Hurrican Coming Pregnant, Help Is On the WAY!

I was now 5 months pregnant and living in a strange new place called New England.  I prayed for help to be able to find some doctors who would be able to help me manage the pain of the cysts and deliver my baby.  Through a series of different outlets I found my self walking into Dr. Hancock's office.  I did not know it at the time but Dr. Hancock just happened to specialize in ovarian cysts, although he had not seen cysts as big as mine in a pregnant women ever he assured me that I was in the right place at the right time.  A peace came over me and for the first time in my pregnancy I allowed myself to believe that I would not lose the baby.

Time went by and I tried to do the best I could everyday.  Which was typically this:  I only went up our stairs to get outside once a day if I even did that.  I stopped doing housework.  As soon as Emily came home from school I would put a movie(s) on for her until Ryan came home from work.  (Thank goodness the school program Emily was enrolled in at that time was full days everyday of the week.)  I played the Ipad to take my mind off the pain.  I read a lot of books to do the same.  I continued to try to attend church every week but it usually came down to me only making it about twice a month, so our home teachers started to bring me the sacrament.  Also I stopped cooking meals or shopping, so the Relief Society was bringing in meals twice a week if not more.  And when Ryan was not home Emily stepped up and was really good about getting me water and bread.  I really don't know what I would of done without her she is such a sweet girl and took good care of me.  And that is how life went until I was 7 months pregnant.

At that time my sister and her family came to stay at our house overnight on their way home from visiting my family.  When they were getting ready I lost it.  The pain by this point was so much that all I literally could do was get out of my bed (with help from Ryan) make it the my chair which was about 5 feet away and not move again until bedtime that night.  I would cry if I had to go to the bathroom which also was about a 7 foot walk away from my chair.  It took everything I had to make it to the bathroom and back to my chair and that was with help.  I would have to hold it if Ryan was not home to help me because I could not make it on my own.  I was on heavy medications at the this time but the pain was so bad that all the narcotics were doing were taking the edge of the pain so I would not cry non-stop all day everyday.  When my sister saw my condition she asked me if I needed any help. 

Help was exactly what I needed.  Stupid of me I thought I was dealing was dealing with life just fine, until she asked me and I realized how much I did need help.  So Heather being the sweetheart that she is sent her dear husband home alone and stayed with her two kids to take care of me and my family.  Needless to say it was very difficult for her but I was and will always be very grateful for Heather's help during this difficult time in my life.  Heather doing her sisterly duties at this time alerted my family about my condition, which in turn started a chain reaction of help and concern.  One thing I love about my family is that they truly care and are willing to doing whatever they need to do to take care of one another.

Heather had figured she could probably stay only about 2 weeks with me because she needed to get home to take care of some business.  She had arranged with my dad to come down and stay with me after that until I no longer needed any help.  Well the pressure was building the kids were not playing well together and Heather being a new mom was basically not getting any sleep or rest.  She was a trooper but on top of all that was going in our house a Hurricane was coming.  With the threat of the Hurricane Heather decided she needed to leave that night and get home as soon as possible.  So my dad dropped everything and left as soon as he could that day but he had a 6 hour drive ahead of him in bad weather.  And unfortunately since Heather sent her husband home alone she did not have car so her only way home was to have Ryan drive her half way where she was planning on meeting her husband which left me home alone with the threat of a Hurricane looming down on New England.

I knew that if it got bad there was going to be nothing I could do to save myself expect pray for help.  Luckily nothing happened to our house and Ryan and my dad both arrived within minutes of one another back home to house safely and we were able to weather the storm with no damage the power only went out for a minute.  All was well for now.

My dad was a big help and went with me to all my doctor appointments and took me outside and shopping.  He would get me a wheelchair to ride in wherever we went and would push me around where I wanted to go.  It was so nice to be able to get outside again. Then we went for me regular OB checkup and noticing that the pain had increased dramatically since my last visit they decided to do a ultrasound to see if anything had changed.  It was exciting for my dad to get to see the baby.  When the ultrasound tech left the room to get the doctor my dad asked me where the cyst was because he could not see it very well.  I showed and told him, basically it was taking up the entire screen and going into the next screen that is why he could not tell.  It was huge.  I knew at this point that it was not good.  The doctor had told me before that everything would be fine as long the cyst stayed at 8cm and did not get any larger than that, well this was measuring well beyond 8cm.  In fact it was to larger for the tech to even measure it.  And just like that a fast paced whirlwind of commotion started.

Magnets, Magnets, and more Magnets!

I have always been jealous of all my neighbors cute magnets, so I decided to end the jealousy and make my own.  It was so easy, I have no idea why I have waited all these years to make them.  I love making them so much I made 54 the first time, then I remembered that I forgot to document how to make them so you to could enjoy the magnet craze.  That made another 15.

I would of made more but my husband said that we had plenty of magnets and unless the homeless or some shelter was in need of fancy magnets I really need to stop.  I only agreed because I have no more room on my fridge to hang more.  Which gave me another great craft idea for later, a magnet board. That thought gave me another idea, I could make magnets for all my friends and family for gifts.  Which lead me to thinking I could teach it the girls I work with at my church (I'm an LDS Activity Day leader/ Primary teacher for the 10 & 11 year old girls and I know they would love cute fancy magnets). 

Plus maybe the homeless and/or shelters really do need fancy magnets, and I'm all about service. 

I hope you enjoy making them as much as I have, and if your not crafty or don't have the time to make them I do sell them at my shop.  Everyone of them is handmade with love by me.

Click photo for larger image.

Journey to Connecticut

Ryan's company gave us 2 weeks to prepare before we needed to be in Connecticut.   2 Weeks!  We had so many things to take care of.  I relied on the Lord in all things.  I knew it was where He wanted us to be because every morning I would wake up with a plan of things I need to get done to help us on our move across the country.  I would look at my list, start at the top and pray for help and guidance to be able to take care of the task.   And quickly I would be lead in the direction I needed to go and things were being handled.  Even though I was super sick during this time I was able to help get us on the path and take care of the things I needed to take care of. 

Of course many many thanks goes  out to all my family and fiends that helped me along the way I truly could not of done it without them.  And just like that we found ourselves riding across the country in a moving truck facing the unknown future with optimism.  After about day 3 of driving I started to really get into a lot of pain again.  It was very taxing on my body to make that drive. 

I forgot to mention that also at this time my little sister Heather was about to have a baby at any time.  I was excited because of the timing I was hoping I would be able to be there for her birth.  She was scared because she really wanted to do a natural birth and wanted me to be there to couch her through it.  Well we were somewhere in Nebraska when my sister called and said she was having strong contractions and would probably have the baby soon.  Ryan and I talked about and thought maybe just maybe if we drive all night without stopping we could make.  But as I mentioned earlier the drive was extremely taxing on my body and I needed the overnight stops to be able to make it the next day.  So that was not really something we could do.  Only a few hours later Heather called and she had delivered her beautiful baby girl all natural and did an awesome job without me there.  I was so proud of her.

Also at the same time my parents were moving to Maine.  So by the time I made it to my sisters house my dad was there and I was done traveling I could not get back into the truck again.  When I saw my dad all I could was cry on his shoulder.  I did not want to leave his arms.  It felt good to be with my dad and out of the moving truck.  I was in pain I was sick.  I could not even hold my new beautiful niece because I was too weak and every movement hurt me.  So I ended up staying for a week at her house.  While Ryan, my dad, and Ryan's sister Autumn went to Hartford to move us in. 

After helping us move in my dad went on to Maine.  And Ryan and his sister came back to get me and Emily.  Together we went on to Hartford and lived in a Hotel for 2 weeks until being able to move into a basement apartment in South Windsor.  With all of stuff in storage.  I was finally able to sit down and not move for a while.

My Adventure of Cakes & Decorating

I love decorating cakes.  I have always been fascinated with cake decorating and wanted to take a class to learn how to do it, but just never seemed to have the time (or the money).  Then one day I was visiting my cousins in Idaho.  I love my trips to Idaho they are always full of exciting new things.  My cousin Hailey was learning how to decorate cakes for one of her personal progress goals.  Personal Progress is a program in the LDS church for girls between the ages of 12-18. She was learning from my great aunt Sharon wwho is a awesome cake decorator and has been doing it for years.  So I asked her to teach me what she learned and how to decorate.  My sister had just had a baby and we decided to decorate a cake for the baby blessing.  Also in town was my Aunt Kristi's Mom, she is also another amazing cake decorator so I got some quick lessons, learned some neat tricks and I have never looked back.  Here is the first cake I ever decorated, for my sister's baby blessing.

Second cake I made for my daughter Emily's 1st birthday.  I learned how to layer cakes, added a filling, and colored the cakes pink and purple (her favorite colors).  It was super yummy!  I know she would of loved more if she had not been so distracted by the fun gifts she got and having all her family & friends in one place, way too many things and people to play with.

My friends sons 5th birthday cake.  I tired some different pipping techniques and made a swirled chocolate & vanilla cake, it looked really neat when you cut into it .  "Under the Sea" was the theme for his party.  The one thing he wished for on his cake was a dolphin.  Wish granted! 

After that there was no stopping me.  I tested and tried several recipes for making cakes from scratch, discovered my favorite and started stacking cakes.  My cousin Eva was my very first paying client.  I made her 10th birthday cake.  I loved how it turned out, some of my very best work.  Oh, and she loved it as well.

My cousin James asked for a less elaborate but super yummy Oreo truffle cake for his High School Graduation.  The result was so rich only a teenage boy could devour multiple slices of the cake.  The rest of us ate a small sliver and loved it.  Next time I think I will make it a little less rich, even though James thought it was perfect.

After so many successes with my cakes I thought I was unstoppable.  My husband asked for a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cake for his birthday.  I thought no problem, I was wrong.  I got too adventurous and while it tasted really good, it looked super bad.  Nobody complained and my husband was so happy to have his favorite candy in cake form.  Overall I gave myself a pat on my back for good flavor.  The cake plate was literally licked clean.

And with 10 months of planning and preparation, and hundreds of revisions I made my cousin Libby's 16th Birthday cake.  She loved it, it was everything she ever wanted and MORE, complete with a fountain.  It was my first Topsy Turvy cake and carving cake, a skill I think I can work on.  You can't see all my mistakes because I covered them up with decorations, but I will improve over time with more practice, and hopefully won't need to cover my mistakes with decorations in the future.

Since then I have taken a small break in cake decorating to pursue other hobbies, plus there has not been any really events calling for a fabulous cake recently.  But when the call come I will be there, trying out something new, you can count on that.

5 Cool Not Often Seen Kitchen Gadets

#1 Ultra Flex Faucet

I watched the commercial for Kohler's new kitchen faucet and thought that was super cool, so I had to go check it out.



I love that you can also wall mount it as a pot filler over your stove, how amazing would that be?



The price $1,250!  I have expensive dreams.

#2 Two Drawer Dishwasher

It would be so nice to just have a dishwasher right now in our home, but since I'm dreaming it mine as well be a Two Drawer Dishwasher, they are super cool.



This one is made by Fisher & Paykel and cost around $1,250 same price as the faucet.

#3 Digital Kitchen Assistant

It has video cooking techniques, recipes, lessons, calendar, MP3 player and digital photo frame. 



Made by Belling MediaChef, cost $99.  Nice thing about it is that you can stop, pause, rewind, and play it at your speed.  Easy to use and super cool.

#4 UV Disinfecting in the Kitchen

OK I'm a germ-a-phob, I'm super crazy about keeping the kitchen and bathroom disinfected, so this sounded pretty cool to me, although I'm not sure if it really works.



They say it disinfects in just 10 seconds, and kills 99.99% of germs including lice, fleas, and dust mites.  It can be used in other areas of your house like door handles, bathroom, mattress, phones, etc. 

Made by Zandro, cost $160!

Another UV product that if it really works would be awesome is the UV cutting board system.



Made by Pure Living, cost $130.

#5 Voice Operated Shopping List

You tell it what you want on your shopping list and keeps track for you, when your ready to go shopping, press print and you have your list.  I'm usually a fan of the old fashion system (pen and paper), so I'm not sure I'm sold on having a voice operated shopping list.  I think my husband would love it and kids.



It not only stores your shopping list but also notes, coupons, and even quantities.  If I was a coupon person I think that would be pretty cool, although I'm not sure how it stores your coupons but the idea is cool.

Made by Smart Shopper, cost $150.

Hope you enjoy dreaming or just looking at some super cool kitchen gadgets.  Enjoy!