If you wouldn't mind....

So I have neglected my photography blog for the longest time and I have finally taken the time to update it, so if you don't mind taking a gander and give me some honest opinions. If you're into photography and editing and all that jazz, then your constructive criticism is always welcome, but I would also love some honest opinions.... lately I have been thinking about throwing in the towel, but then I get to playing around and I feel creative again. I finally got the real mccoy as far as photoshop goes and boy has it thrown me for a loop!! Anyway my blog address is petalsandpolkadotsphotography.blogspot.com. (thinking about changing the name there too, it's a little long and I get strange responses when I tell people, so advice is welcome in that area too!

Marty Update...

Marty is home now, has been since Saturday. His recovery has amazed me. He had an epidural in the hospital for a few days and since they removed it he hasn't had a need for any pain medication. We got the pathology report and they got all of the cancer in his colon and it didn't spread to any lymph nodes!!!! He will see an oncologist in a couple of weeks and we will know if he will have to go through chemotherapy, either way things look really good right now. I have to say this has been such a scary ordeal for us, but also a great blessing. We have never been closer as a couple or a family. I look forward to every minute I get to spend with him. It also has made him realize what I went through when I had the kids. He has a c-section type of incision and he keeps telling me he didn't take good enough care of me after I had them..... I LOVE to hear that!

We are also so thankful for all of our friends and family. We have had dinner brought to us every night, I can't thank all of you enough. Last night my kids were literally fighting over who got the last chicken puff, they were delicious. I hope that I get the chance to return the favor to all of you! We really appreciate all the love and support and we love every single one of you!!

Life is now back in session...

I absolutely love the holidays, sometimes I think I love it more than my kids even. This year for some reason got away from me. I didn't make any treats, I always felt like I was running a little behind, and then it was gone!! Anyway, now things are back in action, kids are back to school and back to work for me. We had a wonderful holiday so here it is in a nutshell:

Christmas Eve we spent with our good friends Cody and Debbie Clark and family. They are so great they always make us feel like we are part of their family. We did our usual thing, stayed up late wrapping, wrapping, wrapping. Cameron tried to wake us up at 1:30am, 3:30ish am, and finally we started our day at 5:30am!! Marty had our friend, Kurt, build me a sofa table. He is amazing with his woodworking skills, he and his wife are both incredibly talented! I also got a frame with a family picture, also from the Evans'. My kids made me some jewelry. Cam spent all of the money he had on his dad's present so he made me some large seashell barrettes with lots of wire- I will cherish them forever!! Poor Marty, Baylie and Cam bought him some Dolphins stuff, I just bought him the usual- clothes, underwear, chocolate, he is too hard to buy for. He wanted a new driver (golf club) but not going there, I tried, that's just not something you can't pick out for someone else. Baylie got a new camera, she is hogging all of the memory on our computer with her pictures! She was excited about her clothes. So was I, she didn't want to take anything back to exchange and I have actually seen her wearing it so maybe we're not on different planets just yet! Cam's favorite gift was his Boise State replica football helmet. That kid had a list a mile long and the helmet was not on there. So one afternoon, approx. Dec. 23rd we were driving home in the car and I asked both of my kids, "If you could choose just one thing on your list what would it be?" Cameron pipes up, "It wasn't on my list but I really love that helmet at Fanzz." So Marty runs there to pick it up, then you have to keep everything even between the kids so we frantically find more for Baylie. We ran in to say hi to Marty on Christmas Eve at the mall and Cameron wants to run down to Fanzz and look at the helmet again. When he came back he had a sad face, the helmet was gone, he wouldn't even be able to buy it after Christmas. Long story short, the look on his face was priceless when he opened it, and the man in the red hat was not getting credit for this one!!

For the new year, we will just play it day by day. Marty's surgery is now on the 14th instead of the 13th. As soon as we complete that hurdle we both have goals of losing weight, getting healthy and spending more time together as a couple and as a family, spending less money, and just feeling blessed with what we have and paying no attention to what we don't.

That said, Happy New Year. We truly are so lucky to have such beautiful kids, wonderful friends, we are employed and we have a roof to sleep under at night.