Reunion......

My aunt Joan retired recently and my aunt Lori had a party at her house to celebrate. My family was loud, crazy and had a little too much fun.....I left early because I was tired and my feet were swollen from working so much. Nevertheless, a good time was had and people traveled from a far to be there: California, Virginia, Florida, St. Louis, and Columbus.....Here is the result....

Spring?

This past week I have been on spring break and I am enjoying it fully. I have an extrememly bust schedule and the much needed break was a relief. James and I cleaned our patio which was full of leaves, mud, discarded buckets, bikes and other various things. Our patio looks really bare now but we will enjoy it soon. There is an amazing amount of bulbs that will soon explode with color. We are beginning to see the start of them already but I am not sure the warm weather will last. Living in the Cleve, there is always a threat of great weather and then it snows. In fact, snow is predicted again. Even though today is the first day of spring, there are bound to be a couple more false alarms before I can dig out my sandals....I hope the frost doesn't kill my hydrangeas......Let's keep our fingers crossed

Being Bummed

Today is one of those days. I am not usually a crier. I didn't cry when I had my transplant or when I got the call. I didn't cry when my grandpa, who was like a dad to me, died. I didn't even cry when Olivia was born. At the end of January, a really close firend of mine died. I didn't cry. I just don't do it very often. I have seen so much in my life that it feels like I have a steel shell. Things don't bug me, peoples words don't usually hurt me. But today, I cried for the first time in a really long time. Yesterday, I got a call from someone prososing an idea. They wanted to know if I would become a part of an ambassador program for the Cleveland Clinic. It involves lung transplant patients (which I am) going to different people and promoting certain drugs. I was super up for it. For those of you who don't know, I frequently give BIG speeched to large groups of people. I want to become and motivational speaker one day and travel all over to give speeches. Well, I was pumped. Then the woman involved told me that there was an all expenses paid trip to San Fransisco included. Then I was really excited. I thought my dream's door was opening for me to step right inside. I called her back this morning and she had said that they has only needed one person and that someone already had accepted their offer. My heart was crushed and I sat on my living room floor, curled into a ball on my side and cried. I am so bummed you guys. On so many levels. I thought for sure this was the chance I needed to get into motivational speaking. See, to do it, you need to get your name out there, do it around the city, then state, then country. I have done it around the city.....this would have let me go straight to country level. not only that but I would have gone on somewhat of a vacation. James and I, due to a new set of brakes had to potpone our trip to AZ, which I was REALLY looking forward to. I am under a ton of pressure from school. I have already quit one job and it is impossible to quit the second or we really lose money. We can't afford for me NOT to work. School is driving me crazy. EVERY day I think about dropping out. I only have two semesters to go, and those are in the classroom. But with schedling conflicts for next year, I might not be able to finish. I am stressed, tired, aggravated and short tempered. I have prayed and asked for help from heavenly father. I know that He "answers when appropriate" and "He knows" what's best. I feel like I am drowning in darkness, stress and textbooks. I don;t know abot you but I would never let one of my children come close to drowning, no matter what I knew. I was really excited about this and it feels like He ripped the carpet out from under me. Just when I think I am getting ahead and it might be a good year, He throws things like this at us. I DO think He gives us more than we can handle. He must not remember that my body CANNOT take this kind of stress. I am bummed and feel like He let me down. I have thought about this all morning, and prayed. I don't seem to be able to think anything good about this. Not even anything that happens until then seems like it would be "better that I didn't go."
A

Great Strides....and the rest

WOOHOO.....I am on a ROLL....I have been posting like mad!!! I guess I am finding it therapeudic....like a diary.....Anyways, I have been super busy. On May 16th, I am coordinating a team to walk in the Cystic Fibrosis walk at the zoo....I am doing an event at a coffeee house to raise money for it (which I think a couple boys at my church will be playing the live music)....and it is tough. Our team has a goal of raising 3000 dollars. Not tough you say...try it. I think it helps that someone donated 500 dollars....0ne donor....THANK YOU SO MUCH.....anyways, I will be speaking at the event to kick it off. I am hoping to reach out goal. I have posted flyers EVERYWHERE so that people will donate. All this on top of school, gymnastics, working and preparing lessons for Primary. Don't get me wrong. I love everything I do and I do it by choice. But it is tough. If you would like to donate, you can do so online here at this link....

http://www.cff.org/great_strides/FundRaisingSummary/?walkID=5997

We would love to meet our goal or beyond...Such a great cause.....Anyone who knows me knows how close to my heart this is. Thank you all so much and if you want or could, forward the link to everyone so they can walk with us or donate. Have a great day and let's ban together to help little kids breathe a little easier

A

It's a shocker, I know

This happens to be my second post in a month.....shocking, I know. I am now done with cheerleading and what a relief. The spring semester at school seems to eat me up alive. Olivia got sick, then I got sick at the beginning of the month. No sooner did we get over it then I got sick again. It stayed in my head and nose area for a long time. I went to the doctor and NOTHIN!!! No viruses, no bacteria, no herpes.....Im Just kidding.....about the herpes thing...LoL....anyways, I was fine. The doc said it must have been that warm weather we had for couple days. It must have stirred up something that affected my allergies. So I was ok.....Olivia, unfortunatly was not. She got a slight fever on a Saturday and by Sunday afternoon, it was full blown hot kid on my hands. She stayed in bed all day Sunday and Monday and slept until 1230 on Tuesday. She is now better but wow, that was a little weird. She is usually a 24 hour bug kid.....but this knocked her out. Then, James got sick. He is now also better. Needless to say that we are keeping GOJO and kleenex in business with all the Purell and anti bacterial tissue we buy. We are all good now and let's try and keep it that way:)

Jen and Brianna came this weekend! I am so excited 'cause we had a great time. I love Jen and Brianna has turned out to be quite the hip hop dancer. It makes me want to sign Olivia up, but alas, gymnastics takes up our time. I miss Jen as we don't see each other like we would like to. Miss You! But the Tequila Ranch was amazing and riding the mechanical bull is so fun! Thanks ladies for making our weekend great:)

A great night

Tonight~ I had an excellent night. It was a night spent with great friends and new people. I went to a birthday and talked with my old girlfriends. I also chatted with some people who I had just met. This night has made me realize a few things. First, I am so lucky to have a group of girlfriends who I can laugh with, talk with and play flip cup with (I only had water in my cup). These girls have been there since high school and I am so glad. Second, I met a girl named Annie who was amazing. The two of us sat and talked about our lives and our families. Well, I did most of the talking. But it was nice to tell her about myself. And maybe that sounds a little concieted but it isn't meant to be. She listened to the synopsis of my book and I am glad for that. Thank you Annie. Lastly, it made me realize that true friends are better than the ones who don't stick around. I know quite a few people who are elbow rubbers. And you might know some elbow rubbers yourself. These are the people who are in it for the 5 minutes of gratification they get from being with someone of importance. These people don't care about the people who care the most. They just want to say "Yeah, I went to dinner with ________ (insert name of person of importance here)." I have no room for those people in my life. I really only want people who love me and are honest in my life. I want the people who are trustworthy and kind and genuine. Elbow rubbers signify none of these traits. So to all my old friends, and my new ones~ Thank you for being there with your ears open and your hearts welcoming.