florida, sweet sisters & memories

Two weeks ago, we headed down to southwest Florida to visit Michael's family.

What is normally an 8 hour drive took us ten hours.

We left after my chemo treatment on Thursday

and about two hours outside of their town, I suddenly thought about my meds.

I mentioned it and then said that the girls were sleeping

and I would rather just wait til we got there to take them.

Those of you who have small children know exactly what I meant.

We got on down the road a little ways and Michael said,

"I really just feel like I need to pull over and get your medicine."

So we did.

It took him a few minutes to find it and then we called my mom.

Took about 30 minutes in all.

After we got back on the road, about 10 minutes in we saw a horrible accident on the intertate.

They had shut down a section and were rerouting people off...

life flight was landing on the road as we went by.

I'm so thankful God hekp His hand on us and kept us safe.

If we hadn't stopped for my medicine, that could have been us.

I'm forever thankful for all the "could have beens"

that have been prevented over the years.

 Ahhh....I love this place!

 

Sunset at The Beach Shack for supper Saturday night. 

We had a great trip and we're looking forward

to going back as soon as we can.

Thanks, Nana, Pop Pop, & Grandma for having us!

Thank you to Bailey, Mac, Samson & Delilah (the furchildren)

for letting us have their bed!

Last night I laid the girls down in their bed and

snapped this quick picture because they were too sweet:

(I love the matching nightgowns...and the "wild child"

fits June Claire to a T!)

But this morning Michael went to check on them as he was heading out to work

and this is what he found:

(Forgive the messy room...it was clean when they went to bed!)

How cute! They had gotten a sleeping bag

and camped out on the floor.

Part of this blog is for memories that I don't want to forget.

Well, June has been sort of singing herself to sleep lately.

Last night she was softly singing, "Night night, night night"

over and over again. And Sunday morning at church

she wa falling asleep in my arms and as her little eyelids

were fluttering shut she was whispering, "No. No! NO!"

I guessthe little ball of energy just didn't want to give it up.

I hope ya'll had a great weekend and first part of the week!



fill in the blank friday

1. The age I will be on my upcoming birthday is 28. And that's all I have to say about that.

2. The best birthday present ever would be   to have my husband home for my birthday. He'll be deployed next year. :(

3. My favorite birthday to date was  either my 16th birthday when my mom & friends surprised me, or my 21st birthday in England when my sister, brother-in-law, friends & husband took me out for a play & dinner. It was awesome

4. Birthdays make me feel   bittersweet. Especially when it's my girls.

5. The worst birthday I ever had was   Either when I turned 14, my uncle passed away the day before my birthday. Or when I turned 15 (yep, that next year) our home burned about a week beforehand.

6. When I was born It was March 25, 1985. My grandma gave me two dollar bills that were made that year and I still have them in my baby book. I was the last grndchild and you can say I was spoiled. ;)

7. So far my favorite age has been  I'd say 18-22. After that it's just been one tragic mess after another.

Head on over to The Little THings We Do and link up for Fill In the Blank Friday! I hope ya'll have a great day. My girls are going to my sisters house while I go to chemo, and I'm happy because it's my last day for the week! Bring on the weekend!!

think thin thursday

via

Is there already a "Think Thin Thursday" going around?
I don't know. But if there isn't, I'm starting one.

A couple weeks ago I said that I was turning the way we eat around.

Better foods all around. I don't care if I have to downgrade other hings.

So I started this week.

I'm down one pound exactly as of today.
Keep in min I was in Florida on vacation Thursday to Sunday,

so I'm pretty sure that didn't help matters a whole lot.

I did stick to fish, chicken, and veggies...

but then I also had froyo and all kinds of snacks on that long car ride.

(By the way, we were completely out of her minds for taking

two small children on a 9 hour drive and only staying 2 days in between.

Never, EVER will we do that again if we can help it!)

For breakfast, I've been having a bagel with a little bit of cream cheese,

or oatmeal, and fruit.

For lunch I've been packing a healthy sandwich (whole grain bread,

lean meats, no mayo & just mustard) with fruit or veggies.

I usually take a pack of crackers and a yogurt or something to snack on, because it seems like I get nauseated at the beginning of the treatment if I don't.

For supper, it's been lean meats, fat free cheeses and sour cream, whole grains, veggies.

But I could still definitely cook healthier things --

I'm just trying to use what we have.

LOTS of water, which is good to flush the chemo ou of my system too.

It seems like the weight is easier to lose on the weeks I don't have chemo.

Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

I don't have any pictures to share today

but as soon as I get up the nerve to post some with my super short hair,

 I will share.

It'll do me good.

If you have any recipes you'd like to share, I'd be happy to try them out.

One of my favorite bloggers shares "skinny" recipes

She's lost a lot of weight over the past couple years

and she's a great inspiration.

Mama Laughlin is hilarious to boot!

what i'm loving lately

I thought I'd share a few things I've been loving lately.

I love these aqua walls! My uest bathroom will be this color shortly.
I think it looks so clean and crisp.

I had been using a MAC facial cream,

but at $30 a pop I felt like I needed to find a more affordable product.

I saw someone suggest this on YouTube,

bought it, and fell in love.

It's only $10 and I have super sensitive skin

 (and it's really dry) from chemo,

and this works great.

Matter of fact, I got a wild hair

and decided to try a trial size of

Aveeno face wash over the weekend....

completely messed my face up.

After a few day of using this (and no more Aveeno),

the dry patches are gone!

I love this stuff.

My hair has recently gotten long enough

to use a hair dryer or flat iron on,

 and so I've started back using a heat protectant.

Love this product from Aussie.

 It smells great and seems to work well!

This is totally child-related,

but my girls can't get enough of these things.

They are a lifesaver during church & on long car rides!

I hope ya'll are having a great week so far.

We went to Florida over the weekend to visit my in-laws

and I have a few pictures to share tomorrow from that.

We had a great time & it was so good to see everybody!





oh, do you know the muffin man?

Hey ya'll!

So I told a fib last week.

I wasn't back Friday like I said I would be.

But life happens and the interwebs takes a backseat sometimes.

Hoowever....I discovered today that my cancer center

has WiFi and so I will be blogging much more soon!

I finally made myself upload all 600+ pictures

from my camera today.

It was ridiculous.

I found these gems though.

Taken back in October 2011,

about a month before I went in the hospital.

Look at my little baby Junebug!

I can't believe how much they have grown since.

I missed SO much those three months I was in the hospital.

In other news, I started back to chemo today.

I forget how draining it is.

After chemo, my coousin & I had lunch at Mimi's.

I love Mimi's.

I got these yummy muffins for breakfast tomorrow morning:

The left is lemon poppyseed and the right is buttermilk spice.
Except they are not making it until the morning, haha.
My nephew has already ate some of each....
and Mr. I-only-like-chicken-fingers-and-ketchup-and-fries
 has no clue they're not a dessert.
HAHAHAHAHA.
I'm not telling!

I got this super cute contact case at Kirklands.

The doctor recently cleared me to wear contacts again

and I really needed a case...I couldn't resisit this one!

I went in there for home decor but ended up getting this instead.

I can't decorate my own home right now and it's driving me nuts.

I told my mom her house is about to get a makeover!

I hope ya'llhad a great Tuesday!

summer reading party & finding healthy again!

We have been having lots of fun the past week!

We had the end-of-the-summer

readig program  party at the library:

 (That super cute big man in the blue & white

 is my cousin, Haedon!)

 Sara did such a good job sitting so still

until they called her name for her award!

Right before I got sick, I had gotten on a good kick of eating healthy, exercisng, and was feeling REALLY great about myself. I think I am to the point now where I've adjusted to my new life and am going to start getting back into everything. Cooking healthier meals, more water, and getting bac to "exercising". I use that term looselybecause, let's face it -- I can't do much. But everyone has to start somewhere, right? I miss my evening walks with my girls and doing exercise videos together. Watching them try to exercise is hilarious!

One blog I love reading is Mama Laughlin.

She's hilarious, she's gorgeous, and she has lost a LOT of weight

by eating healthy and working out....

without going to a fancy gym and buying fancy foods.

Because, I'll be honest with you --

I'll give up my fave foods for a while to get back to where I need to be,

but I ain't giving them up forever!

I AM from Alabama, honey!

I have a few things I want to write about...

including a picture of me, current da.

Short hair & all.

Because if Anne Hathaway can do it,

so can I.

I PROMISE I'll be back shortly this time.

Like, tomorrow.

I really do promise!

 Miss June Claire passed out...

when she finally gets still for 5 seconds,

she's out!



doctors, good news, and cute pictures

Hey ya'll! I hope ya'll had a great weekend. We stayed around home all day Saturday, did a bunch of yard work & then cooked supper with my uncle & his family. Sunday we had a visiting preacher at church, and that's always nice. I enjoyed his sermon and I sure enjoy his wife to pieces. She is so friendly and genuinely sweet! They have five children and they are so well behaved. They make my two look like heathens (just kidding!) but in all honesty, they're good people.

Today I had a eye appointment, but before we left out this morning I managed to get a couple of shots of the girls:

I LOVE this one!

 Junebug showing off her new shoes (they are too cute!)

At my eye appointment, we got some really great news -- the doctor noticed that my optic nerve was very swollen during surgery, so we had an MRI (everything was okay) and then he spoke with my oncologist and they come to the conclusion that they felt it was a side effect of the chemo that I'm on. What happens is that it makes my vision blurry right in the center and I can't really see very clearly. Unfortunately, it can be permanent. Last week my oncologist started consolidating my chemo pills, and by today's visit it seems to be working! Most of the swelling is gone, so he cut that medication in half as well. I'm SO thrilled. I've been noticing that I can see a little better over the past couple of days. I even ws able toread my Bible yesterday along with the sermon -- holding it up close in front of my face, but hey -- I'll take what I can get!

After my eye appointment, we decided to swing by our old house and kind of start to go through things. When I went into the hospital, it was very sudden. I went to a hospital two hours in one direction and my girls went to my hometown which was an hour in the other direction. Then we had someone staying in our home for a short period of time, but for the past month it's been left alone.

It. Was. Terrible.

FIrst of all, it was hard to go back to something I'd left 8 months before and it not feel like home. I walked in and saw June's high chair in the dining room and started bawling. I left a chubby 18 month old and came home to a definitely little girl who walked and talked like she'd been doing it all her life. For the most part, things were still pretty much how I'd left them. That was kind of hard. But we'll get in there and make it ours again....it will just take time.

My front entrance....just the way I left it on November 21. Except the flowers were alive and the wreath matched the fall season....

I hope ya'll had a great Monday!