Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 

I hope you all remember the real reason for this CHRISTmas season.

Best Wedding Gift

We have been married for 10 years and I still love and use our best wedding gift EVER!!!!  Anyone guess what it is????? 

If you guessed a Kitchen Aid Mixer then you won.  ML and I put it on our gift registery as a "joke" knowing that pretty much no one in our families could afford the several hundred dollar item.  Little did we know that a distant aunt and uncle on my side of the family would buy it for us. 

And boy has it been the best gift ever.  Especially now that I have FM it saves me so much work.  I can't even mix up a simple batch of cookie dough because it hurts to much.  Even a cake box mix hurts my wrists and hands.  So to be able to just throw a bunch of ingredients into a bowl and turn it on is AWESOME!!!

Thank you to that aunt and uncle who bought it for us, you will never know how much that gift has meant to me.

Once Again, Not As I Had Planned

Once again, I woke up this morning hoping to do some baking.  And.....I took a nap.  I even sent ML to the store to buy all the ingredients as I watched our friends kids (she had a funeral to go to).  And as soon as the kids were gone I went to bed.  At least I am a few days ahead of myself so it won't be too bad.  I think I might have a little energy now (the nap really helped) to go start some baking now. 

What makes my baking soooo easy...read my next post on the best wedding present ever.

Wrapping Presents

All I can say is I LOVE wrapping presents.  BUT there is a down side...by the end of it I am in massive pain.  My back hurts so bad from bending over and sitting up that I can hardly move.  My legs hurt from sitting on the ground that I can hardly walk.  My arms hurt from holding and lifting things that they feel like they are gonna fall off. 

So as much as I love to wrap I decided to let ML do it this year.  We were going to spend a day doing it together and then he decided he wanted a date day and wrapped them the night before.  At first I thought, but wait I wanted to help.  But then I realized that even though I loved doing it all it does is cause me pain so why not just let him do it all.  He was completely willing to so I let him. 

I figured I had had years of wrapping presents before FM and now it's time I let someone else have some fun at it.  I did go back a few days later and put some ribbon on the packages, but that was nothing and didn't cause too much pain.  Thanks to ML the hard part is done and they look just as good as if I would have done them.

Moving Along

Well, it's the 16th of December.  I am done with Christmas shopping (maybe just one more gift for ML), I am on a new diet, it's a lovely rainy, cloudy day.  What else could I ask for?  The weather has finally cooled down (darn La Nina in Arizona).  ML and I haven't cheated on this crazy diet (even though I am super hungry today and the only reason I want to cheat is because I am starving), but hey, in only a week I have lost 9.4 pounds. (And yes, I am usually  not a diet fad person, but ML is in a weight crisis and needs to get it off fast so I really don't want to hear it :).  

The girls have a half day tomorrow and then we are on Christmas break.  I can't wait.  Welcome the sleeping in, not having any plans, not having to make sure uniforms are washed and lunches are made. 

And the best part of all....it will soon be JESUS' BIRTHDAY!!! 

Merry Christmas!

Wow, I can't believe December is here.  And before we know it, it will be 2011!  Can you believe it????  I am almost all done Christmas shopping, just need to start wrapping now.  I hope you have had little stress so far and take time to enjoy this month.

Happy December!

Happy Thanksgiving

What a successful day!  Thank you Lord for the strength and energy to get through (and the help of pain meds.)  We had 18 people total in our new house.  It was awesome.  We had enough places for people to eat.  The weather actually feels like it should, nice and chilly and breezy all day.  I actually got to wear winter clothes and we had a fire in the back yard. 

Thanks family for coming over and letting us host you.  It was a blessing having you.

Randomness

There are so many things running through my head right now.  Like:

• The fact that I hate (well, that may be too strong a word) that they play Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  We have so many things to be thankful for, why should we as American's play down this day.  We aren't thankful enough, so of course we need a day to remind us to be extra thankful.
• We upped our cable for $4 more a month to get HD channels and I now have music stations.  OH MY GOODNESS, how did I live without this before?  Especially with the holidays coming, I can just put the TV on and listen away. 
• I am having so much fun decorating for Christmas.  Now you may say "what?" over the fact that I just posted that I don't like the music until after Thanksgiving and now I am talking about decorating.  But hold on.  Since I didn't get to decorate for Fall this year and we just moved (have only been in almost 2 weeks), I am decorating for Christmas early.  I change out my decor for the major holidays, so why decorate with my regular stuff when I am just going to take it all down for Christmas. 
• I just hate that my boob is starting to be in pain again.  It just really hurts and I wish this stupid infection would just go away.
• I have been having so much fun decorating the new house.  I only have to find one more set of curtains for my kitchen nook area and I am done with curtains.  I actually had some hang within the first 3 days that we moved.  I was pretty proud of myself, and it is totally looking like home.

Ok, so I think that's all for now.  Thanks for letting me share!

Recommend: Shutterfly

So I am not a big scrapbooker or should I say I am NOT a scrapbooker.  It's just too time consuming and I don't have enough time or space to do it.  What I have fell in love with is digital scrapbooking.  I love all things that I can do online with my pictures.  I have made countless number of photo books, from 4x6 brag books to the big, hard cover books.  I've done birthday parties, end of the year books, grandparent books, and vacation books.  So this brings us to Shutterfly (there are many sites out there, I just seem to use a lot of Shutterfly).  Right now they are giving bloggers an awesome deal on FREE Christmas cards.  Now who doesn't like free, I know I LOVE FREE.

It's been almost 2 years since I have done picture Christmas cards, so I was excited to see this come up (it was something I had to cut out of the budget).  They have some really cute designs.  They also have cards that share the message of Christ which I really love.  I like sending a message of God every year and so I like that they have this option.

Head on over to Shutterfly and check out all of there products.  There are so many cute gift ideas, get all of your shopping done for the family in one stop. 



· Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
· holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
· Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
· calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/desk-calendars
· personalized mugs to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs
· birthday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery
- blank notebooks to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/blank-notebooks

Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for modern medicine.  With all of my breast issues, my mother surviving breast cancer, and a friend getting a mastectomy this morning, where would we be without modern medicine.  Technology and medicine changing almost every day, staying on top of all the illnesses and disease that plague our world. 


Thank you Lord that I didn't have breast cancer, thank you for saving my mom, and thank you that my friend has a treatable cancer.

Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for my wonderful hubby.  He is another year older and that means another year I got to spend with him.  Lord, thank you for this wonderful man.  He is a blessing to me and our girls.  No matter what we are dealing with, I am with him in sickness and in health (even though there has been a lot of sickness :). 

Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for all of the veterans who have served our country and who are currently serving.  Without you, who knows where our country would be.  We are blessed to be able to have freedom of speech and worship the God of our choice.

Mourning the Loss

It was almost 6 years ago that we "up sized" from our very first home.  Moving is such a hard thing, this move was going to be it for a while.  We were planning on staying in our new house for a long time, it was going to be our home the girls new.  Slowly as the years started to go by, we made friends with neighbors, second families were born with them.  All the kids in the neighborhood were growing up together, celebrating birthdays together, making memories together. 

And then the economy failed.  We tried hanging onto our home for over 2 years and it just became impossible.  Teacher salaries kept going down, cost of living, gas, groceries, and insurance kept going up.  ML has been so dedicated to support our family and I am so proud of him.  However, it became time that we make that hard decision to let our house go.  It was only the Lord that new that ML would not have a job by the time it finally all went through.  And we only trusted the Lord as to where our new home would be located.  It has been 4 days in the new house and we are slowly making it our home.  We are both mourning the loss of our old house, our old neighbors, and our old familiarity.  But we know the Lord has us where He wants us and have to trust that. 

In these past year or two, so many families have lost their home.  We are now one of them.  I only hope and pray that they have the Lord in their lives to see them through...to give them hope...to show them the positives of the change. 

So to our "old" neighbors...even though we don't live across from each other we will still consider you neighbors.  We will try hard to see you on a regular basis and keep up with your families.  You have made a great 5 1/2 years in our home, you have made a long, lasting impression on our hearts.  You will forever be friends.

Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for being able to move on this 3rd day of moving.  Thank you Lord for the help we have been receiving and for the help that is coming tomorrow.

Thankfulness

I am thankful for a day of successful moving yesterday.  I was able to take two loads to the new house, by myself.  I paced myself and took a lot of pain pills and I got through.  Thank you Lord for a great day.

Happy November!

Thanksgiving is here, or at least the month of it.  There is so much to be thankful for and so much to do this month too.  We are getting ready to move in a couple of days, but I will try and jot down a few things I am thankful for each day.  Please add to the list, I would love to see what you are thankful for.  So for today:

• I am thankful that ML has a new job opportunity.
• I am thankful that the Lord has orchestrated the move from one house to another so perfectly, and now I see that I never should have ever had one ounce of worry.
• I am thankful for all of our health.  Even though FM can be so troublesome and cause major havoc in my life, it could always be worse.

I'm Famous...

...well, my boobies are :).  As posted before, I have this rare breast infection going on.  And yes, it is still going on.  So anyhow, this rare disease has completely stumped my doctors and they are having a hard time treating it.  My breast surgeon was scheduled for a medical conference and they ended up changing it to a Granulomatous Mastitis conference (which is what I am suffering from) and it was there that I found fame.................My breasts were presented at the conference (no, not in person).  I feel so honored (yes, I am a dork). 

Actually, this is very cool in the fact that I had I-don't-know-how-many doctors talking about my case.  They all conferred as to what steps should be taken, what steps shouldn't be taken (like surgery), and what medicine they should try to help me out. I mean, I figure it can't get any better than that, right?

Even though my doctors don't know why I have this rare infection/disease or how I got it, they are at least committed to helping me through and finding something to help heal/cure this pain in my butt.  I really can't stand to have any more biopsies (of course, I will if I have to *pouting*), but I would really like this to be gone.  I would like my breasts back (and so would ML :).  I am tired of them being sore, having holes in them, and looking like they got beat up in a fight. 

But as I always say...It could always be worse!!!!

Great News

Yayyyy, it's not cancer.  The results of the biopsy came back and it is still this darn Granulomatous Mastitis.  So now we wait to see what my doctor's want to do.  But the huge blessing is that it's not cancer.  Thank you Lord!

Waiting Again...

Well, the wait begins again...  Here I sit on a Friday night with 2 new holes in my boobies.  As of to date, I have had 1 MRI, 3 Mammograms, 5+ Breast Ultrasounds, and 5 Breast Biopsies.  I am weary and tired.  I wish my breast issues would just disappear.  But they haven't so I am dealing with it. 

So we wait...until Monday afternoon when the doctor calls with the latest results of today's biopsies.  Today was really hard on ML and well, I was just extremely tired (and of course in pain).  Chances are that it will not be cancer (just like the other breast), but there is still that small thought in the back of your mind that it could be cancer.  Whatever it may be I know that God is with us and will see us through.   But I am weary...weary of the pain, weary of the emotions, weary of the worry, weary of the fear.

And so we wait....

Hands, Wrists, Arms

Today, for some reason, I am having a hard time with my hands, wrists, and arms.  Well, it's been going on for a few days/week or so now, but it seems way worse today.  I have one thumb that is killing me to use, so I have been trying to not use it.  It hurts to pick anything up with my hands, move my wrists, and even use my arms.  Holding a telephone is seeming like a huge task today.  Typing is ok since my arms are still.  Thank goodness for texting because I don't want to pick anything up (not even my cell phone).

I am hoping that it is just a type of a fibro flare-up and hoping that it isn't any arthritis.  Guess I will never know until I go to the doctor.  Here's to hoping that the pain goes away, that my 3 year old realizes mommy can't pick her up today (let alone hold her hand), and to good friends helping us pack and move boxes.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We went to the coolest Pumpkin Patch in Bakersfield, CA last week. There was barely anyone there. It was decorated and layed out so cool for the Fall season, we loved it. We had a nice picnic and tons of fun picking out all of our pumpkins. They had so many different pumpkins, way better than anything in Az, and they were so cheap. We got big ones, small ones, white ones, green gourdes, yellow jelly fish looking ones, etc. So here are some pics of our fun day.

 

Kid Funny

Me to Little A:  "Are you going to keep those dimples?"

Little A:  "NO, I AM NOT GOING TO KEEP MY NIPPLES!

Kid Funny

Over the past few months, we have really been working with our girls on praying.  We want them to get comfortable to pray and to know how to pray.  It has really been working.  Well, lately at night, my little A has been wanting me to practice praying with her.  And so this is how the conversation goes (the same way every night):

A: Mommy you pray for Elmo first.

Me: Dear Jesus, be with Elmo, amen!

A: Dear Jesus, be with twinkle littler star, amen!  (all which she takes 5 seconds to say)

I just love the pure hearts of children.  It makes me smile and I can only imagine how Jesus feels hearing a prayer from a 3 year olds heart.

Heaven or Kevin?

My little A just loves the movie Up.  For weeks, she watched it 2-3 times a day.  She can quote certain lines and when putting her to bed she would ask non-stop questions about the people in the movie.  She just loves Mr. Fredrickson, Russel and the bird Kevin. 

A few weeks ago, my parents dog had to be put down (she was very old and had cancer).  So little A started asking if Ginny was in heaven.  She knew that Ginny had gone to be with Jesus in heaven.  Of course she had tons of questions about heaven.  We told her that Jesus has a house in the sky called heaven and that it is so high up that we can't see it.  It has been a great teaching tool.

The funny thing is that when she pronounces heaven she says "kevin."  So my question is:  is she not able to pronouce heaven with an h or is she confusing heaven with Mr. Frederickson's house being up in the sky from the balloons and Kevin the bird sitting on the house?  She talks about Jesus being in "kevin", but I guess I may never know which one she is actually talking about.  She can pronouce h's normally, but maybe heaven is just a hard one for her? 

Anyway, it just brings a smile to my heart.  Either way she knows there is a Jesus and he lives in "kevin" and that maybe there is also a bird named Kevin up there too.

Thankful Sunday!

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

 

On this Sunday, I will be thankful for the head cold I have.  Even though I feel like my head will explode, I am thankful it's not cancer or a brain tumor.  I am thankful that it will only last a week or so.  I am thankful that I am the only one who has it in the family.  I am thankful that I have it this weekend rather than next weekend when we will be traveling to CA (a surprise from ML).

I pray that my girls and ML don't get sick.  I pray for my Grandpa who is still in the hospital.  I pray for others who are suffering more than I am.    

What are you thankful for and what are your prayers?  

Fall is in the Air

Some one posted this picture on an FM forum I belong too and I just fell in love with it.  I just absolutely love Fall. 


Enjoy!

Suck It Up

So I admit it, I have been in a "fibro funk".  It's been physically and emotionally, but I think I am finally pulling out of it.  I had been going through so much pain there that it then starts wearing on the emotions.  And then IT happened...we were at a church bbq and I seemed to go downhill from there. 

I was talking casually with a friend and her husband inquired why we hadn't been in church for a while (well, like forever).  I started explaining that I hadn't been doing good and then he said it.  He told me I just needed to "suck it up."  It caught me so off guard that I pretty much just ignored it and kept on talking with his wife. 

After we left and I began processing it all, I really started getting upset.  Yes, over the years that have been insensitive comments and such, but none this rude.  I know this guy is a macho, don't be a sissy kinda guy and I can definitely fault him for being ignorant.  But it still affected me. 

Like I said, I am doing better know.  I had some great friends come to my defense and offer to beat a few people up (thanks friends, it meant the world to me).  It also reaffirmed that some how I need to continue educating people on what FM is, but some how not shove it down their throats.  It's also important to educate people that invisible illnesses do occur and you can never judge a book by it's cover.

Fibro Friday: National Invisible Illness Awareness Week

National Invisible Illness Awareness Week

After reading another FM blogger, I just found out that September 13th - 19th is National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. In her blog, she answers if she would rather have a visible illness or a non visible illness.  And I think I agree with her...I would prefer a visible illness.  If you have a cast on a body or a major scar, crutches, a wheel chair, etc. people can see it.  They can understand a little more because it is made more real to them. 
Well not with FM, people question how "bad" you are really feeling.  They think that if you just take a different medication or exercise or eat differently or whatever that it will make things all better.  I have been on the strictest drug regimen that I have ever been on and I am still having bad days.  I am used to hiding most all my pain and emotions.  I am great at giving off a nice smile and facade. 
So here's to all my fellow people that suffer from an invisible illness.  You are not forgotten and I have your back.  I am right where you are at and right there along side you to support you.

S. Africa Part 1

ML and I were blessed with an amazing trip to S. Africa (thanks mom and dad).  We were going to my brother's wedding (he married a S. African girl).  Our 3 Loves stayed with family, so ML and I had a kid free trip.  (Our 10 year anniversary is in October so we used the trip as our anniversary trip too).


It was an AMAZING trip.  We can't say anything different.  We met so many amazing people, had some amazing experiences, ate some different food, and will always remember it.  I wanted to highlight some of the best stuff, so here it is.

People

We met our new SIL for the first time (yes, I know a different situation, but it's all good). We really feel like we have a whole new side of the family now. They were just the nicest people. Most everyone of the S. African people we met were very friendly and welcoming.

 

This lady was going to tell a friend that her relative had passed away.

My parents and I.

Animals

ML and I were absolutely blessed with all of the animals we saw.  We were the only ones to see the Big Five in one day (Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo, Lion, Rhino).  We have learned that this is a very rare experience and I personally believe the Lord brought the animals to us.  We went to Kruger Park and spent 2 nights.  And that's where tons of fun was had.  We saw animals as we drove through Kruger Park, went on a night safari, and visited the Lion and Rhino Park. 

 

The elephants were awesome.  We saw babies, we heard them breaking trees and branches and saw them eating.  We heard them talking to each other.  It was an amazing sight.

The buffalo's were huge and dangerous.  They would just stop and stare at you.  Seeing them in a herd crossing the stree,t in front of your safari truck, in the dark was awesome.  They just stood there and stared us down.  Thank goodness they didn't charge.

I was the one who spotted a set of golden eyes.  It turned out to be a female leopard (which seeing a leopard is supposed to be another rare sight).  She walked out from under the tree to the road and just walked in the middle of the road.  Our safari guide turned the truck around and we followed her as she walked.  She eventually went back into the bush and was gone.

The lions were hard to find and so was the rhino.  They are all the most amazing animals ever.  We also saw many giraffes and impala's were everywhere.  Another rare siting, we had was a hippo out of water, which was so cool.

The best animal experience EVER was playing with lion cubs.

They were so much fun.  It's an experience we will never forget.  They aren't as soft as you would think and boy are they strong.

As soon as ML layed on the ground to play with a female, the male crawled right up on his legs and back. He just played with his pants and had fun.

And boy are their teeth strong, even at this young age.  I just looked away from him for a second and he had my wrist in his mouth.  It made a mark, but wasn't strong enough to draw blood.  But boy, it still hurt.

In Kruger Park, we had so much fun sitting around the campfire for 2 nights.  Hyena's would visit us, and one night we decided to entice them to come close to us.  The next morning there was a wart hog family that decided to visit us.  We were able to touch them and they ate out of our hands.

Food

We had some great food, but it was definitely different. Some of the meat we ate was impala, springbok, and lamb.

Wedding

Of course, we can't forget about the wedding.  Hands down, I think it was the funnest wedding we have ever been too.  My brother and SIL (who was the most gorgeous bride ever) just wanted it to be a party and for everyone to have fun.  Being a part of some of the S. African wedding traditions was very cool.  Their dancing is so much fun and the music was pretty interesting.  The photographer had us doing some crazy stuff, especially in our red stiletto's.  (We were running through the forest and traipsing through burned grass.)  This was my first wedding I had ever been in so it was pretty exciting.  It was just a fun morning of getting ready and getting our hair and make up done.

 

We were so sad our girls had to miss this, but ML and I will never forget this trip.  It was a once in a lifetime trip.  It helped renew family values and helped renew our marriage.  We are closer than we have ever been.  We will be talking about this trip for years.  We froze our butts off, but that was way better than the heat in AZ.

We had fun shopping and brought back some really cool pieces for our house.  I got this most amazing coaster set out of a dark wood and the big five animals are carved all over it.  I also found a matching, large bowl that is hand carved too.  I love this red platter and also came back with tons of hand made jewelry.

Fibro Note:  Going from heat to extreme cold put my body into shock, but in a good way.  I also know the Lord had a big part to play in it too.  I rarely had pain and was able to have enough energy to get me through each day.  ML was really surprised at how well I was able to stay up with everyone.  I truly thank the Lord for giving me the relief that I needed to get through this once in a lifetime trip.