Friends.....they come and they go, but for some reason the ones that go are the ones we wish would stay. 

My husband and I befriended this family from church that we met at family camp and we started to do quiet a few things together.  We thought we had some things in common and thought we would all get along well.  You see, they have 5 girls (ages 25-16) and we have 4 girls (ages 23-17).  All of our girls love animals, love to shoot guns, love to do crafts and love to work in gardens.  However, there are a few things that make us very different.  They do EVERYTHING together as a family, they don't do anything apart.  We encourage our girls to meet friends, to get jobs, and to become independent, AND we do things together as a family.  They encourage their girls to stay at the farm (it's a mini-farm), have a job but put everything back into the farm, they can date but only boys from the church (which I don't have a problem with really).  When we have a birthday in the family, we have BBQ's and invite our friends so we can have fun, they celebrate birthdays with family only.  I'm guessing that we didn't have as much in common as we thought which is a bummer because I like them.

A couple of months ago, the husband friend heard a rumor about my husband, and he took the rumor as truth.  Both husbands belong to this group and they meet once a month for meetings.  Well, during this meeting, he tried bashing my husband in front of everybody (about 30 people) because of the rumor.  My husband was shocked to hear the things he was saying and asked him what he was talking about.  He tried to discredit my husband and make him look like an idiot but in actuality he was the one that looked like the idiot when my husband and some of his friends reassured him that it was a rumor and not truth.  Yeah, so the friend felt about 2 inches tall after that.  Since then, we obviously haven't had the relationship that we once had.  Talk about feeling a stabbing pain in your chest thinking you had some good friends when in reality you don't.

Well, it feels really weird going to church now, seeing them but not talking to them.  I tried looking their way and waving but all they do is turn around and walk away.  Rejection, I hate that feeling and I'm not even sure what we did.  Did we offend them?  Does the friend not like my husband because he stood up to him for the bashing?  What?

Because of the people we are, we have forgiven him for doing and saying the things he said.  We pray for them all the time and hope that someday we can sit down and talk things out.  But for now, We will continue to be the friends we are and enjoy the friends that have stayed.

Many Blessings,
    Shauna

I'm having a hard time.....

I'm the type of person that does what she can to help her friends whenever possible, but this time, I'm not sure what I can do.

You see, I have a friend that is addicted to prescription drugs and she has to go to a treatment center tomorrow and will be gone for 2 weeks.  This saddens my heart very much.  She has 2 kids, 3 years and 19 months, and a husband that works ALOT.  I know that he needs help with the kids, but we live too far apart for me to just jump in the car and give him a break.  This also reminds me how important family is.  Her husband and her parents don't get along and they aren't offering to help out with the kids while she is gone and that breaks my heart even more.  How can people do that?  I mean not help out with their grandchildren when something like this happens?  They need to put their differences aside and help each other through this.  The treatment center she is going to is 10 hours away so her kids won't be able to see her until she gets back, which is really sad since they are used to seeing her every day, she's a stay at home mom.

Well, if you all know of some way I can help this temporary single dad friend of mine, please let me know.

Thanks,
  Shauna

Hit and run driver....

Well, last night I experienced something that I never had before, I was hit by a guy in his car and he took off.  Here's what happened....I was in the left hand turn lane, my light turned green, and he ran his red light.  Lucky for me, my Best Friend Laurie was with me and she yelled he's not stopping.  I slammed on my breaks and stopped just as he hit the front right side of my car.  He motioned to me that he was going to pull off to the side of the road so I backed up alittle, and he took off.  Can you believe it?  He just left.
I pulled into the parking lot of a nearby strip mall to assess the damages and much to my surprise, I have a cracked lens on my headlight (the light still works), and bumper transfer, that's it.  How lucky am I?  I'll tell you how lucky, God has my back!  He knew what was going to happen before it happened and made sure certain things were in place so that neither Laurie or I would get hurt.  I am grateful she was there and am blessed that we are both ok.

You know, after something like that happens, you really become ultra aware of things around you and you become extra careful.  My eyes were busy watching every car around me on the way to work this morning and I made sure there was extra space between the car in front of me and my front bumper.  I'm not mad at the guy that hit me last night, I figured he probably didn't have insurance or a suspended license or something.  I forgave him as soon as I saw him take off.  Laurie and I are ok, my car is still drivable, and the problem isn't mine anymore.

I sure have come a long way regarding my attitude and reactions to things like that.  If this would have happened 10 years ago, I would have sped off after him to make sure he realized I was not ok with what he did.  But, these days, you never know what will make someone snap and come after you.  My life is important and I don't take any added risks of getting hurt.  I Let Go and Let God take care of it.  My friends, be careful out there and may God have your back!

Shauna

I am grateful......

On Wednesday when I came to work, I was greeting in the hallway by my boss, she said she needed to talk to me....gulp!  When we sat down she told me some startling news about the owner of the company.  You see, I work for a man who is stubbord and hard headed, he likes things his way or you can leave.  For the last 33 years he has built a very successful business and I appreciate him for that.  She started off by saying that he is stable, then proceeded to tell me that the owner had a massive heart attack the day before.  Wow, Mr. Owner had a heart attack?  Unbelievable!  Then she told me the information that she knew.  After a few minutes, I went to my office with a very heavy heart and lifted the owner up in prayer.  I have since prayed about every waking hour for the owner in hopes that he will get well soon so he can come back to work and start bossing us around again.  You never know how different things will be until something like a massive heart attack comes along.

My husband and I talked about the situation and have decided to take better care of ourselves.  You know, the usual, eating healthier and exercising more.  We both also decided to get full check ups to make sure there isn't an underlying problem somewhere.

So now I have a favor to ask of you......please do what you can to take good care of yourself.  There are people in your world that need and depend on you, not to mention love you very much.  Even though I am not related to the owner of the company I work for, it's pretty devastating for us but we still manage to do our jobs to make sure that the company, and his family, are taken care of.

Many blessings to you and your family,
      Shauna

Christmas tradition that I started last year...

My girls are adventurous.  They love to search for things whether it be in the craft room, the garage, or at a yard sale, they love the challenge.

Last year, I thought I would create some fun things for the girls to do Christmas morning.  I got a bunch of index cards, some envelopes, and sat down with a cup of coffee to create a scavenger hunt for them.  It started under the Christmas tree (Card #1).  When they opened the envelope, they found a clue on where to find Card #2, and so on until they found the final clue (Card #32).  I had them going ALL over the property, bathroom, carport, garage, and bedrooms.  They found their gift cards right under the Christmas tree skirt where Card #1 was.  It sure was fun to see them try to figure out the clues, I didn't make them all easy.  They had to put their 3 beautiful heads together to figure it out.  When they started the hunt, I told them that even if they find a card that is out of order, they need to go in order because they don't know what card will have their gift cards in.  It was a blast.

This year, I told the girls that I am including our neighbors houses for the hunt (I asked them in advance).  One of them even told me that he wanted them to ask them a weird question and he could give them a weird answer on where the next clue would be.  This is going to be soooo much fun.  My oldest daughter is even recruiting her boyfriend in hopes that they can find them all quicker.  I think I'm going to make the hunt longer this year, maybe 50 cards, I'm just not sure how creative I can get. Oh, I have a great idea......In the middle of the hunt, I'm going to have them bake the cinnamon rolls and after we eat them, I will give them the next clue.  Oh, how mean!!!  I love it!!!

Well, I gotta go for now.  I have to start printing out the clues.  I pray that you and your family have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I'm sick and tired....

Oh, and exhausted.  For the last 2 weekends, I participated in the "Homespun Craft Fair".  Wow, exhausting.  Not to mention that it was in a really cold building, yeah so the heater was right above us, but when it turned off, it got cold real quick.  Cement floors, next to a big roll up door, need I say more?  Didn't think so.

All in all, we had fun, sold lots of products, and people watched both weekends.  Some people, lets just say, should consult someone that lives outside of their homes on the attire that they wear in public.  Sure did make us humble with ourselves that's for sure.

Well, now that the show is over, it's time to concentrate on some new craft projects that I have planned.  Stay tuned for my new creations......

   Shauna

Lately....

I've done alot of thinking about some things that I've read and heard lately.  My friend writes and some things that she wrote lately, have really inspired me to "Keep It Real Girl".  Then on a blog that I follow, I read that she is dealing with some cancer issues.  My heart gets so heavy when I read things like that.  I too have some medical issues, here's my story.....


About 2 months ago on a Wednesday, I showed my fingernails to a friend of mine who has been a nurse for 20+ years.  You see, they have horizontal grooves (left to right) in all but 3 of my fingernails.  Normal grooves go from top of the nail bed to the ends.  When I showed them to her, she freaked and told me to contact a Respiratory Specialist ASAP because it usually means that there is a problem with the lungs.  Well, I forgot to call a doctor the next day, but remembered to call one on Friday morning.  My friend didn't personally know of a specialist so I turned to my trusty local phone book.  Come to find out, the 3 lung specialists in my town all work in the same office, how convenient.  Anyways, I called and told them my story.  They were quick to act and got me in there that afternoon for a lung test and an x-ray, then made an appt. with the doctor for that next Monday.

Monday I showed up at the doctors office and met the doctor for the first time.  Very nice man, he was so patient in explaining things to me.  He said he is very concerned at the results of the tests.  The lung test showed that my lungs are actually smaller than they should be, and the xray showed that I have scaring on my right lung and it looks like I might have Lupus.  Wow, I NEVER even thought of Lupus, did you?  I didn't even know what Lupus was.  Did you know there isn't a cure for Lupus only treatment?  Neither did I until I started reading up on it.  My doctor said that he wanted to send me to an Arthritis Specialist and he was a little shocked when I told him that I already see one because I have Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Well, wouldn't you know it, arthritis and Lupus have common denominators.  Aaaahhhhhhh.

Well, the next step was to do some more testing and an MRI.  I scheduled the VQ test (stress test with a dye injection) and the MRI.  The insurance company OK'd the VQ test but decided not to approve the MRI just yet, they say it is too early to get an MRI done.  When the results came in from the VQ test, they confirmed that I have major scarring on the right lung and the best thing to do right now is to exercise to help my lungs expand and hopefully learn to cope.  My doctor firmly believes that I have Lupus but have to wait to do more testing because of the insurance company.  He will continue to appeal the insurance companies decision on the MRI but for now I have a follow up appt in 6 months and an appt with my Arthritis doctor in 5 months, blood work, blech.

Its weird how some people treat you when you MIGHT have a disease or something.  I've had to have talks with my kids and the people I work with to let them know that I still want to be treated like me and not me with a possible disease.  It's important to me to live life to the fullest and as normal (whatever that is) as possible.  God is with me every single second of my life and I know that He will be with me throughout this whole ordeal.  Until then, I will laugh, cry, smile, frown, and love just like I did before.

Thanks for letting me "Keep It Real Girl".
I'll update you when I know more.

God Bless,
    Shauna