My Heart (Condition)

Hey everyone!  I have been so busy and lacking on my blogging, but I am trying to get back into the swing of things.  I have missed writing my posts.
 
So, last week I went to Houston to Texas Children's Hospital for my yearly check up with the greatest, Dr. Wayne Franklin.  I have decided to blog about my heart and my heart condition b/c so many people ask me about it and I don't think people fully understand everything about it. 

When I was born in April 1985, I (what I call) had a hole in my heart.  I am going to tell you about this in normal people words vs. medical terms to be more clear.  The hole needed to be patched up, however, my heart was too small to operate on when I was born, so we waited until I was 18 mts. old to have the open heart surgery.  Today, I am sure they could operate immediately.  The hole was the size of a quarter - to put that into perspective - remember your heart is as big as your fist - so I had a tiny baby fist/heart and a pretty sizable hole.  For the first 18 mts. of my life, I had trouble breathing and with the oxygen circulating to my brain.  At times I would just squat down to catch my breath and I would turn blue.  How horrifying for my parents - I can only imagine.  But I made it just fine to 18 mts. and after Christmas 1985, I underwent my first surgery.

Here is the medical terminology on the condition:
"Tetralogy of Fallot" occurs when there is underdevelopment of the right ventricular infundibulum or conus. Ventricular septal defect, right ventricular outflow tract obstruction, right ventricular hypertrophy and overriding of the aorta are the four abnormalities classically described. Tetralogy of Fallot comprises a spectrum of severity. As the severity of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction increases, right to left shunting of blood occurs through the VSD, resulting in cyanosis. When severe right ventricular outflow tract obstruction and hypertrophy exist, hypercontractile episodes, often associated with agitation, give rise to severe right to left shunting of blood and hypercyanosis. These episodes are referred to as "tet spells".  My first surgery was done in Dallas at Texas Children's.  I rock a nice scar down the middle of my chest and I am ok with that.  This pic you can see my scar, it really is not bad at all....

 

Ok, so basically they patched my heart up!  And I was good to go until I was in the 1st grade.  At that point, my heart was growing and the branch pulmonary arteries at the top of my heart started narrowing (stenosis).  Medical terms - I had severe proximal right and left pulmonary artery stenosis.  This surgery was only being done by like 2 or 3 doctor's in the US and the closest for me was in Houston, with Dr. Charles Mullins.  He is my hero!  I loved him.  He is retired now.  He ALWAYS wore cowboy boots with his black pants and white medical jacket, VERY COOL GUY!  Here is a pic of me and him after my surgery in 1st grade (notice that awesome wallpaper and my awesome perm and visor!!!) and then my last visit with him when I was about 16 or 17 before he retired.  This man saved my life - I mean so did the original doctors, but I really had a personal connection with Dr. Mullins.

There are talks that one day I might have to have a valve replacement, but my doctor is confident that it will not be necessary.  I do not take any medications for my heart and I am heart healthy - now, I just need to get my butt in shape!

Whenever I go for my yearly appt.'s, I am not going to lie - I do get a little down and out and it sucks that I even have to deal with this stuff at all.  I know that it could be SO MUCH WORSE and I see that in these hospitals.  God has a plan for me and my heart and so far everything has gone beautifully.  Below is a pic to show the "patch" and the stents.  The arrows at the top are basically pointing at the stents and the hole, well the patch, is the black meshy looking thing on the right, lower side of the pulmonary valve.  I hope this post was informative and for all you medical people - you are prob. laughing at my terms!  HAHA.... I think I got it all right.

15 St. Patrick’s Day Recipes

I love any holiday, but St. Patrick's Day is always fun to me!  A reason to dress up in green and get a little partying in.  You also prob. know that I love cooking.  I found this article online and thought it was great. 

15 St. Patrick’s Day Recipes

I made the Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes from this list.  For the facts: An Irish Car Bomb is a Guiness beer with a shot of 1/3 Jameson, 1/3 Bailey's and 1/3 Kahula dropped in it.  Well I hate beer, so I just take the shot and that is really tasty and called a "Head Lock."  It is like a dessert and in turn these cupcakes are SWEET!

Here is how it all started.  This recipe was intense.  I am not even going to "sugar coat" it.  It was basically 3 recipes in 1.  1 recipe for the cupakes, 1 recipe for the whiskey ganache filling and 1 recipe for the Bailey's frosting. 

Recipe:

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 40 minutes | Bake Time: 17 minutes <<< it took me way longer than this!

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Baileys Frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

1. To Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

3. To Make the Whiskey Ganache Filling: Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.

4. To Fill the Cupcakes: Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter (or the bottom of a large decorating tip), cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down. Transfer the ganache to a piping back with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

5. To Make the Baileys Frosting: Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

6. Using your favorite decorating tip, or an offset spatula, frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container.

Here is my final product.  Not as pretty as the ones on the website, but still tasty!  I tried capturing a pic of the ganache filling, but it was hard since it basically the same color as the cupcake itself.

KONY 2012 - My thoughts....

Well yesterday, I took 30 mins. of my time and watched this film -

It has been ALL OVER facebook and I have seen it everywhere.  My curiosity got the best of me.  It was amazing and very touching.  You just have to watch it to understand.  So, I go on to post it on my facebook wall.  Immediately, I get a wrath of negative comments about it.  Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but come on people -somethings just need to be kept to yourself.  The first one was a this pic posted on my wall.

Ok, so I deleted it from my wall and the guy that posted it.  Why?  Offensive - not to me, I can get over it, but offensive in general.  The statement is pretty much true - I have never known anything about the poor kids in Uganda - plain and simple and I admit that.  However, that is the whole point of this campaign - TO RAISE AWARENESS!!!!  So it worked. 

Now, there has been all this negative press about how the Invisible Children Campaign is all fake, a scam, blah blah blah.  The creator drives an expensive car, etc.  Now, that may look bad and I get that, but who are we to judge what this guy drives?!?!  HE DESERVES IT IN MY OPINION!  He is risking his life, his family's life, etc. to try and help these children and he is a doing an amazing job at it!  I love facebook and everything it allows people to showcase (for me - this), but people need to have respect what other's believe in.  I also realize there is just concern that I am not personally scammed - and again, I DO appreciate that part. 

I did donate money to this cause and I do believe in what these people are doing and have a huge amount of respect for them.  So far all the critics - take a look at this and saf.  http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

At least people are talking about it - including the critics!  No such thing as bad press right?  People always try to tear down good things - we should all know that!  Same thing just happened with all the drug busts at TCU. 

Point made.... 

Tribute to 7th Haven!

So... our favorite bar closed recently and we are so sad!  We had so many great memories there!  Lots of money and time spent there too... hehe!  I decided to dedicate a blog post to some of my favorite times at Haven.... enjoy some pics over the years!  We will never forget you, Haven!  =(

If you like it, you should've put a ring on it!!!!

Arm Wrestling!!!

Haven's last night - 2.25.12

  

B is for my BEST BIA's Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my best friend, Luz and Matt Roe!!  Today is my best bia's anniversary!  Seems like only yesterday, they were getting married in a beautiful ceremony over looking Lake Travis!  Her bridesmaids, including myself had to dance down the aisle to Shakira - so fun!!!!  Such a good day!  Love the Roe's and HAPPY ANNI!!!!

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time!  We got some many things accomplished and had some down time as well.  It makes me feel so good, I just had to share! 

Friday - Keeton and I spent the evening together, just us 2.  We had dinner out at Razzoo's!  I had to get my crawfish fix and Razzoo's has some of the best crawfish out there, in my opinion.  Pretty low key night, but very nice to have to those every once in a while.


Yum!  Mudbugs!


Saturday - I had lunch with my friend, Kendra and then did a little shopping.  I had lots of gift cards - some from Christmas and didn't spend that much money - always better!  I have been wanting to make some spring purchases and I did!  Here are some of the cute items I bought - all from Old Navy.  I love their summer / spring collections.  I had some gift cards from Christmas I intentionally held on to for this purpose!


Love the sailboat pattern!



Paired with white pants = love!

Pink Infinity Scarf - even perfect for warmer weather



Got my Maxi Skirt!  So cute!!! 


After I got home from running some much needed errands and some retail therapy, Keeton and I were invited to the Mavs game that night.  As you all know we are huge Mavs fans and its greatness when we get to go for free.  Marcel and Karen invited us last year for Game 5 of the NBA Finals and it was amazing, they have great seats and are so fun to hang out with!  Here is a pic from Sat.'s game and a pic of us 4 last year from Game 5!  GOOD TIMES!  After the game, they showed us their new house in Southlake too, so pretty!!!!!

Dirk w/ his infamous fade away shot - see the ball at the top of the pic!

NBA Finals - Game 5 - 2011

On Sat. afternoon - Keeton mowed and weedeated the entire yard - it looks so nice!  He also fixed some sprinkler leaks - much needed!  =)  Joys of being a home owner.... whaaa whaaa whaaa.... And, he also worked on a trash bin is has been building us.  Very nice - looks better than having trash bags on the back porch!  =)  I so appreciate all of the things he does!

Sunday - We slept in a little and then got busy working around the house.  We got so many things done! 

• Keeton stained the deck that him and his brothers built last summer!  Wish I had a pic to post.  It looks great!
• Keeton worked on the pool - getting it "summer ready"!!!
• I planted flowers in our front yard - so excited about these.  I know I planted them a little late for the season, but I hope they will last a couple of months at least.

• I also planted some "purple queens" in the flower beds by the house - these should last through summer and are really cool.  Since they are dark purple I couldn't capture a good pic of them.  But this is what they look like.  Keeton helped me with these too!



• I cleaned all the restrooms - no pics, I know - disappointment just set in!
• Cleaned the sheets in the guest bedroom and made that bed.  We are ready for some guests to come stay with us!
• Vacuumed all the rugs in the house - 6 to be exact!
• Dusted everything in the house!
• Sprayed all the weeds in the yard with weed killer.  I even dug some of them up - the big ones - NASTY things!!!!

We had lots of good outside time this weekend on Saturday and Sunday.  Keeton and I love being outdoors.  And guess what??  SO DOES MAVERICK!  She would stretch out like this and it was so cute!  I guess she liked her belly on the warm cement.  Too cute!  I put her water bowl outside with some ice cubes in it.  She really liked that, it was prob. the first time for her to ever have ice water.  She panted for the first time too!  We had not seen that before.  Hehe... precious!  JUST PRECIOUS!  I love her shadow in this pic too!

I hope all of you had a good weekend too!  The weather was great!  We are def. ready for summer time!!!!  BRING IT!!!! 

My Inner "Walk the Line"

Short and sweet today, a little tribute to the man, Johnny Cash!!!

I happen to love Johnny Cash, the song "Walk the Line," the movie Walk the Line, Joaquin Phoenix who played Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and the lyrics to the song "Walk the Line."

"I Walk the Line" is a song written by Johnny Cash and recorded in 1956. After three attempts with moderate chart ratings, "I Walk the Line" became the first number one Billboard hit for Cash. The single remained on the record charts for over 43 weeks, and sold over 2 million copies.  In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #30 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

You could say, this song speaks to me!  HAHA - that sounds pretty deep.  I think that your relationship with your spouse, significant other, etc. should compliment each of you.  The things I lack in myself, Keeton is right there to complete and same with him.  We satisfy each other's needs and it works great.  This song talks about that.  Cash was referring to his first wife Vivian in this song (some believe it was for June Carter), he was newly married when he wrote the song.  Cash stated, “I wrote the song backstage one night in 1956 in Gladewater, Texas. I was newly married at the time, and I suppose I was laying out my pledge of devotion."  LOVE IT! 

Here are the lyrics - enjoy - ponder - etc.  I LOVE YOU KEENASTY, this one's for you!

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time.
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine,
I walk the line

I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I'll admit I'm a fool for you
Because you're mine,
I walk the line

As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I've known proves that it's right
Because you're mine,
I walk the line

You've got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can't hide
For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide
Because you're mine,
I walk the line