Friday, January 29, 2010

Should I?

Five books... that's the number I've read so far in 2010. I am happy with that number. The books that I've read were a mixture of genres. I track all my books on Goodreads.com and on my book blog which is http://followingfiction.blogspot.com. Check it out. It lists which books I've reviewed and rates them on a scale of 1-5 stars. If you do head over there, PLEASE leave a comment. I am trying to see what kind of traffic that blog is getting. I may end up closing up shop on that one if it doesn't get enough traffic. Personal downsizing of sorts, I guess you'd call it. So the question of the day is: Should I close down that website? Does it benefit anyone? What do you think?

Monday, January 25, 2010

We've Been Hacked!

I cannot believe what I'm about to post.

My paypal account was hacked into. Until this happens to you, you have no idea how it will make you feel. It makes you feel violated, helpless, and crazy because you can't remember what you spent a significant amount of money on.

I did some research and found (after my bank account was extremely negative) that someone tried to use my paypal account to buy something from Dorado, Paris. Because of their actions, I have to now change ALL passwords and most usernames to EVERYTHING!! Also- paypal is sending out a free "security key" which will be activated by me and then will automatically change all settings in my computer such as passwords every 30 seconds. I am not quite sure how that all works, but will find out sooner than later when it arrives in the mail. I also have to contact my bank and see if they will reverse all sorts of late charges at $35/piece because my account was hacked. What a pain in the neck!! (That's kinda a funny saying these days...)

Let this be a warning to all of my loyal readers...whoever you are. Get LifeLock. We're going to as soon as we have funds available to do so. It's about $10/month and worth every penny since it is inevitable nowadays to NOT get your identity stolen.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Results are in..

This post is not for the faint of heart or anyone not wanting to know medical stuff... Today I had an endoscopy performed on me. The results are as follows: multiple rings seen suspicious for epsinophilic esophagitic, (they performed a biopsy), schatzki's ring (they performed dilation), erythema in the antrum compatible with non-erosive gastritis (they performed another biopsy), and normal mucosa in the whole duodenum. Now- I don't know about you, but I looked at those results and first said, "huh?" and then researched what they were on the internet. Here's what I think about the results...
First, I think my esophagus is messed up. They stretched out my upper esophagus and it is now so painful I can't eat/drink barely anything. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for that. There was also red rings around my esophagus which inticated an allergic reaction (who the freak knows to what?!) Then they found that my stomach was red which they did another biopsy on. That makes me think gastritis...which if not treated can lead to stomach cancer... but if treated can be taken care of pretty easily. I am now afraid that I will have to be put on a very strict diet to see what I am allergic to...as well as see an allergist. But that's just what I think they will do.

I did get a blessing tonight and it was just what I needed. I KNOW the Priesthood can heal. I am hoping to be able to swallow tomorrow and get good news about the two biopsies in 7-10 days. Until then...Good night.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

One year ago today...







So, I was talking to someone from chuch today and I was reminded of the date. January 20. Last year on this day, Tae and I were in the ER getting a CT Scan of his head. Then we were rushed to Children's Hospital because he had a fractured skull, a blood clot in his brain, and a 2mm depression in his skull. How helpless I felt. There was such a need to remain calm and strong for my little boy, but inside I was a train wreck. Taesun is my little man. What was I going to do if something happened to him? I am reminded everyday at what a little miracle my Taesun is. From being born with the cord wrapped around his neck THREE times and the Dr.'s not knowing it to his head trauma and not to mention his 2nd degree burn on his hand/arm which still looks terrible, and his speech delay and oral hyposensitivity to go with it. This little guy has put the gray in my hair....but I wouldn't want to spend a day alive without him. He is definitely my little rock. Anytime I feel a bit depressed, I just snuggle up to Tae and ask him if he's still my baby. He calms me. He makes me laugh. Our family would just not be complete without him. I am soooo thankful for the blessings that God has given us. Our health, wealth, abilities, talents, and love for each other are some of my favorites. So- next time that Tae is breaking something or hitting his sisters, I will have to remember that he is my son that might not have been here had it not been for God's miracles and blessings.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

This past week...

This past week, we've seen a lot of snow. With that snow comes a lot of snow days. The kids have been to school 4 whole days since December 18!! When you put it that way, it seems crazy. (But you have to remember that we had winter break in there as well. ) The kids have been stir-crazy and so have I. We played in the snow a whole bunch and let the kids go sledding on the hill on the side of our house. They had a blast! We also had Stake Conference where I truly felt the spirit and was reminded of the scripture in Alma 34: 32-34 where it states that "...now is the time to prepare to meet God." I would like to start preparing by going to the temple this month. A temple trip is scheduled for the ladies on Feb. 5, but I don't want to wait until then. I feel like I need to be there now. So- my goal for this week is to meet with Pres. Greenhalgh and get that recommend and set up a time this weekend to go with Rob! Another thing that has been going on this week is my latest doctor's appointment. I have been having trouble with my GI tract lately and my acid reflux. Apparently the Dr. thinks I had bile in my mouth and that I have IBS. That leads him to want to do a gastroscopy which in otherwords is a scope. They put me to sleep for this one because they go all the way into my stomach. I already have a hiatal hernia, so they are going to start by checking out that and seeing how much erosion my esophagus has. Prayers would be much appreciated since I really don't want anything major to be wrong or to have surgery. I have not been feeling 100% for about 3 weeks now. Hopefully they will find something and find a cure for it so I can begin to feel better. Anyway- now that you know TMI, I will leave you with this funny Taesun story that happened yesterday. Tae woke up and said that he wanted to wear his "dragon" costume (that used to be mine as a child and he recently found it) to school. I told him that he couldn't do that and he grumpily looked at me and said, "But I want to scare Ms. Shannon and Ms. Barb!! You can even tape fire to my mouth." What a crazy kid fire-breathing dragon.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Looky what I made...

This adorable pillow would cost alot retail... but instead it cost me under $7!! I made this pillow! Well- actually, I didn't make the pillow persay, but I made the envelope pillow cover which looks amazing I might add. It is just the thing to make our bed go from blah to classy. What do you think?





More PJ's for the kiddos!!


I got a new sewing machine after mine broke right in the middle of my projects that were Christmas gifts for the kids! The Singer broke a week before we left for vacay and since we were there over Christmas, that was the only week I had to finish their presents. It pretty much sucked. So- after taking the machine back to Target and researching the machines at Walmart, Target, and Jo-anns... I decided to go back to Luke's Sewing Center and purchase a high-end machine. I got their lowest end new machine which is a Husqvarna Viking Emerald 116. I am really pleased with it. Although my Singer was great while it lasted, the timing went off within a month. It pretty much couldn't do all the sewing I wanted it to do. So- off to bigger and better (in my opinion). The Singer was an electronic model which was super easy to use... The Viking is a mechanical machine. Definitely takes alot longer to learn how to use properly, but I think it will hold up better in the long run. Apparently, Notre Dame Academy, (an all-girls high school in the area) uses these exact machines in their home economics department. So- yay!! I finished up two of the three pj pants for the kids. Addison and Jenna are here to model them for you! Enjoy!

New bag for Piano lessons...







Jenna was given piano lessons as a Christmas present this year. Since Addison already takes from Sis. Smith, we asked her to teach Jenna too. The girls are super excited and I actually think this might motivate them to practice more. They are super-competitive when it comes to stuff like this! I made Addison a bag for her piano books and so it came time to make Jenna a bag as well. I took a cheap ($3.99) burlap bag from Hobby Lobby which was trimmed out in red. Then I found some cute fabric for under $1 and sewed the fabric onto the existing pocket of the bag. It took some disassembling and some time, but I think it turned out okay-looking...especially if you don't look close at my stitches!! :)I even added extra fabric where the flowers are and sewed on a button on top for the middle. I think it turned out adorable!!

From Ugly to Punk!!

So, here is my first attempt at "reconstructing". I took this shirt that someone handed down to Taesun that I thought was quite old in style with the sleeves the way they were, so I disassembled the sleeves and found that I could make a short sleeve dress for Jenna. Then I thought of how a boutique selling "Harley Davidson" clothes for kids would make a dress look. I decided to grunge it up, punk it up, whatever you want to call it.... and take the orange parts from the sleeve and use it as a tie. The black parts from the sleeve I made into a long strip which ended up as the belt to hold the tie in place. It turned out better than I thought it would. For a first attempt, I am happy with it. Now to figure out where I'll allow Jenna to sport a "Harley Davidson" original around town....