SURGERY

 A couple years ago, in the process of trying to figure out the cause of my headaches, we found out that I have a small tumor, called a meningioma, on the lining outside of my brain.  It was small and the dr's said that the way it was positioned that it wasn't in a place to cause any pressure or interference on the brain...meaning that it wasn't causing my headaches.  They said it looked like it wasn't growing and to just monitor it every couple of years just to be sure.
Fast forward 2 years...
             The tumor is growing.
                      It's already a size and a half bigger than it was.
The Dr. says it needs to come out.

Yikes!

I am traveling to the Mayo Clinic in AZ to have the surgery done.  I've been there quite a few times and have loved the staff and patient care shown, it was an easy choice.

Surgery date:

Thursday

6am

Every once in a while I freak out about the thought.
There's just something about drilling into the skull and being near the brain that makes me nervous ...I mean it's not like it's the control center for the body, oh wait...it is!
Although, I know that the doctors are very familiar with this kind of surgery.  I'm not so much fearful about surgery as much as the recovering from surgery.  My body does NOT do well with medication.  It seems that every surgery I've had has been like facing a slow torturous death in the day or two afterwords.  Horrid.  Unbearable, yet no choice but to bear it.  That's what I fear.

A few days ago on FaceBook I posted my definition of PEACE:
realizing what is out of my control and what is in God's control: smiling at the future "because my God provides all my needs according to the riches that are in Christ Jesus my Lord"...the way may be rough and painful, but He who carries me through is Faithful.

Thank you dear friends,

for encouraging me, holding me up in prayer.

I, or Andrew, will keep you updated

A garden for Miss Mouse

 One of my favorite books growing up:

 

Miss Mouse was bored of her small garden she grew every year so she decided to dig up all the dirt around her house and plant and plant.  It grew bigger than she expected!

 Her garden even began growing INTO her house.

 It was such a fun story that ended with all of Mouseville working together to rescue Miss Mouse stuck in her house by picking all the veggies then enjoying their work by eating salad together.

Our family has always loved to plant and grow gardens. Small, manageable ones.
Although we did not dig up all around our house, this year we decided to expand our garden area quite a bit.

We also experimented with a few ideas.

We prepped the ground as much as we could.

&

For the first time we planted from seed.

It's exciting watching the seeds sprout and grow... every morning it seems they've grown an inch.

A Week after planting:

 

The same plant a week or so after the picture taken above:

 

This is a great way for the family to hang out together.  Once a week we all gather together to pull weeds.  The kids are not super excited about this part of a garden :) but Andrew and I really enjoy being able to chat and work together.
A garden takes work.
Lots of it.
But hard work can be rewarding.
Now, if only we can keep those pesty bugs from nibbling too much!