, that he passed a stone before the tests were ran...?) appendicitis and a few other 'major' illnesses. After he left the hospital, he had a day or so where he was peeing a little bit of blood (which is a sign of passing a kidney stone) but that cleared up pretty quickly. (Oh, and we found out during all of this, that lemons and cayenne is also a kidney stone detox....lol...oops.) He was still weak for a few days, but quickly bounced back and is completely healthy and normal again. Oh, and Debra was telling me a few days ago, that there has recently been a new flu bug that is going around, that was the same symptoms that Jeffrey had. (So, that could explain why his white blood cell count was high, if that is what he had?) I was so glad though, when he got out. I am so done with hospitals for a while!! I was him nearly 24/7 while he was in the hospital. I stayed with him for the first night and didn't leave til the next afternoon (only to run home and shower,) then came home that night to sleep in my own bed, and was back with him the next morning til he was discharged. It was a very interesting few days. =/

We've gone snowboarding twice this month, and I will be going again with my dad, Jeffrey and his dad next week. Two weeks ago when we went, I had a lot of fun. (I got SO sun burnt though!) But I did a good job, didn't fall very many times and the snow was perfect. We went again today, and I didn't have any fun. The snow was very rocky today, and it was freezing cold. I only boarded for like 3 hours, then I slept in the lodge for the rest of the time. At one point, I was finally doing okay, and I caught some rocky snow, and fell on my rear, but my board flipped me forward, kicked me in my stomach and slammed my face into the snow. My chin is scratched and my lip was bleeding and I desperately need to see a chiropractor. LOL.

I spent Saturday helping Debbie move into her apartment. Jeff, Julie (his sister), Josh (his brother) his uncle and his cousin all came to help. We filled two trucks, three cars and there was still a little left. It was a lot of fun, I enjoyed hanging out with them all and getting to visit with Julie and Josh and getting to know them better. I've had a lot of time to be with Debra lately, which has been nice, but it was fun to hang with them also. Jeff has a great family.

Then, on Sunday I spent all day with his family again, for his Grandpa's birthday. We went to his Aunt and Uncle's house and ate a big dinner and desert. (German Baptists make the BEST food in the whole wide world. I can't wait for Thanksgiving.)

Anyways, my final update on Jeff's job situation is: he didn't get the job. Therefore, our chances of getting married this year, are as small as his chances of getting that job were. ...Very slim, obviously. I'm heart broken and want to burn my dress and destroy my wedding magazines. Not really. I'm just very discouraged, and don't want to look at another wedding photo or hear of another couple getting married for a very long time. I'm trying to encourage myself though, telling myself that if we have to wait another year...that's 12 more months of working out to fit into my dress. Haha. I'm not sure when we will be getting married now. If God does something amazing quickly (as I know he can do) maybe we still could get married this year. But as of now...I have no idea. I will say though, November-February and April-June are out, we can't use those months, so we don't have many options. Please just pray for us and this situation. For Jeff to get a job, for us to trust the Lord and for me to not be so discouraged. And just so you all know, we are still holding strong to our conviction of not kissing til our wedding day. We will continue waiting for however long it must be, as we have made a commitment that we will not break.

Anyways. It's just been one of those days...one of those weeks...where I wish I was seven again. Playing with Elmo...flying him through the backyard and landing him in the pond. I went through several months of trials before I met Jeff that were the hardest months of my entire life. The Lord proved to be faithful to me through that time. I feel like I'm back in that place, going back through the desert and the flames once again, looking for a helping hand. Please keep us in your prayers.