Hanging Out with Old Friends

I drove down to Santee yesterday to hang out with my friend from high school Jenny (White) Harris. She lives out here now with her family and Tristan is my new buddy. Jenny and I were hockey team managers/soccer team buddies/drivers ed partners/exchange students together during our four years at DHS so it was fun to catch up while hiking at Mission Trails Park and eating at Miguels on Coronado Island...they have an amazing white salsa sauce which I highly recommend!

Patience Pays Off...
And I finally got a chance to drive dad's new car...let's just say Matty (my Jeep) is seriously lacking in horsepower when comparend to dad's car!

Two Big Black Dogs
Cosby looking good at 11 years old!

Rudy is always a sucker for the camera as you will see...

And he will put up with literally anything!

Peter and Chris thought this was really funny, not so sure Rudy agreed though.

Rudy all wrapped up.

Merry Christmas!!!
Yes, Chris purposely made that face and my camera died right after so this is our 2008 family photo. Yes...mom is wearing antlers in the picture too.

And yes, I am considering becoming a professional Guitar Hero player...Santa brought us Guitar Hero for the Wii and I have progressed from barely competent at beginner level to playing through most easy songs and some medium songs. My future as a professional video game musician is looking bright! :)

Cancer Camp Here I Come!

I found out today I was accepted into the First Descents camp program. It is a (free) week long whitewater kayaking camp for young adults with cancer. It's not until July but I am psyched...at least one good thing came out of cancer! :)

First Day of Winter in SoCal!

What better way to celebrate the winter solstice than a bike ride along the beach?! Yes, I am spoiled because I get to spend the holidays in San Diego and yes I will be rubbing it in for the next two weeks! :)

Roadtrip

Since I really wanted to go to CA for Christmas and my immune system is low, Peter became my professional chauffer for the holidays. He flew out to the Springs to drive me back to San Diego; fortunately, we get along very well. The trip was uneventual aside from a one hour food hunt in Albuquerque, incredible amounts of snow in Flagstaff, and being given the key to someone else's room at our hotel (the good news was nobody was home when we walked into their room)...oh, and we tried Del Taco which was nasty and is now on my official never-eat-again list.

SoCal, Here I Come!
I am finally headed home to sunny SoCal today! I never really got permission to put radiation off for two weeks, I just told my radiologist I would be gone until January 5 and he did not protest so off I go. I did have my simulation done on Wednesday and now have three tattoos...one of which I intend to have removed as soon as radiation is over. The guy said they would look like freckles but I think it looks more like a big ink blot on my chest which I am not thrilled about. At any rate, radiation will start after the first of the year and I am off to relax in sunny San Diego for the next two weeks!

Annual Christmas Party Pajama Style
Since we couldn't find an evening when the whole group could get together, we decided to have Christmas breakfast in our pajamas this year. So, on the coldest morning of the year, we all trekked up to Monument to celebrate Christmas, my remission, and Joel's birthday.

And I got to meet little Wesley for the first time. He was born on November 2...I have never seen a baby with such dark hair let alone so much hair...he might have more hair than I do right now!

After breakfast and before opening gifts, Anne and Jeremy surprised us with a game of Pictionary. The theme was Christmas music and I am happy to report my team won! :)

The other surprise was for me. We got to hurl snowballs at the box in honor of my killing cancer! :) So now I have beaten cancer, finished classes for the term, and it is finally time to relax!

Loving Life Cancer Free!
Obviously, celebration was in store after yesterday's news and that is exactly what I have been doing. The celebration started out with Amy and Lara at Blue Star.

Then I headed north to hang out with Lori, Leslie, and Julie at Elephant Bar. That was especially fun as I have not seen these ladies since the summer. I used to lead HS youth group with them.

And then this morning I woke up for a special celebration breakfast date with Mandy at Wooglin's, my all time favorite. And Darren, who owns Wooglin's, was so happy for me that he gave Mandy and I free breakfast! :)

The Celebration Continues!


(Mom, ask the boys how to view the video.)

IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!

As of this morning, I am officially cancer free!!! Take that cancer, 12 weeks from diagnosis to remission and I beat chemo 4-0!!! :) I still have to go through radiation but it is a huge relief to be done with chemo and cancer free at this point. I certainly could not have asked for a better Christmas present!

It's beginning to Feel a lot like Christmas

Tis the season to spend time with family and friends and it started last night. My friends Vicki (pictured) and Ben invited our cohort at school to celebrate the holidays at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort last night. It was fun to spend time with classmates and professors in a non-school atmosphere...and I am quite happy to report we did not talk about school at all! :) And I confirmed that I might be the worst dart player in the world...that's why I ride bikes, I have no hand-eye coordination.

Hanging with the Winders

My good friends Steff and John Winder were in town for a conference this week and I was lucky enough to spend lunch with them this afternoon. Steff and John are some of my favorite people in the world and I am so happy I got to spend some time with them in the midst of crazy schedules on both parts. They left for Oregon after lunch and I am not sure when I will see them again so I am so thankful to have the time we did.

Birthdays at the Golden Bee
Last night we braved the winter storm (read: similar to a Michigan ice storm) to celebrate three birthdays: Melissa's 50th, Renee's "10th anniversary of her 27th birthday) and Katie's 30th. Plus, it was a little early celebration of me being done with chemo...hopefully! (I will find out for sure on Friday.)

For Renee's birthday present, I was teaching her how to pose for pictures...I am not sure she got it quite right yet! Picture poses aside, it was a great time and I was laughing hard all night long. For more pictures and stories, check out Renee's Blog and Sarah' s Blog.

PS: If anybody knows how to change my camera settins so indoor photos aren't orange, please tell me!!! :)

Teresa Got Hitched!
After twa straight days of class, I jumped on my bike for a quick ride in the 65F weather (amazing) and then got fancy for Matt and Teresa's wedding. I bet T never imagined it would be so warm and sunny for her December wedding!

The wedding was a lot of fun as I wasn't allowed to be social all week due to my compromised immune system. It was nice to get dressed up and see friends...and T had the best wedding cake I have ever had. I am not joking, it was that good! And, there was a very impressive (read: Hysterically funny) performance of "Beat it" by one of Matt's good friends. I have not laughed that hard in a very long time!