it is always something...

Well, this week is zooming by. I had my caudal epidural injections yesterday at the surgery center. The doctor had to do it twice because my anatomy was different (his explanation) and he had to move the needles lower. It should start to help within 3-5 days, fingers crossed.

Our garage has had a mold problem for quite some time and we have become concerned that it may cause us to be ill. We have given notice here and found a house with an option to buy after things with our house in Michigan clear up. The house is great, I will have an indoor studio, Caden will have a back yard to play in, and we will even have a reason to buy furniture eventually, as it has a living room and a family room. The neighborhood also has a small park. The only problem is that we cannot bring Suki with us. We are hoping that a friend will be able to care for her until we can purchase the place (if that happens). The owner had a really bad experience with cats and she absolutely will not allow us to have a cat. We are concerned for Suki because she has a chronic upper respiratory infection that our vet says will always be a problem, so finding her a new home will be difficult. She is a big part of our family, but it is so difficult to find places that allow a cat, and we have to put our family's health and Caden first. The condo where we live currently is run by a really difficult person who does not allow kids to play outside. We knew this would be a temporary move when we moved in, but the mold situation has caused us to step up the house search. Ugh, it is always something. The move is set for February 15th.

Next weekend we will be traveling to Oregon for Paul's Dad's birthday. The big boys get to go deep sea fishing, while the girls and Caden get to hang out. So that will be fun!

I don't think that I have told you all that Caden was able to get his turtle! His name is Sheldon and he is a asian aquatic turtle. He is quite cute! I will try to post some pictures of his soon! The turtle can make the move to the new house.

We have also found a church home. We are so happy to start getting back involved in a community. It is a new, small church call Elevation. Paul's good friend from high school goes there and invited us to check it out. It is very different, in a good way, from what we are used to. Being so small is an advantage though, we have already had a few volunteers to help us move. It is a very young church, mostly young families, we have more kids than adults! Oh, I almost forgot! One of the teachers in Caden's room moved into a house where the owner must have been a potter and left a lot of supplies. She invited me to come over one of these days and take whatever I want of the supplies that the former occupant left! I am so excited to see everything!

Well, thanks for stopping by! I will try to post some pictures of Sheldon the turtle soon! Take care!

Januray Storm

As most of you know, we had a pretty big storm in Northern California last week. There are still a few houses without electricity! When the news tells you to stay home and out of the storm, what do we do? We go out and try to float the car....

Caden had fun, he thought that we were trying to become photo-journalists! Here are a few pics!




The park where Paul asked me to marry him (Auburn Recreation Park-ARD) lost quite a few old oaks.




Caden's school even had two trees fall down.






an inpromtu waterfall, not meant for drainage, but water goes the path of least resistence.

ornament exchange 2007

Just thought I would share a quick picture of all of the ornaments I received from around the world in this last ornament swap. They are all so wonderful!

goodbye 2007...hello 2008!

Happy New Year everyone!

The surgery went fine, I am healing up well. I am still waiting for the date for my back procedures. It should be before January 14th, which is the next appointment with the specialist. I am really happy with my new doctor, he is quite familiar with managing the results of a failed back fusion. Apparently, my entire fusion has slipped and is crooked which has caused more nerve impingement among other issues. I guess it is good to know it isn't "in my head" but sucks to know there really isn't anything I, or anyone else for that matter, can do to fix it. A total disc replacement is on the horizon, but being 32, I am quite young for something like that. Ok, so onward and upward!

We had a beautiful Christmas. The weekend before we were able to spend with Paul's family in Oregon, Mom and I had a quick, but successful shopping adventure. I needed some better shoes and fell in love with her clogs. So we went to the place she had bought them in Ashland, Oregon. They were out of hers, but they had a big sale and I was able to buy two pairs of shoes for the price of a little more than one pair normally costs. I got a cute pair of clogs and some ballet flats. Paul and I were able to go to a party with his family also....Caden spent time with his cousin, and we went out alone! Our first party without kid since I was pregnant with him! We all had fun. Christmas day was spent at our house. Caden made out like usual! Everyone sent such great gifts this year. My mom got Caden a cute Gap sweatshirt and great toys. He also got two huge lego sets. He got so many toys that we decided to go to ikea the following day to get a storage unit for all the new books and toys. (We need to go and get one more for his room, the first one filled up so quickly that there is no room left for 'sheldon' the turtle who will be arriving later on this month). Paul and I decided to save money this year for a vacation and to not exchange gifts. But strangely enough, our cat Suki must have gotten out to go shopping because I got some perfume from her and a beautiful necklace from Caden. One of the many reasons why I married Paul, very creative guy I have! After the Christmas toys and joys were unwrapped, we enjoyed a quiet day and prime rib dinner with my Dad. New Year's Eve was also quiet, we looked for trouble, but all we found was the back of our eyelids well before midnight. Caden and I woke Paul up for the countdown for a New Year's hug and kiss!

We have two possible deals in the works for our house in Michigan. Please pray for us on this matter if you can. We so miss our house, our neighbors, our yard...it would make a beautiful home for someone, just a shame to sit there vacant. We have been advised not to rent out because we are so far away and it is more difficult to sell. If something doesn't take place soon, we will be in a really bad place. We need the house to sell so badly. The new year is looking up!

That is it for now, I am trying to update once a week and add more pictures too! I will upload Caden's school pic this week so everyone who didn't get one in the mail can have one--we only paid for four prints this year and the CD, school pics are so pricey and we thought that this way was a smart option.

Happy New Year! Stop bye often and soon! Take care for now!