The holidays are over...

It is always a sad day for me when the Christmas decor comes down.

This year was especially hard I think because I didn't even feel in the Christmas spirit until 3 days before Christmas. Time is just rushing on and it feels like it is a real challenge to embrace and enjoy each single day by itself.

(and when it feels like it should be Halloween time, not Christmastime! LOL)

 

This year's Christmas was one of my most favorites, in spite of the slow to inflame Christmas spirit.

 

Our holiday was quiet, simple and perfect.

We were able to do one special gift for each child, plus a new book and something else small they would love. It was delightful to shop for them and anticipate.

Not too much running around in the days before the holiday.

We got to slow down and savor the time as a little family.

We are valiantly trying to do that more (as often as possible) because we realize our days of raising children are racing before our eyes!

 

This is the hardest part of Christmas for me to want to take down...

All our cards and photos from friends and loved ones.

It really helps bring the spirit of love into our home!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

 

On to the gifts that 2013 have to offer....

Someone Nominated ME??

This darling store here in SF had a promotion for Valentine's Day.

They even posted it in the local newspaper:

Nominate someone who you believe really deserves it,

and they will give a new outfit and hairstyle to the winner entry for Valentine's Day!

I was in the hospital the first time they left a message.

And the second.

And healing the 3rd and 4th.

And then I got a message on Facebook.

And then another one.

I kind of kept ignoring them because

#1 - I didn't even know about their contest

#2 - I thought maybe it was a scam

And #3 - I was a little preoccupied with my health LOL

Finally I called them back.

Yep.

It was TRUE!

Some very sweet person, wrote an essay about how I was a person who deserved a new outfit and pampering for Valentine's Day!

WHAT??

Really??

 I wish I knew what they had said to make me the winner, or even who it was!

I know that person will never know how much this meant to me.

The last month has been extremely rough for me.

And to go and play like I have a normal everyday life,

 and can buy a new outfit "just because" for ME (and not the kids) was like a fairy tale! 

Despite my recent weight loss (due to health) there was not a ton that I could fit into in that darling boutique... but it was really fun to try stuff on and wear things that were frilly and girly! 

The gals there are AMAZING!

And their stuff is just DARLING!

They finally helped me pick out a new pair of jeans, this aqua top, and a lacy black tank to go over it!

Top it off with my most favorite part - a long necklace with daisies - and I felt gorgeous! 

I came home and made Jes take me out to eat for a date with our last gift card!

*GRIN*

I couldn't be all dressed up with no where to go!

Bwahahaha

May God bless whomever it was that picked my name and entered it into their contest!

I am still completely humbled and shocked!

What an incredibly kind thing to do!!

I can't believe it!

Holy Cow ~ Someone entered my name to win an new outfit and hair sytle from this fun little boutique in SF and they chose me!! :0 Thank you to whomever you are... *tears* after this last month... words don't describe how tickled I am to get to go and do something so frivolous and girly like this!! ♥ Everyone go check out this darling shop!! I still am in shock! ♥

Contagious

Big City Styles, Small Town Prices! The Cutest little store in Utah County! Ranging from Jeans, Shirts, Hats, Jewelry, and much, much more! Come in and see all of our BIG STYLES at SMALL PRICES! :)

A WEEK OF THANKSGIVING

Each day for this week up to Thanksgiving, I am going to list 10 things each day that I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful for a good friend who needed to talk, so I had a good excuse to go window shopping and eat a frozen yogurt with her. Thanks so much for your friendship and always loving me...even when *I* am onry. *grin*
2. I am thankful for homemade chicken noodle soup. My little girl is sick and has been asking for it for weeks. I finally made it for her to help her feel better and it was perfect for a cold fall evening.
3. I am thankful for my new ward cookbook, and the breadstick recipe that my friend Steph put in there. Seriously! I could eat the whole pan! YUM!
4. I am thankful that Jes has been working on my FLYSistah Norma's basement. It has been a huge blessing for us right now.
5. I am thankful that a collector is willing to work with us, and that even though it is not so cool to have an account in collections, I also know when we are done with it, it will be that much less bondage we are in. And it feels good to have it almost settled.
6. I am thankful for a dear friends email this week. I have missed her... a ton.
7. I am thankful for my new pillow. We had to splurge and get a new pillow for Caleb (since he puked on his). They had one on a gonga sale at ShopKo, so we got it, even though it was too fluffy for Caleb. I gave him mine and I took the new one so he didn't have to be mad it was too big. It is PERFECT! No heartburn... and a good nights sleep. Heaven!
8. I am thankful for my computer working well again. I am thankful to the brilliant men in our lives that know how to get it to behave. This baby has to last a while longer! *wink*
9. I am thankful for my abilities. Often I get discouraged and feel like I can do so little, but really, I am able to do a lot and I need to remember the glass is half FULL!  :)
10. I am so thankful that I have not gone back into full A-fib since my heart surgery. The bad heart days, I will take, as long as I don't have to fear for my life or face cardioverson. It seems this time of year reminds me of how blessed I really am when I think of the year of setting up the Christmas tree/Pink Eye and my last major bout of A-fib from it. I never want to do that again! LOL And soo... I am THANKFUL! OH SO THANKFUL! :)

Thanks for the offers for help!

AWE!! I am so thankful for the offers of help when I posted that my washer was broken! I have such good friends! If ya'll would like I could pretend Jestin didn't fix it and bring some laundry over as an excuse to play and visit... or we could just get together anyway! :)

Anyone want to jump in and help with my dilema tomorrow? LOL! We have been asked to speak in church. I am not terribly affraid to speak in church, I just dont want to not say the right thing. Our topic is on "Our Heavenly Father" and "Our Heavenly Family" and if any of you have read or attended your 3rd hour lessons this month, you will recognize that they are the very same topics covered just in the last few weeks! ACK!

I have prayed about it, and I hope what I have written will be ok... and that it will be uplifting and pleasing. We shall see.

So if any of you would like to help me out with this particular problem I am more than happy to take it! *GRIN*

The days following...

THANKYOU so very much for all the well wishes. My heart is so full! Really? I just feel really silly..."Hello...My name is Heather and Yes! I shot myself with my son's epipen!" LOL.

I can't help but feel dumb, but am trying to not. In my Priesthood Blessing I was told that this was not a freak accident and that it happened for a purpose... Honestly I don't wonder if maybe it had not have happened if Cam would have needed it and it would have malfunctioned then and then I would have been no help to him AND his medicine would be gone!? Not a fun thought process... but a miracle all in and of itself to think about.

At any rate, it is all over now, and I am feeling better by the hour. I am exhausted (yet not sleepy :P) and have some stiff muscles, my heart still aches some (I think it's from the scar tissue inside my heart being stretched with a rapid heart rate), the back of my head has a sore spot (concrete really *is* quite hard... did you know?) and my thumb, of course, is tender! I keep forgetting (as it is my right hand thumb that I need for more things than I realize! *giggle*) and using it... but it is progressively less tender this evening. It is still a bit numb on one side...but I think it is the side that it hit the bone on...so I wonder if there isn't some nerves that need to heal.

Can I just express the deep gratitude I feel for this life of mine? I can't even begin to explain how humbled I am that I get to stay here with my husband and kids. I am so lucky to have them! I had been playing into the pity party of life the last few weeks and suddenly none of the trivial FLUFF matters like it did!

I am married to a good man. He loves me deeply and fully. He is a human man, and makes mistakes, JUST LIKE ME. But he is also a tender, loving, spiritual being. He is a faithful son of God. And he is mine :)! I get to keep him for eternity if I quit trying to be hurt/picked on/taken for granted etc. Sheesh! What a tangled mess of lies the deceiver whispers into hearts!

I can't imagine my life without him... and my life is eternity. I saw a quote in an article I read in the Ensign this morning... it was in the middle of a paragraph... but is hit home in my soul.

Today is PART of eternity.

Why do I not live as if I was already there? Why do I not treat my sweetheart and kids and myself for that matter as if I was already there? I know "home is heaven on earth"... but I like Today is part of Eternity much better. THAT is what makes my home a heaven on earth. It's all in how I treat it... in my perspective and attitude!

I am writing this here in the hopes I will re-read it often to remember!

And thank you again, my dear friends and family, for EVERYTHING!! I am SO VERY BLESSED!

THANKYOU

I just wanted to post a quick thank you to all of you who check our blog! I am so amazed and humbled at what you have collectively done for our family! With all the fundraisers and donations, we are over the $20k mark. We have met the hospitals base price for this surgery! I am so shocked and humbled.

In all honesty, this whole time I have struggled with having everyone help me. We are not destitute. Jess can pay our bills...we never get much ahead...but somehow he always has made ends meet. I keep feeling so unworthy of help. I kept thinking that paying for this surgery ourselves was what we "deserved". We were within 3k of paying off all of the children's hospital bills...so I figured I would just keep paying a bigger amount for a much longer period. I never sought to have anyone help us. And then my FLYSistah Brandy jumped in... and then my Bishop caught wind of what we were facing and he jumped on it, and announced it in Sacrament meeting, and the whirlwind began....websites, newpaper articles, events, and donations. And as I look back, each brick on this road has needed to be where it was to make other things happen. I have been "saved" from one surgery that would do nothing for me, and a second one much more life altering! I have grown and my testimony and percpective have changed. I have learned, deep down, just how much each of us are loved by God...individually! And all we have to do is approach Him and allow Him to work in our lives!

I never imagined the gifts of love, support, and friendships I would receive in allowing others to lift this burden. I never imagined how much effort everyone would invest on my behalf. I never knew I could feel love like this. I know most people feel so blessed to be able to serve... and yet I feel like this has blessed *me* so much more. Not just monetarily... I feel like I have been allowed to see a sweeter side of humanity. I have seen in each of you what I think Heavenly Father would see in you. There have been many that have quietly without knowing lifted my heart with simple words or thoughts. I have watch some of you give more than maybe you should. I have received emails from across the globe of people wanting to offer encouragement and love. I have cried and laughed and been stunned time and time again. I have made life long friendships. Jess & I have been given the chance to teach our children about service...in a very profound way.

It truly has been a strange place to be... and yet looking back on all of this... I would not change it for the world! I would take this heart ailment and insurance mess all over again if it meant I could learn the things I learned, love the way I have learned to love, pray the way I have been blessed to pray, make new sweet friends the way I have, and grown closer to old friends whom mean so much. I would not change a thing.

And so here I am. I will have heart surgery in TWO WEEKS! (yipee!) We won't have a HUGE debt hanging over our heads thanks to each of you. We won't have to sell our home or dramtically change our eating habits (LOL). We have been given the greatest gift of PEACE as we approach this surgery. We can focus on the health side of it. The financial will take care of itself. And that is HUGE!

THANK YOU. And as you read that word... imagine me wrapping my arms around each of you and squeezing you tight. ((((Thank you)))) I still feel deep down that we don't deserve this, however I am so grateful to have had this chance in my lifetime. I love you. I can honestly and deeply say, I love you. Each of you. For giving what each of you were able to give. And whatever you have been able to offer or give... it is enough. And it is perfect. And my heart is bursting with gratitude and admiration for each of you. God Bless each of you in your families, for what you have done to bless mine!
All my love,
~~Heather