Something new....

written in something blue. No, this post has nothing to do with marriage or anything of that sort. For the first time I am going to go write about something that I don't often do because  1) I find that politics and politicians are corrupt and don't seem to inspire a whole lot of confidence 2) people have varying views and opinions on the topic or subject of politics and I am not one to really get into debates about what people should think and 3) I don't often understand politics since there doesn't seem to be any true honesty and going back to my first reason, it is hard really to know what to believe and what sources are true. 

With that disclaimer being said, I thought I would share this with all of you. For one of my history classes I have to read this article or listen to the speech and write a short paper on it. It was an address given to the American people by former President Jimmy Carter in the summer of 1979. Now, I don't know a whole lot of President Carter nor do I remember what kind of a president he was, but after reading this address, I think that he hit the nail on the head (at least the first half when he talks about the lack of confidence and faith). Not just in the late 70's but I think it was more of a revelation for our time.

Again, I don't get into politics much but this speech sort of summed up my feelings and thoughts. Take a gander at it. You can find it HERE and either read the transcript or watch a video/audio of it.

*Don't expect this kind of post from me often...it really isn't my thing* 

Set A Drift On Memory Bliss...

So when I can't sleep at night, I am either playing a game of solitaire  or watching videos on Youtube. One night I stumbled upon a treasure...which of course took me back down memory lane. 

Two of my favorite bands (out side of DM...they are in whole different category of my favorite music) have come together (not sure for how long...but long enough for me to be like *EEEKKKK!!!!* 

Check it out!

Yeah, I am in heaven.

The Birthday/Thanksgiving Time of Year...

So it was that time of the year again yesterday. The day I get to turn another year older (and wiser too?) and how lucky I was to get to celebrate my birthday on the same day as Thanksgiving. All in all it wasn't a bad day (aside from battling a dreaded head cold).

It started out by getting a week break off from school. It was a much welcomed relief too. Wednesday I took Bailey in for another blood test (and nail trim...*cue the sound for that dreaded dum dum dum soundy thing). The previous tests that were ran all ran on the serum from the blood and since they all came back negative (for an explainable reason on why her calcium levels are a dangerous high) she had to give more blood. You see the test they are running on her now is one that is rarely performed but it is the surest way they have at the moment to tell if there is cancer lurking somewhere (the other possible reason that her calcium levels are up) and to run that test they need the plasma from her blood. She wasn't a happy doggy for a while. The stress from the situation caused her to get a short, temporary cherry eye (luckily it went down and back to normal within the hour). The vet was very please with Bailey's reaction to it all. Once they got her back in the back she was well behaved (its just getting her there that is the tricky part). So with any luck, I will hear back from them in about 2 weeks. Cross your fingers it isn't cancer!!!!

So then Mark came up for a couple days to spend my birthday with me. He surprised me with Bert the farting hippo from the TV series NCIS!!! Yes it is the official plush animal, complete with farting sounds, from Abby's lab! Love that little guy and always am on the look out to see him make an appearance during an episode. He needs to come out more often, don't you agree?? However, it wasn't the only thing that he brought up with him. Bert apparently comes with a LARGE coffee mug and whoopie cushion. Yes people, I am the proud owner of my very own whoopie cushion. *Evil Grin...almost like the grin/smile that the Grinch gets on his face...the animated version not the Jim Carey one.  He also brought up the complete season one of the show too. I would have been content with just Bert but his heart was in the right place. 

So then there was Thanksgiving dinner. I cooked the majority of it. This year I broke my normal tradition and way of thinking by having a ham this year *GASP!!!* Yes, I know, I know...have had this argument before but it was really yummy. We had my mom's yummy dressing, my favorite recipe for funeral potatoes and homemade rolls. My mom makes great flip flops but I can never seem to get it just right when I make them so I opted for another recipe and they were De-lish. We also had some side dishes and salads but those are just that, side dishes. 

So because it was my birthday, we had cake. Yeah, not my best work. I did a round layer cake and in the process I broke the top layer. Thus, making about an inch of my cake to slide and fall off *sigh* but it was still good, sweet, but good. I got a lot of nice cards (even an good boob joke card) that included a nice gift card from my brother and his family and some cash from my mommy. I love gift cards. I know people think that they are the worst gift to give but sometimes they are the safest route to go and when you get someone who is a little hard to shop for or just don't know what to get them, they are LIFESAVERS!!! I have had my eye on a few things so this was a great gift for me! THANKS YOU GUYS!!!! 

So really, it was a good few days...sure hate to see it come to an end by going back to school on Monday...

Part 2: It's Been A While....

Since I have written on this blog (did you read the title and the first line here with the song in mind?). I guess one reason it takes me a while to really update my personal blog is because most of what is going in my life is the same as the previous posts and I don't want to bore anyone with repetition. 

So let us get on with it, shall we? Midterms have come and gone and finals are looming just around the corner (are we over joyed yet?) and I have mixed feelings about that. I am soo ready for this semester to be done and over but at the same time...but there are just somethings that I wish I could learn more about certain things that the timing of the semester just didn't allow. 

The weather has been completely schizophrenic or bi polar with what it wants. We have had all sorts of weather (especially high winds) that I have really missed the nice fall weather that we usually get this time of year. Snow has come and graced us with its presence but not well liked, I guess it was a good thing that she didn't stay long. 

Bailey has been back in for blood work. Her calcium level has been consistently high for the last few blood tests that she has had and the vet is concerned that she has is becoming a victim of cancer again. The vet called last week and notified me that a lot of the tests they ran to eliminate some diseases that could have been the case but there was one test they didn't run at the lab in Boise and so I am waiting for a call with an estimate for the test. The vet said that it the closest way to tell if there is cancer present or not. Bailey did have a small cancerous tumor removed the first of the year (we all remember the cone of shame) and they are thinking that it has coming back. We are going to have to weigh our options as to what to do. I keep getting reminded that Bailey is 12 years old. Sigh....I don't even want to think what it would be like with out having miss Bailey around. She is just so stinking cute and cuddly and has been there for me since I came home 4 years ago!

So Thanksgiving is next week and that means so is my birthday. This year I am lucky to have it land on Thanksgiving. So this year I am making dinner and in honor of my birthday, I am not having turkey but HAM!!! Yes, I know that is like a crime but I am just not a big fan of the bird and really want ham and my mommy said that is ok, as long as I cook it! YUMMY!!

As for my calling in the YW's program, it is going ok. We had our YWIE the first part of the month and I earned two out of the 8 ribbons for my book mark. I was pretty happy. Plus, I learned a new skill because of the personal progress program, I learned how to use a sewing machine! I am even the proud owner of one! It still scares me at times but I am told that the more I use it, the more that I will become comfortable with it and thus making me less afraid. 

Christmas is coming! Or should I say its already here? Stores are already playing Christmas music in the stores, the radio is playing it which means my mother is listening to it. I love Christmas music but I firmly believe that Christmas music (along with other things that belong to the season) should only come on or around AFTER Thanksgiving!! I mean come on, give the turkey holiday some respect! But that is all I am going to say on the matter...Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in DECEMBER!!! 

Well that is my life in a nut shell...more to come!

Its Been A While...

So yeah, I know that I have been bad at keeping this blog updated. Summer has ended and school has started.

Some event high lights of my summer...hmm...I think working with my mom and her committee on their SRD back in June had to be a highlight...it was a lot of work with out a lot of thanks from the one higher up...the flying monkey. But it was fun, even though I had planned on staying home and enjoy having the house to my self. 

With SRD over with, it allowed me to really buckle down and get working on girls camp stuff. There was a lot of headache in the first few months of planning but I made it through and in the end it all came together. You can read about my experience at Girls Camp HERE. It was a lot of fun. We have a great group of YW which made the experience well worth the lack of sleep (literally) and all the time put into it.

Lets see, another July highlight was going down to the Living Aquarium in Sandy, Utah. Still chicken to stick my hand down and touch a manta ray (sp?). There were young kids who had a lot more guts than I did...Did I mention they were HUGE? Even though I didn't touch them, I did witness penguins...one even shook its butt 

(which reminded me of the penguins from Mary Poppins). They were really cute.  I also learned that I don't want to piss off an electric eel...those puppies are mean little suckers. There was a place where they had creepy crawlies of the 8 legged variety...did I go by them? UM...NO!!!!!!! I moved straight to the cockroaches instead. Oh and it was the first time I drove from SLC back to Poky...thank heavens for car pool lanes on Utah interstates/highways!

Hmm, that brings us to August...which means school started. We are on week 5 out of 16 weeks (almost half done!). Kinda scary because it doesn't seem like its been five weeks but it has. I think the biggest plus of this semester is that I am taking a British Literature (maybe its called English Lit) and we have just entered into the very beginnings of my favorite time period! In fact today in class we talked about Henry II, which I just finished reading a good book on him and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Henry is the first of the Plantagenet line which is the line that will turn into the the two houses of York and Lancaster which eventually lead to Henry VIII. Yeah, I feel like I am on cloud 9 there.

Hmm...lets see...other than a few doctors appointments (which ended up with me being placed on an anti-depressant, which seem to be working, although its still a little early to tell for sure), nothing new has really been going on.  I had an awesome opportunity to attend a training with the YW General Board which was REALLY good a couple of weeks ago...hmm...that seems about it. I am sure that there is something else that I could add but I don't remember it and my break is coming to a close (I still got to make it cross campus to the BA building) for a Latin American History class. Laters!

Call Me A Slacker....

Yeah, cause that is me!!! School is out and summer is here. Today has been one of the few days that it has actually felt like summer has been here considering it has been raining for the last SEVERAL days. Hello??!! Last time I checked I moved out of the Pacific Northwest four years ago....it is suppose to be dry, hot and SUNNY here NOT WET!

Let's see...what have I been up to. Hmm....I have been busy with my YW calling. Coming up with activities and going to presidency meetings. We have a lot of stuff coming up that is fun (check it out on my sister blog) and been busy with getting ready with girls camp.  However, I have been spending a lot of time helping my mother and her committee put together a state SRD TOPS convention that was held here this past weekend. So I have felt like I have been pretty busy and have taken the last few days to just relax and gather up what ever motiviation that I have left.

That pretty much has been my life the past month or so...our family reunion on my  mom's side is coming up this weekend...should be fun and then going to slc the first weekend in July and then GIRLS CAMP at the end of the month. Whew...fun and work all mixed in.



Almost Made It...

So I am just two assignments away from being done with school for this spring semester!!!! Oh yeah go me!!!! I just have a research paper and an online final to complete and then I am done.

So yeah, let me update you on all things going on in Audrey's world. School has taken a lot of my time. Between several different papers, quizes, and classroom observations, life has been a little crazy causing my motivation to go down the drain. Yes, I said it, I HAVE HAD NO MOTIVATION! {GASP!!!!}

My church calling has also kept me busy. I am still awaiting for my camp directors to be called and sustained, so it has just been me trying to get ideas and stuff put together. Other than camp, there is mutual. Last Wednesday we had the girls doing make overs and no make over is complete with out a photo shoot. The girls went WILD which is good because that showed that they had fun.

Lets see what else has been going on...oh yeah I bought some fish to go in our fish tank... they died of ich a week later. So I had been babying 3 sick fish back to health and yes I did baby them. My dog Bailey was getting jealous. So Saturday I had bought some new ones (my tank is and was ich free) and they are doing well...I think one of them is preggers so I might be a grandma...LOL.

Yeah, that is my life....pretty exciting right??

Slacker....yeah that is me....

So I cant believe that I haven't updated my own personal blog in almost 2 months....YIKES!!! that is almost a serious sin in the blog world...isn't is??

Life has been a roller coaster for me in almost every possible way. Let me give ya a little insight on what has been happening in my own head...

First, I have been questioning if the current path that I am on in terms of my career and education is what I should be doing. I have always wanted to be a teacher since I think Kindergarten (yes, since clear back then...my mom kept a book that was updated all during my elementary years). I don't know what I would do other than that. However, the requirements to get into the program are scaring me and causing me to doubt my abilities. I have changed my minor so many times I have considered even changing even my major!

 

Girls Camp is starting back up and it has kinda been keeping me busy. We just had our camp kick off a couple of weeks ago and it seemed like everyone that came that night had fun...we didn't do to bad considering the time we spent putting it together (stake meeting was thursday night and our kick off was the following wednesday). You can see pictures and read about it on my lds blog We Are Daughters of a Heavenly King (link in side bar).

Then it was the 2 year anniversary of my dad's passing (3-3-2009) and it was a lot harder to deal with than usual. I miss him so much and often wonder if he still hears me and sees what all I am doing with my life. I wonder if he is proud of me and what I have accomplished?

Oh and to top it all off....it was spring break and I have spent it trying to get over a respitory infection. GRR!!!

Then there is a ton of other things but they are a little more personal to share on here...so they are still in my mind.

Bailey is doing fine. The last entry that I wrote talked about her and her surgery. She is doing good. She is on some meds that is giving her a ton of energy and still being a little shadow to me, but I still love her anyway!!!

Anyway, I should get busy on a paper that I need to turn in for a class tomorrow...but I just wanted to update the world on what is going on in my little world. 

What a week or two

What a couple of weeks it has been. The good news is though, that Miss Bailey is back to a normal, happy dog again. She was able to get rid of the ugly e-collar or what has been dubbed the "cone of shame" and had her stitches removed. She stills has quite a scar on her tummy that the vet says should flatten within a couple of months. Not to mention her hair is growing back in (they shaved the areas around where they were cutting) and she is itchy, itchy, itchy. Its been quite a sight to say the least. Although she has gotten quite use to belly rubs now that she has her stitches removed. Which is a good thing considering I am suppose to be keeping a weathered eye out for any other bumps that she might develop.

Did I tell you the results of the biopsy? If I did, bear with me for I don't remember. They vet called a week before we brought her back in. She told me that the bigger mammory mass was binine or rather non cancerous. The smaller mass that was about an inch or two from the larger mass, was indeed cancer. Oh Joy! However, according to the pathologist, the vet had removed all the cancerous tissue that was around it. What a relief! So hopefully, there isn't anymore that decide to show up.

School is getting to be better and worse. I have a ton of reading to do yet no motivation to read it all. I love history and have decided that as my major but boy, some of th books that my professors are requiring us to read, just don't do anything for me. So I am struggling through them...slowly but surely I guess, right? I start my observations for my education class tomorrow. I am a little nervous just because I am not sure what to expect. I am lucky though that I have scheduled all of my observations before the trimester ends! Woo Hoo, go me! Ok, so it really won't be that bad, I just hope I get my observations as observations without any interpretations or assumptions till AFTER I go back and review what I have taken down. Can we say, excited to go back to high school??

Also, its been a stressfull week at our house and with our family. My Aunt Myrna lost one of her daughters (a twin) to some serious health issues this past Saturday in St. George, UT. It has been quite a stressful time full of worry and concern, but to everything there is a purpose and meaning. God has his reasons and his plan for us. I guess that is where faith comes in. Its going to be tough on my Aunt the following days and it will be hard to see her go through it, but she is a strong women with a great family to give her support. So if you are reading this, please keep her and her family in your throughts and prayers. Thanks!

Anyway, as for the girl they call Otter, that is my life in a nut shell at the moment. Been busy trying to catch up on my other blog that is dedicated to the Young Women's organization. Check it out sometime to see what I have been up to in my spare time and need for sanity!

Counting the days...Tick...tock

Well, its the start of what will be a very long couple of weeks. Don't get me wrong, it will be worth it but I will be so glad when it's done.

If you read my previous post you would have known about our little trip to the vet. OK, so it turned out that it wasn't so little. Well Wednesday Bailey did go in for her surgery. Dropped her off around 730 am and picked her up around 430 pm. She came out ok from it, the vet said she did very well with it and her dental cleaning which was very good to hear. Still waiting for the results on the biopsy to see if the masses they removed from her stomach area are cancerous or not.

So right now we sit and wait for two weeks, that is when she has to go back in and get the stitches that are on her stomach taken out  and the stiches on both her eyes are dissolvable so we are good there HOWEVER she is stuck wearing this HUGE ugle e-collar which she hates. Every time she puts her nose down to smell or to eat/drink, she ends up stepping on the bottom of it and getting tripped up on it. It is so sad to see her in it. I mean I understand why she is required to wear it, but I hate to have to see her try and live with it.

So on top of the e-collar, she has two medicines: a pain killer and eye meds. Yeah, this has turned into a little game. The first time I went to put the eye medicine in her eyes (its not drops but like a creame like substance) twice a day for 10 days. I tried to put them in her eyes tonight and she went hiding (kinda like she does when I put the ear rinse into her ears). When I finally got her to come to me, she wouldn't hold her head still and its not like i could really hold on to her since she has like a 5 in incision on the side of her stomach and a e-collar around her neck, but we finally managed to get enough in each eye. I think maybe I will try and do one eye at a time at different times, like a half hour/hour apart...maybe that would be easier. Hmmm....I might have to try that.

Alright, well its late or rather early in the wee hours of the day so I guess I should be getting some shut eye as Miss Bailey has finally gone back to sleep and since I have class in the morning and tons of reading to do. Till next time....

All Good Things Must Come 2 An End

So this is my last weekend before going back to school (BOO!!) and can I just say that winter break has just flown bye fast and what a couple of weeks it has been. Maybe I should be happy that it is coming to an end??

So yesterday I took my little shadow and bestest friend Bailey to the vet yesterday for what was going to be a routine nail trim with a Parvo vaccine and an hour later I come out with the knowledge that my poor little doggy will have to undergo surgery because their is a smallish size mass next to one of her lower mammories that is causing her a little irritation (she about took off the faces and fingers of our vet and her assistant) which may or may not be of the cancerous type. The "c" word was not what I really wanted to hear. The vet explained to me that these kinds of masses have a 50/50 shot at being cancerous (a biopsy would tell us the truth) so Miss Bailey under went 3 x-rays to make sure that their wasn't any nodes that made it to her lungs since they mammories are all sorta connected to one another. Luckily there wasn't and the vet had mentioned to me that since we are catching it fairly early, that everything will be ok. It was definately an eye opener to me. Luckily for me, the vet also told me about a program called CreditCare which was like a health care credit card. I was approved for one whihc will make it so I can get Bailey the surgery that is going to be needed without having to pay it all up front. Still scary though especially when surgery and cancer (might) be involved. =(

A lot of things have been going through my head lately. I guess with the thought of school starting up again, I am taken back to my school days. Its funny all the conversations and notes that were exchanged between friends and I had several groups of friends at each differnt level in school. Mainly because most of my friends would end up in another school when we moved up from elementary to junior high and then junior high to high school. Each group we always said we would be friends for ever yet to this day, we hardly even speak a word to each other and sad to say, some of these "friends" I became friends with on Facebook where we still don't speak to each other. I am still convinced that Facebook is just a competition on who can have the most friends. Its really  quite sad. Then there are friends that I have that through our years at school we might have had huge falling outs and yet we talk (rather exchange emails back and forth) probably more now than we had when we were in school. Its just sort of sad, don't you agree?

Anyway, I need to get off my soapbox for the moment and close up. Thanks for the venting...its been most helpful!

It's A Brand New Day...

Or should I say year??? So can I just say I am glad that it is 2011!! What a year 2010 had been. Let me first start out by saying I apologize to my readers (I know there are a few of you out there) for not being up to date as I had hoped. The last month has been insane.

With finals and end of semester projects to complete and study for...I had been a little busy. Finals ended the week before Christmas and to be honest, I just relaxed for that rest of the month.

I hope everyone though had a great christmas holiday. I spent mine getting over strep throat. Yeah, sitting in the ER christmas day (well afternoon) was not what I had planned, nor having a fever of 101.4 on christmas eve. It has been FUN at our house. I am getting over it and lets just say, I am THANKFUL for antibiotics!!!

Hopefully everyone was also safe during the New Year and that everyone had some fun in ringing in the new year. I stayed at home, which I was perfectly fine, cuddled up with a good book (The Autobiography of Henry VIII) and fell asleep. So since it is a new year I am going to try to and make some new years resolutions. Mainly I am going to strive for better time management, healthier lifestyle, working on my Personal Progress (its hard to encourage the girls to do it if I myself am not doing it), and working on developing my talents and new hobbies. If I don't exactly stick to them or "keep" them, that is ok too. I just have to remind myself that I am not perfect and to try again tomorrow.

Anyway, I hope this first entry of the new year finds everyone in good health and happiness. I will strive to keep this more updated...as well as my other blog that I have set up for my YW's calling, feel free to also check that out to see what we have been up to (the link is on the right: we are daughters of a heavenly king). If I begin to slack...let me know!!