Starting Over

This blog started out as a spin off from the Long Road Ahead.   I needed some place I could put down my thoughts about being a mom, wife, and caregiver to my husband.  I have found that blogging is a way to help calm my nerves, but I didn't want to take over the other blog with my ramblings. 



A little about me.

• I'm in my 30s
• Married to my husband for 14 years
• have 2 kids, but sometimes it feels like 10
• I had 2 csections and have an amazing bond with my kids, I dare someone to tell me otherwise.
• I was diagnosed with Lupus in 2008 
• I hate stupid people and have a hard time keeping opinions to myself
• I grew up in Illinois until I was 16, don't miss the cold, or the summers
• lived in Vegas for 4 years, and miss it
• lived in Oregon for 2 years and couldn't stand the rain
• now live somewhere in California, its not as glamorous as tv makes it out to be, but its home

Tin Man was born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) called Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA).  He was listed for a heart transplant on December 3, 2010 and received his new heart on March 6, 2012 after waiting 15 months and 3 days.lHe passed away on April 10, 2012 from complications.  You can read more about Tin Man's heart over here.

I'm mom to 2 kids.

• Warrior is 13.  He's my way to smart for his own good, and my sanity, child.  He's decided he wants to be a surgeon.  After seeing everything his dad went through, he wants to help people the same way the doctors and surgeons helped our family.  
• Sugar Peas is 9.  She's my fashion diva, my girly tomboy, and my future monster truck driver and vampire.  She was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder in 2008 and with a visual processing disorder in May 2012.  We're glad that we finally know what's going on and are learning how to deal with it.  

They are awesome kids.  They're the only things that have held me together since Tin Man's death.



I love

• photography, I got my new camera just before Tin Man got his heart transplant and still learning how to use it.  Much different than my Olympus.  
• reading.  I've always been a reader, but lately, with all the hospital visits, and not being able to sleep, I've started reading a lot more.  I'm always open to suggestions on what I should read.
• historical places.  I hated history when I was younger because I hated reading about it.  I want to learn about it first hand.  I want to see the actual places and not just pictures in a book.
• anything crafty.  I'm a sucker for crafts and love home made gifts.
• Donate Life.  In August 2011 Tin Man, Warrior, Sugar Pea, and I became Donate Life Ambassadors.  We decided as a family we wanted to learn how to educate people about the importance and need for organ donation.