I'm still cancer free. Yep, I had my 6 month scan again and it came back clean. Instead of having a PET/CT scan I just had to have a chest CT scan. I didn't have to drink that contrast or anything. I was literally in and out of the appointment in 25 minutes. It was heaven compared to my PET scans that lasts 3 hours.
Tomorrow marks the 3 year anniversary of being diagnosed with Hodgkin's...still a day that is so vivid and yet kind of a blur all at the same time. It feels so long ago and yet it's still on my mind all the time. I am grateful for the many prayers and for the doctors and treatment that saved my life. I am all too aware of so many people that since that time have lost their own battle to cancer. It feels so good to have moved on with life and yet whenever I hear of a new diagnosis or someone who is losing the battle my stomach literally does a flip flop for them. I don't think I'll ever lose that feeling and I kind of hope I don't. It helps me remember my blessings and helps me be a little more empathetic to others.
Happy 3 years to me!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Californ I A
Since I had the whole week off between Christmas and New Years we decided to make a trip to California for the week. So here's a run down of our trip.
Sunday after church we drove down to Las Vegas. We stayed the night there. We didn't do much except walk up to the Bellagio fountains and watch their water show...ok well we watched it 3x's actually. I LOVE watching that water show and could stand there for a very long time and not get bored...if only there wasn't so much time between shows. They were still playing Christmas music so we got to see For we need a little Christmas and the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah. Both were super good.
Monday we woke up and decided to drive out to the Hoover Dam. I had never been there so we thought it would be a fun little stop before heading to California. Apparently everyone else thought so too...we hit soo much traffic just trying to get there. In fact by the time we got there we jumped out, took a few pictures, peered over the wall and had to get going. It was cool to see it but I wish we could've spent a little more time. We hit traffic from Vegas off and on the whole way to Arcadia...ugh, it was a long trip, I'll spare you the details, but we will never stop in Primm again for lunch and gas!
When we finally made it to Arcadia we met my parents and Christy and her family for dinner at BJ's pizza. It was so good to see my parents and they seem so happy and doing good on their mission. After dinner we drove over to the Balian mansion to look at Christmas lights...a family tradition for as long as I can remember. The lights were not nearly as good as I remember them being when I was little...I think they need some updating but it was a little nostalgic for me. Mia, Christy's little 3 year old (she is 3 right?...Christy?) Anyways, when Mia saw the blow up Santa on the lawn next door she insisted on running up the driveway so she could thank Santa for her Dora house. So she did and then came back and asked me why Santa wasn't talking back...I think she was a little offended...lol.
That night we spent the night at my parents apartment and it was a fun evening just relaxing and seeing where they live. The next morning we got up and drove over to La Crescenta for my favorite doughnuts of all time...Fosters. mmmm, my mouth is watering just typing this. My parents thought I was a little crazy but it was only 13 miles each way, well worth it when you're that close. We took a dozen into the mission office and got a tour of the office. My parents showed us all around the office and showed us everything they had learned on the computer (great job by the way Mom and Dad!) It was fun seeing what they do each day and had a good visit with them for a while.
After the office visit we drove past the Rose Bowl to see if we could see some floats being built for the New Years Day Rose Parade...uh yeah you can see floats not totally done yet for... $10/person...uh yeah no thanks! Seriously, I thought that was a rip off. So we headed down to Santa Monica for the rest of the day. We walked around the pier, went on the ferris wheel, shopped, saw the LA temple and then went out to dinner with my high school friend Konstantina. It was such a nice day, blue skies and sun shining.
After the traffic died down we headed down to Orange County to Christy's and spent 2 nights there. One day it rained most of the day but it was fun just hanging out with the kids. One night Christy and Brettt and us all went to dinner at Islands and went and saw a movie. Fun times.
Thursday we headed to Palm Springs. We only spent one night there but it was fun to get out of the city. Every Thursday night Palm Springs shuts down the main road and sets up a little street fair with all these vendors renting out booths. So we walked around there for a while and then got some really yummy mexican food and called it a night.
Friday (New Years Eve) we decided to head back to Vegas to ring in the New Year. After hitting all the traffic on the way down I was going to avoid I-15 at all costs...so...we decided to drive to Vegas via the Mohave desert. We weren't really sure what we were getting ourselves into and we had to pay attention to make sure we made all the right turns but it ended up being such a great drive. We were on all these quiet back roads and didn't get to I-15 until just before Primm, NV. I'm pretty sure it saved us a ton of time and we weren't all stressed out sitting in traffic.
In case you're ever wondering what the Mohave Desert looks like, look no further my friends:
Ohhh....Ahhhh.... :)
New Years Eve in Vegas was quite the adventure for us. People thought we might be crazy but we figured we would check it out and if it was horrible then we would just leave. So we got there found a spot not too far from the strip and parked. It was in the 20's in Vegas that night....FREEZING. We were prepared...for the most part and ended up doing ok. We had gotten movie tickets to see a movie earlier in the evening at a theater on the strip, which killed a few hours. Then we mostly just walked around the different hotels and people watched. We did see 2 guys fighting and then running from the cops...the cops won and tackled and arrested them...exciting! A little after 11 we made our way outside the Bellagio over looking the strip and planted ourselves there waiting for midnight. I thought for sure the fountain show would start right at midnight. It didn't but it ended up still being a really good spot because they shoot fireworks off from 6 different hotels up and down the strip. We could see 3 of them perfectly from where we were and we weren't right in the mass of people on the strip. The fireworks show lasted about 10 minutes and although there were sooo many people there it was a fun and new place for us to celebrate the New Year. It took us about 45 mins to make it to our car (with no people or policeman not letting us back onto the strip it should've taken 10) but we survived. We had gotten a hotel room in St. George so we took off and made it to St. George where the nice hotel let us extend our check out to 1:00 instead of 11:00.
Later that day on New Years Day we made it back to Draper. We sure saw a lot and drove a lot but we had a blast. It was fun seeing some different places and being able to see my parents and sister all at the same time. It sure was good to be back in our own bed again though!
Sunday after church we drove down to Las Vegas. We stayed the night there. We didn't do much except walk up to the Bellagio fountains and watch their water show...ok well we watched it 3x's actually. I LOVE watching that water show and could stand there for a very long time and not get bored...if only there wasn't so much time between shows. They were still playing Christmas music so we got to see For we need a little Christmas and the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah. Both were super good.
Monday we woke up and decided to drive out to the Hoover Dam. I had never been there so we thought it would be a fun little stop before heading to California. Apparently everyone else thought so too...we hit soo much traffic just trying to get there. In fact by the time we got there we jumped out, took a few pictures, peered over the wall and had to get going. It was cool to see it but I wish we could've spent a little more time. We hit traffic from Vegas off and on the whole way to Arcadia...ugh, it was a long trip, I'll spare you the details, but we will never stop in Primm again for lunch and gas!
When we finally made it to Arcadia we met my parents and Christy and her family for dinner at BJ's pizza. It was so good to see my parents and they seem so happy and doing good on their mission. After dinner we drove over to the Balian mansion to look at Christmas lights...a family tradition for as long as I can remember. The lights were not nearly as good as I remember them being when I was little...I think they need some updating but it was a little nostalgic for me. Mia, Christy's little 3 year old (she is 3 right?...Christy?) Anyways, when Mia saw the blow up Santa on the lawn next door she insisted on running up the driveway so she could thank Santa for her Dora house. So she did and then came back and asked me why Santa wasn't talking back...I think she was a little offended...lol.
That night we spent the night at my parents apartment and it was a fun evening just relaxing and seeing where they live. The next morning we got up and drove over to La Crescenta for my favorite doughnuts of all time...Fosters. mmmm, my mouth is watering just typing this. My parents thought I was a little crazy but it was only 13 miles each way, well worth it when you're that close. We took a dozen into the mission office and got a tour of the office. My parents showed us all around the office and showed us everything they had learned on the computer (great job by the way Mom and Dad!) It was fun seeing what they do each day and had a good visit with them for a while.
After the office visit we drove past the Rose Bowl to see if we could see some floats being built for the New Years Day Rose Parade...uh yeah you can see floats not totally done yet for... $10/person...uh yeah no thanks! Seriously, I thought that was a rip off. So we headed down to Santa Monica for the rest of the day. We walked around the pier, went on the ferris wheel, shopped, saw the LA temple and then went out to dinner with my high school friend Konstantina. It was such a nice day, blue skies and sun shining.
After the traffic died down we headed down to Orange County to Christy's and spent 2 nights there. One day it rained most of the day but it was fun just hanging out with the kids. One night Christy and Brettt and us all went to dinner at Islands and went and saw a movie. Fun times.
Thursday we headed to Palm Springs. We only spent one night there but it was fun to get out of the city. Every Thursday night Palm Springs shuts down the main road and sets up a little street fair with all these vendors renting out booths. So we walked around there for a while and then got some really yummy mexican food and called it a night.
Friday (New Years Eve) we decided to head back to Vegas to ring in the New Year. After hitting all the traffic on the way down I was going to avoid I-15 at all costs...so...we decided to drive to Vegas via the Mohave desert. We weren't really sure what we were getting ourselves into and we had to pay attention to make sure we made all the right turns but it ended up being such a great drive. We were on all these quiet back roads and didn't get to I-15 until just before Primm, NV. I'm pretty sure it saved us a ton of time and we weren't all stressed out sitting in traffic.
In case you're ever wondering what the Mohave Desert looks like, look no further my friends:
Ohhh....Ahhhh.... :)
New Years Eve in Vegas was quite the adventure for us. People thought we might be crazy but we figured we would check it out and if it was horrible then we would just leave. So we got there found a spot not too far from the strip and parked. It was in the 20's in Vegas that night....FREEZING. We were prepared...for the most part and ended up doing ok. We had gotten movie tickets to see a movie earlier in the evening at a theater on the strip, which killed a few hours. Then we mostly just walked around the different hotels and people watched. We did see 2 guys fighting and then running from the cops...the cops won and tackled and arrested them...exciting! A little after 11 we made our way outside the Bellagio over looking the strip and planted ourselves there waiting for midnight. I thought for sure the fountain show would start right at midnight. It didn't but it ended up still being a really good spot because they shoot fireworks off from 6 different hotels up and down the strip. We could see 3 of them perfectly from where we were and we weren't right in the mass of people on the strip. The fireworks show lasted about 10 minutes and although there were sooo many people there it was a fun and new place for us to celebrate the New Year. It took us about 45 mins to make it to our car (with no people or policeman not letting us back onto the strip it should've taken 10) but we survived. We had gotten a hotel room in St. George so we took off and made it to St. George where the nice hotel let us extend our check out to 1:00 instead of 11:00.
Later that day on New Years Day we made it back to Draper. We sure saw a lot and drove a lot but we had a blast. It was fun seeing some different places and being able to see my parents and sister all at the same time. It sure was good to be back in our own bed again though!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Sadie Girl
So most people that know me know that I'm not much of an animal lover. And this week is one reason why. My sister had to put their yellow lab down today and it's so sad. I'm not really a fan of animals because for some reason I have this tender heart towards animals and it makes me cry. I cry in every, and I mean every animal movie there ever was. Benji, Small One, Hachi, 8 below...and yes I even cried in Free Willy (it's so sad when the boy has to say good-bye to him.) So yes mostly it's because I hate good-byes when an animal is involved.
Jennifer and her kids with Sadie this week.
Anyways, back to Sadie. My sister Jennifer got Sadie when I was living with her when I first moved up to Salt Lake. She was the cutest little puppy and such a good dog. She was calm and gentle and let all of Jennifer's kids and others climb all over her, poke her and do anything they wanted with her. She's had the best home and love from her family even though she had medical issues most her life. She had hip dysplasia when she was just over a year old among other allergies and issues. But she's been a good dog through it all. She was 12 years old and over the last little while you could just tell she wasn't herself and not as happy. So it was time. I cry just thinking about it so it's such a good thing I didn't have to be the one to do it.
One funny story about Sadie. When she was just a puppy everyone LOVED how cute she was. Well Jennifer, Aaron, and Sadie came with me to this singles ward activity once as I was racing my pinewood derby car. Aaron had helped me build it so Jennifer was sitting there with Sadie and even though she had her wedding ring on and I'm pretty sure she was pregnant with Ashlee, this guy came over and started talking to her about what a cute dog she had and totally hit on her...lol. I guess that is what she gets for having such a cute puppy and being at a singles activity. After that Jennifer kept telling me to take Sadie to all my activities so the boys would flirt with me. I've always felt attached to Sadie since living there when she was a puppy.
Me with Sadie in 1998 when she was a puppy
So farewell to Sadie, we will all miss her and remember what a cute and fun dog she was.
Jennifer and her kids with Sadie this week.
Anyways, back to Sadie. My sister Jennifer got Sadie when I was living with her when I first moved up to Salt Lake. She was the cutest little puppy and such a good dog. She was calm and gentle and let all of Jennifer's kids and others climb all over her, poke her and do anything they wanted with her. She's had the best home and love from her family even though she had medical issues most her life. She had hip dysplasia when she was just over a year old among other allergies and issues. But she's been a good dog through it all. She was 12 years old and over the last little while you could just tell she wasn't herself and not as happy. So it was time. I cry just thinking about it so it's such a good thing I didn't have to be the one to do it.
One funny story about Sadie. When she was just a puppy everyone LOVED how cute she was. Well Jennifer, Aaron, and Sadie came with me to this singles ward activity once as I was racing my pinewood derby car. Aaron had helped me build it so Jennifer was sitting there with Sadie and even though she had her wedding ring on and I'm pretty sure she was pregnant with Ashlee, this guy came over and started talking to her about what a cute dog she had and totally hit on her...lol. I guess that is what she gets for having such a cute puppy and being at a singles activity. After that Jennifer kept telling me to take Sadie to all my activities so the boys would flirt with me. I've always felt attached to Sadie since living there when she was a puppy.
Me with Sadie in 1998 when she was a puppy
So farewell to Sadie, we will all miss her and remember what a cute and fun dog she was.
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