The End of 2011...

With the end of 2011 happening in 6 minutes and my husband already asleep beside me  - it felt appropriate to write one last blog for 2011. I haven't written in a few weeks which is a great frustration for me. I had such high hopes for December..... {sigh}

The truth is that I am struggling daily with fatigue. I know most of you will say that I look "fine" on the outside but I can honestly say that my outsides evidently don't match my insides. Really, I feel like that has been the way it has been for this entire year. I also think that people are just being nice because I have seen pictures of myself when I was going through treatment and they were frightening.

Anyway, when I have a normal day of just taking care of my kids I do okay. But when I start adding things, that is when caution has to come in. It is like I get one extracurricular activity every 3-4 days and then it takes me the next 3-4 days to recover.

I know this is completely "normal" after all my body has been put through but just because it is normal doesn't mean that I have to be happy about it. I want to be back to normal so badly but it just doesn't matter how much I will my body to get there - it definitely has a mind of its own. 

They tell me that it will take at least as long as my treatment took for me to feel okay again. 10 months. Yuck. I don't have time to wait 10 months. Well, once again, this is evidently not on my time table. (You think I would be use to this by now.)

So, each day I have to take each and every item that I want to complete into consideration. I cannot just plow through things like I once did. It is frustrating.... but I do have to admit that there is a valuable lesson in this. (When I figure it out I will share it with you all... just kidding.)

I too am having to learn how to have grace for myself. I seem to overflow with grace for others but when it comes to myself... it just seems to be a different story. (I am just overflowing with life lessons lately aren't I.) 

So, with literally one minute to go before I ring in the new year with some farewell words to 2011 - I have to quickly say that I know 2011 will be a year I will never forget for obvious reasons. I would love to say that I will forever remember 2011 for..... {insert 10 lovely events here}... however that is most likely not going to be realistic. Most likely I am going to forever look back on 2011 and say that it was the year I battled cancer.

Here is hoping and praying that 2012 will be the year that I get my life back.

Happy New Year everyone. May it overflow with love, peace, and blessings from above.

~Andrea

Happy New Year!!!

Well, some of you may have been wondering where I have been... We took some much needed down time as a family but we are back at it again full steam ahead. I just wanted to wish you all a very happy 2011. I hope that it is an incredibly blessed year for all of you.

Here is a quick little update on the fam!

Jason - busy as usual with the youth group. He recently started a new bible study at the boys detention center here in town and it has been amazing to see how God is working through that. Please pray that the boys find God for themselves and are able to turn their lives around before it is too late.

Andrea - busy writing, writing, writing. I have actually sold some of my articles recently and am super excited about that! Please pray that God continues to provide these writing opportunities for me and continues to provide me with inspiration!

Cale - busy with school again and basketball. Please pray that he continues to do well in his studies and that he has a fun and safe basketball season!

Ky - is back to doing school as well. Please pray that he continues to enjoy learning!

Creide - is busy being Creide in all things that Creide does. He just makes us laugh. One of his new things....when he is thirsty he says, "I'm so drinky!" I have no idea where he got that from but it is too funny. Please pray that he stays safe as he seems to continually get hurt trying to keep up with his big brothers.

Kearyn - now 7 months old, can you believe it?!? It seems to be going by so fast. She is doing super well being the center of the household. As much as Jason and I try not to make her the center of the universe her brothers just pick up where we leave off. Each one of them simply adore her in their own special way. Please pray for her continued health and happiness.

We love you all and want to thank you all for stopping by and reading this little blog of ours. We had over 800 some hits last year! Please feel free to leave comments and if you want an email update to let you know when I post automatically just subscribe. (Upper right-hand side. :-)