Thankfulness.

Four weeks ago, something happened that changed life fairly drastically here at the Treichel Residence. I suffered from two concussions in less than 24 hours, and if you know anything about concussions, you know that multiple concussions, especially in such a short amount of time, can be extremely dangerous. It can be a terrifying experience and difficult to understand, as there could be a wide variety of symptoms that can take hours to weeks to appear. I am so incredibly thankful that my husband was with me for the entire day of my second concussion. He was able to notice that things were not right with me, and he calmly took action, staying by my side every moment that they would allow him (apparently you can't bring someone with you in the ambulance down here, which will never make complete sense to me). I don't remember much of that crazy experience, but I am glad I was not alone and have JT to recall things for me.

Now, almost a month later, I am still struggling. My memory still leaves me with missing bits and pieces of my days, I get incredibly nauseous multiple times a week, my energy and motivation are lacking, and daily activities that were once a breeze for me now require extra effort. Focusing is difficult, especially when I'm trying to read or listen to someone talk. I get disoriented occasionally, and I'm confused more often than not. Overall, it has been a slow, frustrating process to recovery. And we still have months to go before we know what will improve and what might stay the same. 

It is a very frustrating diagnosis. Especially with how little people know about concussions, repeated concussions over multiple years, and experiencing more than one concussion in a very short period of time (while the brain is still healing). Most people I've experienced thus far hear concussion and think of a little bump to the head. However, a concussion is a form of a mild traumatic brain injury - when classified as a TBI, the severity of the situation can be a little easier to grasp. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention explains it well:

"A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Concussions can also occur from a fall or a blow to the body that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth.Health care professionals may describe a concussion as a “mild” brain injury because concussions are usually not life-threatening. Even so, their effects can be serious."

 I don't know how long it will take to recover completely, or if I will ever be able to return to life as it once was. The brain is an incredible masterpiece, and a bit of a diva when it gets hurt. There are good days, and there are bad days, but I'm learning to be thankful through it all.

Never before did I think of my memory or my energy as things I should be thankful for. It is so easy to take them for granted because they aren't supposed to leave you, especially when you're 19. I can't say that it's always easy to be thankful for the memory that I do have because the memory I don't have can leave me so frustrated. But I'm getting there.

Not only am I becoming more thankful for memory and energy, but I'm becoming even more thankful for my husband, my family, all of our friends and the support we've been given. I'm thankful to have a man that will take on my responsibilities when I am unable to take care of them myself, who will lay with me on the days that I just can't imagine getting out of bed so I won't be lonely, and who will put up with me when I say I'm going to make dinner and two minutes later I need him to do it. I will forever be thankful that I have had him by my side supporting me throughout this journey.

Thank you for sharing in our adventure, throughout all the ups and downs. We appreciate you.

xo Lexi


Source and more information:
http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/index.html

Hello, Georgia.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we began our journey to our new home (which would end up being a hotel for about a week or so, but more on that later). JT was in charge of making sure the truck was balanced and everything was distributed evenly, and I like to think that I was in charge of freezing my butt off. It was so cold on the Friday that we started loading everything into the truck, and that didn't go away until we got into Tennessee two days later. I'm amazed (and so thankful) that neither of us ended up with colds!

JT was amazed at how much "stuff" women can have.

It's crazy how fast it all adds up, when you factor in gifts from the wedding and bridal showers! We have been so incredibly blessed with all of the gifts that we have been given and all of the love that has been poured out on us. We are so appreciative! 

JT's baby, all ready for the trip.

And we're off! 

It took us 3 days, but we made it to Georgia. Overall, it was a great trip, and we were so happy that we could stop and stay with family on our first night. We didn't have anything too terrible happen, and we were even able to explore Valdosta a little bit on our first night. Thankfully, JT managed to drive the whole trip, and I learned that he is pretty great at backing up a U-Haul with a trailer - even if that whole experience stressed me out to no end. 

After our first night in Georgia, we were able to get a room on base for us to stay and have a place to park our U-Haul while we searched for a house. We were fortunate enough to find a place to live less than a week after arriving, and we moved in soon after - which was good, because living in a hotel because you don't have a place to live is a lot less fun than living in a hotel on vacation. I was ready to loose my mind!

Overall, we're just happy to be in Georgia, with a roof over our heads, food in our kitchen, and jobs for both of us. And the 60 to 80 degree weather every day isn't so bad either. 

Excited to be leaving the cold weather behind!

"24 hours" of travel time. I think it was more like 38. 

Welcome to Georgia!

Being locked up in a hotel room alone while your husband is working all day is not very entertaining.

Normally I would continue putting all of these pictures in order, but that is currently taking too long and I have such limited time at Starbucks... so now we go back in time.

One of the more entertaining moments of our drive.

Definitely interesting to see driving down the interstate.

Getting closer, and sick of being locked up in a U-Haul.

We saw a couple of gorgeous sunsets - pictures don't do them justice!

Until the next chance I get to mooch Wifi...

xo Alexis

Merry Christmas!

This year, I'm happy to be spending Christmas with my little family, though I wish that we could join our families in celebration back in Minnesota. We don't have much this year, but we have been simply enjoying the gifts of each other's company.

May your holiday be blessed and filled with plenty of love, and may you take joy in the little things this coming year.

Merry Christmas!
Love,
JT, Lexi, and Spot

(We hope to keep our families a little more updated through this blog, however, that will have to wait until we get internet in our home! We have plenty of pictures that we can't wait to share with all of you!)

"Maybe courage is not at all about the absence of fear, but about obedience even when we are afraid. Courage is trusting when we don't know what is next, leaning into the hard and knowing that it will be hard, but more, God will be near." -Katie Davis of The Journey

Coming Soon...

In only a few short weeks, I will have the pleasure of becoming a Treichel. We are currently experiencing that phenomenon called "crunch time" and stress has been a little more common than usual. Getting married, even with a simple, backyard ceremony that only your immediate family will be attending, is complicated! I can't say that the Air Force is helpful with that in any way. However, today we found out that one of the biggest stressors as of late is something a lot less complicated than we had anticipated. What a huge relief! I am so thankful that a situation that we thought would take a ton of time will end up taking us a matter of a few hours. It's not easy to get married and figure everything out within 20 days before you move halfway across the country, especially when both parties will be working for a good majority of that time period! 

JT coming home is creeping up on us quickly and I could not be more thrilled. This is one of our longer periods apart (I don't know how I'll ever make it 6+ months!), and we are so close to being together permanently - well, as permanent as you can get with the Air Force. If you're reading, thank you for deciding to put up with us on our journey.

Adventures await!
-The Future Mrs. JT Treichel