Double digits!!!

That's right!  Our girl turned 10 January 15th. She shares the same birthday as Martin Luther King, Jr.   I'm Halloween and her dad is New Years Day.   We are trying to cover the holidays.

Anyways, I cannot put into words how much it meant to enjoy her birthday party at Ziggys on SSI again this year.  It was great!  The staff rocks and the kids had a blast!  (So did the adults).    Thank you all!

My blogger friend, Tori Tomalia writes blogs and this article really hit home.  http://www.curetoday.com/community/tori-tomalia/2015/01/hope-vs-acceptance-the-metastatic-cancer-see-saw

Please read it if you have the time or are just curious what it is like to have metastatic cancer.

I've been tired lately so may go get my blood cell counts checked.  Really tired.  It's getting a little out of hand.  But, I'm not worried about it.  Hope and faith are what keep us going, they keep us sane (most of the time).

Since I'm tired, I'm about to go to bed but wanted to thank you all for your continuous prayers and to thank the parents, kids, and Ziggys for making karleys birthday so special.  I didn't think I would make it to the big 10, but I'm still here!!!!!   Praise God!   Look out 11, here we come!

Next week, Taste of the NFL with Team Draft in Arizona!   I'll update more soon.  Good night and God bless!

Titus 3:7
So that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

If I Die Young

One of my favorite songs by the band Perry.  I remember leaving Piedmont after my hospital stint and hearing this song.   My family didn't want to hear it, but I did.  I wanted to feel that emotion.  I was numb from the hospital and my diagnosis, but this song just brought all of those emotions out.  "The sharp knife of a short life" couldn't describe my feelings any better at that time.

No, I'm not that young.  I'm 35 now.  I'm not childhood young, but still young.  I still have a beautiful daughter who just turned 10 yesterday.   I want to experience all of those motherly experiences.   But, sometimes that's not the way life goes.  I'm by no means giving up.  Sometimes I get angry.  It's natural.  Even if I live to be 100, my life is forever changed.  But, when I start to get angry with life, I watch this video.  It puts everything into perspective, because evil didn't win.   So, since I'm sort of angry tonight, I'm watching and sharing the video with all of you.  There is good that can come out of all of these situations.  God's love is so great, please just watch the whole thing and see what good came out of such evil.  Yes, it's sad.  But, it's so inspirational to me.  After I watch it, it kinda wakes me up out of  whatever funk I'm in and remember why I'm grateful for this time I've been given and the chance to grow closer to God while sharing that experience with all of you who read this blog.   Link is below.  Just click on it.

Evil Didn't Win

I had the privilege of speaking at church lately.   I loved every minute of it.  If I can bring one person closer to God, it will have all been worth it.  Additionally, St. Williams Catholic church really helped me financially too.  Let me tell you, if you don't have anyone (or even if you do), the church is one of the best places you can turn.   They bring you closer to God like no one else can.   Thank you St. Williams so much for your support.  It's so overwhelming.  And St. Simons Community Church will always be my home.

We also went to the Brunswick Compassion Experience and Karley sponsored a compassion child.  She was tearing up throughout the whole thing.  It was so good for her.  Pics below.   Oh....and she turned the big 10 yesterday!  Happy birthday my sweet girl!

I encourage you to watch the video attached.  If you don't believe, you will.   God has a plan for all of us.  We just don't know what it is yet.

Thank you for your continuous prayers and please pray for our friend Jon L's family.   You all are amazing.  God bless you all.  Thank you for continuing to bless us through Christ.

Psalm 21:11
"Though they plot against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed."  

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015

It's been a busy few weeks.  Karley and I have been in Atlanta since Christmas Day visiting family.  Christmas 2014 was amazing.  I got to speak at St. Simons Community Church on 12/21/14 about how much God has blessed me through our amazing church family.  It was such an honor.

Karley opened presents at my house and John's, then we drove to Atlanta to my mom's house.  We were blessed to see my sister, brother in law, and niece right after Christmas along with so many other members of our family.  It's been a while since we've seen some of them.

After Christmas, Karley had a NYE party with two of her friends up here.  We went all out and had a blast.  Amanda was here to hang out all night too (they were her children).  They were so cute and we almost all made it to midnight.  

The next morning, I woke up and found out we placed 3rd in Team Draft's Super Bowl Challenge to raise money to fight lung cancer.  This means we get to go to Arizona for Taste of the NFL and represent Team Draft.  Thank you to all of my family, friends, and strangers that were so kind to donate on our behalf.  I will be sure to write a whole blog about it when I get back.  We are super excited!

2014 brought good and bad news for many.  I know that I personally lost two friends, Shermaine Lee and Marjorie Polk. and my Uncle Jerry Mixon, to cancer.  It was hard on so many levels and I still think about them both so much.  When you go through times like this, it brings you closer to God.  You really learn to lean on him more.

In other cancer related news, I've been on the lower dosage of tarceva since the beginning of November.  I was having two issues with the 150 mg dosage so had it lowered to 100 mg.  Since then, one issue has returned but the vertigo hasn't, which was my main concern.  That was awful.  So, after I see a neurologist 1/20, we will try and figure out if I should go back to 150 mg.  I'm willing to take a shot at it now that I have medication for the vertigo.  If it returns, then I'll know it's from the tarceva I guess.  But, I'll talk it over with neuro.

My next scans are in March, so until then, I'll keep everyone up to date on any changes (cancer related and not).  This blog has become somewhat of a journal for Karley in the future.

As always, thank you for your continuous support and prayers.  We can never get enough of them.  God bless you all.  

Titus 1:2

"a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, in which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time."