New Hairstyle!

Well, I am looking to cut my hair. I hope to donate my hair to "Locks of Love" in the very near future, but I can't decide exactly what style to go with....so I am asking for your help. Below you will find 4 different styles with a number circled to indicate that choice. I would love to hear from everybody on what style they think would look the best on me. Just leave your number choice in a comment. I will check the site often and will let you know, hopefully before Christmas, which style I am going to go with. Can't wait to hear from everybody!

New Flooring for the Kitchen

I finally got around to putting down the new linoleum tiles in the back part of the kitchen! It looks so nice! I hope to get the main part of the kitchen done this winter, but I want to add a cabinet or two before I do and possibly replace the double sink with a single sink, put in a nicer faucet and a new countertop so it will finally cover the dishwasher!

Shortly after I got the flooring down, I moved the sink cabinet over 9" so I can add another cabinet next to it. This will give me room on the left side of the sink, finally! Anyway, as I was moving the cabinet, the drainage pipes were being moved as well. I wasn't planning on replacing any of the drainage pipes, but I found myself duct taping joints together so they would stay together. As you can imagine, I had problems with leaks. So, not only did the drainage pipes leak but the hose to the cold water faucet was too short, so it was leaking! I had to get an extension hose for that and while I was at it, I picked up all new PVC piping for the drainage system. I had the guy at Lowe's put it together for me, so I knew for sure that it was put together properly. I have found that I don't have much luck with plumbing stuff, so I wasn't going to take any chances!! And would you believe, it all fits nice and neatly and doesn't leak at all!!! I would like to redo my bathroom upstairs, but I have problems just doing the little plumbing things...I can't imagine what a fiasco it would be to tackle a whole bathroom! I am hoping that we will be able to afford to have Tim Miner come out again and do the bathroom plumbing stuff. He is the contractor that put in our new doors and did such a beautiful job on replicating the existing molding. That is probably down the road a bit since money is so tight right now.

I am hoping to get a portion of a privacy fence put up between us the the neighbors to the north. They have 4 dogs in a chain link kennel area in their backyard, that happens to be our side yard. Anyway, they are a little more "country" than I am, I suppose because they also store their hunting boat in this area. I don't like looking at this eye sore, so I want to block the view. It would also keep Bronx from barking at them when they go into their backyard (our side yard). He just doesn't think they should be there. I also, wanted to seperate Wyatt's sandbox area from the view of the neighbor's dogs, as one of them always growls at him.

Speaking of Wyatt's sandbox.....I got the hole dug and have put a little bit of sand into it. Wyatt absolutely LOVES it! When the weather is nice he will play in it for at least an hour, all by himself! He gets totally absorbed in driving his tractors and trucks around and digging with his shovel. I knew he would enjoy it.

Family Updates

Here are some updates on what the Johnson Family has been up to!
I am having a great time as Mrs. Iowa! It has given me the motivation and opportunity to follow-thru on implementing my presentation on abusive teen dating relationships. I am trying to expand it further by having some theater friends of mine write a script for a short skit that I can use during my presentation. Caisha thought it was a cool idea and thinks that will help capture, and keep, the attention of teenagers! She has been a great help in developing this with me, as well as Louis. I also have hopes of possibly teaming up with the Ames Police Department on putting something together for the general public. In their last news letter they expressed an interest in some way of preventing or slowing down the domestic abuse epidemic. I think my program is the start of that, since I will be talking to teens and hopefully getting the information to them early enough to prevent those situations later on. Being that Louis is a dispatcher for the Police Department he can direct me to the right people and even open the door a little for me. I just need to stop procrastinating (& being scared) and move forward with all this and tackle my nerves and fears of speaking in front of a crowd! The first time is always the hardest!!
Anyway, things have been pretty busy with both kids in sport activities. Caisha is in soccer again this season and absolutely loving it! She was kind of hesitant about doing it again because of the dynamics within her team, but they did things a little differently this year and she is thriving and thoroughly enjoying herself! So much so, that she has increased the amount of time she practices at home! I am very proud of her!
Zach chose to do football (tackle) this season instead of soccer and everyday after practice he tells me he is so glad he chose to play and thanks me over & over for letting him participate! I am so glad he is having such a great time! It's been a real learning experience for him and his team, as well as their coaches. They have not won a game this season, but are steadily improving. This past Sunday they got their first touch-down and you would have thought they had won the game!! The final score was 6-13 with the other team winning. It was a fun game to watch. Zach had some GREAT tackles!
Wyatt is growing by leaps and bounds, as babies tend to do! He is now 18 months old and really starting to work on his vocabulary. We are starting to hear words clearly, which is exciting! We also know he clearly understands us! One day, as we were getting ready to head out the door, I told him to go get his blankets in the living room and bring them to me. He looked at me and said "Go go?" (that's what he calls his blankets) and I said "Yes. Go get your blankets and bring them here." He took on last look at me and ran into the living room and came back with one of his blankets, handed it to me, and then headed back to the living room and came back with his other blanket! He knew exactly what I had asked him to do! He's also done it with his sippy cup. The jig is up.....He can't fool us into thinking he doesn't understand anymore! It's so much fun watching him learn and grow every day! I am so thankful that I only work 8:30-2:30p. Because Louis doesn't work until 2:45p, Wyatt gets to spend the morning with his daddy and then the rest of the day with me and his older siblings! It's great to be the primary caregivers, instead of a daycare! We do put him in daycare for a half day about once a month so he can have some socialization with kids his age, and he LOVES it! He never cries when we drop him off, but when we come to pick him up he doesn't want to leave! For me, that is a great sign. I always hated dropping Caisha and Zach off when they were little, because they would cry and cling to me.....it was so hard to leave them there! With Wyatt it is the opposite. I am so grateful for the time I get to spend with him!
Louis is still working for the City of Ames as a Public Safety Dispatcher. Basically, he is the one that answers the 911 calls and police department calls and then "dispatches" the fire department, EMT's or Police to the correct locations. He loves what he's doing, but does get a little frustrated with some of the people he works with and the way things are run sometimes. He has taken on additional responsibilities within the police department to challenge himself and to help make more of an impact on what is happening in Ames and the surrounding areas. He's given numerous presentations and has many ideas to share. Sometimes bureaucracy gets in the way, but he is very persistent and patient!
As for me, I am actually hoping to get involved in a small way at the police department, also. They have a Community Police Academy that they offer a couple times a year. I don't have all the details on what they "teach" us, but I do know that learning to handle & fire a gun is part of the training. I have always had a fear of guns, and with good reason, I think, after what happened to me in my past, and I am tired of being scared of them, so I want to face this fear by educating myself on the very thing that frightens me. After all, knowledge is power! In addition to the Community Police Academy, I am starting the wheels rolling on a home based business of Home Staging. With my knowledge and experience in Interior Design and Architecture, I know it is something that I can excel at! I have practiced a little on my own home and have made some suggestions for both my sisters, Tracy & Colette, on redecorating their homes. So far, I think they are pretty happy with my assessments....unless they just don't want to tell me otherwise! :-) I would also love to incorporate my passion for kitchen design into this home based business. When I tell people this they always ask, "I bet you have a fabulous kitchen!" to which I have to say, "Actually, my kitchen is probably one of the biggest disasters!" Oh...., I have plans for my kitchen, but what I want to do, would price our house right out of the market!, so I have scaled my vision down to fit into these new boundaries. Being that money is tight, things are happening pretty slowly! I did get a portion of the kitchen floor redone and will be tackling demolishing a portion of a wall next. In the near future I will also be adding a small lower cabinet, a new countertop for the sink area (& possibly a new single bowl sink & faucet) as well as painting the walls a vivid baby blue with white trim. None of these projects are very costly, but when you are pinching pennies just to cover the monthly necessities, "extra" projects take a back burner.
Well, I think that about covers where we are at. Feel free to contact me anytime! I would love to hear from you.

Progress

I know it has been a while since I wrote on this site and that is because most of the things I have been doing are connected to me being Mrs. Iowa, so I have been writing on that site instead. Check it out at http://www.mrsiowaamerica08.blogspot.com/.
Well, I wanted to catch up on a little bit of what I have been doing (when I'm not being Mrs. Iowa). I recently got around to laying the new linoleum tile in the back part of my kitchen! It feels good to have that done! Most of the sheet linoleum was tore up anyway and we were using carpet squares to cover the floor. I have taken pictures but need to develop the film before I can post them (yes.....I use a 35mm film camera, not digital). I hope to someday soon put in new flooring in the entire kitchen. Finances don't allow it at the moment, but it is on my list of things to do!
I have already started my next project and that is knocking out a portion of the wall between the basement door/ bathroom hallway and the kitchen. My plan is to open up the space above the shelves so it creates more of an open feel. When I am done, the existing wall will be about 7'-4" high. The existing wall goes to the ceiling which is a 10'-0" ceiling, so there will be approxiamately a 3'-0" open space above my shelves. I am excited to finish that project and find myself punching holes in the wall whenever I get the chance! It's certainly not a pretty sight right now, but, boy, is it fun to demolish something!! After I get the wall project done, I will tackle putting a decorative tile backsplash around the stove area and the sink area. If you are familiar with the layout of my kitchen it makes a little more sense why I am only doing those two areas. My sink area is recessed into a small alcove area and needs something to brighten and spice up the space. My stove is actually located right next to a wall, so I find myself constantly washing the wall and in the process I have pretty much stripped off all the paint to reveal this ugly hospital green color underneath! It's not pretty! Not only will the tile serve as a nice accent in the space, but it will be functional as well. By doing the stove area and the sink area I will also be "connecting" the two spaces as they are in two seperate rooms. I may have to scan the drawings of my kitchen into the computer so I can post it here for you to see the entire layout. Before I can do the tile, I will be painting the kitchen a vivid sky blue with all white trim and cabinets. With the new flooring, paint, tile and a few small cabinets, I think the kitchen will be much more conducive to resale of the house (in the future!)
Once I get the kitchen done I will be tackling the bathroom upstairs! I want to tile the entire floor, as well as the walls surrounding the tub/shower. I would also like to add a floor drain, so we can eliminate the totally encompassing shower curtain. It competely encircles the tub. I suppose it would make more sense why that is, if I told you that we have a free-standing clawfoot tub. I think in order to get the floor drain in, I will have to hire someone, but I am hoping that maybe I can enlist some family members to help me lay the tile (when the time comes).
Now on to my garden! We are finally getting some sweet bell peppers! And, wow, are they good!! They sure beat anything we have ever bought in the store! I have also planted some spinach and radishes for fall harvest. I was really surprised with how fast they germinated and are growing!! I really need to make my garden bigger next year!! I want to include tomatoes, onions, more bell peppers, carrots, beans, sweet corn and maybe even some potatoes!
I have been making slow progress on Wyatt's sandbox. He is pretty content just playing in the dirt right now, so I haven't really "attacked" this project yet. I have a shallow hole dug showing the boundaries of the proposed sandbox and Wyatt plays pretty happily within that space.
And Louis has been let off the hook this fall, too!! He was suppose to tackle the big pile of carriage house timber and burn all of it. Well, our neighbors, Mark & Joelle, have been more than happy to burn all that wood for us and Mark has the pile essentially all gone! Now the next phase in "removing the carriage house" is to dig up all the bricks that were the foundation and transfer all the rock that was inside the carriage house to the driveway (or a seperate rock pile for future use). My backyard is actually starting to look like a yard!!! I am so happy!
Come for a visit and you can see all the progress we are making!

House Pictures

I had to take some pictures of my living room & bed room for a potential infomercial and they turned out so well that I thought I would share them with you. I have always wanted to be a Home Stager and I think setting up my rooms for this just reaffirmed my desire to pursue that possibility. Believe me, these rooms don't always look like this!

Now for the Living Room. Wyatt was fascinated with the items on the coffee table. We never have anything sitting out like that, so he was taking advantage!

Garden

I am getting pretty excited about my garden!! I just had my first bean harvest and I had a large bowl full!! I had to share some of them with my neighbors, because I knew we would not get them all eaten before they started to go bad! I seem to do real well with beans and they seem to really like the soil in my garden. I am still waiting to see if my sweet corn will yield better this year. Last year, the ears were so small and we only got a few, so I am hoping that since I added cow manure this past fall it will do much better. Thanks to Jack, my father-in-law, who had brought down some cattle to our area. I just cleaned out the trailer when they were done. My carrots seem to be doing better this year, but I am a little disappointed with the sweet pepper plants. They aren't doing very well in the garden. I have them in three different places as sort of an experiment. One group, I left in containers and have transplanted them to bigger containers as they grow. Another group I planted on the south side of the house with the strawberries in a raised bed and the third group is in my garden. The ones in the containers were doing the best, but now the ones in the raised beds are really taking off and have started to flower! I am excited to have fresh red, yellow, & orange peppers! They are so expensive in the stores! And we use them in numerous dishes, so I need to find a way to maybe keep them into winter, if possible. My strawberries did grow this year. Last year I planted a whole bunch of them and they ALL died! They are a little small yet this year, but, boy are they packed with flavor!! I also just sampled my first raspberries yesterday, and, wow were they good!! I'm still working on the flowerbeds out front of my house. I haven't really found the right flowers yet. I keep changing my mind every year. I'm also trying to get a good variety so I have something blooming all the time. My phlox that Mom gave me always gets what looks like fungus on the leaves that causes them to wither and die before the flowers even bloom! By the time the flowers bloom, there aren't any leaves left on the plant! I'm not sure what the problem is. I've tried watering just at ground level, thinking maybe the "city" water on the leaves was harming them, but that didn't seem to make a difference. Now I am thinking maybe it is the pine needle ground cover mulch that I put down. Every year I learn something new! I do love the fact that my moss roses keep coming back, on their own, every year! They are one of my favorites. Tracy, my older sister, also showed me that snapdragons produce small "pods" of seeds in the fall and if you don't clear away the dead plants, you can reseed in the spring with these pods, instead of buying new plants every spring! Thank you Tracy! They are beautiful every year and it saves me money!
I still have some more plants that I need on the north side of the house. It is still kind of bare except where I transplanted the hosta's; which are flourishing in their new home! I want to get another bleeding heart for that area to balance out the one I already have.
Well, that is all for my gardening adventures to date.

Keila Hernandez of Ottumwa-2nd runner-up & Katie Peterson of Urbandale-1st Runner-up.

Things have been CRAZY since we got back! I've been trying to get all my Thank you cards sent out to the sponsors as well as sending out Press Releases to the papers and contacting the radio and tv stations. The Boone News Republican should have a story written up in today's paper(Friday 6/13), along with pictures! I have to make sure I pick up a copy. They came to my house and interviewed me, so that was kind of fun! I've also been trying to line up appearances for the year as well as trying to find sponsors for my trip to Nationals in August! Know of anyone who might be interested? I need to raise about $1,000! I will be heading down to Tucson, AZ, August 25, with the final crowning on September 2. Louis will be joining me towards the end of my stay. This Monday(6/16) I have a photoshoot in Minneapolis at 3pm and then next Friday (6/20) I fly out to Georgia for the Mrs. Georgia Pageant (I will be "visiting royalty"). The Iowa state directors also do the Georgia pageant. They are covering the cost of the plane tickets and hotel stay...thank goodness!
God has been wonderful to me and I know it is because of Him that I now hold the title of Mrs. Iowa America! I felt His presence the entire weekend of competition and literally "saw" His radiance on my face. It was such an amazing experience! I can't even describe it fully! I hope He gives me the courage & drive to set into motion something that I think is sooo important.... and that is starting an organization that goes into our area schools and talks to the young women (& men) about the early warning signs of an abusive relationship. My very first relationship was an abusive one, and I want to share my personal story in the hopes that it will prevent that from happening to some one else. I just feel God's hand in all this and I want to follow where He is guiding me.

Mrs. Iowa America Pageant

I WON!!!! I still can't believe it! It feels so good to have all my hard work rewarded! Now I get to go to Nationals in Tucson, Arizona the end of August and hopefully capture the Mrs. America crown! I am still on cloud 9 even three days later! I have been so busy since I got home trying to get all my thank you cards sent out and lining up appearences and parades and all the other things that are required of me. It's quite the rush! I will be going to the Mrs. Georgia America Pageant the weekend of the 20th since the Iowa state directors also run that pageant. It should be a lot of fun! I also have a photoshoot in Minneapolis on Monday that I am trying to coordinate with the Minnesota and Wisconsin winners. It has been crazy! I will write more later(I hope) when I have more time, so for now you will have to be content with these 2 pics.

Updates to Soon Follow

At the moment I am so busy trying to get organized that I will have to update my blog later. I hope to get to it by the end of this week. Stay tuned!!

Mock Interview in MN

Last week I had the mock interviews up in Minneapolis that Holly, my pageant coach, set up and they went great! I learned a lot from the "judges" and they gave some great feedback! I hope to apply what I learned next week at the next mock interviews. Yes, I will be heading up to MN again on Monday, June 2, but this time it will be a "fly in, fly out" type of deal. Louis has to work that day, so I will be taking all the kids with me, instead of just Wyatt (I will go into more detail later). The kids will miss half a day of school, but it is the second to the last day, so I don't think they will miss much. And since I can't really afford to take any more days off work, I have to be back in Iowa the same night, so I can work the next day! It won't be the most enjoyable, but I have more than just the mock interviews to get me up there!
As I was saying, I was up there last week, but I took 2 days off work for it, and spent the night at Mom & Dad's. I actually met up with Mom around 12:30p at the Eden Prairie Mall after I met the current Mrs. Minnesota, Bessie Giannakakis, to get a swimsuit from her that she had at her boutique (more details to follow). Anyway, Mom and I hung out for about an hour and a half, catching up and eating lunch. Then she took Wyatt home with her so I could meet up with Sarah Moses of "The Pageant Shop" to try on gowns! That was on the North end of the cities just north of 694 (if you are familiar with Minneapolis), and Mom and I were on the South end of the Cities by 494. So I had a little jaunt to get there by 3p! I met Holly at Sarah's so she could give her opinion on the gowns. I went there with a budget in mind and Sarah was pretty good at keeping it within my budget, but none of those gowns were making an impression, so she started pulling a few that were above my budget, and, of course, I found the perfect dress out of that group! Sarah and Holly both absolutely LOVED the gown on me. I had reservations at first, because I wasn't sure how the top part was going to fit, but they assured me that they knew an excellent seamstress who would make it fit like a glove! Once they allayed my fears, I knew it was "THE" dress! It's kind of like when you go wedding gown shopping! Like I said, this dress was a bit out of my budget, but Sarah and I worked out a deal we were both comfortable with. But, not only did I get a new gown...I also picked up a cocktail dress and new swimsuit! The cocktail dress has to be white for the opening number on the evening of the competition and Sarah had a white, full-length gown on clearance that would be perfect once it was shortened, so that also went to the seamstress! The swimsuit is a bright orange, one of my favorite colors of the moment (more on this in another blog) and really shows off my legs and butt!.....Which I have been working real hard on at the gym! I am excited about it, because it really "pops" with my hair and skin tone! Holly is adding a few sparkly beads to it to dress it up a little. Once we got the dress situation figured out, Holly and I headed back to her place and she worked a little with another client she had while I sat in and listened. Ok..... so I added a few hints and stories, too! Then it was off to the mock interviews! I did not leave Minneapolis until after 8:30p! I am hoping that I will be able to leave a little sooner next week so I don't get home so late.
Ok....more on the swimsuit I got from Bessie..........It is to replace the costume I wore 2 years ago representing RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa...it's world famous!) Two years ago, I just wore a bikers outfit that consisted of a brightly colored, tight fitting shirt, black spandex pants, brightly colored tennis shoes and a pink helmet. Not very flattering or sexy on stage! So Holly came up with an alternate idea, still using the RAGBRAI theme. This is where the swimsuit comes in....It is a sparkly, turquoise one piece and we will be adding a flowing skirt to mimic water. What does water have to do with RAGBRAI you ask?!? Well, the tradition is that when they start the bike ride all the riders have their back bike tire in the Missouri River and when they finish the ride 7 days later, they dip their front bike tire in the Mississippi River, which coincidently border Iowa! In fact, Iowa is the ONLY state that is completely bordered on two sides by major riverways! So we wanted to incorporate that into the costume, which makes me the "river". I will also be carrying a bejeweled bike tire out with me to represent the bike! Caisha loved the idea and so do I! Can't wait for it all to come together! I will be picking up the Gown, cocktail dress, swimsuit, and costume all on June 2! I will update you then!

Mrs. Iowa Pageant

The pageant is coming up REAL fast! I am furiously trying to get my interview skills more polished & to "whip" myself into shape! I think God has sent me a great person to work with, though. It was a little weird because this pageant coach just contacted me out of the blue. Her name is Holly Ernst and she was the commentator for the Beauties of America Pageant the year that I won, and she was Mrs. MN in 2006, the year that I got first runner-up for Mrs. Iowa. I've known her for close to 5 years now, but never real well. Even so, she has been one of my biggest fans and cheerleaders since I started competing in 1999. Anyway, as I said she contacted me by email to see if I was doing the Mrs. Iowa Pageant this year and offered her services to help me prepare! I was a little skeptical, because I know that most pageant coaches charge anywhere from $65 - $100/ hour and we definitely can not afford that right now. So I asked God if He sent her to me and to give me a sign that He had. Well, I talked it over with Louis, about the cost of working with her and the benefits it might afford me in the competition, and he figured I should at least give her a call and see what she charged. So I called her the next day and we worked out an understanding that would benefit both of us. I knew right then that God had sent her to me!
Holly has a mock interview session set up on May 20th in Minneapolis, so I will be taking a day & a half off from work to participate in that. I know it will help me tremendously, especially since Holly video tapes it. I think it will be great to see, as well as hear, myself in "interview mode"! I have come up with my own way of preparing for interview this year by being on some of the radio stations here in Central Iowa. I've been on a country station, a classic rock station ( a little nervous for that one!), a christian station and a news talk station. So they have all been very different, which I think will benefit me a lot! I will be making a repeat appearance on the rock station, country station and the news talk station in the 2 weeks before the pageant. I've always toyed with the idea of being a DJ, but wasn't to crazy about the hours. Maybe it will be something I can do after the kids are older. Anyway, Louis says I sound GREAT on the radio! (translation: great = hot!). I do have a lot of fun doing it, though!
The pageant competition is June 6th & 7th in St. Paul, MN. Interviews are late morning, early afternoon on the 6th and stage competition is the evening of the 7th. Since the MN directors took over both IA and WI, there will be 3 crownings that evening. This year MN has the least amount of contestants around 5-6 ladies, which is VERY usual for them! WI has about 7-8 ladies and IA has about 9-10 ladies! So the competition for Mrs. Iowa should be a good one. I do better when there is competition. Something about it being more of a challenge helps me to do better and stay focused. Please keep me in your prayers that weekend, especially late morning, early afternoon on the 6th (Interviews. Not my strong suit!) If you are interested in going to the competition on the 7th you can contact the Fitzgerald Theatre or Ticketmaster for tickets. They are between $25 & $35. Wish me luck!!

Mrs. Iowa America Pageant

I have decided to compete for Mrs. Iowa America this year. I have taken the last 2 years off from competing in pageants due to my pregnancy and birth of Wyatt. I am now ready again to take on the pageant world and challenge myself! As most of you know I have competed in this pageant a couple times. Two times for Mrs. Minnesota and once for Mrs. Iowa where I was 1st Runner-up all three times! I hope some day to break that streak by finally winning the title and getting the opportunity to compete at the National Pageant in Arizona! My biggest obstacle is getting the funds to cover the entry fee and all the little things that go along with preparing for the competition. If you would like to help me out and sponsor me for the pageant please let me know! I can use any amount you are able to give (and it is tax deductible!) Your name will be listed below my picture in the program book. You can also have an ad put in the pageant book. If that is something you are interested in I can get the prices to you for a quarter, half or full page ad. If I am unable to raise the money needed to cover the entry fee I will not be competing, so please consider being a sponsor, even if it is only $25! It all adds up! Thanks to everybody that has sponsored me in the past. It really means a lot to me!!

www.mrsamerica.com
www.mrsminnesota-america.com

Kidney Stones

Wednesday morning around 6am I woke up in intense pain. I told Louis that it felt like I was in labor all over again! He took me to the Boone ER where they hooked me up to an IV and gave me something for the pain and the naseau. They did a CAT scan and found that I had 2 kidney stones. One was relatively small and didn't concern them too much, but the other was said to be about 5.2mm. The ER Dr. sent me home with some pain meds. and I pretty much slept the rest of the day. At about 12:30am I was in pain again and the meds didn't seem to be helping much so I took another one which kicked in about an hour later. Both Wednesday and Thursday are kind of a blur as I slept most of the time. Thursday evening the ER Dr. called and let me know that their regular radiologist read the CAT scan and said that the stone was not 5.2mm but 8.9mm! I already had an appt. schedule Friday morning with my regular Dr., so she said to mention it to him and see what he suggested. Well, Friday morning we go in and they do an X-Ray. My regular Dr. couldn't see the stones, but said that didn't mean they weren't still there, so he had radiology take a look at it after I had left. He called me later and said that radiology had located the stone. It was "lost" in the pelvic area, but seemed to have reduced in size significantly. It was now about 3.2mm. My Dr. said that once it reached my bladder I probably would not have much pain anymore. That was good news!! It seems that my body has broken up the stones on its own and I am on my way to recovery. I had heard from a friend of mine that having the stone broken up by other means (sound waves) was NOT a pleasant experience. She said her husband had it done twice and he said it was like going 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and taking all the shots in the kidney's! I am glad I did not have to have that done! I am much more diligent about getting plenty of fluids, now, as they say that is a huge factor in developing kidney stones; Along with drinking too much dark cola's. My one craving when I was pregnant was Dr. Pepper and I have been still drinking it, soooo...I guess I will be quitting that right away! Anyway, as I said, I seem to be doing much better and have not needed my pain meds since Friday night. I am back at work today and hope that I will not have this problem again!!