One Year Later - Remember Family Vacation

4 am Gas Station stop for drinks before hitting the road

One year ago, we were packing our car to head to Myrtle Beach. I can't believe the amount of stuff that has happened since then. I never really talked about our family vacation last year, because honestly it was so stressful and the scariness wasn't over until December when Mom got her transplant, so I thought I might take this time to do it now.

One year ago, we fit me, Mom, Zach and Drew into my tiny Honda Civic and started the 10ish hour drive to Myrtle Beach, SC. We were heading down there for a week for a baseball tournament. We started the journey at 4 am and all I remember was how foggy it was while we were driving through West Virginia (we decided to drive East and then South, instead of driving straight down 75).

Once we got there, we were having lots of fun, going to the beach, going and riding go carts, and hanging out and exploring the city. Oh yeah, and going to baseball. The team wasn't doing very well, which surprised us because the team was actually really good, but we came to the conclusion, they were having too much fun on vacation and weren't focusing enough.

It was the last night, and their last game, and we had just set up our chairs next to the dugout, and Mom got up and walked away. I assumed she was going to the bathroom or something, so I didn't pay much attention, until she got back. She was very pale and looked pretty dizzy. I asked her if she was ok as she went to sit down, and she explained how she felt like she was going to get sick, and was very dizzy, and as she was telling me what was wrong, she started to faint. Luckily she was sitting down at this point, and I jumped up, and grabbed her shoulders and started yelling at her, and very quickly we were surrounded by teammates' parents trying to help. They ended up calling over the park urgent care guy. He took her blood pressure and said it was very  low and wanted us to take her to the ER. He said it might be that she's just dehydrated, as we spent most of the morning at the beach, but he just wanted us to be cautious and go anyways, so Zach and I walked her out to my car, only after a few parents offered to keep us updated with game details and said they'd take care of Drew, and we figured out where the closest ER was. On our way to the ER, she made me pull over because she was going to throw up, and that's when I knew something was wrong. Because she threw up blood. In a panic, we called 9-1-1 to figure out how close we were, and just drove her ourselves, and the weird thing about the ERs and the Hospitals down there, is not all the ERs are attached to a hospital. And the one we went to wasn't attached to a hospital. So after finally getting her there and getting her attached to an IV, they found her hemoglobin levels were dangerously low (well, that's because she threw up blood), and they decided they needed to do a blood transfusion, but they couldn't do that at the ER and they would need to transfer her to the hospital. At this point, we were supposed to be leaving the next day and mom was upset about having to stay in the hospital over night, but we convinced her it was what was best for her and we could take care of cleaning, packing and checking out the next day.

Tropical storm waves behind us

July 3 rolled around and the tropical storm we had been expecting all week finally showed up, so before going to get Mom from the hospital, the boys and I went to the beach to take a picture with the storm waves (see below), and the we got Mom. The staff let her go against medical advice with the promise that we were putting her in the car, driving back home, and taking her straight to the hospital. But apparently Mom's body had a different plan in order. 

We stopped to eat diner at Crackle Barrel, because Mom was so hungry since she hadn't been allowed to eat much. After a fairly large dinner for all of us, we were off again. This time, I decided to drive through South Carolina and up 75 because I didn't want to worry about trying to follow my GPS. After finally making it to 75, we stopped at the first rest stop in North Carolina, and trouble started again. I walked with Mom to the bathroom, as she was still pretty weak, and when she came out of the bathroom, she was really pale again, like the day before. We walked outside, and she told me she was going to be sick. I grabbed a trashbag that was sitting on the sidewalk (the maintenance guy was going around changing out the trash) and she threw up blood again. Zach had already pulled up the closest hospital and luckily it was only one exit up on 75, so we rushed Mom to the car, and drove there. We ran her inside and they took her back immediately and had blood hung up within 10 minutes of us being there, unlike the hospital in SC, which took us around 4 hours to have blood started. After giving them Mom's medical history, they explained to us that since they were a really small hospital, they didn't have the staff we needed, but they were going to transfer us to Asheville, NC because they had a Level 1 trauma center and they were a much larger hospital. The staff at this hospital was so friendly. We were only allowed two people back with Mom at a time, so they would sit with whoever was still in the waiting room, and they explained everything that was going on in normal terms instead of medical, and when we finally loaded Mom into the ambulance, they had directions printed off for us and told us how to get to Asheville, because they weren't sure if my GPS would have a good signal through the mountains. 

Drew trying to sleep in the car

Once we finally made it to the hospital, Mom kicked us out pretty fast and said we needed to find somewhere to sleep, I believe it was close to 2 am at this point. So when we left, the boys and I decided we would just sleep in the car, because it was already late and we would be getting up early to come back, so it wasn't worth the money to get a hotel. And since it was a holiday weekend, in a fairly popular destination spot, we didn't think we would find a hotel anyways. So we were attempting to sleep in our car, and I wasn't sleeping at all, and Drew kept tossing in the front seat, and I decided if Mom knew we were trying to sleep in the car that she would kill us, so I started the car and started on my mission to find a hotel. We went to four hotels before we finally found one that wasn't completely booked, and they told us the room was only available for that night, as they were completely booked for the 4th. We got to the room, fell asleep almost immediately, and got to shower the next morning before heading back to the hospital. We found Mom's room in the ICU and she looked so weak and slept for most of the first few days we were in the hospital. They did multiple EGDs (Upper endoscopy, also known as EGD, is a procedure in which a thin scope with a light and camera at its tip is used to look inside the upper digestive tract -- the esophagus, stomach, and first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum) to try to band off the bleeding esophageal varices. They finally explained to me what all of that meant, and that was the first time anyone discussed her needing a liver transplant. 

After telling Mom we tried to sleep in the car, the nurse overheard us and asked if anyone had talked to us about The Rathbun House. At that point, we had no idea what she was talking about, but after having someone talk to us, thank goodness for this house. Here's how The Rathbun House house defines itself: 

"The Rathbun House provides lodging and other supportive services in a "home like" environment for patients and or their caregivers coming to Asheville, North Carolina for medical treatment. Nestled in the mountains of western North Carolina, The Rathbun House is a house of comfort, hope, support, and love. Located on 18 wooded acres near Mission Hospital and only a few miles away from CarePartners and the VA Hospitals, the house offers 36 bedrooms, private baths, common areas and a large kitchen where you can prepare your own meals.

The Rathbun House is owned by Mission Foundation, who raise funds to keep the house free of charge for families in medical crisis.  The house is operated by Mission Health, Staff and Volunteers for the benefit of out of town families being served by area hospitals including Mission Health, CarePartners and VA Medical Center."

I don't know what we would have done without this house. There's no way we would have been able stay there as long as we needed because we wouldn't have had the money for hotels. They provided us with somewhere to stay when we needed it most, and I can never be thankful enough. And it's a gorgeous place! Also, I don't know what I would have done without my brothers during all of this. I was so stressed out, my phone was dying twice a day because I was trying to keep everyone at home informed with what was going on. They honestly kept me laughing, and they kept Mom laughing and I think I would have lost my mind without them there. I knew they were just as scared as I was, but they honestly never let it show. They were awesome.

When they finally discharged Mom, after spending a week in the hospital, we busted our butts to get home. I have never been so happy to see my puppy. And to think, that was just the beginning of what would be a hectic, stressful and scary next few months before Mom received her transplant. 

I can't believe how much has happened in the last 365 days, but honestly, we were so incredibly lucky the way it did happen. While it wasn't the easiest thing to deal with, we had so much support during it all, and I don't know how we would have made it without that. So thank you to all the family, friends, coworkers, boss, and Mom's doctors, and Drew's baseball team and their parents for all of the support you have given us over the last year, I don't know how we could have made it without all of you.

Hurricane Season is Coming

Welcome to Hurricane Season!

So I've already been here for four months? Umm where has time gone? Before I know it, it's going to be six months, and then a year! Slow down time!

Anyways, so four months. What have I been doing you might ask? Have I made any new friends? How's the job? Have I started anything with my photography down here? Have we stopped spending so much money? Have we checked off all our apartment furniture wants/needs? How is the apartment coming together? Have I become a Lightning fan yet? How's the weather?

Well, for starters, I joined a softball team! As most of you probably know, softball has always been my go-to for fun/stress relief/friends. So after having a few breakdowns (sorry Travis!), I was convinced to find an intramural team. And they're all great! I haven't gotten to hang out with them as much as I would like to yet, but as we're coming to the end of my first season, they have asked me to continue playing! I actually have my first tournament this weekend; guaranteed 3 games, possibly up to 5. Sounds just like the old days of travel ball! I'm glad to be on the field again, and I'm pretty sure Travis is glad I'm not sitting in bed crying anymore too. So softball was a great choice!

As far as friends go, I have my friends at work, and we have a couple friends from Travis' work, but it really is hard to make friends. A lot harder then I ever remember it being. It probably doesn't help that I'm tired all the time so I never really want to go out. I've been trying to work on that, but I just want to sleep every spare minute I have. I'm pretty lame. I think my daily work commute is really getting to me. It's hard driving 100 miles/day back and forth to work. But anyways, Travis finally found a fishing friend, and I have someone who might be able to convince me to go running from time to time once she moves a little closer lol, so we're working on this still!

Work. Where do I start? It's challenging. But I think I like it so far. Remember how I thought car dealers were difficult? Well, I didn't know what I was getting myself into working in the education field. I love the challenge, but like every job, it can be very difficult. My hardest challenge so far has been photography. We use stock images, much like every other company does, but my daily struggle is finding images that I love. I put way too much time into picking images for articles for my site (have I mentioned I handle the account for Michigan State University? Who decided to put the Ohio girl on that state? lol), and I'm about to start taking my own stock images. A girl can dream, right? But seriously, minus the drive, I like my job. I just wish I lived a little closer! I also switched hours at work. We were allowed to pick a "flex schedule" and I chose 7:30-4:30 to try to avoid some traffic, and so far it's been a pretty good schedule. There have been a few times where it seemed impossible to get here, but minus an accident or two, the commute has been a lot better than 8:30-5:30 and I'm getting home the same time as Travis, most days.

Up next: Photography. Well, let's just say, this place is gorgeous and I can't wait to have more clients, but for now, I have Lauren and Derek! I work with Lauren and I had the pleasure of photographing her and her fiance at the Ringling Museum. Which is gorgeous. Seriously, if you haven't seen the images, check them out.

I've been home a few times over the last couple of months to shoot some weddings for Nick and also I was just home for Zach's graduation, but I'll post about that later. The weddings so far have gone pretty good. My first wedding back last month was pretty hectic. I had my first overnight in an airport because I was stranded in DC, but I made it in time for the wedding. Then this past wedding was flawless, if you don't count the rain. I only have one more wedding to shoot for Nick and then my time with him is done. For now. I'm also working on coming up with a new name for Marci Duckro Photography and also a logo. More to come on that later when something is actually set in stone.

Money...no we haven't stopped spending so much. It's infuriating. I'm about to cut up my credit card. The apartment? It's starting to finally come together and I think we've got everything we could want. For now. We're slowly getting wall decorations, but indecisive Marci can't make up her mind on what she wants it to look like...so for now we have some stuff; see pics below!

I gave up on my door idea, bc they were too expensive, and got this instead!

As far as everything else we've wanted, I think (for the most part?) we've got all our furniture, however I'm still looking for a bike. Everything I need is within biking distance, so I've been debating between a mountain bike and a cruiser beach bike. I've never really been interested in a cruiser until I moved down here, and most of them have baskets on the front, which would be great for going to the grocery, but I still haven't fully committed either way.

Have I become a Lightning fan? Ummm not yet. However, if I was going to join a bandwagon, now would be the time to do it. Have you seen them against the Blackhawks yet?? But I don't currently have a hockey team that I root for, so I am up for bribes to root for said team. Any takers?

Last but not least, the weather. It's getting hot. And humid. But it's also now hurricane season. It rains almost every day like clockwork and we have had our air on for about 2.5 months now. Which breaks my heart because I really just want to have the windows and screen door open, but it's SO humid! We keep the house around 73, 74 and I walk around in sweats; Travis thinks I'm crazy, and when I wear a hoodie to work, most of my coworkers also think I'm crazy, but the AC is cold!! But back to hurricane season. I've been reading a lot about how experts are expecting it to be a more mild than normal season, however, the last time they said that, Katrina hit New Orleans, so I'm not holding my breath. We've also discussed a small evacuation plan. And by an evacuation plan, I mean I asked Travis where we would go if something were to happen, and he said probably to his parents house in Orlando. So if anyone wants to house two runaways and two puppies if we get hit by a hurricane, let me know!

For now, I guess that's it. Look out for a graduation post, as promised above and those of you that will be at Reunion Weekend this weekend, I will see you soon! #GoFlyers!

My First Month in FL

Well, it's been almost a full month since I've been down here, and I wanted to use this time to reflect upon the last month. And let me warn you before you continue to read...this is pretty much all about driving.

So far, I really like it down here. The weather has been perfect (40s-50s at night and 60s-70s during the day), the city is bea-u-tiful, and living with a boy so far hasn't been too horrible. We've finally got the apartment almost fully finished, aka we spent too much money at IKEA and got all the furniture put together, and I think we've got the living/dining room set up the way we would like.

We still need:

• liquor cabinet/bar
• bed or futon for spare room
• door for my hallway project

BUT we've spent so much money over the last month, I think we're going to try to wait to get those.

This weekend was Valentine's Day, and Travis and I celebrated our second holiday together. And since we've spent too much money, we decided to stay in and bring The Melting Pot to our living room instead of going out. I recently found out about this meat market by work that has fantastic deals. For example, we got 24 coconut shrimp, 2 NY strips, 2 filet kabobs, and 4 hamburgers for $37! And so far it's all REALLY good meat! We used the coconut shrimp and the kabobs for our fondue. We also made cheese fondue (if you ever make your own, do not use mustard powder...it's very overwhelming) and we also made a peanut butter chocolate dessert, which was fantastic! Travis even had flowers delivered to the apartment and they're so pretty! He got me lilies and tulips (since I think roses are overrated) and the lilies are making the apartment smell so good.

I have also started making friends! Mom told me I forgot to mention all my creepy friends in my last post, so I'll start with them. My very first day, I was at Subway and I was putting my hair in a ponytail when this guy comes up behind me, puts his arms around my waste and whispers "hey baby" in my ear. I whip around, because God knows, I know nobody here yet and if I happened to run into someone, that would be such a coincidence. The guy turned about the color of my hair and started apologizing profusely. Apparently he mistook me for someone else. Lesson #1, never go up behind someone you don't know and touch them in any way unless you know FOR SURE it's the person you think it is. My second friend I made was while at the store. I walked up behind this man, and he turned around and looked at me and asked me how tall I was. After responding, he told me I was an Amazon and started telling me about my "tribe" of tall women. On a serious note though, I have started making friends at work and we've made friends with a few of Travis' co-workers. I did have my first night of home sickness though last weekend. I wanted to have friends over for a game night, only to realize we didn't have many friends yet, and that I really missed my friends. So those of you at home, I've been thinking about you!

So now on to what I promised from the beginning...the drivers...

I knew drivers in Florida were bad, but I didn't know they were this bad. Having a 45-minute drive to work, I have the pleasure of driving with these awesome drivers every day. We went to a comedy club a few weeks back, and the comedian made a joke that the snow birds don't know how to drive, however, I think they know exactly how to drive, it's the FL drivers that don't. The first example: they don't know how to merge. I run into traffic every day multiple times per day because drivers refuse to allow drivers to merge. When drivers are merging, drivers on the highway are supposed to move over and allow new drivers the space onto the highway, however, everyone is just trying to get to their next place as quickly as possible, which then results in brakes being slammed on, which then results in backups. Then my next favorite thing is when you let drivers in, or they completely cut you off, they don't waive. I've always thought it was polite to thank the person who allowed you over or allowed you to "cut the line" so to speak. Most of the time though, all that happens is I get honked at for allowing someone in front of me. SOOORRRRRYYYY for being polite and merging properly! Assholes. Drivers also like to honk at you when there are red lights. Because again, God forbid you follow the laws. I've been honked at multiple times for not turning right on red lights when it is a "no turn on red" area. I'm sorry that 9 out of 10 lights down here have cameras, and I'm not going to turn just to make the jerk behind me happy and then get a ticket. No thanks.

Welcome to Florida!

So it doesn't have the same tune as Taylor Swift, but I like it so far! Getting down here was an adventure. How I fit everything into that small Honda Civic Hybrid, I have no idea, but after unpacking it, it took up 3/4 of my living room.

Leaving was probably the hardest part of this whole trip. Saying goodbye to my Mom, I started crying. She's been my rock for 25 years, and when I left, she pretty much kicked me in the butt and told me to go and do great things!

  

Before we left, I had heard on the news that 75 South was shutdown through Cincinnati due to an overpass collapsing, so we had to find our way around by going on 275, which wasn't a huge issue, but I was worried it would be a forecast of how the rest of the day would go. LUCKILY, we didn't hit any traffic. It was honestly a very easy drive. Once we hit Kentucky, I was starving so we stopped off at McDonalds to grab some food and get Kugel out so he could go to the bathroom, and there we ran into our first delay. While I was inside, some guy decided he was going to park literally less than a foot from my car...to the point of me not being able to even squeeze into it. Thanks jerk! Luckily though the weather was nice and we got to eat outside and sit there and wait for this guy to come out.

Finally we got in the car and we were off again! Next stop, Tennessee. When we hit the Welcome Center, I needed to get out. With my back and knees, I had to make a lot of stops unfortunately, but this stop meant we got to check out the skyline of mountains. I love Tennessee. It is so pretty and driving through the mountains, though it can be stressful with the curvy roads, is awesome. When we stopped, I decided to take Kugel for a short walk and we met a friendly couple that was driving from Michigan to NC for their grandson's Navy graduation. They ended up telling us about the overlook at the top of the rest stop, so Kugel and I took a short hike.

After our short stop, we were at it again. Next stop Asheville, NC? Now, I never thought I'd find myself in this city again...but this time, it was much more, I don't even know the right word for it relaxing? What seems like yesterday, we were here for Mom. On our way back from Myrtle Beach from vacation when she had her worst episode to date. We were in Asheville for a week while Mom was in the hospital. That was when we found out she needed a transplant. That was possibly one of the scariest and worst weeks of my life. And here I was, stopping in this city to fill up my gas tank and smiling. Smiling because the doctors and nurses there took such great care of my mom, smiling because that road, while it was very short (just 6 months long) was now behind us. Mom's been doing great with her recovery since her transplant and now I can look back at Asheville and say "Thank You."

"Are we there yet, Mom?"

When we hit South Carolina, that was the longest part of the drive. We had to drive all the way through the state, and it took forever. I think I talked to Mom, Dad, Grandma, Travis AND Jacob during this state because I was so bored. And Kugel was getting bored too. At this point, the medicine I had given him (via the vet's recommendation) was wearing off and we were both just ready to get out of the car, and I was starting to get hungry. The fun part was, we were stuck on the highway for over an hour with nowhere to stop except gas stations, and we wanted to get out of the car for longer than 5 minutes. Finally we found an exit that had an Arby's and a Sonic, right next to each other. So we drove through the Arby's drive through and grabbed dinner and then we went to Sonic to get out of the car. I ordered a milkshake because I didn't want to get yelled at for taking up a spot at their drive in and the staff was very friendly. They even brought Kugel out a few treats! Spoiled little mutt. When we got back in the car, Kugel decided he was tired of the basket and made himself comfortable, I don't really know how?, on top of his water bowl, a sweatshirt, and the door panel. At this point, it was starting to get dark and here's this thing about dark in the South, it gets really dark. There is no "in between" where the sun has set but it is still light...no, when it's dark, it's dark. And I was starting to get really tired. I was even considering calling Melanie to tell her I was just going to drive all the way through so I could pull over at a rest stop and sleep for a little bit, but I decided a bed sounded a lot better than my cramped car, so I kept pushing forward.

FINALLY we got into Georgia and then finally hit the Florida boarder and then we got to Melanie and Nick's house in Jacksonville about 12:30 am. I made a few phone calls to let everyone know I made it to my first destination safely and we weren't there long before Kugel and I were passed out. They were both so nice opening their home to Kugel and I, and we are so grateful to have friends like them :) I guess a few good things came from USNA afterall!

In the morning with only 4 hours standing between us and Sarasota, and Kugel on his new "perch" as I was calling it, we were at it again! I decided to take the "scenic" route through Daytona for old times sake and it also meant we got to drive through Orlando! Now, I didn't get to see Daytona Beach or Disney World, but I did see lots signs! Haha And after what seemed like forever, Kugel and I finally made it to our final destination! With a whiny puppy next to a basket, an extremely sore back, and a smiling boyfriend waiting for us, we pulled into the parking lot of our new home.

Hey there downtown Orlando!

We're here! Finally!

Our new home!

I've included a few pictures of the apartment for your viewing pleasure, but please excuse the mess...I had just unpacked my car! But so far, we love it. The apartment is great, and the weather so far is perfect. And I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us!

The tour: entry way, guest bathroom, guest bedroom, kitchen, living room/dining room, porch, master bedroom.

Hopefully I will be posting more, now that I will actually have some stuff to write about and I know everyone back home will actually read it! ;) but for now, I'm going to continue to unpack and the plan is to make it up to Tampa to find my job today. So for now, see ya next time!