"The Storms of Our Life Prove the Strength of Our Anchor"

Many people say everything happens for a reason, and while I would not neccesarily say there is a "reason" this trial has happened to me, there have certainly been many blessings. For example, personal relationships for both myself and Matt have been strengthened through all of this. I know I have had a chance to get back in contact with many people I may have not talked to in years, as well as meeting many wonderful new people along the way. Beyond this, however, what sticks out to me the most is all of the acts of kindness you all have bestowed upon us along the way. Be it a card in the mail to say you are thinking of us, an unexpected, but very welcome donation, help with fundraisers, support through fundraisers, support to our families, or even just a phone call to say hi and that you are keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.. each time it blows me away, and truly warms my heart. Which brings me to my next point. I apologize in advance to those of you that have facebook and have already seen this post, however, I didn't feel right not sharing it with the people that do not have facebook. This week, I returned home to find an absolutely wonderful surprise! I came home one evening to find a package on my porch from Jill Croker (friend who is nothing short of amazing)... I opened it up to find a bracelet that I had found one day while purusing the internet, and hadn't really mentioned it to anyone. But a group of my friends from highschool; Christa Buck, Megan Buehler, Brittany Roof, Cyndi Burkett, Jill Croker and Katie Burkhouse, had all chipped together and sent this to me. I won't lie, it definitely brought tears to my eyes! Don't get me wrong, I have always known we had a special group of friends, since highschool. Granted we have always had our ups and downs, but our class has had an ability to really stand behind and support each other in times of need, and that is exactly what this amazing group of ladies did. Thank you all for putting so much thought into this gift for me. Now everyday when I am wearing it, each time I look down I get a reminder that I am not alone in this fight, I am loved, supported and thought of often by all of you, which continues to give me the strength and courage I need for this. (Just as a side note..Jill had mentioned this bracelet could "tide me over" until I get my tattoo...I had to quickly correct her, this bracelet is a whole lot less painful, and doesn't involve all the needles a tattoo does..the tattoo can wait. I have had my fill of needles for now!) Check out the picture of the bracelet below..it's so unique! I believe they are still on etsy if anybody is interested in one. :)

 So tomorrow is treatment #9! YAY! ....3 more. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am for this countdown. If all goes as planned, we should be done with treatment #12 on January 28th. So far, everything is going as well as can be expected..although the hair is still thinning quite a bit :-/ ...Ugh. Call me vain, but it is certainly not an easy thing for a girl to take. However, if that is the worse that I get in getting rid of this nasty stuff, I'll suck it up and take it. If you all could, please keep us in prayer tomorrow, and the rest of the week. Lately, it has seemed to be a trend that Matt and I end up in the ER over the weekend. We have had two scares lately, but thanks to the power of prayer, both times it has turned out to be nothing, and we have been able to come home the same night without being admitted. (Always a plus!) BUT, I am sure there has to be better things to do on the weekend than hang out at the ER, so if you could say a prayer that we don't end up there again, we would greatly appreciate it. :) Another big thing coming up is meeting with the genetics counselor in January. Yikes. I'm really not sure how I feel about that yet, but I figure the positive is that at least after that we will have a much better idea with what we are exactly dealing with, and in turn be able to develop an even better plan of prevention for the years to follow. Also, we have a fundraiser in the works that I believe is going to take place on March 31st. It is a raffle fundraiser, with some pretty awesome prizes! I am hoping to get a post on here soon explaining it more in detail. If you would like to know anything more about it, please feel free to ask me, my brother Jamie, or my dad.

So Christmas...snuck up pretty quick, right? Or was that just me? haha. We did manage to get a tree up in the house though! This is the first year Matt and I will be spending a Christmas together, so it is pretty exciting! We are leaving this week to make our cross country trek (or so I like to call it. haha.) We are going to spend a few days in PA, a few days in Indiana, then make our trek back to Annapolis just in time to do treatment #10 on New Years Eve. I am always like a little kid on Christmas, but even more so this year! We both can't wait to see all of our families and spend some long overdue time catching up with everyone. :) Do any of you have any exciting plans for Christmas? Maybe we will get the chance to see some of you!


Before starting this post, I was mainly going to update you all on the bracelet, the progress of where we are at in journey, and wish you all happy holidays. However, given the recent events happening in our country, I have a heavy heart tonight and I need to address that as well. The recent shooting in Connecticut breaks my heart. All opinions of anti guns/gun control/2nd Ammendment aside, we as a society have to acknowledge what a terribly said situation we are in. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that it is now acceptable in the minds of some to take aggression out on the youngest, most innocent of victims. I can not even begin to fathom what the families of these victims are going through right now, and my heart continues to break for them and the road they must travel, especially during this time of the year. It was after all this that I realized how much my "strength statement" applies to them as well. How true is it that the storms of their lives will truly prove the strength of their anchor. There are no answers, no words of comfort that can be offered to soothe the hurt for them at this time, but we can all continue to keep them in prayer, that God will show them the strength of their anchor  comfort them in the way that only he can, and see them through this cruel storm.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday..Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! God bless you all..