Photo Friday!!

I'm having a very restful Friday so far!  Slept till 10:45, then Kristin brought me lunch and we got to hang out and catch up a bit - yay!, then I took another nap, and now I'm writing a blog in my lovely Christmas house.  Lots of my favorite things! lol  

A friend had posted this verse on FB and I saw it just before being taken back for surgery yesterday, so that was kind of God!

I drove to the hospital and got there at 6:30am, and my surgery itself started just after 8:30, then Mom came to pick me up curbside (man, I so nearly took a selfie whilst the nurse was wheeling me out in a wheelchair - that was fun times, but I couldn't bring myself to do it). lol  Between my Tuesday pre-op appointment and my surgery yesterday, I've had 13 needle sticks - I'm notorious for having hard-to-find veins.  The nurse anesthetist said it looked like I've been used as a pin cushion, and I told her I'm used to it.  Four different nurses were involved yesterday, along with a vein-finder machine I'd never seen before where it's a lime green light that turns blue where the veins are... anyway, those sticks and bruises were literally the most painful part of all of this, so I'm entirely grateful to say that the surgery itself went very smoothly, and my recovery has been virtually pain free, just a lot of fatigue and enjoying time to rest and recover!  A huge thank you to all the women who texted me before and after surgery praying with and for me - God heard you, and I'm so very thankful it went well and it's behind me now!!  Praying for a good biopsy report now... I have a follow-up appointment in a couple weeks, then I can hopefully get right back on track with embryo adoption.

My video presentation for class on Wednesday also went really well.  Rach was kind enough to record a role play video with me pretending to be a client -- I said hello and asked how she was doing, and she confidently said "I'm great!" then immediately made a eeeek face thinking she was being too peppy... so then we both broke character pretty hard and had to start over. lol  In the end, my professor said I couldn't use that recording without a confidentiality waiver, so I had to do an improptu live role play video with an awesome classmate name Ku'uipolani (from Hawaii), but this practice session helped tremendously with being less nervous and having some strategies and question ideas ready!

Debra Messing is Jewish and it's been interesting to follow her Instagram updates in this season, as well as the alarmingly hate-filled comments surrounding her posts.

My BeReal for Wednesday night!

I joined Mom and Dad and Jace and Kyndal at the Deppen's house to go see Carter Lee on Tuesday... an unruly and aggressive horse reared up and kicked him and he was briefly knocked out from hitting his head on the trailer behind him, and he injured his knee.  Prayers appreciated for his speedy recovery and that it's not a major knee injury!!

October 25th marked Aspyn's 8th year in heaven, and November 7th will mark Sharon's one-year anniversary there with her.  This is the back of my card to Lindsay this week.

In happier news, Al and Hilary had their second baby girl last week... Miss Clara Anne - her big sister, Amelia Belle, is already smitten! =)

And so is her Aunt Kristin! ❤

Just a random post FB suggested for me - the multiple nods to T-Swift make me very happy! lol

This is no joke - prom dresses are ABSURDLY short and low cut these days!

Truth lol

True for me. lol "What were we talking about just before this?"

The very best girlfranz turned 10 on October 24th!  I hope to get in touch with David and see them again soon!

Last night was Jaceman's "homecoming" football game, so Rach made these awesome posters for all the boys, and Mom made everyone treat bags!

And now, a quick mini-rant in honor of the survivors, those currently battling breast cancer, and those who may face it in the future!

I understand that the popular "Save the TaTas" or "Save Second Base" t-shirts are meant to be playful or funny, but the more I've thought about it through the years, the more that message bothers me and feels especially dismissive and harmful to women who had to have a mastectomy in order to lengthen their meaningful lives.  Let's make our focus SAVING THE WOMEN, not the man's favorite body part that's actively trying to kill them.  As the niece and granddaughter of breast cancer survivors, sexualizing breast cancer is just not cute or funny to me.  To quote Ashley Cleland, "Anyone who has actually witnessed breast cancer up close can speak to how decidedly unsexy it is... Isn't it just like the patriarchy to expect that we assign the responsibility of sexiness even to women with cancer?  Women are valuable and our lives matter.  We exist for more than our desirability or sexuality."

My biggest concern is that it forces women who have already fought cancer and then survived the trauma of a having a major surgery to remove one or both breasts... it forces them to once again rely on their inner resilience to combat the toxic message that they are less than, no longer as feminine or worthy of love, attention, care, and delight.  That their value is tied to their breasts and to whether men find them desirable.  That message may seem subtle, but I promise you it is there, and it plays right into what our spiritual enemy is likely already whispering to them - as usual, a categorically false but brutal lie attempting to weaken these women whose strength and beauty should so be celebrated and honored. ❤

Okay, rant over.  Happy 1989 (Taylor's Version) release week.  I hope you're having a lovely Friday so far!!