Enquiring Minds Want to Know...

Always in style, wearing a vintage Dior sweatshirt and jeans from her very own line Lil Bitty, Leeza Blevins, 29, tried to sneak into St. Louis by not arriving with her typical entourage today. She modestly jumped out of the 2005 Lincoln Towncar at 1:38pm in St. Peters, Missouri. It's been rumored that she's traveled out of the star-studded city of Fayetteville, North Carolina to get some cosmetic work done in an unnamed location. She can't hide from our cameras. We caught her and she graciously smiled for a snapshot or two. Stay tuned to future postings for updated information on Leeza's stay in St. Peters, Missouri. Something was mentioned about KDiggity Doug also appearing later this week. As your always faithful paparazzi, we will stay still in the bushes to get the best footage possible. Until next time...

This and That...

So, one pain pill, one valium and one friend and we managed to get the pain pumps out. I feel really good. I took a shower and everything! I'm a new woman! hee hee We'll see how I feel in the morning, though - now that there is nothing to numb the pain. Pray for me - and I'll spare you the details! :-) Thanks Chris! I owe you big time!!!

Thanks for everything!

I just want to thank everyone for all your phone calls. I've been awful about answering the phone - usually I'm asleep and then I forget to call everyone back because I'm all worried about missing a meal or something! Isn't that awful! I eat, sleep and take my medication. That's about it.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mark Schumacher now, too. I can't believe I forgot to acknowledge him. What a fantastic guy ... he picked me up from the airport not even knowing who I was. My Dad was out of town, and Mark didn't want Keppel to be out in the middle of the night, because I didn't get in until almost midnight. So, he picked me up, dropped me off at home, after a long night of working. He carried in my bags, too! He then came over last night for moral support. He sat around and talked with Keppel and me for a couple of hours - about girlie stuff and never once complained. So, thank you Mark!!!

Again, thanks for all the phone calls and if I haven't called you back yet, feel free to track me down again tomorrow...I should be a little more alert and ready to chat!!

Leeza and Kelly - get here right now!!!

Breathing..

"Please resume all normal breathing activity...." I heard my body say after the ace bandage fell to the ground. Wahoo - no more back pain!

Whoops...spoke too soon...

I'm sore today. These bandages are wrapped so tightly, I feel like my lungs are crushed. As soon as I get these off, I have a feeling I'll be much better. Wish me luck, Dad's not up and Keppel isn't here, but I have to do something soon, I think I'm going to try it on my own! Yikes!

Sunflowers....

Here are the beautiful sunflowers I got.
One from JD and one from Dolly.

Thank you guys! Sunflowers make me smile!

Monkeys...elephants...whatever

Okay, I'm done with surgery and I'm feeling exceptionally well. I just want to first off, apologize for not being able to answer a lot of phone calls - with the pressure, I have short breaths and it's really tough to talk. I know, you all wish you were around to witness me NOT talking! I've never had an elephant sit on me, but if it were to happen, I would think that it would feel like this.

The surgery went well. I got in at 7, got my anesthesia and three hours later, woke up ready to go home. I hope I'm not jinxing it, but I didn't get sick, haven't had trouble eating (have I ever had trouble eating?) and have been up and about - using my arms and everything. I want to thank my Dad for being a trooper. (oh my gosh, I feel like I'm giving some sort of acceptance speech - Love, Lauren) But really, I'll quit with the inside jokes. Dad and I left at 6:15 this morning, he took off work for like the ENTIRE time I'm here and he's taken care of me even though it's probably pretty weird for him. Then, thank you Chris for coming over and relieving him and letting him get to the boat. I'm sure he appreciates it. Chris brought over a bunch of goodies for me today too. What great friends and family I have!

So, I have a pain pump on for the next three days that slowly drips pain meds...I'll take that out on Monday and should be up and running again. Well, maybe not running but, at least up and at 'em! Until tomorrow!

9 Hour Count Down

This is the last time I'll post until next time. ha ha - I just re-read that.

Tomorrow is my official "promotion day." Any last words? Um - from me, I would like to say "thank you and goodbye...to all the little people."

No, I'm not on any drugs yet.

Karaoke at Harpos..

So...for a typical Wednesday night in St. Louis, we all headed out to Harpos for a little karaoke. A good time was had by all.

Lunch with the ladies

Had lunch with the ladies today...we had a good time at PFChangs. Krista and I got the lettuce wraps and wonton soup. Jodie got lemon chicken and rice. PFChangs actually provides a gluten-free (or glutton-free, as I like to call it) menu and it's really good!

Jodie brought me a bag of goodies for all my free time after the surgery, while I'm recuping. Those flowers on the table are for me too! I love them - that little vase is something Jodie got while at a craft show - it's a piece of hand made pottery and she thought it was "very Rachel," I would have to agree! Thanks Jodie!!!

My Newest Passion...

I love sleeping!!

Surprise, Dude!!!

So, I had my consultation this morning and everything went great. Surgery is at 8am on Friday. Wish me luck. I'll post more info later.

After my near four-hour doctor's appointment, Dad and I drove out to Springfield to surprise Dude. We showed up at his place of employment...Cheezies Pizza. Yes, that's right. Here is a picture of him helping the EXTREMELY drunk man who staggered in right before us. This guy was a trip. I thought he was going to pass out after he ordered his two pizzas, he had exerted so much effort to get the words out smoothly.

Isn't he so handsome in his little smiley face t-shirt!? How adorable!

Then we went to check out Dude's apartment...

A couple things really blew my mind about Dude, though. First of all, he took out the trash. I know, I know, I was shocked too! It was amazing! Then....yes, it gets better....he actually got out some sort of liquid cleaning agent and a papertowel or two and started cleaning the table and sink. I don't know - it could have been an act to show us how responsible he is, but his roommates didn't say something like, "Dude, what are you doing? You never do that." So, I'm assuming it might be a normal occurrance. Yes, folks, he's grown up!

Now - the most amazing thing is...he's taken up guitar lessons. I'm even more amazed at that. He played a little for us tonight and I'm so proud of him. He seems to really like it and it sounds good. The kid has a great voice too, so maybe he'll put the two together and start loving it. He needs something for which to be passionate! (that doesn't sound right, but I hated ending the sentence in a preposition!)We took Dude and his roommate Chris out to Lambert's Cafe - Home of the Throwed Rolls. If you've never been there, you must, anytime you're in Sikeston or Springfield. Yummy!

So, maybe we can call it "jalking"...

Yes, maybe we can just call it "jalking"..that activity I typically refer to as "running." It's not really that anymore. I figured that out today. It's more of a mix between jogging and walking (I know Jess, bred for its skills in magic). When I realized that it took me 1/2 hour to go a little under three miles today. But, at least I'm doing it!

I had lunch today at Bandana's with Kyker. It was SO good! I love that place. However, I realized that North Carolina's sweet tea and Missouri's sweet tea are sooo different. I thought the sweet tea here was sweet, but now it tastes like unsweetened decaffeinated tea. Icky! But JD and Storm, don't worry - I'll make sure to get you some more Bandana's BBQ Sauce over there! Made dinner tonight for Dad and me - salad, chicken breast and scalloped potatoes - yummy! I never thought I would say this, but I miss cooking for someone.

Then - I bought another installment of the best product ever created ... Nad's ... "America's Top Hair Removal Product." No, that doesn't sound very appealing - however - it's the best cool waxing system I've ever used. I only wax my eyebrows and I'm too cheap to pay $8 every time, so I've invested in this $9.99 product. It is now in a container much like that of a tube of lipgloss. The applicator is exactly what you use to sweep across the eyebrow line. Then, there are reusable strips of linen included to pull the hair out. Painful? No. Beautiful? Yes. I'm a forever fan!

Tomorrow is "consultation day." Wish me luck. I'll have more info tomorrow night.

The Four Year Anniversary of 9/11

So, today was time for church. Something I've been waiting on for about 8 months now!! I was SO excited to get back to 2Rivers. I had such a great time. Every time I go there, I get all jacked up and excited to be alive...and realize I need to be feeling like that every day - not just when I get to 2Rivers. Today, there was a great message...which followed fantastic music, as always. The message today was about seeing if your "signal" is strong with God. How often are we driving down the road talking to someone on the cell phone and all of the sudden, we lose signal and "poof" they're gone. Is that what our connection with the Lord is? What a very telling question. I can't explain it as well as Johnny O did, but it really tied in with the whole 9/11 Anniversary message. It also helped me to put back into perspective why our men and women are overseas fighting the war they're fighting. THANK YOU!!!

Dawn Williams and her twins (Ashleigh and Emily) came to church with us and I think they had a pretty good time. The girls are two years old now and the last time I saw them they were only six months old. They're so adorable. Again, I wish I had my camera at church.

Jodie, Krista, Chris, Marissa and I went to Seamus McDaniel's and had lunch together. It was a really good lunch - a little cold in there, though. We then went to the meat market to get some meat, cheese and crackers to go to the winery.

We then made our way to Sugar Creek Winery and met up with Jim, Kelly, Molly, Julia and Jason. There, we had a glass of wine, listened to the musician and people-watched for a few hours. It was all-in-all a fantastic day! The weather was perfect and I was with friends - how much better could that get!?

Tomorrow is a slow day. Everyone has to work and I don't. Guess I'll go running and do a little of nothing. Gotta love that! I think the only thing I have scheduled is lunch with Kyker. For the first time in four months, a day all to me...much deserved, if I do say so myself.

Day Two in St. Louis

Again, I slept pretty well and then got up this morning to run. I did about three miles. About two miles into it, I took a wrong turn and had to go up what I swear was a 90 degree angle hill! Of course, I didn't HAVE to go up it, but I figured if I went UP I would get the pleasure of getting to go back DOWN! Then Dad asked me to be his date at one of his buddies' weddings. I didn't really know many people, but I got to see some of the people for whom I babysat when I was younger. We had a good time - I wish I would have taken my camera!

I made it to the Lou....

Well, I'm back in St. Louis. Home. I'm having a great time so far. It's my 2nd Anniversary with JD - and the 2nd we've spent apart. Last year was "my fault," as he so conveniently reminded me...so this year it's "his fault." hee hee. I got into town last night and had such a fantastic night of sleep. It's so dark in this bedroom that I slept ten hours and had no idea it had been that long. I usually sleep about 4-5 hours a night, so 10 was a little crazy!

I went to see Jodie and Ernie this afternoon. Their house looks so good. We had tacos and talked about Ernie's new job. Food and conversation was great.

Then I headed on over to Paul's and Krista's. Their house is so unique! They're working so hard on it. I don't know how they work, go to school and have two children and a puppy, yet STILL have time to work on the house! Amazing! Krista said "ugh - it's a work in progress," but I assured her that no matter what, it always will be. Lexi and Mac are so big. They're growing up so fast. It was so fun to see them. It's been too long. Here are some great pictures of them.

I got to spend some time with Eric and Julia Pitts as well. It looks as though they might try to go to the winery with us on Sunday. That will be fun - I really like them. Here they are with Haley, the new puppy...and there is Paul with his braces.