Update

It has been almost a month since I had my knee surgery and I just wanted to update everyone on how things were going.

Remember Week 1.

"DON'T MOVE ME!"

I knew that it was going to be a long road ahead.

Week 2.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS CHAIR AND GET ME OUT OF THIS HOUSE!"

Up and around but still on crutches. At this point I was ready to start physical

therapy and was waiting to see my doctor. I was ready for just about anything that would get me out of that chair and sitting inside all day.

Week 3.

"CAN I START RUNNING YET?!"

I had started physical therapy and was down to just 1 crutch. At this point I was ready to burn the things!

Week 4.

"I'M READY TO GO!"

NO CRUTCHES and I am getting my leg strength back. This is how I practice balance and building strength...."up with the bad, down with the good". Believe me, it's harder then you think!

Now that I can get around better I went ahead and booked my flight back to Jackson for 30th of this month! I can't wait. I'm ready to get back to work and back with my roomates. I will continue therapy on my own at that point.

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Meanwhile, back in Jackson.....

Rach and Megan made sure to include me on New Year's Eve. This is them wishing me a Happy New Year Georgia time. Love them!

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Tori and Rach's Teton National Park snowshoeing adventure...

Rach's snow angel....

Tori's snow angel....

Tori took off her snowshoes to see just how deep it really was.....knee deep!

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I can't wait to get back to my girls!

So, turns out I'm not a great skier......oops!

Sorry it has been a while since I've updated everyone on things, but here goes....

So, I am back in Georgia for now. I had a little spill while skiing and, of course, ended up tearing my ACL and Meniscus in my left knee. I always go big! I had to fly back to Georgia for surgery and some rehabilitation. I'm hoping to head back before the end of Jan and continue life in Jackson, but for now here's what you missed...

This is Casey and I at the top of the Gondola. This was taken probably an hour before I was carried down the mountain on a sled by ski patrol. Just so you know, I never, ever want to ride behind one of those things again and as if that wasn't bad enough, the guy from patrol wasn't even cute...bummer!

Back to Casey, I was skiing with her and her fiance Dick. I'm not sure how far we'd gone before I fell but I did get some great views and REALLY enjoyed the skiing. It was such a beautiful day! As for the fall, I think that I hit some ice where another run was intersecting what I was on and it twisted my ski. So, for all of you that think I can't ski and probably just lost all control and snowballed down the mountain, I'll have you know I felt the pop in my knee before I even hit the ground. All that other stuff happened after that.

I spent the rest of that beautiful day in the emergency clinic on the mountain then at home cringing every time I moved trying to tell myself and my roomates that it wasn't all that bad.

But as soon as I woke up the next day I knew that I was going home and had to make the dreaded call to mom and dad who were just getting used to no kids. :( With the help of work and friends I made it home 4 days later without having to rob a bank.

Those last 4 days........

We had planned to cut down our own Christmas tree but because of my little "incident" we weren't able to go. I was so bummed. I've never had a real Christmas tree before much less gone and cut one down from a national forest (don't worry, you go get a permit and they tell you where to go) and was really looking forward to the whole process. But, with the help of a good friend Dave, Tori cut one down and surprised us with it. It was perfect!

So, here we are decorating the tree with ornaments that Tori's grandparents sent. EXCITING!!!!

Rach got to put on the star!

Us with our tree!!!! :)

TA DA! Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

Other than decorating our tree, this is what I did......

Layed there! Rach played mom and took care of me while Tori worked. I was pretty useless. Who knew that just about everything on your body is attached to your knee. She was amazing though and so patient! Thanks Rach!!! I couldn't have done anything without you and I mean anything!

Yep, I'm going home. :(

This is Megan, Tori, me, and Rach on my last night in town. We, along with several other JHRL employees, were invited to dine at an Italian restaurant close to where we work. It was great! I love our job and the perks that go along with it. They just kept bringing us dishes to sample. Mmmmm, mmmmm, good!

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Back at home....

Having done this knee thing once before I knew that I would be sitting on my rear-end an awful lot, so I decided to make the best of it. Home work out videos! If I can't ski down on my feet, I'll use my arms!

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As for Christmas.....

I ended up spending the holidays with family after all. Too bad all of my presents weren't able to join me. My awesome family mailed my presents to me before my injury and of course they arrived the day after I left. Don't worry, they are sitting under our tree waiting on me to get back. My roomates are leaving everything up until I get back then we are having Christmas...again....oh yeah! I cannot wait.

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Surgery Time!

Waiting with my papa to get called back.

Hmmmm, I don't remember this one but it looks like they finished.....watch out Miss America, I'm in town. Yikes!

Back at home. This was where I stayed for the next 3 days. I HATE SITTING!!! I did pick up a liking for some Guitar Hero thanks to my friend Cathy. I'll never be as good as her but it helped pass the time. ha ha ha

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It's been 5 days since surgery and already I am a doing a million times better! I'm still on crutches though. I'll be on those a little longer. I meet with the doctor in 2 days to find out when I start physical therapy, where I go from here, and to receive my lecture for wanting to return to Jackson so soon. They haven't given me a recovery time but having done this before I know that it will take some time. I'll pretty much be out of commission for the season. As for traveling, I plan on heading back before the end of the month to start working again and live in the place I am still paying for. That is my goal but ultimately my decision will be based on whether or not I can walk, there's lots of ice out there and, well, we all know my luck.

Now that I can get around a little better I'll get back to updating everyone. Thanks for all of the warm thoughts and sweet cards. I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and great start to 2008!!!! Love you all!

A Week of Adventures....

I almost forgot to add in Joseph and his Thanksgiving contribution to my blog. While at Robbie's before our dinner, we were able to witness the cleaning of geese and duck. Hmmmm. They had gone hunting that morning and wanted to have a variety of meat for dinner.

Sad! Don't worry dad, I am getting better with this kind of stuff.

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November 27...Happy Birthday Rach!

Happy Birthday dear Rachael, happy birthday to you!!!!! YEAH!!!

Fun Fetti Cake........yummmmmm!

Getting ready to go out for Rach's birthday, and of course we had to do a funny pose......

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Now, what you've all been waiting for.....Jenny on Ski's.

YIKES!!

Me, Travis, and Megan headed across the pass into Idaho to ski Targhee. Our mountain wasn't open yet and we were anxious to try out the ski's.

Megan and I before disaster struck! She had no idea what she was getting in to.

After a couple of embarrasing runs on the kids slope, I managed to get up enough courage to ride the lift up to a couple of greens. Man those are steep!

Recorded Fall 1......

As if it wasn't bad enough that I fell getting of the ski lift, once I got up I couldn't stop myself after going around the turn to the runs. Thank goodness for the huge mound of snow that I apparently couldn't miss, it stopped me.

Recorded Fall 2........

I almost made it to Travis. Had I picked up more speed, I could have just slid right to him.

So it turns out that turning over is a lot harder then you think. Here Travis is telling me how to get up....I mean this is me posing for the local ski magazine under the article "Top 10 Best Skiers"

Almost Recorded Fall 3....

Travis, Jen, Megan, and I attempting to pose for a picture.

Recorded Fall 3.....

After the group picture I slid backwards into sleds that help get people off the mountain in emergencies. Somehow I managed to slide right in between them and got stuck. I couldn't get out, Jen had to pull my ski's out for me. Didn't know I had such good skills did you!? I must have fallen 20 times up there. It was a really fun day though and thank goodness I had Megan. She has to be the most understanding and patient person in the world. Not to worry though, I WILL be the BEST skier EVER before I leave! I just know it! Love you guys and miss you!

Thanksgiving In Jackson

Monday Nov 19th was our first Thanksgiving dinner. We ate at Justin's. Friends were going out of town so we decided to have an early dinner so that we could all celebrate together. We made everything ourselves and everybody brought a dish. It was great!Megan and Tori cooking.... the start to our first Thanksgiving.

Justin getting the fire started...so cozy!

Rach did the turkey. It was her first one and she did such a great job! Even Robbie in the background was immpressed.

Megan was making squash casserole with her family's recipe. It was sooo good!!!

Martha Stewart would be proud.....

Look at what we did. Our families should be impressed!

Getting ready to say the blessing....now let's eat!!!

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Nov 22, Thanksgiving Day

The four of us headed over to Robbie's to hang out before dinner. We had plans to eat at our bosses house but enjoyed hanging out at Robbie's before hand. We played bocci ball, watched some football and helped them with some of their cooking. His parents came in to town so they had a big turnout for their dinner.

P.S Again, this is our everyday view!!! AMAZING!

Good Friends!

Us girls!!! There aren't too many in Jackson so we have to stick together!! :)

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It's getting close to 4pm...time to head to dinner.
We had dinner with our family from work. Amy did everything herself. It was amazing!!

Amy and Mike

The boys cleaning up after dinner. WOW!!!!

Ugh...I think I ate way too much!

Tori and Megan fell asleep after dinner. Too funny. The next day was Megan's birthday, so while they were snoozing Rach and I snuck out to.....

...decorate Megan's desk at work. She had no idea!!!

After being party poopers and falling asleep on the couch we decided to head back to the mansion Megan is housesitting and hang out in the hot tub. I think it was in the teens that night. It was so cold outside but was a nice ending to the day.

Before passing out for the evening we hung out in robes and watched CABLE TV. So nice.

A great day!

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Although I wasn't with my immediate family for Thanksgiving, it still felt complete because I was with my family here. We all had each other and enjoyed the excitment of starting new traditions.

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Nov 23 MEGAN'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!

The office bought a cake and oh look, it's GA colors!

After work we decided to go out and celebrate Megan's birthday but not before we enjoyed some fun music at the house. Yep, this is Megan showing her moves! And she says she can't dance! I disagree! :) Look at that BGR Meg!

We made one big card for everyone that came in to sign.

The Girls. Happy Birthday Megan!

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Here's us at home.....

They had to talk me through putting my boots on. Thank goodness for my roomies! It's going to be a long winter!

The reason why rent will be hard to make this month!!!!.........We bought ski's.