Christmas Decorations

I LOVE Christmas! And I LOVE getting in the spirit of Christmas by decorating, but I don't have very much stuff. So I took a trip down to our local thrift shop where I scored pretty big. Our friends, the Whitlocks, let us borrow their tree so it feels more official. Last year we didn't have a tree or hardly any decorations up. I am not a crafty person at all but I saw some things in Better Homes and Gardens magazine that looked pretty simple to make so I thought I'd enlist my super talented friend, Emilie, to help. She took me shopping to JoAnn's in Harrisburg and I am officially in love with that store. They have everything! We made the super cute little trees out of scrapbook paper, the pine cones hanging from the cupboards, the candy cane wreath, and the felt leaf wreath. I got the angel tree topper, sled, floral arrangement from our local thrift shop for super cheap! And I decorated the garland with accessories bought at the dollar store. I was very happy with how all of our decorations turned out this year!

Good Finds

Last week I finally watched Inception and I LOVED it! I can probably count on one hand how many times I've stayed awake for a movie. Well folks, another one just got added to the list. I was enthralled and wide-eyed the entire 148 minutes. The story line was intriguing, the music intense, the acting phenomenal...just a great movie!

If you haven't seen it yet...go watch it!







Also this week I was walking around the library and randomly picked up this book from the young adult fiction section. What a unique, exciting story. I love easy, innocent stories.

THE INCIDENT

Derek's family vacations in Laguna Beach every summer and this year we got to go! Wahoo! Everything was great...the weather, the games, the pool, the beach, good family company, etc. On Saturday, the day before we left to come back home, Derek decided to do something that forever changed our lives. I know dramatic, right? But it was serious business.

So this is how it went down. Derek is out in the water by himself while everyone else is lounging on the beach. Derek comes limping in and says, "Christie can you get some water, I got bit by a crab." He lays down on his surfboard and I poured some water over his bleeding foot. The blood is just gushing out but I got a look at a pretty deep cut after rinsing the wound. We applied pressure to try and stop the bleeding and Derek just has this awful look of pain on his face. "My foot really hurts." That's all he kept saying. The lifeguard came down and bandaged it up. He called his superiors who suspected it was a stingray attack.



Right when the lifeguards arrived, they had a look at Derek's foot and decided the puncture was too deep to be from a stingray. They bandaged the wound back up and then started asking Derek medical questions. This is when everything started to go wrong.

Derek's hands looked really weird, like this:



He started complaining that his abdomen was tightening up.
Then he said he couldn't breathe so we started taking off his wetsuit, but it was getting worse so we ended up cutting off his wetsuit.
I noticed that Derek's lips were really tight and his whole mouth looked contracted. He was starting to talk funny and said that his tongue was swelling up.

Time Out: I freaked out as soon as I saw his hands looking all funky. Derek's Dad and brother came over and gave him a blessing. His cousin, who is an RN, was holding Derek's hand the whole time encouraging him to take deep breaths. Derek's brother was holding his foot up and keeping pressure on the laceration. I started bawling and thinking that this was it, especially when Derek looked up at me and said, "I wub you Kwistay." It really seemed like we were saying our goodbyes. All of this happened in about 10 minutes, so it was pretty sudden and terrifying.

Back to the action. The lifeguards are beginning to get frantic because of how quickly Derek is deteriorating. They try taking his vitals but can't because of his arm and hand spasms. Finally, we decide to call the ambulance and a fire truck arrives pretty quickly. It was quite the scene with a fire truck and life guard truck on the beach surrounded by about 10 family members and lots of on-lookers.

I am trying to hold myself together on the outside, but inside I was a little hysterical because nothing was being done. Derek is all seized up and looking at me with a face of desperation and concern. All I did was pray my guts out!

The lifeguards finally decide to put an oxygen mask on Derek and this seems to calm him down. Slowly his symptoms start to reverse. His lips relax and he can talk more normally now. He says that his abdomen isn't as tight. His fingers and hands straighten out and relax. Now the only problem is still the wrenching pain in his foot.

Of course, the medics arrive just as Derek has recovered. They knew instantly that Derek has just come out of carpopedal spasm which is caused by hyperventilation. When the blood is being over-saturated with oxygen then the pH changes and causes your system to go whack, basically.

We declined the ambulance ride over to the ER, but gladly accepted a ride from the lifeguards to the top of the hill.

Derek, the stud he is, put on a smile for the camera despite the stingray wound killing his foot.

The ER took us back very quickly and put Derek's foot in a tub of hot water. This is apparently the diagnosis and cure for a stingray sting. If the pain subsides with the hot water then they know it was a stingray attack because the hot water neutralizes the venom from the stinger.



Derek kept his foot in the water for about an hour and finally felt some relief. They wheeled him away for an x-ray to make sure that the stinger didn't break off in his foot, which it didn't thank goodness. The nurse did not stitch him up because she told us that would only trap in bacteria and cause an infection. I was so happy that Derek was feeling better.



Derek was prescribed a pain killer and antibiotics. Surprisingly, he only took a couple of pain pills during his entire recovery.

It's hard to believe that such a little thing could cause such a big deal. In our case, life threatening.



When the stinger goes in it releases venom that stays locally and has an anti-coagulant factor in it. (Hence all the bleeding) The major damage occurs as the barb is pulled back out and the serrated edges tear up tissue. Most people get a nick on the ankle or foot because of the stingray's automatic reflexes from being stepped on. A stingray doesn't usually penetrate that far in to a person. The only thing we can figure is that Derek must have stepped right on the stinger!



I can't believe that this tiny little cut caused so much pain for my tough husband. Poor thing handled things like a champ! The laceration is all healed now but there is quite a bit of hard, scar tissue under the cut.

We talked about "The Incident" everyday for a couple of months after it happened and recounted how we thought we were going to lose each other. We learned a lot and created a new bond from this crazy experience! I'm so grateful that my Derek is ok and that Heavenly Father answered everyone's prayers.

Steel City

The next to last race on the circuit is in Pittsburgh so of course we had to go. It was a completely different story from last year. We were wearing jackets and praying for it not to rain at Steel City last year. This time around...it was hotter than a biscuit! All of my energy was spent by the end of the first moto. I have to admit that it was the most exciting race of the day with Dungey and Villopoto battling for first the ENTIRE time. I haven't screamed and jumped up and down like that in a long time. Unfortunately, Dungey made a little mistake at the very end there and Villopoto was able to win the moto. I was soooo bummed!

As of last Saturday the season ended and Villopoto took the championship. He deserved it fair and square, but Dungey had awful luck with bike mechanics this year. It would have been fun to see the points race a little closer, too, with Chad Reed.

Here are some pics that Derek took from Steel City and High Point.

The starts are always exciting

This is a French rider doing a good "scrub" over this jump

We were cheering for Ryan Dungey but unfortunately, he didn't pull out a win that day

Chad Reed seems like his recent crash has affected his riding (see video at the bottom)

Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey battled it out for a while in the 2nd Moto

Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey were this close throughout the 1st moto but RV pulled a big lead in the 2nd moto

This was a neat jump and the pictures here turned out good!

Ryan Villopoto waved right at us!

And you can't talk about the 2011 AMA season without mentioning Chad Reed's ridiculous crash. What's even more incredible is that he gets up and finishes the race!

My Little Buddy

Over the Labor Day weekend we got to spend some time with our AWESOME cousins in Pittsburgh.

Here's their precious little guy, Caleb.


Only a dentist's son would be brushing his teeth at the sink when he's not even 2.



We got these sunglasses at the race and Caleb thought he was the coolest thing ever wearing them! And he was!

10K...check!

Derek and I ran our first 10K and it was so much fun. It was sponsored by Turkey Hill (a local dairy company that makes ice cream and other goodies) and was set out in the country. The run was beautiful and the weather was perfect. After the race we got to eat all the ice cream we wanted!

I was impressed with our times that we both finished under an hour 15. That's how long the practice run took me.


I'm so proud of Derek because he really didn't have a lot of time to train and running isn't his favorite thing, but he did awesome!


There were only 155 people who did the 10K and we almost came in dead last. But...we finished and had a good time!

Roots Market

Every Tuesday there's a huge farmer's market and flea market in a nearby town. It's AWESOME, to say the least. Today I went with my friend, Carrie, and she helped me pick out these treasures.

I've been searching for a cute candy dish or small serving bowl for olives, nuts, anything that doesn't require a huge dish. This was only $1! It's perfect and even came with a lid.

I'm not sure what to do with this bottle yet, but I thought it was neat and it only cost me 50 cents. And it's actually a lot taller than it looks in the picture.





You've inspired me, Laura Montgomery!

Atlanta Supercross (Best Race EVA)

We got to go to the Atlanta Supercross last weekend and it kicked butt! So I flew to Chattanooga where Derek is working each week and Lori, my dear friend and college roommate, drove over and met us from Nashville. Then we all drove down to Atlanta together.

Blake Wharton is my favorite rider so I had some artsy people help me make a poster for him. When we got to the pits, which were insane, we went right to his trailer and waited for him to show up. When he saw my sign he got a big grin on his face and gave me the head nod, acknowledging that he'd seen me. Then he came over and signed my poster and we all chatted for a bit and got pictures. He was so nice to talk to us. Derek said Blake was probably super pumped to have big fans there because he's on the same team with more popular riders and not many of the fans come to see him.



When we went back after practice Blake gave me some autographed race goggles that still had the tear offs on them. It was awesome! And Derek totally predicted that he would give me something because of my sign.



Blake did really well during his main. He got the holeshot, led the first 10 laps, and then crashed. He got right back up and took 4th. Not bad, I was proud of him. This is him leading with his teammate, Justin Barcia, right behind him.



The 450 main was incredible. Reed and Stewart were battling for first through the whole race and then they crashed into each other during the last lap. Villopoto got by so then they went at it for 2nd. In the very last turn before the finish jump reed cuts to the inside and blocks Stewart all the while dungey comes out of nowhere and passes them both for second and Stewart doesn't even podium. The whole crowd was on their feet. It was incredible. Stewart was so ticked that he went right to his trailer and wouldn't come out for his hole-shot check.


Me and Lori at the track.




Our other favorite rider, Kevin Windham.



Enjoying our free Monster drinks at the Monster Energy tent.



Great race! Great night!

Mars Factory Tour

Derek has been working each week in Cleveland, TN and it's been kinda rough on us. We don't like being apart so last week I flew down to spend a long weekend with Derek. It was so nice to be together and it was fun to see where he lives and works all the time. Yesterday, Derek took me on a tour of the factory and it was awesome.



We started out at the Twix line. It was just so neat to see it go from cookie dough all the way to wrapped and boxed. My favorite thing to see was how they put the caramel on the cookie. There was a huge cooled rotating drum with caramel on it. Then the caramel was scraped off with a blade and went in to a funnel looking thing that heated the caramel to just the right amount and then that split into little teat looking things that laid the caramel perfectly on the passing cookies. Derek took one of the Twix bars off the line for me to try without the chocolate coating put on yet and it was delicious. Then we tried a Twix with the chocolate on it. Soooo good.

The most fascinating thing to see was the M&Ms. We tasted M&Ms from each stage of the process from the roasted peanut all the way to the finished product. We loved the freshly roasted peanuts. The huge tumblers that coat and polish the peanuts were mesmerizing to watch; tens of thousands of M&Ms just rolling around in a slow washing machine type barrel.



The packaging is also incredible to watch. Conveyor belts running all over the factory and sorting bins and huge rolls of wrappers that package faster than I can watch. Pure Awesomeness!

And then Derek showed me the project he's working on and that was really neat to see. After seeing all the wires and the huge, complex control panels I completely understand why he feels overwhelmed. Derek's background in in mechanical and manufacturing engineering and he was just thrown into this electrical position. I'm so proud of the work he's doing and how perserverant he is. Derek never gives up and always gives 110%. I couldn't be a prouder wife!