summer is upon us

this summer:  to blog, to paint, to run, yoga and breathe.  most importantly to enjoy.  shelly's tn is coming slowly back.  she has been in a remission for almost five months.  her surgery was scheduled for may 14th but she wants to wait.  she is TRYING to wait until december.  that is when she finishes her graduate work.  i want her pain free. 

i turned forty this year!  oh and ten...i am that weird leap year lady..,i guess that is why art is always around me.  i did a ton of art this semester.  good or bad, i am going to share.  motto for the month.  breathe...as i always promise to do.  this, and be her rock.  tn patients need a rock and i am going to be just that.

toot toot!

5K Results
Race results are posted: HERE

Top Survivor: Sherry Hill 29:27.5
Top Female: Annette Baker 25:14.5
Top Male: Damion Henry 22:51.6

loves...thanks to my sweet friend hilary. new music!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Exkqp2FVo

she is from tejas.

Ellis.

you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. you make me happy when skies are grey. you never know dear, how much i love you. please don't take my sunshine away.

for le bellester! thursday is almost here and gone. no worries.

my new obsession. yard art and roses. i hear..when you want lots of yard art, it means your happy.

love this...we had to do this in class

quiet photographer who feels at home behind her camera
minimalist who cares a maximum amount for home and family
a leap year baby who will turn ten but forty and take a huge leap into her future...finally

not too shabby

three As and two Bs. not too shabby

all things good and done

semester is almost over. time has been flying way faster than i would like.

shell and i are both doing great. she is at unt and not traveling, which we both love, and i am still full time in school and part time at unt.

we have been with both families a ton, and loving every minute of it. just appreciating what we have in family and friends especially when so much is going on in the world today. i feel lucky and blessed.

appreciative!

thank you nctc in graham. so glad you gave shelly a great opportunity with amazing friends, staff, and faculty...yet so happy to have her home. this is shellys last week in graham texas. she has met the nicest people in the world and made many close friends. i will forever be grateful at how embracing everyone was to her and the concept of a college in this area.


http://www.nctc.edu/Graham/

Choco Vine! Yes!!!

Choco Vine is so yummy! with hesitation i tried it, and found a small piece of heaven. it taste like a dark chocolate truffle and a bit of red wine. two of my very favorites. don't laugh until you try it! we are even thinking of some people getting the vino for valentines.

graham...

this picture just reminds me of why i want shelly closer to home. she makes the prettiest fruit bowls. :) it sounds so strange but it really isn't.

to graham she goes for several days. i start a new semester today and it is all of 5:57 in the am. she left at 5:00 and the day has officially started. i wonder, when she gets a job closer would waking at 6:00 or even 7:00 be weird?

The Glass Castle

pure gold landed in my hand the week i went to graham. i could not stop reading. tragic and beautiful all at the same time. it made me uncomfortable, but also wanted to just keep reading. truly one of my favorites. i can not wait to read the follow up. thanks for the loan mary pat!

new year; new things to happen

yes! that is a plate full of crab! thanks to renee, who is an amazing cook, and every time we go there it just gets better, and valerie, who is so funny, we had an amazing new years eve. we made it to midnight and laughed our butts off even though we both were under the weather. thanks to you both.

so excited about this new year. looking forward to family, friends, school, and shelly getting closer to home. she loves being a director at her school, but i am ready for her to be closer to home! i start my semester in about a week and a half. i have one year left! very excited about our future, even though it seems it started a little late. everything happens for a reason, and everyday is a new journey.

shelly is in an amazing remission right now, and we are forever thankful. any day, she is pain free is a great day.

we are both working out like crazy people. we both accumulated about ten pounds over the past year, and want it shed. it does creep up on you out of nowhere. it is crazy because we always workout, but we also like to eat. i guess the eating out weighed the working out. looking forward to a healthy new year.

i got to spend time with both sisters and all nieces and nephews. i love them so. lil john and sophia are about the cutest thing ever, and so lucky to have them in my life now.

sara and payton are always sweet and are the happiest of kids. we love those funny kids!

the only resolutions i have is to stay healthy, spend time with people i love and reunite with some i haven't seen in a while. stick with my yoga practice and try to just live each day. time goes by too fast, and i want to enjoy each day. not to be too hard on myself. to remember to blog. if i am going to have it...do it. :) one day, i will print it and put it in a book so when i am old and grey, i will read it and remember a few things. if i can...

i am so thankful that i get to spend another year with shelly, and that i am healthy and happy. to all, have a great new year.

lil hippie

after a really really testy day yesterday, i came home to this. a tie dye flower with dark chocolate, wine for the weekend, yoga journal, and a homemade sign from my shell. she knew just what i needed to make things better, but she always does.

shell was in a remission for about...a few months. she is out! TN is aggravating, but we are learning to be patient with this painful disease. she is so positive about it and a trooper.

the semester is almost over and even though i love my classes i am ready! i am ready for a little break.

on a really cool note: this november is three years for myself cancer free! so exciting and i am so thankful everyday.

love to all. i never blog anymore...i will try to be better. i am just a little busy. :)

oh...my mom is having surgery in a few weeks. they are taking out her ovaries. she is having some pain in that area, and with my history her drs. think it is best. keep her in your thoughts. love to all!

happy anniversary shell

just wanted to let you know how special you are to me. it has been three years of pure joy. we have been through so much. i do not have to tell you that i would do it all over again.

you are the light for me in this world. you are my rock that keeps me solid and my ocean that keeps me calm.

i look to you when i need something and when i need nothing.

thank you for being a part of my life now and forever.

i love you shelly. happy anniversary.

summer

summer three started today and it seems like it is going to be a ton of work. i love being in school, even though i am almost at retirement age, but i will be excited to get out! i get a few weeks off before fall and i am going to really enjoy them.
super excited that shell is off next week. we are going to wimberley for a few days and staying in a cute lil cabin.
she needs a break! her tn is officially back and she needs some time to rest. it seems to get really bad when she is under stress.
we are doing really well though. staying busy and making sure that we stay out of the heat. staying healthy.
oh...and we joined a gym! we were working out here at the apartment, but it seems our apartment is letting in less than desirable people, and weird guy across the street, could possibly my new stalker! we have a few months left on our lease, and we are out of here. old man stalky needs to stay far far away from us. i honestly do think he is using binoculars, so my once light filled open apartment is now dark with all of the windows closed. sad...
we decided on twenty four hour fitness and it is surprisingly affordable. it is totally worth it just to have the sauna also.
so next time i blog...i will put up a picture of two buff little ladies, with the names shelly and sherry!

i haven't blogged in a long long while. i was taking fifteen hours of school and today...was my very last final! i am coming away with four A's and a B! Damn that one professor. i will not name names. :)

i am feeling great and have an oncology appt. coming up that i know will have great results. shelly is still taking it day by day with her tn. she is having a few complications that we are getting checked out, but i know we will make it through anything! we have been through sickness, too many moves, and layoffs. we can certainly get through small complications!

i have been so lucky this semester. i have had such amazing people around me and i am so very thankful for their support and love.

looking forward to this summer. taking six hours and working part time. it should be fun. :) i am going to try to post more often; i know people are curious to see how the shell bell is.

oh and finn...well he is finn. not aggressive anymore, but also not a cuddly little thing. just finn. hoping he will grow out of this hyper hyper stage soon. hugs to everyone.

whoo hoo. busy busy.

so the after holiday blues did not settle in this year. too busy. i started school. fifteen hours. i never thought i would have embraced it so much. i am really enjoying this process. i didn't think i could do it, but i now have all the faith in the world.

we had a busy weekend. through a surprise birthday party for my mom. she was so excited. we did it at the bowling alley. so fun. i actually broke a hundred. michelle struck out every time. that girl can bowl!

shelly is busy. she just got home from lubbock and got to meet bobby knight(sp). she was in the presidents box for the game last week. nctc and tech are becoming a general studies program together so she got to meet some really cool people.

she is doing really well. taking care of herself and trying to stay pain free.

i hope everyone else is doing well also. peace.

cheers to 2010.

happy new year everyone. i am so looking forward to this new year. i am so grateful for everything that has happened this past year. between the good, the bad, and the ugly, i definitely became a stronger person.

as i talk to many close friends and family members, i think 2009 and was a hard year for everyone. i know it was for us.

i am not going to make any new years resolutions, however i am going to wish for a few things. i fully understand that if i am going to make most of these things happen, i am the one who has to do it. they are not going to fall from the sky.

i am wishing for these last ten pounds i have accumulated, will melt away with ease and with all of the hard work i have already started. on that note: shelly has lost five pounds in four days and i two. whats up with that???? anywho...

i want good health to prevail with my family this year and for shelly to finally be pain free for good. what a trooper. this trigeminal neuralgia really knocked us on our asses this year and really made us aware that anything can happen at anytime to change your life.

i want the relationships i have to become even stronger and to let those people know how truly amazing they are and how grateful i am for them.

i want the relationships that have become non existent to at least be given a chance. at least some of them. the important ones.

i wish everyone peace. peace in their hearts, souls, and mind. peace that tomorrow will be awesome as everyday should be.

i look forward to this next year, as i hope everyone else is. happy new year everyone.

love sherry

the sign of the times

so it has been a few weeks since i posted. our lives have mainly consisted of work, (mainly shelly :), finn, family, and shopping for christmas.

thanksgiving was so great. it definitely stood up as still my favorite holiday of the year. we played apples to apples and ate ourselves silly. i had to run three miles almost everyday when we returned to our normal schedule.

now that christmas is upon us, it has me thinking of the 2010 year. i truly feel like this year is going to be such a positive year. from all things health to family i feel UP about this next year. i am making sort of a bucket list. things i want to do before i die. i want to full fill several of those this year. i do not plan on dieing anytime soon, but why not start early right? :)

keeping everyone posted on finn and shelly:

shelly is doing good. she doesn't even want to talk surgery until after the holidays. she is keeping contact with her neurosurgeon and she is thinking around march. every time someone brings surgery up, she is like,"yeah, it IS brain surgery people". so we will wait for her surgery for a few more months if that is what she wants.

finn, not only has he regressed, he is like a teenage boy that is in his goth, i want to be bad phase. yes we still love him and always will, but i do have to say, it is like having a child. truly truly. we were watching the animal planet the other day, and some dog expert was talking about, When you want to think about getting a puppy. She was like, " you really have to be committed, THIS is the next fifteen years of your life, so choose wisely".

Shelly looked at me and said, "holy hell! seriously! fifteen years!"

I said yes very calmly, " so you better start learning to love this sweet lil man!". Those two have a love hate relationship and it is slowly becoming more about the love. haha.

I hope everyone is doing really well.

Congratulations to my cousin Kevin who had a new baby boy. Welcome to the family sweet boy.