WELCOME

Hello,
Welcome to my Blog! Yes, I have been in the fight of my life against Leukemia, insomnia, depression, side effects of medications, molting skin, pooping my pants and this list goes on.... however, I still love my life, and that's what this blog is about Real Life. I hope to meet others who trails have brought them closer to the Lord and molded them for the next step in God's will. In January 2011 , my family, physician, and Be the Match was featured on a Fox 5 news story about bone marrow donors and transplants. In March, I was interviewed on Atlanta and Company along with Be the Match. I was chosen to sing the national anthem at the Be the Match Run last year and will also be doing it this year, along with some other songs. My team, no thanks to me, raised over $4,000 and raised more than any other team! Please join my team this year or consider donating here at the Run those Stem cells out ! Team I was also chosen for a patient advocacy panel for the international council meeting at Be the Match in MN in November. How exciting!! I ended up not being able to attend due to the relapse. I had hoped I could help raise awareness about how easy it is to sign up to be a donor and how many people need your help! Please go to bethematch.org and sign up! I was able to have my bone marrow (same as stem cell) transplant at the end of March thanks to a 22 year old donor oversees that I hope to meet her one day. As I came up on my 6th month mark and continued to add more normal activities to our lives, I relapsed, meaning that the that the cancer had mutated and the leukemia came back. I spent 2 more weeks at Emory and some other nights here and there and now I'm on a drug from the FDA. I have a compassion waiver so I am able to get it. I have to take it day by day sometimes hour by hour. Time keeps moving and my little girl is growing up. I'm lucky that I'm getting to see it. I continue to praise God for his wonderful blessings he has shown us including my wonderful husband Jonathan, baby girl Evalyn Rose, supportive family and friend, great medical care, new readers, and the chance to make a big difference, even if that means being a Lab Rat.
God Bless You!

Please read, comment, enjoy, learn, grow, LOVE LIFE.

Most Recently I have started a booth at a local consignment store with handmade jewelry from friends, crafts, and my own art from recycled materials. It is called DAY by DAY. God was very clear with me starting this. Please look over to the right of blog and click on Day by Day to see some pictures. I'm just getting started but I am taking orders from people that I know. You will be able to personalize items, etc. I just haven't decided how I will be selling them via internet yet. But for now, the jewelry is at A Weekend A'fair in Athens, GA and will hopefully be at some stores downtown soon.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Dec. 7th Looking back.... Regrets

Yea, we all have them.... right? There are the little ones... I wish I would have played basketball in school, wish I would have went to school here or there.... well, this is not about those those. This is about mistakes that I hope certain younger siblings of mine, children of mine, and anyone else that can learn from me do not make. Good thing about God is that he knows all paths and even if you choose the wrong one at times, he can still bring you back into his will. He is that amazing. Also, without these regrets, I wouldn't be who I am now, so can I still call them regrets.... I don't know. I like who I am so I wouldn't want that to change  but then again if I would have just followed the Lord , I wouldn't have had to go through so much pain to get here. I'm not only weird and geeky, I'm very very stubborn.

1. As I told my brother last year, I regret leaving God out of some major decisions in my life between the ages of 18-22. You know, your brain is not fully developed until your 25? No one told me that. People always talk about how hard it is to be a teenager but I found young adulthood to be the most difficult because there are so many decisions to make. I wish I would have seen a career counselor to help steer me in the right direction. Not that middle school education was not fun, I love teaching science, but I could have learned some things about myself earlier.... wanting the ability to work independently with small groups of people and not having patience with children that misbehave and parents that don't care would have been good to know. If I really would have sought the Lord, I think I would have either joined the air force or went to medical school. Maybe both.  No kidding.
2. I regret wasting so much time being concerned with relationships and trying to change people. Guess what, God changes people not you. If you have major red flags about a person, don't even entertain the idea of being with them. I regret that I married so young, 23, before I knew my ex husband even a year. We may would have saved ourselves and the girls a lot of pain if we would have realized that we were better off good friends.Realize it is so important to be on the same page, not the just the same book, religion wise. Also, any relationship requires work but it shouldn't be like banging your head up against the wall.
3. I regret ever being a bad example to those that I knew didn't know the Lord and those that did. I can't even count how many times that happened. I partied a lot during my young adulthood and realize now how much time I wasted.... well, on getting wasted. I'm glad that I had a lot of brain cells to start out with. Some people don't. Sorry, it's true.
4. I regret not spending more time with my sister when she was in middle school... I was too self absorbed at that time. I also regret not seeing my Nanny Johnson more before she passed away and I was able to drive. She was always so good to me. So learn from me, make the time to see those that you care about and realize that family should be number 1. You never know what life will throw at you, or them. Call and visit your cousins, aunts and uncles, don't lose touch with your people!
5. The times that I disobeyed God and my parents. I only hope that Jonathan reaps what he sowed for Evalyn's sake and not the other way around!! Jonathan was a great teenager and young adult. Never even smoked before, amazing. I was very rebellious and still have to fight that tendency to this day. Just tell me not to do something.....

1 comment:

  1. I am also a very stubborn person who has to do things my own way and learn the hard way most of the time. =)

    We all have regrets, but as you point out, the choices we make add up to who we are today.

    Jon and I talk a lot about how we're the exception when it comes to marriage. Were someone to ask me if getting married at 18 (me) and 21 (him) is a good idea, I'd likely say no. We are both completely different people now than we were back then. That's not to say that times have always been easy...we've gone through a lot of rocky places. But we're in a good place now and I am thankful for that every single day.

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