My Year 2015
It's been a very long time, a few years, since I have really posted on this website. During the mean time I have really focused on writing a handwritten journal that I carry around with me wherever I go. Last year I decided to write up an overview of the past year, and I think I will do the same now. Life has continued to be crazy and sure has a lot of ups and downs. At this time, I am tight on money, so the amount of treatment I receive has been decreased. Unfortunately, that gets to me and puts me in a more dangerous position, especially with all the change that has been going on. I need more support. Yes I have my treatment team and wife, but that is about it. I'm struggling a lot but need to stand tall and make it at least through my actual wedding in march.
This past year had a lot of ups and downs...I literally cannot list how many.
January: The year started off with me returning to my old company for work, but it was in a different position, a position that was created just for me. Things were going great!
February: Jackie and I went on a weekend ski trip which was great. Then on Valentines Day, a day that I think is ridiculous and should of never been created, Jackie proposed to me. I was in shock. She knew I hated Valentines Day, so she wanted to change that around for me. And we renamed it Chocolate Covered Strawberries Day! At first I was super nervous about telling anyone that we got engaged, since we had just started re dating for less than 6 months.
March/April: With Opa's birthday in March my family and I decided that as my grandparents were getting older (90 and 93) it would be wise to have one person from our family travel down to Florida for a week with them once a month. It was wonderful being able to go down to Florida every other month this past year to help them out. I also took a pathophysiology course for school, which ended up being easier than I thought. It was during this time that my psychiatrist decided it would be wise to put me on ADHD medication. We tried various kinds, but the stimulants all gave me severe migraines. We continued trying different types over the year. My moods were also incredibly up and down. It was like I would have to wait until I woke up in the morning to see if I was going to have a great day or a terrible day, I never knew.
May: My psychiatrist put me a new bipolar antidepressant which really seemed to work. It stabilized my moods right away and since then I have no longer had any ups and downs. I do have to say that I miss my highs terribly. May was also a sad month because our pup, Mia, passed away the day before my birthday. Also the rest of my family was in Europe on my birthday, so it was quite lonely and sad.
June: I traveled to Germany with my family which was quite wonderful. I even hiked a mountain....yes I literally hiked from the bottom to the top of the mountain. While we were over there, my sister's boyfriend proposed to her, so now they are engaged. That was really hard for me. Once I came back from Germany, Jackie and I rescued a pit bull pup named Zuez. Unfortunately at that time I was living at my parents and Jackie at her aunt's house, and we constantly had to keep Zuez and her aunt's dog separated because they would play too rough. So we made the decision and bought a very old pop up camper that we literally patched together with duct tape. For the next two months we lived in there. And no....there was no bathroom, we became good friends with the woods.
July: Still living in the camper, making the most of what we could. My job at work kept changing multiple times against my wishes and the new way they had me working was on call 24/7 from Friday evenings until Monday mornings. It was not working out for me, but they didn't care.
August: The summer came to an end and our were finally leaving our condo after a years worth of failure to pay rent, court dates, and lies. We moved into our condo again on August 15th, and what a relief that was. It was now time for us to put things together and straighten out our lives that had been jumbled together for the past year or so. Jackie also
September: Two trips to Florida came during this month, one planned and one unplanned. the whole family fled to Florida after Opa having to go to the hospital. Between all of us I think we made the best decisions possible to get Opa the best care out there. I visited a few more times during the summer and fall as well, since my work schedule allowed me to work from anywhere which was very convenient.
October: This month came with it's own distinct challenges. Jackie decided to go back to school and get her certificate in HVAC at Lincoln Tech in Columbia. I also got the word that I was accepted into the Nursing program at Montgomery College once again! Unfortunately right after finding out that great news, on October 23rd I was wrongfully terminated from my position at Lifematters. After battling with them on a severance package, we peacefully parted our ways.
November/December: In early December Jackie and I took an amazing cruise down to the Bahamas. Even though the weather was not that great, we made the best out of it! The holidays were filled with joy and laughter spending them equally between our families, both Thanksgiving and Christmas! Though it was a very difficult year for me because my entire family was going to my sister's in Atlanta, while I was unable to attend. It was the first year that we broke all of our traditions, which was very upsetting to me. We rang in the New Year at Jackie's cousin's place up in Baltimore, watching the sky fill up with fireworks.We are proud to say that today we are in our condo, with our dog Zuez and my two cats Penny and Marley. In a few weeks we will both be going back to school. Jackie is going to continue to work at Six Flags full time, as I focus on my studies and continue to work part-time with pet sitting and caring for Jake.This is a new year and we are beyond excited that it has started out the way it has. In just a little over 2 months we will be getting married in the beautiful island of St Thomas.
This past year had a lot of ups and downs...I literally cannot list how many.
January: The year started off with me returning to my old company for work, but it was in a different position, a position that was created just for me. Things were going great!
February: Jackie and I went on a weekend ski trip which was great. Then on Valentines Day, a day that I think is ridiculous and should of never been created, Jackie proposed to me. I was in shock. She knew I hated Valentines Day, so she wanted to change that around for me. And we renamed it Chocolate Covered Strawberries Day! At first I was super nervous about telling anyone that we got engaged, since we had just started re dating for less than 6 months.
March/April: With Opa's birthday in March my family and I decided that as my grandparents were getting older (90 and 93) it would be wise to have one person from our family travel down to Florida for a week with them once a month. It was wonderful being able to go down to Florida every other month this past year to help them out. I also took a pathophysiology course for school, which ended up being easier than I thought. It was during this time that my psychiatrist decided it would be wise to put me on ADHD medication. We tried various kinds, but the stimulants all gave me severe migraines. We continued trying different types over the year. My moods were also incredibly up and down. It was like I would have to wait until I woke up in the morning to see if I was going to have a great day or a terrible day, I never knew.
May: My psychiatrist put me a new bipolar antidepressant which really seemed to work. It stabilized my moods right away and since then I have no longer had any ups and downs. I do have to say that I miss my highs terribly. May was also a sad month because our pup, Mia, passed away the day before my birthday. Also the rest of my family was in Europe on my birthday, so it was quite lonely and sad.
June: I traveled to Germany with my family which was quite wonderful. I even hiked a mountain....yes I literally hiked from the bottom to the top of the mountain. While we were over there, my sister's boyfriend proposed to her, so now they are engaged. That was really hard for me. Once I came back from Germany, Jackie and I rescued a pit bull pup named Zuez. Unfortunately at that time I was living at my parents and Jackie at her aunt's house, and we constantly had to keep Zuez and her aunt's dog separated because they would play too rough. So we made the decision and bought a very old pop up camper that we literally patched together with duct tape. For the next two months we lived in there. And no....there was no bathroom, we became good friends with the woods.
July: Still living in the camper, making the most of what we could. My job at work kept changing multiple times against my wishes and the new way they had me working was on call 24/7 from Friday evenings until Monday mornings. It was not working out for me, but they didn't care.
August: The summer came to an end and our were finally leaving our condo after a years worth of failure to pay rent, court dates, and lies. We moved into our condo again on August 15th, and what a relief that was. It was now time for us to put things together and straighten out our lives that had been jumbled together for the past year or so. Jackie also
September: Two trips to Florida came during this month, one planned and one unplanned. the whole family fled to Florida after Opa having to go to the hospital. Between all of us I think we made the best decisions possible to get Opa the best care out there. I visited a few more times during the summer and fall as well, since my work schedule allowed me to work from anywhere which was very convenient.
October: This month came with it's own distinct challenges. Jackie decided to go back to school and get her certificate in HVAC at Lincoln Tech in Columbia. I also got the word that I was accepted into the Nursing program at Montgomery College once again! Unfortunately right after finding out that great news, on October 23rd I was wrongfully terminated from my position at Lifematters. After battling with them on a severance package, we peacefully parted our ways.
November/December: In early December Jackie and I took an amazing cruise down to the Bahamas. Even though the weather was not that great, we made the best out of it! The holidays were filled with joy and laughter spending them equally between our families, both Thanksgiving and Christmas! Though it was a very difficult year for me because my entire family was going to my sister's in Atlanta, while I was unable to attend. It was the first year that we broke all of our traditions, which was very upsetting to me. We rang in the New Year at Jackie's cousin's place up in Baltimore, watching the sky fill up with fireworks.We are proud to say that today we are in our condo, with our dog Zuez and my two cats Penny and Marley. In a few weeks we will both be going back to school. Jackie is going to continue to work at Six Flags full time, as I focus on my studies and continue to work part-time with pet sitting and caring for Jake.This is a new year and we are beyond excited that it has started out the way it has. In just a little over 2 months we will be getting married in the beautiful island of St Thomas.
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