Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Although Emily Dickinson is not one of my favorite poets, this poem has been running through my mind the past month. For some reason these few stanzas that I read in high school creeped into the back of my head and won't go away.Oddly enough, I'm not complaining. Hope has been the one thing I've been able to hold on to through anything, and I've needed it the past few weeks.

Life has been crazy. I am so lucky to have TWO amazing jobs in this economy, but to say it is overwhelming is an understatement. I've always been a perfectionist who does everything 110%. But, throw an extra job in there and I feel like I'm running around with my head chopped off because there are not enough hours in the day to do everything. The dishes usually aren't done. The laundry is all over the floor. And, the mail is stacking up on the counter. My amazing mother-in-law brought me a gallon of milk and I wanted to cry tears of gratitude because I hadn't been to the grocery store in a week. 

There have been a few times when the stress comes out in the form of tears (thanks for that mom!). I just hold on to the thought of that thing with feathers that perches in the soul. I like birds well enough, but even better than that is my new (not so) tiny (anymore) kitten, Pi.He is usually sweet and adorable.

How can you not love a face like that?

Baby Shoes

Okay so I magically found some time to finish some shoes for the start of my Etsy store. It may be a while until I finally get around to creating my account so here is a peak and what I've been up to.

You can click on the pictures to see a larger view.

These are my favorite :)

September Wrap Up

I have been really horrible at this blogging thing. But, in all fairness I am working about 60 hours a week between the two jobs. Yes, I said two :) I got an amazing job at C R England as a business analyst. This is a dream job, but on top of working for the University it has proven to be a little stressful. So between the two jobs, a little family drama and trying to be a supporting wife for a law student I've lost my free time for sewing. Amazingly, I've started to work on opening an Etsy account so I can try and sell some of my creations. Yeah, it hasn't happened yet but it is a fun idea. Someday.

I thought I knew how if felt to be busy, because I have been before but this gives me a whole new respect for single moms that work full time and still go to school. I don't know how anyone does that!!!

Please forgive me if there aren't many post between now and the end of October. I feel like I'm the first two miles into a  marathon and I'm not slowing down yet... unfortunately. This girl could use a nap.

Punkin and Pi

I've blogged about my cat, Punkin, quite a bit. I've had him for four years and I love that cat. Recently I've had a hard time with wanting to start a family. Its just not the right time yet for us yet. I was able to convince Dan to let me get a baby kitten. I cannot tell you how much we love this little guy.

He is the sweetest little thing I've ever met.

He loves to sit on my lap all day long while I work.

It took some time for the two of them to get along, but now they are best friends. Punkin and Pi

And I love them. I'll apologize in advance for being the crazy old lady who blogs about her cats because she don't have children. But that being said, I'm not sorry. 

:)

Sunday Sewing Update

Life has been pretty busy lately but I've still found time to work on a few fun projects. :)

Here are some pillows I made. I am in love with them. The ribbons on the matching pillows are left over from the wedding. Handy to have a wedding with neutral colors. The small black pillow is actually made from Halloween fabric, but I love it! I've been wanting some throw pillows for this boring couch for years. Now I have them 

I also made some little shoes for my amazing photographer, Katie Johnson. She had the most adorable baby girl. 

I found these little charms in the jewelry section, but I thought they'd add a fun touch. 

JoAnns Fabric is my own personal brand of crack. I could spend hours and hundreds of dollars there every day. 

Yesterday I splurged and had a girls day. Pedicures and ice cream with Carol and Jen. God, I love those ladies. And then dinner and a movie with my mom, sister and Kristen. 

Today has been a lazy Sunday with brunch at Left Fork Grill. They have the most amazing French Toast! If you even near by - you should go! Now I'm relaxing on the couch with a sleeping husband and two sleeping cats .

I almost forgot I haven't blogged about the new kitten. I will do that in a separate post because I have plenty of adorable pictures!

What a relaxing weekend. I'm loving it.

Quick-Style Update

Haven't blogged in forever! The quick recap of the past month - moved to Utah - got a new apartment - welcomed a new niece - crazy work with the start of the fall semester - job interview - and some family changes. Oh yeah, I had a minor breakdown too but I can't really get into why yet. When I'm able to, I'll spill the details. 

The Move - oh what to say about the move... it was CRAZY. I would have died if my mother-in-law and brother-in-law didn't come up and save our butts. I was a little sad to leave. I was content where we were and I really loved the park I'd walk through on my way to work ...

How could you not love this?!?!

Well back to the move after a hours of packing, lifting, scrubbing and cleaning and an almost disaster we hit the road. Of coarse Punkin didn't like the ride, but he was on sedatives so he did okay and we made it to Utah all safe.

The New Apartment - is amazing!! Thank you to all our friends and family that helped us move in. This apartment is a little nicer than we should have but I LOVE the pool, the fact that we have a dishwasher, elevators and the fact that I have not one, but TWO spacious bathrooms! ah heaven. I'll get it cleaned up and get some pictures soon.

The New Niece - is adorable. Annabelle is adorable. 

She is perfect!!!

I've finally whipped out my sewing machine and made a few more outfits ... and shoes

So other than that and Dan starting Law School Year II at the U Law School 

I've just been working away. Like I said work is a little crazy. Okay maybe a lot.

I had a job interview yesterday with a boss I used to work for and I think it went really well. He is at a great company now and it would be a huge opportunity. Cross your fingers. 

I'm not comfortable talking about any of the family challenges because it is not my business to share - but I wish there was something I could do to help out. I wish everyone had really small feet so I could make everyone cute little shoes.

Utah Trip

This past weekend Dan and I flew down to Utah for a family reunion. Here are some of the pics. Enjoy.

Playing with Rocky at the park

Elle & Rocky on the slide

Rigdon on the slide

Rocky hamming it up for Dan

and again..

and again!

BFF Kelly! Can't wait to live by her again

Micky eating Connor

Conner, Danielle and Emmitt

The gang

Elle and Rocky with me

Elle and Rocky with Kristen

Rigdon loving his mamma

Me and my newest nephew - Emmitt

Quonner pulling Elle and Rigdon in the wagon. Poor guy couldn't catch a break

My grandpa with some of my cousins. I loved how he put his hat on backwards

Family reunion with Dan. I love his sunglasses more than any of mine. So I stole them

Hamming it up..

The crazy dragonfly

My Aunt JoAnn and Kiera

Robbie and his new girlfriend

Fireworks

Rocky hiding from the fireworks

One Tiny Little Stone

Have you ever heard the pebble in your shoe parable? It goes something like this ... If you want to forget all your problems, put a pebble in your shoe. I would say that is relevant to putting a stone in your kidney.

It all started at 11:30pm on Saturday night. Dan was still in Utah and I was enjoying my evening by watching Tangled and folding some laundry. That sounds all fine and dandy but all of the sudden I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my right lower back. I was instantly in so much pain I started to drip sweat. As I reached around to find my phone I instinctively called Dan. Not realizing that he was over 700 miles away and rather helpless he began calling around to find someone who could take me to the ER. I called one of the only local numbers I had and a neighbor quickly agreed to take me.

We were there for a few hours, and went through the traditional rate your pain in a scale of 1-10. They took an ultrasound and CT scan of my right kidney. After a few hours a pain meds they didn't see anything and sent me on my merry little way. With a rather stylish dressing.

I wish that was were the story ended but of coarse it doesn't. I woke up the next morning with the same debilitating pain. I called my neighbor and she agreed to take me back to the hospital on her way to work. This visit I was greeted with an ultrasound, pelvic exam, catheter, oxygen and pregnancy test - and a few pain meds mixed in there somewhere. 

Being in the ER alone is a weird feeling. I wouldn't exactly recommend it, but without someone else there worrying about you it is a little easier to stay focused. After a few hours it was obvious that I wasn't getting off the hook that easy this time. The next few days were a blur. Monday night Dan was able to fly in and hitch a ride down to Moscow. I've never been so excited to see a friendly face.

These are the beautiful flowers my family sent to me!

These came from my friend Heather at work. The original vase actually broke. The life-flight helicopter came in at a weird angle at 4am one morning and knocked them off the window seal - but the nurses were able to fine a spare vase for me. I LOVE the little watermelon in them!



These beautiful daisies are from another sweet lady at my work, Margo. I love that they are planted. Hopefully I'll be able to keep them alive.

After a few more test and labs my doctor came to the conclusion that it all added up to a kidney stone even though we couldn't see it. She called in the Urologist. (I can say the Urologist because he is the only one for the next three cities.) He agreed and decided that we needed to shoot dye up into my kidneys to see where the obstruction was and then remove it wither it was a stone or tumor. Tumor. <gulp> That made my stomach sink.We scheduled the surgery and crossed our fingers that this would bring a resolution.

Well here is a picture of the stone. I guess it was just small enough that it didn't get caught on any of the pictures although it looks huge to me! After the surgery they made me stay for a few hours and made sure I could keep my dinner down, then they let me go home - just in time for my one year anniversary! Four days in the hospital is more than anyone wants.

I'm not going to lie that I miss having a nurse at the push of a button to help me get up or bring me more medicine. But nothing beats sleeping in my own bed, with my husband, on our anniversary. 

Thank you everyone for all your kind words and thoughts. I have the best friends and family.