Highs and Lows

I can't believe March is here. February was quite the month.... as you can tell from the lack of posts, it wasn't too eventful, however the month brought a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions.

First came the sick loss my Jayhawks lost to their evil rivalry.... the Missouri Tigers. It was a tough loss, only because we were up by 8 with 2 minutes to go..... okay so that was petty, I'm over it.

Second was the big turning of 30. I thought it would be tough, but it really was not! I am at a good place, and a feel good. As the weekend that Jake spoiled me rotten was coming to an end, I get word that a high school teacher, friend, coach and mentor had lost her 13 year battle with cancer. The high came down quick and I cried myself to sleep..... I was so close to Mrs. Poynter, she even had a role in my wedding. She was such an amazing person, who NEVER wanted a single person to pity her or even treat her like she was sick.

I haven't lost many close people in my life, so I don't handle death well. I know her pain is gone, but I hurt for her young children who had their mother robbed from them at the age of 48.

So after celebrating another year in my life, the next day I had to face the loss of the most inspirational person I'd ever known. I had to say goodbye to her, and it still doesn't seem fair. She had a smile that would light an entire room and she never let a single moment go for granted. In her eyes, there was never a better time to do anything than right now. I want to be this way. I want this motivation.

During this same week, Reece came down with a double ear infection!! What? Babies and toddlers get double ear infections..... or so I thought. We can't even remember the last time we had to deal with this, but thankfully, he responded to the meds well, and was back to his normal self in no time.

Continuing on the roller coaster ride.... Jake worked late most of my birthday week. So my neighbor friends, Laura and Casey, made me a surprise dinner. They came over with homemade lasagna, bread, salad and the best part was homemade cheesecake! YUM! Along with some beautiful flowers, that I got to put next to the flowers my coworkers got me. I guess some people find 30 to be a special number. And by the end of the week, I was feeling special!

The very next morning, before Jake was off to work, he came to me and says, "I don't want you to freak out." Well of course I'm expecting the worst, and ready for my roller coaster to come crashing down. He showed me a paper his boss had put together, with jibberish I didn't understand. Turns out, we should be getting an unexpected bonus this year!! You see, this store, Menards, moved in right across the street from Lowe's this year in Salina. In a smaller area, when you have competition move in, your sales will be affected a bit. Well, a bit meant that it was so effected that not a single goal was technically met. Jake's awesome boss (I'm sure his awesomeness changes by the day in Jake's mind ;) went to corporate and told them in the market of Salina, it shouldn't be a big shock that sales were so down from previous years. Corporate finally budged and adjusted the numbers, so much that we will not only get a decent bonus, it will help us do another project on this old house. Yay!! The way Jake's career has gone here in Salina, it really confirmed to me that the move here was best for our family. As much as I miss my Gardner friends, our family's well being is better here. In Johnson county we were working to stay afloat(medical bills didn't help), but here we aren't feeling the same struggles.

Lastly, we got to take on the Tigers again. This game took me up and down and up all over again! It was supposed to be a payback game, and we were at our house. We never lose there. Well, we went down by 19 and the depression hit hard. But wait! Suddenly we were only 3 behind!! Then in the last seconds we tied and went to overtime!! Amazingly.... with every shot seeming to go in, and going back and forth, back and forth in OT, we were the lucky team to be ahead as the clock ran out of time. This game may have taken 10 years off my life. This was a high, for sure, and what made it so much better, my brother invited me to this Saturday's game, which happens to be Senior night! Woo hoo!! As up and down as February was, it definitely ended on a wonderful high!!

Now it's March..... the most amazing month of the year, a month that again will take time off my life. I may need anxiety medicine for future basketball seasons due to my emotional investment, which may or may not be healthy! ;)

Happy March Madness, Everyone!