Hi There!

Hi!

It's been a while.

A long while.

I've completely fallen out of the habit of blogging.  There have been a few changes in my life, and overall things are good.

Both of my sisters have moved to Texas with their families.  (Yay!) Andrea is about 3 hours away, and Brandi is 10 minutes down the road from me.  With Brandi being so close, we finally started the bakery that we've been dreaming about for so long.  We're baking out of my house and delivering goodies locally.  (Check out thesweetcreambakery.com!)  We bake 5-6 days a week, and we're loving it.

Jamie got a promotion, and now has the title to go along with what he's been doing at Halliburton for quite some time now.  He's been working at home since the start of the pandemic, and it has been wonderful to have him so close.  

Gisèle is a freshman in high school now and doing amazingly well.  She's taking advanced classes, maintaining an A average, and is a full-blown drama queen - meaning a theatre kid.  She wants to be a director/actor when she grows up, and will be competing at the National Thespian Festival in Solo Acting in June.

Miles is a 6th grader and loves his percussion class.  He's doing well in school, and takes an 8th grade Critical Thinking class once a week along with some other advanced students.  He's also still loving taekwondo.  He's a senior purple belt and on the JV team.  We're at taekwondo with him 4 times a week, and there's no sign of him slowing down.

I've been doing okay, health-wise.  I'm still NED (No Evidence of Disease), which I am incredibly thankful for.  Treatment has caused a host of side effects, so that has been difficult.  After chemo, surgery, and radiation, I can say that I'm out of "active treatment," but I still take daily pills to try to prevent a recurrence or metastasis, and get injections to shock my body into menopause every month.  All the treatment has caused hypothyroidism, so I'm now taking Synthroid daily.  I also have rheumatoid arthritis, and have gained about 55 pounds.  I don't feel like myself anymore.  It's hard to look in the mirror and see someone else, and it's hard to get out of a chair and feel like an elderly woman.  I have to constantly remind myself that any extra time I have is a blessing, and the side effects are worth it.  

Some pictures to catch you up since October:

Gisèle went to her first Homecoming Dance

We celebrated Halloween!  Butterfly, spoilsport, Dragon, and Injured Knight

G finally got her braces off!

Our Christmas elf putting the star on the tree

G was Sally in A Charlie Brown Christmas with Mustang Playhouse

I had a bone infusion.  My osteopenia is edging toward osteoporosis.

We were able to see Matt, Natalie, Q, and Sophia before Christmas.  Nana led us in some painting.

We spent Christmas and New Year's in Oregon with Mindy & Jeff & co.  The kids got to play in snow!

The girls

The boys

We celebrated Dad's (Papa's) birthday, and he even wore a hat while we sang

G on one of our bakery deliveries

A beautiful Texas sunset.  God's way of reminding me to choose joy.