I have been wanting a violet ribbon since I became a cancer survivor. I went through a lot and this was sort of my own symbol of beating it...winning the fight. It's a reminder of all I went through. When I was diagnosed they didn't think I would last 3 weeks without treatment. It was a difficult time combined with the fact that I did indeed feel like I was dying.

I came back, kicked cancer's ass and here I am today. I got my tattoo, spent the day on the Harley and even got a rather funny looking sunburn to top it all off. It was a good day. I had a great time out singing at the end of the night with my favorite local Karaoke DJ, Dennis.

I'm proud of what I have accomplished. Now I'm going to be starting my second semester in Nursing College. Who knew 3 years ago that I would be here today?

I do miss my dad though. He lost his battle. It's so wrong that he lost his battle right after I won mine. It's like cancer is there to remind you, that though you won, he can still take your family....your friends....and yeah even come back for you. It's always there. My dad's ribbon is almost identical to mine. Mine is violet, his is purple. So I got the tattoo for both of us. (And no my dad did not approve of tattoos, just so no one thinks he did haha) But I got it anyway. I wanted it as a tribute to him with his initials and birth year and the year he died. On the other side, is Survivor 08....the year I was declared in remission. Yeah it means a lot to me. I have wanted it for a long time and now I am so happy to finally have it!!! :)

Yeah I'm moving up in the world. Finally my mouth is feeling a bit better. It's not perfect by any means. I still can't open it really wide and it's still very sore, but I am managing to eat food with a little more substance to it. I also blew my diet all to hell last night by eating a donut. It was amazing and totally worth it. Now I may have to add an extra 5 minutes on the treadmill or something.

All of this pain due to having my wisdom teeth removed. I have more pain to come when they surgically remove the bottom wisdom teeth. Fun! I am just glad I'll be knocked out for those.

I didn't do much this weekend. I hung out with my sister and her family. I just didn't feel up to going anywhere with all of this mouth pain. I think next weekend I will get out and have a good time one way or another!!!

Oh and we got a new family member yesterday. It was just meant to be. As soon as I saw her, I just knew. I want to call her Aurora Rose. She sleeps ALL the time. I feel this name is fitting for such a sleepy head cat. :)

I ate the smoothie for lunch today since my mouth is still sore. I wanted something good and filling, but soft and nothing to really chew. This was it. I wasn't sure how great it would be but wow. I loved it! Awesome. I am glad I bought it. I am not doing a review for anyone here. I am just putting this up because I felt like it. I was happy and plan to buy it again.

Now onto the Burger King ribs. I perhaps am making this post MORE because of the ribs than the smoothie. I was SO disappointed. I decided to get them for my hubby as a surprise. I didn't know they had them and it was kind of a surprise you know? I saw this amazing picture of these beautiful looking ribs. They were long and juicy looking. At almost $8.00 for the combo I hoped they would be worth it. They were not. The taste was ok according to my husband. When I looked at the ribs though I thought it was a joke. They were tiny looking dry ribs. They came with a barbecue sauce that you HAVE to use. My husband was needless to say still hungry after eating them. I hate it when companies lie by showing us pictures and then delivering a product that looks nothing like it. I mean you may fool us at first, but eventually people will start talking and see that you were lying and it pisses us off. So, perhaps you should just either give us what you advertise or take a picture of the TRUE product.

Just found a GREAT picture online of what the ribs look like. I claim no rights to this photo. Just did a google search and it's so accurate!

Most of my family can't see it but I sure can. My cheeks are swollen. Puffy. I feel like a chipmunk storing things in her cheeks. My mouth is sore today. Maybe even more so than yesterday. I hope this passes quickly. I am ready to just feel normal again. I am getting the bottom two wisdom teeth out probably later this summer thankfully surgically. I am glad they will be able to put me out for those!

I won't be wanting to go out or do anything until I don't feel like a puffy cheeked dork. Again I think I notice it more than anyone else. Still though, it's really hard to feel attractive with puffy cheeks. Maybe it will go down within the next couple of days. We'll see. I'm so ready for a drink.

Had two wisdom teeth pulled today. I put the whole story on my other blog if you are interested. (Pregnant With Cancer) I am in pain. I think I'll survive. However I'm pretty hungry and not sure what I can really eat without a lot of pain. I had some chocolate pudding...but I'm still pretty hungry.

I have actually been working out a lot the past two weeks. I decided my butt and thighs need some firming up. I am not a big person...on the contrary, my usual weight is between 102-105. I however noticed my thighs and butt just didn't have that firmness to them I used to see. So I have been doing Pilates and running on my treadmill every night. I already seen an improvement.

I miss it but haven't had a lot of time with school to work out. I am sure I need to keep it in my schedule no matter how jam packed it may be. I am not getting any younger and it takes work to keep my body tone!!! I'm skipping Pilates tonight though due to extreme mouth pain. The treadmill however will be seeing me in a few.

Check out the tornado that hit 20 miles from us tonight.

I think it looks like the one from the Wizard of Oz! Lots of damage from this one. Praying for the people there. I have friends there. There was a lot of action in Central Illinois tonight. Hoping things calm down so we can all rest peacefully through the night. It's always the worst when a tornado hits when it's dark. You can't see it coming.

You know you live in a state with tornado warnings being a common occurrence when you  hear the sirens go off and everyone is outside watching the skies. There are lots of tornadoes tonight all around us. The sirens have gone off a lot. I am hearing a lot of thunder. I see a lot of wind, and a bit of lightening but so far it doesn't look like a tornado.

I love a good storm. I don't want to be blown away by a tornado but I do love to watch a great show in the sky. A little hail is pretty cool as long as I am not outside in it!! Now off to watch the skies again.