seventy eight

My grandpa turned 78 this weekend and has been battling cancer for almost two years.  We celebrated on Saturday with a cake and peach ice cream from UDF (at his request).  Many friends and family sent him sweet cards and it was nice to spend the afternoon with him.

This past year has been hard on our entire family, the chemo and radiation has taken him from a 210lb man to 157lbs.  They've stopped his treatment again due to more weight loss and plan to restart it again in a few weeks. 

I don't even feel like 78 is that old at all, considering his dad lived to be 96 and was not ill at all till the last two years of his life.  My grandma is quite the woman for taking care of him day in and day out.  She has really shown me what love and devotion means and I know that if Andrew or I were ever that sick, we would care for each other just as well as she is doing for him.

On the marriage note - my wedding shower is next weekend.  I'm so excited to see all of my family and friends and to celebrate our marriage that is just two months away!  Though sometimes its hard to be excited because of everything that is going on, I know that deep down my grandpa just wants us to be happy and wants us to be around as much as possible.

So What Wednesday

I'm linking up again on So What Wednesday this week, and you should too!!!

This week I'm saying "So What":

- if I don't sleep because I'm having wedding nightmares, my favorite one being my parents cats getting sick on my dress.

- that I am excited beyond belief about my bridal shower next weekend and mostly because of the food/pies.

- that my fridge is so full of food because I couldn't say no to amazing sales on veggies and fruit this week.

- I spend all my free time on Pinterest, Etsy and Facebook to distract me from wedding planning.

- I keep wishing we would have eloped.

- I cannot get motivated to clean my house, I have been keeping the kitchen clean but everything else has gone downhill quickly.

So what are you saying "So What" to this week?  Link up here: http://www.lifeafteridew.com/

Wedding Stress

I had a headache for the entire weekend....I couldn't figure out why this was happening or why it would not go away.  It started on Friday night when I got home from work.  I figured it could be from Aunt Flo coming to town but as the weekend wore on I figured it all out.

I honestly can't even remember what I did on Friday night (how sad is that?!) but I know it was nothing exciting.  It was hot and Andrew was tired from work.  Saturday morning we had our second pre-marital counseling session at church.  We went through a questionnaire, talked about what makes a marriage successful and our plans for the actual wedding day.  Prior to leaving for the church, my mom called me and a fight ensued about my bridal shower and how no one had gotten invitations yet.  Let me preface this by saying that my maid of honor works third shift at a hospital and had mailed them on the holiday last week, plus tons of people in Ohio were without power for days, including her, and there was a lot going on.  We got in a huge fight and I got hysterical, the stress really started to get to me.  The headache then got even worse. 

That evening, we had dinner with our families at Andrews parents house.  It went really well, we discussed wedding plans and left early since my dad had to work on Sunday.  When we got home, my head was throbbing.  I went to bed early and took an Advil PM for good measure.

Sunday, I woke up and could hardly hold up my head at all.  No sooner did my mom call, asking to meet me at Joann's later that afternoon to get the final fabric for my junior bridesmaid, flowers and ribbon for my grandma to make the crowns for the flower girls and to look at some other things we would need soon.  I agreed to meet her and thank God Andrew came along too.  We did argue a little and I kept telling her how I did not need more stress.  This should be a HAPPY TIME not a time for me to have a constant headache, heartburn at night and waking up from wedding nightmares constantly.

Hopefully this week I can get a lot accomplished for the wedding and show her how hard I've been working to get things done.  The shower is in just two weeks and I am PRAYING that things will calm down after that just a tiny bit!

My motto for this week: worrying will NOT change the outcome!

the barn

There is a barn that sits on the property next to Andrew's sisters house.  Its been in disarray for as long as I've been dating Andrew and its a great barn to photograph.  We keep expecting that the next storm will blow it right over, but its still standing, a little worse for wear each time.

 

Spring 2010

 

Fall 2011 - Probably the best photo I've personally taken in a long time

 

A stormy summer day in 2012

The last two I took just this past weekend, when it was hazy and hot late in the afternoon and a rain storm was rolling in.

I've found that I'm much better at taking photos of barns, animals, flowers and scenery then people but I imagine with time I'll improve.

Its Okay Thursday

Since I missed So What Wednesday/forgot that it was Wednesday because a midweek holiday totally threw me off - I'm participating in Its Okay Thursday instead!

So here is what I'm saying "Its Okay" to this week:

Its Okay.....

that I still had Halloween and Christmas decorations in a hot mess in my basement till yesterday.

that I haven't worked out in a hot minute because I've been so busy/tired.

that I must keep reminding myself that this wedding shouldn't be the cause of all my stress.

that I am so excited for my bridal shower in just three weeks. Mostly because I get to see my family and eat a ton of super yummy food!

that I've been pretty moody lately and super indecisive, I know I'm driving Andrew crazy but I hope he understands that I don't mean anything by it at all!

that my mother is driving me CRAZY because I know in the end she means well and wants what is best for me.

that I sometimes wonder why Andrew and I didn't elope, right?!

So what are you saying "Its Okay" to this week? Link up over here - http://www.brunchwithamber.com/