Holy cow!  I log on to my computer, and my RSS reader comes up just like every day, and I see Margie Romney-Aslett has a new post… cool!  She’s super talented and super funny, I always look forward to her posts!  She has been embarking on a new and exciting adventure since leaving a scrapbooking company recently (Hmmm, sound like someone you know?).  A few days ago she posted a contest for a prize from her new endeavor which was still top secret! lol

Ok, so back to the post… I’m reading it and she announces she’s teaming up with her daughters for a new online kit club!  Very cool! And the prize she’s giving away is 6 months membership to that club!  Even cooler!  And then… you’re not going to believe this… she drew MY name!!  Holy heck! Seriously?!?!  The video’s even there to prove it!

WOW!!!  Thank you Margie!!  This is so awesome! I am so excited about this, and here’s why… over the past year I’ve kind of lost the “spark” for scrapbooking. I’ve been needing a swift kick in the pants to get me back in the groove.  And on top of that, there’s the whole unemployed thing going on, so it’s an awesome, awesome, awesomely exciting thing! 

~Heather

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So this is going to be my catch-up post for the past week!  lol  Get ready, it’s going to be a long one!

Last weekend was the BP-MS150.  Day 1 was cancelled as previously reported.  We spent Saturday waiting around for instructions and then carting a team to Schulenburg where they were staying.  After that, Jack and I took a side trip to Waelder to see M&S’s new place out in the middle of nowhere!  lol  Sorry, M… it really is!

Day 2 was interesting, fun, stressful and everything you can imagine!  If you’re reading this and you rode in that ride, I’m going to say the same thing I said inside the van to other cyclists… We try REALLY hard not to hit you guys, but some of you are just nuts and make it really difficult!  I mean, riding on the wrong side of the yellow line?  C’mon people!!  Anyway, I didn’t hit anyone, and I only got yelled at by one cyclist and one DPS officer!  A good day!  lol  The coolest part of the day was after the last rest stop.  At that point, if they’ve made it that far, they’re making it to the finish.  Well we picked up one very emotional lady who was devastated when her bike had a catastrophic failure.  She’d worked so hard, and this was her first 150.  Well Jack and I broke all the rules and a couple of barricades and got her to the finish line where she was able to walk her broken bike across the finish line!  THAT was a very cool feeling!

The Monday after the MS150 was Cyclists in Suits day.  A lobbying day at the Texas Capitol for bike safety laws.  We visited the House and Senate chambers, then went off to visit our lawmakers.  I had appointments scheduled with both our Senator and our Representative.  Our Senator didn’t bother to show up that day.  I still have issues with that, and the fact that he didn’t show up for the vote on the bike legislation, but that’s another issue for another day.  Our Representative however… his office was awesome, and he even came off the House floor to meet us and hear what we had to say.  I was TOTALLY impressed with him!

We came back home, and I was in super solder mode to get a bulk custom order done by Friday for an event.  In the midst of that we had the Rest Stop captain training for the DFW Sam’s Club MS150, which is this next weekend!  It’s already here believe it or not!!

Jack and I both had doctor appointments this week.  He’s lost about 60 pounds as a result of his surgery, which is fantastic!!  I’m so proud of him!  He rode in the Muenster Metric Century bike ride this weekend.  He did the 65k route, which is about 40 miles.  And he’s been riding to work everyday when the weather or wind isn’t nasty.  He’s my studmuffin cyclist! :o)

Friday we had a bit of a scare.  I was letting the dogs out when Angel stumbled, fell and then had a seizure.  We took her to the veterinarian, who did bloodwork and reported that she has autoimmune hemoglobin anemia.  Basically her body is attacking her red blood cells.  We’re starting her on some steroids this week, which will compromise her immune system, which means no more dog park for her.  I’m going to call the vet and see if it’s ok to still take Spaz, or do we have to worry that he’ll bring something home.  He’d be devastated if he couldn’t go to the park anymore!

So it’s been pretty eventful around here.  We’re getting ready for the Sam’s Club MS150 this weekend… Jack is a HAM operator in a SAG van again… I’m helping with rest stops on Day 1, and captaining a rest stop on Day 2 (If you want to come help… I need the help!  Sunday from 8am until around 2:30 pm… you get a shirt, and I’m really desperate!!).  I’ve got to do some charms for that, and we have the last committee meeting this week.  Plus I’ve got a couple of events that I’m working on, so it’s going to be a busy, busy week!!

I’ll post some photos soon!

~Heather

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I’ve decided that I’m not going to call it “busy” anymore… just active! lol

Last weekend was the celebration of my grandfather’s 97th birthday.  I made him a cake that looked like his cowboy hat that he wears to church every Sunday.  I’ll post a photo soon.  Most of our extended family came up for it, so it was a great time of visiting and catching up with everyone!

This past weekend Jack rode in the Tour of Dallas bike ride.  20 miles!  I’m so proud of him!  I’ll post photos later once I get them off the camera.  I was supposed to ride too, but had some mechanical issues.  Instead I was his personal SAG vehicle. :o)

Later that day we took the dogs to the off-leash dog park (which is becoming a daily thing), and since I didn’t ride that morning I decided to walk them to the park!  It’s 2.05 miles… gulp!  Cool thing though, I bought the Nike+ sensor thing that you can put in your tennis shoes and it feeds information about your walk to you iPod.  I don’t have the Nike shoes, but there’s all kinds of ways to use it with other shoes too.  When I plug my iPod into the computer it uploads my walk/run information and keeps track of it online.  Cool, huh?  Even cooler is the little avatar thing that I can put on my blog so that YOU can see how far/fast/etc. I’ve walked/ran and keep me accountable!  Right now she’s on the right sidebar, down towards the bottom.  Check her out, my mini me is pretty rockin’!

This month is going to be super, super ACTIVE!!  Next weekend is Easter and we’ve got family egg hunts, and more.  The next weekend we travel to Houston and Austin to drive a SAG van in the BP MS 150 bike ride.  Monday, April 20th we’ll also be in Austin for the Cyclists in Suits lobbying day at the Capital.  Then there’s a soldering class I’m helping out with.  Then the next weekend (the first weekend in May) is the Sam’s Club MS 150 in Dallas/Fort Worth where Jack is HAM’ing, and I’m helping with the rest stops!  Whew!  So basically, if you don’t see me, don’t get responses to emails, etc. during the month of April, don’t send out a search party just yet!  lol

Today, I’m chilling out at Panera Bread, taking advantage of their free wi-fi while waiting to go to my doctor’s appointment, then heading to the office after that.  Also working on a new website for Jack, but more on that later.

Lots of stuff for “later!”  So I’ll definitely be posting again real soon!
~Heather

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One week from tonight we’ll hopefully be asleep (since we have to show up at the hospital at 5:30 AM, which is 4:30 AM thanks to the time change!), but we’ll be looking at a new challenge, a new day, a new chapter, and another new normal for our little family of two.

We had lunch today with my parents… my dad had LapBand surgery about 2 years ago… and they had much advice for us.  I had seen my dad go through it, but there was so much that I didn’t see that I learned about today.  Oh gracious!  But we can do this!  Jack is uber excited and anxious to get it done.  Me, I’m cautiously optomistic.  But that’s us!  lol

This week is crazy!  I’m visiting a bunch of different venues to try to nail down a place for our annual company banquet, we’re delivering lots of coinage to the MS Society from our coin drive at work (it’s MS Awareness Week, by the way!), and Jack has his pre-op appointment at the hospital, plus a bonus appointment with his plastic surgeon to take a last look at his leg before surgery.

Tonight we had dinner at a great mexican place for a friend’s 30th birthday (happy “getting older” Grant!).  We gave him nicely wrapped Geritol and Hemmroid cream!  lol

I took the plunge and signed up for Twitter this week.  It’s interesting.  I just wish I could merge Facebook, Twitter and my blog all in one place!  Then I’d actually be able to keep up! :o)  So if you’re interested, I’m at twitter.com/jackandheather.  I’m still learning though!

Ok, time to head to bed, start another week, another month (can you believe it’s March already?!?!), and get on with it!

~Heather

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Kind of funny that I have to explain this, but this post is especially for Heather Krans-Bauers. (I have multiple friends named Heather! Lol)

I’ve been working on a project for my dad, scanning all of his old slides. It’s been really neat seeing all of these old photos again, some things I remember and some I don’t. But mainly it’s been really neat seeing old friends from way back when. These are some of those photos.

It’s an amazing thing in life when you find a true friend. One that despite the years and despite the miles, it lasts. That’s us. Heather Showalter and Heather Krans (because our mothers always called us by our full names when we were together, that’s what we called each other too! Funny thing, now we’re both Heather B!) She was at my first birthday party, and she was my matron of honor (she beat me to the altar, lol!) Lifelong friendship like this is rare, and I will always, always treasure ours.

~Heather

P.S. She’s the blonde, I’m the brunette. Sorry Heather, I guess now I’ve revealed our true hair colors! :o)

I think these would have been 1978

And I’m guessing these are 1980 or ‘81 (gotta love the indoor playground at McDonalds in Alaska!)




At my wedding in 2001.

In Colorado when I was visiting during a business trip in 2005.

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From Ali Edwards’ blog:

Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2009?It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother’s word or your spouse’s word or your child’s word – this is YOUR word.

One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here’s one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren’t ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities.

One. Little. Word.

Ali has posted this challenge on her blog for a couple of years now, and I always think about it, but can never seem to settle on a word.  Well this year is no different!  I have three.

Hope
Health
Happiness

Hope – Hope for what this year will bring, especially in the area of expanding our family.

Health – Because Jack and I both have plans to better our health this year.  It’s just something we can’t ignore anymore.

Happiness – I want to do what makes me happy.  If there’s something that doesn’t make me happy, make me smile, make me appreciate life, it’s not going into my life.  I’m tired of the negativity.

So, I guess it’s Three Little Words! :o)

~Heather

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Yep, yesterday I aged a whole year… in one day!  lol  Seriously though, it was my birthday, and after a Multiple Sclerosis Society fundraiser in the morning, I had an awesome evening with Heather, Valita and Joanna!  Thanks ladies for a great birthday… and to Heather for the fabulous chocolate fondue!

Tomorrow morning we’re having a bake sale at the office for United Way, so of course I had to do a cake!  I had this great idea to do a bunch of little cakes with this new flower pan I bought, but um, they didn’t turn out so well.  So plan B was this… a Chocolate Irish Cream cake with Irish Buttercream Icing, and fondant flowers & leaves on top.

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We had a special surprise tonight after dinner. well sort of at dinner. lol For his gift, we gave my dad tickets to the Mavericks game tonight! I kind of cheated. our gift limit was $5, and these were $150 seats, but I kind of didn’t cheat because my boss gave them to me from his season tickets! :o) I’m such a cheater!

Here’s a few shots from the game… me and Jack, my guys (Jack, my dad and my brother), and a panorama of the game.

The panorama shot is actually four shots merged together (which is why you see players at both ends of the court! lol). If you have any version of Photoshop, go to File -> Automate -> Photomerge and Photoshop will automagically merge together photos that have common pieces. So it will put your panoramas together for you! Cool, huh? Now you can never say you didn’t learn anything from this blog! lol

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Wow, this weekend seem to FLY by!

Saturday was the Advanced Soldering class taught by the fabulous Heather Ales.  Afterwards we hung out at her house for workshop time.  I got quite a few charms done.  I’m hoping to get some up on Etsy sometime this week.

Today I spent most of the day finishing up a freelance graphic design project.  This thing has been an absolute BEAR!!  I swear I’ve been working on it for a month!  But it is DONE!!  Woo hoo!!

And now, we start another week…
Yes, I have another cake class this week.  We’re going to learn about fondant!
An intermediate soldering class on Saturday.
Then Saturday night we have a family birthday dinner… all the adults in our immediate family have birthdays in October or December (except Jack, whose birthday was at the tail end of September).  So we are celebrating them all with one dinner… which I’ll make the cake for, of course!  lol
As far as the week is concerned, lots of work stuff getting me stressed out, and I need to get focused on scanning my grandmother’s photos so I can take them back to her at Thanksgiving!

Whew!  It’s gonna be a week, people!  lol
~Heather

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Sammich

Originally uploaded by dacriscloset

We’ve been using e-mealz.com for our menu planning lately. Everything
has been terrific and super easy, but I have to say this one is my
favorite so far! It’s a simple sandwich (nicknamed sammich now!).
Turkey, French bread (whole wheat in this case), add some butter and
garlic powder on one side, some apricot preserves on the other, bake on 350 for about 25 minutes and…. Yumminess!!! :o)

(NOTE: This photo was pre-baking, so just imagine the cheese all melted and runny for a post-baking picture!)

(OTHER NOTE: This is NOT a one person sammich!  It’s at least two, maybe even three with the half-loaf we used!  Do not try to eat this alone!)

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I’m doing something I’ve always said I wanted to do, but never took the time to do it… I’m participating in a walk to benefit Multiple Sclerosis research.

After Jack’s accident I decided that I wanted to get involved in charitable events for medical research. Our company participates in the annual MS 150 bike race, and this year we are also participating with a team in the walk. I signed up today.

Now comes the fun part… the fundraising! My initial goal is to raise $500, however I’m hoping to increase that goal before too long.

If you want to help me meet that goal, you can go to my participant site to donate online – http://www.nationalmssociety.org/goto/heatheratpollock .

Every little bit helps, so if you can contribute $20, $10, $5 or even $1, please consider sponsoring me in the walk.

You can also go there to join the walk, start a team, or just learn more about MS and what’s being done to fight it.

I’m planning on documenting the whole experience here on my blog, from start to finish. It’s going to be a great thing, and I can’t wait!

~Heather

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I’m a true southern gal… which means I have drank a lot of tea in my life.  Usually sweet iced tea. Is there any other kind? Tonight, I found out, there is.

Jack and I stopped at the Galleria tonight just to watch people ice skating, waste some time, and get Jack a new pen. On our way out we found a store called Teavana. Wow… I’ve never seen or tasted so many teas in my life! Jack was in heaven, he totally loves hot tea and has been on this kick lately.

Well, needless to say we left with a conglomeration of teas, and a couple of little brew pot things. So tonight I’m sipping on a blend of Queen of Babylon White Tea and Rooibos Rose Garden… over ice of course!

~Heather

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Like the new digs? I decided to go with something a little different.

Lots of time has passed since I last post on my blog. Things have been crazy! The holidays were so busy, and work has been insane lately.

For those who don’t know, I put together a trade show for my company, so that’s been keeping me busy the past few weeks or so. The tradeshow was this past Friday and was fantastic!  Lots of suppliers, lots of customers, just a great day in general.  It’s nice to see your hard work all come to fruition. I’ll post some photos once I get them back.

 Other than that, life has been pretty normal.  Jack is doing good. He is seeing a wound care specialist in the hyperbaric facility at Baylor and there is progress being made.  So that’s good.

I promise to try to post more often. I’m sure I don’t have many readers left that aren’t family… but we’ll see.

~Heather

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Brrr… it’s getting cold out there!  Two days ago it was 80 degrees outside.  Right now, it’s a chilly 34 degrees!  Holy Cow! But I love, love, love cold weather.  We don’t get much of it here in Texas, though.

I went with Jack to his doctor’s appointments this past week. He’s scheduled to go back next week for the bone scan and a white blood cell scan.  These will help to show if the infection is bone or tissue.  Once we know that, we will have a better idea of what the treatment will be. So yet again, we’re waiting… for tests, for doctors, for prognosis. And of course with the holidays, I’m sure the waiting won’t be short!  lol That part I do remember!

Jack and I were talking the other day about spending the holidays in the hospital two years ago.  My mom and dad brought us Thanksgiving dinner at the rehab hospital (a friend brought us leftovers just so it would be authentic! lol), and then we were lucky enough that Jack was discharged a couple of days before Christmas. I remember putting up the Christmas tree in Jack’s hospital room, wondering if that really was where we’d spend Christmas. I am so thankful for the doctors and nurses who took care of Jack during that time.  There were times that I felt so lost among the medical terminology, the treatment options and the pressure of it all, but every single person was so kind, patient and understanding. I’ll never forget them.

Ok, so sorry about that little trip down memory lane…. we’ve been doing that a lot around here!

Gotta run… been baking cookies like crazy today, something about the holidays brings out the baker in me! :o)
~Heather

P.S. Awesome news… I’ve lost over 15lbs in the past month!! Yesterday I had to go buy a size smaller pants!!  I’m so, so, so thrilled!! I’ll post later about all of that though!

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So can you believe that next week is Thanksgiving?!?!  I mean, seriously, where did the year go?!?!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Why?  Because it’s the holiday that everyone on my mom’s side of the family gets together in this little town in South Texas where my grandparents live.  This is a huge deal… we now have over 60 people in our family from my grandparents on down to all the great-grandchildren!  I joke that the town’s population doubles whenever we all come to town (but not in front of Mamaw…. she’s very sensitive about people insulting her town! lol)

My uncle has a ranch there, and he recently built a lodge for hunters.  Luckily it’s big enough to house all of the men in the family, and all the women and children are split among family and friends’ houses.  Older women get beds, younger girls get blow up mattresses and pallets on the floor.  Jack and I are the exception… because of his medical equipment for his leg, we get our own room!  :o)  Trust me, that’s a big thing!  lol

So we usually drive down Thursday morning (it’s about a 6 hour drive), and get there around noon.  Another uncle owns a barbecue restaurant in Corpus Christi, so he caters the Thanksgiving meal – and really, with over 60 people, you need a caterer! lol We usually plan to eat around 1:00, but don’t actually get the food out until 2:00 or 3:00, but it’s all good because in the meantime everyone is visiting, catching up, etc.  The kids are usually running around getting dirty, much to the chagrin of their mothers (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “Can’t you stay clean for just 10 minutes?!?!”)  lol

When the food is ready, we all sit at what has to be the longest Thanksgiving table for a single family.  It stretches the full length of the front porch of the lodge.  My 95 year old grandfather prays over the meal, and the family. And then we spend what sometimes seems like hours at the table.  Not eating the whole time, but just enjoying each other’s company and telling stories (sometimes more like tall tales!).

Afterwards you’ll find some people in front of the TV watching football games, some out on the porch visiting, some taking off to go hunting (usually with several little boys in tow!), and later in the evening, some sitting around a fire. There’s no place to go, no time to be there, no traffic, no rush, rush, rush… it’s awesome.

This is the only day of the year where I really feel like I have nothing else in this world to think about or worry about. I’m surrounded by the people I love most in this world, good food, and God’s creation. We all get along for the most part (hey, everyone has a tiff now and then), but it’s not like a lot of families I hear about who can’t stand each other… we all love getting together and spending the holiday… so much so, that most people bring along friends or other family members who were going to be alone for the holiday.  So our number easily climbs above 70!

I truly feel so very blessed to be a part of this awesome family. I was devastated when we missed it two years ago, after Jack’s accident.  On Friday night everyone went to my grandparents’ church for a “family music night.” Some played instruments, some sang, but the best moment (for me at least!) was when my dad called us at the hospital, over 500 miles away, and put a microphone up to his cell phone and I hear my entire family yell “We love you!” I bawled that night… both from feeling so loved, but also knowing what I was missing. We made it last year, and you bet we’re going to be there this year and every year from now on. I can’t help it… it’s my favorite holiday!

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Lots of changes going on!  If you’ve been redirected from the old blog… Welcome!!  :o)  New site, new look, and yes, I’m still making tweaks and changes, so bear with me!

I’ve got links to all of my Cafepress stores over on the right…. all of the old links, plus some new ones are over on the left.  And you can always find old posts in the Archives, the Blog Topics, or by using the search box.  Cool huh?  lol

Jack and I had a fun trip to Fry’s last night.  I bought a new soldering iron.  This weekend I’ll post exactly what I’m doing with that soldering iron!  :o)  Let’s just say it has a lot to do with Something Splendid!

Ah, today is Friday… been looking forward to the end of this week, it’s been a rough one.  But Friday is here, and the weekend is about to begin. Make the most of it!

~Heather

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 Well I finally decided to move *my* blog over here rather than just letting it be a digital playground.  So I’ve imported all of my blogger posts, you should see all the categories over there on the left.  I wanted to make sure I kept all of the information about Jack’s accident, etc.

Speaking of which… this past weekend was the 2 year anniversary of Jack’s accident.  Crazy!  It seems so long ago, but just like yesterday.  Current status…. he’s doing well.  Getting around pretty well, still can’t walk real long distances, but he’s getting there.  He still has an open wound… isn’t that insane?!?!  He’s still seeing Dr. Kelton, the plastic surgeon, about every 6 weeks.  He’s recently started seeing a dermatologist who had some great suggestions that have helped a lot.  So we still deal with the repercussions of the accident every day, and will probably deal with them for the rest of our lives.

The weather’s getting cooler… it’s so nice… I love this time of the year. Definitely feeling more and more like fall every day.  And my favorite holiday is coming up… Thanksgiving!  I’ll post more later about why it’s my favorite.

I’m still teaching classes at The Scrapbook Pad.  In fact, on December 1st I’m one of the teachers for this cool make & take day… there’s 10 different projects that you can complete, all having to do with the holidays.  It’s very cool.  I’ll post a photo of my project.  The digital classes are still going strong!  I’ve got two digital classes – Digital Scrapbooking 101 and Photo Editing for Everyone. 

Other than that, not too much going on.  I promise to post more often!  :o)

~Heather

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Well, I wasn’t expecting to post again so soon, but here it is…

On Monday afternoon I noticed a couple of large red splotches on the inside of my leg, just above my ankle. I thought it was odd, so I went to the doctor yesterday. He referred me to a dermatologist (as quickly as I could get in). So today, I saw the dermatologist.

The Derm (for short), thinks it might be Vasculitis, and that it could potentially be cancerous. So he did a biopsy there in the office and I should hear something next week.

I’m a smidge freaked out, but really trying not to be. So if you could keep me in your prayers for the next few days, I would REALLY appreciate it. More than you know! :o)

Thanks!
~Heather

P.S. Yes, the biopsy hurt… well, not so much the biopsy itself as the lidocaine shot! Ouch!

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