Both the IV stick for the CT scan and the blood draw were accomplished with only one stick. Yay! My next CT scan and check-up is scheduled for August right before Amber and I leave for school. Everyone there got a kick out of my hair. The ladies at the front desk thought I was wearing a brightly colored scarf at first.
It was good to see them all again. Although I got to know them under less-than-ideal circumstances, I really appreciate and value each of them. They are special people!Thanks for praying for us today! God is good and faithful, and we are so thankful for all He has brought us through!
~Enjoy Life~
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( 2.7 / 97 )My CT scan and 3-month appointment with Dr. Beck is tomorrow morning. My scan is at 8:45am and my dr. appointment is at 11:30. I have to start drinking barium at 6:45am! Yuck! Your prayers would be appreciated that everything goes smoothly and we get a good report. They have to start an IV for my CT scan and then I have a blood draw, so pray that my veins have recovered. I'll update tomorrow when we get home so you know what we find out.
We had a very good, productive weekend. The contra dance at Lawrence was fun. We were surprised to see our good friend Liz there. She lives in California and was back in Kansas for a short visit. It was good to catch up with her a bit. We got home about 2am, took a short nap, and then were on the road to Hill City to work on my recording. We got 9 out of 16 songs mastered. I will have to go back one more time to finish up the last 7. I'm really excited about getting it finished!
Today has been spent doing laundry and cleaning house so that we can start packing. We're headed to Mt. View, Arkansas this weekend for the dulcimer weekend at the Ozark Folk Center. Amber will be entering the Southern Regional Hammered Dulcimer contest on Saturday. Our friend Kim is coming with us, so we're looking forward to hanging out with her and having a relaxing weekend full of music. This will be our first weekend of camping for the year, so we're sure to forget some things. Hopefully the tent will stay dry...
There are lots of hurting people out there. Take some time this week to reach out to someone you know with an encouraging word or a cup of tea or a card in the mail. I just found out today about several of my friends who are going through difficult times. I am challenged to not sit by idly, but to pray for them and let them know that I am thinking of them. It doesn't take long to make a big difference in someone's life. Ok, end of rant. Thanks for praying!
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( 3 / 76 )We did it! We tie-dyed my hair! Yesterday afternoon, our friend Christie came over and turned my hair red, green, and purple. She brought all the supplies and spent a couple hours making my head a beautiful, crazy masterpiece.
Here's a picture of the finished product:
Amber will post more pictures of the process when she gets home from work this afternoon.
My next follow-up CT scan and dr. appointment is this Tuesday. I can't wait to walk into the cancer center with my cool hair! After all my crazy hats, they shouldn't be surprised.
Do pray for me and my family on Tuesday and these days leading up to Tuesday. I've been feeling really good, which makes it easier to push aside thoughts of everything we've been through in the last year but check-up time brings it all back to the forefront of our minds. Thankfully we're going to be busy until Tuesday so we won't have too much time to stop and think.Tonight, Amber and I will be working with Teens for Christ at the Beloit Juvenile Detention Center. They warned me not to wear khaki pants with a blue shirt (dress code there) or else they might want to keep me with my wild hair!
Please say a prayer for those girls, that their hearts would be softened to hear and accept the Gospel message. Several of the girls have accepted Jesus since TFC started over there in December, but they still have a lot to overcome. Pray for Kent and those of us who help with Teens for Christ as we try to represent Christ to them as well.This weekend, we play for a contra dance in Lawrence on Saturday evening. As soon as we're finished playing, we'll make a mad dash home and try to catch a few ZZZZs. We're getting up early Sunday morning to go to Hill City to try to finish all the mixing for my CD. Hopefully we'll have the final mixes for both CDs by the end of the week. Pictures have been taken... liscensing paperwork started... Now we have to figure out the order of songs... cover design...writing on the inside... Time is growing short, but I think we're going to get it done.
My [profound] thought for the day comes from Proverbs 17:22-- A merry heart does good like a medicine. Take time everyday to laugh. Laugh at loud. Be silly. Do something ridiculous--like tie-dying your hair. It's good for you.
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( 3 / 69 )We just got home from a busy weekend in Wichita and have over-night company arriving soon, but I really wanted to share some of my recent ponderings. I've been thinking a lot, as usual, but simply haven't taken the time to get on here and write them down. A note from a dear sister in Christ just reminded me that I should share what God has been teaching me, in the hopes that you will be encouraged too.
Things have been crazy around here-- we're laying ceramic tile in the kitchen, working on our recordings, planning our summer trips, etc, etc.-- but my heart has been focusing on the "little things". I realized that in times of crisis, little things become extremely meaningful while the BIG things lose importance. I desire to live with that reality even when I'm not sick... to take the time to admire the beauty all around me, to have a cup of tea with a friend, to send a hand-written note, to listen to the birds sing... not to get so caught up in the stresses of life, not to worry so much about what tomorrow will bring, not to fret about planning every detail of my life. It is so easy to miss the little things that God wants to bless us with throughout the day if we're not constantly focusing on them. In this area of my life, I don't want to go back to my old ways, before I got sick.
I have been changed by my experiences since I was first diagnosed with cancer, and I am thankful for many of those changes. It was not fun to go through, I would not want to go through it again, and yet I can see many blessings I would not have otherwise received. For the Lord surely does use ALL THINGS for good and for His glory.
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( 3 / 66 )I got my recording finished last weekend!
I will still have to make at least one more trip to Hill City to work on mixing, but I am really excited to have all the tracks laid down. On Thursday, I met up with my friend Ben. He wrote a song called "I Rest In You" for me soon after I was diagnosed with cancer and I asked him to come sing it on my CD. We spent a couple hours Thursday figuring out a good arrangement for it and then recorded it on Friday. I finished up all of my solo dulcimer pieces on Friday afternoon/evening and then Amber came on Saturday to finish our duets. I also got JF, my recording engineer, to record one song with me. It was a very productive time in the studio and now I can't wait to get the final product!After I finished recording on Saturday, I made a mad-dash to Sterling College (where I went to school for 1 1/2 yrs) for my friend's senior theatre production. He directed a show called "Rumors" which was hilarious and very well done. I stayed over night with my friend Molly, went to church with her, and got to see a lot of my old college friends. I even had time for a little jamming with my friend Jon before I had to rush back to Concordia in time for our gig at the Cuba Rock-A-Thon. The little town of Cuba, KS has a fundraiser every year where they have people rock in rocking chairs non-stop for a week. They have a variety of entertainment and our family has been going there to play music for them since before Amber and I started playing instruments! It's always fun to go back every year and see familiar faces.
We have also gotten twelve songs back from the studio in Wichita where we recorded our band CD. We are absolutely thrilled with how they are turning out. Mark is doing a fantastic job of mixing and mastering them. We're going to meet with him this Sunday to go over a few little things and then it shouldn't be too long--hopefully!-- before we have the final product!! We got out two weekends ago and took some pictures to use for the cover and I think we got some good shots, thanks to our wonderful photographer Mom.
We still have a lot of work to do on our end to get everything ready.There's a lot more news and ponderings from my brain, but that's what I've got time to share today. Mom mentioned maybe closing down the blog since I'm mostly well now, but I enjoy having this avenue of sharing my thoughts. Hopefully you enjoy reading it too.
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