Drop It Like It's Hot

Rob and I LOVE the Snoop Dogg song, "Drop it like it's hot..." so when we saw some shirts while shopping for the girls, we just HAD to buy them. Addison's says, "Shop It Like It's Hot" with some bling bling on it... and Jenna's says, "Drop it like it's Hot" with a tater tot in the middle and the "Ore Ida" logo on the bottom. Recently I promised Jenna, (who adamently hates this shirt) that if she wore it to school one more time, we would retire the shirt. She did wear it with a hoodie on top zipped all the way up until she began to get hot at school. She took off her hoodie and said that people were making fun of her at school. Rob and I asked, "How?" and her reply was that they would read her shirt and then laugh. Not pointing fingers and making fun of her type of laugh, but the 'Ha Ha!! That's funny' type of laugh. She couldn't quite distinguish between the two and as we tried to let her know that they were laughing at her shirt and not at her, she through a massive fit. So- I told her that if she let me take a picture of her, I would never make her wear it again- even at home. This is what I got. Crazy girl...

FHE...with extended family

In January, my sister, Whitney quit her job which was paying next to nothing and she began her new search for a job doing hair in Dayton, Ohio. She is doing well and has several options. While she is jobless, she has been supplementing her income by coming down on Sundays and spending the night with my mom and dad and then working at the dry-cleaning plant on Mondays and Tuesdays. It works out well. I thought that I would take advantage of this situation and invite her and the rest of my family over for Family Home Evening one Monday night. I planned a lesson about being a "forever family" and had each member of the family help re-create the house above using our LEGOS. They did a fantastic job and when the house was finished, we read the sayings that I had taped to parts of the house. They said things like, "Kind Words", "Pray Together", and " Read scriptures." We talked about what we need to do to become a forever family. I think that even though she didn't gush over the lesson or the time spent together, she had a really good time. She had time to reflect over what she had been taught as a child. She was reminded that she, too is a daughter of God. It was a good experience overall and I crave for the next time we can get together like that.

No more nursery!!!

So, although this is a month late- I went a little mommy-crazy when I realized that I was sending my baby to Primary for the first time. My little Tae is now officially a SUNBEAM!!! How did that happen? Well- he will be 4 in March...so I guess he is one of the oldest sunbeams I've had. I just remember when I brought him to church for the first time. I remember the first day of nursery. I remember dropping him off and him never crying... (well- almost never.) Here are some pics of his classmates in Sunbeams this year. From top to bottom: Meleah, Oran, Luke, Ford, and then Tae with his big sister escorting him into Primary for the first time!! (Yes, we made it a family affair. That is Rob and Addi in the background and I was the photographer.)

YAY- No Cancer!!!

I got the results from the biopsies today and although they found definite inflammation, they also found NO CANCER!!! That is truly a blessing since my Grandfather died of esophagial cancer. I was seriously worried. Now to figure out why the inflammation and determine a way to heal my poor esophagus and stomach. Dr's appointment later this month... I'm sure all will be resolved. Now I can stop worrying so much and just be happy living life with the family. Phew!!!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?