Long, and transparent post alert! (in other words, get comfy)

Do you ever wish you could go back in time & smack yourself? I do. Why? June of 2010. 

To spare you all the reasons that led me to it... I stupidly got breast implants in June of 2010. I have to admit, my research on the implants themselves, was minimal. All I had on my brain was that I wanted them, and that was it. My husband had an upcoming deployment, and the plastic surgeon had an opening that she made for us, so he’d be able to help with my recovery. Together, we chose the implants - Mentor smooth silicone, 300 cc's. It was all very quick, and of course, I didn’t think much about it. The day of surgery, the plastic surgeon said “Y’know, so many women wish they’d gone bigger… are you sure you don’t want to go with a bigger size?” I was so stupid. So, I chose a bigger size (350 cc’s), because “she wouldn’t NOT have my best interest, right?”. Wrong. 

I woke up from surgery and felt like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. Everything hurt & my skin was stretching. I had immediate buyers remorse. It took me a few days to be able to function. But then, it was like a new “me”. Suddenly, I had confidence. <insert face palm> — whyyyyy did I think a bigger chest would make things better??! Helloooooo, insecurity! Life was good. Until it wasn’t.

About 6 months after getting my implants, I started having a lot of pain in my body. My General Practitioner sent me to physical therapy & prescribed anti-inflammatories & muscle relaxers that didn't work. This pain was so excruciating, that I went from physical therapy, to seeing a pain management doctor & having live X-ray cortisone injections in a matter of months. I went from running half marathons prior to getting implants, to being down on the couch for days. My running days had basically ended.

Within a year, the pain spread all over my body. The cortisone injections were no longer working. My pain management doctor said he couldn’t do anything for me anymore, and referred me to a spinal surgeon. After determining that I didn’t need spinal surgery, the spinal surgeon referred me to a neurologist. After waiting to get in to see a neurologist, he ran me through a gamut of testing… to rule out MS, Lupus, Lyme, or anything else. Everything came back in the “normal” range.

In 2012, after the gamut of testing done by the neurologist, I was given the diagnosis of Severe Fibromyalgia, and was given medication. At least we had an answer. I was all but a shell of my former self. I couldn’t function. I was in pain all the time. My family was having to pick up the slack where I was failing. The first medication helped, but made me feel stoned (I’ve never actually been stoned, but if I could imagine what it would feel like, this was it) 24/7. I couldn’t string 3 words together, slept all the time, and didn’t trust myself to drive. It made me swell up horribly. Then came the second medication… which did all of these things + made me swell even worse. So, then came the third medication. This one gave me relief, hallelujah! After this medication, I was able to function somewhat again. And for that, we were all grateful. 

After about a year of being on this medication, I realized a lot of my symptoms were getting worse. Y’know when you hear a commercial for a drug, and they list all of the possible side effects? I was having just about every side effect possible for this drug. To counteract some of these, my neurologist was writing me more prescriptions. Now, if you know me, you KNOW I’m not a fan of taking pills if I don’t need to. My meds list was getting ridiculous. I was only 40, but had the meds list of someone in their 80’s. This medication I was on made my hair fall out, gave me permanent memory loss, and exacerbated my symptoms. On a daily basis, my pain level was excruciating and my skin hurt to the touch. The only way I can fully describe my skin hurting is if you rolled around naked on fiberglass insulation & had the flu on top of it. Hugging became something I hated (and I’m a hugger!), just because it hurt. 

In 2014, I went to my neurologist and said that I was feeling worse taking these meds than I ever did before taking them. He suggested we try a different medication. I told him that I wanted to get OFF of the meds, clear everything from my system, and then reassess before we started anything new. He begrudgingly agreed, but as he walked out of the exam room, he said “you’ll be back and BEGGING me for a new prescription”. Challenge accepted, Dr. Jerkface. I never went back to him. He was a pill-pusher, and I’m not interested in someone that won’t at least listen to my concerns/wants/needs.

With the help of my General Practitioner, we found more natural ways to combat my pain and symptoms. I learned to take supplements, learn my limits, and listen to my body. While this was helpful, the pain was too much somedays. Depression & anxiety were prominent, and I kind of became a hermit for a while. 

2018, I started having burning & pain in my breasts quite often. My mom had mentioned an article that mentioned something called “Breast Implant Illness”. I read it, but didn’t put a lot of thought into it. It was also time for a yearly check-up with my plastic surgeon. I mentioned that I was having a lot of breast pain, and wondered if this breast implant illness could be a factor. She literally laughed in my face, and quickly said “NO”. But then proceeded to quickly send me for a MRI to make sure the implants hadn’t ruptured. (they hadn’t)

2019, with every symptom getting worse, I was researching Breast Implant Illness more. Without sounding dramatic, I literally felt like I was dying. The more research I did, the more articles I found. It was everything I’d felt in the past almost 10 years. Pain, being sent for lab work… only for everything to come back in the “normal range”, and every single symptom I’d been having:

Extreme fatigue
Brain fog/memory loss/cognition problems 
Muscle pain & weakness 
Joint pain in my neck/shoulders/back/hips/knees/hands/feet 
Hair loss
Weight problems 
Inflammation 
Insomnia & poor sleep 
Dry eyes 
Diminishing hormones/early menopause 
Slow healing/easy bruising 
Slow recovery after exercise 
Vertigo 
Headaches/migraines 
Throat clearing/cough/difficulty swallowing/choking 
Reflux 
Nausea/gastritis/leaky gut 
Fevers/Night Sweats/Heat Intolerance
Persistent bacterial/viral infections 
UTI/Interstitial Cystitis 
Ear ringing 
Sudden new food/chemical intolerances/allergies 
Heart palpitations/heart pain/chest discomfort/shortness of breath
Swollen & tender lymph nodes of breast & underarm 
Numbness & tingling in limbs 
Cold & discolored hands/feet 
Depression/anxiety/panic attacks 

Unexplained low-grade fevers at least once a week

Pain throughout my body

Skin pain

Blurred vision

Constant rash on my chest, which worsened in the sun

The feeling of my implants burning me from the inside out

I came across a Facebook group called “Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole” and joined to see what it was all about. HOLY. MOLY. Hundreds of thousands of women, all with the same symptoms as me. I finally felt validated, and no longer like a hypochondriac! I had a group of people who understood! I spent days just reading everyone’s stories. Through all of these ladies, they found surgeons in each state that fully believed in Breast Implant Illness (or better known as BII). There were several in Indiana. I made a consultation appointment with someone near me. She was AMAZING. During my 90-minute consultation, this surgeon explained everything in detail & made sure I understood. She’s doing a study on BII with another doctor. While she still does implants, she fully educates everyone, and is doing more explants these days than implants. After listening to my story and all of my symptoms, she assured me that I would have relief. I made my surgery appointment, and literally COULD. NOT. WAIT. for these toxic bags to come out of my body. 

October 6, 2020 — I was able to get my implants removed with a full enbloc & capsulectomy (fancy terms for full removal of the capsules that surrounded my implants). My left implant had become attached to my ribcage & intertwined in my muscle, thus contributing to the pain I was having. She had to scrape to get it all, but she got it. I woke up from surgery, and the first thing I noticed was that I could take a deep breath. For the past 10 years, I had roughly 3 pounds of implants sitting on top of my lungs, and my breathing, unbeknownst to me, had become shallow. For the first time in 10 years, my shoulders didn’t hurt. This was all in the first few minutes of waking up!

My sweet friend sent me these socks & I wore them to the surgery center!

I had my surgeon send the capsules surrounding my implants to pathology. The results were interesting. They tested positive for 2 kinds of bacteria: Cutibacterium acnes, and Staph. No WONDER I was always sick! The recovery was not an easy one, and it took time. The amount of detoxing your body does after having something toxic in it for a decade is astounding. It took me a solid month before I felt good. But wow, did I ever feel GOOD! I hadn’t felt like that in a decade. However, I got Covid (horribly) a week later. So, my recovery took a bit longer than some, just because my immune system kept taking hits.

It’s been one year since I explanted, and I have not regretted that decision for even one second. I’d say about 85% of my symptoms are gone, and even those that are remaining, aren’t constant. 

In a year’s time, not once have I been relegated to my bed because of pain. Not once have I had a “fibromyalgia flare”. (I’m not saying I don’t have fibromyalgia - because I do still have some pain, but it’s definitely not severe, and it no longer leaves me bed-ridden.) Not once have I had a mysterious low-grade fever, and continuously felt like I have the flu. Not once have I had to take a nap daily. Not once, have I missed out on family fun because of my pain level. Not once.

Coincidence? I think not. 

I was robbed of 10 years of my life because of a really dumb decision on my part. Not everyone has a reaction to implants like I did, and they're lucky. But because so many women are coming forward with their reactions like mine, others are seen & heard. Insurance companies are listening, and now explants are starting to be covered, which is HUGE.

Please, if you are considering getting implants, DO YOUR RESEARCH. There is no “safe” type of implant. Even saline implants are made of silicone - they’re just injected with saline solution internally. Please join the Facebook group I talked about. Read every story, and then make your decision. If you have implants and are wanting them out, feel free to DM me. Join the Facebook group. Little did I know, I had several friends in there… and one of them, whom was already a dear friend, went a day before me with her explant. We virtually held each others hands throughout the entire process, and for that, I will be eternally grateful. You will have hundreds & thousands of women in your corner… who understand you, who support your decision. 

I’ve been through hell & back, fighting for the woman I am now. Sadly, it took all of this to see myself the way my creator sees me, and has always seen me… Psalm 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” How sad that insecurity and society made me doubt that. 

In the past year, my energy has returned. My smile has returned. Jenni has returned. And I couldn’t be happier! My body is still healing, and that’ll be on it’s own timeframe. It’s different for everyone, and I’m embracing that. 

It took me a year to be brave enough to share this — mainly because I was so embarrassed that I felt that I needed implants to begin with. More so, that this process also robbed me of 10 years of my health, family, friendships, and so many missed “things”. It’s been a year of forgiving myself, and asking forgiveness from my family… who had to pick up the slack for the past decade. 

I’m hoping that my journey through all of this may help someone, or someone you know. I’m not sharing this in hopes of gaining attention (quite the opposite, actually, because this is SUPER personal), but that it educates someone. That it makes someone feel seen & heard. That it gives someone a hand to hold while going though it themselves. 

Peace, love, and health to you all,

Jenni

Why We Need Our Friends

Friendship is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't always come easily or naturally.

I'm what you'd consider an extroverted introvert. Meaning, if you really know me, you know I'll talk your legs off. If you don't know me, you'll think I'm super quiet & shy. Both are correct. But when you're an introvert, making good friends may not be super easy. I find that I can make friends pretty easily. But, the super-solid, trust-them-with-your-life friends are hard to find. It has taken me well into my 40's to truly figure out who those people were.

Over the years, I've been a good friend, I've been a crappy friend, I've been there for people, I've had to set boundaries with people. Navigating friendships can be tricky, and being vulnerable with people requires trust.

This weekend, I was able to spend roughly 24 hours with 3 of my most precious friends on the planet. These 3 women are my lifeline, my joke-tellers, my tough love givers, my therapists, my mirrors, my fart-humor laughers, my memory, my friends since high school, my drop everything & come running when I need them, my trust-them-with-my-life friends. They are invaluable to me.

We're all in a completely crazy, chaotic, busy season of life. Time is scarce, but we try really hard to make time to spend together. The past few years, we've averaged 2 "girls weekends" a year -- usually one in February (because that's Amy's birthday month), and usually one in the summer (because that's when Tammy's & my birthdays are). Poor Gretchen, her birthday is in October, and that's usually a time when none of us can get away. We need to work on that.

For Amy's birthday gift, we decided to do a "Make Your Own Ending" type of adventure! We had 3 envelopes: Choose Dinner, Choose Your Adventure, and Choose Dessert. If you know us, you know these weekends mainly center around food. I mean, priorities, man. PRIORITIES. lol! Amy chose our dinner option. Her adventure was to go to a foot massage place (we were all hoping she'd choose that one!), and for dessert, an ice cream place. So, our evening was set, and off to dinner we went!

It was an hour wait at the restaurant, so we put our name in and decided to walk around the downtown area while we waited. All of the little shops were closed, but that didn't stop us from looking in windows. We all grew up in this town, and we were reminiscing while walking. The downtown area has been revamped, and it's pretty cute now! We found some cool murals painted on the sides of buildings. Being in the Instagram era that we are, we decided to take pictures in front of said murals. We found a really neat (wait, does anyone still say "neat"?) Coca Cola mural, and in our minds, we looked really cool. But the pictures proved otherwise. Personally, I can't keep a straight face. Like, ever. So when we were trying to look all serious, I'm laughing. Or I look constipated. There's really no in between. We're all looking in different directions. The wind was blowing our hair into our freshly glossed lips. I mean, it was sort of like herding cats & comical at this point. So, we walked a little farther & found an old candy store... where we proceeded to drool over & buy a 4-pack of truffles. And ate them immediately. We managed to get in our steps, all while laughing -- that right there is more than any workout I'd ever get at the gym... and let's face it, this was way more fun!

It was finally time for us to eat. FOOD!!! The restaurant was really cute, and the food was good. But the conversations that took place around that table? They were amazing and great and necessary. I mean, beyond words necessary. This was a time when we were all vulnerable. I think every single emotion took place at that table. We realized what heavy loads we'd all been carrying, all while keeping it to ourselves. Why do we always think we need to be "WonderWoman" and deal with things alone? Why do we feel like we'd be bothering each other if we shared our weariness? Our struggles? Our fears? Because we've all gotten busy & wrapped up in our issues and we've isolated ourselves, that's why. But here's the beauty in all of this... even though we've all kept things to ourselves, we know that once we get together, we can let it all out... as if no time has passed from our last visit together. We can be vulnerable because we KNOW that what is discussed during these weekends STAYS within our group.

Our plan was to go and get those foot massages after dinner... but the conversations at dinner were far more important. We can get foot massages anytime. We can't always have these important conversations with each other. I can't vouch for the other girls, but I left dinner feeling like a giant weight had been lifted.

The rest of the evening consisted of laughing (so. much. laughing.), shoving our faces full of cookies & ice cream, talking, talking, and more talking... until we all dozed off. Let it be mentioned that in order for us to sleep now, the thermostat is set on "cool", and we had 2 fans going. #hotflashes

We of course, made reservations for brunch the next morning. Obviously. Our breakfast was one that put us in a sugar-induced food coma. Monkey Bread, Chicken & Waffles, and Eggs Benedict. Oh, and coffee. More conversations were had, and more laughing ensued. We should all have 6-pack abs by now from all the laughing! I'm a little disappointed I didn't wake up with them this morning. I can feel them though. They're somewhere under the fluff.

We knew our time was drawing near & that we all had to part ways... that's always the down side to these weekends. It's never enough time together, and it's always sad when we have to say goodbye. We always do our standard "Girls Weekend" selfie -- always in the same order -- always struggling with our selfie skills. At least we're consistent.

As I'm looking at my phone's camera roll, I'm finding myself laughing. Laughing at how many takes it took to get a "sort of decent" shot, that we never know where to look... but mostly, that we're all laughing and smiling and not worrying about the heavy loads we've been carrying. That right there, is why we need our friends.

Just Another Meal Prep Monday - Week 2

Can I just say how thankful I was that I had cooked ahead a bit last week?

This week has been crazy on all fronts. I mean, the C-R-A-Z-Y you'd expect with a full moon. (Wait, was it a full moon this week??!) Anyway, the left-over chicken breasts that I froze last week, along with some ground beef totally saved me! Needless to say, I didn't even follow my own plan this week. It was a "just get through today" type of week. And you know what we did for dinner tonight? We ordered from Door Dash, because mom is tired. It's called balance, right?

I'm getting this ready for you early, so you can shop over the weekend to prepare for the week. I've included links to recipes -- please click on anything that is highlighted for the recipe.

BREAKFAST MENU
Egg McMuffins
Vegetable Scramble (see last week's recipe)
Overnight Oats
Frozen Multi-Grain Waffle with Yogurt on top
Repeat of any of these

LUNCH MENU
Vegetable Soup (leftover)
Tuna Salad / Crackers / Fruit
Chipotle-Lime Salmon over salad (leftover)
Chicken & Veggies (see last week's recipes)
Sandwich (**possibly Jimmy John's -- I always get the Beach Club, and I recommend the "Unwich" version!)

SNACKS
Laughing Cow Cheese wedge & crackers
Laughing Cow Cheese wedge & celery
Fruit
Veggies & dip
Hard Boiled Eggs
Yogurt

DINNER MENU
Meatloaf Muffins (your choice of flavoring) / Mashed Potatoes (or Cauliflower Mash) / Salad
Chipotle-Lime Salmon / Mushroom Rice (or Mushroom Cauliflower Rice) / Salad
Chicken Parmesan Casserole / Zoodles (spiral cut zucchini) / Baguette / Roasted Veggies
Vegetable Soup & Crusty baguette
Leftovers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not going to provide a complete shopping list this week, only because I've included the links to the recipes that I've used off of Pinterest, and you can write down what you need. **The only things I'm providing are things that do not have links.**

SHOPPING LIST
- 1 lg pkg of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Eggs (for scramble & hard boiled)
- Veggies for Roasted Veggies + Veggie soup (or, put the roasted veggies in the soup!)
- Any type of frozen waffles you like (I'm going for the Multi-Grain)
- Lowfat individual sized Greek Yogurt(s) in your favorite flavors
- Lowfat PLAIN Greek Yogurt
- Ranch Salad Dressing packets (to mix with plain greek yogurt for dip)
- Laughing Cow "Light" wedges (whatever flavor you like)
- Crackers of your choice
- 1-2 bags of leafy romaine salad (or whatever your family will eat!)
- *your favorite salad fixings to go along w/the bag of salad
- **2-3 loaves (day old bread loaves) from Jimmy John's -- seriously, this is just about the best deal around - they're like $.50! And while you're there, grab an "Unwich" sandwich for lunch!
- 1-2 packets of instant mashed potatoes (any flavor) -- these are great to have on hand for quick side dishes, and are like $1 a piece
- 1-2 packets of instant mushroom rice -- these are also great to have on hand for quick side dishes
tuna & tuna salad fixings -- everyone has a different palate when it comes to this, so choose your own recipe that you like!
Fruit(s) of your choice

*~*Take the time to bake your chicken breasts so they can be used for meals/lunches/to freeze.

*~*Roast your veggies -- these can be multi-purpose this week. They can be used for lunches/side dishes/veggie soup!


If I can give any suggestions... 

1. Don't make the salmon in advance. Make it on the day you want to eat it as a meal. However, the leftovers on top of a leafy green salad the next day are DELICIOUS!!!! It can be spicy -- the avocado on top eases the spice. If you need to ease it a bit more, add a little sour cream on top. Freeze any extra adobo peppers in the sauce in a sandwich bag -- that way, you have it for the next time you make it!

2. Costco usually has salmon at a great price -- if you want, use half, and freeze the rest for next time. And while you're there, grab toilet paper. Because isn't that what you do at Costco? 😉

3. I've tried to give weight-friendly recipes, along with some possible keto options as well. Obviously, tweak anything as necessary to fit you/your family's needs.

4. For as much as I try to make my own stuff, having instant mashed potatoes/mushroom rice is ESSENTIAL to have on hand! Same goes for Mac & Cheese. Make your life easier!!! They even make Kraft Mac & Cheese w/Cauliflower in the pasta now... so I mean, you're basically losing weight while eating it.  😂 lol!!

5. If Jimmy John's isn't your thing, or you don't have one close... grab a baguette or your favorite crusty bread loaf at the grocery store.

6. I can't end things on an odd number. #quirky



Let me see your meal prep & pictures of your meals this week!!

Day 20 -- What's On My Bucket List?

Today's prompt is... What's On My Bucket List?

I'm sure everyone's list looks a little different. I think mine mainly consists of travel -- there's still a lot of this world that I haven't seen and want to see!

1. Go to Paris. I don't speak but maybe 5 phrases of French (thanks, Mrs. Scarcelli for that 6-week course in 6th grade!), but I plan to muddle my way through. I guess I'd like to learn to speak French. I want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and not pass out from my fear of heights. You think I'm being funny... I'm being dead serious! I have dreams almost weekly that I'm in Paris. Why? I have no idea. 

2. Go to Italy. I want to eat myself silly on pasta and gelato. I also want to learn to speak Italian. Oh yeah, and the scenery is so beautiful!

3. Go to Sweden/Switzerland/Denmark -- I feel like I'd fit in pretty well with my blonde hair & blue eyes there. 😉 Not to mention, the scenery is gorgeous. I will refrain from skiing though -- we all know how uncoordinated I am. I'll spare myself the visit to a foreign ER. 

4. Go on an African safari... and not get eaten by any wild animal.

5. Go snorkeling/scuba diving in the "Big Blue Hole" in Belize.

6. Go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

7. See the pink sandy beaches in Bermuda or Bonaire. In case you haven't noticed, I love beaches.

8. Go zip lining through the rain forest. Again, my fear of heights hinders that a little, but I've got to get over myself.

9. Run another half-marathon. Or three. Once upon a time, I was in shape & did these regularly. I'd like to feel the rush of exhaustion/pure excitement as I cross the finish line again!

10. Visit all the Disney parks in Europe/Asia. I'm sort of a Disney fanatic.

11. Restore my old 1970 Cadillac deVille Convertible. It's currently rotting away in my parents' barn. It's not exactly in the budget right now with one in college and another on the way to college. It's not that the car is worth a lot, it's just nostalgia, and the fact that that car felt like it was floating when you drove it. I have yet to own a car that drove as nicely as that one.

12. Drive on the Autobahn. Fast. On the wrong side of the road. What could possibly go wrong? 

13. Visit all 50 states in the USA. We've seen quite a few, but the upper east coast still remains unseen by us. 

14. See the Egyptian Pyramids. I am fascinated by them!

That's probably enough for now. Lots of things I'd still like to do, but like I said, traveling is probably at the top of any list of mine! 

Day 19 -- My First Job

Today's prompt is... My First Job

I think technically, my first job was babysitting at the ripe old age of 12. How people trusted their infants with a 12-year old in the early 80's is beyond me. But, we all managed to survive, and the money was good!

Fast forward a few years to 1989... my first real job was at a place called Tropicana Tan Hut. Yes folks, my first job was at a tanning salon. I think I was making something like $3.50 an hour -- that seemed like big bucks to a teenager! I don't remember how many hours a week I worked. I can't imagine it was a lot because I was going to school as well.

My duties included: opening/closing up the building, answering phones, scheduling appointments, washing/drying/folding towels, cleaning tanning beds, taking out the trash, tidying up the store front...

As long as you worked there, you got free tanning for yourself, because you wanted to being a walking billboard for where you worked, right? After I'd close up the store, I'd get in the tanning bed. It was always my fear that I'd fall asleep & wake up in there the next morning. Ha!

Ah, the 80's... where a perk of your job was to possibly get skin cancer.

Day 18 -- I'm taking the day off

There was a prompt for today, but here's the deal...

I threw my back out. I went to the grocery store, loaded groceries into the back of my trusty Suburban, and it happened. My back decided to revolt against me.

I sucked it up that night. I tried to suck it up the next day at a football tailgate & game.

I could no longer suck it up without the help of muscle relaxers and pain medicine. That being said, I really thought it was best that I didn't try to write anything. Who knows. Maybe it would've been highly entertaining, or thought provoking, or, just plain terrible!

Anyway, I didn't want to subject anyone to drug-induced writing. 😉

Day 17 -- The Best Kind of Laughter

Today's prompt is... The Best Kind of Laughter

Have you ever laughed so hard that you swore you would have 6-pack abs? I have. And darn it, I didn't end up with the 6-pack abs, but it felt like I should've had them!

When my three best friends from high school and I get together for our girls weekends, this "6-pack abs laughter" ensues. We've all known each other for so long that we communicate with looks, weird voices, and essentially, 12-year old humor. 

We were trying to be all serious. Clearly, I have a killer poker face.

We can go for months without seeing or talking to each other, and pick back up like no time has passed. I think that's what makes our girls weekends so special -- it's total quality time where we catch up and laugh like we've never laughed before!

First and foremost, our weekends center themselves around food. Activities are planned around meals, because duh!, we love to eat! We've all reached the age where now a nap gets planned in sometimes. However, our past couple of times together has been for just about 24 hours... so we we've sucked it up without a nap. 😂

The selfie stick action shot...

Bursts of laughter have come from: shopping, a restaurant bathroom, driving, a dance-off, a fake fight, while one was sleeping... yet making noises, at a coffee shop... but trying to remember what one of us said (we still can't remember!), trying to take a group picture with a selfie stick, just looking at each other... it takes basically nothing to make us laugh! However, our bladders aren't as young as they once were. We have to be prepared for bursts of laughter now, if you know what I mean. 😉😁😂

I trust my life with these girls. We have been through it all together... bad perms, 80's clothing, high school, college, engagements, marriage, divorce, births of babies, miscarriages, the toddler years, the teenage years, deaths of parents, marriage of kids... and whatever happens in the future -- we've got each other. Point is, we are each others brains, mirrors, therapists, sisters, hand-holders, tear-wipers, cheerleaders, truth-speakers, prayer warriors, you name it.

If you ever see us together, we apologize. Maybe. I mean, we're basically comedians... we just haven't been discovered yet. Try not to be jealous. 😂 Well, WE think we're hilarious, anyway. HA!

I hope that you've all experienced pure joy & "6-pack abs" laughter in your life at some point. I'm lucky in that I can look at any one of these pictures & immediately start cackling!

Day 16 -- Best Thing That Happened This Year

Today's prompt is... Best Thing That Happened This Year

Well geez, this one is hard! How do you narrow it down to just one? Not sure.

For our family? It's probably that my husband came home from his deployment safely, and has been with a major airline for a year now... that first year is rough. It's lots of commuting, training, and being away from home. We missed him being home, but now our family schedule is starting to even out a bit. And we're all glad for that!

For me? I think it would have to be my birthday this year. Why? Well, it happened to coincide with our family vacation. I lucked out! We decided to celebrate a bit more this year due to my hubs being deployed to "sand land", so it was sort of celebrating his homecoming + my birthday. So, we decided to go on a 7-night cruise! It was a win/win!!

Yes. We're that family with the matching shirts.

So why was my birthday so special? First, I got to be with all of my boys plus Ryan's girlfriend, Holly. She's part of the family, and I have to admit, I loved having her along, as well as my roomie! Second, we went to countries we'd never been to before, on a cruise line we'd never cruised with before. It was all new & we had THE BEST time!

So yeah, all of that was great... but what made my birthday the best this year? We were in Honduras on my actual birthday.

I had scoped out all of the excursions, and they were fun... but I found one not affiliated with the cruise line that looked like even more fun. It allowed us to tour more of the country, as well as visit a sanctuary where we got to play with monkeys, birds, and (wait for it)... SNUGGLE WITH SLOTHS!!! Some of you may be scratching your heads right now, wondering why sloths excite me so much. They're like my spirit animal. 😂 We share the same amount of energy, we move at about the same pace, we like to eat when we're not sleeping, and we like to snuggle. Twins, right?

I mean come on, look at this picture & tell me you wouldn't be so excited to be snuggling with this sloth? I could've stayed there all day long. It's my goal to go back because I clearly didn't get enough sloth snuggle time.

I think by far, snuggling with a sloth was the best thing that has happened to ME this year.