keep calm and sing soft kitty

my ankle surgery was two weeks ago from yesterday. 

this is what i did the first 2 weeks post-surgery... isn't it beautiful??

on monday, i went to the clinic to have the staples removed and to be put into a walking cast. when the bandage came off, i thought i was going to loose my lunch. my mom may be a nurse, and my husband may be a doctor, but that doesn't mean that i handle this kind of stuff well. (i apologize if you are like me and have seen the pictures already.) 

8 staples on the left side and 2 staples on the ride side.

 mom assured me that it wouldn't hurt, but she was wrong! it really pinched and pulled. my anxiety even caused me to break a sweat, but it was all over before long.

mom let me squeeze her hand through it all and said i could have a treat afterwards! (i hope you "get" my big bang theory reference!)

 when the doctor said "weight-bearing" i was delighted!!

my stylish pink cast and walking shoe =) this is a new kind of platform shoe...

i overestimated my activities and ended up with some muscle cramping. we were a little afriad it might be a blood-clot, so i took it easy yesterday and have to remember to keep it elevated whenever i can. the cramping has stopped, and i now know my limitations. i'm still hoping this doesn't interfere with the first football game this weekend!



DIY Anthropologie Multitude Hair Ties

i had seen these hairbands  at Anthropologie but always thought they were cute but too expensive... until i found this great idea on pinterest! I made 35 hairbands for $7 (includes shipping for elastic). They were super easy to make once i found the elastic. this website has elastic in a wide variety of colors and ones with glitter! i bought several yards of the "fold over" elastic in 5/8th inch.

Anthropologie Multitude Hair Ties... $12 for 5 is $2.40 per hair tie. i made mine for 20 cents! they hold up my super thick hair great, and they look adorable on your wrist =)

brostrom and birthdays

so many of you do not know that i had ankle surgery early this week. dr. altmyer at the columbus orthopaedic clinic performed a brostrom operation on my ankle to correct damage that had been done back in middle school while i was cheerleading. we're talking 10 or 11 years ago!! i had a bad ankle sprain while i was tumbling. i recovered, but ever since then, my ankle has been very susceptible to rolling and reinjury. i could be trail running or simply walking across a parking lot. but now that i'm in mississippi, mom suggested that i go see a specialist about this persistent problem. the orthopaedic surgeon confirmed that i had a loose ankle (after surgery, he said it was the loosest ankle he had ever seen-- not sure if he was saying that?). at that visit, i also got to tell him about zach, and zach will hopefully be shadowing him next month! unfortunately, zach could not accompany me on the day of surgery because he is doing an externship at the university of mississippi medical center in jackson.

one of the first things i did when i woke up the day after my surgery was paint my toe nails!

well, it's fixed now, and i am on the road to recovery! dr.altmyer said that i should be completely back to normal in 3 months. i'm in this bandage for 2 weeks, and then i go back to get the stitches removed.

nurse norwood, disney princess chicken noodle soup, lots of crocheting

 mom has been taking care of me this week since i am not allowed to put any weight on my left leg. the days have been pretty uneventful, but today is the first day that i've started to feel better and not nauseous from the meds. i may get a little stir-crazy next week!!

oh, and this is what we had been up to before my surgery...

visited zach in jackson last weekend to go to dinner with krystina, eric, karen and jared. it just so happened to be becca's birthday, so we celebrated her in missisippi even though she is all the way in texas! it was great to see these girls and their hubbys!

korbyn's first bday was on aug 6th! that's her dad, alex, in the middle. we celebrated with her up in memphis before zach moved to jackson for the month.

olive oils & vinegars

zach and i discovered something awesome when we were in pensacola visiting his parents-- the bodacious olive. it is a fantastic store that sells infused olive oils and vinegars in addition to fresh pasta and breads. YUM! we spent over an hour just looking around the store and sampling flavors that i had never tasted before. it was an experience! i must say that our favorite find has been the organic butter olive oil. we got a bottle for both his mom and my mom. we've used it on grilled corn on the cob and for scrambled eggs, but the possibilities are endless! i've written below about how i used it on potatoes.

in addition to the olive oils, we've also purchased some of the vinegars. white balsamic jalapeno vinegar was so tasty on a cucumber salad, and strawberry balsamic vinegar was yummy on white peaches. yes, i said vinegar on fruit. i also hear it is quite delicious on ice cream. hey, don't knock it until you've tried it!

::crispy potato slices with olive oil::

thinly slice the potato, but do not cut all the way through to the bottom

brush the olive oil in between each slice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

bake at 425 degrees for at least 45 minutes. if you want them crispier, bake longer.

ladies' football clinic

on july 21st, mom, robyn, and i attended the mississippi state ladies' football clinic (see video recap here). mom and i had been once before a few years ago, but this was robyn's first time. we had such a great time! it was a full day of mississippi state football (with a few other more girly things sprinkled throughout)-- the day started off in the palmerio center for check-in. there was plenty to keep us occupied between the egg bowl trophy, 2011 egg bowl on the big screen, a line of football players signing autograhs, and finally ending with a picture with coach mullen himself.

mom and me with coach mullen, robyn and me with the golden egg, mom and me with megan mullen

football players signing autographs, msu football coaching staff, msu football coaching staff wives, msu football players

the first part of the day included talks from coach knox (running backs) about offense and from coach smith (cornerbacks) about defense. their talks included powerpoint slides and game tapes. football players modeled the uniforms, and we even had a fashion show featuring game day attire. hayes from the flower company (who also did the flowers for my wedding) showed us how to make tailgating centerpieces. and there were lots of giveaways- see, not all football! a football official explained a little about what the referees do during the game, and the coach balis (strength) gave us a rundown on how the players get into the best shape. my favorite part was Q&A with the coaches' wives.  

coach knox going over how we beat TSUN at the egg bowl

after a great lunch, we hit the indoor practice fields for some football drills. coach balis warmed us up before we rotated through seven 8-minute drills. coach hevesy taught us how to get into a three-point stance. coach mirando taught us the proper way to catch a football. coach mullen taught us how to be a quarterback and throw the football. coach wilson taught us how to block. coach knox taught us how to carry the football. coach collins taught us how to tackle. coach smith taught us how to cause fumbles. i'm really sad i don't have any pictures from this part of the day, but, as you can imagine, it was a very hands-on part of the day!

coach koenning took us on a bus tour of campus and walked us through the facilities, locker room, msu players in the nfl, lobby of templeton athletic academic center. 

after we toured the buildings, the bus dropped us off at the junction to experience what game day is like for the football players. we were greeted with cowbells and high fives at the dawg walk before we headed into the locker rooms. coach mullen gave us a rundown on what the pre-game routine and then did it with us!

dawg walk, locker room, "bulldog creed" that every player touches before heading out on to the field

they corralled us all right outside of the locker room, played a pre-game video on the jumbotron above us, and then dan led us out through the smoke! it was pretty cool to see what the players see right before the game!

 we had such a great time seeing some behind the scenes action! nothing better to get us pumped for football season! go dawgs!