another mri and some good updates

It seems crazy to me but tonight I had my baseline MRI done.  This is the MRI the doctors will compare all my future MRI's to.  It's kind of surreal to me that I am this far out from when my surgeries were done.  And nearly 2 months since my radiation ended.  Crazy!

This past Sunday my mom and I went to Dr. Ward's home for a dinner with his family.  The dinner was so yummy and a lot of it came from their backyard.  They have a big, beautiful garden.  I hope to have a garden one day like that.  We had such a good night and spectacular conversation.  His family is wonderful and so sweet.  Really, at the end of the night I realized more than ever how much Dr. Ward was meant to be my surgeon.  The Lord aligned our paths.

I recently acquired pictures from my surgery.  Gruesome pictures of my open neck where you can see my skull and spine.  Unfortunately (or possibly very fortunately) I am not allowed to post these online.  Something about "property of the hospital", "patient's rights", "hipaa"... whateves.  So, you want to see these?  You'll have to check them out on my computer sometime.

I'm going to Washington D.C. this August!  There is a group called First Descents and it's mission is to provide a free outdoor adventure experience for young adults who are fighting cancer or are survivors.  It's pretty hard to get into because it is so in demand but I was accepted and am super pumped.  It is completely free because of donations.  I am so excited!  So, from August 18-23 I will be kayaking in that area.

By the way... totally loving the book 'A Game of Thrones'.  I'm officially an uber geek.

Here's a picture of me accidentally hitting One Direction with my grandfather's car.