An Overdue Update

Sunday night as I was getting ready for bed I got a phone call from Aunt Leslie that went like this:
AL (in a very serious tone): Terah
Me: yes
AL: are you ok?
Me: yes, why?
AL: you haven't been blogging.
Me: I know, I've been busy.

Funny that at church that day my friend who, I didn't even know followed my blog let me also know that I haven't updated recently.

So this is just a friendly hello to let you know I didn't die during my gallbladder surgery.  I had chemo last week and this week I'm in Charlotte getting on some serious healing with my amazing friends here who are giving me the endurance to finish out chemo.

I'd like to say I'll up date you next week on all of the happenings in the last 3 weeks, but the reality is I am going to be doing some serious reviewing on Monday (even though the study books all say to not study the day, before but really who doesn't study before a big test) because I'm taking my boards on Tuesday which I really hope I pass.  I've passed twice in the past so I better this time, but if I don't I can blame it on chemo brain. And Wednesday I'm having chemo again (which out of all honesty I'm really getting tired of this) so I'll be down for another week, but at least it will be a weekend full of bowl games (which my mother I'm sure is excited about this since she hates listening to football all day, but I have the chemo/cancer card).

I'm totally in the holiday sprit! Sure hope you are too. I love this month and all that goes with it from the lights, to the food!  But most of all I love the music, which I've been listening to since at least September.

Here is a little sneak peak of the fabulous things from the last 3 weeks:
*I'm now 39, that sounds so old.
*My sister Tristen and her darling family surprised us by walking through the door Thanksgiving morning.
*I have the most darling new nephew born on 11/30. His name is Graham, but his siblings call him Teddy Graham because he seriously looks like a little teddy bear with tons of black hair and he came out looking like a toddler weighing 10.6.
*My CA-125 came down 5 points to 32, which is in normal range, but still not good enough to stop chemo.
*I had a quick, lovely packed 2 days in Salt Lake City last week.
*I'm in The Queen City for the week receiving more love than ever from this Southern family that I love.
And now that I've blogged what was going through my mind when I woke up from a dead sleep and couldn't go back to sleep, I hope now that I can get a few more hours of shut eye before another day full of hugs and love from these lovely southern people.

Goodbye Fall, Hello Winter

I was quite surprised to see so much color and many leaves on the tree's when I arrived home on Thursday.  Mom said it was because they hadn't gotten a hard frost yet.  I'm pretty sure it was just Heavenly Father giving me a beautiful view of fall before winter came, because today the tree's are almost barren and the frost has arrived. 

In fact snow is on it's way.  We are hoping and praying that it holds off until the kids traveling from SLC arrive tomorrow with our fresh turkey that we get every Thanksgiving from my parent's accountant.

For Tristen and the girls in Spokane they got snow this morning and were already playing in it before school started.  They sent pictures and face-timed.  Bridget had to show me that her chin was still cold and red from the cold.  We will miss these girls this Thanksgiving, but can't wait for them to join us for Christmas.

Winter weather calls for a big pot of Chili, which I made yesterday.  When I was at Aubrey's moms,  she made this and it was delicious.  Of course I added a few of my touches.  I really like the vegetables in this chili.

Cook 1 onion, 1 green pepper, 3 carrots, 2 celery stalks and 1 tsp minced garlic in a pan.  Add to large pot.

Brown hamburger or turkeyburger and add to large pot.

In a large pot add
2 T Chili Powder
1 T Paprika
3/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
salt and pepper
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 Cup Tomato Sauce
2 Cans Tomato's
1 Can Chicken Broth
2 Beef Bouillon Cubes
1 1/2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cans Kidney Beans
1 Can Garbanzo Beans

For the next few days I plan to recover from my gallbladder surgery which I'm having this afternoon, read a good book, watch Christmas shows and college football and eat lots of yummy Thanksgiving treats.  Wishing you a very happy holiday, warm fires, comfort in yoga pants and hoodies and only a few pounds of weight gain. 

Visits, Transfusions and Holiday Preparations

I haven't been very good at updating my blog on a weekly basis over the past few months, I'm well aware of my imperfections.  I've been busy with visitors, cancer crap, studying for boards and getting ready to go home for the holidays.

After I dropped my cousins off at the airport (see previous post) I packed an overnight bag and headed to Aubrey's parents house.  A few weeks before, Aubrey had planned to come for a visit to spend time with me.  I love this sweet friend of mine and I love that she set aside a few days to spend just with me.  It is always fun to spend time with Aubrey.  I feel like Aubrey and I are like sisters.  We even kind of look alike.

We spent 3 days chatting, eating nutritious food (my favorite was the weight watchers chili), trying out fermented food, learning how to juice and make bread and watching Hallmark Movies!  Her momma is the best too.  She made me feel right at home.  I can not tell you how much I love this sweet friend of mine. 

Did you know that when Tenielle and I drove up to BYU the Summer of 1999 after I totally bombed cell biology, Aubrey drove up right behind us?  We instantly became friends.  That Summer I went to BYU to re-take cell biology, but the first day in class I decided being a cytologist was not what I wanted to do.  So I took the easy route by taking Nutrition 101 and spent the Summer having a blast with Aubrey.  That Summer we did Taibo every morning, went to dollar movies where we snuck in our bin candy from Food For Less and oohed and awed over the hot guys across the fence.

Thankfully even though Aubrey got married 9 months later, we have remained the best of friends and will be for the rest of our lives.  I did inform Aubrey that if someday I die before she does ( I have no plans anytime soon) that she has to make sure my toenails are painted, my eyebrows are waxed and that my make up looks just like hers.  We love trading makeup tips, well really she gives me all the tips.

The day after Aubrey left, Cathy and I went to a University of Utah Alumni luncheon.  It was fun to meet other Utes and to have a free lunch!  My favorite was running into the Fiesta Bowl Museum.

This past week I had chemo again, I'm getting so tired of this routine.  I also had a blood transfusion.  I am grateful for the 2 people who donated blood for me.

My cousin Abe, his wife and baby came for a conference last week.  It was fun to spend some time with them before I got on a plane to head home for the Holidays.  I will be home for 7 weeks, except for the few days I'll be in SLC and the week I'll be in Charlotte.

Oh and about those boards...after having gallbladder issues for at least 1 1/2 years, I'm going to have mine taken out on Tuesday.  I swear I wouldn't be surprised if it was gangrenous.  Hopefully come Thanksgiving Day the pain I feel when I eat and when I don't eat will be gone.  I was originally suppose to take my boards that day, but they will have to wait.  I'm not sure which is worse, surgery or taking my boards.

Cousins Weekend

Several months ago my cousins and I decided we were going to have a cousins weekend.  There are 5 of us cousins that were born the same year.  4 of us are girls.  The only guy found out we were having a cousins weekend and didn't want to be left out so he joined us.  We were happy to have him.  He was a great sport when it came to doing girly things. 

Alisha and Read flew in last Thursday (1 week ago).  Deborah and I picked them up and took them to Oregano's, which is one of our most favorite restaurants.  We shared some sweet potato fries, a huge salad and a thin crust basil and artichoke pizza with minimal cheese.  Something in this mix gave me some uncomfortable abdominal pain soon after.  We came back to my house to chat and they tried to convince me to drive that night to Flagstaff so they could visit the Grand Canyon, which wasn't in the original plan.  Thankfully we didn't go, because of a minor gallstone attack.  They were such good sports spending their first day in town in the ER and took great care of me as I almost fainted from pain. 

Friday evening Misty flew into town.  Deborah picked her up and they came to visit me in the hospital.  We chatted a little, but having a tube in my nose and down my throat made me not so chatty (a first for sure).  While Read, Alisha and Misty went to eat dinner since they hadn't eaten all day, Deborah and her husband Nathan stayed with me. 

Saturday I was showered and ready when they came to get me.  I felt much better and was bound and determined to show my cousins a great time.  I took them to Old Town Scottsdale where we had lunch, they bought gifts for their children and we of course had to stop at the Sugar Bowl for ice cream.  I was extremely careful with what I ate, but I've gotten to the point where it doesn't matter what I eat or don't eat it all hurts. 

We then went and had pedicures.  It was so relaxing and just what the doctor ordered. 

Afterwards, we met up with Deborah for sushi.  We spent the rest of the evening chatting at Deborahs.

Sunday we all went to church before Misty had to leave to go back home. 

For dinner we went to Aunt Leslie's where our cousins Laura, Janna and Ben (who lives in Houston, but was in town for a wedding) joined us.  It was so much fun to be together.  I really do have the greatest family.

Read and Alisha left Monday morning.  It was much too short and we didn't get our visit into Sedona, but we still made some great memories.  We are pretty sure we will have to do cousins weekend again soon!