WOW, what a day yesterday!! Thank you EVERYONE who made my birthday so incredible with calls and messages, you sure made this girl have a very happy birthday!!
My day started with a yummy “McTrav” breakfast sandwich and coffee made by my sweetheart. I then headed off to continue my tradition of dropping off goodies to the hospitals & clinics where I have had health care throughout my life. They are one of the reasons I am fortunate enough to be celebrating another year.
I was able to deliver some Drew’s Caramel Corn to my current health clinics and LifeSource. For the 2nd year, Jennifer was so incredibly sweet to take care of the two hospitals and Children’s clinic (see video below).
I drove through Starbucks to get my free birthday coffee but bought the car behind me their’s. Afterwords, I met our niece & nephew to finish the final Toys for Tots shopping. My mom and brother brought us our usual birthday dinner from TJ’s then we headed to Kare11 to drop off all the toys.
Thank you to ALL that contributed to this year’s toy drive!! For the 24th year in a row, with the help of several generous donors and some special “shopping elves” I dropped off another cargo van full of 560 TOYS!! You’re amazing!
Although we’re still not able to head to our favorite bar at Manny’s Steakhouse for a cheers with Dana & Michael, we popped over to their place for a nightcap.
Thank you again for adding joy to some special kids out there during the holiday’s. Thank you for warming my heart and making me smile from ear to ear. Thank you to my double lung donor, Jacob, for another wonderful year.
There is still time to donate to the kiddos but tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 15th, is that last chance to help out!
As mentioned before, I’m asking for monetary donations so I can send a couple of special “Elves” to do some shopping on my behalf. You can Venmo me @nikki-malnar or contact me directly for other options.
There are multiple ways to contribute to the kiddos, you can drop off toys on your own at KARE11 or if you see a bin at a store, purchase a toy and drop it off on your way out!
If you live in the Twin Cities area, you can fill in your zip code to find local drop off centers with this link. With the same link, you can also donate online directly to Toys for Tots.
Thank you for contributing to this year’s toy drive!
Last year, the pandemic disrupted my “supply chain” for my annual toy collection for my birthday. I was hoping this year would be different.
Sadly, doctor’s orders are STILL requiring me to stay out of stores. I’m doing my best to keep my new pretty pink lungs healthy. So, for my 24th Toys for Tots toy drive, I need to rely on your help more than ever!
I’m asking for monetary donations so I can send a couple of special “Elves” to do some shopping on my behalf. You can Venmo me @nikki-malnar or contact me directly for other options.
There are multiple ways to contribute to the kiddos, you can drop off toys on your own at KARE11 or if you see a bin at a store, purchase a toy and drop it off on your way out!
If you live in the Twin Cities area, you can fill in your zip code to find local drop off centers with this link. With the same link, you can also donate online directly to Toys for Tots.
If you have toys and would like to continue letting me be your delivery gal, I look forward to dropping all the toys off to the Marines at Kare11 on December 16th. I will need to meet and pick up all donations by Wednesday, November 15th!!
Thank you so much for helping me continue my 24 year tradition of donating to Toys for Tots. The last eight years have been extra special because I’ve been delivering toys in honor of my double lung donor, Jacob.
It’s all about making smiles on kids’ faces this time of the year! Thank you, and have a very healthy and happy holiday season!
This is not a boomerang video! You can see when I’m blinking only my left eye closes, not my right eye. That warranted my E.R. visit yesterday afternoon/evening.
I’ve been dealing with a couple different issues for over a week. I was walking our dog, Honey, a while back when she chased a squirrel and I didn’t realize she took off, she took my arm with her!
I started PT on my shoulder this last Friday but last week I also started having progressive facial tingling/numbness. When I woke up yesterday and couldn’t blink, I started freaking out. It was in addition to not being able to smile, raise my eyebrow, or close my mouth completely on the right side.
Turns out I have a right brachial plexus irritation (I had to Google it) on my shoulder AND Bell’s Palsy on the right side of my face!! With the odds of having both problems and on the same side, I should buy a lottery ticket!! As my friend Jenni said “Nikki, you really do go big or go home!” She’s not kidding😂🙄😜
The shoulder injury was making the Bell’s Palsy difficult to diagnose as they thought both were connected. After a brain MRI then an additional cervical spine MRI, fortunately a stroke was ruled out and nothing was pushing on my brain stem or spinal cord, phew!!
I have started an antiviral and I’m wearing an eye patch. Arrrr☠️matey I’m ready for Halloween! I’ll be doing PT for my droopy face and PT for my droopy shoulder, man I’m a dandy!! From what I understand, you’ll be seeing my crooked smile and I’ll be winking at everyone for a couple of months but I’m so glad I have a diagnosis, treatment plan, and it wasn’t more serious!! Thank you Dana and our friend Uzma for the help and guidance!!!
That’s a wrap Minnesota State Fair 2021!! Just when I thought my dreams of making it to the fair were over, I went two days in a row!!
I was explaining to my mom and brother how morning times were quiet and if they wanted to attend I would go with them. I would go everyday to the fair if I could so no twisting my arm on this one!
Pretty sure coffee, cheese curds, a pronto pup, and blueberry mini donuts for breakfast is not the healthiest option but there are times you do what you gotta do😉 It also gave me a 2nd chance for a cartwheel in front the giant ferris wheel!
After my family left I was planning to meet up with Sarah, who does go every day to the fair, I’m jealous. It didn’t work out this year to ride the tall swings together at the end of the midway but we’ll make sure of it next time. It’s a newer fair tradition for me. Two years ago, Sarah and I went up six times in a row to mark six years with my new lungs.
Sherwin, the swing operater, was amazing. He allowed me to ride by myself to keep the tradition going! He let me just hang out up there in the sky and enjoy the moment. I swear it must have gone around twenty times, maybe that’s a sign of things to celebrate in the future.
I had the opportunity to stop and chat with our friend Tracy again, eat more of my favorites, listen to some great music at the Leinie lodge bandshell, and finish with an icon, the foot long hot dog.
My stomach is stuffed and my heart is full♥️ See you next year @mnstatefair!!!
I have only missed ONE @mnstatefair in my whole life. Having to protect my new lungs, I thought the fair this year was going to be out of the question.
On Monday, I had my eight year post transplant annual studies, everything looked good and both my doctor and I were very pleased but we needed to have a discussion….a talk about the fair possibility.
I made a deal with my doc that if @travmalnar and I went extremely early, we walked in at 6am, and left when more people were present he would allow me to go!
In the 44 years I have attended the great Minnesota get together, I have never been there to experience the magic of the sun rising up behind the Giant Slide nor have breakfast!
You can see we were pretty safe with low attendance in the morning hours. We were able to keep our distance, dance around off to the side if there were too many people approaching, wore a mask when others were close, and we even had the chance to catch up with some of our awesome friends while there!!
There was also an abundance of space for my cartwheel in front of the ferris wheel! I can still say, “I have only missed ONE Minnesota State Fair in my whole life”!
Nikki's New Lungs 