Hey everyone! It's been over 2 months since I've posted. It's been a long and sometimes trying time but it was Christmas in The Salvation Army.
In the midst of it all I had my first "surgery" on my shoulder - no cutting they just had to manipulate it and break it free. A month of physical therapy which although a bit painful at times I actually enjoyed strengthening my arm again. Now that I have almost full range of motion back in the shoulder I will go in again in about 3 or 4 weeks (I find out the 5th) so that they can fix the tear in my rotator cuff and one in my bicep. If it weren't for the tear in my bicep they could just scope it but because of the way it is they will have to make a cut about an inch and a half long to fix it. Physical therapy this time will be 6 to 9 months and much harder they say. They are confident though since my range of motion is so much better now that they expect a full healing and I can go back to some boxing and lifting as long as I don't go nuts with it.
I went to see the Cleveland Cavaliers with my great nephews and niece - we sat next to other people from Rogers, Ar and a Basketball Star from Rogers High School won 3 Televisions in a shooting game between quarters. Tonight we go see the Suns and then New Years Eve we see the Golden State Warriors - I love living in a town with the NBA even if our team loses ALL THE TIME!!!! I occasionally get to see Steven Hill who played for the U of A doing things around town and The Salvation Army gets free tickets allot.
To all my friends "May your new year be a blessed one!" Kari
Hi Everyone! All is well here in OKC and I am finally settled in.
I took a three day mini-vacation this weekend and had quite the inter-continental experience. My best friend from college Kim Wilkerson and her awesome husband Phil asked us to go to Dallas with them and none of us realized at the time what an awesome trip we were in for. First we started off on Friday traveling to Dallas to see the King Tut exhibit (awesome), then from Egypt we went to a German restaurant for lunch (extremely awesome) then from Germany we headed to our hotel called NYLO that's short for New York Loft - very cool loft rooms with a real NY look and very cool furnishings. For dinner we went to OLEA a Mediterranean tapas restaurant, my first time to try tapas (yummy), then back to our New York hotel for the night where I went straight to the gym for an hour workout. Then for Breakfast we happened on a french bakery (too too awesome) and from France we headed shopping at the IKEA store which is a cool Swedish shopping experience - it had a restaurant in side and we had a Swedish lunch there - it took 4 hours to get through the store. Then we headed back to OKC for the night and went to my friends' Church called PASSIONCHURCH - great sermon by their youth pastor on the need to embrace change in our lives in the areas that we have developed bad habits. Then we went to see a Neil Diamond (I got free tickets from work) concert Sunday evening - a good old Brooklyn boy. So lets see - Egypt, Germany, New York, The Mediterranean, New York, France, Sweden, OKC, New York - all in 55 hours!
Needless to say I'm exhausted and glad to be back at work so I can rest!=-) Blessings to All! Kari
Hello everyone! I am back up and running on my computer! My new home is incredible a beautiful 3 bedroom house in a new subdivision - private playground, private walking/running trail. Plus my Army provided car is a 2008 NissanAltima - very cool, push button starter, ipod ready. God is truly awesome. New furniture in the house - leather sofa, love seat and recliner in fact with the sofa and love seat I actually have 5 recliners in my living room - great for movie and sports parties.
My best friend from college - Kim is literally 10 minutes away!!! I really miss all my friends from Rogers and of course my family but God always replaces what He takes away so I am looking forward to what He has in store for me here.
I will try and send some pictures as soon as I can!
I pray that God is blessing your lives in new ways as well! Kari
I know it has been along time since I've updated. I had some really hard decisions to make about my future and I was guarded in what I shared publicly. My sick-leave ends this week and on August 25th I move to Oklahoma City to work for Majors Alan & Belinda Hill. We are almost packed and very ready to get the move over with! The Hills have found us a nice home near Mustang (I saw a picture of it on Google).
My journey back to active duty was not without hesitation - I never want to experience the heartache that I did at the Corps in Rogers again! But one thing I have learned over that past year is people cannot devalue your worth unless you let them and I will never allow others to convince me that I do not have worth. I have learned that STRENGTH + DEPENDENCE = SUCCESS. God alone is my sufficiency.
So, I go back to work a very different person, my personality has changed, my abilities have increased, my body has indeed decreased in size and I am happy.
Pray for me as I settle into my new home and job in OKC. Those of you here in NWA I already miss and those of you in OKC I can't wait to spend time with you!
