Adenosarcoma: The Beast That Killed My Sister

 I've attempted to write this post several times but each time I go to write all I do is stare at the title. It still seems like a bad dream that I can't wake from but on November 11, 2021 I lost my sister to cancer. In the early morning hours on a Thursday morning her faith was made sight and she left behind two daughters, her mother, two sisters, two brother-in-laws, three nephews, and a niece. All of us utterly heartbroken and in disbelief in what transpired in one short year.

Happier days at a Tim McGraw concert.

To begin with I will note that my sister Monica was a work horse. She had an incredible work ethic and I often called her a work-a-holic. This isn't necessarily always a good thing and in her case her career took priority in many assets of her life, one being her health. In May of 2020 she started experiencing some abdominal pain and a nagging cough. Unfortunately, due to COVID, her doctor had gone solely to telemedicine and my sister wasn't really getting anywhere with her doctor. Each time she was just told to go to urgent care and every time she went to urgent care she was told it was probably COVID and to do a COVID test.  Due to her heavy work schedule she didn't want to wait around and usually ended up going home or back to work. As the summer went on she wasn't improving. She eventually was referred to an oncologist surgeon but again, due to COVID, the process was slow...too slow. A tumor was eventually found but getting a surgery date was impossible...again...due to COVID. We came to the point where the surgeon told my sister to go to the emergency room and "do your best to get admitted" so that he could perform emergency surgery. 

She was admitted and her surgeon was able to perform the surgery removing a tumor. I received a phone call from the surgeon on November 18, 2020 after the surgery and he told me that the tumor didn't look cancerous and that he was positive about the outcome of the surgery. Of course we were elated. Tragically, two days later on November 20 my sister called me and my other sister to share with us that she had a rare form of cancer and that there wasn't a cure for it. I was in my bathroom getting ready for guests to come when I took the call. I won't forget the utter sadness I felt. I was numb. My first thoughts went to my mom. Who was going to tell her? She would be devastated. Then I knew I would have to tell my two sons who absolutely adored her. She was their Tia Monica. I don't know how I functioned that evening. My husband said we could call and let our guests know what was going on but I refused. I went into sort of an auto-pilot mode and honestly I've felt that way from the moment I heard that news until today. 

I haven't blogged in so long and I thought it would be a great way for me to chronicle my grief, my memories, and what has helped me through the last two years. I don't know if anyone even reads my blog anymore but I am not writing it for an audience but mainly for myself...to help me remember because I never want to forget my sister and all the memories we shared together.

My Top 7 Homeschool Supplies

Well summer is slowly coming to an end over here and we are all a little sad. I will slowly begin homeschooling on Monday. Since I entered a photo challenge on Instagram and today's prompt was supplies, I thought I'd blog a long overdue post. Today I'm listing my favorite supplies.

1. Printer/Scanner/Copier

Really not sure I could survive homeschooling without our Epson XP-400. On top of all the forms I have to print out for our homeschool group, there are all the copies I make, documents I scan, and myriads of papers I print out from emails, etc. It's safe to say that I use our printer every single day.

2. Laminator

The day I bought our laminator, is the day I felt like a true homeschooling mama! I use this laminator a ton and if you don't have one I'd wait until the Amazon Prime Black Friday Sale to get one. This one was super cheap!

3. Globe

I plan to use this baby a lot this year! Have you seen this Jimmy Kimmel video about people who couldn't even point out one country on a world map? If you haven't seen it yet head over to the link and watch it. You'll be mortified. I mean, these people couldn't even point out the USA! After watching this video I thought that we just really needed to sharpen our Geography skills.

4. MacBook Pro

What can I say but we use our MacBook a ton! This year both boys will be taking computer classes so I know it will get used a ton by them. Josiah will also be using it to watch his Algebra lessons. In the morning the boys watch CNN 10 News on it to stay updated on currents events. We use it for a myriad of reason.

5. iPad

The latest generation iPad is amazing and I am in love with it. I only got it because I had unused airline miles and since we don't travel anymore, I used the miles to replace my ancient iPad. This year I am using Google Calendar for lesson planning since my favorite homeschooling app is no longer available (tragic news for me...I cried).

6. Notebooks

Don't tell anyone but I may have a notebook addiction! SHHHHHH!!! I already have like 20 unused ones. I use notebooks to write notes for my lessons, Nathan uses a notebook for Spelling, the graph notebooks will be used for Math this year, and well I just like owning notebooks. It's a notebook and journal addiction to be more accurate.

7. 3 - Ring Hole Puncher

Truth be told, I stole this from my husband. It's a real nice one and has replaced the cheapy one I owned. This baby gets used a ton also. I highly suggest investing in a nice one like this!!

I could probably post a bunch more of supplies that I love using but these are my absolute favorites!

Joni and Friends

 Earlier this year the boys and I took a tour of Joni and Friends with our homeschool group. I found out that you can even schedule private tours, so when my mother in law visited I knew it was a great place to take her. My mom and mother in law love Joni so we all headed to Agoura together to take a tour.

On this tour we actually got to see her office and step into her little studio.

We were shown the paintbrushes that have teeth marks on the ends.

What a creative woman!

This year Joni celebrates a very special anniversary. 2017 marks 50 years since her diving accident that left her a quadriplegic. Most people wouldn't celebrate this type of anniversary but because the Lord used that accident to draw her to Himself she is happy to celebrate it. Joni and Friends does so much for the disabled community. It's quite humbling taking the tour and seeing all the ministry that takes place through Joni. I often find myself complaining about the smallest things, yet her life is so convicting. She's used this lifelong trial to glorify our Savior.

Silverstrand Beach

For some reason this summer we didn't go to the beach as often as we usually do. That may have to do with the fact that our favorite beach is obsolete now. For the last two years we have made Marina State Park Beach our go to beach but when we were there earlier this summer two thirds of the beach was pretty much gone. We're still not to sure what happened but for a majority of the stretch on the beach it was full of huge rocks. We don't know if the city put it up or if it all washed in. After a little research I found Silverstrand Beach in Oxnard. We had been there once before but only to eat lunch after our whale watching trip. If you get there early enough you can park in their parking lot. The beach is real clean and there were no rocks or pebbles as you got into the water. The waves weren't huge either but they were big enough for boogie boarding. Since Judy, my mother-in-law, was in town we hung out at the beach all day soaking up the son, enjoying the waves, and playing together.

Homeschool Fair

Our homeschool group's annual fair was a couple of weeks ago. The boys love to participate in the fair...it's one of their favorite events. This year's fair theme was the Creator's Hand.

Josiah won first place in photography for his age group and also took 2nd place for overall theme usage.

He took second place for his whoopie pies....they were a lot of work!

Josiah then took first place for video presentation with his short called "President Junior". Quite a funny little movie about a young boy who dreams about becoming president.

Nathan loves entering the tablet setting category. This year he took second.

He also entered the photography category getting second place.

Lately Nathan's been pretty artsy....he's been drawing and painting a lot. He even entered the drawing category and got third place!

We're so thankful for our homeschool group and all the fun activities the boys get to participate in! Makes homeschooling a lot of fun.

Descanso Gardens Part 2 : Now and Then

I knew I had some older pictures of the boys in the same spot when we were at Descanso a few years ago. I love comparing pictures to see how big they've gotten and how much they've changed.

April 2014

April 2017

April 2014

April 2017

I'm finding it's harder to get pictures of the boys as they get older. They just don't want to cooperate! Anyone have the same problem? I know that one day they'll appreciate all these pictures....or at least their wives and kids will!

Descanso Gardens

Spring is finally here and with all the rains we've had Descanso Gardens was absolutely beautiful! My mom has been wanting to get out a little so the boys and I took her to the gardens. Plus the third Tuesday of every month admission is free!

As you got closer to the rose garden you could smell their perfume...it was amazing! 

These are one of my favorites!

The boys were real sweet with their grandma this day ....thankfully!

 

 

 

The gardens did get quite busy around 11:30 so I'm glad we got there earlier. It was a real enjoyable day and I'm so glad we got to go.