What a Trio!!

Steve and I were sitting on my couch last night watching TV, and I got to thinking...

I have a ton of pictures of Cookie... I have pictures of Steve with Cookie... I have a few pictures of myself with Cookie... and I have picture of Steve and I. However... I didn't have a single picture of all three of us! (Don't ask me why... It has been 2 years!) So since I have this fabulous new camera, I thought I'd grab it and see what kind of magic I could create.

I wasn't sure how to set the timer (I'm really not one for reading directions... I need to be better about that), so Steve took charge! He's the "Techie" in my life. If it's got buttons, cords, lights, switches, dials, wires or knobs... Steve knows how to work it! Anyways, after a few shots, we got one that was pretty cute !


I think we make quite the trio!

I hope all is well with everyone. For those of you out west... Send some sunshine my way!! IT'S COLD!!!

Decisions... Decisions...

I'll be the first to admit that I've made some questionable choices and some not-so-smart decisions in my life. Part of them I can chalk up to being "young and dumb"... The others? Well... I have no excuses.

I am a firm believer in that everything in life happens for a reason. I've learned a lesson from each one of those poor choices I've made... And I truly believe that they've made me the person I am today.

Two years ago (almost to date), I made what has been and what will probably ever be the best decision I have ever made. I decided to go on a date with someone I knew nothing about. It was terrifying...

Thinking back... I remember how nervous and scared I was. I almost called to cancel about 10 times that day! Then I decided that I needed to just go for it and give the guy a chance... I thought, "What's the worst that could happen?".

Words cannot tell you how glad I am today that I took that chance two years ago...

Steve has been a part of my life ever since and has been the best thing to happen to me since Cookie came along! He's an AMAZING person and the Monster and I couldn't be happier!!

We are a couple of lucky, lucky girls...

Monster in Da Hood!!

As you all know... Cookie got a brand new sweater for Christmas! She actually doesn't mind wearing it (especially when it's cold), and she looks so stinkin' cute in it... I LOVE IT!!

She was snoozing on the couch today while I was playing with my camera, so I thought I'd see if I could get a good picture of her. I took a few pictures of her... And then I remembered that her sweater has a hood on it. So, I pulled the hood up and got a couple pictures... This one was my favorite!

Happy 2008!!

I can't believe 2007 is over... I still feel like I'm somewhere back at the end of October! The past few months have been SO busy and have flown by SO quickly! I love the holiday season and all that comes with it, but this year I felt like I had a ton to do and never really got the chance to slow down. I'm kinda glad I won't have to think about it again for a while ...

I had a wonderful Christmas this year. I got to have a Christmas with Steve and Cookie, a Christmas with Steve's family, and also a Christmas with my Mom, Dad, and Brother! I got really lucky this year!!

For Christmas this year, Steve bought me a fabulous new digital camera and all the goodies that go along with it! When I opened it, I about died!! I've been looking at new cameras for a while and was trying to put aside a little money here and there to save up for a nice one. He got me a Canon Digital Rebel XTi... It's AMAZING!! It is really easy to use and takes the clearest pictures. I find myself taking pictures of everything now... I LOVE IT!!

I had a few days off over the holidays, so on Christmas Day I flew to Kansas to see Roland and my parents. When I got to the airport here in Columbus, I learned that my flight had been cancelled (Thanks, Skybus!) ... I was so upset, I just started bawling! Thank goodness for Steve... He got online and booked a ticket for me on another airline and I was able to fly out a few hours later. He is so good to me!

I had a great time at the farm with my family. I hadn't seen my dad since last Christmas, so it was good to see him. I got to see my brother and meet my new furry nephew, Jake (who is so stinkin' cute!), and I got to see my mom and Grandma as well. It was a really good trip home and I'm SO glad I made it out there to see everyone!

I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season and that you have a happy and healthy 2008!!

Naughty Little Monster.....

Since the only child I have is of the 4-legged furry nature, I do my best to make sure that her Christmas is just as special as ours is. This year, I got Cookie a new shirt (which she actually doesn't mind wearing), a new ID tag, a couple bags of treats, some chewy bones, and a toy to put in her stocking. I think she did pretty well!

I finally got her new ID tag in the mail yesterday evening and it's really cute. This morning I put everything in a box, wrapped it, and put it under the tree with Steve's presents. After doing that, I got in the shower so that I could get cleaned up for the day. When I got out of the shower (about 15min. later) this is what I found...




... My rotten little Monster had pulled her present out from under the tree, unwrapped it, torn the box open, and had a great time!! The pink and black thing you see in the picture is her new shirt... The small brown box has her new ID tag in it... She's standing next to her package of chewy bones... And one whole package of treats is completely gone. SHE ATE THE WHOLE THING!!!

I really wanted to be mad at her, but all I could do was laugh and grab my camera. The best part was that she knew she was in trouble when I walked out there... She wouldn't even look at me!

It's a good thing I take care of Cookie's presents every year. She'd be on Santa's "Naughty" list this year for sure!!

Wow.... Just, WOW!!!

I know it's only December 1st, but I feel like I've just recieved the best Christmas present ever!!

As most of you know... I've been dealing with this stupid tumor again. I was on a fairly mild medication called Parlodel and seemed to be doing pretty well on it. However, at the beginning of the year, my Prolactin level started it's old familiar climb once again... At one point reaching 186 (the normal range is 19-24). My Endocrinologist tried upping the dose of medication a couple of times and didn't see any improvement. My body had built up a tolerance to it. So, she switched me over to a medication called Dostinex which is much stronger and comes with all the nasty side effects.

Although it made me feel crappy for a few weeks, the Dostinex seemed like it was going to do the trick. My Prolactin level dropped about 10 points after the first round of blood work, so my Dr. upped to dose again in hopes that it would drop even more. It dropped a few points the next round and then seemed to stabilize in the 150-160 area. I was beyond frustrated!! I felt like I had been doing everything I was told to do but was still not seeing the improvements I was hoping for.

A co-worker of mine brought me a bottle of a product called Monavie one day. He told me that he and his wife had gone to a couple of meetings and had done a lot of research on it. He gave me the bottle for free and begged me to just give it a try... No strings attached. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I started taking it.

The first thing I notice was that within a few days of starting the Monavie, I was sleeping so much better! I've never been a good sleeper... you can ask my mom. But I noticed I was falling asleep easily and I was STAYING asleep! The next thing I noticed was that my bottle of Excedrin was no longer my best friend. I hadn't taken any... NOT A SINGLE PILL... since starting the Monavie! I decided I would continue to take the product until I got the results from my next round of blood work which was scheduled to be done at my Dr.'s appointment on November 29th.

When my Dr. walked into the room at my appointment the other day, the first thing she said to me was, "Wow! Your hair looks so healthy... and you're skin looks great!" Now that kind of a comment wouldn't even have phased a lot of people. But I can tell you right now that I have NEVER had ANYONE tell me that my skin looked good. I was shocked! She checked a few other things, wrapped up the appointment and sent me to the lab for bloodwork. The lab told me it would be 3-4 days for the results, so all I could do at that point was wait for a phone call.

Well... It turns out it only took 1 day because the nurse practitioner called me yesterday afternoon to give me my lab results. My Prolactin leven has dropped to..... (drumroll, please)..... 43.4!!!

I was absolutely floored!! I was hoping to see a little improvement, but was definitely not expecting anything like that! 116 points in 6 weeks was unbelievable! My response to her (I'm a little embarassed to say) was, "NO SH*T!!". I haven't seen numbers that low since right after I had surgery... Almost 3 years ago!! I was, and still am, SOOOO excited!! Steve even took me to the Rusty Bucket last night for a celebratory cheeseburger... WOO HOO!!

If you want to read more about the product itself, visit http://www.monavie.com/ .

I'M STICKING WITH IT!!!