Well I am still in Missouri until this coming Friday. I had only planned on a week here but after many talks with Tara she convinced me to stay for the full 2 weeks. It's just so hard for me because after 20 min. gone from home I was wanting to be back so badly and missing them. Call me weird, but it's true! So 2 weeks has felt like forever....I'm really excited to get back on Friday. :)
Don't get me wrong though, I love my family here and have enjoyed some of the time here. This week I am actually staying at Tara's house. She is on spring break so it's nice to spend lots of time with her. Today we went to lunch and shopping some, so that was fun! I think I'm spending way too much money though! :( Although, I'm set for summer now as far as clothes go! :)
So anyway, the trip has been pretty good, spent time with the Hunt Family, photographed a wedding, did a photoshoot for a very lovely family, painted Tara's room and bathroom, helped powerwash a house with my Dad and umm..shopped I guess! :)
It seems like for all weeks to come home these were the most crucial. In a way it's been a "sobering" trip. :( I had told you all about my Grandma who was in the hospital, well so far it seems like it's all going well. We are going back up to see her tomorrow. She had her hip surgery yesterday I think. So Praise God for that, I'm pretty sure she did well through that. Well, also while I was down here I went to visit a friend of mine, Tom. He has had cancer since 2007 and is in his final stages right now. :( He called me at the end of January to tell me goodbye and I just couldn't handle that. So I've been praying that God would keep him alive until I could come back and see him myself. So I got back here and thought of Tom everyday but was scared of what I might see. Not sure I could handle it. :( I talked to Sage and told her how I had prayed and she told me that I just had to go see him, especially after praying that way. God answered my prayer and kept him alive, why wouldn't I go see him? :( So....I called up the Hunts and they went with me. Boy, was that ever hard. I think I said maybe 5 words to him. I just couldn't stop crying when I saw him. He's gotten So incredibly thin that it scared me, I didn't recognize him at all. He was in so much pain also. His testimony was amazing though. As sick as he was and as much pain as he is in he said that his goal was to just get as many people to Heaven him before he died. Then he explained that he couldn't be mad at God, because God is the giver of life and it's His to take away too. Who says we deserve 80 years? I hope that I can be like Tom when my time comes and I hope I can be an example to so many like he is. Please be praying for Tom also. He is only 28 years old and battling this. Last I heard also he fell when trying to get up and his his spine where the epidural was so it's caused lots more pain. :(
On top of all of this, I found out my stepdad has cancer again and then someone very VERY dear to me has it to. I would never imagine in my whole life she could get cancer but she has now and I'm so scared. It devastated me hearing this news and also brought back lots of old memories. I can't even say who this person is right now because everyone is keeping it very hush right now. If it's possible to pray for her without knowing who she is, please do. And soon I'll update with who it is. I realized that life was just TOO good for the last 7 weeks and that something had to go wrong soon. Then I came back here and one thing after another happened. You'd think I'd be used to this by now. I know though that God has a reason for it all and a purpose for everything He does. Through this all I've also learned what a blessing it is to have family be there for you through the valleys and on the mountain tops. (Thank you guys!)
Thanks for all the prayers on my Grandma who is int he hospital, means a lot to me! :)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Franklin Springs Contest!
Franklin Springs Family Media has just announced a fun and entertaining new contest. Submit a video or photo slideshow of you with your family, or by yourself, making a recipe featured on one or more of the Homestead Blessings DVDs; The Art of Breadmaking, The Art of Soap Making, or The Art of Candle Making. To read more about this contest and to see rules go to their website at www.franklinsprings.com or click HERE
I highly reccomend for you all to give this a try and go for it! It would be a fun thing to do with your family if your experienced or not with video.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Update on my Grandma
Thank you to all of you who have been praying for my Grandma and for me. I really really appreciate it and also let her know that there were many people out there praying for her! She says Thanks also! :) Yesterday was the first day I got to see her. Apparantly she was much better yesterday, but to me she looked pretty bad. :( I'm not good with techinical names and stuff but I'll do my best to give an update.
There appears to be NO cancer, which I am SO thankful for. Praise God! She still is in critical condition though with this infection. Seems that the infection in her body wants to try to fight off any foreign object in her body like the fake hip, pacemaker, and her port. Since her heart is still very bad the pacemaker must stay but the hip is going to come out. She is on lots of antibiotics trying to fight this infection off, but still it must come out. The port is coming out today which I was told is an easy percedure, but hip will be very tough. I remember when my Grandma got the fake hip in, she was very healthy and came out of surgery super weak and pretty bad off. Well this time she is going into surgery very weak and not so good at all. Her oncologist was hoping they could bypass this surgery, but it seems to be necessary. :( If all goes well with surgery, the plan is to put in a concrete hip for the meantime and then my Grandma will be switched to an Assisted Living place so she can have help 24/7. She wont be able to move like she can now with the concrete hip. After the 5-7 weeks there she will need to be moved to some sort of apartment or something. We were talking about it yesterday and tossed around a few ideas. She wont be able to do steps, and all the houses we have, have steps where the bedrooms are. :( So most likely she will rent an apartment for awhile and we will take care of her that way.
I'm not sure what this means for me. I of course will do whatever for my Grandma, and if she needs me there I will be there for her, but I am really missing home. I love my family here, but it's so hard being away from everyone back at home now. For the last 7 weeks or so I've had company everyday and have stayed busy and I just loved it. Today I feel lost, being at my Dad's house by myself and well having nothing to do. Mostly what I do here is txt or talk or chat online with everyone back at home! :D
Anyway, Thursday is my Grandma's hip surgery and if you all could still be praying she makes it out of surgery safely. Also be praying for my Grandpa. I can't go into too much detail, only because I dont know, but he is not doing well at ALL. A lot of mental problems it seems like. He just can't take all of this. He feels like he just went through this with my Mom and now his wife. He seems to be going dillusional. He is still in FL though and there is nothing we can do but pray for him. He has mentioned though that he can't live longer than my Grandma, he has to go first and then a few nights ago he took a ton of sleeping pills, so it's just very scary for us. Both my Grandparents are Christians, that's why I think he must be out of his mind right now, he is never like this. :(
As for other news...I shot my first wedding on Saturday for John and Audra Notgrass! Boy, was I ever nervous, I even broke out in a rash or hives or something on my arms during the ceremony....never been so nervous in all my life! :D Once the ceremony was going though I calmed down I think and it got better. I was so thankful to Joan for all the help she gave me that day too. And Nathaniel Bluedorn, he showed up at the wedding and offered for me to use his camera, what a blessing that was to me! I had two cameras then to shoot with and his camera is just SOOO nice so it was a tremendous blessing! :) Keep a look out on my photo blog and I'll post some wedding ones when I get back home and can edit some! :)
Not too much planned for the week, I'll be painting my sisters room on Wednesday and then have a photoshoot to do for a family next Saturday but other than that, its pretty much just boring! :) Hope you all have a great week!
Lee's, I love you guys so much and miss you tons! Can't wait to come back home!
There appears to be NO cancer, which I am SO thankful for. Praise God! She still is in critical condition though with this infection. Seems that the infection in her body wants to try to fight off any foreign object in her body like the fake hip, pacemaker, and her port. Since her heart is still very bad the pacemaker must stay but the hip is going to come out. She is on lots of antibiotics trying to fight this infection off, but still it must come out. The port is coming out today which I was told is an easy percedure, but hip will be very tough. I remember when my Grandma got the fake hip in, she was very healthy and came out of surgery super weak and pretty bad off. Well this time she is going into surgery very weak and not so good at all. Her oncologist was hoping they could bypass this surgery, but it seems to be necessary. :( If all goes well with surgery, the plan is to put in a concrete hip for the meantime and then my Grandma will be switched to an Assisted Living place so she can have help 24/7. She wont be able to move like she can now with the concrete hip. After the 5-7 weeks there she will need to be moved to some sort of apartment or something. We were talking about it yesterday and tossed around a few ideas. She wont be able to do steps, and all the houses we have, have steps where the bedrooms are. :( So most likely she will rent an apartment for awhile and we will take care of her that way.
I'm not sure what this means for me. I of course will do whatever for my Grandma, and if she needs me there I will be there for her, but I am really missing home. I love my family here, but it's so hard being away from everyone back at home now. For the last 7 weeks or so I've had company everyday and have stayed busy and I just loved it. Today I feel lost, being at my Dad's house by myself and well having nothing to do. Mostly what I do here is txt or talk or chat online with everyone back at home! :D
Anyway, Thursday is my Grandma's hip surgery and if you all could still be praying she makes it out of surgery safely. Also be praying for my Grandpa. I can't go into too much detail, only because I dont know, but he is not doing well at ALL. A lot of mental problems it seems like. He just can't take all of this. He feels like he just went through this with my Mom and now his wife. He seems to be going dillusional. He is still in FL though and there is nothing we can do but pray for him. He has mentioned though that he can't live longer than my Grandma, he has to go first and then a few nights ago he took a ton of sleeping pills, so it's just very scary for us. Both my Grandparents are Christians, that's why I think he must be out of his mind right now, he is never like this. :(
As for other news...I shot my first wedding on Saturday for John and Audra Notgrass! Boy, was I ever nervous, I even broke out in a rash or hives or something on my arms during the ceremony....never been so nervous in all my life! :D Once the ceremony was going though I calmed down I think and it got better. I was so thankful to Joan for all the help she gave me that day too. And Nathaniel Bluedorn, he showed up at the wedding and offered for me to use his camera, what a blessing that was to me! I had two cameras then to shoot with and his camera is just SOOO nice so it was a tremendous blessing! :) Keep a look out on my photo blog and I'll post some wedding ones when I get back home and can edit some! :)
Not too much planned for the week, I'll be painting my sisters room on Wednesday and then have a photoshoot to do for a family next Saturday but other than that, its pretty much just boring! :) Hope you all have a great week!
Lee's, I love you guys so much and miss you tons! Can't wait to come back home!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
My Grandma...
Not exactly an "update" post but a crying out asking you all to PLEASE pray for my Grandma (Mamaw). My Grandma who lives in FL, has recently had a lot of pain in her hip. She has already had both hips replaced so when she went to the hospital it ended up being some kind of infection. I really didn't think much of it. Well, after further searching, it seems that it is an infection in her bone and blood. The doctors there wanted to give her some kind of concrete hip and have her bed ridden for 5-7 weeks and then try do a replacement hip. Also they are possibly considering bone cancer...something I can't even let my mind consider right now as an option.
Well, to make this shorter, my Grandma left the hospital in FL without the doctors approval and will be flying to St. Louis tomorrow to get treatments there. I guess STL is known for having the best hospitals and from experience she believes it.
Please, PLEASE just be praying for her though. I have to believe that this will just be treated easily and there will be no cancer. What scares me is that the doctors in FL were saying that the infection in her blood could kill her over night if not treated right away. :( God is in control though and knows what is wrong with my Grandma. :( It's just so hard to think that this is happening.
Life surely is a journey, mountain tops and valleys. I guess I've been up on the mountain tops too long and it's time for another hard trial. :( I just don't feel ready for this one, ESPECIALLY if it's bone cancer. I watched my Mom die, and I can't do that with my Grandma also.
The plan was to go back to St. Louis tomorrow to do the wedding on Saturday. I was going to stay a week in MO, but now I think plans to come home are postponed. I don't want to stay gone too long though, I'll miss everyone so much here. I'll try to keep you all updated....
Well, to make this shorter, my Grandma left the hospital in FL without the doctors approval and will be flying to St. Louis tomorrow to get treatments there. I guess STL is known for having the best hospitals and from experience she believes it.
Please, PLEASE just be praying for her though. I have to believe that this will just be treated easily and there will be no cancer. What scares me is that the doctors in FL were saying that the infection in her blood could kill her over night if not treated right away. :( God is in control though and knows what is wrong with my Grandma. :( It's just so hard to think that this is happening.
Life surely is a journey, mountain tops and valleys. I guess I've been up on the mountain tops too long and it's time for another hard trial. :( I just don't feel ready for this one, ESPECIALLY if it's bone cancer. I watched my Mom die, and I can't do that with my Grandma also.
The plan was to go back to St. Louis tomorrow to do the wedding on Saturday. I was going to stay a week in MO, but now I think plans to come home are postponed. I don't want to stay gone too long though, I'll miss everyone so much here. I'll try to keep you all updated....
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