February Came and Went

I know 3 whole weeks of February without a post.  I've been busy with my parents who visited from February 8-25.  We had a whole lot of fun.  But I must post that my friend Sarah from DC and who I've been friends with since jr. high came for a visit.  Well actually I only saw her on the evening I returned from SF, but we had a lovely time in the short hours we were together.  We are looking forward to later this year when we will celebrate our 40th birthdays.

Things we did while mom and dad were here:

1.  Went to Mexico, just over the boarder.  We stayed the evening with our friends the Jensen's in their trailer, well actually I slept in my car, which wasn't bad, but not something I'd do on a regular basis.  It was super hot the days we were there, like 90's.  But we had a fun time buying my favorite wooden soup like spoons, vanilla and medications.

2.  I saw my oncologist and had a PET Scan.  The scan still shows cancer; a spot in my pelvis close to my hip, several areas in the lower pelvis, one on the anal/vaginal wall and something on the lower side of my heart (whether this is cancer or not is up in the air).  I'm disappointed that the chemo didn't kill the cancer.  We did another test that looks more at the cells and I'll see Dr. J on March 9.  For now I'm taking a chemo holiday.  My CA-125 was 28, 3 weeks ago, so I'm still in the normal range.  I keep having to remember these quotes:

3.  So instead of crying all day after seeing the oncologist, we looked at houses. And I bought a house!  I am currently in escrow waiting for my loan to go through.  It is really nice, needs a backyard makeover because it's pretty bare and a new kitchen, which I'm going to do before I move in.  The best part is it's in my ward and one story!  I love the fireplace which gives it character, even though I can't imagine making a fire here and the floor plan is great!  There is a lot of storage in the garage and the bedrooms all have walk in closets.  The master closet has organizers and tons of space.  I love that when you walk into the house there is a dining room on one side (which I want to put wood floor in eventually) and a living room on the other.  I'm going to put plantation shutters in the front windows to the match the back shutters and I'm going to change out the ugly light in the dining room.  There are a lot of cosmetic things that are easy, but need changed, like the bathroom fixtures and the door knobs.  Here are a few pictures.

4.  I got a new calling in church.  I am sad to leave primary.  I loved being the pianist.  But I'm going to love being with the Young Women as the Beehive Advisor.  It's been 21 years since I've been in Young Womens.  I loved my Young Women leaders and still have great relationships with them.  I hope that these girls that I teach will love me as much as I loved my leaders.
5.  We celebrated mom and dad's 40th anniversary by going to The Tenors concert.  It was so amazing.  Tenielle and Tony came last weekend for this event and for the Colleens Dream weekend (will post about that later). While mom and dad did the meet and great, we played cards.  Before the concert we went to a delicious Greek restaurant called Cafe Mix.  I highly recommend it.  We love the Tenors.  Several years ago we were visiting Palmyra, NY and Kirkland, OH.  We drove out of our way to Franklin, PA to see the Canadian Tenors.  The concert was in a high school auditorium and we bought tickets at the door.  This was just before they got big and we were able to talk with them and get autographs after the show.  The best part was that it was all acoustic.

6.  While mom and dad were here we spent a lot of time at hardware stores looking for backsplash, sinks, door knobs, and granite.  This kitchen is going to be darling.  My mom has quite the eye for colors.  I'm excited to make this house my own!  I should be closing mid March.