New Adventure!

At the end of August I was invited to a party on Facebook for Usborne Books and More. I had heard of this company but hadn't ever seen any of the books up close. (Usborne has actually been around for many years, and was the 2014 Children's Publisher of the year). I was skeptical because I didn't know what could be so special about books. I also didn't see why I would like them because they sell children's books and I don't have any kids. But I was interested enough that I went. I was so impressed with the books! I thought they were genius, really. Brilliant. So fun and so unique, I could go on and on. Around this time my Etsy shop had kind of started to fizzle out. And I was getting worn out. It just took so much time and energy. And I always had a mess in my living room. I started asking questions about signing up to sell these books, which surprised myself and my husband, because I have never been a "salesman." I didn't want to become the pushy friend who everyone avoided because they thought you were going to try to sell them something. (And I hope I haven't become that). But I seriously felt like these books were an answer to my prayers. These were books that could really help a struggling reader learn (and want to learn) how to read. These were books that a child would choose over electronics, and I wanted that for my (future) kids. I talked to Chris and we thought it would be a good thing. I didn't really think I would make money at it, and I don't think Chris did either, but I really wanted something for me. That I could do and feel good about it. And I felt this was it.

It has been exciting and fun for sure. Turns out, the books sell themselves and people love to buy books for their kids. :)

I have loved that I can do it when I want, and how much I want. No stress of any minimum to meet. I can work when I'm sick, laying in bed. I even did my first party an hour after I got home from he hospital. Feeding tube and all. And I have earned a TON of free books, and a lot of half price books too. I also earned a FREE cruise for Chris and I! We will be sailing to Belize, Cozumel, and Roatan in July. :) SO excited. 

I have found some other benefits along the way. I have made some great friends. In November I promoted to Team Leader, and in January I got to go to Atlanta to a training for team leaders. I hung out with other leaders on my team and we had tons of fun. 

We have also really liked the extra income. We are going to use the money I make to save for our adoption (another reason why I feel like this was an answer to our prayers) and with Usborne we will get there much faster than we would have otherwise. 

There are also lots of different things I can try. I have been mostly doing Facebook parties, but I can also do Home parties, book fairs (I have done one so far), book drives, etc. This month I am working on a book drive-I want to raise money to get books for Foster Kids. Books that they can call their own. Many foster kids struggle with school and reading and I want to give them something they can call their own, that will give a desire and ability to learn. I'm so excited for this, especially because there is a good chance that Chris and I will become foster parents in the future.

Here are some pics of some books I have earned for free and half price. :) 

Chris built me this bookshelf out of pallets and I painted it. 

It's already full!  The girls I babysit LOVE the books-and I can see a difference in one of the girls. Her reading skills have been improving.

At the Advanced Leadership Retreat in Atlanta, one of my favorite things was meeting our CEO, Randall White. What an amazing guy!

One night, he chose to eat dinner with us! 

 Last weekend, we had a Regional Training in SL and some of my girls on my team went. (Including my beautiful cousin Danielle! So fun doing this with her!)

All the Team Leaders on our team at the Regional Training

Most of all I just love having something that I can do during the day to help me feel accomplished. I love getting these wonderful books into the hands of kids!

Health and Baby Update

I just wanted to write an update so I can remember everything later. I ended up being on TPN from the middle of September to the end of December (like the very end. Dec 31st to be exact). I slowly gained weight and when I gained back the 15 pounds that I had lost, we weened off of it over a couple weeks, then stopped it altogether. I got the PICC line out the last day of the year, so that we wouldn't be billed anything in the new year. Literally in the nick of time. We met our out of pocket at the beginning of the year and didn't really want to pay for anything TPN related. Been there, done that (and still doing that from the last time)...

I also slowly started to feel better during this time. I was able to start eating pretty normally, which I was thankful for. Since I have gotten the PICC removed, I have lost about 6-7 pounds, even though I am eating well. It is a never ending battle and I don't know what we will do if/when I lose another 7 pounds. We need to think of a better solution. We never really figured out what the problem was, except that maybe it was cysts on my ovaries that was causing pain, and then causing me to not eat well. And I just can't afford to not eat well. But as you can see, even when I eat well, I can still lose weight. I am just missing so much of my intestine, I would not be surprised if I am bordering on Short Bowel Syndrome. Super fun. 

My joints have been hurting too. Not a huge deal, but it is one more thing. My fingers are what bother me the most, and sometimes my toes and knees. Last week I got steroid shots in some of my fingers and those fingers already feel a lot better. 

The day before I got my PICC line out I also went and saw the Hematologist in SL. I had seen him previously to try to figure out a way to get my iron up. My GI doctor didn't want to mess with it, since last time I had had iron infusions I had severe allergic reactions that took me to the emergency room. The Hematologist said there was an iron infusion that was given over like 6 hours, that could work, and less than 1% of patients reacted to it. This was great news. I had thought my options were pretty slim to none, so I was super happy to hear this. So I went and had it done and didn't have any problems. Last week I went back to check my iron levels and see if they had improved. I could already tell that all my weird cravings were gone, but I was still feeling tired (which could be attributed to lots of things). On the day I saw him, I was feeling pretty crummy. My blood pressure was really low, which he was concerned about. He asked me if I would like some IV Fluids and some Zofran and I said yes! But I had a training for Usborne in an hour and a half so they pushed it really fast and got it done in about an hour. That was last Friday. On Monday I called and found out that my Ferritin levels went from 15 to 575! I couldn't believe it! The doctor said that it would probably start to decrease again in a few months and I might just need to get the infusion every few months, or every year, depending on how long it took for it to go down.  I'm going to ask my GI doctor to check my Vitamin B12 levels again next time I see her. It has been over a year and that could also be contributing to my never ending fatigue.

Here is the iron going in. Chris was a trooper and came and sat with me all day.

Why hello arm, it's nice to see you! 

In November Chris and I also met with the Fertility Doctor, who we had seen a couple times previously to do some tests. He told us that based on our test results, the only way we would ever get pregnant was with IVF. Other fertility treatments wouldn't even work, and of course, IVF is not a guarantee either. He felt like we had a good chance with IVF though. So we spent about a month and a half really trying to decide what to do. We looked at all the different plans. We prayed-a lot. We went to the temple several times. We couldn't decide if we wanted to actually try to get pregnant right now, or if we wanted to try to adopt. When we really started trying to have a baby a year and a half ago, my health was good and we felt like I could handle being pregnant. Now we weren't so sure, especially now that we live far away from any family, my mom is not in a position to help me or come stay with me, and I could end up in the hospital or on tube feeding, etc. After a LOT of thinking and praying, we decided to try adoption. We have not ruled out IVF forever, but just for right now. In the future, when my health is better again and when we live closer to family, we want to try to get pregnant. We are in the process of researching adoption agencies in Utah and deciding who to contact and everything. (If you have any tips, let us know). We have given ourselves a deadline of when we want this decision to be made. I feel good about this and am really excited!

Also, since we made this decision, I decided to start another medication for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. We have been avoiding it because you can't take it if you get pregnant. I'm excited to start taking this medicine and for my joints to start feeling better. 

On a side note, we have had so. much. snow. I'm so tired of it! It is pretty, but I hate wearing snow boots every day, and driving it, and walking in it. And it is so. cold. Which is hard on my joints. But I guess it is pretty. :) I just can't wait for Spring though!

A Cheerful Christmas 2015

I love Christmas time. I love to decorate my house for Christmas. I love to wrap presents and make them really pretty and all matching. I love to send Christmas cards. But this year I was having a little trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. I was realizing that another year had gone by without us growing our family, when we were sure that 2015 would be our year. I was frustrated with my health. I was sad that I was away from home and away from my mom. So one day I bought a Gingerbread house for us to decorate, hoping this would cheer me up. I quickly realized that Chris was not into it like I was and he could really care less  how it looked. So I told him he could do whatever he wanted with his side. Well you can guess who did what side. It actually was pretty entertaining to watch him. He makes me laugh every single day. Oh how I love him. :) 

Used our same decorations that we always use, but mixed it up a little. Loved that matching wrapping paper. 

This year we spent the night at Chris' dad's on Christmas Eve, then Christmas morning we went to his mom's house and opened presents there. It was really nice being with Carol and Brett, and Brett's daughter Claudi. 

Here is Chris showing off his Fitbit.

Jerry was sad because we didn't give him any presents. Poor guy.

We spent the day with family. It was fun seeing the kids come over and open their presents from Grandma.

 The boys actually did the dishes.

We also went back and saw Chris' dad for awhile on Christmas, but for some reason I didn't get any pics! Then that night we went to my mom's. Saturday afternoon we went and saw my dad with all my siblings. Here is Chris playing an intense game of Connect 4 with my nephew. He's going to be such  good dad someday. :) 

We had lots of fun playing with kids and opening presents at my mom's. It was also nice to be at my mom's and see her in her house. We continue to pray that she can still get well enough to go back home. 

Just sitting in a laundry basket eating a cheat.

My mom got all the guys aprons to BBQ with.

 My brother went in with us to get my mom a new TV for her room-so she can watch Netflix and everything. She was excited.

 Sunday we went to the Care Center and went to church with my mom there. I got to sit by these 2 cuties. 

 BEST PICTURE EVER!

My mom with some of her grandkids.

It turned out to be a great Christmas, even though our lives aren't what we had pictured they would be at this point in time. We are so thankful for all that we have, for our home and our jobs, for our wonderful family and their love. We had a great 2015 and are so blessed. 

Our New Year's wasn't anything special. We had been invited to different places for New Year's Eve, but then neither ended up working out. So we stayed home and watched TV and Chris went to bed at like 10:30 because he was so tired. I stayed up and read for about an hour before giving in and going to sleep. Be we had a good New Year's Day just being together.

My top 5 things from 2015: 

1. Spending 3 weeks in Seattle with my mom, sister-in-law and nephew while my mom did radiation the radiation was not the fun part, but being with those three was!)

2.Trip to the Tetons/Yellowstone with Chris' family

3. Trip to Disneyland/Universal Studios with Chris

4. Joining Usborne Books and More and earning a free cruise

5. No medical bills this year! (Even though we had medical problems)

We also got to do other fun things, like see my oldest niece married in the temple, go to my youngest niece's baby blessing in Wyoming, etc. We also had hard things-seeing my mom sick and how hard of a year she had, being in the hospital and dealing with a feeding tube and TPN, and finding out the only way we will have a baby of our own is with IVF-and being faced with the decision of that or adoption. But we are stronger because of these things and I know 2016 will be a great year!

Thanksgiving

A few weeks before Christmas I realized that Kyler and Stephanie wouldn't be in Burley for Thanksgiving and the thought of waiting till Christmas to see them was too much (I hadn't seen them since the 4th of July). So I called Kyler and told him they should come see me. They came down the week before Thanksgiving and stayed the whole weekend. We had so much fun! We just hung out and visited a lot. We went to the Rec Center in Vernal and went swimming. My little buddy wasn't too sure of the water at first but he warmed up to it. Kyler, Chris and Steph went down the big slides. I couldn't because of my PICC line. I just waded in the water mostly, keeping my arm above water. They went to church with us on Sunday as well. We had dinner, and then they went home.  

   

We ate Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house this year. We are kind of off on our schedule, but Tysi and Chad were both there. Then the next day we ate dinner at Chris' dad's house, and Saturday we had the famous After-THanksgiving-Breakfast at Chris' mom's house. 

Katie's boys enjoying the breakfast

Love hanging out with this little girl. 

Friday night my brother Brock came to my mom's, so we all went to church with her the next day. These are his two girls. So fun!

I think this pic was taken in October when we went home one weekend and went to my nephew's ordination to become a Deacon.

Here are just some other random pics from November

We went on a date and went bowling and we each won one game. :)

Halloween

We had a pretty good Halloween. We carved pumpkins, though not as detailed as normal. Neither of us really had the energy for that. We went to our ward Halloween party and Trunk or Treat the Wednesday before Halloween. The Young Women were in charge of some games that I helped with. I dressed up as Minnie Mouse. Chris was a Party Pooper. (He didn't want to dress up!) Halloween night we had our adult session of Stake Conference so we weren't home for Trick or Treaters which was kind of sad, but Stake Conference was good!

In October I also had an Usborne Book party (more about that in another post) and I made these treats for it. They were so cute. :)

Happy Halloween!