Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day! This year's festivities came with all sorts of fun adventures. First off, I woke up around 3:00 a.m. and the world would not stop spinning. With all the motion, I quickly became extremely nauseous and spent the next several hours throwing up/dry heaving. Thankfully, there were moments that I could stop the spinning if I kept my head very still, but with a house full of people (10 to be exact!..all Nichole's family, our second cousin, Kai, and his girlfriend, Laura, my uncle, Jon, his wife, Emiliee, and his son, Jayde) and about 30 more coming to join us that evening, I needed to stop taking a trip around the world every time I moved my head. After trying a few exercises that were recommended to us by a physical therapist friend, Jeff and I decided it was time to head to the emergency room. I am so grateful for modern medicine! Within minutes of receiving a prescription strength anti-vertigo pill, I started to feel better. Fortunately, that's all I needed. For whatever unfortunate reason, I just had a classic case of vertigo. They ran an EKG and CT scan to rule out any heart or brain abnormalities then sent me on my way...with a magical bottle of those pills and some anti nausea meds just in case. I'm extremely grateful that Nichole was amongst those staying with us. She (and our cousin, Sandy, who came over when she became aware of the situation) really pulled through to help finalize all the prep and entertain all the guests. It was a team effort and everyone chipped in and helped pull off our 4th of July festivities! Thankfully, I had also done a lot of the prep work the day before, which helped minimize the guilt I felt for just sitting around. Thankfully, I didn't feel any more spinning or nausea as long as I was being careful with my movement. Jeff and I returned from the ER mid-afternoon...and the real party started. We busted out our massive slip and slide for all the kids to enjoy while we finished food prep. Afterward, we welcomed the rest of our guests for a big BBQ and more fun and games. The evening culminated with our neighborhood fireworks show. This show gets bigger and better every year. We love gathering with all our friends and family to celebrate this nation. It may not be a perfect nation, but as I have traveled the world and lived in different countries, I can say that there is no where else I'd rather be. Our Founding Father were divinely inspired to fight for the rights we now get to enjoy. I am not oblivious to the facts that those "rights" have been experienced differently by different groups of people, but as we have learned and grown, we have made vast improvements in becoming a free nation for all. There is still work to be done, but I will never stop fighting for what I believe in; I will never stop fighting to maintain the freedoms we have and ensure their application for all. Happy 4th of July!