Month: February 2016

Cautiously Optimistic

Anna Blankenheim Exercise, Sports , ,

I met with my surgeon today to discuss my options with regard to my poor, torn ACL.

Right now, my knee is still a little too swollen for him to tell 100% if it’s a complete tear or a partial tear. He can tell from the MRI that it’s definitely torn though. A partial tear would open up a door to a non-surgical solution. Essentially, I can work through lots of physical therapy to build up all of the muscles in and around my knee to help support it if the tear is partial. If it’s a full tear, I’ll pretty much need surgery without a doubt.

Here’s what I really liked about this surgeon – he’s not rushing me into surgery, but we have a game plan. It’s still a very viable option, but we’re going to give it a month of PT (which I would be doing if I had surgery anyway). After that month, I’m going to meet with him again and he’ll mess around with my knee some more. That will tell him one of two things – it’s fully torn or it’s not (that month is enough time for the swelling and fluid to go down). If it’s fully torn, we do surgery. If it’s partially torn, I have a choice to make based on how I feel the therapy has gone – if the knee feels great, I can try life without part of my ACL. If I don’t like how it feels or am worried about future stability, then we go into surgery.

I feel like I’m rambling, but I’m so so so excited to have a plan and something to work towards. Over the next couple weeks, I get to start weaning myself off the crutches (seriously, I’m so amazed at how weak my leg muscles have become over the last two weeks) and then the brace. I start PT on Tuesday, so in addition to biking and swimming (my only two approved activities) I’ll have some exercises to work on.

Fingers crossed!

Grammys in Your Jammies 2016

Anna Blankenheim Music, Television , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tonight I continue the tradition of watching the Grammys and live blogging – I’ll be updating throughout the show, so check back frequently for updates!

For the 5th year in a row, LL Cool J is hosting. I’ve said before, I love him as a host and can’t wait to see what he has in store this year!

We’ve lost quite a few of my favorite composers and musicians this year… I can’t wait to see how they honor them!

The Clothes

  • LL Cool J’s suit: he seriously has the best style! Loved the simple tux with the cool LL lapel pin.
  • Carrie Underwood‘s performance dress: it was so pretty and feminine! I loved the flowy bottom and fitted top!
  • Ariana Grande: Her dress was really pretty! Love a good red dress!
  • Selena Gomez: I wanted to like her dress, but it did something weird to her boobs. It needed a little more life!
  • Cam: The yellow dress. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
  • Demi Lovato: Her simple black slacks with white blazer was stunning! She looked great!
  • Karen Fairchild’s (Little Big Town) all black ensemble: Was it pants? Was it a dress? We may never know. It was an awesome combination and I loved the black leather/lace combination!
  • Anna Kendrick: First of all, I loved her simple black dress with the halter top. Stunning. Also, if you need a good laugh, follow her on Twitter.
  • Bruno Mars: loved his purple hat and jacket!
  • Adele: that dress. She is so classy!
  • Beyonce: Ugh… I don’t like this one. Is it old fashioned? Is it not? Is it see through? Not my cup of tea.

The Performances

  • Taylor Swift: I honestly think I like her better as a pop singer than I did as a country singer. She still has the awesome lyrics, high energy performances, and fun feeling, but it fits much better in a pop setting. I’m not going to pretend like she’s the best singer ever, but it feels more honest now.
  • Carrie Underwood & Sam Hunt: I loved the way they wove their songs together – I love “Take Your Time” and, of course, “Heartbeat“, one of my favorites from her latest album.
  • The Weeknd: The man can sing, has great style, and I loved the section of him singing accompanied by just a cello and piano.
  • Andra Day and Ellie Goulding: I hadn’t heard much of Andra Day, but absolutely LOVED her performance. What a stunning voice and really great control! I’m not a huge Ellie Goulding fan, but their duet actually worked!
  • John Legend, Demi Lovato, Luke Bryan, Meghan Trainor, Tyrese: Tribute to Lionel Ritchie (Person of the Year). I love me some John Legend – like a lot. John Legend singing “Easy” is near perfection. He’s on my concert bucket list – I must see him! Demi Lovato did a great job on “Hello“… I was impressed! Luke Bryan was an odd pick for me on this one, but I think he held his own. Meghan Trainor was just ok for me too… I wasn’t totally in love with her version, but did like her new hair. Tyrese’s “Brick House” was ok as well. I loved that they brough Lionel Ritchie up to sing “All Night Long (All Night)“!!!
  • Little Big Town: They are seriously one of my favorite bands ever… I love the harmonies, the songs, and just about everything they do. This version of “Girl Crush“, complete with classical string backup was absolutely amazing!
  • Stevie Wonder & Pentatonics: Tribute to Maurice White – seriously, is there anything Pentatonics aren’t doing these days? They’re awesome!
  • The Eagles & Jackson Browne: My heart still hurts that Glenn Frey is gone… I can’t imagine that this performance was easy for any of the band, but there’s no better way to honor him than a little “Take It Easy“. They kept with the style of the Eagles – simple, harmonies, pure. Well done.
  • Tori Kelly & James Bay: Their acoustic duet was really nice. I love people that stand and sing at each other. Both have amazing voices!
  • The cast of Hamilton: So this is new… a live Broadway performance in the middle of the Grammys! Definitely a musical I’d like to see! They performed the opening number “Alexander Hamilton”.
  • Kendrick Lamar: I liked the jailhouse theme followed by the African bonfire… such a cool stage setup!
  • Miguel: I absolutely love “She’s Out of My Life“… and Miguel did a really great job with it!
  • Adele: Bruno Mars introduced her and mentioned that he helped write “All I Ask“… which makes me love it even more. It’s an amazing song with the most beautiful lyrics. I wish I was blessed with a voice like her… I could listen to her sing the alphabet!
  • Justin Beiber, Diplo, & Skrillex: I just can’t even.
  • Lady Gaga: Tribute to David Bowie. I am a little biased in that I work for Intel and we’ve partnered with Lady Gaga for this performance – so cool to see technology used in such a unique way! I could not have picked a better person to pay homage to David Bowie… Lady Gaga really did him justice! For me, this was one of the best performances of the night!
  • Chris Stapleton, Gary Clark Jr, & Bonnie Raitt: Tribute to B.B. King. I absolutely love Chris Stapleton and think he was the perfect pick for a tribute like this. I am not super familiar with Gary Clark Jr, but absolutely love him after this performance! And you can’t go wrong with some Bonnie Raitt! Their performance reminded me of Mike and I sitting in a little bar on Beale Street in Memphis… perfect blues!
  • Alabama Shakes: I’m still a little peeved that they won best rock band over the Foos, but I can’t fault their music – they have a cool sound!
  • The Hollywood Vampires: Just when you think you can’t love Johnny Depp any more, he joins a band with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry. This is rock!!!
  • Pitbull, Robin Thicke, Joe Perry, & Travis Barker: Pitbull’s performances are just always so fun and totally make me want to dance!

They Got Robbed!

  • Little Big Town: They should have won song of the year for “Girl Crush”. Period. And why does Taylor Swift always lose her shit, even when she doesn’t win? She can’t be that happy for Ed Sheeran…
  • The Foo Fighters: honestly, none of the other people in that category are rock bands!!! Are you kidding me?
  • Chris Stapleton: Let’s be real, he didn’t stand a chance against Taylor Swift in the best album category, but musically, he should have won. By a lot.

The Story of the Torn ACL

Anna Blankenheim Exercise, Sports , , ,

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be splinted, packaged up, and sledded down a mountain by ski patrol? No? Well, I found out the hard way…

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Yup – those are my legs and my skis, strapped into a sled.

Let me rewind to the beginning. My sister won tickets for a day of skiing through work and decided to take me as her skiing buddy. Last week was a really long week for a wide variety of reasons, and both of us were super excited to have a “mental health day”. We headed up to beautiful Squaw Valley, got our skis, and hit the slopes.

We were having a wonderful time. The runs there are ridiculously long and it was an absolute blast. We were getting close to the end of the last one and had decided that we would go grab some lunch when we got to the bottom.

Then, I fell. It was not anything dramatic, or exciting, or spectacular. The edge of my downhill ski caught funny and as I fell, my boot stayed hooked in, and my knee twisted awkwardly. I heard and felt a very audible “pop” – much like bubble wrap. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel much pain. Then I tried to stand up. I instantly felt super queasy and clammy. Kati and I got me over to the side of the run where I decided to sit for a while. I tried to stand back up and get my boot back into the binding, but my knee felt super squishy and started to hurt. I knew right then that something was really wrong.

My sister skied down the hill to find the ski patrol, who came up pretty quickly. They were super funny and took really good care of me. They splinted my knee, strapped me into their little toboggan, and skied me down to the medical center, where there happened to be a sports medicine specialist (talk about good positioning!). He took some x-rays that showed nothing was broken, moved my knee all over the place, and told me I had torn my ACL.

We headed home with a brace and crutches, and the small hope that maybe the doctor at the resort (who probably sees five of these a day) didn’t know for sure. I have spent the past few days at my parents house because we’re having our floors replaced and mine is a hot mess. They’ve taken such good care of me, giving me plenty of time to rest, ice, and elevate! I went to my doctor who sent me over to the orthopedic specialists. They did an MRI and yesterday I got confirmation that my ACL is completely torn.

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I had my pity party, a good cry, and now I’m ready for action. Surgery is pretty much the only option if I want to get back to riding and the other activities that I do, so now I’m waiting for my surgery date. I will be happy to talk to the doctor, find out which surgical options are best for me (there are a couple different ones), and to ask all of my questions. Most of all, I just want to get it done so that I can get to work building my muscles back up and can get back on my horse!