THANKS and giving....

I have always been a person who wants to GIVE.

I am bad at taking without giving something back...

With the kidney donation just a couple weeks away, people have been emailing me about it, asking me tons of questions, telling me lots of stories...etc...

I have also had people offer to do awesomely nice things for me because of this. I never wanted major acknowledgement. I wanted a "thank you" from my sister in law and of course I got that! Dan thinks because I am so public with this people feel like they should do nice things for me, but I just post about it because everyone asks the same questions, and I want people to know about living organ donation! And my personal story with it. I am pretty much an open book! There are SO many people waiting for kidneys, if what someone reads of mine inspires them to donate then I officially made a difference in the world. Not the WHOLE world, but in someones world, and in a sick persons life. 

Good, random things don't normally happen to me. Call it Karma or God's plan or whatever you want, but I'm not used to it! Haha :)

Edit******* THANK YOU to the neomom (my mom of multiples club) person who paid my club dues. I had to put off paying them and I wouldn't have been a member in good standing. I got an email saying they were taken care of. I just LOVE my neomoms. I'm so grateful to this person. 

In the last few weeks I have had Shelley, from church, tell me people will be signing up to deliver meals to our house every. other. day. for a few weeks!!! WOW, that's a lot of stress off of mine and Dan's plates. The people at our church are angels.

I took the kiddos to Bob Evans one night when Dan was out of town. After we got our check our server came back, took it away, and said it was taken care of by an old gentlemen who was there alone. He seemed to be a regular there, he knew everyone and they seemed to love him. I was blown away because he did it because he "loved the kids". He knows nothing about the kidney thing, he just enjoyed my children. Makes you really appreciate those little people called KIDS who can drive you nuts ;)

I ordered a drink from Starbucks for myself and a friend. The barista thought I was nice so she gave me a card for another free drink.

I went and got my hair done by my friend Molly (who I met in cosmetology school). As I was leaving she insisted it was her treat. Molly and I aren't best friends (though it felt like it when we were together haha) but she wanted to do something nice for someone who is doing the same for someone else. So it was me, all because I decided I am donating a kidney. It was just so sweet. It was a night away for me, a night to relax, and a night to look beautiful. I get my hair done maybe two, three times a year because of money and time....so this was really a special thing for me! Thank you, Molly!!

I have another friend who I also met at cos school who has been following my posts about this kidney stuff! She had acute kidney failure so she said it really hit home for her! She offered to take the twins Christmas pictures for me, free of charge, because she wanted to pay it forward as well. I got to spend time with her today, her adorable son, her sweet mom and my crazy kiddos. I had a lot of fun catching up and watching the kiddos get photographed. We learned REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY is the key to taking cute pictures. Haha! "Don't smile or laugh!!!!" "Don't hug!!!!" :) Thank you, Brit!!

I just have NEVER been one to take, people who know me well know I love to help, I love to give and I am terrible at just saying YES without feeling guilty. Of course I feel "guilty" for allowing my friends to do my hair, take my kiddos pictures, getting a meal paid for etc.. But that means I get to pay it forward! I can do someones hair for free, maybe one day take their pictures. Buy someones dinner or coffee. Make dinner for a family who has some busyness in their life.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has offered to help with the kidney process. Kimi and Karen, who are watching the kids. Church friends who have offered help. My friends and family who have offered to help. Brit for taking the pictures. Molly for making sure I have no roots in the recovery room ;)

To the barista who gave me a free drink, the man who paid for our meal. 

There's so many more things that have happened that I am grateful for, but this is sticking in my mind at the moment I guess ;)

I just feel SO darn blessed..... and I still have all of my organs at the moment haha! 

I hope everyone remembers that this holiday this week is about being thankful, but also about giving. Something I have a lot of catching up to do on ;) :) 

Have a great holiday everyone!!!!!!!

Xo, Em

10 More things...

I didn't finish my thankful post yet, so here's the last 10!

I am thankful for a healthy family, pretty much everyone in my family/extended family, etc is very healthy. No terminal illnesses and I am so grateful

.....For my eyes and ears. Without those gifts I wouldn't be able to experience life the way I do

..... For my house and car, such things people take for granted every day, even me. By all means, I do not have my dream home or car, but I hope to one day because my dreams aren't out of reach. SO grateful for what we have now.

...... For blankets and warm clothes.... I am a freeze baby

...... For my "kidney sisters" who I have met via social media who have been amazing while I am going through this donor process that they have been through. They are my backbone through this!

...... For any "break" we get. I'm grateful to have family and friends up here who help with the twins so I can get away, and so Dan and I can have dates or accomplish what we need to do. 

..... For the teachers I have at school who actually give a crap about us students. I have to work really hard for my grades and without them it would be a lot harder.

...... For the innocence of my kids. I love it, it is a beautiful thing. I wish it would never go away. I love that their innocence makes life sweet at times when it's not so sweet.

...... For crafting.....so lame, I know, but i LOVE it ;)

...... For living by Lake Erie....Ohio is really cold and really gloomy, but the few months of summer we get I LOVE and don't waste. I am spoiled because I grew up on the lake so I can't imagine not living near water!

I think that was my last 10 that complete my 30 days! Though every day I am thankful for many things and I should express that more!!!!

Hope you are all going to have a great week, mine will be filled with school work.....BUT there is kind of a light at the end of the tunnel....kind of. Finals week is less than a month away!! WOOHOO!! 

Here are a couple random pictures of our latest adventures:

 Decorating the tree early because I will be out of commission for half of Dec after surgery!! (And yeah, Kyla doesn't like shirts)

 Twin love

 I got a day out!!!! Lol. Went on a wine tasting adventure!

 Silly Kiddos!

Happy Birthday USMC! We sang to Chesty Puller, all you Marine friends will giggle at that ;)

XO Em!

A Month of Thanks

Happy November! I am excited it's November because I LOVE FOOD (especially on holidays), I LOVE BLACK FRIDAY and I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Hahah! No, my tree is not set up yet. I am waiting til at least mid Nov. so I don't get too crazy. Though with the kidney donation and finals week right before that I do really have to have all Christmas stuff like DONE around the 1st week of Dec. Halloween was fun, we went to a party at a friends house and spent the evening with many of our church friends and their kiddos. The guys all took the kids trick or treat in the rain while the moms enjoyed a little break. Landon was a power ranger (they do NOT look like what they used to) and Kyla was Supergirl. They were cute :)

As for this "month of thanks" thing, I saw people doing on facebook, I decided instead of every day posting something new I would just made a 30 day list here! There are SO many things I am thankful for, but here are the first 20....more to come later!

1) My kids. They are the light of my life! They drive me nuts and then end the day telling me how much they love me and it melts me every time. They are obsessed with each other, and everyone in their lives. They are SO special.

2) Dan- He has been through so much hardship in his life and managed to literally make the best of it. He is an amazing husband and father and caregiver to our family. I am so lucky! Anyone who really knows us knows he, and we, have come a long way. I am SO grateful for the man he is today! I love all he does for us, he is a great "stay at home dad" these days. His hard work never goes unappreciated.

3) My mom- When she was pregnant with me she had brain surgery to remove a potentially deadly tumor off of her brain. She went thorough hell to bring me into this world healthy and she gave me an amazing life. She is an amazing grandma now of course :)

4) My dad- My Dad also gave me an amazing life growing up. I am so thankful for him, he was and is always my main man, #1 supporter. Always encouraging me even when I was stubborn!

5) Rachel and Geoff- Sorry I was a jerk big sister, haha. I'm so happy we all have such a great relationship now. Landon and Kyla are totally obsessed with you guys and it makes me so happy!

6) My extended family and in laws- I was so lucky growing up with so many cousins (and so many girls my age!) I have nothing but amazing memories of our family get-togethers and growing up so closely. And now I have a new family I married in to. I love every one of them so much! I am very lucky.

7) Good health- How can you not appreciate this? Plus, if I didn't have it, I couldn't hand off organs. Haha :) Having a son born sick, I appreciate a healthy person SO much!

8) Awesome kidneys - I can't WAIT til Dec 16th when I get to literally give the "gift of life" to my sister in law! I can't wait to share a kidney with her!

9) Our church- Prince of Peace. I could write a book on how thankful I am for this place. It put our crazy lives into perspective and we are surrounded by people who just really LOVE and care for us, and we feel the same way about them . I mean really, if you are looking for an AWESOME church, a place you want to call home, and people you will call your family, this is the place for you!

10) My friends- You know you have amazing friends when one just brings cupcakes over for your family, just because. Or when people tell you they have meals planned for your family when you have surgery, or a friend who has 3 kids and offers to take your kids while you are healing/in surgery. People who will drop anything if you are having a rough time or a really bad day. People who will make you laugh til it hurts. Those are my friends, and for that I am blessed.

11) God.....This should have been first. Please excuse that I waited this long! God has blessed me and my family in the most amazing ways. How do you really thank God in a blog? I am just so grateful for my faith and for my Father above who is always looking out for my best interest.

12) Dan's military service and all military- SO grateful. You all know how proud I am to be a Marine Family. There's nothing more honorable than defending your country and for all the people who do it THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

13) Eddie- My buddy who was killed in action in 2008. This guy has made me appreciate life more than I ever could. I miss him so terribly but I am so thankful for the time I had with him and the memories that live on!

14) Food- Haha, no really!!!! I am so thankful we can have 3 meals a day without a struggle. We are SO blessed to be able to live that way.

15) The opportunity to get an education- I am so happy to have a second chance to get an amazing education. One day I hope to be a really really great nurse :)

16) Seasons- I hate winter, haha, but I do love snow once and a while. I love living in Ohio because we get to see the trees turn beautiful colors, the leaves fall, the snow fall, the flowers bloom, and summer in full swing! (Even though most of it is cold weather lol)

17) Heathcare in Ohio- The Cleveland Clinic, where I will be helping to restart Amanda's life. Where many people I know have been cured of their cancer. UH where my baby boy lived for a couple weeks so they could start his life off on the right foot. Also where many people have been cured. Lake Health, where my sister in law was diagnosed with PKD and began the road to recovery, and where my husbands bilateral PE was diagnosed. They saved his life within a matter of hours!!

18) Technology- So we can see our friends who are so far away, so we can message Tommy in Afghanistan, so we can skype with baby Logan in FL and watch him grow. So we can talk to Aline in Brazil on a daily basis if we wanted to!

19) The VA- Who has helped Dan over the years SO much. Who gave us an amazing counselor who we love seeing. Who provides Dan with his benefits so we can survive!

20) Gluten free food- Whoever invented this stuff and made it taste good is a winner in my book! Having Celiac sucks sometimes...but the fact that I can be fed is a great thing ;)

20 for now, 10 more to do this month (hopefully I remember!)

Off to do math homework!  :)

PS! Dan was an overseas contractor for Halloween, haha, for anyone who is wondering! Oh military.....

Kidney Giveaway!

I'm back. I am the most failed blogger of all time!! I think the last time I posted was March. I also switched blog sites, so all of my old posts say they were from Oct. 2013. Lies. It's all lies.

Quick update on life: I am in school still, still working my butt off! I get to apply to the nursing program after this semester. Dan is a stay at home dad at the moment, and he LOVING it. Haha, actually he's dealing with it ;) Landon and Kyla turned 4 in August and had a super sweet bounce house party. But I guess the big news was the kidney news. I got a simple blood test to just see if I was a match to donate to my sister in law....and shocker....I WAS.

So these days, I am giving away organs. Watch the bone marrow people call me after this kidney donation. Haha. I never really thought getting my blood drawn would turn into giving away a kidney! When I first found out I was a match I wasn't 100% surprised. Dan and I both had a feeling it would happen that way. It took me a lot of research, a lot of prayer, and a lot of help from my Uncle Cliff who is a nephrologist! (How convenient for me :) After all that I agreed to move onto Phase II, which is all sorts of tests. I had a CT, many blood draws, got a shot of radioactive something or other and peed in a toilet hat for a day haha, an EKG, chest Xray, BP monitor for 24 hours. I had to meet with a caseworker, social worker, nephrologist, urologist, lawyer, psychologist, etc. It was long and draining. Finally after a few weeks I got the call saying I was medically, physically, and mentally (how I passed that.........hahah) CLEARED to donate. Cleared with bad news though, my right kidney seemed to look smaller than my left. They want to leave you with the larger kidney, so if they took my right they couldn't do laparoscopic surgery because of the anatomy of the human body. It would HAVE to be open surgery. Which means more painful, longer recovery, etc. That would mean surgery would have to be next summer, and I would have to take time off school. Finally, after one more test where I got to watch my urine drain from my kidneys to my bladder, it was determined my kidneys are almost equal size! I was so relieved. After a few months of all this I am 100% all in on this. They ask you like 100 times if you want to back out. I would be sad at this point if something happened where I couldn't donate. So as of now Amanda and I will go into surgery on Monday, Dec 16th.

I have to have about 20 more vials of blood drawn 2 weeks before surgery for a final "tissue typing" to make sure I can still be her match and donate. If that's all clear I have my pre-op visit on the 13th. I am actually looking forward to the 16th but I am praying I will be able to function on Christmas. This is the only time I am able to do the surgery around my school schedule since I am really packing classes in now. There have been a few moments I feel a little crazy, haha, mom of 4 year old twins, a legal caregiver to my husband, in school trying to be a nurse, and hey, why not just hand off an organ!

The thing is, it's so much more to me than just "giving away an organ" even though that's how I phrase it. People have called me a hero, and an angel and stuff. But trust me, if you were in my situation you'd make the same choice! I saw firsthand my sister in law's health just deteriorate. We didn't know why. I saw my sister in law in dialysis within a day of going to the ER. I listened to my mother in law sob on the phone after she found out her daughter was in total kidney failure literally overnight. I have seen Amanda's skin color change just from one day of her blood finally being cleaner. I have heard her complain about her pain, I have seen her scars. I have sat with her during dialysis and seen the gigantic needles that go in her arm 3 times a week. I have seen the place she sits 3 days a week while she relies on a machine to keep her alive. She is my husbands little sister, his only sibling. I 100% want to give her a kidney so she can resume normal life. This was a girl who would work 2-3 jobs at a time never complaining and now she's too sick to be allowed to lift over 10 pounds! If she gets my kidney, and it works, she can go back to NORMAL life. She has to take anti rejection meds forever, but what a small price to pay for a whole NEW life! If all I have to do is have surgery and give an organ I have two of, count me in. I pray a lot that I can give this kidney, I also pray that surgery is successful for both her and I. I pray that the kidney will work once it is in her body.

Sorry for such a long post! One last thing, because people ask a lot. Here's what I will go through. Early day at the hospital on the 16th. Go into surgery as soon as we are able to. Mine takes less than 2 hours I BELIEVE....maybe a little more?? I wake up eventually (I am a PACU's worst nightmare haha, I either cry a lot, hate or LOOOOVE everyone and I also am a puker.) I move up to my room later (which I have heard a rumor I get to stay in VIP at the clinic which is apparently super great), and then I stay there for about 3 days. I have a catheter for the first 24 hours to measure my urine. Joy joy! For the first 7 days I am not allowed to be alone at. all. Scary a little? lol. I am not allowed to drive for 2 weeks (that rules out last minute Xmas shopping, because ya'll know I'm nuts and would try to if I could), and I'm not allowed to lift over 10 lbs for 4-6 weeks.. Sorry twinnies!!! I have spoken to many donors at this point and the verdict is: you feel like garbage for 2 weeks-ish. Yay for that falling on Christmas ;)

We already have had SO many people offer to help with the kids, with food, with Dan, with me, etc. We have people from church who already requested the day off work to just be at the hospital with Dan while Amanda and I undergo surgery. I am OVERWHELMED by the love and support from those people. You know who you are, and you are AMAZING!!!!! I am go grateful for the blessings God has given us. A kidney match, and amazing people who have our backs. We are so blessed!!!!!!

Now that I wrote a book......I hope you all have a good day :) :)

XO Em

70 Degrees for a Day

It hit 71 degrees today. In. March. In. Ohio. Lets. Have. A. PARTY!
We decided to have a cookout, so kind of a party! For my friends who don't live in Ohio and haven't ever lived anywhere but south... this is a rare event. We usually have snow and 30 degrees goin on right now. So this SUNSHINE and nice weather is JUST what we needed!!! The kiddos are on cloud 9 and so is this momma. I am working at the coffee house from 2-6 so I am running out of here at 6! At least the doors are open here and the sun in shinin in : )
We had a wonderful Sunday today despite a lost hour of sleep (who invented that daylight savings time anyway??) We got up for a good reason though. Who ever would have thought Sunday would have been my favorite day? I used to hate Sunday because of Church and school the next day. Now i LOVE Sundays because Dan is home and CHURCH is on Sundays! : ) Oh how things have changed in our hearts. I SO love it! Church was great today, and as always the company there was fantastic. On the way home from church Dan told me a fellow church member read my blog because we were the featured family in the church email this week! The link to my blog was attached because of last weeks posting. (Which by the way your support for that post was OVERWHELMING and we feel so supported and loved on our new journey so THANK YOU!) So anyway, this person read my blog and realized a family member of theirs has many similarities to Dan and I guess agreed to talk to Dan. Getting Dan to talk to ANYONE was SO hard so I sympathize with this person bigtime. Knowing my blog..what I wrote..can maybe help another family really feels good : ) Just knowing this was read by someone and got to the right person and knowing maybe my husband can share his stories and relate to yet another person.....it's cool. This church has been so good to us, paying it forward is the least we can do!
I'm keeping this one short so I can close up the Coffee Shop and maybe so Maggie will read it...haha (sorry I write so much MAGS!)
Xo EM

A Leap of Faith

Sorry I have been slacking on the blogging... I have been so busy with school stuff, mom stuff, church stuff.... I am very happy to report I am getting ALL A's!!! For the first time since like...3rd grade! LOL! I mean, honestly though, that was the last year I can remember loving school. How sad. I loved "school" after that but not LOVED it and not really the school school part, just the social/extracurricular part. So anyway, that is keeping me super busy. The twins are ALWAYS keeping me super busy of course! And we have a new found "happy place", our church...which is what I going to write about in this post. This is going to maybe surprise some of my friends who I haven't closely spoken to lately because this is a very new thing my family is going through. Its surprising Dan and I, and our families as well....Trust me... (bear with me if this is long, I am getting out a lot here!)
A few months back....maybe 6 months ago or so, friends of ours (Josh and Aimee Bogner) asked me if I would like to volunteer cutting hair once a month at their church. Its a cute little church called Prince of Peace in Mentor. I agreed because I don't work in a salon so any heads I can get my hands on is a fun time for me and I felt like volunteering would be a fun thing to do! So every last Saturday of the month that's where I go for a few hours. I have met some very cool people. Aimee asked me if I would like to try out church with them the following day plenty of times and I never went. I basically swore off religion after catholic schools, being made to go to church every Sunday for years, and then one of my best friends being killed in Afghanistan in 2008 (I never thought a God could exist who could take away someone like my friend.....I didn't realize then the schooling was because my parents chose the best option for me and the church every week was to raise me in a good home...sorry mom and dad!) So after what seemed like a long time of Aimee asking me to go to church I finally decided one Sunday to pack up the kids and go (with TONS of discouragement from Dan.) The whole time during the first service I cried. The message was about the fact that every storm stops eventually... it will always clear up. Things WILL get better. After that I just knew I had to come back. That week Gary Allan had a song become popular called "Every Storm"...Coincidence? It was awesome. I went again the next week as well and have gone ever since....now getting Dan there I thought was never going to happen.
Within the first couple weeks of me going to church I knew the pastor and his wife were great and I wanted to get to know them. I wanted Dan to meet them. I wanted to get Dan to this place where I felt so safe. Josh and Aimee had us over for dinner one night and I dropped the bomb to Dan that we were having dinner with the pastors of a church. He threatened to cancel a few times, but eventually, we made it there on the night it was planned! : ) It was a great dinner, a great night, great company. I heard Dan talk about things it normally takes months....or years....of knowing him for him to tell you. War stories...life stories. He trusted Ken and Shelley right off the bat. It was a breath of fresh air for me. It was a mini therapy session for him! After that night Dan started to attend church a little more but not as regularly as I. We were a little unstable, we would fight about random, stupid things and there were Sundays I would bring the twins to church alone (there is a wonderful playroom there for them, so I get an hour of peace and quiet!) and Aimee would just let me cry on her shoulder and remind me that Dan was resisting and he would come around. It was so hard to believe then because I didn't think Dan would ever go to church but I felt that was where I had so much love and support so I continued going.
I started meeting more and more people at the church (which I am wondering....is everyone there somehow related???? LOL!) and everyone is just SO nice. People I didn't know were hugging me on days they didn't know I needed those hugs. Pastor Kens messages seemed like they were for me every week! I was so happy. And then Dan started coming regularly. And then Dan started meeting the amazing people I did. And then Dan started hearing the amazing messages. And then Dan started LIVING a new life. We started going to a bible study at Josh and Aimee's house with some amazing people, Dan goes to a men's homeless shelter every Saturday morning now with Josh, Josh's brother Don and our friend Shawn from PoP to do a bible study for these men at the shelter. He gets up at 6 am on his day off to do this.
Seeing my husband, who has lived one of the craziest lives I have ever heard of...like literally from day 1...who SWORE off God....go from zero to sixty....who told our bible study group he is breaking the mold and raising our children the right way, and in a Christian home and living a new life now......makes. me. cry. This man had to leave his dream job as a United States Marine because of PTSD, bipolar disorder, etc... He is now sober and made that amazing choice for the sake of his life, his children, and myself.....The fact that he wants to change things from the way things were.... I am in tears writing this.
I know some of you who will read this may not believe in God, or have a faith similar to this and think I am crazy. People who knew me before will probably be like WHAAA??? But this is my new choice.....This church has Changed. My. Life. I am never, ever going to come up to any of you and smack you with a bible and tell you I wont be your friend if you don't believe what I do....haha! I am making this choice because I can't say these things that have happened in my life are coincidences anymore...Trust me, I still have A LOT of questions and SO much to learn. But honestly....I have nothing to lose....What if it's not real....I have thought about it to.... I mean, that just means I lived in a good way, I raised my kids to be decent little kiddos and had a good, solid family. That's the goal anyway. I never thought I would be the person who would say "I will be praying for you".... I was always the "I will be thinking about you" person....but now I will pray for you....whether you believe, or whether you don't : ) And I'm still the same old me..... I just have this awesome faith now and I am writing this to share it with you.
I have to admit am nervous to post this because people judge people over their faith habits. I know Dan and I both have friends..... and family even.... who may judge us, doubt us, and look at us differently now, but I know our true friends will realize we are no different (except Dan is trying to swear A LOT less LOL!!) I just hope we have your support on our new "leap of faith" as we walk with our new friends at our new church. It is so awesome. And I am SO. so. Happy. <3
Xoxo
Em

Princesses Don't Wear Pants

Kyla's new favorite saying while putting her pants on.... "Princesses don't wear pants". Well little miss, Princesses don't live in Ohio where it is 11 degrees and the wind chill makes it feel below zero! I know this girl doesn't want to wear pants but I also don't want child services called on me for my daughter running around without pants on in a foot of snow ;) I did convince her princess Jasmine wears pants so she's a little more okay with it!
While we're on the topic of princesses.... Dan took Kyla to Disney on Ice on Monday. (Thanks for the tickets Jackie!) She LOVED it. She wore her princess Aurora dress and everything, haha! She looked so cute leaving the house with him and her pink dress, winter boots and big winter jacket. They had a blast. He took her to Red Robin for dinner after :) Landon and I had a date that night too. One night Dan and I went out and told the kids we were going on a date so Landon has been begging for a date ever since. I think he thought a date was a material object but by the end of the night he got the idea! I took him to Paragon for a burger, which he requested! He devoured half of a very large burger, and then some fries. Papa (my dad) joined us for a bit at Paragon since his coffee house (the Lakeshore Coffee House) is a few doors down. Then Landon and I went to see "Frankenweenie"...where he devoured a bag a popcorn and some pop. Hungry dude! The movie was quite odd. Kind of cute, Landon LOVED it! So that's all that matters :) Landon was a wonderful, cute date that night. He held my hand everywhere we went and was very polite :) I hope we have date nights more often!
I survived the second week of school! I have decided I should get a Biology tutor. I just am SO bad a retaining the stuff. I study for hours, make flashcards, re read the chapters, do ALL of the exercises, questions, take notes in class, do all of the extra lab work, etc and there are just still things I. CAN. NOT. GET. It sucks to admit defeat, especially two weeks into school, but I am happy to admit it because it was a mistake I made in high school and at Akron.... I thought for sure it was the teacher, or something else, and I just did NOT care. Now that I care about my grades and the outcome and the long term goals I know what I need to do to make this right and have the best possible outcome. I guess I was like...embarrassed? maybe? lazy?! before to ever need or want a tutor but now I don't care. I know I need the help. I just can't understand some of the stuff. And I think I'm getting it, then I get to class and just get more confused, Haha! I want good grades, I want to succeed!!!! BTW if anyone wants to tell Dan all of my studying will pay off one day I wont be mad at you ;) haha. Goal is in mind, I just want him to be 100% on board. I know the day will come one day!! Or I will just throw my diploma at him one day, and then money. I'll make it rain. Just kidding. HAHA! I just will feel good contributing to this family in a different way. I LOVE the way I contribute now though, these kiddos are so awesome to be able to hang around with all the time, I am very blessed to be able to be with them and raise them :)
Another thing that happened over the last week was my sister in law had a surgery on her arm to implant a fistula in her arm. She had the surgery already and it was simple, with a small scar, but it didn't work. So this time they had to make an incision from her wrist to her elbow to make sure it worked this time. It left a huge scar, obviously. She needed this more permanent "port" put in her arm for dialysis because she still has an A line hanging out of her chest/ collar bone area. The longer that's in the worse it can get. So now the one in her arm has to heal again, then they have to test it, then they surgically remove the one in her collarbone as long as the arm one works. She is also very close to getting on the donor list. Please just say some prayers for her that her new dialysis port will work and that she gets on the list/ finds a match asap! This dialysis/kidney failure stuff is no fun for her at all. Or my mother in law who has to deal with it all too. Positive thoughts for this please!
Hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be studying for my first Medical Terminology test, which is on Monday! Wish me luck! :)
Xo Em

My Nose is Back in the Books

I have officially completed my first week back at school. I opened my online class 6 days ago and have probably studied 5 hours a day...that doesn't seem like enough.....does it... ugh! Dan asked me why I don't study during the day.....haha, I DO! ;) I study non stop and still feel overwhelmed, like I'm not grasping things. I feel bad that I am taking "our time" to study...but I am not a person that can't study. I HAVE to study. First classroom day was Tuesday. I go Tuesday and Thursday nights for 3 hours a night for Biology. Literally 5th-8th grade biology, but re-learning this stuff is really not exciting or fun since I was never into it. You can tell I study when the kiddos are awake because every few pages i will try and teach Kyla how to write her name or the alphabet will be written across the pages of my notebook. :) (PS i hate that this blog automatically changes these into yellow smiley faces! lol)
I just have to keep in mind my main goal. I want to be a nurse. I have always thought about it, I started school for it in '06 and wasn't ready or mature enough I guess. I have always had such a want to help people and have been told by many it would be an excellent career for me. Then I had such an amazing amazing day the twins were born. I had a wonderful experience in the hospital and since then I haven't gotten it out of my mind that Labor and Delivery is where I want to be. I thought about becoming a doula because they do get to deliver babies and that's what I want to do! I want to help mothers through labor and help them getting those babies out! If I can get two out in 2 hours (YES it took that long) ANYONE can do it, and I want to be there for those mommas! School ended up being an option for me because I was able to get financial aid to go so I knew this was my window of opportunity and I couldn't let it pass me up. So here I am, a FRESHMAN....again...LOL! But this time I know the mistakes I made in the past and I am not going to make them again. I want this for me, and for my family! Thanks SO much to everyone who has ENCOURAGED me on facebook and to my friends and family who have in person. I appreciate your support more than you know. That's what will help get me through, because I know this will not be an easy journey!!!! THANK YOU so much...you are awesome!
A few other things this week...
Thanks to our lovely friend, Chris, Dan and I got to get out Monday night and go to the movies (we NEVER do that anymore!) We saw Zero Dark Thirty. It. Was. AWESOME. I'm going to post a whole thing about that another day, but for now I'll just say it was SO cool to finally put a visual to the stories I have been told by Dan and my other Marine friends. You wanna talk about Heroes....yeah... So we got to do that before I got into having no life going to school. I go to the gym in the morning to get enough energy to be able to get through studying all day/going to class, chasing the kiddos, and doing whatever moms do around the house all day and whatever else comes up.
Yesterday I went to a preschool open house with the twins. CRAZY! I can't believe it's that time already. SCHOOL for my BABIES. Where did my little teeny tiny babies go??? A few days ago I got a tattoo of their footprints when they were born (my mom wasn't excited about it lol!) but I was just looking at it in the mirror and thinking how small they were. I can't believe how fast they really grow, how amazing they are, and how cool they are becoming every day :) I am so proud of them. I am really looking forward to them starting school.
Well I seem to have written a lot so I will end here but I will see y'all again soon!
Xo Emily

Generic First Post Title

Hello everyone who may read this!
I have been contemplating starting a blog for a long time now. I have wanted to put my days into writing, and my thoughts. Also, I have Celiac Disease and have to eat 100% gluten free so I take normal recipes all the time and make them Gluten Free (GF) so I wanted a place to share those recipes with my GF friends!
For those of you who may have stumbled across this blog and don't know me I am a momma of 3 year old boy girl twins who are so amazingly awesome! And crazy ;) But the craziness just means they are healthy, which is perfect! They are my world, of course, and I am completely obsessed with them and with motherhood! I am married to a wonderful guy, Dan. We have been married for.....7....8 ? something....months! But have been together for about 5 years now. He is a (medically) retired Marine, so I still consider us a proud USMC family, because once a Marine, always a Marine. When I was pregnant in 2009 we moved back to Ohio, where we are both from, from North Carolina, which we both miss on probably a bi-weekly basis! It is such a wonderful thing, though, to be home with our families, especially since we have Landon and Kyla lighting up everyone's lives, and tearin' up everyone's houses!
A few more things about me... I have the full time momma position here at home which has been such a blessing the last few years! I just started volunteering for Make a Wish as a Wish Granter, I will be the corespondent between the family and the company while the child is getting their wish granted. Very excited about that! I also am becoming more active in our amazing church, Prince of Peace in Mentor (Shout out!) We go every week, which is a first for us, and I volunteer cutting hair there once a month for low income families.
If you follow me on facebook or are my good friend/family member you know I am going back to school (TOMORROW) for the first time in a LONG time. I am going to be studying Nursing and I have already started my online class and am already freaking out.....a lot! I'm only taking two classes to start but I know Biology wont be a breeze because it never was! So I will be blogging as much as time allows between the kiddos, the hubby, the books, the studying, the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, the errands, the volunteering, the blah blah blah you get the idea ;)I wouldn't have it any other way though!! I am SO blessed!!
I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts to whoever may read them. Hope you enjoy!
Xo Emily