Knee Update

It's amazing the difference in quality we have seen between Army and civilian doctors! The first thing we did when we got new insurance was get an appointment with a good orthopedic surgeon for Jordan's knee. We really like this doctor because he told Jordan something no other doctor had so far, which is what we wanted considering nothing has worked so far. He said Jordan's hip on the same side as his bad knee is out of whack. The funny thing is that Jordan's hip was giving him problems before this whole knee mess even began. With the hip out of alignment, every step Jordan takes is putting a crazy amount of stress on his ligaments. He basically does not have the leverage he needs for the knee to work properly. Jordan has been seeing a specialty physical therapist that can also get him back in alignment. He adjusted Jordan the first day, which was November 24th and he has stayed in alignment since! Before he adjusted Jordan, the Physical therapist showed Jordan how out of alignment he was by having him do some certain tests-Jordan told me that it was amazing how bad it was! Anyways, it seems to be helping. The frequency of pain is less, but as Jordan puts it, "It still cracks and pops like a champ!" haha! It still hurts him a lot though so we will move onto the next step. After the first of the year, we will probably go back to the ortho and then we will do some more tests, probably an MRI, and go from there. He just had to get the hip fixed before any actual physical damage to the knee could even be addressed.

So far, things with the knee are looking better than they have in 2 years!

Ewwwwww

Okay so I filled up my car with gas yesterday, and this is what I found when I stepped out of my car...

yes, it is a lock of hair. Isn't that disgusting! Who put it there and why and why?!!!!!!!!!!

October 5th

Okay so this blog is WAY overdue, but I just took the pictures off of my camera! October 5th was Jordan's last day in the Army so I decided to throw him a small surprise. We had just moved into our apartment the day before so please excuse the mess you see in the apartment (and you really can't see all the decorations throughout the mess, haha! I knew that he was a little bummed about the finality of being discharged from the Army so I thought it would be fun to make a fun evening out of it. I decorated the apartment with Army balloons and patriotic colors, my mom brought over sprinkles cupcakes, we made mojitos, and then my parents took us to dinner at a pub around the corner from us.

I also got him the West Point license plates for his truck, although they were not ready by October 5th-they came in a few weeks ago. He loves them! And don't ask why the picture of Jordan with the license plate looks strange because I have no idea!

*Does anyone know how to move the pictures around once you have uploaded them? For instance, I wanted the pictures of the license plates to be below the paragraph about it.

Harry Potter!

Last night we went to see the new Harry Potter movie-it was great! I have always loved the books and the movies from when they first got popular (I was in middle school). Since Jordan and I have been married, I've gotten him hooked too. We would listen to the books on CD when we would drive between Texas and Alabama/Georgia. One weekend we were really bored so we rented all the movies that were on DVD and had a marathon. Haha I know we're nerds! They are really entertaining if you have not watched/read the Harry Potter series, I highly suggest it! The movies are entertaining, but it's much much much better if you read the books because they leave so much out of the movies. Happy Harry Potter and

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I don't think I ever posted about this, but I got accepted to TWU's nursing program!!! I start this January so I'm really excited! After 2 years of waiting and waiting to go back to school, it's finally here. Good-bye easy low-key days!

Weekend in The Woodlands

I mentioned in the earlier post about Buck that we went to The Woodlands a few weekends ago. We had such a wonderful weekend! Jack and Karol are members of The Wallstreet Journal Wine Club, and they had just received a case of wine. So we enjoyed some good wine, football, and food! If you enjoy wine, the Wallstreet Journal wine club is awesome. They send the case with a booklet about the wine, what it tastes like, information about the winery and grapes, and what food it is best paired with. Anyways, it was a great weekend!

Jordan's Medal...3 months later

This is a really late blog, but better than never right?! Jordan's last week in the Army, he received an ARCOM (Army Commendation Medal) from his company. It is a fantastic award for the job he was in; he was really surprised and proud to get get it. Here is a description of what it is:

Criteria: a. The Army Commendation Medal is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States other than General Officers who, while serving in any capacity with the Army after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service. Award may be made to a member of the Armed Forces of a friendly foreign nation who, after 1 June 1962, distinguishes himself by an act of heroism, extraordinary achievement, or meritorious service which has been of mutual benefit to a friendly nation and the United States.
b. Awards may be made for acts of valor performed under circumstances described above which are of lesser degree than required for award of the Bronze Star Medal. These acts may involve aerial flight. An award may be made for acts of noncombatant-related heroism which do not meet the requirements for an award of the Soldier’s Medal.