rekindled spirit

our gratitude is heartfelt- to be home again feels soooo good. we sincerely thank all of you for your kind words (all emails and telephone calls which I apologize have not yet been returned) of encouragement, positive thoughts, and prayers during our diffuct time- our spirits were uplifted and faiths strengthened- we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. our sun is genuinely shining!!!

more wonderful news to share in the coming days…….

photo courtesy of frau endres-  taken  on january 31st, 2008- kindergarten fasnacht celebration.  the theme was ” farmers’market “ she was a flower girl and the moon a farmer.

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wir fühlen dankbarkeit von ganzem herzen - wieder zuhause zu sein ist soooo gut. dir danken euch allen für eure lieben worte der ermutigung, eure positiven gedanken und gebete in dieser für uns so schweren zeit. unser lebensmut und unseren glauben wurde dadurch wirklich gestärkt. vielen dank aus tiefstem herzen.  unsere sonne scheint wirklich!!!

noch mehr gute nachrichten in den kommenden tagen…….

 foto aufgenommen von frau endres- am 31 januar, 2008 bei der fasnet  feir . das theme war “baurnmarkt” und sie war ein blumen madchen und er ein bauernburche.

…….to read more about the sun’s kindergarten fasnacht celebration in january and how proud she was (more…)

we enjoyed ourselves celebrating thanksgiving last saturday, a little early due to conflict in schedules.  two things to be grateful for: good friends and good food. 

thank you beate and helmut for your pleasurable company, enchanting stories, and all the special treats you brought along!

there is nothing greater that i am thankful for than my fortune of sharing this sweet, amazing, wonderful life with the sun, the moon, and thomas aka my tall, dark, and handsome who is celebrating a birthday tomorrow.

i wish all of you peace of mind, joy in your hearts and a very happy thanksgiving!

the highlight of my week: receiving mail art from somepinkflowers!!!

i did not expect this at all so it made the recieving even sweeter. thank you from the bottom of my heart somepinkflowers, you made me and my heart smile so very big!!!

if you have not yet discovered this witty, funny, unbelievably entertaining, fantastic 21st century writer and photographer called somepinkflowers, please go here and treat yourself. be amused, get some pleasure, learn something new,  or better yet form new opinions of your own.  you will for sure smile (i often laugh out loud), sometimes maybe cry or even both! you will love it ! you will love her!

there is a mini rose vine/bush in my gift garden that i inherited from the lady of the house before me.  aside from the marigolds, it is the only thing still alive and kicking out there in the cold and sometimes freezing weather. i was happy to see it doing well as i thought it was fitting to use it to show you her wonderful photography and my mail art.  fitting because it was never really my favorite until it started to remind me of somepinkflowers everytime i walked by it.  really does! i say to myself, there are my somepinkflowers!

somepinkflowers photography/greeting cards, also featured at stolen moments

fan deck palette of photos from somepinkflowers photography

teabag holder and saint augustine postcard from the lightner museum

my personal spf greeting card inserted in my new favorite purse which i will wear on on my hot date out with my honey tomorrow night!!!!

angel card: 

the lightning and thunder, 

they go and they come;

but the stars and the mystery

are always at home.

-george mcdonald

photo by katie powell::picked dandelion by her son judah

have you ever heard of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC)?

i personally had not until i got this email from my girlfriend katie. read it below and make sure you watch the video. i did not think i could convey this message better than she did in her email so when i asked her if i could post it on my blog, she simply replied “yes! knowledge is power”.  it is indeed power and her experience,  my friends, is proof:

hi girlfriends, 

i promised a few of you that I would share a video link about inflammatory breast cancer , here it is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmP5QuGc-PE .

last friday, i chaperoned my friend’s mother to chemotherapy at baylor. she has recently been diagnosed with IBC. if i had not seen this video last year, i would never have known this form of breast cancer even existed.

when my friend called me a few months ago to describe the symptoms her mom was having, “rash on her breast”, “looks like a bug bite that has become infected”, “swollen breast”, “inverted nipple” and “itchy” — i told my friend, “i remember seeing a video…”  that simple bit of knowledge has made a difference. her physician had initially misdiagnosed her condition and therefore had lined up a form of treatment counterproductive to IBC.

therefore, i feel compelled to send this video along to each of you. although this form of cancer is rare, the fact that someone so close to me has been diagnosed caused me to pay a lot more attention to it – especially since standard mammograms and ultrasounds do not usually pick this up as it is “sheets” of cancer, rather than a lump.  (note: i just had my annual mammo and i asked the technician to confirm that it would not detect IBC, which she affirmed. she said that an MRI is the best method of detection, but as we all know, it is not the “norm” for annual screening.)

please mark your calendars for monthly self-exams and pay attention to anything out of the ordinary. be healthy and informed!

regards,

katie

thank you so much everyone for all the heartfelt birthday wishes. all comments, emails, telephone calls (especailly the ones in the middle of the night!) and the thoughtful love/care packages. 

party table included a rainbow in streamers from aunt super*k*west

from her godmama, yaya and now her favorite t-shirt

she was thrilled and truly felt as she should: very special.  thank you so much.