IVF Update

Sorry that I haven't been up to date on our IVF process. Turns out that it is an emotional roller coaster. It takes a lot of time and energy. The hormones affect you even when you don't realize it.

Our second cycle of IVF was cancelled at day two of the cycle. I had cysts on both of my ovaries. They had not appeared to be there before and grew larger than doctors like to see them for IVF. Cysts can affect egg maturation as the type that I had seem to "steal" the hormones from the follicles that are trying to develop. I was devastated! More so than I ever imagined that I would be. It happened on a Sunday and thankfully I had some friends who ugly cried with me after Sunday School, prayed for me and gave me chocolate! It just seemed like when things were supposed to go right, they kept going wrong!!

My doctor put me on a very strong birth control pill to see if the cysts would shrink. She said that we would know within two weeks if they were shrinking or not. So, I started the pills and waited. I had never been on one so strong and now I know why people don't like taking them!! My emotions were much more variable than usual! It was quite an adjustment.

It seemed like two weeks was the longest time ever!!! I went in for another ultrasound of my ovaries to discover that the cysts had not shrunk. They had not grown, but they did not reduce in size. The doctor recommended surgery. It was the only way to take care of the cysts quickly and keep the process going. I wasn't too upset about the decision for surgery. I think I knew that my body wasn't cooperating.

I spent my 35th birthday drinking chicken broth and preparing for surgery. No cake for me. Surgery was the next morning.

Everything went well during surgery. Cysts were removed from my ovaries, growths from inside my uterus, endometriosis from my bladder, and a lot of tissue that was connecting my uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. A lot was done!! Much more than during my previous surgery. The Doctor said that there was no way we would have become pregnant on our own. My fallopian tubes are not in good shape. If we had gotten pregnant, that connective tissue could have caused major growth restriction of my uterus which could have been very dangerous. We are so thankful to have everything cleaned out and in seemingly good working order. My recovery has been so much better and easier than last time around! We are so thankful for the prayers of our friends and family!!

So, we start IVF again very soon. We are excited. I will try to do  a better job of blogging!!

Oops...... She's a Girl!!

Well we were wrong in guessing the sex of our kitten. She's a girl! I took her to get fixed and got the surprise call that it was a girl, not a boy. We still love her and still call her Bitey. She doesn't bite quite as much as she used to, thank goodness. She is growing up fast!

Bitey a few weeks ago

Bitey keeping me company during a nap this weekend

Our Newest Addition!

It's a boy...... cat! I guess baby fever hit. We adopted this abandoned boy. He was left at my cousin's house. How could we resist? He is so cute! A name still hasn't stuck to him. We are working on it. He is super playful and very sweet. If only he would learn to not bite our toes and hands! We'll work with him on it.

And now for your viewing pleasure..... a very cute kitten.

Who could resist those eyes?

I had to put him in my pocket while he could fit in there!

He loves his stripes!

Waking up from nap time on the bed. He's so cute!!!!

The Human Pin Cushion

The human pin cushion. That is what it feels like, anyway. Once the IVF process gets going there are needles, needles everywhere. Shots daily. Blood drawn almost daily. It is an odd feeling to be in a doctors office full of women with bandages around their arms at their elbows. It's an odd sisterhood. You know you are all there to achieve the same thing. Maybe you have different issues, but you all need the help of doctors and science to become pregnant. You wonder how long they have been trying. Second marriage late in life? Hoping for a first or fourth child? Is she a surrogate or an egg donor? Some people share their stories. Most don't.

You go to the same office so many times that four days feels like a month. Your arms bruise from blood being drawn daily. You hope that no one thinks that you have a new drug habit. Do you wear 3/4 length sleeves just so that no one can see the bruising? You wonder if you can possibly replenish all of the blood that they have taken out of your body and then become pregnant! And on top of it all the hormones give everyone a slightly different reaction- weight gain, weight loss, hot flashes, fluid retention, insomnia, nausea. Thankfully my side effects have been minimal. Mostly a bit of sleep interruption. I wake up really early. Annoyingly early. Afternoon naps become a must.

All of the blood work and doctors appointments are to monitor your egg growth. First they look at how many follicles you have. Those have potential to make eggs. These are seen through ultrasound and not the warm jelly on your belly kind. Let's just say that you get real familiar with that ultrasound tech! the blood work watches different levels of hormones and your medications are adjusted accordingly. It is really amazing what they can do and see. By about day 5-6 of your cycle it can be determined how many eggs your body is going to mature. Amazing!!!

For me, my first cycle of IVF ended there. My body was not producing the amount of eggs that it should be. When you are going to be put under anesthesia for a doctor to retrieve tiny eggs from your follicles you want it to be worthwhile. I was not producing enough to make it worthwhile. It was devastating. But now, a few days from that point, I know that it was a good decision. We'll start again with my next cycle. In the meantime I get to take hormones orally. That is much easier than a shot! But I know that those shots will be there to greet me soon.

Here's hoping for more eggs next time around!

How Do You Grow A Family?

This is a question that has been on my mind for awhile now. Families come in all shapes and sizes. Most families grow from two to three when they've had some intimate time together at the right time of the month. Many times new life happens unplanned. Sometimes it is waited for and hoped for, planned and charted. But what happens when your family doesn't grow that way? How do you go from two to three when all of your best laid plans don't happen?

I guess I am not too surprised that my "plans" for parenthood haven't worked out the way I thought they would. I mean, I thought that I would get married in my early 20's, pop out a few babies and live happily ever after. The man of my dreams didn't show up for quite some time. Late 20's replaced early 20's. Getting out of debt put the longing for children in the background. When we got around to being ready for children the road has been long and winding. Growing our family is taking time and dedication, with lots of obstacles along the way!

It's hard to watch your friends families grow when you want yours to be growing with them. It is hard to  answer the question, " Do you have any kids?", when you so desperately want them and know that your age says that you should have them already. Do you tell your story of trying for years to have children to every person who asks? Of course not. But it is difficult to not become calloused and put up walls.

Back to my question. How do you grow a family, especially in our circumstances? My mind has swirled with these thoughts for weeks, maybe even months. Do you adopt? Do you go through IVF? Do you foster children? Do you remain just the two of you and enjoy life together? I have gone back and forth, up and down. It is a difficult decision no matter which one you choose.

I guess I should explain our circumstances. I have Stage III Endometriosis. There are four stages. Basically it is in a lot of places, attaches one ovary to my uterus, caused cysts on my other ovary that were removed during surgery, and could grow anywhere in my body but especially in my abdominal cavity. It circulates in your blood stream and causes inflammation and many other responses that can't really be tested. At this stage is causes infertility quite often. Our chances of becoming pregnant on our own are very very small.

I was disheartened to find out this news. I was sad, scared, felt broken and wondered about our future- our family. I started doing research on endometriosis, especially stage III or IV. I read online. I read in books. I read and read. I found out that with IVF- In Vitro Fertilization- women like me have a really good chance of becoming pregnant. I never thought that I would consider IVF. NEVER. But I wasn't where I am today. It wasn't my only hope of conceiving and carrying our baby. It was scary and sciency. That was before I learned so much about it.

IVF has come a long way since its inception. Rates are quite good. Doctors control medications well and aren't trying to get you to freeze football teams worth of embryos. The research so far shows no difference between children conceived conventionally and conceived via IVF. No major illnessess. No major deformities. People conceived through IVF are now having children of their own. And for women with endometriosis it works well.

After much soul searching, interviewing doctors, prayers and research we have decided to move forward with IVF. I have always wanted to experience pregnancy and childbirth. Call me a weirdo, I know- at least for the childbirth part. This may be my only chance to experience these. I have never been opposed to adoption and still open to it, but IVF depends heavily on age and egg reserve. Right now those are in our favor. So, now is the time to move forward in it.

IVF isn't talked about a whole lot. Heck. Infertility isn't talked about very much. I want to talk about it. I hope to share my journey here, give you a little glimpse behind the scenes. I will go into some detail, but not too much detail. There may be talk of shots or cycles, hopes, fears, hormones and surely highs and lows. There may be sleepless nights, hot flashes, and swollen ovaries. There will be a journey. For that you can be sure.

You ready? Here we go......

I'm Alive! Promise!

My the time has flown! Recovery from surgery stole about a month of my life away. I truly did not feel like myself for at least four weeks, more like five. That allergic reaction really set me back. I am hoping that I never have to go through that again!!

I am still getting into the swing of things. Motivation to cook is just returning in spurts here and there. I can finally bend without worrying about if it will hurt later. And I can lift heavy things again!!! Yay! not that I lift heavy things often, but it is nice to be able to do things for yourself.

I watched loads of movies and t.v. shows on Netflix while I was down for the count. I was hoping to read a lot of books, but that didn't happen for awhile. I knew that I wasn't feeling well as long as I was fine watching t.v. all day! I am glad that phase is past. My energy is still on the low side, but I suppose that isn't really news. I am slowly getting some exercise and getting the house back in order!

I am back. I have some blog posts in my head and I am going to work to get them out. Here is to the writing that lies ahead!! They'll be coming soon....... or at least I plan on it.

Blooms

Vacation, Had To Get Away

We finally went on vacation again!!! I know you are thinking that we just went. But that was actually in January. Dave has been working a lot and it was really nice to get away. the pictures will tell the story.

First stop: Savannah. We had a nice couple of day or so and then the rain came!!

Second stop: Jekyll Island. I dusted off my bike. We rode for a long time one day. This is my favorite place to ride my bike!

This is where we rode our bikes to on Jekyll. I overdid it and I knew it. It was worth it though. This is the old outdoor amphitheater. It is abandoned. We always make to the trek to it when we visit the island.

Is your mouth watering? Mine was. We had the hugest shrimp. They were so sweet! Eating on the dock is great!

The dunes in between rain showers. It rained almost the entire time we were there. 

Third stop: Deland, Florida. We visited Dave's grandmother, Aunt and cousins.  one morning we went to this amazing little pancake house in DeLeon Springs park. You cook your own pancakes. It was lots of fun!

Taking a break from eating to take a picture.

Gluten Free pancakes at a tiny pancake house!!! They were their own recipe and so tasty!!! I cant wait to go back!!!

Cleaning

For the past couple of months I have been cleaning the house on a schedule. I wasn't sure how I would like it. To be honest, I felt a little bit like Cinderella. But, truth be told, the hubby and I both function better when the house is clean. It frees us up to go out without guilt, have friends over at the last minute, and rest better. I have tweaked the schedule a couple of times. It goes something like this:

Monday: Pay bills, do laundry, water plants

Tuesday: Dust living room and dining room, wash throw rugs, sweep and mop floors

Wednesday: Clean the bedroom, wash and change sheets, water plants

Thursday: Clean the bathroom, wash towels and bathmats

Friday: Deep clean the kitchen, water plants

Saturday: Outdoor chores, gardening

Sunday: REST

This has worked out well. Granted, our house is small. We have no children. We do have a furry pet which requires a lot of hair removal from all over the house. It isn't overwhelming when broken down like this and I find that if I have plans or something comes up, that I can get ahead of myself pretty easily. Of course there are everyday chores like dishes and taking out the trash. There are also things that aren't done every week like cleaning the refrigerator, washing the shower curtain, and dusting all of our many shelves. It is easy to squeeze in one of these on a day when I am not tired and find the motivation, usually one a week. 

I have found some great cleaning tools and cleaning solutions that are helping me get all of this done. I am all about some tools that make the mundane more fun and easy! I will share some of these soon.

I am wondering though, do any of you clean on a schedule? What has helped you keep things clean and not feel overwhelmed? Do share!

A Little Garden Update

The garden is growing splendidly! Here are a few pictures for you. I know you have been dying to see some!

From top left: A crazy looking marigold, beans blooming, a perfect looking cucumber, and tomatoes waiting to turn

Sugar snap peas. I love these things. I only wish that more grew on a vine. These are all gone. They don't do well in the heat. I will plant more in the fall.

The first mess of bush beans this year. They are Roma. I always wish that I had planted more!

Juliette tomaotes. The first blush.

Figs starting to swell.

What's growing on your garden?

Messy Musings

I thought it might be time for an update. Two warnings: I just took some pain medicine. I might not make sense once I get a few sentences in. And I am typing on my iPad and for some reason blogger doesn't put paragraph breaks when I type on my iPad. So, it may look messy. Oh, and I am not prrofreadint this one. I am going on day 4 after the laparoscopy, day 3 after the allergic reaction. Other than the added medications, the allergy doesn't seen to have left a lasting affect. It may have hindered my healing a bit. But I keep reminding myself that we are only a few short days out from surgery. I started swelling on Saturday. Holy moly! My butt got big! I thought that my abdomen would swell. It did, but not how I expected. My belly button is unrecognizealbe. It is for sure swollen. This was the main entry site. I have three other small entry sites. I have super innie belly button most of the time and it is almost flat as a pancake. This makes me sadder than I ever expected. I know that it will heal and go back to a somewhat normal state. I have pressure all along my sides from swelling and feel like my belly button is going to fall out. I know that it isn't, but it feels like it. And the swelling is decreasing very day. I have been walking a bit around the house, eating, drinking, peeing, and watching lots of mind numbing tv shows on the iPad. My friends and family have taken great care of me. Food, flowers and time have been given. It is so very appreciated. I seriously can't lift much of anything, but I am not supposed to. It is hard to see something that you do on a regular basis, like put dishes in the dish washer, that is harder than normal and really someone else can do that for you. I am trying to keep good track of my pain meds. That can be hard when you start to get loopy. But, it shouldn't be long until I don't need the heavy hitters. I had pain medication induced emotional diarrhea last night. I figured it would happen sometime, but it wasn't to bad. Actually that is why I thought that I would blog a little. You know, those thoughts that creep out that maybe other people are thinking or have thought and you wonder if you are alone? Lots of my thoughts are questions and will be answered by the doctor on Friday or by time itself. Like, was surgery worth it? I mean I didn't have any symptoms and now I freaking hurt and had a potentiall life threatening allergic reaction. Surely I will forget the pain? Especially if she wants to do another surgery! Does this answer questions? I suppose so. I have something to label. Something to treat. Something to ask for healing from. It has made me ask for help, which I am not great at, but I am getting better at. Food fairies are wonderfult things, especially when they take on the form of dear friends. Flowers dot my bedroom and that really brightens my outlook. Does this get us closer to becoming parents? It does explain some infertility. For sure it does. The doctor said that she is going to get us having bambinos. Pregnancy is a great treatment for endometriosis. It really helps people's symptoms. But then, I didn't have symptoms. And there we start the circle all over again. Today is the funeral for my neighbor who passed away. 97. What a long life. I will miss her. I a not sure if I will make it to the funeral. I haven't been out of the house yet. We had said our goodbyes. The last time I saw her she said, " Kara, if I don't see you again here, I'll see you up yonder. I love you." ok, it makes me teary. My response, " you know you will. I love you." really the funeral would be the formality of saying goodbye. But how do you say goodbye to someone who knew you your entire life? She saw me home from the hospital as a baby, gave me candy as a kid, encouraged me in the Lord as a young woman, saw me as a blushing bride, welcomes my husband as neighbor and prayed for me always. I learned a lot about loving the Lord from her. A true, real, solid relationship with God. She'll be missed. But I will see you up yonder Mrs. Williams!!!! We still have neighbors in their 90's. They came to visit with me yesterday. They are a hoot and a half! The Jackson's. Mr. Jackson has known me from the time I was a baby. He confuses me with my sister, but I forgive him because he is 92, I think. His wife, Hazel, married him about 5 years ago. She is 91. She still drives, cooks, exercises and looks not a day over 75. They laugh and pick on each other. I love them. And I live that they came over to check on me and visit. It brightened my day.i do a lot of checking on them, especially when an ambulance shows up at their house! I guess I gave them a scare by me taking off in one. I am sure at some point hazel will bring over some pound cake which I won't be able to eat. She doesn't get the gluten free thing. I'll just accept it and let Dave eat it. I love southern hospitality. Ok, due to the ament that I have written, I will assume that the pain medicine has taken affect. Maybe I can get a nap in. Sleep has been elusive. Here is to hoping for sleep and healing. More musings are to come, I am sure. Thanks you friends, for your prayers, and for forgiving this mess of a post. Maybe I will clean it up later. Maybe not. Hope it has been readable. Night, I mean, morning y'all.

Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

Here is am update that I sent some friends. Yet another mass email.... Thanks for all of your prayers. The surgery went well. The staff was amazing and I felt quite at ease beforehand and afterward. Turns out that I have severe endometriosis. My doctor was very surprised. She removed a large cyst from my left ovary, took a good look around my abdominal cavity, and possibly removed a little bit from other areas. I woke up well from surgery and had a great day afterwards- except being a bit disturbed by the appearance of my belly button. The doctor wants to treat this aggressively. Not quite sure what that means- medication, more surgery? She was very conservative in what she removed. We have an appointment with her this coming Friday. Yesterday was scary. I started coughing a lot, which isn't unusual after undergoing anesthesia. My throat felt rough though. I even made Dave look at it. Shortly after that my left eye was bothering me. Again, not unusual for me. My eyes bother me all of the time. Dave settled me down for a nap, I hadn't slept much all night. A few minutes later I noticed my eye felt large and I couldn't open it all of the way. I pulled out my phone and examined my eye with the camera. I immediately texted Dave that my eye was swelling- I could only get out a whisper. He called the doctor. As he turned to leave the room I felt my lip swelling. I knocked on the bedside table to get his attention. He went into action calling 911. Not seconds later hives erupted all over my body appearing like blisters, starting on my arms and quickly moving to my legs.I got scared fast. Our friend Sheila arrived around then to drop off some food. She waited for the paramedics. They asked me a million questions, got me to the stretcher, into the ambulance and started working. Epi pen, IV- Benadryl, steroids and oxygen administered. Praise the Lord I could breathe easier. By the time we reached Kennestone the hives were starting to lessen. The pressure around my eye felt better. I got some morphine, anti- nausea Meds and ice chips. I have never been so happy to be at a hospital! The nurse said that I had a really bad reaction. I thought so, but the paramedics were so calm. We think it was the OxyContin. While at the hospital they tried me out on another medicine to make sure I had no reaction. Relief! So, now I have an epi pen at hand, a round of steroids and Pepcid to complete along with a new allergy that needs to be confirmed, due to the severity. Thank you to those who were in touch and praying. Dave's wisdom in quickly calling 911 may have saved my life. I gave him a good scare. I actually have slept some since we got home. Lots of family stopped by. I feel much better! Still sore and bruised from surgery.  A tiny bit itchy, but i probably just need a shower! I will be taking it easy this week!! Not going to push it after what I went through the past 48 hours. This week will be spent watching tv and reading. Poor Dave is exhausted and took an extra day off of work to be home with me. Sorry for the long email. I thought it the easiest way to update all of you. Again, thank you for your prayers friends. You all keep me going. Oh, and my favorite 97 year old passed away yesterday. My old neighbor. She was been waiting a long time to be taken away. So glad that her suffering has ended. We'll miss her. Pray for her family, will you? Her passing leaves a big hole in all of our hearts. Thanks friends. Kara And for the sake of drama, let's try to get a picture of my eye up here..... Sometime soon.

Here We Go!!!!

So, the title of this post may be more interesting than what I am writing about.

Exploratory surgery, anyone? Why, yes please.

That is right. This morning I go into the operating room for exploratory laparoscopy. This is all part of our walking down the path to find answers for our infertility. Cysts were seen on my ovaries during an ultrasound. They appear to be blood filled, which led to the diagnosis of endometriosis. However, I don't have many symptoms of endometriosis. My doctor is perplexed and curious. She seems like she wants to know what is going on in there just as much as I do! The only definitive way to know is to take a look.

So, that is what we are doing. Getting a good look at my ovaries and my abdominal cavity. I get to be blown up with gas. I wonder what that will be like. I hear it can be painful afterwards. The cysts may or may not be removed. I appreciate that my doctor is conservative and if there is a chance that she can not  safely remove them then they will remain. If there is anything else suspicious going on and she can safely do something about it, then she will. I am hopefully that my ovaries just a need a little clean to get the job done and it will be smooth sailing from here on out. Either way, we are praying for answers and direction.

I'll be spending the next few days taking it easy, possibly heavily medicated, watching episodes of something on netflix. Which is fine because I have spent the last few days cleaning like a a crazy person. I have had this desire for everything in the house to be in its place and in order before I take my leave. Whew!!! It wore me out.

I will keep y'all updated when I know more. We will know a bit more after surgery but any lab work can take two weeks.

What are you doing this Thursday?

Backyard Eggs

I thought that I would share with you some photos of our eggs. There are so many shapes, sizes and color variations. I am always amazed!!

This is usually how the eggs look in the nest when I collect them. Except sometimes it is dark out and I have to use a flashlight!

Eggs freshly washed. I only wash eggs when they are really dirty. Once washed they have to be refrigerated.  unwashed, eggs can remain at room temperature for 7-10 days. The amazing egg!!!

All snug in a carton.

My very favorite egg coloration of all time. Some one in the flock is a cartographer! This looks so much like the world lain flat in an egg shape. Chickens are amazing!

Cruisin

We really enjoyed our time on the cruise we took with Dave's aunt, uncle and cousins in January. Dreaming of these days..... we went to Cozumel and Costa Maya. We ate so well on the boat and off. It was such a treat to not worry about food. The ship's staff really looked out for my dietary needs. What a gift. It allowed me to truly relax. We will definitely be cruising again!!!

Here are a couple of photos to drool over and dream about....

Dave and I swimming in the cold underground river.  It was really neat and so pretty!

We were blessed with gorgeous sunsets almost every night.

My favorite day of the cruise. Warm sand. Cold drinks. Fresh Seafood. Water as far as the eye could see.

A Little Chicken Love

I haven't talked about the chickens in a while. Heck, I haven't talked about about anything here for a while. The chickens have been doing great. We are at a steady 12 hens now. It seems to be a good number. Even having twelve hens, their egg laying is sporadic. A few times they have all laid eggs on the same day. But most recently we only get about 4-6 eggs per day. I love sharing these with friends, neighbors and family. Here are a couple of shots of the girls for your viewing pleasure!

Let's Try This Again

Wow, I didn't mean to take that long of a hiatus! The months have flown by. I have had some ideas and things that I have wanted to write about, but nothing moved me. Not that something is moving me now, but it is time to brush off this keyboard. Time is passing by.

 I have a small garden planted and plants are starting to bear fruit! Tomatoes are green and swelling on the vine. Sugar snap peas are ready to pick. I have cucumbers, beans, herbs, lettuce and peppers all starting to grow and show themselves. I am hoping to really enjoy caring for these plants, eating from them and sharing a harvest! Our grass is greener than it has ever been! All of our hard work last year paid off. I love walking barefoot in it and just plain looking at it is pretty nice too.

 I have been dealing with some health issues and been debating on what and how to share. I know that some people know my story and where I am at now and many don't. I am still eating dairy free, gluten free, corn free, oat free and mostly sugar and yeast free. I am perfectly ok with eating this way. My body responds well to it. It is worth it. However I have been dealing with some seriously frustrating fatigue. I am in the process of blood work and working with a naturopath figure out what is going on. I have confidence that we can figure this out!

What I have been struggling with sharing is that we have been dealing with infertility. It is not something that a lot of people talk about, much less expect to be an issue with themselves. I certainly never expected to deal with it. I just assumed that we would decide to grow our family, ceonceive, give birth.... Easy, right? Not somuch for us.it has been at least two years of trying to conceive for us. Longer, if you really want to know, but we have been keeping a closer eye on things for ovr a year. My health issues certainly are playing a role in this and I have no doubt that as we figure out what is causing and contributing to my fatigue that my body will get healthier and closer to being able to carry a baby. In the process of trying to find out reasons for infertility I was diagnosed with endometriosis. There have been scans and tests. There will be more scans and then surgery. Hopefully my doctor will be able to remove some cysts from my ovaries and this will increase my chances becoming pregnant.

 I don't share this for pity's sake. I was actually moved on mother's day by a couple of friends who let me know that they knew the desire of my heart to be a mother. They were lifting me up in prayer on mother's day, praying that one day I would become a mother. This meant so much to me! It made me think about other women I now whose hearts desire is to become a mom but they have yet to have that happen. It is something that isn't talked about a whole lot. Something that you live life walking around with tucked inside of your heart. Something that you long for. It made me think that maybe it is something that we need to talk about. So I am going to try to share some of my story as it unfolds. Share a some of my feelings, the hard times and the good times. I hope that this can help someone else struggling with infertility and walking down this road.

 There are other things going on of course. I will try to get back to writing, sharing garden tips, chicken tips and little snippets of my life. I have missed writing. Here we go again!!!!

Be informed

Forbes published a great article called Girls For Sale. (click on Girls for Sale to read the article)Or go look it up!

It is about how our girls in America are being sexually exploited, what that means, and how you can make a difference. They interviewed Rachel Lloyd. I had the opportunity to attend a training that she lead on the Commercial Exploitation of Children a couple of years ago. It was very informative and life changing. She is an amazingly brave and articulate woman with a huge heart. Please take the time to read it! Then go watch the documentary that is mentioned in the article. It is worth your time!

Bear with me....

Bear with me while there is a short hiatus on my blog. That bad cold followed by the busyness of the holidays left me with little time or energy to blog. But I have lots to blog about;

The chickens have finally picked up on egg production. We got six eggs yesterday! Woohoo!! Six eggs are way more fun to collect than one!

Our winter garden harvest! Swiss chard, tat soi, carrots, Chinese cabbage and sugar snap peas. Oh my! Currently much of that goodness is turning into Kim chee. I will let you know how that goes!

In January I am going to makeover my office/ guestroom. I am excited about it! I can't wait to fix it all up and have a nice simple space.

And this weekend we are going on a cruise!! Woohoo!! I am sure that there will be lots to share from that! Before we leave I have to deal with all of those vegetables, clean house, cook a ton, undecorate from Christmas and pack my bag. I can do it!

Happy New Year friends! Let's make this a good one!