That's how long it's been since we started this crazy medical journey.  We haven't been clear on what's really been going on with Jeff.  A suggestion from a nurse this past May pointed us in the right direction.  None of the doctors we had seen here had mentioned anything like this nurse, whether or not they thought it I don't know.  We knew it was an autonomic disorder, thanks to our nurse friend.  Narrowing which was the hard part.  So after Googling...a lot....we came upon something that had the same symptoms and the onset timing was right.  Still the symptoms of many of these disorders overlap so without proper testing we knew nothing.  We finally got an appointment with a neurologist here in town, and she gave us a referral to the Mayo Clinic.  Jeff had been there before as a patient so getting in was easy this time.  We had an appointment for late September to see a doctor that would point us in the right direction.  Jeff, his mom, and I loaded in the van and set out on our trip.  We were there a week and a half...including the weekend (Mall of America)  Jeff had several tests done, and met with a few doctors, and had more testing set up for October.  So a few weeks later we loaded up again.  This time we spent a week.  Jeff had some really fun tests (I'm being extremely sarcastic).  In the end we got the diagnosis.  Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy.  It's extremely rare, only a few dozen have been diagnosed since it was discovered in 2003.  There is treatment.  Let me let you know there are a couple of forms of dysautonomia that terrified me.  The main one being multiple system atrophy....seven years....that's the average prognosis of life.  That just didn't set well with me.  Not only because I don't want to loose Jeff, but Ada needs her daddy....Man, does she NEED her daddy.  Honestly, this whole summer of there was a cloud that would appear over my head from time to time when I thought what if.    Even after I ran upon AAG and things seemed to match so perfectly, that darn cloud would show up.  Jeff and I are both positive people for the most part.  We both believe that you have to make the best of what God gives you...that if things don't work out the way you planned there must be a bigger, better plan that you are privy to at the moment.  Trusting in God, knowing that no matter what the earthly circumstances maybe that he would take care of us is the main reason you saw us smile through this.  It's such a relief to not to really have to worry about things....although our humaness still makes us worry at times.  Let me be clear, Jeff still has a battle ahead of him.  I guess me too.  He's not going to start treatment and instantly get better.  This isn't a cure, but it's a whole heck of a lot better than what we had before we knew.  He will soon begin IVIG therapy.  It can take up to nine months to see improvement.  We'll be headed back in January to do some more tests and visit some more doctors.  And yes, I'm very thankful that I have a great mother-in-law.  I've heard some of your stories about yours, and I'm sorry....but it's not bad road-tripping with Jeff's mama for a while.

Five Years.

That's how long Jeff and I have been hitched.  Yep.  November 1st is the day.  I can say even throughout this year being married to Jeff has been wonderful.  There's not a doubt in my mind that God's hand had a big part in pushing us together...he's the ultimate match maker.  We are both so dorky, and goofy.  We seem to always have some sort of project going on, and we make a good team getting that project done.  (This year our project was don't let Jeff's head bang on something when he passes out...haha).  We help each other think stuff out.  We don't finish each others sentences...Jeff would say I cut him off a lot....but he knows what I'm saying when I just start talking about something out of the blue or use the word thingy as the subject when thingy could be car, house, garden, chair, fork, Ada, etc.  We just fit together perfectly.  Jeff is absolutely the bee's knees, and I love him so!

Here's some pictures from our recent trip to Minnesota.  Here's what you're going to see.  Corn, farms, barns, windmills, a teeny section of the waiting area on one of the 19 floors of the Gonda building at Mayo, Jeff eating onion rings from Twigs (a delicious gluten free Rochester restaurant), gorgeous flowers at Mayo in September, the coolest Barnes and Noble ever (used to be a theater), a wedding party we cam upon having their photo made, a couple of small shots of the inside of the massive Mall of America, a wall of lego bricks, leaves turning in Wisconsin in October, a barn that I fancied as we were passing, wheelchairs lined up at the entrance to Mayo, a glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly, the Minnesota sky in the morning, Ada reading (couldn't leave her out), and I picture of us on our wedding day, which captures my joy, and pretty much how I feel everyday with Jeff and Ada.  Except our wedding photo these are all iPhone, people, forgive the graininess.