Boxes

These square brown boxes
compartmentalize my life
with the sound of tape.


Things in the world of Jack and Brian have been interesting as of late, so I'd like to break it down for you in stackable, movable boxes.  In the bottom of the first cardboard box you'll find Brian's knee.  After going to the gym one day and running on the treadmill, Brian came home and expressed that his knee was in excruciating pain.  It hurt to walk on it.  The next day wasn't any better.  Or the day after that.  Eventually it got so bad that his work sent him home because he was slowly limping around the kitchen.

Brian's parents and I convinced him that he should see a doctor, who told him that he had either pinched or torn entirely the cartilage in his knee.  If it was only pinched, a few weeks of rest would do the trick.  However, if it was torn, he would need to have knee surgery.  In order to know for certain, Brian would need an MRI.  Luckily, Brian is still covered under his family's health insurance.  Not so luckily, his family has a high deductible that hasn't been met this year yet, so the MRI would still cost Brian and I over a thousand dollars out-of-pocket.

Brian opted out on the MRI, figuring that if he continued to stay at home for another couple of weeks and it still hurt, he would worry about it then.  Thankfully, his knee doesn't hurt anymore so we are assuming it had only been pinched.  Brian went back to work this past Friday for the first time and he said his knee felt fine and he was happy to be baking again.

One box filled, flaps folded down and taped shut.

Moving on, the next big box in my life can be labeled "pregnancy."  Of course it would take a miracle of science for me to be pregnant, so don't get any crazy ideas!  The expecting one is my sister, Renee, who sent me a text one evening while I was at work that simply said "I'm pregnant."  It was shock to read in a text message, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to how my sister must have felt when she saw the plus sign on that little pee stick.  "I was shaking like a leaf," she told me.

She's only 18 years old, and she and her boyfriend Jaylon aren't in the greatest financial situation.  There's a lot for us all to worry about, but Renee is determined to keep the baby and raise it.  The doctor told her she is only six weeks along (which I guess is too early to announce a pregnancy, anything can happen at this point) and gave her some advice on staying healthy and paperwork to apply for WIC.  The only thing I can do is love and support her in this life-changing process and be happy that I am going to become an uncle for the first time.  That's pretty exciting news if you think about it!

That box is only half full, so I won't tape it up yet.  There will be much more to add over the coming months... like baby clothes and toys.  I'm really excited to have a legitimate excuse to walk through Baby Gap.

Continuing on to the next box, you'll find that it is filled with a brand new apartment.  Normally when I say "brand new" I mean new to me, but this time the apartment is actually brand spanking new.  Brian and I saw Siena Villas in Orem and fell instantly in love with the new construction.  Granite countertops, textured walls, and sparkling new Whirlpool appliances were all too much for us to resist.  We filled out in application and less than a week later we were signing the lease.

The apartment was officially ours on the 1st, but we didn't start moving in until the 2nd because that's when I had a day off.  Brian's cousin Brett borrowed his stepdad's little pickup truck and  he helped us move all our belongings over.  Then we all drove up to Ikea and brought home a new sofa and a new entertainment center.  Our friend Michelle came over in the evening and helped us assemble the furniture (and when I say "helped" I mean that she and Brian ate pizza while I did most of the work).  Saturday morning I had some free time so I got all of our books and movies unpacked and on shelves, Century Link came and hooked up our internet, my manager's husband was nice enough to bring over a spare bed rail and Brian got the kitchen stuff all put away.  He even went grocery shopping last night, so we actually have food in our fridge and pantry!

We are loving our new apartment and you will be hearing lots about it as we slowly furnish and decorate it to our liking.  Now if only we could get rid of all these boxes...