So Far, So Good

Well, two days into the job and so far, so good! The drive has been excellent and I've gone home for lunch both days (something I haven't done in a looong time!). I know it has only been two days but you can usually tell pretty quickly if you're gonna dislike the job, and I feel quite the opposite! I think it will be a job that I really enjoy, and I am excited about working in a small office with a small amount of people. I've always worked in a corporation so the atmosphere is completely different!

My wires came out Friday, and after I slept off the sedation, I was hurting and aching pretty bad. My gums are extremely sore and they just throb! I've been taking my pain medicine which just really throws me out of whack! I didn't sleep well the first night ~ I woke up wide awake at about 1am and read my book and watched TV, and by 6am I was up, showered and at Wal-Mart!! I've since cut back on my medicine and I've been sleeping much better!

I also want to give a quick update on Nikki ~ and it's good news!! She got a call from her nurse today and her tumor counts are DOWN!!! So hopefully this means that the new chemo is working! She has an appointment with her doc on Friday and hopefully the good news will continue to pour in!

Below I'm going to post a "before" pic from Friday ~ this is what I've been dealing with since the beginning of May! Then I've got a couple of random pictures to post as well. Hope everyone had a great weekend!



METAL, METAL, METAL!!!


My Mom and I


Justin and I at a Panic show!!

New Beginnings

Well, I am happy to say that my interview this morning went fantastic!! It actually went to so well that I got a call a few hours later with an offer!!! I am SOOOO excited about this job! It seems like it will be a great learning experience for me, as well as challenging at the same time. And what's even more amazing - I start on MONDAY!!! It's literally about four minutes from home so I am ecstatic about the drive (or lack thereof!)!! I can also work flexible hours so that I have every other Friday off!! The interview was pretty easy and I made an instant connection with both ladies interviewing me, and I think I will get along very well with both of them!! I am just so relieved...I feel like I can actually breathe again!! This just takes away so much stress, you just don't even know!!!

On top of getting a job offer today, I cannot stop thinking about tomorrow!! I mean, what a great way to start off my weekend!! A job offer, getting my wires out, recovering and then starting a new job!!! A fresh start....a new beginning. I could not be happier and I feel like I'm on top of the world right now!!

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers during my stressful time! Please continue to think about and pray for my friend Nikki. Have a great weekend!!

Interviews!!!

So as of this morning I have two interviews lined up! I'm really excited about them!!! I was hoping to have an offer on one of the other jobs by now, but, more interviews are a step in the right direction. Plus, the more interviews I go on, the better. I admit they are stressful, but the more practice I get at them, the better I will be. One interview is tomorrow morning, and the second is scheduled for Monday morning. I hope they both go well and I'll be sure to report back any news I get!!

Well, in about 41 hours (but really, I'm not counting or anything!), I will be at the doctor's office getting prepped and sedated for my wire removal!! I seriously cannot wait!! Of course, I will have that day off to recover, and I'm also taking Saturday off in case I'm still drowsy or in any pain. I can't remember how I felt the last time I went through this, I can only remember sleeping the sedation off the whole day. So, in a way it will be like a new experience!!

I also wanted to give a quick update on Nikki ~ she had her doctor's appointment last week and didn't really get great news. She said that since the higher dose of chemo wasn't very effective, there is no point in continuing with that particular chemo treatment. She started another one last Thursday, and I haven't gotten an update on how that one is going. Since she has never tried this chemo before, there is a 30-40% chance of it shrinking what she has, but the doctor does not think this will cure it. If this chemo doesn't work, the next step would more than likely be clinical trials. Amazingly, she still has this positive outlook on things, and can still find a way to see the good side, rather than the bad. It's amazing to me how she has stayed so positive throughout this whole process. She realizes that there are some people who have it worse off than she does, but at the same time she realizes how lucky and fortunate she is to have lived the life that she has. I'll share something that I haven't yet shared with her ~ when I was cleaning out that closet last week, I found an old scrap box that I have kept all of her old letters in from when she moved to Illinois. There were SO many of them!! There were even some notes that she gave me when we lived right next door to each other!! I took a while to read through some of them, but I couldn't quite make myself read them all because of how emotional I got. The ones that I did read brought back so many memories!! Some of the things that she wrote are so ironic to read now, knowing the situation she is in. Even then, she had this amazing outlook on life. I know that outlook is what is keeping her here, fighting this disease with everything ounce of her being. I hope and pray that she continues to fight like she has, and that she can continue to keep her positive outlook on life. Please pray for her as well, along with her family.

Another Week Has Begun

Mondays. I'll be honest...Monday has never been my favorite day of the week. Nothing is worse than waking up early after sleeping in all weekend, fighting the Monday morning traffic to work and then having the "case of the Mondays". But since I haven't been working these last few months, I don't so much mind Mondays anymore! It's so nice going to bed Sunday night knowing that I don't have to get up and fight off the "case of the Mondays" like I used to. Having said that, I would give anything at this point to have to wake up early and go to work on a Monday!!! It might take some adjusting and getting used to again, but I would gladly welcome the change.

My weekend was pretty uneventful....I worked Friday night, Saturday morning and then again on Sunday afternoon. I don't mind the job because it keeps me busy and gives me a little bit of money, and I really enjoy being out and interacting with people!! But I do miss knowing that I have at least two days out of the week where I can do whatever I want, and not have to worry about my work schedule. I'll be so glad to get back into the Monday through Friday, 8-5 routine!

I haven't heard from my recruiter since Friday, but I did get some promising news from him! The job that I am really hoping for has narrowed their decision down between me and one other person. So a 50/50 shot sounds pretty decent!! They wanted to take the weekend and possibly a few more days to think about it, but honestly, I was hoping they would have decided today, called with an offer and have me start working next Monday!! Wishful thinking, I know...but a girl can hope!!

I spent today cleaning out a closet. For some people, that may sound like a horrible way to spend a few hours, but not for me!! I'm totally in my element when I do things like that. I love to clean and organize things and I usually re-organize this particular closet every 6-9 months or so. I took three bags of clothes to the Salvation Army, went through a few scrap boxes (I have a LOT...I'm quite the sentimental pack-rat) and moved some things around so that there is much more room. You can actually walk in the closet now!!! Which is good considering it IS a walk-in closet!

A week from Friday (July 11) I get all of my metal and wiring out of my mouth from my jaw surgery, and I am sooooo excited! I cannot wait! I've gotten pretty used to it all being there, but I won't miss it when it's gone!! I'll try to post a before and after pic so you can kinda see what's been in my mouth for the past 2 months!!

Enough for now...I hope you all have a great week, and please continue to pray for my friend Nikki. Thanks for reading!!

For Those Who Pray...

I have a friend who now lives in Illinois, but grew up living next door to me. We became immediate friends when they moved from Kansas to the house beside us. The day we met, our moms were introducing themselves and we were being shy and hiding behind our moms. Naturally, a friendship was made. We became fast friends, riding bikes in the neighborhood, playing Barbies together, climbing on dirt and gravel piles, wondering through half-built houses in our fast-growing subdivision, hiking through the woods to what we all called "Death Valley", swimming in our pool (even when we weren't supposed to), picking on our little brothers and then deciding they were okay enough to play with....You know, all the typical things kids do when they're growing up. Not long after her family moved in, her dad passed away. Seeing as how my dad passed away when I was seven, I easily related to what she was going through, and have always hoped that in some way I was able to help her cope through the situation. A couple of years later, her family packed their belongings once more and headed North to Illinois where most of their family lived. It was extremely sad to lose my best friend and next door neighbor. The day they left, we took polaroids together...pictures that I still have and always will. Since she moved, we've seen each other once, but kept in touch in our younger days through many, many letters. The older we got, the more we lost touch. Somehow, she found my email address during college and our correspondence picked right back up. But unfortunately, we somehow managed to lose touch once again. Now in the days of modern technology (MySpace to be specific), she found me once again! I cannot tell you how happy I was, as I have thought about her and her family often over the years. We have since kept in touch with each other very well, but under somewhat different circumstances. You see, the email she wrote me "catching up" on her life over the last few years was not your typical email. She informed me that over the last year, she has been battling a rare form of cancer. Cancer. My 26 year old friend is battling cancer. Does that strike you as heartbreaking as it did me? Her rare type of cancer is called "non-gestational choriocarcinoma". It began in June 2007 as a blood clot in her left jugular led doctors to a tumor that had been growing in her chest, right above her heart. They also found some smaller tumors in her lungs. She has had numerous surgeries and chemo treatments since then, and is constantly in and out of the hospital. At the same time she has continued school, and has recently started planning her wedding for next year. Her last "chemo camp", as she calls it, was over the last few weeks, and she was able to go home over the weekend. She had a check up Tuesday with her doc, and received some extremely upsetting and disappointing news. Her tumor marker has actually gone up since it was last checked BEFORE she went into the hospital for her chemo treatment. They expected the number to be non-existent, so you can imagine how hard this news was to hear. She has another check-up next week that will tell her a little more, and hopefully she will get an explanation on what's going on. I cannot even begin to imagine how tough this journey has been for her. I don't think anyone really can unless you've been there before. I am asking for your prayers for Nikki. She has a beautiful life that needs to be lived, and that can still be accomplished. Please pray for Nikki to be strong and to think positive. You can imagine that she has moments where she gets down and discouraged...I honestly don't know how she's handled it so positively thus far. I can't say that I would have handled it the same way she has, although I like to hope and think that I would. Please pray for her doctors, her family and friends. She needs all the prayer we can give her. She has a blog that she updates us on, and I don't think that she would mind me posting her link on my blog. You can read more about her journey, and she loves getting words of encouragement! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers at this time...I know that Nikki would appreciate them more than you could ever know.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nicholewilliams

Learning Life's Little Lessons

Today has been such a better day than yesterday was. I have been going through this depression phase due to not having a job, and it started to finally look up for me! I had an interview this morning that I think went really well!! I am really looking forward to hearing some feedback because if I were to get this position, I would be sooo happy! I really like the company and the position, and it would give me an opportunity for growth within the company, which is really important to me.

When I got home after the interview I got a phone call from one of my other recruiter's who had set me up on another interview tomorrow afternoon!! I have done some research on the company and it sounds really interesting. I am very excited to go interview and learn more about the position and the company.

I have learned some important things over the last 24 hours or so. I have learned that no matter how bad things get, no matter how low I feel, I should never question the existence of God and my faith in Him. Sometimes that is really hard to do when you've done nothing but prayed so hard for things, and then feeling like those prayers are never even heard. That is how I've been feeling lately, and it was a nice change yesterday to feel like some of those prayers had finally been heard, and better yet, answered. I know that God has His own way of doing things, and I should not question that. It's not my place to question Him and His reasonings. Ugh, but again, sometimes that is much easier said than done. But I am learning, and the best that I can do is to learn from my mistakes and move forward. So this is me.....learning and moving forward!