Jennifer

2018 is the year of restoration of health

January 16, 2018 by Jennifer 2 Comments

We have enjoyed the snow in 2018 but not so much the below zero wind chills. 2017 was a hard year medically for our family, but we are looking forward to the restoration of health for Scott and L in 2018. It indeed is heartbreaking to watch two people that mean the world to me struggle with their health. We have all been grateful for the Lord’s strength to get us through each day. Also, the power of positive thinking helps the days brighter. Last week, I told a friend that I don’t even know how people go through life without God. God gives us hope that these health concerns will be taken care of and we put our complete trust in him.

L will have a scope on February 7th to see if sweet potatoes will be her second safe food. To be honest, she should have had a scope before now, but she has been so sick since September. Steroids were not kind to her body, but thankfully we see the light at the end of the tunnel. I wish I could tell if she would pass sweet potatoes, but we just do not know. She continues to complain of chest pains, and that is a symptom of her EoE no longer in remission. We will not know if that is the truth until February 7th. Nightly prayers continue for a cure for L and so many others that are fighting this evil disease.

Scott is stable, but we would like him better so are seeking another opinion at Duke Heart Health. Hopefully, we will get answers so he can feel like “Scott” again and enjoy being active outdoors.

Our family laughs with each other, wipes away each others tears, and try to keep each other positive. Depression is a real thing, and my goal is not to let Scott and L get depressed.

I’m in my last semester of school and will graduate in May. It is going to be a hectic semester with college full-time, work full-time, and navigating through all the doctor appointments. My motto is, “God gives me strength, so I got this.”

M is driving now! How did this happen? She will practice driving with us over the next year and then will spread her wings to get her permanent license.

In the next posts, I hope to catch up on my pending product views and share a few of my favorite things with you. Please stay tuned and leave a comment to let me know you are still here and how is life treating you in 2018!

Lots of love and blessings!

Experience THE MIRACLE SEASON!

December 15, 2017 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

As many people know, I am all about being positive and spreading joy. This movie landed in my inbox and it is the perfect movie to spread joy to my readers during this holiday season.

THE MIRACLE SEASON is produced by LD Entertainment which produced the faith film RISEN, and directed by Sean McNamara (SOUL SURFER). The film stars are Helen Hunt, William Hurt, Erin Moriarty and Danika Yarosh.

THE MIRACLE SEASON is based on the inspiring true story of West High School girls’ volleyball team. After the tragic death of the school’s star player Caroline “Line” Found, the remaining players must band together under the guidance of their tough-love coach in hopes of winning the state championship.

THE MIRACLE SEASON is available in theaters everywhere on April 13, 2018 and I have a sneak peek for you.

Why is this family picture priceless?

November 12, 2017 by Jennifer 3 Comments

This has been a hard post for me to hit publish. Friends, I continue to cry as I replay this scenario over and over in my head. A week before my husband went unconscious in my arms, our family partnered with Portrait Innovations to have our family’s first professional photo shoot. We had never heard of Portrait Innovations but after the superb photo shoot with them, we will be long-term customers. I would like to get an extended family photo in the near future.

My precious family was actually excited to pick out our color-coordinated outfits. Fall colors are so vibrant so we decided to go with maroon and orange for our main family pictures.

We cannot always be serious right?

Portrait Innovations specializes in giving customers a customized portrait studio experience with creative options for beautiful, professional portraits and personalized gifts and keepsakes.

As soon as we walked in the door to the studio, we were greeted with smiles and taken right to our own personal studio. Also, it should be noted that we were able to take a change of clothes to get sports photos since our family loves college football, immensely! You should know that photographers at each studio have been trained in the newest posing and shooting techniques and work with newborns, children, families, graduates, religious milestones and large groups. Our photographer knew the right angles and poses for our family.

During the past 15 years, Portrait Innovations has reinvented the professional portrait studio experience, understanding how important capturing and sharing cherished family and personal memories, events and milestones are to its customers. Honored to be the one selected to capture those memories, Portrait Innovations has become the largest operator of free standing retail, professional portrait studios with locations throughout the country. The pictures are amazing quality and we were able to take our pictures home within an hour of completing our photo shoot. Immediately after our photo shoot, we sat down with our photographer to view all the pictures. We selected the pictures we would like printed and then the rest of the photos were saved on a CD for us.

With our package, fall cards were included and so we were able to surprise extended family with our beautiful fall picture. Again, family received the cards two days before Scott had his attack. Who would have ever thought? I shiver when I catch myself thinking this could have been our last family photo. I will be forever grateful for Portrait Innovations capturing my family so we will be able to hold these photo memories close. Friends, you never know what tomorrow will bring so I encourage you to not wait and schedule a photo session with Portrait Innovations. You will not be disappointed! Learn more at www.portraitinnovations.com.

Remember to hug your family extra tight!

Disclosure: This post includes a partnership with Portrait Innovations. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

DIY Disney Costumes

November 6, 2017 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

With all the medical issues going on in our family, our girls decided to put their heads together to come up with last-minute DIY Disney costumes! We heart Disney so when I came home last week from work to see my girls dressed up by using their own imagination with clothes in their closet……

the biggest smile stretched across my face. Meet my Disnerd and Animal Kingdom Safari Cast Member. Are they not the cutest? This shows everyone that practical items can be used for dress up. We had a fun night celebrating Halloween, but now we are excited for all things Christmas. Oh wait – yes, we will be thankful for God giving us heartbeats and breaths but I am choosing to thank Him every night before I go to bed.

Stay tuned for lots of holiday posts! 🙂

Where did Jen Go? {Hug your family tight}

October 26, 2017 by Jennifer 2 Comments

20818878_10155508567899336_3974252394756908016_o Friends – I’m going to be blunt. The last month has been hard. I’m so sorry to not update here on the blog.

October 7 started out as a typical day. I went to work even though it was a Saturday to help with a homecoming event. After the event was done, I proceeded to drive home and gather our belongings needed for L to enjoy our homecoming football game on campus. My husband mentioned he was feeling nauseous, but we thought it might be from something he ate the previous night. After discussions, we decided to head on to the game. We spoke with family and friends at the stadium, enjoyed the game, and L wanted a fresh baked sweet potato from the campus dining hall. We thought this would be a good idea since there was so much traffic from people leaving the game. L tried to make a case to get our food to go, but hubby squashed that idea, and we all sat around a table together sharing great laughs. Then, our world turned upside down. My husband stood up to put L’s formula backpack on his back, and he looked at me and said, “JEN.” He went down in the chair. I ran around the table to catch him, and he fell back unconscious in my arms. My husband laid in my arms lifeless. My first reaction was to scream for someone to call 911. A student behind me called 911, and then an ROTC Cadet grabbed my husband from me. I’m not sure what all he did, but finally exclaimed what felt forever, “he has a pulse.” PRAISE GOD! The paramedics arrived on campus fast since they were at the football stadium and wheeled my husband out on the stretcher. All of this was going on, and L was crying so hard thinking she was losing her Daddy and Madi started feeling lightheaded from trying to hold it together for everyone, she had to sit down. Another student kept encouraging the girls that Daddy was going to be okay!

I went to get in our car and get to the hospital as fast as I could. We arrived, and the original thinking was my husband had a heart attack since his cardiac enzyme troponin was elevated. His EKG showed his left-side of his heart enlarged. He was hospitalized for three days. The next day we went to a more prominent city for more answers. We are still in a holding pattern and run daily EKGs on my husband. Next Friday, he goes in for a procedure in hopes to find the underlying cause. The heart team will get together to see what can be done. This has been such a scary time in our lives. His cardiologist in the bigger city thinks my husband went into cardiac shock and there is something electrical going on with his heart. His mom and dad both died from massive heart attacks and stroke. Heart disease runs in his family.

God put us in that dining hall for a reason. Hubby made the decision for us to eat in the dining hall for a reason. I shiver to think if we were at home and not close to the quick action medical care. God is so good!

Please keep him and our family in your prayers. It’s so scary because I am trying to watch his every move. We just got back from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for L late Sunday evening and have renewed hope for our girl. More will be written soon.

Hug your family tighter. Do not go a day without telling them you love them. We are so grateful God allowed Scott to come back to us and now we must get him proper treatment to prevent this from ever happening again.

Jennifer

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