Monthly Round-Up: Rose & Thorns – March 2021

This month my Google Photo’s timeline has been filled with memories of the beginning stages of life in lockdown 2020. It was crazy then, and looking back through the photos was a sobering reminder of how uncertain and quiet life was last year. This month has been a difficult one. There is a lot of change on the horizon, and at times this month I’ve allowed it to overwhelm me. I’m trying to remain optimistic. If the last year has taught us anything, life is about change, but it never seems to get any easier every time it happens. 

Thorn: Scout’s Vet Emergency

Scout had some severe health problems this month. Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed his nails were dragging along the ground when we when on our walks. I thought they were too long and made him an appointment to have them trimmed. The next few days passed, and his nails were still scraping the ground. It was like he wasn’t picking up his right paw enough to clear the sidewalk. I kept an eye on him until later that evening. I noticed him limping; his right paw was folded back and he was resting on his wrist as he sat. This understandably scared me; it was like his leg was asleep.

As the night went on, he began shaking like he was cold and his back paw on the same side began to show the same signs. At 4:00 am I rushed him to the emergency vet. The symptoms were getting worse and I couldn’t leave him at home while I was at work. The whole experience at the emergency vet was terrible. I couldn’t go inside because of COVID restrictions. I had to describe everything over the phone. The Vet seemed uninterested in diagnosing him with anything other than he must have eaten something bad. I was with him all day, and I can assure you he did not eat anything. Unphased by my argument, the vet gave us an antibiotic and said call him if things got worst. 

I spent the rest of the morning researching for a new vet, and I found one with outstanding reviews. I could go inside with Scout to see the Vet, and many people commented on the compassion the staff and vet had for the animals they were treating. They also didn’t charge outrageous prices. As soon as they opened I called for an appointment and begged them to squeeze me in for the soonest appointment. The receptions said they were double booked all day, but the first appointment in the morning was reserved for emergencies, and we could have it. 

My mom was nice enough to come over to go with me to the appointment. I tossed and turned all night, checking on Scout and racking my brain on what could be the problem. Once we got to the vet, we were immediately put into an exam room. The Vet was a tall, older man who seemed unphased by Scout’s wobbly legs. He took one look at him and said it could be one of two things: a stroke or a brain tumor. The good news it was likely a stroke, and he could recover from it. The Vet gave Scout an anti-inflammatory and thirty days of steroids.

He’s not out of the woods yet, but the medication has helped. His legs have gained full mobility, and he seems like he has all of his energy back. I worry that as I start to take him off the medication he might regress. We have weekly check-ups for the next several weeks. So for now, I will give him his medicine, a few extra cuddles, and hope we will get past this. 

Rose: All Things Karissa Updates

I updated the blog allthingskarissa.com to the business account on WordPress. This has given me access to SEO tools and the ability to install plug-ins. So far I’ve only posted a few posts with these new capabilities, and there is definitely a learning curve to learning. I also think I need to go back to previous posts and optimize them into the SEO system. Hopefully, over the next month, I can make small changes to make my blog a bit more professional and user-friendly. 

This week I taught myself how to create shopping widgets! Now instead of highlighting words for you to click, I can insert shopping icons for easier access to things I’ve purchased or would like to purchase.

Thorn: Aaron’s Moving

Long-distance relationships are hard. Over the past two years, Aaron has lived in Knoxville Tennessee, while I live in Florida. We’ve been lucky enough to have direct flights to travel back and forth to see one another at least once a month. This month Aaron accepted a job in California. The job opportunity was too good to pass up, and he has the potential to be apart of an aviation start-up that will change the way we travel in the future. The thorn here is the inconvenience of traveling to California, and it’s a state neither of us is excited to live in. All of our preconceived notions about California are dismal. Yeah, the weather is excellent, but the cost of living is terrible; running from wildfires and bracing for an earthquake also doesn’t sound fun. 

Rose: One Year of Blogging

Rose: This month marks one year of constant blogging on allthingskarissa. Writing this blog has given me an outlet to be creative, share my life, and connect with people from all over the world. In one short year, I have learned so much about content creation; mostly, it takes a lot of time to create each post and no one will care about your blog as much you do. I’m proud of how much I’ve grown in the last year, mainly with my writing and learning how to build and edit a website. Producing one post each Sunday and a monthly round-up on the last day of the month is the perfect amount of content to keep my creativity flowing. I get so excited when I learn something new and can share my experiences with others. 

If you are a weekly reader of allthingskarissa, I cannot thank you enough for your support! I hope you find my content entertaining. My wish is that it inspires you to travel, bake something in your kitchen, and find excitement in the world around you.

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