every trial in my life has brought me to THIS place.....a place where nothing is perfect but everything is great. i wouldn't change a thing. OK MAYBE A FEW THINGS!!!!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
The Duck Billed Platypus
In light of to my previous post Z's teacher a few weeks ago was talking about mammals and how mammals don't lay eggs. When all of the sudden Z, who is gifted in the area of factual knowledge, (mainly animals, cars, and weather) sat their perplexed as she made that statement and then raised his hand and told her to get her phone and look up the duck billed platypus. Needless to say, the teacher was not very happy with that statement but Z said a fact is a fact. Me I tried so hard not roll over laughing thinking as a teacher know your students. Mr. Dunn Z's other teacher got a real kick out of this too as Z said " how can someone not know about that unique creature? "
As Kirk and I are both up with fevers tonight I thought I would share this. 3rd grade has been a unique experience for us all, but I have to say this was funny!
As Kirk and I are both up with fevers tonight I thought I would share this. 3rd grade has been a unique experience for us all, but I have to say this was funny!
www.australianfauna.com This is the latest mammal that lays eggs that Z is fascinated with. He really wants to share this with his 3rd grade teacher, but I think we will share it with his other teacher Mr. Dunn. He like myself will appreciate this!!! Z is such a smart boy!!!!
The Symbol of the Rose by Kirk
I have to say as we approach our one year anniversary of living in Puyallup we have been blessed to get know and call our neighbors friends. Last year our quiet neighbor planted a couple of rose bushes in our front yard and they died. Today Heidi comes home and notices another rose Bush neatly planted in our front yard. Heidi like her Grandpa Fry loves roses. In fact the day he passed away I brought her home red roses to remind her how much he loved her and I can honestly say before I married her he expressed to me how much he loved and cared for her. Thank you for the beautiful rose Bush roses are very symbolic to Heidi and she loves them in her yard because it is a daily reminder of someone who she loves is in heaven and is watching over her. — with Heidi Walker.See More
Fun Times!!!!
After school the Kindergarteners love to get together and play with the preschoolers! They have a lot of fun!!!!
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| Isabella loves Chole and Chole enjoys coming over to our house!!! She is the sweetest dog ever!!! |
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| Building with Zach's old blocks! |
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| Checking out the ferry garden |
Happy Spring!!!! Bradly Park in Puyallup
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| Isabella loves the monkey bars |
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| Zach and I were laying on the ground reading books when all of the sudden he climbed up on me! |
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| All of us! |
A Princess!!!!
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| Isabella was on the way back from a birthday party when I decided to stop by the old dairy farm in Puyallup to take some photos. We met a photographer who loved Isabella so guess what? She allowed us to use her props and take photos. |
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| Love the ladder |
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| Isabella loves all kinds of flowers! |
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| Very cute! |
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| Totally Isabella! |
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| I love how her hair in this one |
Sunday, March 9, 2014
He tore the track up with his winning car!
Z came in 3rd place in the Pinewood Derby!!!! He was so excited and pleased. 17 boys competed so he did awesome!!!!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Neurolgy Update
It has been a while since I updated and I saw my Neurologist the other day so here is the update. My blood pressure was high so he added in another beta blocker. For my headaches, depression, and"cognitive repair" as he calls it he told me that I need to take Vitamin D3, VitaminB2, and Magnesium Oxide daily. The Magnesium Oxide helps with migraines, keeps the heart rhythm steady, supports the immune system and nerve function. It also helps reduce neuronal hyperactivity, which reduces your chances of having nasty headaches. Vitamin D3 helps to decrease general inflammation. He said headaches could be related to general inflammation, people who have too little of this vitamin maybe at risk for pain that is not relieved by many pain relievers. Vitamin B2 helps with the cognitive area of the brain, and also decreases inflammation. Finding the B2 has been challenging so my pharmacist had to order it in. Dr. Piker said that taking a B-complex vitamin is not enough. More pills to add to my daily routine and it is tricky because the magnesium oxide interacts with my thyroid medication so I have to take my thyroid medication in the morning and then wait until lunch to take these three vitamins. This is also an addition to taking a large beta blocker at night and taking a short-term beta blocker 30 minutes prior to exercise. Needless to say my phone is set to alarms to I remember to take all of these. The Magnesium Oxide has helped already but it comes with its GI side effects that occur about one hour after taking the pill, but so far I have been able to tolerate it well and the pharmacist said that as my body gets use to it the side effects should decrease.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Daddy Daughter Dance and Seattle's snowstorm!
Saturday night Kirk and Bella went to a daughter daddy dance and Zach and I treated ourselves to "EL Torre" in Puyallup very yummy Mexican food!!! Of course the night we were all out we had snow and it hit South Hill and Graham hard but the kiddos loved it! And yes that is Isabella standing outside without a coat on while the snow falled! Apparently the men thought it was ok to allow their little girls outside without coats.......
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
The Chanpionship!!!!! Hooray for Seattle!!!!
Uncle Don Tony the Tiger thinks that the Seahawks are GREAT!!!!!!!!
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Saturday, January 11, 2014
"Heaven is Here"
"We look for Christ's scars because they are evidence of what he did for us. They'll be the first things he shows us when we see Him again. Your scars tell a story , too. Although they may not make you feel attractive, they are a witness of a miracle. That God blessed you to live, and that you have accomplished very difficult things."--Jeffery R. Holland
Tonight I just completed reading the book ...
Tonight I just completed reading the book ...
"Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Nielson. This book tugged at my heart strings and maybe it is because of my personal trial with my brain bleed. Stephanie was a young mother who was in a plane crash that burned over 80% of her body. Her recovery was long but she faced her adversity with courage, hope, and faith.
While I read the book, there were parts that I could strongly relate too. For example, I could really relate to the guilt she felt as a mother. Like Stephanie, I also feared what would happen to my children and how are they going to respond to all of this? The unknown was scary and truthfully I had never been more scared in my life. However, as time went on blessings came to our family and the brain bleed did change our lives, but never in my life did I ever feel so close to my Father in Heaven. I was truly carried!
In this book, I was also touched by Elder Holland's quotes. One of the quote's that caught my attention was the one about scars. I thought about how Stephanie had to endure very visible physical scars while I endured internal scars that were not apparent to the outside world, but apparent to me and my close loved ones. I also thought how in life we all have different types of wounds and scars that we carry with us, but how often do we think of our scars as a miracle and a symbol that we have accomplished difficult things? This was a very profound concept to me.
Similar to Stephanie, we were also blessed with great support. Even though some days I felt lonely and depressed I would think of the many people who were willing to serve our family and I'm sure that it was not always easy and it was a sacrifice but truly I felt loved and supported they were my earthly angels. Elder Holland also said in the book, "But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angles are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with-here, now, every day... Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind."
While I read the book, there were parts that I could strongly relate too. For example, I could really relate to the guilt she felt as a mother. Like Stephanie, I also feared what would happen to my children and how are they going to respond to all of this? The unknown was scary and truthfully I had never been more scared in my life. However, as time went on blessings came to our family and the brain bleed did change our lives, but never in my life did I ever feel so close to my Father in Heaven. I was truly carried!
In this book, I was also touched by Elder Holland's quotes. One of the quote's that caught my attention was the one about scars. I thought about how Stephanie had to endure very visible physical scars while I endured internal scars that were not apparent to the outside world, but apparent to me and my close loved ones. I also thought how in life we all have different types of wounds and scars that we carry with us, but how often do we think of our scars as a miracle and a symbol that we have accomplished difficult things? This was a very profound concept to me.
Similar to Stephanie, we were also blessed with great support. Even though some days I felt lonely and depressed I would think of the many people who were willing to serve our family and I'm sure that it was not always easy and it was a sacrifice but truly I felt loved and supported they were my earthly angels. Elder Holland also said in the book, "But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angles are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with-here, now, every day... Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind."
I really loved this book!!!!!
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Isabella's Journey
Since they found the cow's milk allergy she has been doing better up to this past week. Kirk and I are first hoping for the best but also preparing ourselves for a potential chronic GI issue that we will need to help Isabella get through. The positive thing is all of this can be treated. The negative is watching a young five year old going through procedures, and not to mention living with daily abdominal pain. These are procedures that a five year old should not even have to endure, but life is not always fair and we will all learn something from this hardship. We see the GI on Tuesday. Prayers for finding answers, solutions, and healing would be appreciated. I hope on Tuesday night I can report an easy solution to all of this!
By the way Zach has been doing well with all of this. I'm very proud of him he has been a great big brother!
Monday, November 4, 2013
The 800 Mark
This past week I was at gym. The beginning of the week was my typical workout, which I burn 500 calories and then I'm wiped! It has been this way since the brain bleed. However, this past week on the 26th month anniversary since being in ICU I achieved my goal of completing six miles, burning 808 calories, keeping my heart rate between 128-130bpm, and doing this in 64 minutes. This was a huge achievement for me!!! Yes it had been since August 30, 2011, since I last did this, but I finally nailed it this week!!!!
I did not preplan this, but merely when I was working out everything was great and when I hit the 500 calorie mark I thought today is the day to try this or at least get to 700 calories. Once I reached 700, I thought lets go to 800, which I was able to do eight minutes later. Since that day, I have done it two other times; however, Saturday was a 600 calorie burn and Sunday was the day to rest my body.
Since the brain bleed I was very blessed with the ability to come out of it walking, talking, swallowing, and all other things that could have went wrong. However, it also caused some set backs and one major one was it took a lot of my physical strength from me, which has been really hard for someone who actually would daily go to the gym and easily burn at least 900 calories without a blink of an eye. I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to burn 800 calories without a lot of difficulty. It felt like a big part of my life started flowing back into me and I was gaining that physical strength back that was suddenly taken from me. Yep it took 26 months but it happened! I have not felt this excited about something since we bought our home!!! It was so much fun to share with Kirk and several of my friends who have been with me since the beginning and also my new friends, who have heard about what happened to me.
Ironically the night before this happened we were at Kirk's coworker's house down here in Puyallup and her home has several stairs. She invited me to go down stairs and as we were going down she had observed me walking slowly down stairs and gripping the hand rail tightly so I would not get dizzy and lose balance. Kirk then shared with her that since the bleed stairs are very challenging for me, and in fact this was why we chose to buy a rambler. She then looked at me and empathically told me she was sorry and that the brain bleed happened and could not believe everything that I now coped with in life.
After the 800 calorie burn, I thought back to that previous night, and thought that yes going down stairs is a dangerous activity for me to do, and some other things happened that I may or may not ever fully recover from, I do know that I'm not allowing the brain bleed to dictate my life rather I have and still am regaining control over my own life. This does not mean that I'm going to make stupid choices such as running down a flight of stairs, sky diving, riding rollercoasters, over working my body and not listening to it. Like most everyone there are some activities that are just done for me and I'm ok with that. However, I will listen to my body and when it feels strong and ready I'm going for the 800 on the elliptical. Who knows maybe 26 months later I will run 5 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill again, but not now my balance is not their and I do not want to fall flat on my face. Right now I'm happy with this moment in my life.
I did not preplan this, but merely when I was working out everything was great and when I hit the 500 calorie mark I thought today is the day to try this or at least get to 700 calories. Once I reached 700, I thought lets go to 800, which I was able to do eight minutes later. Since that day, I have done it two other times; however, Saturday was a 600 calorie burn and Sunday was the day to rest my body.
Since the brain bleed I was very blessed with the ability to come out of it walking, talking, swallowing, and all other things that could have went wrong. However, it also caused some set backs and one major one was it took a lot of my physical strength from me, which has been really hard for someone who actually would daily go to the gym and easily burn at least 900 calories without a blink of an eye. I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to burn 800 calories without a lot of difficulty. It felt like a big part of my life started flowing back into me and I was gaining that physical strength back that was suddenly taken from me. Yep it took 26 months but it happened! I have not felt this excited about something since we bought our home!!! It was so much fun to share with Kirk and several of my friends who have been with me since the beginning and also my new friends, who have heard about what happened to me.
Ironically the night before this happened we were at Kirk's coworker's house down here in Puyallup and her home has several stairs. She invited me to go down stairs and as we were going down she had observed me walking slowly down stairs and gripping the hand rail tightly so I would not get dizzy and lose balance. Kirk then shared with her that since the bleed stairs are very challenging for me, and in fact this was why we chose to buy a rambler. She then looked at me and empathically told me she was sorry and that the brain bleed happened and could not believe everything that I now coped with in life.
After the 800 calorie burn, I thought back to that previous night, and thought that yes going down stairs is a dangerous activity for me to do, and some other things happened that I may or may not ever fully recover from, I do know that I'm not allowing the brain bleed to dictate my life rather I have and still am regaining control over my own life. This does not mean that I'm going to make stupid choices such as running down a flight of stairs, sky diving, riding rollercoasters, over working my body and not listening to it. Like most everyone there are some activities that are just done for me and I'm ok with that. However, I will listen to my body and when it feels strong and ready I'm going for the 800 on the elliptical. Who knows maybe 26 months later I will run 5 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill again, but not now my balance is not their and I do not want to fall flat on my face. Right now I'm happy with this moment in my life.
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