It's All Dunn

This weekend, we truly realized how precious life is and how so much can change in an instant.

My stepdad, David, had a heart attack on Friday evening. Everything is fine now, and he is doing much better, but the past 48 hours have been a total blur.

Travis and I were driving out to Galena, IL on Friday evening for a nice weekend of R&R with my mom and stepdad at their seasonal home out there. When we were about half-way there, we recieved a phone call from my mom telling us that David was having chest pains and they called the paramedics and were going to the hospital to have everything checked out. She said that she was sure everything would be fine, but that they didn't want to take any chances.

Travis and I drove straight to the hospital, which ended up being in Dubuque, IA, since there was not a cardiac hospital in Galena. As it turns out, David was in fact having a heart attack. They had to perform a cardiac catheterization to determine where the problem was, and found that one of his main arteries was 99% blocked. They inserted a stent to open the artery up. The medical team was wonderful and truly saved his life.

He stayed in the hospital for the rest of the weekend, and was released today. We are so thankful that he is still with us. This whole experience was a huge wake up call for everyone to not take life for granted. Our lives are truly not in our own hands, and God is the one who determines our beginning and end. Thankfully, he decided to allow David to stay here on earth with us, and we are so grateful for this blessing.

We never dreamt that something like this would happen to someone in our family, much less, David. David lives a very healthy lifestyle, he rides his bike 20 miles about 3 times a week, swims often and eats well. He even completed a triathalon a few years ago! This just shows that everyone needs to take care of their heart, and you can never be too careful.

David's life will be forever changed because of this, but changed for the better. He will now be under good cardiac care, and living a very healthy lifestyle, something we should all be doing through diet and exercise.

The best news of all, is that my mom and David will get to celebrate their 12th anniversary tomorrow!

Please keep David in your prayers as he continues to heal from all of this, and for the lifestyle decisions he and my mom will need to make in the near future. They are a great team, and will come out very strong and happy, with a new appreciation for the blessing of life.



Mom and David at Epcot for mom's 60th Birthday in February.

I love fall in Chicago, the leaves falling and crunching as you walk, the smell of cool, fresh air, and pumpkins! A few weeks ago, we went to the Cedarburg Wine and Harvest Festival in Cedarburg, Wisconsin with our friends Tom and Kathy. We had fun sampling all of the local cuisine, buying wine and shopping at all of the cute shops. One shop was called Robin's Paperie. This shop is like the dream shop I hope to one day own! I even like the name, but probablly couldn't use it for some reason or another.

This fall I have a newfound appreciation for football. Typically, I can't stand to sit and watch football, but my patience must be improving this year. While the Baylor Bears aren't doing so great, the Northwestern Wildcats are doing awesome! They are 6-1, and bowl eligible, with strong chances of going to a bowl game this year. For us Alumni Relations people, this is a big deal! Let's hope they continue this winning streak and take Northwestern to a great bowl in Decmeber or January (hopefully some place warm!).

I've been sort of bogged down with this darn cold everyone seems to have for the past week, so I've really caught up on all my favorite shows such as: Jon and Kate Plus 8, The Hills, House Hunters, and more! I feel like such a couch potato, but I just don't have much energy to do much else.

I'll leave you with some photos of our time in Cedarburg, Wisconsin!



Huge pumpkin carvings


They were actually crushing the grapes with their bare feet! I hope they didn't use those grapes for the wine we bought!




Ciao!

Well, I've officially joined the blogging world! Not sure that our lives are interesting enough to blog about, but I figure this is a good way to stay connected to friends who we don't see or talk to nearly enough!

A little update on us, Travis and I just celebrated our one year anniversary in May, and we celebrated with a fabulous trip to Italy...sigh....it was a great trip that we shared with my Dad and step-mom, Bev.

I just returned from a two week trip to Russia, as a host for an alumni tour for the Northwestern Alumni Association, where I work. Since Travis was unable to take the time off since we had just gone to Italy, my Mom traveled with me on this one! It was a wonderful experience to share, and our eyes were certainly opened as we experienced the culture of such a unique country, which is, by the way, BEAUTIFUL!

Travis and I are currently living in Evanston, Illinois, which is just north of Chicago. We bought our condo last summer, and really love living here.

Travis is still working for J.P. Morgan, and is located out of the Mt. Prospect office, which is about a half-hour from home. As I mentioned earlier, I work for the Northwestern Alumni Association, as the Assistant Director of Clubs. I just started this new position in April, but am enjoying it so far!

That's a little on us...I love reading our friends' blogs, and hope you can enjoy ours as well!