Hairdo

Yesterday after kindergarten we stopped by for a haircut Ella was long overdue... With summer off from ballet, long hair is no longer a requirement, so we went an inch or so shorter and did some blow drying with the curler (that's what she calls it.) The girl wanted "whispies" so she got some layers, and a shampoo too and was over the moon about that.  She said it was very relaxing!! Welcome to the "SPA world", my dear! :) (I giggled the whole time to see how excited and special she felt.)

Now, this morning when her hair was back to straight, she was not too happy. Looked for my big curling brush but when I told her that it wasn't going to stick unless we put hairspray or something and we were not going to, she was not a happy camper. :( ... tough life! :)

Settling down

A quick post before everything becomes blurry and incoherent in my mind with the long list of tasks I need to get done to enter normality here in our new hometown, H-O-U-S-T-O-N.

Luckily Ella is already on the normality path with starting private kindergarten at Primrose of Sugar Land on Monday, two days after moving here. She loves it and we're thankful to the wonderful staff and teachers that welcomed her with open arms. (I am so impressed with this school franchise as everywhere we went, three different schools so far, the experience has been great. Some day, Hrishi and I, are hoping to maybe take on a franchise. Wouldn't that be fun? Some day...) Today she got to go on a field trip to the Fort Bend library (and was going to be able to check out a book too!) She loves books and especially to be able to pick her own at the library. I can't wait to hear everything about it. She also likes her new bedroom and has slept through the night in there. Not something I expected when going through this big of a change. But she's one super duper little girl I love so very much.

A big water fan, she's super excited about the nice swimming pool right around the corner. With this 80F weather, we'll probably be dipping in there soon!

Almost all boxes that came to the apartment with us are unpacked, thanks to my sweet wonderful husband who is so so hard-working, selfless, and just the best! I did put most of the kitchen together but still, I don't know what I would have done without his help. Our apartment complex is in the middle of this beautiful lush area with trees, bushes and flowers. In fact, is kind of hard to find a spot around here that doesn't have beautiful trees and landscaping. Even Walmart and Sam's club which are literally five minutes away have a really nice elaborate landscaping. Another thing I'm noticing and liking about places here is that almost every single building, be it a store or business, small or big, is made out of brick. And I love brick. 

Lifetime Fitness, our gym is a two-minute drive away from the apartment. Could have I asked for more? Nope! :) Now, I just have to get well enough to go back to exercising. With my herniated disc issues, my only option for the next few months is cardio. The only body parts I can do strength for will be my legs and my abs. Not too bad, if I can just keep thinking this way and not let my mind wander back at the awesome full-body workouts I was once able to do. Not an option anymore. (I'm trying hard to stay positive and be patient. NOT easy...)

Hrishi's liking his new job a lot. He's already got a lot on his plate but that's a good thing. I'm so happy for him and I know he's going to do a great job. He's meeting a lot of good smart people at work and is happy to have folks that he can learn from. Mentorship is so important no matter where you are in your career.

Today I went in for my first steroid cervical shot. (I'll be doing a series of three after which I start PT.) I was nervous being the first time I had to get one and anticipating the post-anesthesia effects that I've experienced in the past. (Nausea and vomitting.) And although they gave me a anti-nausea med through IV, I still did it, but luckily after I got home. Felt much better afterwards so I laid down for a long nap. Now, I'm feeling as well as can be expected after general anesthesia. I was even able to go back to work for a meeting. Luckily it was not my meeting, so I just had to listen in. (Did I mention that I really like my new home office? It's sure a blessing to count.) Something that brighten my day while waiting in the pre-op area while hooked to an IV, and dressed down in a gown (not my favorite things, you know), was overhearing another lady who was just waking up from her anesthesia and was so sweet and courteous, praising the nurses and the anesthiologist, it was really nice and comforting to hear her talk. She said that she was always happy no matter what, that she loved to smile at everyone. That is just a wonderful way to be, isn't it? I made a decision right there to smile more. I hope that I can.

Speaking of normality, this girl is back in business. First time she climbed those walls, she owned it:

Bouldering, anyone? (In case you're wondering, it's climbing horizontally under 5 feet across the walls with no safety harness.) She loves that too.

And one final thought or observation: people here in Sugar Land are sweet! Sound corny, I know but everyone I met so far at the dr's office, at the store and at the beauty salon have been such awfully nice and sweet. This really neat lady even exchanged the pair of Speedo pink flip-flops she had bought for her daughter who's wearing the same size as I do, for my purple pair. Made my day!

A brand new day

Last Friday I made the decision that I was going to go back to the gym and do whatever my body let me do, maybe some cardio/running coupled with stretching exercises prescribed by the physical therapist. That was one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. Not that I had fantastic workout (I wasn't hoping for one), but because I learned some important things about myself. Don't you love it when you have those "aha" moments when it comes to the person inside of you, when you learn something new about yourself, you understand yourself better, maybe get a little more insight into what makes you tick, what makes you happy, what makes you better? Let's just say that my Friday workout did just that for me. It helped alleviate some of the pain, but most importantly it helped me to get to know myself a little better. It brought comfort that I still had a lot of strength (in my legs, mostly), that I still LOVED to work this wonderful physical body that Heavenly Father provided for me. It felt really wonderfully. Plus, I never thought that I could have a spiritual enlightening moment or moments on the gym floor. But it happened.

Even if you're in pain, you can still reach out for the stars and do what you love to the extent that you can, of course.

D A L L A S... cameo

The hopeless sentimental in me couldn't help it. I just had to do this...

We lived here for only a year and a half but made memories for ten. It was a pretty much perfect year and a half, with perfect moments and nicely and convenientely located stores and hang-out places. It was a year and a half of a heck of a lot of growth, hard work, with many humbling teaching moments. I just hope we can remember and cherish them all.
 Here is the flower mound after which our town is named.

 From the front, you get this view:

 (And because this is off the road, I had to do some interesting maneuvers to park and then walk to a spot where I could snap these pictures.)

The house I thought we'd live in forever pretty much. We'll miss you, beautiful home at 1500 Sweetwater Lane.

The place that helped change my life:

The place is great in and of itself but the people and the one person who laid that foundation for me, is even greater.

This is the place we learned about Oral Immuno therapy, our one hope for beating food allergies. This is the place that Hrishi got his prestigious Six Sigma Black Belt certification and did a whole lot of good for his company, our family and community.  This is the place where our dream to adopt began.

This is the place for which Ella never fails to thank Heavenly Father in her daily prayers. I hope to do the same.

 Good bye, Dallas!

Good bye, Flower Mound!

Good bye to all the dear friends, classmates, teachers, familiar streets and places!

A bunch of random stuff...

Although not so much in the mood of documenting life lately, I still realize the importance of it and I'm committed to do it, so here it is!

Last week was Ella's last class at the Ballet Conservatory of Lewisville, she was one of the lead girls in their recital piece and she will be missed by Mrs. Waters and her super cute adorable classmates, and she will miss them all so much...

This past weekend, with daddy in town, Ella got to practice her awesome rock climbing skills again. She is just one amazing climber. No fear and lots of skill for her age and for not having been instructed:

(They have changed the rocks a lot but didn't bother her a bit.)



Some more gym time with her favorite guy, who also happens to be my favorite too!! :)

"Young King Arthur" at the Dallas Children's Theater:

(We will miss all the wonderful actors that have been delighting us with great shows for the past year or so.)

I've been taking Ella to Kid Country every Sunday afternoon, to her delight. It just always makes for a nice little drive and outing to old stomping grounds in Coppell.

Last Sunday we fed birds galore!! She even got to briefly pet one of the pigeons.

Built some sandcastles, thanks to the overnight rain that got the sand wet enough to stick.

And finally, for crazy hair day today at school Ella featured a fairly elaborated (not) "octopus" head, short of three tentacles/piggy tails. Ha-ha!

And before I am done with the random stuff: I am kind of grateful for not being able to work out these past three weeks as I got to see the big change that all the clean eating and exercising has brought upon my body: the increased metabolism. I assumed that would have been the case after the lifestyle change I've gone through, but with working out five to six times a week for the past year and a half, I always tended to attribute a lot of it to the workouts. Anyway, not only that I haven't put on a single pound, but I lost a couple. I guess this break is my opportunity to focus more on diet.

And I have one pretty nice incentive!! (Yes, size 0 skirt and size 2 pant. Never been this small in my whole entire life. Nor have I been this strong.)

(Next stop, "shaving off" the fat and building some more lean mass.)

Fitness is a precious gift: treasure it and continuously work hard to maintain, increase, and just hold on to it forever.

I know...

"that... [...] the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son [daughter] he delights in." (Proverbs 3:12)

And while I may not understand the reason for the disciplining or better said, for the trial that I'm facing right now, I know that He loves me and is there to comfort. Living with pain is not easy but knowing that hopefully soon I will find relief with either physiotherapy and/or shots helps. I just can't imagine what those who live with chronic pain must be enduring every day. Only perfect faith and hope can get them through.

And life goes on: house is almost all packed up, garage full of boxes, sparkling clean kitchen and the rest, for daily showings, sweet child complaining of stomach aches every single morning (it's very likely the milk that is troubling her; her allergist diagnosed her with EOE and decreased her dose to .2 ml for the next two months... sad!), me being able to do nothing to provide relief, me waking up as tired as I went to bed the night before, me yearning to get my life back, me/us missing daddy who has been in Houston for two weeks but who came down for the weekend to be with us.

I think I am ready for a new beginning. I know I will dearly miss our life here but this is the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. Having gone through this for the past three weeks, has probably made it a bit easier to leave...

Little Miss Sunshine

Here's mine:

She loves to grocery shop. She loves to pick fresh fruit and veggies, weigh and bag them. She loves to push the cart, too. She's so fun to shop with!!

Along with groceries, we picked up a rotisserie chicken. Hunger striken, she ate the drumsticks on the way home. Yum!!

We'll miss these "our" (neighbors') horses.... We get to "have" them all to ourselves, feed, pet, "train", and talk to them.