Surgery is fun?

Okey doke. So in lieu of telling the story multiple times, I find easiest to just blog about it! Woohoo! Plus I haven't blogged in quite some time, so those of you who have been waiting (I write as if anybody cares) here a new one is. So almost two weeks ago by now (wow, it's been a long time) I got this incredibly bad pain in my stomach. Actually below my stomach, in the intestinal area. And to top that off, I couldn't eat anything without throwing it all back up again! Pretty good stuff, I know. So I tried to tough it out and just wait for it to fix itself. But after like 16 hours and a night with literally no sleep b/c of the pain, I decided to go to the ER. Always good times there.

So I get in the ER and they do their spiel and take forever and a day to do anything about the pain. But thankfully they gave me something for pain and something for nausea. Then they took some x-rays. I didn't know that you could find intestinal problems on an x-ray. Anyhow, I sit in the ER, they run my blood tests and urine tests and give me a whole bunch of fluids b/c the throwing up all night has made me quite dehydrated. So after many hours, like 7 or 8, probably average for an ER, the doctor comes in and tells me it's just a bowel obstruction that will go away on it's own and he prescribes me some percoset for the pain and some zofran for nausea and was about to send me on my way. Then he asks me if they did any x-rays and such. First, how does he almost discharge me without looking? Anyhow, I tell him they took three. So he goes and looks at them and the radiologist suggested I get a CT scan of my intestines b/c the x-ray showed some abnormal stuff. Ironically, when you can't keep any food down and your intestines are blocked, they make you drink 6 cups of apple juice mixed with contrast. Crank up the nausea meds....that's about all that can really be said at that point. So I dutifully drink it all down and then they take me to get the CT scan. Pretty fun stuff. Actually, they're really boring. So they finish and bring me back to my lovely ER room. Guess what happens next?

Yup, you guessed it. I wait some more! Eventually my nurse asks if they have received the results of my CT scan, and they had....a while ago. Go figure. But this time instead of just the ER doctor, they also bring in the trauma guy working at that time. You know you're in for some fun when they call in the trauma guy. So he comes in to deliver the diagnosis. Apparently, I had a volvulus. It's kind of a cool word I guess. Basically it means that my intestines got all twisted up around themselves, wikipedia it if you really want to see. He explains this to me, and then tells me the good part! A volvulus can kill your small intestines pretty quickly and I may already have some dead tissue. GREAT. And the cherry on top? This was all caused by some scar tissue from the surgery WHEN I WAS BORN! A 21 year time bomb. Awesome stuffs. So then they wheel me into the ER. Naturally, I want to know what they're gonna use. And they be using Propofol, that stuff that killed Michael Jackson. Sign me up. And then they put me under and I don't remember a thing.

Then I came out (please hold all gay jokes, I didn't say the closet), and they gave me a nice SMALL room on the surgical floor. Then I got to chill there with some morphine and nurses and patient care techs and all that good stuff till Saturday (surgery was on Sunday). Then I got home and did nothing, except take a lot of percoset. Now, almost another week after that, I'm still taking my percoset! But at least I made it to class and such. Well, today. I'm gonna try to make it to all of my classes tomorrow! Wish me luck! So all in all, I almost lost my small intestines last week. And now I have them. Hooray!

So after all the hub bub of the past week, which I will blog about later, here are the pictures I took while everyone was around! Enjoys!

Purple Staples: Gotta love the simple things

So I keep having to go to the library for the sole purpose of stapling my homework. I don't have a little mini staple in my back pack...which are super convenient. So today, I needed to get some other school supplies and such, so I went to the stapler aisle. Okay, they don't have their own aisle, but they do have a pretty decent selection. So I perused over all the choices and I found a blue swingline that was the perfect size for my backpack! I almost bought an XActo brand stapler, but I couldn't do it. I had to buy a Swingline. Anyone who has ever seen Office Space will understand. Now, I have my little light blue stapler and I came home and opened it up to put the staples that came w/ it inside of it. And much to my surprise, the staples that came w/ it are purple!!!!! It's awesome! I was expecting the regular ones, but instead they were colorful!! It was way cool. So they pretty much make me happy when I see them. It's the Simple things in life that seem to make you happy, like colorful staples. Happy Day!

Volleyball!

So, I have an addendum to the post from yesterday...or whenever I did it. On Saturday, there was also a volleyball game. We won the game quite nicely in 3 sets over Weber State. No surprises there, but here's the news worth mentioning. They always throw out these little volleyballs during the game and I've never gotten one. Haha, I've been to like a million volleyball games and never got one, sad! But finally my hopes and dreams have come true! I got a volleyball!!!! And it was a special volleyball. It had a coupon for free popcorn on it too! So Kristin got the popcorn and I got the ball. Pretty much amazing. It's alright to be jealous. :) Funky fresh, I'm out.

Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out!

So yesterday was the big BYU-Oklahoma opening game in which all predictions had BYU losing by quite a bit. But, who really trusts those things anyhow. Though a number 3 against a number 20 is usually a pretty easy call. Ha! But not when BYU is playing! As the cheesy ESPN thing said during the game, "Every underdog has a chance." And we took that chance and rammed it down their throats and pulled off the biggest upset of opening week, and let's see how the rest of the season plays out. Though this isn't the first time BYU has one big, it's the biggest upset we've pulled off since 1990; the biggest since I've been here. And b/c of that, there was some CRAZINESS following the game. As soon as it ended, we all ran out of our apartments and started yelling and screaming and jumping and such. It was awesome. Then we all went to the street and started yelling w/ people from other apartments as cars drove by honking their horns and more people screaming.

Then we thought that there was probably something good going on on campus, so we headed up to the Wilk. to see if anything was going on there. We got there and there was a huge crowd of people standing out in front of it, so we joined the crowd. Then we all stampeded through the Wilk cheering and singing the fight song. Next was a race from the Wilk. to the victory bell. That's a much longer jog than I remember, but it was good. Probably just seemed longer b/c I'm so out of shape and not used to the mountain air and such. So they rang the victory bell, and some guy gave a little victory speech and we all walked down (whew, no one was in the mood to run anymore) to condo row for a block party. Someone had hooked their speaker up to an amp and had some music playing while everyone was cheering and dancing and such. Then someone had an OU pinata that they hung from a balcony and beat w/ a stick. Then I was pretty much done for the day. Basically non-stop screaming from 5-10:30 or so. All in all, AWESOME!

Hands down, this was the craziest night in Provo since I've been here and could quite possibly be the craziest I'll ever have. Then again, I do have another three years, so we'll see. But it was totally amazing and the craziest night of all time. w00t w00t Cougars!!! Ra, ra, ra ra ra. Ra, ra, ra ra ra, Gooooooooooooooooo Cougars!!!!!!!

I got engaged to the bestest girl EVER!!!

So I've been promising this post for quite some time now, and so I'm finally going to deliver. I know some people have been waiting patiently for me to write this, so here goes!

It was a beautiful Friday morning in Bountiful and I woke up before the roosters began to crow (7:00 if you must know) and it was time to finish packing and head on the way down to Cedar City...with a stop in Provo. So I made sure I had everything that I would need:

Fancy Lingonberry Apple Drink....check!

Fancy cups.....check!

Picnic Basket.....check!

Raspberry Milano cookies....check!

Black Baccara Roses (50 of them)....check! (impossible to find online by the way)

The RING....check! (whew, that was a close one...)

With everything in hand that I could gather from that locale, it was off to the land of Provo!

An hour or so driving and we ended up at Aunt Dianes house to pick up some much need items for this magical day. Hmmm....what do I need:

Blanket....check!

Battery operated candles....check!

Now I have everything that I need to pull off the most amazing feat in my life. Well, almost everything. So then I had to check into my new apartment, not that exciting. So I did that and then it was time to head to Cedar City! woot woot!

......3 hours later......

Upon arriving in Cedar City we needed to find the park where I was going to perform my magic. It would have been really easy if I had the foresight to print off a map, but I didn't. So we drove around a neighborhood looking for a network we could connect to so that we could google maps this place. Of course, we found an unsecure network and found directions to the park. Now at the park, it was time to select a location. There were some nice grassy areas, a pavilion, and a playground. And I think you can all guess which of these I chose: The playground!

There was a nice open area at the top of one of the slide on the top of the playground equipment that would be perfect for a picnic. So now it's all ready...almost. Still need to get some food. So I get dropped off on SUU campus to meet Kristin while Michael and Michelle go pick up some KFC and then go to the park to set it all up.

Upon being reunited w/ the love of my life at the library, we started to walk towards the park. As we got closer to the park I called Michael to see if they had it all set up...and they hadn't as of yet, so we had to improvise and walk a little farther. Ironically though, the path I was taking to waste time went right by the park! Oh no! So, thinking quickly I start talking to Kristin and pointing to the red mountains in Cedar City....which were the opposite direction of the park. So as we were distracted by the red mountains, we safely passed the park w/out anything getting

spoiled. (Another close call) Then we walked some more and Michael said that is was ready. And now, the big moment!

So we walk into the park, and we see the playground equipment. Haha, Kristin knows exactly where I'm going w/ all of this. So then we climb some plastic rock thingy to get to the lovely picnic area. I could explain it all, but I think the pictures at the top do a much better job explaining than I do.

Then I didn't really feel like wasting any time, and I didn't want to propose after we had eaten KFC and had greasy hands. So I got down on one knee, held out the ring, and said the magic words "Kristin, will you marry me?" To which she of course said yes. (who could say no to such a handsome devil such as myself???) And that my friends is the wonderful story of how Brad became engaged to Kristin. :) <3

What up w/ me now!

Alright kiddies, I'm sure you've all been waiting for me to post another update on this thingy. And to humor the many fans, I shall give in. So here goes! I don't really have much to say right now...I can't remember what I posted last time. Oh well, that's life. Well, in recent news, I've purchased a shiny thing...well, not purchased. I'm in the process of purchasing. I've made two big payments and have one more left, totally happening next Thursday. BE excited. So if that's not clue enough, and if I haven't told you, obviously there's an amazing chicky-poo in the picture. I'm not sure if I spelled that right, but I just wanted to use that phrase. It's fun!

So sometime in the near ish future I will pop the magic question and girls everywhere will let out a collective sigh as the biggest stud in the land is going off the market. Unless of course you're Kristin, then you'd be excited. And I'm just the lucky guy that managed to get her somehow... :)

So today was a long day at work, but I made 190 dollars; always nice. Though it was the only day I worked this week, not that exciting. And next week is my last week or work. It was a fun job. It pays super well and it's a job! Haha, I didn't even have to apply for it. I applied for like a million jobs and this one just magically fell in my lap. Pretty sweet! (somebody must be living right)

In other news, Dad and I built and awesome wall thingy for a garden in the front of the house. There's totally pictures on facebook so everyone can be jealous. Though don't get any ideas that I'll build one for you at your casa. Well, actually, I probably would. It's kinda fun...when you get past all the frustration of it having to be perfect. I'm not much of a perfectionist, but I guess I can be if I NEED to be, but that's it!

So that's about it for now. Stay fresh.