Vacation success; vacation sickness.

I flew out to Utah for three weeks. I stayed at Russ and Ashley's house, sleeping on the couch, though I feel like I hardly saw them at all with everything else I was trying to do and take care of during my time here.

I did my first triathlon, I visited a friend in Nevada and made a little cash during those four days, I worked out getting my old job back in August, I took another career test, I met with my academic advisor a couple of times, I changed majors and I'm finally working on my application for my study of choice within BYU, my relationship with Bob has just gotten better every day, and I've seen several old mission friends and companions.

However, I haven't yet found a place to live in the fall. I've looked and everybody seems to have space for spring/summer, but none for fall/winter. How stupid. Okay, it's really just irritating. I'm also being kind of picky. I'm tired of apartment complexes and I'd like to live in a house or duplex with some other girls. That's the part that's making it so difficult. I guess I'll settle for an apartment again if I don't have any luck by August. If anybody has any leads on women's housing, let me know.

And I couldn't have a perfect vacation. I never can. I've had this lingering cold for over a month now, and every time I think I'm getting better, I discover that I'm not. I get these coughing attacks, sinus headaches, and I get unpredictably runny noses. Sunday morning I woke up feeling a bit more groggy than usual. I went back to sleep (thank goodness church doesn't start here until 12:45pm) and woke up later, still feeling a little worse than usual. I had one of those sinus headaches, I felt drained, I had no energy, and my inner right ear was feeling just a bit sore. I got ready for church and didn't think much of it, because my body has just been doing weird things lately. I walked over to Bob's house and sank onto his couch waiting for him to finish getting ready for church. I wasn't feeling any better since I'd woken up. I actually noticed myself feeling worse. But I put on a smile and we went to church. The meetings were great and my spirits were uplifted, but my headache had gotten worse and the pain in my ear was also much worse. Then my menstrual cramps hit, to top it all off. We made it back to Bob's house and I curled up on the couch. I didn't move at all for a few hours except to call my mom about a remedy for my ear (garlic oil dropped into my ears every two hours). Then a friend of mine stopped by, and I acted as happy and perky as I could until he left. As soon as I closed the door behind him I curled back up into a miserable ball on the couch and didn't move at all for another few hours.

Bob was sweet. He made me dinner. He got me Tylenol. He got me a pillow and a blanket so I'd be more comfortable. He made an emergency run to the store on his bike for tampons and the things I needed for my ear. He looked up reflexology online and found all the different points on my hands and feet to massage in hopes that it would alleviate some of my cramps and other pains (and it did!). He rubbed my feet until I fell asleep. I was completely out, exhausted from all the various pains I was feeling. Then he didn't know what to do, because he didn't want to wake me up, but it was late and girls aren't supposed to sleep over. He tried to wake me enough to leave, but I guess I wasn't having any of it. He called Ben (which I think I suggested because I didn't want everybody worrying about me) and told him what was up, that I was sick and miserable and completely out on his couch....

I woke up around 8-ish this morning, still curled up on Bob's couch and slightly confused at first. After remembering yesterday, I felt bad because I completely broke the rules. But I'll admit, it was nice to wake up to quiet, especially with my painful ears. I'm usually a happy morning person, and I love waking up to my nephews excitedly pointing at me when they see that I'm awake, then coming and giving me hugs. I'm just not sure how pleasant I would have been this morning.

Bob made me breakfast, rubbed my feet more, and I finally started to feel a bit better. My ears are still pretty tender, but the cramps aren't nearly as severe, and the headache is almost all gone.

Now I get to fly home tomorrow. I get the impression that it might be pretty painful unless that garlic oil really kicks in today. I might get a blessing tonight if I'm not doing much better than I am now. We'll see...