Life is All Cottage Cheese with Chocolate Chips!

I am getting used to Luke's new schedule: the early bedtime, the gazillion pills a day, etc. But I don't know if I will ever be prepared for some of his weird food cravings. (I didn't know that grandfathers-to-be got weird food cravings!)

So Luke said to me: "you know what sounds good? Cottage cheese with chocolate chips. Can I have some for lunch tomorrow?"- totally serious!

So, I packed it, and he liked it!

Our life right now is quite a bit like this unique gourmet delight:

1. VERY unique!

2. Sounds not so great at first.

3. Upon second thought, it may have some appeal.

4. If you try it, you will find that you'll like it.

Our life is certainly unique. We have never had this particular set of challenges and will never have them in quite the same way again.

If I were to list our challenges, they would not sound so great at first.

On a second examination, remembering all the challenges we have conquered and seeing all the challenges of friends and family, our challenges now, with their accompanying blessings, actually start to hold some appeal.

And if I can just remember to jump right in to accepting these challenges for what they can teach me, rely on my Heavenly Father to guide me through, and pray and pray and pray, I may come through actually 'liking' the here and now!

The Gospel is true. My Father in Heaven is real and loves me always! You too!

And some people, like my Luke, actually enjoy cottage cheese with chocolate chips! 

New Skill- Good for the Looong Days!

It's been another incredibly long week, with the promise of many yet to come... the doctor said that Luke will only have enough energy to work as long as that is the ONLY thing he uses energy for doing. Well, we already knew that- big sigh here!

But, have I mentioned, Luke is able to work! I am so happy for him and so proud of his incredible amount of determination to do what he has to do in his life to get to this point! CFS is such a hard disease- hard on everyone. Heavenly Father has blessed Luke and I so much to be able to get to where we are against this disease...

And with Cassie and Allen expecting our first grandchild, I thought it was high time I figured out some grandma type skills:

Is it big enough, too big, just right?

love this stitch!

And thank you, thank you, thank you to Colette! She lent me the use of this gigantic hook which made everything so much faster! I will definitely be buying one of these!

And oddly enough, it is relaxing...

Courage takes Faith

It has been a miraculous week in many ways! And a hard week...

Luke has been able to work!

But he has to have a very strict schedule and use all of his energy for work...

I know that as his health continues to improve, work will not be all consuming. But for now, it is. Both in Luke's life and in mine... no nights with friends or family, not even nights for a date

But I have to focus on the miracle- because that is what Luke's improved health really is- a miracle- and Luke can work!

This video, on Mormon Messages says it all:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2221439363001

Quotes from this message that I KNOW are true:

"You don't really realize how strong you are, until being strong is all you have left."

"Being brave doesn't mean I am not afraid."

"Brave is just acting in faith."

"If I really trust Heavenly Father, it doesn't matter what I don't understand."

And my very favorite- mostly because I know from personal experience how true this is:

"I know that God has a plan for me that is usually different than what I have planned for myself. It's not always easier, but it's always better!"

Weekend of Love!

Last weekend was spectacular!

First, Valentine's Day:

Stayed home with steak, mushrooms, potatoes, broccoli, raspberry & danish dessert topped chocolate cheesecake, Russian movie w/ English subtitles... oh, and Luke, of course!

Then a great day out with some of my favorite girls:

Makayla's birthday adventure at The Chocolate! Char came too but no pic...

LOVE these girls!!!

Then the looooong week- no less than three 12 hour work days in a four day work week = a very long week! But not complaining- so blessed to have the income!

Nice quiet weekend at home this week. In fact, as I write this, I am listening to my good friend Jim playing a live concert from Chadron State College. Love it!

Busy or not busy, my life is blessed!

And One Week to Go...

One week from today, Luke starts working again... it has been a hard year in many ways with Luke not working, but we have been incredibly blessed too! Luke works for the BEST company and has had the fortune to have excellent disability insurance. And his boss is great to give him such a good chance at being able to work again- if we can make it in the next two months, this trial may be on the downhill slope!

And even with income so reduced and the stress of the medical bills and very hard health days and figuring out a workable schedule and and and... Luke and I have had some valuable time together- time to grow, time to get to know one another, time to learn together- valuable time!

Best quote of the week is Luke's comment that ended with, "having been married MORE than a year now."

Love it!

I am so thankful that my Heavenly Father has provided this chance for Luke and I and our future!

One Year in a VERY Good Life!

 One year ago today, I was sealed for time and ALL ETERNITY to my very best friend!!!

Best decision ever!

It has been a challenging, exciting, sometimes perplexing, terrific year of new adventures and experiences...

and Luke sure knows how to show me his thoughts on our anniversary:

If you ever ask Luke how things are for us, this is his reply:

Looking to the Past, Preparing for the Future!

This is my beautiful mother- 'Grandma Pat'!

She would have been a year older yesterday... and yes, I still miss her.

She is a shining example to me in so many ways! What a blessing she remains in my life.

This year, I too will become a grandmother- Cassie and Allen are expecting their first! What a great blessing to us all! And yet, what will I be called? We already have a wonderful 'Grandma Call' in the person of Luke's mom....

So suggestions are welcome!

And the biggest blessing of this week? Luke has a chance to work once again for the Church- and they have been so very generous on the offer! What a wonderful company they are- all of the modifications to the work expectations and all of the accommodations they are willing to make (such as allowing Luke to request to be interrupted less often, wear noise reducing headphones...) this is a wonderful opportunity for Luke to work in a stress-reduced environment for a company that truly does care about his health and well-being... 

But Luke's return to work will mean finding ways to reduce any stress or demands on his energy here at home... I keep telling myself that if we can just hold on until June... and it is so true- and we are so blessed to have this chance!