September 16, 2022

Update on Master's

Hey Guys!

I just wanted to share a little update on how it is going with my Master's. For those of you, who are new here I have been working on getting my Master's since March of 2020! I started right before Covid happened and honestly in the beginning I struggled a little bit because I, along with everyone else wasn't really sure what was going on in the world or what our future was going to look like. Zach and I were also in a long distance relationship and we had no idea when we'd be able to see each other again. So I basically freaked out a little bit and I took the first semester very slow. I completed the 3 classes that were assigned to me and then I took a month long break before starting my next term. In my next term I took things even slower. I only completed 2 of the classes and then ended up taking another break. By the time I complete my Master's it will have been almost 3 years even though it should have only taken me a year. I didn't really plan for it to take me this long but then again the world didn't plan for Covid and a global shutdown. 



September 14, 2022

August 2022 Life Update

Hey Guys!

Sorry this post is a little but life has been a little busy! I also haven't really had that much time to write any new posts lately, in fact I am supposed to be studying right now instead of writing this post! Anyways, I hope you guys had a great August! Mine was kind of a crazy month! I just wanted to share that I am back home in Florida staying at my parents house for about 8 weeks. Initially I had shared that I was going to be coming home for about 6 weeks as well as going on a week long vacation with my parents to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Badlands National Park but unfortunately my 14 year old dog (my baby) ended up getting sick. My fiancé and I had to take him and leave him over night a couple nights at the emergency vet in the next town over which is about an hour away from where we live. They did some tests on him and he seemed to be fighting some kind of infection which they couldn't really give us an answer why but they also found another tumor. This time it is located in his colon. Last year he was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and he has a tumor on his spleen. Typically dogs get their spleen along with the mass removed when they get diagnosed with this cancer but due to his age and the condition he was in last year the vet did not recommend it. She didn't think that it would extend his life anymore and he was given about 6 months to a year to live. It has been a little over a year and thankfully that tumor hasn't ruptured and it doesn't like like it has really grown in size but now he has a secondary tumor in his colon which the vet said is most likely unrelated. 

Because of this diagnosis my parents changed their plans and came up about 10 days early so they could pick me and him up and we all drove home together. It was about a 3 day drive and we drove to Orlando and stayed a couple nights with my sister before heading back home to Cape Coral. Overall the drive wasn't too bad and my dog, Dooney just slept pretty much the entire time. Thankfully he does super well with car rides and he absolutely loves being in the car. He just hops right in and passes right out. Sometime he'll stick his face in the air vent so the wind is blowing in his hair and when he was younger he used to love to open the windows and give me a heart attack! Thank goodness for locking windows! 

Anyways, we're both back home and he's doing pretty well so far. We were given a couple different antibiotics to treat the infections that were going on inside of him and we were also given a pain medicine just in case something were to happen. He was also given an appetite stimulant and anti-nausea medicine! It was a lot to be giving my dog all at the same time and I don't think he's ever had to take so many drugs all at the same time. He definitely wasn't a fan of everything but thankfully they helped to get better and he has been doing well ever since. At the moment, we are taking it one day at a time. He is my best friend and it will be absolutely heartbreaking to lose him but unfortunately he can't stay with me forever. It's definitely the worst feeling of being a pet owner. 

Also, during the month of August, I got a black eye! It was actually kind of a funny story! My fiancé and I  were cuddling in bed and he was trying to play a song for me on Youtube and he had his phone up in the air and it accidentally slipped out of his hand and landed on my face! Right below my eye and kind of next to my nose. I bruised right away and had a black eye for over 2 weeks and I can't really press very hard on my face still because it's still kind of sore. I definitely cried but I mostly just laughed it off and when I called his mom to show her, she was like you need to milk that, no cooking dinner of the whole weekend lol. He felt so bad and he kept offering to buy me my favorite food but of course we were also on a diet so I said no to most of them but I did cave for some Chick-fil-a and QDoba! I definitely felt like it was never going to heal though and it changed colors almost everyday, it was kind of crazy!

For now I am focusing on getting my school done along with still planning a few trips that I have coming up. Once I am back home from the last trip, my dad and I will be heading back up to North Dakota! After that, the plans are kind of up in the air because I might have to take a trip to Atlanta in November to pick up my wedding dress and then I am also coming back home to Cape Coral to have my bridal shower along with my second Bachelorette party. My fiancé will also be taking a trip back home to Cape Coral to have his Bachelor party with his groomsmen. Also, my family is also coming up to celebrate Christmas with us in North Dakota and they will hopefully be having a white Christmas! 

I think that's all I have for now! I can't believe September is already half way over! This last half of the year seems to be flying by! 

Thanks for stopping by!

XO, Steph