My visit with the specialist this morning was pretty uneventful. I have to just wait on my body to heal itself, and once the swelling goes down I get to have a colonoscopy to confirm that surgery is probably necessary to remove that section of colon.  Neither Josh nor I sensed any amount of urgency in his voice, so that is good news.  I was hoping he would give me something to help heal faster, but no, so more waiting. I just want this to be over! I need to exercise again, but anything strenuous hurts. I've gained alot of weight this last month and none of my jeans fit me. 
I will stop complaining now, it could be a whole lot worse.

Waiting. I hate it. I'm no good at it.
Had lab work and a contrast CT scan today to try and figure out why my pain keeps coming back. She marked it Stat so I'm supposed to know by 5.  We have a wedding to attend at 5:30.
Ugh..

Update.. tests came back good.. no masses.. just stubborn diverticulitis and a thickened colon wall. Don't know why that is, so I'm seeing a gastro dr next tuesday. But overall, very good news!

And Danielle and Elliott are married..
Congrats friends!

This is February!

Mt. Rushmore-The Canadian side.   :)

Introducing The Hood. No it's not a professional hood that keeps out the light so you can see the screen, but we didn't have one. I came up with this solution, otherwise known as my hooded sweater. I think it was pretty genius, as Garner spent the whole day underneath it, keeping an eye on the filming. It was pretty funny looking though..   
Sunburned, dehydrated, and in pain, but we had a great shoot today.

Random

*I was feeling soo much better today that I decided to get out on my bike and enjoy this wondrous "winter" weather. I rode to the mailbox, then remembered it was Presidents Day, so no mail, but good excuse to troll around anyway. I love my bike. Have I mentioned that??
*Today I made a monthly core menu of dinners with new recipes to try once a week or so. I collected all the recipes off Pinterest and magazines and put them in my cookbook, ready to go, along with our family favorites. I plan to print a new copy every month and mark them off as we eat them(they aren't dated, cause I never know what I'll be in the mood to cook on any given day), and cross off new ones that the kids don't like and replace them with new ones each month. I'm very proud of this accomplishment today.
*Tomorrow I have been invited to help out our amazing media team in a video shoot for the next sermon series roll in. We always have amazing videos, and I always have so much fun taking part in these shoots. Very excited..
*I'm also hoping to get home in time to do Jordan's senior pics for her graduation announcements (that I need to order). We need the perfect few minutes of sunset to get them done.
*I will leave you today with one of my favorite quotes: "When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen." - Winnie the Pooh

So my physical condition has improved dramatically over the last 2 days. I was still not well after finishing the last round of antibiotics and in quite a bit of pain so I put myself on the church prayer list and my husband fasted for a day for me, and the next morning(thursday) the pain simply went away. I am believing for complete and total healing. I can still feel fullness and swelling in my abdomen, but the actual pain is really gone. The rest off it, I'm sure, will follow. I can't tell you how excited I am. Praise you God!
Thanks everyone who has been praying for me.

Three years ago, in this month, I was lost. I was lost in a web of lies and destruction. How fast a "normal" Christian woman can fall from a stable family and church life into complete darkness is scary as hell. All it takes is an opening. An area of dissatisfaction. An area of incomplete wholeness. A void. A vulnerability. A weak spot in your armor. Then Satan rushes in and fills it with something, or in my case, someone who can fill it. Someone who is not Jesus. And once you start to feel full you will believe any lie, any deception. Your mind can make you believe anything, because it likes the feeling of fullness. No matter how false it is. It is really frightening to me, the powerlessness we can have over our own selves at times. If we don't have the Word of God constantly running through our heads that speaks truth over the lies we have no hope of staying sane. If we don't have the help of the Holy Spirit to remind us of the truths of God's Word, we have no power to remember them. If you are out there fighting something alone,without the power of God on your side, you will be devoured. Maybe not by another man, but by whatever is haunting you. Believe me, I speak from experience. Don't isolate yourselves for fear of humiliation. Find a loving, living church. Humiliation is worth the salvation and deliverance. You will never be able to fill the void with the things of this world. Only Jesus can truly satisfy.

3 things I'm thankful for today

Do you see anything unusual about the back of my car? Of course not, because Josh fixed the huge dent that has been there for a year. I'm very happy about this. He did the bodywork and paint himself.

no explanation necessary

We seem to have a "red" trend going. Once it was a red leather bag, once a red ipod, once some nice red high heels, now red Toms. I LOVE Toms.

My girl

Josh and I went to a marriage seminar this weekend. It was pretty entertaining.
Nothing we haven't heard before but good reminders.

In other news, Whitney Houston died. :(

We have started a family gratitude journal. We are going to fill up this book with all the little and big gifts God has given us. I have enjoyed seeing it out on the bar and everyone adding to it every day. It does bring joy to thank God for everyday things He has blessed us with.
My ailment seems to be healing, slowly. I still have 3 days left of these antibiotics, so we'll see if I'm completely better then.
I finally booked tickets to Thailand for Jordan and I for right after her graduation. That was not easy, and I work for a travel agency! Just trying to find the right combinations of flights and prices is tedious. Travel agents don't get any discount at all either, it just helped to know my way around the sites.
So we're going from Austin-San Francisco-Hong Kong-Singapore-Chiang Mai, Thailand. Our longest flight leg is 14 hours, with a total of 24 hours actual flying time, excluding layovers, to get there. Yikes. Pretty similar to Africa, just the opposite side of the globe. Then returning we substitute South Korea for Hong Kong. And we stay overnight in Singapore.
Oh, and on the way I get to visit my friend Heather in San Francicso for the day :)
Going to be quite an adventure for the two of us!

Today I am thankful for these two books. They are changing my life.

Handcrafted jewelry made with love in Uganda

 amazima.org

This organization was started by a very young American woman who simply wanted to do what it commands us to do in the Bible. Feed the hungry, and care for the orphans. She left the states and has made her home in Uganda caring for thousands of children and has even adopted 14 of her own. In addition to starting this amazing non profit, she has taught a trade of making necklaces to the women of the village. Please buy one in support of them and also read her book, it's an inspiration, but also very convicting. If she can do all this between the ages of 19 and 22, I can only imagine what her future holds.

Ok, so I know I'm no saint and everyone has their flaws, especially me. But since I'm in a cranky, stressed out mood this week, I'm gonna rant, cause I can. These are my personal pet peeves that seem to occur almost daily around me.

*People who are perpetually late. It is inconsiderate and disrespectful of other peoples time.
*People who say they will do something, and then don't. They may have some generally lame excuse, but really, they just didn't do it. I would so much rather you just be honest and say "Hey, I'm not really going to do that, even though you asked me to, or I volunteered, so you might as well do it yourself" rather than me having to continually wonder. At least it's honest.
*People who perpetually procrastinate. Not naming names, but come on, you CAN see a little bit into the future when things tend to happen at the same time every week and month, no?
*People who drive below 50 MPH on 1431! Come on people it's 65!!! Why do you do this EVERY day?? WHY?? I don't understand.
*People who meander and take up an entire aisle. Whether it be with your grocery cart inside, or in the parking lot outside. Move OVER! Pick a side!
This is just from today.  I could go on and on, but my blood pressure is starting to elevate. I need to go do something else.


*** a few minutes later, ok, great, now I have guilt.  The last 2 posts have been me spewing my venom. Not encouraging is it? I apologize. I promise to get my act together and the next one will be uplifting. Everyone has their days, right?

I had my follow up dr visit today. I am angry and upset. Not only am I not healed, but I have to start a new 10 day antibiotic treatment. Trying yet a different drug. The hell I went through a week ago wasn't enough. The $400 I spent on dr visits and drugs wasn't enough. Today was another $250 thanks to my wonderful  government. So now EVERYONE can afford healthcare, except those of us in the middle class who can now no longer afford the health plan we used to be able to afford 3 years ago. But instead we are forced to go to the high deductible plan where we have to pay for everything in this ridiculously high priced world of medicine.  Now WE are going broke. And because my stupid body has turned on me and won't heal, I am even more broke this week! Not just in the wallet, but in spirit. Lovely.   
I cried all the way home.