Fun In Texarkana

Part 3 of our visit with Meme, Papa, and Mom

Three Generations: Meme, Mom and Me

Cory and I took Amtrak to see mom. It leaves out of Walnut Ridge, AR and drops us off in Texarkana, TX. This was our second time to go Amtrak and Cory just loves it. He doesn't have to drive and it actually costs about the same. Anyway, on our trip back the train ended up being and hour and a half late. That is one thing that I don't really like about it. So since we had some time to waist we went down town to see the TX/AR sign.

I am on the Texas side and Cory is on the Arkansas side for a reason.

I was born and raised in Austin, TX. Cory was born in Paragould, AR and raised in Corning, AR. This is definitely a house divided!

Mom and me on the steps. Almost time to go home :(

Kayaking with Mom......Never Again!

Part 2 of our visit with Mom, Meme, and Papa

Cory and I wanted to get out of the house one day so we talked my mom into going kayaking. First mistake, asking my mom to go. Bless her heart. My mom actually worked with someone who knew the river and her husband rented out kayaks and canoes. So Cory talked to her and asked how the river was. Not a problem, we take our 3 year old grandson all the time, she said. Ok, mom can do it if a 3 year old can do it. So we head out with our lunch and camera ready for an adventure. First of all the woman's husband was sick and was closed for the day. We should have just turned around and gone home. Second mistake. Instead we headed on down the road to find another place that was open. Ambush Adventures is what we came to next.

It looked promising. So we rented out kayaks and jumped on the van to head down to the drop off. When we get there the driver tells us a little about the river and what turns to make. I never heard rocks, rapids, or small water falls. Cory did. He told me later that once he heard those words he knew we shouldn't be doing this with my mom. Third Mistake. So we get in our kayaks about to head down the river, Cory and I both look up and see rocks.

(see the rocks?)

Cory asks me if I think we can do this. Mind you, I'm still oblivious to water falls and rapids. Ya, we can do this. Were in the boats, let's do it. Fourth Mistake. We should have turned around and gotten out of the river. Here's another kicker, my mom is deathly afraid of the water because she doesn't know how to swim. Cory and I both thought that the river was going to be smooth and no big deal. If we had known beforehand what we knew after, we would have not taken my mom. We would have gone, but not taken her. AND it was our first time to Kayak! Fifth mistake! If I had thought about it, I would have tried to tell my mom some tips before we left. I'm not sure why I didn't.

Mom, scared to death, before the rocks.

We made it through the first set of rocks/rapids, with mom freaking out. The second set of rocks, not so much. When you get to rocks/rapids you are suppose to start paddling hard to help you go where you want/need to go. Instead of paddling she would just put her arms up, yelling and freaking out. We were trying to tell her to paddle, but she just wouldn't listen, therefore she tipped over. I turn around to see my mom literally freaking out in the middle of the river. I can't swim, I'm gonna drown! As we yell, STAND UP!! I finally got her to half way listen to me and was able to get her over to me with her kayak. But I couldn't get her into her kayak wo tipping myself over. So I jumped out and held her boat so she could get back in. Whew! I'm thinking at this point that if this is how bad it is were ok. I was wrong! It gets worse! A couple more rocks/rapids down she tips again. I'm not sure how but she got back in her kayak.

If you think it's been bad so far, just wait! It gets better. We come to a fork in the river. We are suppose to go right but Cory thinks the left looks better. So we go left. But half way down, it doesn't look so good. Some how we paddle back and go to the right. I don't know if this was a mistake or not. We soon come upon huge rocks, rapids, AND small waterfalls. Yes, waterfalls! There's two rows. Cory and I get through the first row, mom does not. I some how purposefully get stuck on some rocks so I can hopefully help mom. Her kayak and paddle are floating down the river and she is standing in the middle on a rock, freaking out. Yelling and flapping her arms. There are moments in peoples lives when a situation comes and you have to either suck it up and do it, or die. My mom said forget it. I'm done. While trying to stay stuck between the rock, the rapids tip me over. I go under water, down the waterfall, while trying to hold the plastic bag that has our lunch AND camera up out of the water. Not easy! (thank goodness I had double bagged the camera so it did not get wet) So now my kayak and paddle and my moms are floating down the river. What am I going to do? I swim as hard as I can and get all four things and take them to land. Mom is still sitting in the middle of the river on a rock. So Cory and I walk back up to where she is. Theres no way we can get to her wo shoes on (Cory had flip flops on and one of mine had floated down the river) because the rocks are too sharp and slippery, plus the current is rushing too hard. So we waited for someone to come down to hopefully help us. Thankfully two teenagers came down in a canoe. We asked them if they could get mom and bring her to land. They swam over and rolled her into the canoe. Safe and sound on land. Only one problem, we still weren't back to Ambush. Thankfully the rest of the trip was exactly how we imagined the whole trip to be, smooth paddling wo

We finally made it back to Ambush. I think all three of us were so happy the trip was over. At the last ordeal I seriously thought one of or both of us were going to drown. Thankfully God was watching over us and helped us through. If you take away the rocks, waterfalls, and rapids it was fun. But I don't think we will ever be able to talk mom into doing something like that again.

Visiting Meme and Mom

When I was little I spent every summer with my Meme. I have fond memories of her and Papa. I love my Meme so much and I hate that we live so far away from her. But my mom lives in the same town right now so we went for a visit to see them. This is the house I spent many summers in.

While we were there we took some walks,

 talked about some old memories and went flea marketing and garage selling. It really was a lot of fun. Cory and I love to go to flea markets and so do Meme and Papa. I remember going on the weekends for hours and hours to look for garage sales. Papa usually bought me whatever I wanted, in reason.

One day we checked out the little town of Mena, AR. It's a cute little town with shops, eateries, and a drive to the top of Queen Wilhemina Mountain. The views were gorgeous and we ended up eating at a little restaurant when we got to the top.

To be Continued..............



One Year

I meant to write this post on Thursday but I got busy and forgot. So I guess better late then never. Thursday was a very special day because it was the one year anniversary for my mom's kidney transplant. My mom was diagnosed with PKD (polycystic kidney disease) about 7 or 8 years ago. PKD is when multiple cysts form on the kidneys causing them to enlarge. Four years ago she was put on dialysis because her kidneys were not working as well as they needed to. She was then put on the donor list as we all hoped and prayed one would come through soon. Eventually the left kidney had grown so large that it was pushing her organs out of the way, making it hard for her to breath when she laid down, and only allowing her to eat maybe a fist full of food, if that. It was time to take it out. The surgery went well and the dr told us the kidney was the size of a larger watermelon. Keep in mind the normal size of a kidney is 4-5 inches. No wonder she couldn't eat or breath. About a year and half ago she had a heart attack. We soon found out that the reason for the heart attack was from calcification built up from the dialysis she was doing. The dr told us that she needed a transplant very soon because the calcification would build up again if she was still on dialysis. My thoughts were that she would be moved up on the donor list since the dialysis was causing the problem. Nope, not at all.

We knew she was high on the list because the nurse had called and asked her some questions a couple of times, but there are so many factors that go into this process. And if someone comes along that they think needs the kidney worse then her, she gets knocked out of the way. What happened next was definitely a "Wow God" moment. My cousins wife, Amanda, decided she was going to get checked out to see if she was a match. I tried not to get my hopes up because there were people in the past who had offered and couldn't because of various reasons. To our amazement she was a match! Last July they both flew to Austin, TX to get the transplant done. It was a great success and both my mom and cousin did very well. There was a lot of recovery for both women, but they are both doing very well today. In fact my mom went to the dr Thursday and the new kidney is doing great. The other kidney on the other hand, is not. It is growing even larger and beginning to push her liver over and she is beginning to have pain because of it. The dr told her it needed to come out but it was up to her.

Back to my cousin-in-law, Amanda. She is doing great today and so is my mom because of her. We will be forever in debt to her and there is no way we could thank her enough. It takes a very strong and caring person to do what she did. A lot of people say they would do it, but when it comes down to it, not many really would. Because of her, I have my mom and in good health. Thank you Amanda!!

Since I am on the subject, I would like to talk about donors. I personally would like for my organs to be donated when I die. There are so many people that could be saved and I won't need them when I'm gone. BUT many people don't think about donating, never get around to doing it, or don't want to. Please tell your family if you are willing to have your organs donated. When you are gone they may think you didn't want it done, or it was never discussed. Make sure they know your feelings on the subject. Next you need to register to donate. This way IF your family doesn't want it done, but you do, it will be done. If you are interested in learning more about donating or want to register, there are many websites to check out, but here is one: organdonor.gov

Here are some facts I will leave with you to think about:
110,586 people are waiting for an organ.
18 people die each day waiting on an organ.
1 organ donor can save up to 8 people!

4th of July Fun

We spent 4th of July in Corning, like we always do. They have their annual parade and picnic (I'm not sure why they call it a picnic because nobody picnics, more like a carnival type thing) and we usually get together as a family to eat lunch. 4th of July is always packed until the fireworks at 10:00 pm. We are always wore out when the day is over. We start the morning with breakfast at his great aunt's house then sit in her front lawn and watch the parade. Cory usually dresses up as a president and walks in it with some other guys but there wasn't enough men so they didn't do it this year. Cory was very upset. I don't know why but he loves doing it!! It rained this year during the parade but they just kept going. Somebody said it hadn't rained during the parade since the late 70's.

Babies, babies, and more babies. Yes, we have eight little ones in our family right now. Two of those are an in-laws. Holidays are fun these days.

Then we head over to his aunt's house to eat lunch with the family. Usually the food is really good and today was no different! Ribs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, rolls, corn on the cob, asparagus, cheesecake, peach tart, grape salad, and on and on. Yummo!!!! We stuffed ourselves till we were sick. Every year, I tell ya, we do it every year.

After lunch Cory and I usually head out to the picnic to buy our truck tickets and see people. Cory was born and raised in Corning so he always sees people he hasn't seen for years, school friends, and family. After walking around the picnic we headed back to his aunts and watched movies. It was so nice to just sit and relax and hang out with the family. Now to wait for the fireworks. It's been a long day, but a good one.

I Was Doing Good

I was doing sooo good. I was not just having a good day, I was having a good couple of weeks. I have been in high spirits since my last Dr's appointment when he gave me some hope. The hope that it can still happen and he thinks it will happen. Just wait and be patient. So I was good. Waiting on God. It will happen when HE wants it to happen. It may not happen right now, it might be six months from now. These were my thoughts......................until today.

Today I got on Facebook to find one of my friends loading up to go to the hospital to have her baby, another friend posted new picts of her baby, and I found out another friend is 10 weeks pregnant. Then I lost a glimmer of that hope. That "I'm tired of waiting, I want a precious baby to hold, it's my turn" mood returned. I hate that feeling. I hate it because I feel like it puts me back at square one. I feel like God says "you were almost there, you almost believed me, you almost had complete faith in me." I hope that's not what He says. Because if He does, I'm never going to get pregnant. I do know He has a plan. I just wish it was for me to get pregnant now. I hate second guessing Him and asking all the time.

It's just hard to sit back and be patient when it seems EVERYONE around you is getting what you want. It seems like everyone is pregnant right now. Every time I turn around I hear about someone else who is pregnant. Some people who have fertility problems are mad at those people who are able to get pregnant when they want, three times, it only took them two months. Not me, usually anyway. Depends on the person. I can't believe I just said that. For instance my sister-in-law is pregnant and when we found out my mom asked how I was doing. I was fine, I was not mad at her or angry. I just wanted to be pregnant too. When I get in this not so good mood I then start questioning whether it will happen at all. There are tons of people who want babies who never get pregnant. Just because I want a baby does not mean it will happen for me. When I look back at my childhood and the dreams I had of becoming a mother, I never imagined it would be like this. I always wondered if I would have problems getting pregnant but I always thought that I would get pregnant and have three kids. Looks like my plan was not God's plan. 

Feelings and Summer

I am feeling a little overwhelmed. But I knew I would feel this way when I had my first classroom. I have been in my room a couple of times but they were quick in "wow" now let's go before I have to do something kind of visits. You see I am one of those people that when I am doing something new or that I am unsure of, don't know what I'm doing, don't know anybody, it takes me forever to get started. Once i get started I am usually fine.....................but getting started is another story. So that's where I am right now. I met with the other First grade teacher today and I like her. But she started talking about stuff that I was unsure of and it scared me. Thank goodness she will be on vacation this next week and then I will be on vacation the next week, so I don't have to face my fear for another two weeks. Every time I think about working in my room or the first day of school I am reminded of the children's book that talks about someone not wanting to go to school, their mom is telling them to get up, get ready, it' fine everyone will like you, and then in the end you find out it's the teacher not wanting to go. I totally agree! I can't remember the name of the book but it's really cute.

I am also the new cheerleading coach and I find the same feelings when thinking about meeting with the girls. It amazes me that I use to have all these feelings when I was in school and I am now 26 years old and am still having the same feelings. I should be over this stuff. That feeling of unsureness and insecurities haunt me to this day. I will push pass them and move on. The question is when?

The house is coming along slowly but surely. We finely got Direct TV yesterday. It only took 3 weeks! I am down to one room to paint, thank goodness, because I am so tired of painting. The man came to measure the kitchen and den floors but nobody has said when they are coming to change them out. Very ready for them to come get it done so I can get the den in order. There are boxes and junk everywhere. I like our house more and more everyday. It has it's own little charm and I love it.

Our summer is going good. Busy but good. We both have a ton of things we have to get done. Being at a new school always brings a ton of work with it, and since I am a first year teacher it brings even more work for me. We are going to visit my mom and grandparents in a couple of weeks. Cory wants to take Amtrak again this year. We took it last year and he loved it. Crazy man! Hope everyone is having a great summer!