ER is not just a TV show...

Well, it seems that a week-long bout with a stomach virus left me dehydrated, low in potassium, and with some kind of bacterial infection. Not really the welcome back to Texas that I wanted, but what can I say? When I do "sick," I do it RIGHT!

Like any good patient, I waited until the pain from the cramping got so unbearable that I had to call my friends in Round Rock to come pick me up from a gas station along I-35 in Jarrell. Random place to be, I know. Can someone say, "Drama Queen?" As silly as I felt needing help, I was certainly grateful for Drenda and Robert Young to drop everything to come to my aid. Drenda especially, as she sat with me for 3.5 hours while we awaited the blood work to find out what was wrong. The BEST thing was that once admitted, I was given morphine in my IV. Needless to say, everything was as "right as rain" after that.

The following picture was taken after the morphine was freely flowing. I needed something to commemorate my drama-filled new year.

Notice my socks are still on...yeah, that's the way I roll. Here's to a drama-free (from this point on) 2010!

Back In The Saddle Again...

After a 24 hour road trip, five flights, and one bout with the stomach flu, I'm back in the Lone Star State! Even though I'm preparing to move to Romania, I can say there's no place I'd rather be in the U.S. than Texas. There's just no place like it! To be fair, the Texas landscape is incomparable to Montana's and when the snow falls in the mountains of Libby, MT, it confirms the beauty hidden there. However, I'm glad to be back in a state where 30 degrees is considered cold, tea is served cold instead of hot, and Mexican food isn't something as simple as refried beans served from a can.

I hope to post tidbits from the courses I took in Montana over the next several weeks. In the meantime, I've been traveling around the country visiting family and friends, including stops in both Iowa and Kentucky. After a brief tour of the midwest over the Christmas holidays, I flew back to DFW to spend the New Year holiday with my brother, Jeremy, and his family. Now I'm slowly making my way back to San Antonio where I will finish raising the monthly support needed for my 18-month internship in Romania. My goal is to be 100% funded by February 10th. This should leave me enough time (about two weeks) to see family and friends before I leave. So far I'm 43% funded and I'm excited about the opportunities that await me on this grand journey. To God be the Glory!