This past year has been a journey. Sit back and relax as you read my story.
In March, my brother adopted a dog named Gardy. Gardy is an American Staffordshire Terrier-Pit Bull mix. She's the cutest dog. She loves to cuddle and give you kisses. Gardy was named after Brett Gardner from the Yankees.
In April, a few hours before my flight to Ireland, I was playing a game with Lily (my brother's girlfriend) when I suddenly felt my throat tighten and started to sweat and feel dizzy. I figured I was just thirsty, so I took a drink of water. But it wasn't going down. I excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom. That's when I started throwing up. Of course, I was crying because I was scared. Afterwards, I ended up being okay. But I was afraid to eat. I did grab food at the airport, which went down just fine.
You can read about my trip to Ireland here: Five Years Later
When I came back from Ireland, the first day back to work was great. But in May, I was at work, color-coordinating clothes. Suddenly, I felt dizzy. I didn't know what was going on. I felt like I was going to pass out. I was extremely spacey and cried for help. My boss rubbed my back as I threw up again. I felt fine. I was excited to go to the Wax Museum with Lily. But unfortunately, I was back in the bathroom. We ended up going home. After that, I took a few weeks off work due to my constant nausea and vomiting.
In June, I saw a gastroenterologist. The doctor wanted to do an ultrasound and bloodwork to see if anything comes back. He also put me on acid reflux medication to help with the nausea. A few weeks later, Mom and I went back to the doctor for a follow-up. They did find a gallstone, but it wasn't causing the problem, and the blood work came back normal. We had to schedule an endoscopy. I was scared because I had never had one before.
In July, I was lying on a bed trying to think of positive thoughts while I was getting hooked up to an IV. When I got to the operating room, the anesthesiologist talked me through the procedure. Of course, the silly person that I am asked, "Has anyone ever died doing this?" He reassured me that I would be okay. They put a thing in your mouth to keep it open, then they put you to sleep. Once you're asleep, they insert a tube down your throat and collect samples to help figure out the diagnosis.
A couple of days later, we discovered that I have esophagitis. What is Esophagitis? It is when the esophagus becomes inflamed while eating certain foods, such as fried or spicy foods. Also, you can't drink caffeine. Sadly, I had to go off caffeinated tea and soda. I can only drink decaf tea and caffeine-free soda. I've grown to love decaf tea.
Due to my diagnosis, after talking to my parents and my job coach, we all agreed it was best to end it at the retail job, due to not being able to stand up for long periods, and my on-and-off nausea. It was a great experience working in retail.
Toward the end of July, my brother Brendan got engaged to his beautiful girlfriend, Lily. I was so happy.
Fast forward a few months, in October, my dad and I drove up to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Katie, who is one of my best friends, was getting married. She asked me to be one of the bridesmaids. Of course, I couldn't say no.
Friday, October 31st, after rehearsing, we went to her sister's house for dinner. Mrs. Minard made delicious chicken and beef tacos in the crockpot. Everyone made me feel extremely loved and welcomed. I felt like I was part of the family.
A lot of people asked me how I knew Katie. Let me give you a quick history on that. Katie and I met on a blogging site that no longer exists called Homeschool Blogger. Then we video chatted on Skype, which also doesn't exist. We ended up FaceTiming once every couple of months. In 2022, we met in person at Applebee's in Fort Wayne.
Early Saturday morning, Dad dropped me off at the church, and I went into the suite with the other bridesmaids. Hannah, Katie's sister-in-law, did my makeup. I watched all the beautiful ladies get their hair done. Of course, the bride was the most attractive person in the room. It was freezing outside, but we managed to take some good photos. It was only then that I regretted choosing a short dress. Both the wedding ceremony and reception were amazing. When I walked down that aisle, I think I almost cried. That's how happy I was.
This Thanksgiving, Ryan, my sister-in-law Victoria, my niece Willow, and my nephew Malachi came for the weekend. It was a lot of fun. I helped Mom make mashed potatoes. We had turkey, Ham, Mashed potatoes, stuffing, and croissants. Of course, we can't forget my mom's famous gravy. It's the best gravy you'll ever have. Brendan and Lily came over. Brendan made an apple pie, and we had Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
This year, we celebrated Christmas on December 20th. The Mullens were together this year for the first time in a long time. We did a mixture of catering and cooking. Mom made ham, salad, roast beef, and pigs in a blanket. We catered penne with vodka sauce and potato croquets. Everything was good, but the pasta was my favorite.
After dinner, we read a scripture from Luke about Jesus's birth. Then we did the White Elephant game. Yes, I'm a bad aunt and stole from my nephew. But don't worry, he still loves me. 🤣 He ended up getting a cheese-shaped stress ball. Which was very similar to the purple stress that I stole. Then we did the gift exchange. I was the elf. Of course, the kids got a lot of gifts, and they loved everything. My brother Ryan got me a Los Angeles Dodgers Trivia book. Lily surprised me with a gift. She got me a Stitch bobblehead, a Stitch stress ball, and Hershey kisses.
Since my dad's birthday was the following day, we celebrated his birthday on the twentieth. For his birthday, I got him a Carvel ice cream cake. It was his sixty-fifth birthday. We sang Happy Birthday, then we had Irish tea and dessert. Lily and I made gingerbread and sugar cookies.
On Christmas Day, it was just my parents and me. Before we opened gifts, I made French Toast. Then we went into the living room and opened gifts. I got lovely gifts. For dinner, we kept our tradition and went out to China New Star. China New Star is our famous Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn. The food was excellent. My favorite things to order are chicken fried rice, wonton soup, and curry. After dinner, we went to Brendan's apartment to give him some food and, of course, to see Miss Gardy. Brendan got me an Agatha Christy video game. Safe to say he loved the leftovers.
Happy New Year! I pray 2026 is full of positivity and lots of new memories.
Photo 1: The bridesmaids and bride (I'm on the left)
Photo 2: The family photo on Thanksgiving. (Malachi, Victoria, my mom, Gardy, Brendan, Lily, my dad, me, Ryan, and Willow.
Photo 3: The cookies Lily and I made.
Photo 4: Carvel Ice Cream Cake
Photo 5: My parents and I on New Year's Eve
