It has been quite some time since I have even made anything, let alone posted on my blog.  I am afraid that my husband's passing affected me quite a bit and somehow nothing seemed very important.  As a matter of fact, his birthday was yesterday and Sunday is one of our son's birthdays.  So I decided I would try to get out of my funk and see if I could create again and make a card for our son.  Here it is.  It's nothing phenomenal, but it is something.  Just a very simple birthday card for him.  I have to admit that it was nice to make something again.  It's been three years.  Who knows if I will keep going, but if nothing else, I was thinking I could at least try to make cards for all of the family for their birthdays.  That would keep me going because our family just keeps getting bigger and bigger!  Anyway, I hope you all have a great day and thank you for taking a peek at my little blog!

Amazing!

I just had to share this!  Isn't this amazing?!  It was drawn by Jonene Ficklin.  A sweet friend of our family used the picture of my husband from two posts down and had Jonene draw this.  I think it says it all!  I can't tell you what a comforting feeling it gives me each time I look at it because I totally believe this is how it truly is.  I know that my husband is happy, healthy, and ecstatic to see our Savior!  I know that all of his hard work in this life is paying off now in the work he is doing on the other side of the veil.  What a wonderful thing the Plan of Salvation is!  I am so grateful for my knowledge of it as it has made all of this that me and my family have gone through for the past few months so much easier to understand.  I will ever be grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who sent His Son to atone for all of our sins.  What a blessing!  And I am so, so grateful to know that my husband is busy doing our Father's work.  This has truly been a marvelous Mother's Day for me!

I'm Here

My sweet husband passed away March 11, 2013.  It was a short, but long, battle with melanoma.  I have not crafted since we found out about his diagnosis in October.  I have no desire to do so now.  However, I am told to not be hasty and to let life just take over for a while.  So that is what I am doing.  My craft room looks like it hasn't been touched in months!  (It hasn't!)  I haven't moved anything in there.  It is just as messy as when I left it so long ago.  Maybe one day the creative juices will flow again and I will jump right back into it, but until then, I just want to say thank you to all of you who have been visiting my blog.  There is nothing new here, but maybe something older will inspire you in some way.  Until I begin again, or if I begin again, happy crafting!

My Husband

This is him.  The man that I have spent the last 23 years with.  Our 23rd anniversary was October 18th.  We have had such a wonderful life together.  We have never fought.  We haven't always agreed on some things like raising our children, yard work, how to drive!  :)  Life has been very good to us.  However, our blissful world has come crashing down around us.  In the early morning hours of Sunday, October 28th, my husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer and lung cancer.  How do you deal with news like that?!  I am finding it not so easy to deal with to tell the truth.  I consider myself a fairly strong person, but I am also a crier.  I cry when the dog is sick, or when I see a sad show on television, or when I see someone else cry.  I have had to try not to cry because with the brain tumors, my husband's emotions are all wacky and he cries a lot now.  Who knew?

He is the most wonderful man and the most perfect one...for me.  He has treated me like a queen our entire married life.  I sometimes felt badly because I didn't treat him like the king that he is.  He has taken such good care of me and our children all this time.  Now it is our turn to care for him.  It's not easy for him.  It's not easy for our children.  It's not easy for any of us, but we just take one day at a time and carry on.  In my husband's words, "It is what it is."

So, back to how to deal with it.  Prayer is the first and foremost strengthener.  Without that we would be nothing, truly.  I have felt the strength of the prayers from our family, friends, loved ones, and even people whom we don't know personally but they know someone connected with us.  It's amazing how this all works.  The Lord is truly in charge...of everything, and we just need to humble ourselves and turn it all over to Him.

My heart is breaking right now, but I am comforted in the fact that I know everything will be alright...no matter what happens, we are a forever family.  With that knowledge and the Lord's blessings, we can carry on.  It is what it is.