Deadlines and ER's and Biopsies, Oh My!

As many of you know, my mother has had some health problems over the last several years.  In fact, I think the only time I blog is when I need to update people about moms condition.  Well, about a month ago, my mom saw a nephrologist in Blanding, and he told her he was concerned about her liver.  So they ran tests, and of course they never called mom to give her the results.  I apologize to any that may read this that are big fans of UNHS’ nursing staff at the Blanding clinic; my opinion of them is not very high.  She was also told to make an appointment with a GI doc in St. George.  Shortly after the nephrology appointment her legs started to swell again and turned beet red.  She canceled her first appointment with Dr. Perino (the GI doc) and decided to reschedule at a time that she could see Dr. Assiago (the amazing nephrologist that saved her life before). 

But as her health became worse, we all became more concerned that she needed to get here sooner.  Finally, I called Grandma Palmer and asked her to have one of my cousins who is an RN go check her vitals (and I can not thank Sunny enough for doing so).  Her blood pressure was really high so Sunny asked her to come to the hospital the next day and have her BP taken again.  When mom went to the hospital the next day, Sunny took her blood pressure and went over and got my mom’s primary care doctor to come take a look at her.  It was determined that she needed to drive to St. George immediately and go to the ER where they would be better equipped to help her.  So mom and dad went home and for the first time in nearly 19 years made the decision to not publish a newspaper that week, or in the weeks to come until they knew what was going on.  They loaded up the car and drove to St. George. 

Since the most recent edition of the Panorama was published, my parents have been to the ER on St. George, told there was nothing wrong with my mom, sent back to Cedar, sent back to St. George for an appointment with a different doctor than she normally sees, told there was nothing wrong with her, sent back to Cedar.  Finally, she was able to see Dr. Perino and Dr. Assiago, and they both agreed that there was definitely something wrong with her.  They did a biopsy on her liver, and ran more tests. 

One of the tests came back positive for ANCA vasulitis (according to Dr. Assiago, this test NEVER comes back positive).  Dr. Assiago is referring her to the Vasculitis center at the University of Utah to hopefully find a treatment plan to help her regain some health.  However, he told her that although she may be able to go back to work eventually, she will never be able to do a job that requires her to be meticulous again.  She is scheduled to go to the U on December 17 (hopefully sooner if there are cancelations).  We will hopefully have the results of the liver biopsy back this week.  Mom is doing ok, but it’s a lot to take in, especially if the liver biopsy comes back really negative.  It’s hard to accept that you can’t keep doing what you love to do; in mom’s case she loves to work. 

Now, while all of this was going on, Cameron and I convinced my dad to get a second opinion on his back.  Our bishop’s daughter is a PA for Dr. Reichmann in Provo, so we sent her dad’s MRI and she called the day she looked at them and told him that he absolutely needed surgery and that they wanted to get him in before Thanksgiving.  We are so grateful for that.  It has been very difficult for dad to do anything because he never knows when his legs will go numb.  He will be meeting with them in a week and hopefully he will have surgery in the next couple of weeks.

It has been an extremely difficult month to say the least.  There is so much that we still don’t, and won’t know for the next month or so.  The most pressing concern has been what is going to happen to the paper.  Mom would like to try to keep it going for a while, just until they can pay off some of the medical bills, but dad would love to walk away and get closer to his family in Vegas and good medical care.  I think it is hard for all of us to think about walking away from a business that has been such a huge part of our lives. 

When I was in high school, a column ran in the Salt Lake Tribune by Robert Kirby about all the reasons his daughter thought it sucked to be Robert Kirby’s daughter.  I could relate to everything that she said.  It was rough to be a newspaper mans daughter while I was in high school.   Although I can’t recall all of the reasons that she listed, I remember that I could empathize with each and every one of them.That being said, I in no way thought it sucked to be a newspaper mans daughter. 

Sure it was a little embarrassing to have my dad be everywhere all the time, but that was the job, and I understood that.  As I have gotten older and gone into the “real world” I have come to the realization that my parents are absolutely incredible.  Most Newspapers have a full staff of writers, photographers, salespeople, and designers; the Panorama has always had a staff of two and some amazing community members that have been willing to write columns and news stories for us. 

 

Now Dad will try to tell you that my Mom is the backbone of the paper, but I believe that my Dad doesn’t give himself enough credit.  But we all see and know how hard he works, and in my opinion he is superman.

 

I have watched him for 18 years as he has covered the news for this community, and for 18 years he has put this community before everything.  Covering the news came before friends, family and often times health.  He has done everything in his power to make sure that every event was covered, that every sporting event had pictures and that every opinion has been heard.  We had never missed a deadline, until October 2012.

The next month or so will be interesting.  As we try to sort out what is going on with the paper and my parents health, I would just like to thank all those that have shown concern for my parents.  It’s nice to know that people care.  Please be patient as we sort this all out.  Thank your for your prayers and support.

What I Need

  When I was a little girl, when people would ask, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I always said “a mom.”  I know this is a fairly typical answer for women of the LDS church, but I really meant it.  I wanted more than anything to be a full time mom, I wanted to nurture and raise mini-me’s and mini-Mr. Rights.  I wanted to teach them to sing and act and play baseball, all the things my parents had done for me.  And most of all, I wanted to be pregnant.  I used to look in the mirror and push out my tummy as far as it would go and think, “I am going to be so cute when I am pregnant.”  I know that may sound a little crazy, but the thought of life growing inside of me, life that my husband and I had created was absolutely miraculous to me!

  Life doesn’t always go as you plan.  My junior year of high school I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  PCOS is a disease that causes obesity and infertility in women, although at the time, the Dr. chose not to focus on all of that.  It was still a disease that they knew relatively little about, especially in Blanding.  So I went about my life looking forward to the day I could get married and start a family.  I can’t tell you when they doctor finally told me that there was a possibility that I wouldn’t be able to have children, but I remember shoving it all aside and ignoring it.  Afterall, all that I wanted was to be a mother, so if I was faithful, I would have children.

  For several years I battled the symptoms I had been warned about.  First came the weight gain.  I gained 90 lbs in two years.  Then came my favorite symptom, facial hair.  I tried birth control to regulate hormones, and I took diabetes II medication to try to correct/prevent symptoms. 

When I met Cameron, I was very up front with him about everything, and of course, he was wonderful.  He made it very clear that he didn’t care if I ever got pregnant, that there are other ways to have children, and, having been adopted himself, he was a big supporter of adoption. 

  For a year and a half we tried to get pregnant….and nothing happened.  We finally decided to try clomid, the first dose was unsuccessful, and we decided to try again in a month.  The second time around they increased the dose and still nothing happened, I didn’t even ovulate.  The third time around they put me on the highest dose they could, and when nothing happened again, my doctor told us maybe it was time to pursue other options.

  I cannot begin to describe how incomplete you feel as a woman when you can’t do the one thing your body was created to do.   I felt guilty everyday.  I felt guilty I couldn’t give Cameron a child, and I felt guilty that I couldn’t give our parents grandchildren.  I listened to our sisters announce that they were pregnant 5 times, and every time I would cry myself to sleep that night.  It just wasn’t fair. 

  We met with LDS Family Services once while we were living in Orem, and we both left feeling that the time wasn’t right.  So we waited, finally this February, Cameron said “I think the time is right.” We met with Claire at LDS Family services and got the first round of paper work.  We were all set to go, except for one thing, Insurance.  We assumed that because my parents had been unable to insure me after CHIP ran out, that I would be the one that was uninsurable, so we applied for Cameron.  We were certain that he would be accepted.  As I mentioned in an earlier entry, that did not work out the way that we hoped.  They denied Cameron and refered him to a state program for people that were denied by insurance companies. 

  We were both devastated about this.  Reality began to sink in that maybe it would be another several years before we could adopt because the only way we could get insurance was through a full time job and we are both still in school.  One night, I couldn’t sleep, so, as a joke, I applied for insurance with the same company.  I thought if we had both been turned down maybe we could both get some kind of coverage through the state.  I applied in May, and we went through the entire month of June and didn’t hear anything.  By this time I was living in Blanding helping my parents with their paper, and Cameron was still in Cedar.  On July 10, Cameron’s Birthday, a letter from Regency came.  Cameron was on the phone with me when he opened it, and after a long pause he said “you just gave me the best birthday present ever!’  They accepted me!  I got the email yesterday stating that my coverage has begun and cards will be in the mail shortly.

  It’s amazing how when you feel totally hopeless, Heavenly Father gives you what you need.  Cameron and I will continue the adoption process next month, and pending approval, we will start the wait to have a baby placed with us.  We know it will be a long and difficult and long process but it will be worth it.

Up Date

  The past two months have been a crazy, discouraging, messy blur.  Between the end of the semester/finals, our discouraging news about insurance and not being able to adopt as soon as we would like, and of course my all of the medical issues with my mother, we have been running around like crazy. It's amazing the way that things can happen so fast, looking back on the past two months, I can't believe that we made it through in one piece.  Things like this can cause major contention with in families and instead of contention, I think that we grew closer together.
  Shortly after my last entry my family had a special fast for my mom.  I don't know how many members of the family my Grandma got a hold of, but no matter the number, it worked.  Monday when they did blood work her numbers improved greatly.  Over the next few days she came back to us.  The fog that had surrounded her began to fade and she was finally able to understand what was happening.  She was able to get up and walk around, and the have the biopsy to determine whether the vasculitis had spread to her kidneys.  They also did a biopsy on the sores on her legs the verify that they were actually vasculitis.  We were slightly surprised by the results.
  Turns out, she does not have vasculitis at all.  As I mentioned before she had MRSA in a wound on her hip, and they had put her on an IV and an oral antibiotic.  She had an extreme allergic reaction to the antibiotics and it severely damaged her kidneys.  When she came the Cedar in the first place her kidney function was low, but for it to have dropped so fast in such a short amount of time, well, we were lucky that we caught it so quickly, if we wouldn't have, she could have died.
  She was released from the hospital on May 3rd, she has not been able to go home yet.  Dr. Assiago wanted to keep her close in case anything went wrong again.  She has had to go to the hospital every few days to have blood work so that they could check her levels.  Slowly but surely her kidneys are moving from the kidney failure stage to the "Your kidneys just suck" phase.  Today they did a surgery to put a fistula in her arm in case she needs dialysis again, and everything went great.  She has one really wicked looking incision mark but everything went great.  The best part is, after almost two months she will get to go home next week.  She can't wait!  I am going to go to Blanding to help out with the newspaper for a while.  My dad was supposed to have back surgery yesterday, but the insurance company denied the surgery.  The Dr. is appealing it, but we haven't heard anything yet, but we are hopeful that they will be able to do it before the end of the summer.
  Most of you that knew me during college know that I have two favorite scriptures that I refer to often, mostly because things come hard for us.  The first is D&C 101:16 "Therefore, let your heart be comforted concerning Zion.  For all flesh is in mine hands.  Be still and know that I am God." And Mosiah 4:27 "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.  And again it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."  These two scriptures were my salvation during times of trial and strife.  And right now, they have been ever present in my mind.
  Mom doesn't remember hardly anything from before she came to Cedar, which explains why she was acting so crazy.  A couple weeks ago, as her and I were talking about what had happened over the past couple months, I was expressing how difficult everything had been, especially with all of the adoption stuff.  She looked at me and said "You know, maybe it's a blessing to have the sky fall all at once.  If it happens all at once you can bounce back faster.  So maybe it's better this way."  I think she may be right.

Things Will Work Out

I think that I can honestly say that this past week has been the most difficult week of my life.....well, to this point, but considering all of the other things Cam and I have had thrown at us, that's saying something.

Ok, let me give you a little back story here.  My mom has been sick for a long time.  In previous blog posts, I have talked about her having Cancer, the Cancer coming back a year later, and the struggles that she has had.  In November two little ugly sores appeared on her legs, by Christmas, the sores had multiplied and spread across her lower leg.  It was decided just before Christmas, the doctors told her that they thought she had an autoimmune disease that was causing Vasculitis (for those of you that are wondering what vasculitis is http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vasculitis/DS00513) and that she needed to go to the Mayo Clinic in AZ to see if we could get some answers.  In March she and my Dad made the trip to Mayo, and it was an absoutely HORRIBLE experience.  The Dr. she saw told her that she wasn't even sure why she was there and that she couldn't help her with the Vasculitis at all.  My Mom was so discouraged.

  When she got back to Blanding, the Dr. sent her to a Dermotologist in Provo who immediately began to search for answers.  At the beginning of April, the Dr.s told her that she was starting to have renal failure and that they wanted her to come see a Dr. Assiago in Cedar City.  Last Thursday my Parents and my super fantastic husband all went and saw Dr. Assiago, and right now, I can not sing his praises enough.  He was caring and understanding and very very knowledgeable.  He took some cultures of the sores on her legs, and in paticular one very large sore on her right thigh and sent them off to be checked for MRSA (for those of you who don't know what MRSA is, it is a very aggressive form of Staph that is extremely resistant to antibiotics and can kill you).  He told them not to expect the results for 48 hours and that they should get more blood work done in Blanding.  He called us back the next day to tell us that she had MRSA and needed to go to the ER.  It took some convincing, but we finally got her to go to the ER.  They gave her IV antibiotics and told her to come back the next day.  

  By Sunday, she was so groggy and sick that we convinced her to stay in Cedar at Hillary's and convinced Dad to go home and do the paper and then come back and get her.  She wasn't happy about it, but she agreed.  We took her to the ER on Sunday and they referred her to a Family Practice doc so that she could be sent to the IV clinic and not have to come back to the ER (which we were extremely grateful for.  On Wednesday she was supposed to go to St. George to see a Hematologist but didn't feel well enough to go, so Dr. Assiago ordered more tests and blood work.  Around 4:30 p.m. he called me and told me that Mom was having significant kidney failure and needed to go to the Hospital immediately.  He told me he would call and have the room ready so that all we had to do was take her straight to the room.  That night, he came in and explained that her kidneys were doing much much worse than they were in his office on Thursday, and that they needed to do a biopsy to see if the Vasculitis had spread to her kidneys, but she needed to see a hematologist first so that they could make sure she didn't have a blood platelet disorder.  

  The next morning the Doctor had her transported to St. George.  They attempted the biopsy on Friday, but mom was shaking so badly that they couldn't get the sample they needed.  They will try again on Tuesday.  In the meantime, they have started her on dialysis, and are monitoring her urine output closely.  They told her to plan on being here for a while, which for those of you who know my mom well, was extremely difficult for her to hear.  So here we are.  Cam and I are currently in her hospital room with her for the night.  Dad is heading back to Blanding tomorrow to do the newspaper and then he will head back.  I really don't have a whole lot of definite answers.  I think Dad said it best, "in the past few weeks our whole world has been changed."  

  In addition to all of this, Cameron and I received word yesterday that we can't get medical insurance, which means we can't adopt a baby.  I can not even explain to you how difficult that is.  We know that it isn't completely impossible, but we know that it will be many years before we will get to have a child, if we get to have one at all.  I don't think that I have ever been quite so grateful for Cameron.  He just held me and let me cry and told me repeatedly that he doesn't care if we ever have children, that he is happy just to be with me, and I know that he means it.

  I found a quote last week that I printed off for my mom last week by President Hinkley, "Keep trying. Keep believing.  Don't get discouraged.  Things will work out."  And I guess that's what we are all going to have to do right now.  Those of you that read this, if you would please say a special prayer for my mom, I would be eternally grateful, and she could use them.

Random Venting

True to my former blogging patterns, it has been about six months since my last entry. So it is time to catch up the two or three individuals that read our blog on the happenings of our life.

Well things are going really well. We are both just working on school and trying to make it through this semester. This semester has been quite a bit more difficult for both of us. We are on almost completely opposite schedules so with the exception of two or three hours before bed and the one class that we have together, Cameron and I don't get to see each other very often. The classes we are taking have also been more difficult. Cameron is taking a couple of pre-med (that's right PRE-MED) classes. He has Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, and Sports Nutrition, all of which are extremely difficult. I personally think that he is crazy, but he loves it.

My classes aren't particularly hard, they are just LONG and time consuming. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I am in class from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. for three classes, each of them is 3 hours each. But I am enjoying everything except my drawing class, and I am doing well in everything.

Let me just pause here for some random venting. Going back to school was probably the hardest decision I have EVER made. For one, I had spent a lot of time in a major that I didn't really want to do before, so I knew that coming back to SUU would be really difficult simply for the fact that all of those that knew me during my "slacker" days would judge. For two, I am almost 30 and won't graduate until I am close to 33, and because of that I knew that people would be cruel and insensitive.

Knowing this has not made it any easier. It seems like every where I go some one has an opinion on the "old woman" going back to school, or on the fact that I am getting a degree in Photography when there are so many "Debbie-Digitals" in the market. I saw an old friend last week while I was waiting for Cameron to get off work at the SUU pool, when this friend asked me what I was doing there I told them that I had come back to finish my degree. He asked me how long I had left, and when I told him three years, he laughed in my face, then asked me to repeat that and laughed again. Cameron took me to Vegas for a couple of days during spring break and we had two of those time share guys stop us on the strip and try to get us to go to their presentations, when we told them we were students so we didn't meet the income requirements, they looked at me and asked how old I was, then promptly pointed out, that they weren't judging (You're 30!? I'm not judging, but really, you are still in school.) Cam and I went up north and again I had people tell me that what I was doing was worthless. Even my own Grandmother told me that I had been is school so G.D. long that I was just wasting money and never going to graduate. I understand it is unusual, especially considering the fact that I left a job to go back to school, but this was a decision that I prayed about and felt that we needed to do. There comes a point in time that I just want to start telling people to go to hell. Some times it gets really old being mocked and ridiculed for what you are doing.

Although it has been difficult to have people put down my education so much, that still doesn't compare to the whole baby thing. I have come to the conclusion that people are just stupid, that may sound harsh, but it's the only explanation I can think of for the things people say. If I hear one more time, "you don't understand cause you don't have kids" or "someday when you have kids you will understand" or "we had been trying to get pregnant for so long, like 4 months and it was really hard to not get pregnant" I am going to lose it. Just because I have not been able to carry a baby in my body and then push it out a little hole doesn't mean that I don't know anything about kids. Trust me, I work very hard to be the favorite Aunt to my sisters children, and I have been babysitting for her since Tyler (10) was a baby. And I worked with kids everyday at Photo Works and Kiddie Kandids, trust me, I am not as stupid as I look. It is just the most frustrating thing EVER. And Cam and I get this EVERYWHERE we go. I even had some one tell me once "Oh my gosh, I wish I had to adopt. Aren't you so glad you don't have to be pregnant?"

I know we are supposed to love one another and forgive people when they treat us like crap and be more Christlike, and trust me, I am trying and praying that I can do that. Right now though, I just want to scream. Sorry, I just needed to get that out.

On a happier note. Cameron and I are finally starting the adoption process! We have our first meeting with LDS family services in April and we are so excited. It has been a great blessing to have so much time with just the two of us, but we are ready to start our family.

Sorry this blog was a little negative. I just needed to get some of that stuff out. And like I said, there are only two or three of you that read this anyway. The next entries will be happier, I promise!!

Top Ten List

Well, we made it through our first two weeks of school! Hooray! It has been really weird to be back, but we are both enjoying our classes and are....so far....doing really well.

There are a few things that I picked up on during my first two weeks back. So here they are!

Katie's List of Top 10 Things she learned in the first two weeks of school:

10. Get to class early enough to get a comfortable seat, other wise it will be 50 minutes of uncomfortable Hell. My first day of my Nutrition class I was just a little later than I wanted to be, and I always try to sit on the left end of the room because I am left handed and hate bumping elbows. I ended up sitting in a broken chair that was extremely uncomfortable. Needless to say, the next class time I was 10 minutes early.

9. Don't sit behind tall guys during art history. Your notes will be lacking if you can't see the board, and you may or may not spend the entire class trying to write down what your professor says verbatim with out any luck.

8. The T-Bird Grill is gross......'nough said.

7. Some times, trees can be photogenic. So when we first got back to Cedar, I went and talked to the University Journal to see if they needed photographers. It doesn't pay much, but it helps. Well last weekend, I was given two assignments, the SUU Volleyball Tournament, and a tree. That's right, a tree. The only instructions I was given was "It's a tree adjacent to the Randall Jones Theater." Of course I took pictures of the wrong tree, but the photos I did get were pretty cool.

6. It's harder to run the stairs on campus than it used to be. When I was a criminal justice major at SUU I had to make it from lower campus to the fourth floor of the GC building on the edge of upper campus in 10 minutes and got pretty quick at it. In fact I didn't even get winded or tired.

Well, that is not the case any more.......

5. If you choose to go back to school when you are almost 30, you will get asked ALL of the time "are you really a student here."

4. Enoch has the most beautiful sunsets ever! The other night we got home just as the sun was going down and I was able to get a couple of shots of the western and eastern sky. This is why I

was excited to move back to Southern Utah.

3. Water Polo is a scary sport! Cameron is playing water polo with the club on campus, last weekend he convinced me to come watch them play. Wow....that's all I'm going to say! At one point it looked like my big goofy husband was going to give one of the other guys a hug, the POOF, the guy was no where to be found. When I asked Cameron about it he just laughed and said, "that's Tanner, he's pretty cool." So see kids, it's cool to hug your friends and then drag them underwater with your feet.

2. I love water!! I can't get enough of it, in fact, I drink more water than coke or pepsi now. Huge accomplishment!!!!

and the number one thing I have learned in being back at SUU.....

10. I can make art with out my camera! I am taking 2D Design this semester, and lets be honest, I can't draw!! Not even sort of. So this class was making me nervous. Well we spent this whole week working on our first project, we were supposed to demonstrate line. I think mine looks pretty cool.

In other news, I was hired yesterday to be the office assistant for the science department, so that is good news!!! Yeah for being employed!!! It's good to be back!

Back to School!

So Cameron and I just recently moved back to Cedar City. We have been trying to get back to Southern Utah for about a year now, and I wish that I could say that we got an amazing job here and we are going to make buckets of money, but that just isn't the case. We are going back to school.

Now those of you who knew me during my first stab at college know that I was a less than enthusiastic student. I was really excited about the social aspect (roommates, singles ward, HOPE and of course my never ceasing search for my Mr. Right) but as far as academia goes, I mentally checked out. It isn't that I wasn't mentally capable of being a good student. I just didn't care and I didn't like it. My philosophy was "I just want to be a photographer anyway, so I don't need a degree for that." In someways I was right, in many other ways I was really wrong.

In the past three years Cameron and I have had challenge after challenge thrown at us. We have dealt with trips to the ER, surgeries, cancer, heart attacks, more cancer, broken hands and lost jobs.

We thought when the job at Photo Works came through that we were going to be ok. And then Cameron graduated from massage school, and we thought we were going to be great. Then Cameron broke his hand, you can't do massage with out both hands. Then after working 60 to 70 hour weeks during Christmas, my employers demoted me to a part time associate and I was making in a month what I had made in a pay check.

So in June, after getting paid so little to do so much at my job and Cameron not being able to find a massage job, we made a decision. We needed to further our educations. We moved six weeks later after being accepted to SUU.

I am majoring in Graphic Design, and of course I will take some photography classes in there as well. Also, all of those Criminal Justice classes that I took before were worth it, because I have enough credits for a minor! Cameron will be taking prerequisites at SUU for a year, then transferring to Dixie to to the Physical Therapy Assistant Program. He will apply for the program in March and my fingers are crossed that he gets in. This program is the perfect compliment to his massage.

Ok so I've sounded a little whiny, "poor Katie and Cameron, they just can't catch a break, boo hoo." But really that is not my mentality at all. I am so glad that we had to go through hell to get here. I am actually excited to be back in school. Scared to death and feeling REALLY old, but excited! If it were not for the hardships that we have had in the last three years, I don't think I would have made the decision to go back. I would have worked forever at Photo Works for less than I am worth and although I would have tried to be a better photographer everyday, I wouldn't have had the training that I needed to make me great!

As an outlet, I will be blogging about this new adventure in out life. I figure we are going to be so busy that that may be the only way that we can communicate with anyone other than Cam's parents (who we live with), Carly and Scott (Cam and Scott have a class together) or Hillary (just because Savannah will ask why we never come over, and I am a total sucker for Vannah). Hopefully with in the next year or so we will have adoption new to blog about as well.

Anyway, so that's just a little update on us.

A Year Between Blogs.

Wow......I am terrible at keeping up with this. I have started SO many different posts and then gotten bored or busy and just never finished them. So I have a year worth of catching up to do. So, here goes........

Cameron got approval to walk on July 2nd right in time to go to Blanding for the Palmer Family reunion. We spent the summer getting him up and good to go for work. He was work released in August and got hired at Chrysalis. It was a blessing that he was able to find something so quickly.

Since we got married in 2006, Cameron has tried so hard to get me to let him go to massage therapy school. Every time the subject would come up I would QUICKLY dismiss it and tell him no. For one, I really didn't want him touching other women, I know that seems a little jealous and such, but I just couldn't feel comfortable about it. I also thought it was an easy way out. You know, you see all the commercials on TV "get your degree on line and get paid 5 million dollars, and we'll give you a free lap top." blah blah blah blah. Well, at the beginning of August Cameron asked one more time. I told him, "tell you what. I will check and see when their sessions start, if there is one starting in the next two weeks, I will say yes no questions asked. If not, then we will seriously discuss it before the next session started.

I got on the computer the next morning, and....the next session started that day and there wasn't another starting for 10 weeks. I felt relieved. I told Cameron that he should go and get some information from Utah College of Massage Therapy and we would talk about it that night. Well, any of you who know me well, know that God tends to have to slap me up side the head before I get the message. So Cameron went to the school and he called me an hour later called me and said, "they have a night class that starts at 7 tonight, so I enrolled and got approved for the student loan, I will finish in and year and this way I can work during the day." WHACK!!! Smack upside the head.

Honestly it was the best decision ever. He loves it, and he is SO good at it. He just recently interviewed to do his clinicals on Friday which is apparently a really difficult thing to get. He is happier than I have ever seen him. So....if anyone wants a massage, let me know.

Anyway, life was pretty normal for the rest of 2009. We thought for sure that 2010 just has to be better than 2009. I mean it had to be, right? In 2009 (in chronilogical order) we hit a deer, Cameron lost his job, Mom had her thyroid removed, the same day Cam slips on ice and breaks his leg badly enough that he has to have surgery. Then they find cancer in my mom's thyroid, and has to have radiation treatment. We find out that I will probably never be able to have a baby, just to name a few of the wonderful trials and tribulations we had. 2010 had to be better, right? Wrong.

On January 10 at 10 p.m. I got a call from my boss "Katie, we haven't been totally honest with you about Kiddie Kandids. We are negotiating with the lenders, but we will not be opening tomorrow. We'll have you back in the studio by Friday at the latest, and I will keep you posted." at 11:55 I got a text for my boss "Kiddie Kandids just filed chapter 7 bankruptcy, I am sorry. Go get your stuff from the studio in the morning and call your staff."

BOOM.....We started 2010 off with a bang. We felt the world fall back down. Since January, I have worked for PictureMe Portraits in Walmart, and Brent Brown Toyota (that's right, I sold cars) and I am currently getting ready to start a whole new adventure with a brand new portrait studio in the same location I was working in and several members of my old staff. Cameron quit at Chrysalis in March and took a sells job so that he could gain a little more experience with sells before he starts his own practice. He finished that job in April and started working for Cinemark at the dollar theater tonight.

I feel really blessed that with the economy the way it is right now that we have both been able to find new jobs as quickly as we have. It has been a fantastic demonstration of the tender mercies of the Lord. We have had an AMAZING support system. Honestly, we have the BEST families in the entire world!

So here we are, 45 classes away from Cameron's graduation, 10 days away from me starting my new job. The past year has been a stuggle, but we are getting by the best we can, and we are happy. I should do this more than once a year.......

Update and Megan's Engagements

At the persistance of Miss Monica, I am finally updating our blog. (Hooray!) Things have been good for the most part for Cameron and I since my last blog. Cameron can finally put a little bit of weight on his foot and start working up to walking with a regular shoe instead of the boot and a cane instead of crutches. Unfortunately all Cameron hear in the appointment was "regular shoe" and "walking with a cane." Therefore it is like pulling teeth to get him to wear the boot at all. Luckily we don't have a cane, so he can't fight me on using the crutches, but he has decided that it's ok for him to drive because he says I drive like an old woman. I decided to post a picture of how happy he is when I try to get him to take care of himself.

Isn't he handsome!?

Last Friday I got to do some out of studio photography. I took my cousin Megan's wedding announcement photos. It was so nice to take photos of adults that smile on cue with out the assistance of the tickle feather. It also helps when you have such good subjects to take pictures of and Megan and Nate were fabulous. But in addition to the great pics of the happy couple, the scenery up Provo Canyon was beautiful. I couldn't help but post some photos.

This is the path to Bridal Veil Falls. I just thought it looked cool the way the light hit the road and how green everything was.

These were flowers along the trail.

More Flowers.

And more flowers.

This was taken at Vivian Park just past Bridal Veil.

Cameron was such a trooper, he tagged along on the crutches all over the place, he even climbed climbed around in Bridal Veil Falls to get the good lighting.

Here are some of the photos of Megan and Nate. They did an awesome job. Hopefully this week I will have enough time to get the Joslin's Photography blog up and running.

All in all it's been a pretty good month so far. I feel like I should knock on wood when I say that, but it has been. I get to go to Cedar on Thursday to see the Hollingshead family and Cami. I will post more pics next week.

One Crazy Month

Hello everyone! This is my second attempt at the whole blogging world. My first attempt failed miserably. But recently I had a very good friend tell me about some one who was trying to adopt and found a birth mom through their blog. I know that that is a slim to non chance, but since that is the avenue that Cameron and I are looking at right now, I figured it was worth a shot.
So that and the fact that I am terrible at keeping in contact with people on a one on one basis has inspired Our Little Corner of the World and (soon to come) Joslin's Photography.
It has been an amazingly trying year! It's a wonderful reminder of the tender mercies of the Lord, and the amazing way that he strengthens and guides us. From the end of January, to now it has been one unfortunate event after another. There are times that I feel that God just challenges me to see how far He can push me. I know that this isn't true but sometimes it feel that way.
Currently, Cameron is recovering from orthopedic surgery on his Tibia and Fibula, and my mom is in isolation because she is doing radiative iodine treatment for thyroid cancer, and I am realizing that I have been given a great opportunity to take care of my family.
I guess there are just some things in life that we aren't supposed to understand, that's what I am going through right now. Between my husband being out of work for three months and having to take care of him all on my own, and my mom having cancer, and (last but not least)the fact that we have not yet been able to have a baby I have felt really bitter.
But I have realized that I need to look at things I can be greatful for. True Cameron is out of work for a while, but I have a good job that I love and I can provide for us. And yes, my Mom has cancer, but it's one of the most treatable forms of cancer. And no, I can't get pregnant, but I have 13 wonderful nieces and nefews and I love them dearly, and I get to help other mothers create memories of their children everyday through my photography.
So it may be stressful in Our Little Corner of the World, but every minute of that stress is a blessing.

PS not all of my entries will be a novel like this one.