BOM, Star Trek, and the Best Husband Ever.

BOM
Our bishop gave our ward a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in the first 100 days of the year. Whew! That is a hard one for me, because I'm a slow reader, but I've actually been listening to most of it on the church web-site while I stretch out before and after I go to the gym, and it hasn't been so hard to keep up.  I LOVE how plain the Book of Mormon is! I've been trying my hardest to get through the whole Old Testament (and taking my sweet time doing it) and it's taken up a lot of my scripture study concentration for awhile, and it's hard! I find the Book of Mormon so much easier to understand, and the doctrine so much clearer! I know a lot of that has to do with the fact that it was translated directly into my native tongue as opposed the Bible which has been translated into like 3 different languages before English. But, I also know that it has to do with the fact that so many of the truths the Bible has lost or is unclear about are made plain and easier to understand in the Book of Mormon. Love it!

Star Trek
Ben and I have been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix over the past few weeks. I remember watching this when I was a kid and really liking it, and it's been fun (and hilarious) to revisit it! Seriously, I totally missed the fact that Commander Riker was a playa' when I was watching these as a kid. So funny!  The first time I saw it was on my parent's little black-and-white TV. When we saw it on color for the first time, it was even better.  And now, it's funny to look back and remember thinking "wow, wouldn't it be cool if we could have touch screen computers and video conferencing?" And now, we do!  I've also been watching a few episodes of Star Trek: Voyager too. Mostly because the theme music is so dang awesome, but also because it's hilarious and entertaining.  And, I officially know that I've entered into nerdom, because I had a Star Trek dream the other night.  That's right, I was on the Enterprise in my dreams, folks. It's all down hill from here.

Best Husband Ever
Did I mention that Ben is the best husband ever? He woke me up this morning with breakfast in bed, just because! And it was the works, too. Eggs, cheese, gluten free toast with cream cheese, juice, water, my morning pills in a small cup, salt & pepper shakers, and even an Origami flower he made and put in a little vase, all on a tray. Just because!  I'm the luckiest woman in the world!

Erin, out!

Throw another one on the pile, why not?

Hey friends. Sorry it's been awhile since I posted! I've been busy!  But, I wanted to let you all know something important.

I found out recently that I have been experiencing something called "supraventricular tachycardia" or "SVT."  It's a very benign heart condition, that basically means your heart isn't wired properly, so you get these strange flutters, skips, palpitations, heavy beats or fast heart rate every once in a while. I was having all of those crazy symptoms, so my doctor did an EKG and then a 30-day cardiac event monitor, and we figured out what it was. Now I will just be taking a small, low-dose of a beta blocker, which will lower my heart rate, and it should clear it all up. The treatment is very safe, super cheap (!), and even protective of my heart, which will be good for me because any damage diabetes might be doing will possibly be mitigated by this now. And, it is possible that it will eventually go away all on its own and that I won't experience this forever. Any way, the bottom line is, it's not dangerous, and very treatable. (And now I can say "I got a condition!" in a thick Brooklyn Jewish accent).

I just wanted to let everyone know, because you're my friends/family and I don't believe in hiding stuff like this from people. Also, it's the easiest way to explain to a bunch of people at one time so I don't have to tell everyone individually while I"ll be popping another pill, or doing things a little differently.

And, how do I feel about this, you may ask? Well, to be honest, extremely relieved! Having diabetes for 18+ years, with few complications thus far, I'm kind of always waiting for the floor to drop out from under me.  Heart disease is a known complication of diabetes, so you can see where I was going with this. Any way, we're just really grateful that it turned out to be not such a big deal!  It's another thing to add to the medical pile I'm developing, but such is life.  Everyone has their own challenges, right? I truly believe that a lot of our challenges are opportunities from God to grow and progress. I'm a fiercely independent soul and all of these medical conditions have helped me to learn to rely on others and especially my Heavenly Father.

So, there it is. I promise the next post won't be about something medical! (probably) :)

A List of Recent Things

1. We dog-sat my dad's dog over the Christmas holiday. He's an extremely nervous/neurotic Chihuahua-mix, who is a rescue dog several times over and has rescue-dog-type "issues". But, he is also probably the most cuddly and affectionate dog I've ever met, and is really good at playing and allows you to dress him up in cute doggy sweater vests. Win-win!  Oh man, Ben & I are dog people. We would go out and buy a dog today if we were allowed to have one in our apartment. We had to get special permission from our landlord to dog-sit for 3 weeks. When we gave the dog back, we were (and are) really sad about it.  REALLY sad. Sigh. Needless to say, we will own a dog sooner than later.

2. I have recently purchased a Philips Wake-Up Light. Oh, glory be! This little contraption has changed my life. Seriously! If I had owned this thing when I was growing up in Ohio, I think my adolescence would have been a lot different (in a good way). In the winter, my body will absolutely not wake up on its own. Unless the sun is out, which only happens about once a week for a few hours if we're lucky, I can go to bed at 10pm and sleep until 10pm the next night if I didn't set an alarm. Seriously, my body will just not wake itself up unless it senses the sun. But, with my new light, I set it to go off at a certain time, and 30 minutes before, it starts gradually turning on, mimicking the rise of the sun. By the time the alarm is set, it has brightened the entire room, and I'm usually already awake! Brilliant! It definitely makes my mornings earlier, and a lot easier! Yessssss! Don't confuse it with a S.A.D lamp, it's not that kind of lamp, but it is amazing, nonetheless. I recommend it for anyone who lives in a place that gets little sun, especially in the winter.

3. I have also recently purchased an Artograph Tracer Projector. One of my goals for the year is to paint one portrait. I really like painting people, and I wanted to get back into it, but it's been a long time since I've painted people, and my ability to mimic facial proportions is not what it used to be. I used a projector in high school, and it was really helpful, and I thought it would help me build my painting confidence again, so I bought one for myself! This one looked a little basic compared to ones I've used in school, but those run in the thousands of dollar range, and I just don't have that kind of disposable income. But, I did have 50 bucks of Amazon money (thanks mom!), so I bought this one. Before I purchased it, I did a lot of research, read a lot of reviews and even tracked down a demonstration of it being used on youtube. It seemed like it would meet my needs. I don't need to project colors, just basic lines and positions of facial features, so I thought it would be good enough. It came in the mail today, and it is more than good enough! It projects very clearly, is easy to focus and enlarge, and the color projection is pretty crisp too! Well worth the $50 I didn't actually spend! I'm excited to start painting again!

4. I'm getting 3 more piano students! That bumps me up to 4 students, total! That's almost enough to make them have a recital. Mwa ha ha ha!