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Going on hiatus..

Well to get right to the point, I will not be blogging for a while and this is why:

Joseph and I paid a visit to the ophthalmologist (eye specialist) on Tuesday. Joe was diagnosed with partial blindness, or visual impairment, due to nerve damage, and probably caused by his MS. Since it is nerve damage it is medically irreversible. This new diagnosis has been a shock and been pretty devastating for the both of us. As of yesterday he is no longer able to work at Toyota. We are seeking out help and resources from Blindness centers and vision rehabilitation services, also unemployment and we already have an appointment for disablilty.

So I will be leaving my morning job (keeping my teaching job if possible) for something more full-time while we work things out for Joe. We have already hit the phone lines hard talking to state foundations for the blind and we will be in touch with a vocational and rehabilitation counselor, from the Department of services for the Blind, soon after Christmas.

Joseph and I have already received priesthood blessings from my grandfather and from the sounds of it he will not be regaining his vision, but things will somehow work out. We were comforted by the blessings but that does not take away the hurt or difficulty of the situation we are now in. We have also been fortunate enough to be able to visit with our wonderful bishop last night and he is on board and ready to help with whatever we need. He has been a great support for us.

The timing is awful but good at the same time, I am on Christmas Vacation from both from my jobs and so I have the time to dedicate to contacting everyone we need to, and accessing the help we know we need.

**Disclaimer*** we are not looking for pity, or unsolicited advice, however we are looking for prayers and words of comfort from our family and friends during this difficult time. Thank you for understanding.

Really going private

Hey Ya'll just a friendly reminder, we are going private in two weeks, I need more emails if you want to continue reading!! :)

-S

It went down like this... (short story style)

(This is the true story, thanks for your comments, and as you read you will notice that I incorporated all of them into my little story, look for them)

It was a chilly morning and in the slight breeze fog hung thick. As we departed for our journey that day we knew we would arrive our destination with time to spare, we had plenty of time and we had everything we would need. Little did we know the events that would unfold on our way. The trip started out well enough, my handsome companion Joseph and I were alone, and enjoying our time together. Julius (our car) kept us warm, comfortable and entertained us by playing lovely tunes, a soundtrack for our jaunt to Spokane (my birthplace). We were heading to see a magic man, called a neurologist, who looks at brains.

Remember the fog? Fog is a funny fellow, he loves to play tricks on us poor mortals, you know. He would tease, and leave for moments just to return to us full and thick the next. His best trick though is to persuade you to think you are moving slow when in fact if you aren't careful you could accidentally engage warp speed and miss your destination completely, or leave the planet entirely. Luckily, that was not the case with us, however we were traveling much faster than that of the posted speed limit signs. (And in the right direction, we didn't get lost.) I looked down, and discovered my error, but it was too late, curse you fog!

Without my knowledge a police officer had clocked me doing 81 in a 70. He turned on his spinning red, white, and blue lights, signaling me to pull over to the side of the road. I did so. This short, round, kind faced man approached my window and checked my papers (you know insurance, registration, license). He left and went back to his squad car. I was upset, can you blame me, really? The magic man only waits so long and if we were late he may not see us. The officer noticed my distress.... I must stop to explain that there was no crying, wailing or gnashing of teeth present from myself. However the officer was so moved at my demeanor that he called another officer to join us.

The man that came was a tall, and slender man with a very large hat. He approached my window much like the round man, and he asked if I would exit the vehicle and speak to him. I did. He was so very sweet, I was led to stand beside him out behind our car, on the side of a cold and long highway. Things then unexpectedly took a serious turn that held me in complete surprise, apparently my emotional response to the first officer alarmed him so much that it must have seemed necessary for this conversation (or something very close) to take place :

"I wanted to talk to you and make sure that you are doing okay, I was informed that you were pretty upset when you were pulled over. Are you doing okay?"
"Yes, I am fine."
"Are things going alright? Are you in a fight or something? Does your husband ever hurt you?"
Shock and bewilderment hit me, full force. And must have read on my face as I responded,
"What? No. Never. My husband is wonderful and wouldn't ever do anything to hurt me.
"Well we just wanted to check and make sure you didn't need help or anything."
"Thank you I appreciate it, I was just upset about being pulled over."
"So, where are you guys headed?"
"We are headed to see a nuerologist in Spokane."
"A nuerologist huh, so why are you seeing a nuerologist in Spokane?"
"My husband has MS and has had a recently had a flare up and he needs to see this nuerologist, who specializes in treating MS"
"Wow, MS that must be upsetting for you"
"Yes. sir."
"And that must be pretty tough to deal with."
"Yes, yes it really is."
"Now that we know what is going on, you are free to wait inside your vehicle." "Thank you, Officer."

Shortly after this conversation, and after rejoining my loving, albeit worried husband in the car, the round officer approached my window. He took pity on us in our situation, and gave me a ticket for going 75+, thus reducing the fine by $50. (And just so you know, I have already paid my ticket,my first real ticket -that wasn't totally bogus! Seeing as how I obviously earned it.) We continued on our way at a much slower pace, as you can imagine. That little stop cost us 30 minutes,and $93. If it weren't for a handy cell phone, we wouldn't have bean able to call the office of the magic man, and let them know we were going to be late.

Following all of this, we did indeed make it to see the neurologist, and had a productive appointment with him. You should know that Spokane is a busy place, with many one way streets, but for a talented driver like myself and no immediate need for crazy turns, donuts or swirly maneuvers, we found our destination, and also a cute Italian restaurant in which to dine and toast our birthday. Then off to DQ where we got caught up eating ice cream, because it is the best treat in the whole world.

-S

(comments please on my awesome story!)

Riddle me this...

We were late to Joseph's appointment on Monday, because I was speeding.

Kudos to anyone who can tell me what really happened!

P.S. I will share the whole story after some fun guesses!

-S

I've come to realize...

(Alyssa tagged me.)

Rules:
-link to the person who tagged you, and post the rules on your blog
-complete the 36 "I've come to realize" statements
-choose friends to tag and link them at the bottom of the post
-let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1. I've come to realize that my chest-size... is something some people pay a lot of money to have, lol.

2. I've come to realize that my job... (s) help fulfill my need to create music.

3. I've come to realize that when I'm driving... I love driving stick.

4. I've come to realize that I need.... more me time, love Zumba (starting that up again soon hopefully)

5. I've come to realize that I have lost... my want to be tan, being healthy is better.

6. I've come to realize that I hate it when...People swear.

7. I've come to realize that if I'm drunk... then someone must have spiked my drink.

8. I've come to realize that money... does not a happy person make.

9. I've come to realize that certain people... will never learn.

10. I've come to realize that I'll always ...be missing someone.

11. I've come to realize that my sibling(s)... are growing up.

12. I've come to realize that my mom... is one tough cookie.

13. I've come to realize that my cell phone... is getting old, man I need new one.

14. I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning... I didn't want to get up, I just wanted to spend the morning snuggling my hubby instead of going to work.

15. I've come to realize that last night before I went to sleep... I went through the normal routine, tuck in then kick my left foot/leg out, pull a blanket up to my face and cuddle into Joe, get a goodnight kiss or two then sleep.

16. I've come to realize that right now I am thinking... it's hard to think of all the things I've come to realize.

17. I've come to realize that my dad...works really hard, and knows how to play hard too.

18. I've come to realize that when I get on Facebook... I check out everyone's pages, but I don't write on my friends walls as much as I should.

19. I've come to realize that today... for giggling.

20. I've come to realize that tonight... is the last night I teach before Thanksgiving break.

21. I've come to realize that tomorrow... I will sleep in, and then have a productive day.

22. I've come to realize that I really want to... be the best person I can possibly be.

23. I've come to realize that the person who is most likely to repost this is... I really don't know.

24. I've come to realize that life... is completely unpredictable.

25. I've come to realize that this weekend... won't be long enough.

26. I've realized the best music to listen to when I am upset... is nothing.

27. I've come to realize that my friends... are very valuable.

28. I've come to realize that this year... has gone by really fast.

29. I've come to realize that my ex... and I were wrong for each other, but we are each happily married now.

30. I've come to realize that maybe I should... clean my room soon.

31. I've come to realize that I love... my little family of Joe and I, plus our kitty.

32. I've come to realize that I don't understand... why bad things happen to good people.

33. I've come to realize my past... has everything to do with who I am today.

34. I've come to realize that parties...are fun, and family parties and the best.

35. I've come to realize that I'm totally terrified... of never becoming a mother.

36. I've come to realize that my life... is hard, and somewhat amazing.

I tag, well anyone who feels like doing this.

-S

National Adoption Month/ Day

This is the actress from my Big Fat Greek Wedding (LOVE that movie) love her, she is speaking about adoption. Amazing. YOU need to watch this!



There is another article about her HERE love it!

Here's a snippet:
" ...my husband Ian Gomez and I adopted a little girl.

...not because an adopted child seems to be the latest Hollywood must-have accessory. But because, after ten years of banging my head against the brick wall of infertility, I accepted there was another plan for me. And (cue music swell) motherhood turned out to be the most meaningful thing I've ever done with my life. Really.

It wasn't easy to adopt an American child. Actually it's quite simple, but finding out how to do it was the hard part.

I tried many routes that fell through or didn't work out. Then I waited on many lists. The phone didn't ring.

Later, I was put in touch with a lawyer who works with, how shall I put this daintily... known people in my industry, and was informed I could be put at the top of The List and "have an infant within three days." But didn't that mean I would be moving someone down the list? Someone who had waited? Yeah, wrong.

I didn't know what to do. So, I kept asking questions.

A common misconception is that to get a kid you just have to go to another country and be as pretty as Angelina Jolie. As studio executives and movie reviewers have informed me again and again -- I'm not.

So I asked -- don't we have orphanages in the States? I found out no, we don't. But we do have 500,000 kids in foster care. 129,000 are legally free for adoption and waiting for a family. I was stunned.

I realized there was simply no reason to not adopt an "older child." Why not? 129,000 legally free children with no home? In a white hot moment, I knew this was what I had been waiting for.

And now I want to write that it was really easy. But, no. No, it wasn't."


I am loving Adoption month and hoping to be a better advocate for Adoption

-S

FSA Conference/ road trip

As you know I had a road trip through Portland for the Families Supporting Adoption Conference, it was amazing I learned way too much to have included in this post. But I loved it and it was totally worth a road trip alone. The drive was lovely, the colors of fall are so vibrant in Oregon (Wa. Too) it's been so long since I have experienced a real fall. I was driving in and out of rain storms, I saw more rainbows than I can count.

So, I got to stay with these people:
you can check out her post on it HERE, I love how she describes how she knows me, and yes it's true we stayed up 'til 2 am chatting, it was fun! :)

Sierra Seth & Porter

And meet this cutie for the first time:



Then after the conference I stayed with these people:

My Aunt Kim, Uncle Shane and Carly Brooke Macey Isaac and Paige

Funny story, I showed up minutes (literally) after they left for a roadshow, I was tired and hungry so after phone calls between my mom my grandma and another aunt I had the code to the garage to get in and I took myself out to eat. So I changed into PJ's and talked to Joe and then slept for an hour before Kim called and let me know they were on their way back. Then I had a slumber party with 4 out of 5 of those cute kids. Our sleeping arrangement was hilarious. They have a sectional couch downstairs that's where we slept, I slept in the bend, Isaac on the floor, Brooke cuddling a leg, Macey by my head, a hand in my hair for a long while, and Paige on top of or next to me. (she is 4, and was very serious when she said she wanted to sleep with me) at one point in the night she had kicked Brooke in the head so we moved her to the floor, a while later I woke up to that cutie hitting me in the face with a pillow and hearing her cute voice "Shaylee, I want to sleep WITH you!" Believe it or not I slept really well.

Although I wasn't planning on it I went to sacrament meeting with them (Brooke and Macey had there Primary program- they broke it up into jr and sr there are a ton of kids in their ward!) So I packed my stuff and went (in pants- I told them later they can say I was an investigator, or the truth I was traveling and I had no skirt) I managed to find my way back to their house so I could follow the google map instructions to get home (beleive me it was a little complicated) but the drive went smoothly and I made it home it time to take a small nap then get dressed for church and go to choir and meet with our Bishop... and I have a new calling!

The End.
J/K

I am the second counselor in the Primary Presidency.

Until next time

-S

Happy Veteran's Day

A little late I know, we've again been busy. Lots going on and lots still to do. This Veteran's Day I spent thinking about all those who are willing to serve our country and those families of those who have been in Iraq and other places. I am thankful for the freedom's I enjoy and those who have fought to keep it that way. Thank you all.

And here's a picture I stole from my childhood and now life long friend (off her FB) Deana and her husband Jacob, who just returned from Iraq on the 6th.

Don't you love this picture?

Wait, what day is it?

Have you had one of those weeks?
We have.
When it feels like it should be Friday and it's only Monday?

or It feels like a Monday but it's Wednesday?

What through us so off is lack of sleep and anxiety over Joe's Appointments on Tuesday. They went so well! 1st was his Physical Therapy Appointment, we did it there in Spokane because they have a Multiple Sclerosis specializing Therapist there. And if she was to decide he needs weekly visits or something we would follow up locally. But she diagnosed Joe as a Spaz (his words not mine). Joe has Spasticity in his legs, it is what is making it hard for him to walk lately, especially after this last flare up. Basically it means that the muscles in his legs are tight and cause spasms and it can make the muscles feel stiff. Joe is in the middle in the scale they rate him, so not so good but not so bad either. (for more info go here) He has been given a list (with pictures) of stretches he needs to do at least twice a day, and he should try riding a bike too to loosen up those muscles (and Dad has already set him up a bike on the trainer and he is ready to go, after he did that they talked about really getting Joe ready for a cycling event or something?! boys!?)

Next was lunch of course, got to feed my boy... then the MRI. I love how close everything is, the MS Clinic it technically an extension of Holy Family Hospital in Spokane, and Inland Imaging is in the hospital itself. I really enjoyed the guy that helped Joe get ready for the MRI, he was young and has a great attitude for the kind of work he does (he had just met Dr Cooke that day!) After he was set we left him with a phone and walked around (otherwise I'd be going nuts waiting, it takes a while you know). Joe said the MRI went well (as well as you can expect being put into a tube of magnets that buzzes and bangs- you should hear his impression of it..lol)

Joe will be in to see Dr. Cooke again on Nov 30th (not soon enough, but soon enough, he's hard to get into) At that appointment we should be making the decisions on medications and getting then started ASAP!! And we will be so on top of that. He has waited long enough, but we do understand that the MRI had to come first and that because the previous Neurologist didn't give Dr Cooke the requested info (Grr..) Joe was re-diagnosed with MS, which sounds weird but it's good, they agree and Dr Cooke didn't need to see what another Dr had to say he did his own tests and came to *almost* the same conclusion.

What astounds me is how often we have heard Dr Cooke and staff ask why, why hasn't this been brought up before? Why didn't you know he had Spasticity? Why haven't you seen a physical therapist before for MS? Why didn't they MRI your spine? We would like to know that as well, but we are still grateful for the care and treatment that he received with his last Doctor, he saved my husbands life. Before he was my husband, and now Dr. Cooke is saving his quality of life and giving us the resources to do everything that Joe needs.

I love my husband Joseph, he is more than worth all the hassle it is to take care of MS. He is my miracle and my example he is so strong and brave and I will stand next to him through whatever else life has to through at us.

-S

P.S.
more to come it has been a seriously weird week. :)

Thank you Thank you thankyou

I reserved my spot for the FSA conference and I am so so so excited to go. When I realized that it was located so close I felt a real need to go. I am so happy that I was able to make this happen. I wish that Joe could come with me but my schedule is much easier to finagle (nice word huh?) I am going to print out some business cards with my contact info and hope to make some more amazing adoption contacts. I will attend a variety of classes on a plethora of different adoption topics and take copious amounts of notes to share with Joe and you blog readers of course.

Did I tell you I am excited?!

Thanks to all who offered me a place to stay. I am overwhelmed and grateful. I hope that Joe and I can plan a fun trip so we can see you all, I forgot how many people we know in Oregon. Lunch sometime somewhere in or near Portland anyone? (probably after the new year, we have holidays coming up so soon! Can you believe it?)

Thanks so much! :)

-S

HUGE favor???

Any Oregon residing family and friends... (near Portland) I am trying to find a way to go to the FSA regional conference (families supporting adoption), mostly I would need a place to sleep November 6-7 Fri-Sat.... Any takers?

Shaylee

De-Stressers

After the last post I enjoyed these little beauties from my inbox, thanks Jess.

After a long absence...

...it's time to explain. Coming from the notion "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." My blog went silent. I didn't really have much to say that would be uplifting to you readers. While I don't mind blogging about most aspects of our life, it's during the hard times, times when we are struggling that I choose not to spend my time on the blog. Now I don't want the blog to be full of fluff, I'd rather keep it real. And in keeping it real, life is hard. And lately we've been having a hard time. Joseph has MS, this fact isn't new to the blog or to people who know us. But MS is hard. Hard on Joseph BIG TIME. Hard on me to know how to help him, and hard to watch. It's hard to be a poor young couple dealing with MS, medical bills from infertility, and Adoption Paperwork.

Having a husband with MS is hard. MS is an expensive disease.

The MRI's = $$$

Neurology Visits = $$

Treatments = $$

Blood work =$

A Husband who is healthy and happy =

worth more than all the $$$$$ in the world.

We are extremely blessed to find Dr Cooke (special thanks to Gma W and Sheila) He has opened doors for us we may not have been able to find ourselves. Dr Cooke is a member of the MS Society which helps him keep up with the latest in treatments and such, as well as keeping him in contact with other neurologists that specialize in MS. He helped us find MSAA, who sent Joe his cooling system, who is paying for his MRI on Tues (and spine MRI next year). He showed us how to get Joe's (future) medication for little or no cost (hopefully happening really quickly after his MRI on Tues.) MS is still really hard, but Dr. Cooke has already been a HUGE blessing to us, and we are so lucky he is only 2 hours away!!

So what has kept us away? Paperwork! Yup. Basically we were swimming in mud grasping at straws to get out. Lots of paperwork, lots of things to make sure you have done perfectly, lots to communicate to insurance, lots of frustrating phone calls to the Imaging place (who refused to talk to me, and would never call when Joe was home to talk to them!!- stupid HIPPA. We took care of that) 5 or more phone calls to the Clinic to make them understand that the Imaging center needed a new MRI order BEFORE we could make Joe's appointment because the original was 30 days old (yes, the paperwork took that long) and we'd need a new one. All while making sure that we could schedule his Physical therapy for the same day and not conflict. As you see this all finally came together. We go to Spokane on Tues. We are going to try to have a date or something afterwards, because Physical Therapy and MRI's aren't really fun. But Totally necessary.

So after being so tired my eye twitches, a month of paperwork, late night talks, the flu (Joe) extra cuddles, mucho phone calls, playing phone tag, a few tears and chocolate. Things are looking up. Hopefully things will move faster.

-S

Quick update and going private....

I won!!
Funny story, my ticket was thrown out.
I came prepared with my statement, a signed statement from my witness,
and a receipt for the mirror we replaced

I waited for 2 hours!!
Before I had my chance before the judge...
Judge Holly Hollenbeck= awesome!

Here's how it went down: in under 60 seconds I'd say

(J= Judge, M=me)

J: Mecham, Shaylee (he said Me- cham)
S: approached the bench and said my name correctly into the microphone.
J: sorry, well you know if you have a 50/50 chance of saying a name right 90% of the time I will say it wrong.... So Ms. Mecham will you be passing a convience store on your way home?
S: Possibly, yes.?!
J: Well do me a favor will you?
S: Yes.
J: pick up a lotto ticket, it's your lucky day. The officer failed to write up a report. I rule this as not commitmented and you are free to go.
S: Picked up my jaw off the ground "thank you"

I did go to Yokes and bought a dollar scratch ticket (1st time in my life) I did win a dollar, I didn't cash it in, because I don't gamble. But I was ordered by a judge in a court of law to buy one..lol.

In other news...

Joseph has appointments for his Physical therapy and MRI of his brain.
His MRI is paid for, thank you MSAA.
And after mucho paperwork and mucho phone calls
he has both appointments scheduled for a week from today!!
And we should make it back into town,
in time for Pizza and Ice cream with the Primary.

Going Private!: We have decided that we will go private afterall. At the end of the year, so everyone has a chance to get me their emails to be added as a reader. So leave a comment with your email or email me @ josephshaylee@gmail.com


-S

Yes we're still alive...

Update coming soon,
a few possibly.
But tomorrow I am going to court
to defend myself and avoid paying a ticket
for something I didn't do.
Honestly.

-S

p.s. If you read my blog give me a shout out, I am thinking of going private (due to the private nature of things I put on here) and it is important to me that no one is left out.

p.p.s. You, ALL of you CAN leave comments, use the anonymous option and sign your name if you aren't a blogger.

Biggest loser, you in?

Hey everyone. A friend of mine is having a biggest loser contest. Not a lot of people have signed on. I know a lot of us want to change something and that something being weight. So let's do it together. Cassidy has set this up and I want to help bring in more participants. Come on it'll be fun. She is even offering prizes!!

Go here

and here

and all the info is there.

-S

Dove self esteem compaign

Enjoy

-S

Something you have to see to believe..

Yes a giant wagon slide. It's in Downtown Spokane. One of my childhood memories. We went and played after Joe's appointment.

Joseph and Speckles cuddling... yea, he won't admit it most of the time but he likes our kitty.


And this one is just funny, she is yawning, not trying to kill Joe. lol

-S

Questions one would ask themselves about ...

Adoption

For couples considering adoption, there is a lot to think about! If you and your spouse are wondering if adoption is right for you, ask yourself the following questions, we did:

1. Do you and your spouse have similar feelings about adoption?
   

2. Are you and your spouse excited about the prospect of becoming parents through adoption?

3. Are you realistic about the joys, heartaches, struggles, and rewards that can accompany parenthood?

4. Are you ready to let go of the idea of having children through pregnancy?

5. Do you understand that adoption will not cure the pain of infertility?

6. Do you and your spouse have a solid, healthy relationship?

7. Are you ready to be a parent to a child who doesn’t have biological ties to you?

8. Can you provide a loving atmosphere in which a child may thrive?

9. Are you prepared to deal with a child’s questions and possible feelings of loss?
   

10. Are you prepared for the rigors of the adoption process?

11. Are you prepared for the possibility that adoption can result in conflicting, complicated emotions?

If you answered yes to all of the above questions, then chances are good that adoption is the right path for you!*

There are a lot of options when it comes to adoption (domestic or international, foster-to-adopt, agency adoption or private attorney adoption, trans-racial adoption, infant adoption, adoption of older children, etc.); these questions were just meant as a stepping stone to help you to decide whether or not to begin your adoption journey!

[*The above questions are from this page on ItsAboutLove.org]

Oh you poor neglected blog,

I'm so sorry. It must have slipped my mind, you wanted my attention, you needed me to update you. I failed so miserably, please let me explain.

• I started work. Two jobs in fact. I am a paid accompanist at my Alma Mater. By definition "performer paid to play", I'm a professional. Woah. Ya, that is cool. I love it & I love working with Mr. H or Coach (lol) I starting teaching Piano Lessons at the Tri- City Acamedy of Ballet and Music. I only have 4 students, my boss tells me to be patient he'll fill my schedule, but I am happy to start out small.
• I broke my tooth. My #3 molar (I learned that at the dentist, it's one of the main chewing molars) I was walking in Costco, and a huge chunk came out. Luckily my family's dentist excepted me as an emergency patient. I almost lost it in the office when he told me I needed a crown and that my tooth is basically falling apart (due to a failing filling- not rotten though, phew) I have a temporary now, permanent coming in a couple weeks.
• The same day my tooth broke I got my 1st ticket. Yup, true story. I figured that I was pulled over for a missing mirror (another story another time, but it's gone and he can't ticket me for it) so he decided to ticket me for running a red light. It was green!! The ticket was for $124. NOT cool. I had a passenger though, and she is willing to be a witness when I go to court and contest it. Because $124 is a lot of money to pay for something I honestly didn't do!

So dear sweet neglected blog, I hope you understand, I didn't mean to let you go so long. Do forgive me, won't you? I know your readers will, won't you?

-S

For the love of a Neurologist...

haha. Good title, eh?

We LOVE Joseph's new neurologist... Monday was his first visit to his new doc. Here's how the day went:
*Woke up early, left a little late, took Mom with us (to make sure we could find the place- she knows Spokane better) Put the pedal to the metal walked up to the check in desk exactly when they asked us to be there-couldn't have timed it better. lol. We had barely finished the health history when he was called back. The nurse was nice, she took his vitals and also got the info to contact Dr. Vincent- his old neurologist (she needed this because even though we formally requested his medical records over one month before his appointment, we haven't recieved it!! Grr.)
*Anyway Dr Cooke came back really quickly. He got a really detailed history, and he took tons of notes. He spent the next hour or so testing everything (Joseph's reflexes, nerves, balance, vision, hearing, strength resistance and others I couldn't figure out) He was very hands on, and a little old school, he had to see it, test it and write it down. Although he was a little old school testing he is extremely knowledgeable and "in the know" when it comes to medications and treatments for MS. He talked to us about different types of treatment, what he reccommends and he entertained questions about things we have researched.
* He reccommends that Joseph start on Rebif, and get an MRI of his brain and spine (He hasn't ever had a spine MRI) Dr. Cooke also wants Joe to see their Physical therapist once (then we can follow up with more if needed locally)
* Overall I don't think that Dr. Cooke and his staff could be any better or earned any more brownie points- they are spectacular!!

** MRI Follow up** MRI's are REALLY expensive so I did some calling around and MSAA has a program to help MS patients pay for MRI's, it looks like we qualify to have his MRI's paid for completely. So we are currently working on getting all that paperwork done.

** Medication** Rebif is a medication administered 3 times weekly by shot. We've read through the packet, watched the DVD, and everything else, we think it's a good way to go. We feel good about it. And since he can't go on it until after his MRI's there is still time. Good News: Rebif has a program to help patients pay for it, at most we'll pay $50/month, or nothing

***To sum up*** Dr. Cooke & Staff = Amazing!! It's worth the $50 gas (1 tank for the 260-ish mile roundtrip, then the tank filled up again in town), $20 food & $25 co-pay for 2 hours with Dr. Cooke. When compared to what we used to do, pay the same for a 30 min. drive and 15 minutes with his old neurologist. Can you say Score??

-J&S

A little Q & A, mostly A

Due to the plethora of Questions we've had to answer over and over... here's some Q's with the A's...

About Joseph & MS

Q: How is Joe doing?
A: Really great, considering his MS. He is a walking miracle! He works hard to make sure his MS doesn't effect him and his goals.

Q: Is Joseph currently on medication?
A: No. He was on cellcept,basically a mild form of chemo, it was pretty rough on his body. His neurologist in Idaho had us wean him off cellcept because it could cause a scary disease with no symptoms and often fatal. It took over 4 months to make the decision to wean him off & 6 months to wean him off.

Q: Does the lack of Medication cause flare ups?
A: No, not necessarily. Flare ups are the normal course of MS. Medication can help lower the severity and can sometimes reduce the number of flare ups but we do not feel like his most recent flare up was caused by lack of medication. He has been stable with no flare ups for over 4 years until this year.

Q: What are your plans for Joseph regarding medication and treatment?
A: He has an appointment on Monday with Dr. Roger Cooke an MS Specialist, in Spokane. We will see what he recommends. We have looked into LDN, Chiropractic care and others. But we will be seeing what his new neurologist has to saw regarding a course of action for Joseph's care.

About Adoption:
Q: How is the adoption going?
A: It's on pause, we've done all we need to do except pay the $500, we had it but it's gone because of down payment on our new car and paying for Joseph's treatment for his flare up. We are pausing the process because Joseph's health is more important than babies. We have every hope of getting it going again and having the $$ quickly but our money is going towards Joseph.


Any more Qs, leave a comment we are happy to answer!

Our life continues on in craziness

* My Great Grandmother W passed away as we were traveling back from Gma B's funeral.

* I got a job yesterday at The Tri- Cities Academy of Ballet and Music. Teaching Piano.

*Joseph and I were called to teach in Primary again, this time the Valiant 9's, this should be an experience we've never been in senior primary.

* This is my last week of teaching swimming lessons. Summer is almost over and School is creeping back in.

yup.

more later.

-S

A Love Poem...

Made from Valentine's Day fridge magnets...

We want the dream
Of life forever
With time to fill it up
Come take my hand
and say marry me please
when I am your true love
let's share more kisses under soft moon light
I'm yours for always.



-S

Last one I promise

This is a song performed by a member of a group called Celtic Thunder, amazing. Thanks to G&G Wiberg for introducing us.



-S

All fights worth fighting...

* I fight for my family. I will fight for them always. Someday I WILL be a mother, I don't know when or what else I will need to do before that happens but I want to be ready and be the best Mommy in the world, because Joseph is going to be an amazing Daddy. To become a family we have endured miscarriages, surgeries and Adoption paperwork, bring it on...

* I fight for my husband's health. Joseph has MS, he has been stable for almost 5 years, until recently, he had a flare up (which he is almost through). I have exhausted myself fight insurance, office personal, referral delays, internet research etc etc. Now I am happy to report that Joseph has an appointment with a highly recommended MS specializing Nuerologist (mouthful huh?) in Spokane (a couple hours away) on August 31st- soonest appointment. His flare up has slowed our adoption savings down, but he is more important to me than adopting babies, seriously.

* I fight my body. Sometimes it doesn't like to listen. I had Insulin Resistance, I won that fight. Now with that gone, I can lose weight easier, I am working on it. I have a goal. I do not weigh myself, but I have a healthy size goal and getting close is so good!
*I fight for Adoption. Adoption is misunderstood, I like educating people. I like learning more. I love that adoption has been built into Heavenly Father's plan for us.

**wrist update** I am doing much better, thanks all, its just annoying when it hurts when I mow the lawn or seomthing. My Mom had a brace so I wear that when it hurts.

** Adoption update** it wasn't hard to turn down our last opportunity, really honestly. Met with our new caseworker (ours got transfered out of adoption into social work only), great great guy, we have to get $500 and he comes to the house and we're done! (We had the $$ but trading our car and Joe's flare up drained that, hey, life happens)


-S

Family Photos

Back: Dad, Valerie, Me, Joseph
Front: Mom, Dustin, Marc, Alisha, JR

"Shady Swangers" We're too cool for you, lol.

The Original 4 (before spouses & JR)

Us kids. Yes, this is when I sprained my wrist. Who does that?

*My Gpa Wiberg was the photographer, yea he's awesome. My Gpa's got mad skillz! Must be where I get my love of Photography & music, yup.

Enjoy

-S

Giveaway...I wanta win!

The r house blog is doing a giveaway, awesome right? Well I never win. I wish I did... I enter giveaways all the time so to get another entry I need to blog about it. The prize is a signed copy of this sweet children's book all about adoption. (pictured above)
here's a little sneak peak

"I had been LOOKING for you for so long.
I spent so many days ANTICIPATING your arrival.
Some days SEEMED SO LONG without you."

as individuals who have struggled with infertility, sterility, childlessness and the waiting involved with adoption, haven't we all felt this?

See why I HAVE to win?

-S

Quickly, some funnies

I did two pretty funny things this week...

Numero Uno: I have come up with a solution to tail gaiters. While riding in the back of my Father's Army Jeep. (it's orange, and all open) Keep in mind it was over 100 degrees outside and we were moving in an open jeep. I thought it would be funny to have an ice cream cone. Yes, it was funny, and really messy. Aparently, tale gaiters don't like it when thick white cream hits their windsheild! It was melting faster than I could eat it and we were moving so fast it splattered in all directions, my dad even ended up wearing some too. I was laughing so hard, I bet you would too if you saw us.

Numero Dos: I sprained my wrist. Well this fact isn't funny on it's own. It's how I did it. I sprained my wrist during family pictures... we were taking a picture with us girls holding my brother Dustin up. I took the heavy end and somehow turned my wrist wrong and almost dropped him. Thus injuring my poor wrist. Funny still.

-S

We are all children of God...

We had an adoption opportunity. It was not ideal. Let me explain. We got an email for an opportunity to adopt an African American baby girl. We jumped at the chance to learn more about her situation and how to proceed with the adoption. However upon learning more, the adoption would cost 3 times the cost of going through LDS Family Services, but this agency that emailed us bases their adoption fees on race. We are NOT okay with this, this is unacceptable. We are all children of God and are all worth the cost of adoption, not one more than the other. We passed the opportunity up. In the process of turning the caseworker down he sent a lengthy email justifying their reasons for lowering the cost of Bi-racial and African American babies.

"Our fees reflect the demographics of adoption. You will find we are certainly not alone in this struggle. We do not have a large number of African American families lined up to adopt. We do have a fairly large number of Bi-racial and African American placement opportunities If our fees were the same we would have many African American little angels pasted up as families wait for their Caucasian child. So we have lowered our fees to encourage families to consider them as part of their adoption plan. ( it just is a fact)"

We do not agree with this and will not adopt through an agency that thinks this way.

-J&S

A Quick little update...

* Thanks so much for the comments and well wishes I appreciate it so much, it's been tough, but it's nice to know how to get the help we need when we need it.

*Our cousin Luke is in the hospital, please send prayers his way too!

*Joe is doing much better, he is frustrated with his vision, it's better but not best... His turn around with the steroid treatment was pretty phenomenal to see. He is walking really well, and doing good all around with little to no side effects from the steroids, just sore from the infusions. He is on a wean down dose of steroids for the next 10 days. He has a follow up appointment with the eye doctor and we're still working on the Neurologist we want to see. I may just have to get really pushy!

*Suzy is gone. We traded her in while she was running and still worth something. We are now the proud owners of a 2005 Kia Rio his name is Julius. He is orange, a pretty red-orange.

*We both have talks on Sunday. No assigned topic, trying to think about what I need to speak on...but life is keeping me pretty darn busy.

*Thanks again for all the comments and visits to the blog, I will try to update more. :)

-S

Is is possible to just take a break from life?

Nope, probably not. It would be an understatement to say our life is eventful.

*Suzy is running again, but we are looking to trade her in for a more economical vehicle (and saving ourselves some $). Poor Suzy had gas syphoned out, man we were ticked.... at least it was only about half a tank.. anyway now we have a locking gas cap.

* Joe, well he has had a little trouble with his eyes and balance lately so we had taken him in to have his eyes checked and found out he has optic neuritis in both eyes (or swollen optic nerves, a symptom of MS) so we had to look into Neurologists here, something we were already doing. Turns out there are lots of Neurologists here, not many that specialize in MS and not many with good reviews (Rate your MD online and other patient feedback) So we made an appointment with a family doctor (at an office my family has been going to for years). Before the appointment we knew the kind of treatment Joe was going to need, he needs steriods. Joseph had an appointment with a doctor that is new to the office, Dr. Burrup. I couldn't go to the appointment so I sent my mom armed with all the paperwork filled in and a list of Questions I wanted answers to. Turns out Dr Burrup is totally awesome, and LDS. He got us hooked up with a handicap placard, I worry about how far away we have had to park sometimes with the heat here. He couldn't prescribe the dosage he would need so we had to try to get him into a neurologist, but you can't just get appointments right when you want or need them. So to get things going (and since Joe isn't allowed to go to work for a couple days or until he could get treatment) and you know Joe, he does not sit still. So we went to the ER, they have on call neurologists and we wanted to get treatment started right away. Our plan worked and we spent 4 hours at the hospital yesterday . Joseph is on a three day steriod infusion treatment, he has an IV in his hand we will be going today and tomorrow. Then a follow up appointment with Dr. Burrup on Monday and more steriods but in pill form. Our doctor is trying to get us in sooner with a MS specializing neurologist in Spokane that we found, at an MS clinic. We want to look into LDN treatment, more info to come on that later. Joe says he is feeling better, and he looks pretty good, I think with his time off he may sun a little by the pool.

* After the hospital we got food, we were starving. We stuffed ourselves updated family and left to go babysit my cousins. You can tell Joe is a softy, he got his nails painted, many colors, many layers and some even with sparkles. Those 3 girls were giggling so much. It was pretty funny.

Well that's it for now. I hope to be better about updating, but we've been pretty busy.

-S

Car update....

It's about time for a car update... sadly yes, Suzy is still in my parent's driveway... she's had a rough time and shared it with us... it took much "umph" and shear will power to get the drive shafts and axles out and replaced... such a pain and yes, I had many opportunities to get my hands dirty helping... well those new parts are in and we backed her out of the driveway and "crunch, groan...growl" back into the driveway... repair needed in the rear differential... ouch. New socket set for Joe... ouch... but on sale! A couple new bearings, a couple new seals, a new crush sleeve on it's way, and then more gear oil.

Checklist:
*2 new front axles $112,
* 2 bottles gear oil $8,
*2 seals $29,
*Borrowed 2nd jack from neighbor
* "Broke-in" and borrowed creeper from grandparents
*lots of almost swear words as they were really (understatement) really difficult to remove.
*Help from: Me, Dad, Dustin (brother), JR (new brother), Tom (neighbor) & Dave (super nice co-worker)... axles finally out.
*Deliriously Delicious and ginormous homemade (by me) Cinnamon roll sent to Dave.
*Need to fix rear differential.
*Need different socket... bought a set, $54
*More help from Dad and I. Out much easier and faster.
*2 new bearings, a new seal, a couple other things I don't know the name of and a new crush sleeve $90, will probably need a couple more bottles of gear oil $8

Soon our sweet Suzy should be all put back together, Thank goodness, seriously for awesome employee discounts for parts, a super nice co-worker who came and helped out (he is also our parts guy)OI love my amazing husband that happens to be a mechanic, who is doing all the work so we don't have to pay someone else- I don't think they would accept monopoly money do you?

Now for your viewing pleasure some pics I took:

Hello Kitty...

Yes, she's mine...
yes, I am allergic to cats...
it was love at first sight, her name is Speckles. She's adorable and hilarious. She is going to be an inside outside cat to combat my allergies, that is, as soon as Tonka decides she's one of the family- not dinner. Cookie, my dog loves her, follows her around trying to lick her they play pretty well together..

notice Cookie's tongue is out in both pictures... cute! .. don't know how long our relationship will be but for now it's someone to love..

-S

Post #150

Congrats to the 4 people who voted for 30 days..yup no lying. Washington law is that we will have a home visit within 30 days of placement and then finalize. Sorry that's all for now.. more to come later!

-S

1st celebrity swine flu fatality...

And we all know who gave it to him!!

*giggles*

-S

A good news moment for Adoption

Some of the things we learned in our meeting with our caseworker was a change, a VERY recent change in LDS FS policy. There was a 6 month wait between placement and finalization of an adoption... blanket policy, it didn't matter what state you live in that WAS the rule. Now it is according to the state... umm Washington is awesome in that respect... now to make it fun (for me at least) I am making a poll... so vote I will post the correct answer shortly. Happy Voting- no cheating!!

-S

For those of us who are watching our what we eat...

... here's the final word on nutrition and health.

It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you

*giggles*

-S

Being VERY Thankful!

Seeing as it's our 3 year 1 month anniversary today I wanted to have a post of good things and being thankful for lots of stuff in our lives right now.

* I am thankful for my amazing husband! Who wakes me up in the morning on his way out to tell me I am beautiful, Say I love you and give me kisses before he goes... like this morning ;)
*I am SO incredibly thankful for Joseph's employment. He is starting his career and he LOVES it!
* I am thankful for the two men, Baldy and Coach who are fighting to hire me.
* I am thankful for the weather and that Joseph is adjusting to it very quickly...it gets really hot (I love it, but I was worried about how he was doing when it was 104 last week)
* I am thankful for a sweet couple who have agreed to let me use their swimming pool to teach lessons this summer. Oh, and clean it too!
*I am thankful for Zyrtec.. it allows me to be helpful with outdoor chores & projects that I couldn't do before.
* I am thankful for a wonderful meeting with our caseworker. We were nervous and things went so great!
*Thankful for wonderful family in both Idaho and Washington, and lots of other places too.


Well I know there are a lot more I could list but I have already put up a few posts today... so that's good for today... now off to do some creative budgeting to see how we can come up with our adoption transfer fee and the cash to fix our car too (albeit slowly, but as soon as we know what we need it should go much faster!!)
-S

What else?!?! seriously!

Our car Suzy.. she's hurt. It happened almost a couple weeks ago. It was freaky, I was driving to the store with Joe to buy shoes he desperately needed. We were stuck and completely relied on others for help. SOoo many blessings connected to that...but still it's a really crappy situation Luckily:Joe was with me, I got scared with the first noise, signaled and started to pull over, then it got loud and sounded like it was scrapping then something dropped as I was slowing down. Thankfully my Mom had her phone with her, she wasn't biking right then, they were close to home, our lovely neighbors were home and had their flat bed trailer empty,the cop that pulled over was nice. Thankfully Suzy (our car) is in my parents driveway being pulled apart so we can figure out what we need to do to fix it. We've made good progress with it considering all that is going on. So far it looks like we will have to replace the front differential and both drive axles... ugh. It's been one of those weeks (a couple actually) when it's makes you feel completely beaten down.

In other news: My brother is graduating high school tomorrow. My cousin Dexter graduated today. My little sister Alisha is expecting :) and hopefully things go through so they can buy the little house they are trying to. I got a new brother. A pregnant cousin of mine is getting married tomorrow. My great-aunt and uncle both passed away last week (within two days of eachother) it's really sweet actually and I am happy they aren't sick and hurting anymore.

Adoption Update.. Finally huh?

Well we had our first meeting with our Washington caseworker last night...and we L.O.V.E our case worker Jason, he's stinkin' awesome.

So I will cut to the chase...

What we need to do:
yes, we will have to pay the $500 transfer fee, not cool, but oh well. We are old college students we know how to pinch pennies 'til our fingers hurt.

Background check - child abuse neglect specific. You have to have background checks in all the states you have lived in, Jason is checking to see how extensive ours were. So worst case scenario we will both have to fill out a little paperwork and wait for it go through. Good news no fee.

Employment verification form. We counted on this one. Just a form to bring to Joseph's Human Resources lady to fill out and send in.

Update our Financial statement. Good news, this is online.. easy peasy!

We may have to do more "adoption training" as to meet Washington State law... checking on that one... see if our adoption classes qualify.

So overall not too bad...the $$ not good... you'll see why in the next post.

Crazy Busy, What I've been up to...

I'll write it in list form, keep it simple you know.

*helping my mom with seminary graduation, she's basically in charge. So I hauled things around, spell checked as we printed out the diplomas,and put together the program and the list goes on...

* helping with Gma becomes full time some days. She was in the hospital almost three days when I last blogged about it. She is doing okay. She is done with treatment wahoo! But she has been really sick after.. weirdness. We expected that she would get sick during treatment not after. Anyway she had another trip to the ER this week and turns out things were okay.

* Fill in babysitter I have really gotten to know my little cousins, they are so funny. I have gone to their house so my uncle for work and get all the girls off to school. Joe was there too and he did the breakfast part ("take 3 bites then you can put your bowl away, hey!,that bite didn't count do you want to make it 5?") and I did hair.

* Ballet Mom Fill in: I have taken Abrie to ballet a couple of times now and I took the girls for their pictures which included lots of hairspray, gel, bobby pins, hairnets and time to make thee perfect ballet bun- very serious stuff here. I was also in charge of doing makeup- yes, it went quite smoothly for a 7 & 5 year old. They loved it! We did have some drama about the tights and how they should fit *ahem* where certain parts go... story for another post. so so funny.

* Lots of babysitting 5 year old girls. These cousins get along so well and entertain eachother, so it makes it easy to watch them. Abrie is hilarious on her own, but get her and Naomi together awesome. N doesn't talk to everyone... I experienced this for the first 10 or so minutes together... until we decided to have hot dogs together... now we're good.. I'm fun , or so she says.

Well thats all I can think of... things are getting slower which is okay, but I am looking for more to do. It's funny when you are so busy that you can't remember if you ate.

-S

Award Time!

Yup, it's that time again. The random moment in time that I decide to give out an award to an an suspecting person who reads my blog. This award goes to Jessica!!! Yay! (applause) Right now she holds the record for most comments. If you have followed my blog you would know that Wendy won the last award.. I may need to come up with a variety of awards, because it's fun! I love comments!! I encourage all of you to leave comments! Even if I really don't know you, if you read my blog leave me a line! You don't have to be a blogger to get an award- Jessica isn't!

-S

Grandma Update...

Grandma wasn't feeling too well, so my aunt took her to the E.R. she is doing good. But she is dehydrated and she is short on blood- weird, I know. This is oddly like the event that led the doctors to her cancer in the first place. Anyway she is receiving blood transfusions and getting re-hydrated. They are keeping her over night for observation, we'll be off to see her soon. Still, such a trooper. I am glad to report that this is the first visit to the hospital that wasn't a scheduled appointment during her treatments. What a woman!


She probably won't like that I put this pic up, ... she was telling us not to take pics, but she is looks just fine.

-S

All done...

I am all done updating today, I know if some of you have been checking our blog often I have made like a million changes.. all done. I fixed my label cloud! yay! I changed the background,and font and put up too many posts for one day... haha well finished ...for today! :)

P.S.
If school budget allows I will have two, count 'um two jobs at Kennewick High. What you ask? A marching band tech and an accompanist. Yea my plan worked,they can't live without me. They (band director we'll call him "Baldy"- don't worry he likes it, and Choir director let's call him "Coach" - he does coach football) are working to make sure I will come back next semester and get paid!! yay!

Joe is doing good at work too. He enjoys his job. He is acclimating to the Kennewick heat very well. He does get wobbly but that's it! That is the only MS symptom he deals with right now. And I am working on getting him in to see the Chiropractor/Natural Path/ Nutritionalist I saw here. We feel so good about it, I hope for results just as good.

So cross your fingers for both of us! :)

-S

Just some pics I took

Of my pretty little cousin...(name withheld to protect the innocent and cute!)

For your viewing pleasure...

Mom's "pot" garden:
My Mother's Day flower


More Mother's Day flowers- from Mom


Val's Mother's Day flower.




Mom's "pot" garden used to be an arrangement of empty pots, now not so empty. I am so glad to have flowers!! :)

-S

My Working Man!

Just got his uniforms. And they professionally wash them for us- good deal if you ask me! Doesn't he look good? I think so!! ;)

-S