245 days

Today marks 8 months since Alex and I moved to New York.

I cant believe it's been that long already...

In just a couple of weeks, we MIGHT find out where our next station is.
& man oh man, the anxiety is setting in!

The more that I got to thinking about where we could potentially end up... the more it started to sink in that we are leaving here... our first apartment.

There are so many memories burned into these walls.
It's not like "home" where you can go back & visit... once we leave here... it's for forever.

It's going to be hard packing up & saying goodbye... but I'm ready to continue this journey we've started together.

New York will always have a special place in my heart! <3

This Christmas

Okay... okay... 

So I'm a bit late with a Christmas post... but here it is (:
As you know, my front tooth fell out of my head on the 22nd... which was the Dumbaugh's Christmas party. After my tooth situation got all fixed, I made some (fairly gross) mac & cheese and headed over to Amanda's nice & hyped up on Oxycodone. I dont remember too much from the party... but I do recall playing Clue with a lovely bunch of friends (: I lost.

On Christmas Eve I was home alone. Alex was headed off to work in the afternoon so it was just me and the kittens.
My family was back in Florida having their annual Christmas party & I haven't felt so homesick in my life.
I was actually able to Skype them though. Which was pretty nice... but I think it made me even more homesick.

Christmas day was evenful (:
Alex and I woke up and opened all of our presents (packages) from our lovely families. -insert presents blahblahblah

After buying my first 3 LEGAL bottles of wine, we headed over to the Cobb's for their Christmas dinner party. Alex dropped me off & Jamie & I got to cooking. (of course we drank a whole bottle of Appletini while we got busy)
Our dinner was nothing less of 16 course meal. We made an entire ham (pineapple & brown sugar) and like 7 sides, a few appetizers and 20million deserts. Okay.. maybe not that much.. but it felt like it!

It was a pretty memorable holiday & I'm glad that I was able to spend it with all of my amazing friends here in NY -my Navy Family 

Ellie waiting for a present to open lol 

early Christmas morning with my lovebug <3

All I want for Christmas is...

a new front tooth?

Have I ever mentioned that I'm cursed with the worst luck EVER?
Well, just in case you dont believe me... I'm going to provide you with a bit of proof.

3 days before Christmas, 4 hours before Amanda's Christmas party... and 1 minute AFTER Alex got to work...


I was sitting on the couch snacking away on some peirogies & glued to Netflix... and all of sudden, my mouth felt really strange...
I scraped my teeth with my tongue & immediately dashed to the bathroom.

And there I was... staring at a toothless reflection.

Yeah... my front tooth broke in half. Now, this isn't the first time this has happened. You see, when I was seven, I smashed my face into a brick wall (remember that bad luck thing I was talking about?) and my front tooth had a huge chunk chipped out of it. My family didn't have the most money growing up... and I was stuck with my "chippy" until the summer before my freshman year of high school. So if you do the math right.. that means that I went through the rest of elementary school & middle school looking like a hillbilly troll. (not my words) But seriously, imagine the names that I was called... and the people who judged me because of it. I was embarassed and upset... I just felt  u g l y  all of the time.

The day my tooth was fixed, I looked in the mirror and smiled... and somewhere in that moment, all the negative thoughts and comments disappeared. Or at least I thought they had...
Every now and then, I dream that my tooth breaks again... and I'm going to be cursed as a "hillbilly troll" forever. I literally wake up in tears from that dream nightmare and just thank god that I have all of my teeth.

So back to present day;
I'm looking in the mirror and realizing that my WORST (maybe not THE worst) nightmare has come true...
and instead of embracing reality... I start slapping myself as tears run down my face... trying to WAKE UP.

It wasn't a dream.

It was real.

It was 2:00

I was home alone.

and

I was toothless.

After trying to call my mom a thousand times... hoping she could help me somehow (I was in a panic state... dont judge me)  I finally called the dentist office. The poor receptionist had NO idea what I was saying... mainly because I was practically speaking a different language.. but she finally put words together and understood that I needed to be seen. She told me to be there at 3 to see if they could do anything for me & that they would be closed the next day until after Christmas.

Well here's the problem... Alex was at work, Amanda was in Albany getting Christmas presents... and I DONT DRIVE.

However, I had a plan!...
I caught a glimpse of a bicycle outside the window... and I was ready and willing to peddle my toothless, crying self all the way to the dentist... no one could stop me.

Buuuut, somehow logic caught up with me and I decided I should call Amanda first. She answered... and I was just freaking out and crying. She said all she heard was,  "waaahamanda, my toothbroke wahhhhalex waah doctor's at 3. can you come? *sniffle*" 
She made it all the way to the apartment & dentist on time. (I love her)

As soon as I got there, they knew who I was and I only sat in the waiting room (with my head covered and crying) for about 3 minutes.
Amanda stayed in the room with me and made me laugh so I could show the world my snaggle tooth. The comfort of knowing it was going to be fixed made me feel a little better.
And the face that the dentist was singing, "All Sam wants for Christmas is a new front tooth..."

3 hours & $500 later...

THEY DID IT! They put a temporary cap on my tooth & my permanent one will be here within the next few weeks.
I'm so thankful that they were able to take me in last minute & fix me up. The cap is BIG... and I feel like I have a toe in my mouth. I now refer to myself as "Nanny Sammy Mcphee" or "Triceratops tooth"... but anything is better than "hillbilly troll"

Post-procedure attempt at smiling... yeah, it wasn't happening.

Oh... and I now talk with a lisp.

Cheers to 21 Years

Birthday Girl

My birthday was pretty freaking fantastic!

Alex brought me home a "happy birthday muffin" for breakfast before he left for work. 

This is by far, the biggest muffin you will ever see. & it was quite delicious too (:

GIANT MUFFFFFIN

I snacked on all day practically

PARTAAAY

My party went AMAZING (:

There were a few times that I just looked around the room... and realized how lucky I am to have all of these people in my life. 

I honestly dont know what I'd do without my friends up here.

The decorations came out pretty awesome... though sadly I have no pics of the final product.

We did cake & presents. Drank some sparkling grape juice & had a blast (:

Amanda and Ben got me balloons, a gift card, a kitty mug, and a glass picture frame.

(totally in love with my kitty mug)

Jamie got me a balloon and a bottle of pina colada mixer with 2 wine glasses.

(yuuuummmmmy :D)

My mom sent me the most beautiful pair of peach pearl earrings. 

(so me!)

 And of course there's Alex... well he is buying a brand new wardrobe! :D

I'm so excited for some new & WARM clothes lol

As I promised, here are some pics from the partaaay.

the dining room... there were like 924792 more balloons after this pic

I love my ceiling streamers! :D

cute little wine glasses!

my cake failed miserably... but my poppies are cute! lol

birthday girl! and my swollen wisdom teeth face.

Its painful to smile... lol literally. But I love my girls!

Best Present EVER

As some of you know, my best friend lives in France. She's been there for 9 months and I miss her terribly.

She been to all of my birthdays since I turned 9... so its hard to celebrate without her.

Well, she made me a video... and posted it on my FB wall... and I may or may not have balled my eyes out like a little baby.

-Thanks, Katelyn... you are the BEST!

Cheers to Another Year

Celebrating my 21st birthday in New York is something people dream of.

I would have NEVER imagined that it would be me.

BUT

I received literally 100 happy birthday comments on FB....

and it was then, that I realized how much I miss home. I'm glad that I got to spend it with my amazing NY friends... but I'd give up a NY bday to be with my BEST friends and family. Oh how I miss them.

This was my favorite birthday comment on FB left by a high school friend;

"I remember meeting this adorable bubbly blonde girl in hot pink one day in a science classroom, a girl who would end up inspiring me and teaching me how to open up to people afte being hurt so many times before...I love you Sam, and I wanted to say happy birthday and that I miss our long talks in front of the dressing room mirrors...and you made a huge impact in my life and that I'm proud of where of you are and where you are going, know you'll always have a friend in me. ♥"

It's the people like this... that help me remember who I am this big world.

I'm now 21.
I live in New York.
And to this day, I can't believe that this is MY life <3

December 6th (:

And I'm soooo excited!

It's still hard for me to eat... or even open my jaw lol so we're not going out for dinner.

& most people go out & drink on their 21st... but I'm on pain meds... and uh that would NOT end so well lol

So Alex decided to plan a small birthday party for me & our best friends up here (:

so that means, Ben & Amanda lol (I love them so much!)

& I haven't had a party or even a cake in YEARS.

Alex bought a bunch of decorations

(light pink & black of course)

and even ordered balloons for me!! :D

He picked me up a white on white birthday cake that is blank...

and bought me stuff to decorate it with while he's at work.

How sweet is that!! :D

oh & we are going to decorate gingerbread houses at my party!! yay!

I'm so exciteddd!

(can you tell!!?? lol)

My party isn't going to be until 8:30pm(ish)

Because we're all hardworking people and have jobs to attend

(and "we're".. I mean everyone but me! lol)

My mom sent me a tiny little package in the mail...

but I cant open it until my party.

& even Amanda got me a present!! :D

& Ashlyn gave me a beautiful necklace when she was here.

(thanks bff)

I'll post pics later (probably tomorrow)

Love you guys!!

have the best day!!

random pictures

My phone hasn't been able to send picture messages for a while... and the day of my surgery, Alex went to Verizon and had it fixed :D (all they did was take out the battery and put it back in lol)

So anyway, here are some random photos that I've been wanting to share

Hot chocolate at IHOP with Alex (:

Ellebelle sitting at the table waiting for her plate
(that never came lol)

Jinxy being his cute self lol

Ashlyn being muslim... lmao

Elle LOVES attacking the paper towels

Vampire kitty!!

Kittens on a cloud!

They love each other way too much! lol its adorable

I found Elle in the room... she covered herself up lmao

Jinx on the prowl!

Ash & I at the Canadian Lodge

Toothless

Well, 

I did it!

I got all 4 of my pesky wisdom teeth removed.

The surgery actually wasn't too bad. Call me crazy, but I sorta enjoyed being awake the whole time. Maybe thats just the laughing gas talking lol


The night before, I didn't sleep... at ALL. I was just way too anxious. I woke up about 2 hours before we had to leave and took a shower. Then I sat in the living room staring at the christmas tree & trying to play out how "I thought" the surgery was going to go.
I was given to Valium pills & I was to take one and hour before I got to the office & then the other when I got to the office. Alex left to go get me a banana nut muffin... and as planned, I took the first Valium an hour before. All I remember was feeling super dizzy after I got done blow drying my hair... and feeling drunk while putting on my makeup.  When Alex got home, he found me laying down in the closet, telling him that I couldn't walk... and then proceeded to crawl to the door half dressed. I'm assuming I ended up falling down while getting dressed lol Oh & my makeup... dark purple eye shadow?... lets just say I looked like I should have been standing on the corner or at a drag show. Clearly, I was out of my mind.
By time we got to the office I was in a whole different world. I took the second pill at the office and the rest is history.
I remember talking to Dr. King and Kristen (the assistant) about being afraid I was going to choke to death on my spit. They just laughed and assured me I wouldn't. The laughing gas made me feel silly and I giggled every now and then for no reason at all. I remember him numbing my mouth and it hurt a tiny bit... but not too bad.
The procedure itself went pretty smoothly. I had my ipod on playing one song on repeat, with only one working headphone. GHETTO. But it worked out pretty well because I could hear all of the questions perfect but still have my favorite song playing.
By time Dr. King made it to my last wisdom tooth, he had to numb me again because my right side is extremely sensitive. And all of a sudden I felt a horrible sting & pinch that I hadn't felt with any of the other teeth, and immediately grabbed my face.
A piece of my jawbone came out with my bottom tooth!


It wasn't until I got home, that the pain finally set in. The medicine I was prescribed wasn't strong enough. It would have been, if I didn't get a chunk of my jaw ripped out. While I was in the bathroom panicking from the pain and the loss of blood, Alex called the dentist and they had him go in & get me a stronger prescription. I went from having 500mg Lortab to 650mg Percoset.
The first 3 hours of being home, I endured the WORST pain of my life.
But finally the medicine set in & it's been smooth sailing from there.
The Percoset makes me extremely nauseous and I can barely eat. The first day I could only eat a spoonful of pudding here & there but that was it. Today I ate a whole pudding cup & then later tried to eat some vegetable soup at hand... but that just made me feel horrible. I've discovered that yogurt & pudding are the only things that dont make me want to vomit... so for the next few days, I'm going to basically starve to death lol

Now here are some pics of my Wisdom Teeth Adventure

According to the dentist, I have long roots lol

Part of the piece of my jawbone between the roots of the last tooth.

My Post-surgery lounge that Alex set up for me while he was at work
on day two.

Jinx & Ellie taking care of me. I swear, they knew something was wrong lol I love them!!!
& yes, I have my Burberry scarf around my head with ice packs in it... lol

Dentist

Soooo

I went to the dentist on Wednesday, and just as I expected, my teeth wore not torn out.

As planned (if that happened) we went to Olive Garden... just to find out they no longer do the never ending pasta bowls. LAME. But I got pretty full after downing 6 bread sticks in 5 minutes. I barely had room for my pasta. But it was pretty delicious (:
 

Back to the dentist...

One of my bottom wisdom teeth is actually blocked by my jawbone. So the force of it trying to erupt actually swelled my gums up and caused an infection. D: So thats what the dying pain is from.
I got prescribed an antibiotic and some pain meds and now I'm getting my poor teefies out 

TOMORROW MORNING!

ahhhhhhhh!

I'm pretty scared, I'm not gonna lie. But mostly because I'm not getting put under. I'm going to be awake the whole time! D: My dentist told me to bring an ipod so I dont hear all of the drills. I just hope the laughing gas puts me in a whole different world lol

I think I'm going to do fine though... I'm just ready for it to be over.

Alex went to Sam's Club and bought me a whole bunch of pudding, applesauce, ice cream and soup (: I love him sooooooo much! I cant wait to nom on all my chocolate pudding! yummmm!

2 weeks after my surgery, I can go in & have my teeth cleaned & all my cavities filled. You have NO idea how excited I am about this! (:  I'm ready to smile with confidence <3