Wednesday, December 28, 2016

I broke my leg

Warning: some slightly graphic content and I didn't proofread very well. Process with caution. 

I broke my leg. I know I already said that. I broke my leg on November 12, 2016 and it was/is awful. Clark and I were north of the town of Caserta, Italy when we were exploring an ancient Roman aqueduct, after we visited the town sant'agata de' goti. The aqueduct is now an ancient t monument so there is a little parking area and trail were you can climb up onto it. So we did. There was a little ledge were you could walk around the pillar and of course I did. Clark told me it was a bad idea but for some reason I thought I was invincible. We were walking back to leave. Clark walked on the ledge first and was fine and when I went to walk back I lost my footing. In all honesty, I wasn't being very cautious, I didn't think anything of it. I just wasn't being safe. I lost my footing and within a split second I knew I was going to fall. So instead of letting myself fall backward I kind of jumped feet first. It was about 20 feet up. I hit and immediately knew my leg was broken. I was in shock so I didn't cry and I could barely feel it but I looked down at my leg near my ankle and it was very disfigured.
Clark ran and jumped down to me. He was very freaked out at first. He called the emergency number and was trying to get help of some people walking by. Some people stopped and helped and talked to the emergency number people because we didn't know exactly where we were so they translated for us. And they actually stayed with us until the ambulance arrived. It was the Italian ambulance and no one spoke English which was probably the scariest, most surreal thing. I ended up in an Italian hospital. Luckily our landlords only lived a few minutes away so they came and stayed the whole time in the ER with us and I was in the Italian hospital for the next 5 days and they came and visited everyday. They truly are wonderful people. No one spoke English at the Italian hospital so we learned the crash course of Italian medical terms in 5 days and we also used a lot of Google translate which the Italian nurses that was a lot of fun. I even made the Italian paper after the accident.
After 5 days in the Italian hospital I got transferred to the US Navy hospital on the base in Italy. We requested that I get sent back to the USA for surgery because the injury was/is that bad. The doctors thought so as well so I was at the US NAVY hospital for a few days until I got on military plane for a medivact to Landstuhl, Germany. I was in Germany for about 5 days. I got an external fixation on my leg on November 17th and had it on until my actual surgery on November 28th. We flew from Landstuhl, Germany to Washington D.C. on Thanksgiving we didn't get any turkey but some really nice nurse did get us pumpkin pie. So I was in DC for 4 days until the surgery on the 28th. This whole time I was in the hospital, Clark was right by my side. My mom flew in on November 25 and stayed until December 2, it was awesome to have my mom there for the surgery and a few days after for recover.
So like I said, the surgery was on November 28, 2016. It was a long one. I went in around noon and didn't come out of it until 6pm. I have 3 plates, a rod, and tons of screws, they even did bone graphs. They actually said it looked better once they got in there then they thought it would. So that was good. The day after the surgery was probably the worst pain I had been in. Obviously since it had been about 3 weeks since my initial break so I couldn't remember the pain as well but that day after surgery was terrible for a while until they gave me a shot to numb the pain.

Each day after that the pain got better and better. I was doing PT each day and got released on December 4. My follow up appointment was on December 8th so Clark and I stayed in the Fisher House (a hotel for people staying in the hospital) for 4 days. My follow up appointment went well and they said the skin was healing really well but the stitches weren't ready to come out. So we were trying to get me an appointment at the base hospital in Tacoma WA so we could go back to Washington State. That was a headache but we got it figured out and we flew home to Washington State on December 9. I went to my follow up appointment on December 14th and they took the stitches out and put a new cast on my leg.
The next 2-3 days were very uncomfortable on my leg. The cast felt way too tight and honestly I wanted a second opinion. I also wanted a DR that was closer to my hometown where I was going to be living. That way if I had a problem I could call and talk to MY dr. Not just A dr. So I had another appointment closer to home with a DR that would be my DR from now on, on November 20th. He was shocked at how tight the cast was a removed it right away and took knew x-rays. He said it looked good and that I should be in a boot and he wanted to see my again in 3 weeks. So I have been in a boot for the last 3 days and it feels better but obviously it still hurts. I am happy to be seeing my Dr again in a few week and see if there is any progress.

I am doing everything I can to make sure my bone heals correctly. I have a bone stimulator that helps with healing and I have been taking Vitamin D and Calcium supplements. Resting a lot and staying off my feet. I am going to be 12 weeks non weight bearing on my right leg. After that I will be doing PT and working to get my strength back for the next 3-4 months. So I will be staying in Washington State until probably March or April then heading back to Italy after that. Clark will be heading back to Italy after the New Year so really soon :(

I am sure there is a bunch of stuff I missed so if you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them. It has been a rough 6-7 weeks since I broke my leg. But I am handing in there and I am thankful to be surrounded by family and friends to recover. 
love, Carlee 

Monday, December 5, 2016

Random Gifts for Her

The title of this post says it all. Super random gifts, aka things I want for Christmas this year. I feel like the photo speaks for itself so I won't say much more. I haven't been posting much and for good reason. I broke my leg. More on that later. I just figured I would post this since it was in my drafts and still before Christmas haha. okay. peace. 
love, Carlee

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

New stuff at Little Sloth shop

Hey all! So there is a bunch of new stuff at the Little Sloth shop on Etsy and also on Casetify! I'll first start off with Etsy. I have 6 new mugs. A Pirate, Mountain Sheep (inspiration from our trip to Ireland), a Strong Men mug to go along with the Strong Women mug. (Also selling the pair in a set here!), Lion, Pug, and Sloth!My mom has asked me for about a year now why I don't have a sloth mug yet and it's finally here! Haha. I am really proud of the sloth, pug, lion and pirate because I did them all myself. My husband, Clark, is super talented in the drawing department so we usually collaborate on the animal drawings but these ones I did 95% myself. Instead of the usually 50% me and 50% him. I did ask for his insight and feedback of course that's why I give him 5% credit on these and myself 95% haha.

I also have 4 new military cards. They are for military promotions. When Clark got promoted from specialist to sgt my mom was looking for a card to buy him and couldn't really find anything good. She kept telling me that I really should design a military promotion card so I did a card design for the enlisted promotion rates in the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. I currently don't do custom orders but if there is enough demand for other designs for the promotion cards I will definitely add them to my shop. 


I also have 3 new tech case designs on Casetify. I have a holiday iPhone case, chocolate and hearts a.k.a Valentine's Day, and a new fun geometric pattern. 

Don't forget I have a sale going on at my Etsy shop now through November 29th! Take 10% off your entire purchase with code : WEEKENDSALE10 . Enter the code at checkout. 

Casetify also has sales going on this week:  Black Friday starts T O D A Y (November 22) and lasts until Friday PST!
16% off all orders over $30
20% off orders over $70

code: BLACK2016

love, Carlee 

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Pompeii

A few weeks ago my friend, her daughter and I went to Pompeii. It was both of our first times visiting. Clark and I have been wanting to go but we always hear about how packed it is on the weekend so we have been putting it off. My friend and I decided to go one day during the week and it was perfect. There were still quite a lot of tourist compared to other parts of Naples but a lot less than what I image it is like on the weekend. I heard that it takes about 10 times going to Pompeii to really get to see it all so Clark and I are definitely going to do again. I am sure we will go again when my family or friends come as well because it is a pretty big deal in all those history books haha.
It was super easy to get there everything was well marked and we parked really close to the entrance. The parking was $3 an hour which wasn't too bad and they had this "promotion" of if you eat at there restaurant you get to park for free the catch was that you had to spend $40 on a meal so it wasn't really worth it to eat. But the parking still was a good price even if the promotion was kind of bogus. haha. The people at the ticketing office spoke English as well as staff inside the site (at least the ones we talked to did.) We walked a ton and tried to see as much as we could. We saw the amphitheater and the bodies that were casted in lava. We even got to see a new exhibit that was set up and included modern sculptures within the ruins of Pompeii. It made the whole sight look really neat.
We even found the cutest kitty while at Pompeii. I first thought it was with someone because it kept cuddling up to this lady but then it came over to us. It was the sweetest little cat and have the prettiest design. I think it is really cool that Pompeii is still an active archeological site and has people working and digging and uncovering all the time. We came across people digging and brushing (what are these people called again.... I can't remember.) Anyways it was an amazing time. Next time I will make sure to get a good detailed map, that was our one mistake.

I am hoping to take Clark to Pompeii soon, I think he might get a couple of week days off at some point and that definitely would be the time to go. I can't wait to go back. 
love, Carlee

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Royal Palace of Caserta

Over the weekend we visited our landlords in there come town of Caserta, Italy. They made us lunch at there home and we got to meet two of their three children. We had such a big lunch, we had spaghetti, salad, mozzarella, bread, apples, and baba (a traditional Naples rum cake.) They also gave us some grappa which is a 40% alcohol like whiskey but made from grapes like wine is but it is way stronger than wine. After lunch which lasted about 2 hours haha. We went to the Royal Palace of Caserta.
We have been hearing lots of things about the Royal Palace of Caserta. People in the area say its the best royal palace in the world better than the Palace of Versailles. I guess Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton visited back in the 90s when Bill was the US President and she said it was the most beautiful place in the world. That is what our landlords said so don't quote me because I am not how true it is haha. We did find out that scenes were filmed here at the palace for Stars Wars: Episode I and II for the Palace on Naboo in the movies. Pretty cool stuff. Also, some of Mission Impossible III was filmed here.
It is a truly beautiful palace and it is so huge and grand. We saw about 50 rooms and I thought it was a lot. I guess there are actually over 1400 rooms in the entire palace. We saw a couple bedrooms with there beds and the throne room and bathrooms. The last king lived in the palace in 1860 after that the monarchy was dissolved.

We had a lovely time and it was fun to get to see a little bit of Italy through a locals eyes. For far we have lucked out with our landlords. They are great. I know a lot of people here have bad experiences but our has been wonderful so far.... knock on wood. hehe.
love, Carlee

Thursday, November 3, 2016

North Carolina bucket list: 100 things to do in NC

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet! It has been sitting in my drafts, I guess just waiting for today. The 3 years we lived in North Carolina were some of the best years of my life. We spent our first years as a married couple there, we got our dog Knox in NC. I really do love the state of North Carolina! So what better way then to give you my recommendations for this do to. 65 of the things are things we did that I most likely wrote blog post about. Search under the North Carolina label and the other 35 things are things that I wish I could have done/ you should definitely do! Let me know how your adventures go. 
1. Kitty Hawk, NC (Wright Brothers National Memorial): how could one visit North Carolina and not visit the place that NC is best known for (I mean it is on the NC licenses plates) FIRST IN FLIGHT.

2. Duck Donuts: One of the best little donut shops that was founded on the Outer Banks of NC. There are about 10 shops open now around North Carolina and Virginia. They make the donuts hot and fresh right in front of you and dip the frosting fresh and sprinkle the donuts.

3. Grandfather Mountain: This was one of the first state parks we visited in NC. We took a trip in October 2013 just a week after we got Knox to the mountains of North Carolina. The line was a little long to get into the state park but it was totally worth it. You get a CD to put into your player and you get to drive through the park while it tells you about the history and such. Even a scene in Forest Jump was filmed here. 

4. Hanging Rock State Park

5. Fort Macon: I pronounced this wrong forever haha. It is a really good state park now that was involved in the Civil War and was in control of The South and then overtaken by The North. 

6. Civil War battle fields: The first one I visited was Averasboro Civil War Battlefield near Dunn NC.

7. Cotton Field: These might be a bigger deal for me than other people. But coming from the Northwest of the USA I had never seen a cotton field in my life so if your like me go check them out!

8. South of the Border: so this is technically in South Carolina but it is right on the border. Hence the name. Definitely worth a visit. So kitschy!

9. Durham Bulls: If you haven’t seen the movie Bull Durham I highly recommend it. Then go to watch the Durham Bulls actually play baseball in Durham NC. We went once in the spring and then again for 4th of July.

10. Outer Banks: Home to most of the NC lighthouses which I love! Make sure to visit, Bodie Island Lighthouse, Cape Hattress Lighthouse, Currtick Lighthouse. Visit the Nights in Roadnathe House. Duck Donuts. Old fishing piers. Wild horses. Driving on the beach. 

11. Jersey Mikes. Actually started in New Jersey but I had never eaten at one until I moved to NC. Life changer.. way better than Subway.

12. Carolina Ale House: A good restaurant chain that is mainly in NC and most of the locations even have karaoke.

13. Krispy Kreme. Yeah yeah I know they are everywhere but Krispy Kreme was actually founded in North Carolina.

14. Visit Fort Bragg. It is the largest military base in the world and home of the Airborne (soldiers that jump out of planes) You can get on base an civilian through the main All American Expressway gate. Just need your ID, car permit.

15. Downtown Wilmington. Wilmington is such a beauitful town. I recommend staying in downtown and walking to restuarants. It is also super dog friendly so bring the pup.

16. Kilwins: Ice Cream and Candy. This is a must eat place in Wilmington. There ice cream is so good and it smells like heaven inside. Usually there is a line out the door, but it moves fast and it is worth the wait.

17. Will’s Grill. This is a must eat place if you are in Fayetteville, NC! Great service and there signature pretzel bun burgers are so delicious.

18. Ocracoke Island beaches: my mom actually called me the other day to tell me she read an article that said Ocracoke Island is the 2nd best place in the United States to look for seashells. Unfortunately we were running behind and had to make a ferry and only had time to stop at the lighthouse and not comb the beaches :(

19. Cameo Art House Theatre. This is a movie theater located in Fayetteville NC. It is locally owned and totally awesome. It shows small movie that are lesser known but still totally great with big names. And they serve beer and wine at the theater so score.

20. Kalawi Farms and Ben’s Ice Cream. If you are on HWY 211 west of Pinehurst NC near Eagle Springs NC definitely store at this road side fruit and ice cream stand. In the summer it is open from 8am to 8pm but I would definitely recommend calling for specific phones.

21. Drive country roads to spot old grave site in corn and cotton fields.

22. Cape Lookout Lighthouse: One of the North Carolina lighthouses. You can only get to it by ferry or boat. It has a pretty black and white diamond pattern. The only thing on the island is the lighthouse and a little state park shop. You can camp on the island and beach for free!

23. Birthplace of Pepsi Cola: pretty self explanatory. The place were Pepsi was invented. You can even buy the original recipe there, made with real cane sugar!

24. Know the speed limit. While everyone seems to drive 10-15 mph over the speed limit (yep, you read that right). Make sure you know it and don’t get pulled over because the NC traffic violation laws are pretty strict!

25. Carolina Beach State Park: One of the only places that the Venus fly trap grows in nature.

26. Kure Beach fishing pier: This was actually the first fishing pier on the Atlantic coast which I just think it totally rad. You do need a permit to fish on it but you can walk on it for free there is usually a friendly pelican out there.

27. Brits Donuts: Such a good donut place. They are comparable to Krispy Kreme originals but better. Get a few and eat them hot.

28. Cheerwine: This is a cola drink that was founded in NC and is very popular in the area. I haven't seen it many places but North Carolina. But it is sort of like a cherry Dr. Pepper. Its pretty good.

29. North Carolina Zoo: One of the best zoos I have ever been too. You can even feed giraffes lettuce for only an extra $1 (cash only). The habitats are all well taken care of.

30. Duke University: The campus has to much to offer. There are museums, gardens and world class sports teams to watch and an AMAZING chapel! The architecture alone is stunning. It is a very cool school with lots of history.

31. Chapel Hill: Okay the towns of Chapel Hill and Carasboro are so darn cute! They have tons of cute little shops and local restaurants the two towns basically fun into each other and you can’t tell where one ends and the other beginnigs. Go to Sutton’s drug store if you are in town and get a milkshake and crinkle fries! Also take photos by all the cool murals on the buildings so many cool murals.

32. Carolina Tiger Rescue: This tiger rescue is in Pittsboro NC. And it is awesome. They rescue tigers, lions and other exotic cats from captivity here in NC. They have also rescued cats from poor conditions in zoos across the south. They have a great facility and a very well informed staff.

33. Carolina Panthers : In 2015 the Carolina Panthers had the longest undefeated season of anyone in the NFL! The crowd at Bank of America Stadium is amazing and in such a pretty city!

34. Buca Di Beppos: So this is a chain restaurant. If there is one in your city/ state ignore this one. But there is only one in all of NC and I had missed it because in Seattle we used to go all the time. So it was fun to go again. It is an amazing Italian restaurant with sharing sizes! YUMMMMM.

35. Uptown Charlotte NC: so in Charlotte they call there downtown uptown. Just to clear that up. Beautiful city with lots to do. There is a beautiful view from Marshall Park of all the skyscrapers in Charlotte.

36. Crowders Mountain State Park / King's Pinnacle: King's Pinnacle is one of the peaks at Crowders Mountain State Park. It is a 4 mile hike to the top and back from the parks visitors center and totally worth it. Bring water though and a camera because the view from the top is outstanding.

37. Drive to Myrtle Beach: So technically not in North Carolina but Myrtle Beach SC is so close and it is a fun town with lots of tourist things! Mini golf, aquarium, boardwalk, gift shops, candy shops, lots and lots of kitschy stuff!

38. Southport NC: Southport is the town that the book and movie Safe Haven (Nicholas Sparks) is set. It is very pretty and we even got to see Alex's House and the dock were Katy worked. The town is so cute and very walkable.

39: Bald Head Island / Lighthouse: This is a cool lighthouse and island! There are no cars on the island but there are golf carts. You can walk to almost anywhere. It is kind of expensive to get out to the island, a round trip ticket is $23.00

40: Visit all the covered bridges. I love covered bridges they are a still standing part of history and we don't really have them in WA so it was fun to find all the covered bridges in NC.
-Gaddy Covered Bridge


41. Morrow Mountain State Park: in central NC. Not the biggest mountains ever but fun little trip especially in the fall when the leaves are changing.

42: North Carolina State Fair: the state fair is awesome and huge! If you go on the weekend like we did there will be LOTS of people. Don't forget to get your free hushpuppies!

43: Watch airplanes: Charlotte airport overlook, its free and has picnic tables and parking sports just to watch the planes.

44: Dusty Donuts food truck: These are amazing little cinnamon sugar donuts. You can get different stuff on them. It is a food truck that is mainly around the Raleigh, Durham area but they come down to Fayetteville occasionally. So yummy. You can find them online and twitter for there current food truck stops and events.

45: If your into sports go see Michael Jordan's childhood home and high school in Wilmington NC.

46: Ocean Isle Beach: A cute little beach town in the south of NC, we even found whole sand dollars on the beach.

47. Currituck Beach Light: This is the most northern lighthouse in North Carolina and in Corolla NC! This was the last one I saw and if you drive like 1 mile past the lighthouse on the main road, the road just ends and turns into sand and you can drive on the beach if you have 4 wheel drive.

48: Wild Horses: Corolla NC or the Shattleford Banks: I never actually got to see the wild horses but there are tours on the Outer Banks and they live wildly on the wildlife reserves here in NC.

49. Jockey Ridge State Park: This state park is home to the largest natural sand dunes in the eastern USA. They are huge and so cool. People fly kites at this state park and also go sledding on the sand dunes.

50. Men's Duke Basketball Game: I was lucky enough to attend one of these when my dad and family came down. They got tickets for the family and it was so awesome! It was the best energy ever and if you can afford it I would totally recommend it. Even the seats way up high are worth it.

51. Pinehurst #2: A nice golf course and resort that is located in Pinehurst NC. The US Open is often held at this golf course.

52. Cook Out: A fun fast-food chain that is located in the southeast USA. They have super good hushpuppies and 40 flavors of milkshakes!

53: Raven Rock State Park: A fun state park located in Lillington NC. There are tons of trails and picnic tables and it is located on the Cape Fear River so there are places to swim and fish as well.

54: Lighting Bugs: We actually didn't see any lightning bugs until summer of 2015 so two years after living here. Also it should be noted that here in the south people call them lightning bugs and not fireflies.

55: North Carolina BBQ: There are two types of BBQ in NC. Western and eastern one is sweet and one is more vinegary. I like the more sweet one. Also, southern BBQ is the best BBQ. I am gonna resist order BBQ anywhere else in the US.

56: Strawberry picking: There are great places to strawberry pick in the sandhills of NC in the spring.

57: Golfing: There are so many golf courses in North Carolina and if you want to travel an extra hour, South Carolina too. And with the mild weather here you can basically golf year around. They have some of the best courses here in NC and SC and golfers come all over the world to golf here.

58: Lightning Bugs: aka fireflies but it should be noted that people in the south call them lightning bugs and never fireflies.

59: Civil War reattachment: We actually saw one in Savannah GA but they have them in North Carolina too and if you ever come to the south you should see one because they are definitely something different and interesting to do.

60: Blue Ridge Parkway: We traveled this in October 2013 and it was so beautiful during the fall. Definitely the perfect time to go. It is definitely a slow scenic drive.

61: North Carolina State Capitol: Located in Raleigh, NC. Very cool old building that you can tour and explore.

62: Wrightsville Beach: The closes beach to Wilmington NC and is usually packed during the summer! It has a great pier and is a fun little town.

63: Novelty Shell Station: A fun little roadside attraction! Here is my post all about it.

64: Old Salem: Located in Winston-Salem, NC. It is a historic district, it features a living history museum that interprets the restored Moravian community.

65: Roanoke Marshes Light: A cute little lighthouse on Roanoke Island. Read more about my trip to it here.
Things that I didn't get to do that you definitely should:

66. Chimney Rock

67. Asheville NC

68. Great Smoky Mountains National Park

69. The Land of Oz

70. Hunger Games District 12

71. Airlie Gardens Wilmington NC

72. Biltmore Estates

73. Sliding Rock

74. Looking Glass Falls

75. Wake N Bake Donuts

76. Castle Mont Rouge

77. Tweetsie Railroad

78. Carowinds

79. Lake Lure

80. Rainbow Falls

81. NASCAR Hall of Fame

82. Fort Fisher

83. Charlotte Motor Speedway

84. Billy Graham Library

85. The Road to Nowhere

86. Roanoke Island

87. Leave a Note of Hope

88. Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge

89. Mirror Head, Charlotte NC

90. Frying Pan Shoals

91. Yate Mills

92. Linville Caverns

93. Bellamy Mansion

94. Pullen Park

95. NC Pottery Highway

96. Hot Springs at Hot Springs, NC

97. Kayak Roanoke river and camp on a sleeping platform.

98. Go wine tasting

99. Castle Mont Rouge in Rougemont NC

100. Dry Falls

Enjoy and remember to take lots of pictures of your adventures and travels.
love, Carlee

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Things I screenshotted v.04

I haven't done one of these in forever and I thought it was about time since I screenshotted a bunch of stuff from Halloween and Halloween costumes. I totally want to be big and pregnant around Halloween sometime. Have you seen some of the cute pregnant women costumes they are so awesome! So yes, I would like to travel, make art, laugh about funny diet memes and send them to my mom and have to be discussed. haha I would love the sloth cake. I am not a big fan of cake but maybe some fudge or brownies frosted like the sloth cake below. Would that be weird? Yeah, probably. 

Art and Travel
About food and dieting! haha
I told my Mom that I wanted her to make and send my this cake for my birthday!

All about Halloween
This photo of April from Parks and Rec looks just like my friend Mayet!