getting crafty

I could keep my house decorated with Valentines decor all year long.  "Love" is my favorite theme.  Only problem is that I can't find anything in the stores that would look good in my house.  So, I got a little crafty thanks to pinterest.  I took some fabric I already had, cut hearts out of the red and sewed them onto the canvas squares.

I am heading back to pinterest to find some more crafty ideas to decorate with love.

Have a wonderful weekend!

donuts and blood tests

This little guy of mine was quite the trooper today.  He came on a 3 hour voyage with me just so I could use the carpool lane.  We dropped Alexis off at school and headed straight to UCSD for some blood work (for me, not him).  He was so excited about going but after 4 minutes in the car he was already asking if we were there.  The sun was shining and felt so warm on my face but for him it was absolutely horrible.  The next hour was spent listening to his sob story about the sun melting his face off in between the awe of all the bridges.  A great breakfast was promised for coming along with me.

 

We arrived without burns thankfully and went straight to the lab.  At this point, it had been 30 minutes since Wyatt's last snack and he was STARVING.  Just a quick blood test and we'll eat, I kept promising him.  Of course, "quick" and "test" don't belong together when it comes to my health.  We sat in the lab for a bit while they tried figuring everything out.  Luckily they put us in a large room all to ourselves where Wyatt was able to use my cane as a vacuum cleaner.  Turns out they don't do these tests very often.  There was a special way the test had to be taken, stored, and sent out.  Sitting next to me on the table was a stack of papers, some that needed my signature.  I looked over it and saw "dx" written 3 or 4 times with some large words following.  I asked what that was and the lab tech said it was my diagnosis.  Now I'm thinking they might either have the wrong person or someone isn't telling me something.  Unfortunately I don't have a photographic memory and of course I didn't write anything down so I'll just assume that all is well.

We walked right over to the cafeteria to get the wonderful breakfast I kept promising Wyatt.  Well... the lab took a little longer then expected and the breakfast was done.  Gone.  I quickly began scanning my eyes through the cafeteria to come up with something before Wyatt realizes there's no food.  I found donuts!  Thank you God!!  The man we paid said hello to Wyatt and gave him great advice to stay in school.  He said otherwise he'd be doing what he was doing.   (I think Wyatt was thinking his job was pretty darn cool)  The mister was quite kind and asked if I was his sister.  Wyatt laughed at that one.  The man told me to keep doing what I'm doing with my look.  This confused me since I showed up with out make-up, wearing sweats and unwashed hair.  But if that's what is hot, I'll keep it up!  We sat down to our donuts and juice to hold him over until we got home.  3 minutes into the drive... are we home yet?  Why don't we live down here?

If we lived in the city, we wouldn't have rides home that looked like this everyday.  Much better than stop lights and traffic, in my opinion.

walk through life

Even on cloudy days, the sun will rise.  If you are looking for the beauty, you will see it.

When you walk through life with your eyes closed, you might miss seeing all the beauty.

When you walk through life with your mind closed, you might not see all the other possibilities.

When you walk through life only listening to the negativity, you might not be able to hear the sound of peace.  The children's laughter that brings a smile to your face, the birds chirping in the morning, the stories that other people are telling.  You might miss out on so much love and happiness.

If you walk through life thinking only negative thoughts, you might not see how much positive life there is.  You might not see the billions of miracles right in front of you.

If you walk through life feeling like a victim, you might not be able to feel the joy you have inside.  We have all been victimized in some sense.  Victims of poor health, victims of failed marriage, victims of violence, victims of losing a loved one.  But we all have the choice to not let that ruin our lives.  We have the choice to see, hear, feel, know that there is more life and love in the world than hate.

We are all miracles in this life.  Let us not waste a moment on hate, anger, jealousy.  Instead, take this short time we have to feel with all we are, love with the intent to give joy.

Keep your eyes open to see the beauty in all circumstances because I promise, it is there.

Use your ears to listen with compassion.

Keep your mind open to all possibilities so you don't miss that life changing opportunity.

recipe

Here is an easy 3 ingredient crock pot chicken recipe.

I am not the type of person that follows directions or recipes... I take ingredients that sound good or from other recipes and I piece it together in whatever amount seems right.

Here are the ingredients:

chicken thighs (you can use any parts of the chicken)

1 can of Canada Dry soda (I'm sure any kind of soda would work)

1 bottle of BBQ sauce (any flavor you want)

In any order you feel like, put it all together in the crock pot and mix.

That's it!

Cook on low for around 6 or 7 hours (I did 7 and it was a little dry)

step one: gather ingredients

step 2: pour sauce into crockpot

step 3: pour canada dry into crockpot

step 4: add chicken

step 5: mix all together

step 6: eat and enjoy

joy

perseverance. everyday.

James 1:2-3

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

"Joy to the world

All the boys and girls

Joy to the people everywhere you see

Joy to you and me"

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that she is someone today."

~Stacia Tauscher

"While we try to teach our children all about life,

Our children teach us what life is all about."

~Angela Schwindt

bullies

"Mom, do my ears stick out?" Alexis asked as she was gazing into the mirror.
"No, sweetie!  Your ears are perfect" I said as a familiar pit in my stomach formed.
"Billy said they stick out, but I don't think so." She is still looking in the mirror, holding her hair half up and turning her head back and forth to check them out.
First grade!  She's only in first grade and I already have to deal with this.  I don't remember getting made fun of until I was older but once it started it was brutal.  So bad that the police were involved in one incident.  I was made fun of ruthlessly for being flat chested.  I was 11.  Back then girls didn't even hit puberty or grow boobs until they were at least 13.  I was made fun of for having hairy arms.  I was made fun of for having a long face.  My pants were pulled down as I was getting off the bus.  Girls cornered me in the locker room asking me why I didn't like some guy.  One girl stole my purse, it had my glasses and a key chain that my parents brought back from vacation.  This was all during middle school and I hated going to school every single day.  I was not popular and I did not have a lot of friends.  I was insecure, anorexic, depressed, lonely, and hated my life.
The bullies got the best of me and when I hear that my daughter is already hearing mean things it really upsets me.  I told Alexis that she is beautiful and to not get upset by what other people say.  She said she really didn't care about it, shrugged her shoulders and quickly moved on.  Nothing was said again.  Fast forward one month to the day I volunteered in her class.  Alexis was so excited and of course so was I.  She is only at school 3 days a week and home schooled the other 2 but those 3 days she is gone seem to last forever.  Her group came to the floor where I was sitting waiting to start their assignment.  Alexis and I giggled out of excitement and Billy said, "Why are you always so happy when your mom is here?"  I said it's because we love each other and we love to spend time together.  He said he preferred being alone and not with his parents.  I started to see a little insight into this boys life.  Then he asked why Alexis had a shiny head and I had a bumpy head.  Confused I just shrugged it off and tried to get the group to focus.  He wasn't ready to let this go.  "Why do you have bumps on your face" he asked while pointing to my 'blemishes'.  "You know, those pimples."  Ok buddy!  You are not taking me down!  I did my best to keep my middle school feelings deep down and speak to him like the grown up that I am.  Um, Billy... that is very rude to say to someone.  That makes me sad and it hurt my feelings.  You shouldn't point things out to people, ok?  I know, the fact that I have such bad acne is an issue but that is not the point right now!  (At the age of 4, it would be acceptable for a child to point out but not at 7)  Well, about 15 minutes before I was going to leave, Alexis got a tummy ache.  The same one that she has been getting for weeks now.  It hurts really bad, she cries, goes to the bathroom and is ok.  She continued to cry the rest of the time saying she didn't want me to leave and she hated school.  I left, got in my car, called my husband and cried just as hard as she did.  What if these tummy aches are more than just nerves.  What if she has some GI issues going on and I'm just brushing it off to emotions?  It turned out that Billy later called her and some of her friends some pretty mean names.    He made fun of her for crying at school.  (glad he didn't see me crying) Luckily, she has a fantastic teacher and the situation was addressed immediately. Alexis didn't even tell me that he said mean things, one of the other moms did.  I was telling my husband about it and I told him I was so confused why Alexis didn't say anything to me and his response was, "Welcome to parenthood... you'll be the last to know everything."  Seriously?  Already?
I can't protect every minute of her life.  I can't keep bullies away from her.  I can only pray that she will be strong enough to ignore them and not let any words affect her the way they affected me.  I can only pray that she will be more sensitive to others and never tease or bully anyone herself.  I can only pray that she knows God is with her all the time and will help her through anything.

Walk and Roll

Team Walk and Roll is doing something to make a difference, will you  help?

As many of you know,  I became sick 2 years ago and have since been diagnosed with mitochondrial myopathy.
For me, the disease affects:
*muscles ~ causing muscle weakness and fatigue
*nerve pain
*blood sugar problems
*vertigo

*slurred speech

*bladder and bowl problems
*breathing problems
*heart palpitations
*migraines
The list goes on but I am extremely lucky.  With all of all these symptoms, none of them are severe and they are intermittent.  I appear to function normally except for the occasional legs giving out and other unpredictable issues.  A day doesn't go by where I don't think about the progression of the disease.  But a day also doesn't go by where I am grateful for the beautiful life I have.

My neurologist recommended I get hooked up with the Muscular Dystrophy Association in San Diego.  I did.  They have been so wonderful!  They have welcomed my family with open arms.  Everyone who works there is so kind and caring.  The MDA has provided me with a motorized wheel chair and a transport chair to make getting around easier.  They offer ways to adapt my life with my new limitations.  They have ongoing research for all of the muscle diseases.  They have summer camps for kids that are affected. They offer support.

The MDA is hope.

For everything that they do for families affected by muscle diseases, we knew we needed to give back.  February 26th we will be walking (I will be rolling) in the annual 5K Muscle Walk in San Diego.  We are trying to raise as much money as we can for them.

If you would like to donate to the MDA please click here.  You can donate to the team, anyone on the team or myself.  Your help is extremely appreciated.