My New Tattoo

My original Design

My new Tattoo

Here are some pics of my new tattoo that I got last week. I had designed a general pic of what I wanted and found an amazing guy to tattoo me and make my design a million times better. It represents my transplant and journey through cancer. I have the date of my transplant with a orange ribbon for leukemia. I have a purple heart for being a survivor. And hope and love in German for my bone marrow donor from Germany. I love it and yes tattoo's can become addictive, just a warning. (:

A New and Refreshed Life

Today was a another trip to San Diego to pick up some meds. I am very pleased to announce that for about four months now I have reduced my visits to the cancer center to once a month yay!!!!!. I get blood drawn and visit with my primary doctor now only 12 times a year. It doesn't sound to much when you sat it that way. I am super excited and have been enjoying a little more freedom and not being bogged down by needles or appointments of many sorts. I still have to get all my meds from the cancer pharmacy in La Jolla, so I do make more trips than I would like right now, but hopefully we can get them turned around where they can coincide with my appointments that I have monthly. I just can't believe that we are creeping up on the 3rd anniversary of my new life (when I received my transplant). It has been a long hard 3 years but I am almost off most of my meds and on my way to being my normal again. Wow never thought this is what I would be doing and spending my time for these years of my life recovering like this. But It has been such a blessing. I have truly discovered who I REALLY AM! I dug so deep down and asked myself a lot of hard questions about myself and what is truly important to me. I have learned who my true friends are that loved me when I gained all that weight from the steroids and looked quite different. Those that stuck by my side and encouraged me the whole way through, no questions asked are those that I want to invest myself in and give part of my heart to. There were many that I saw a selfishness in and run when things get too hard for their perfect world. I am not down with those sort of superficial relationships. I have met some amazing people out here in California and love the life I have out here and my group of people that love me from my old job in Montana. These are the people I want to invest my time and friendships with.

I have a prayer request I am just going to shout out there: I have had quite a few ups and downs in my health lately as always and I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I try to make commitments to school and traveling. These are such things I really want to start doing. So pray for some consistency in my health that I may take the step on those things in my life. Thanks a bunch (:

Thanks for reading up on me again,

Many blessing to all the beautiful people God has blessed me with.

I am going to make an effort to revive this blog and get it going again. Stepping up and committing to something I know I can probably accomplish. YAY Friends, Let us journey through life together! What a wonderful life we have. I encourage you to take each day and live it to the fullest.

May your day be full of love and peace~ Lyndsay

Thrift Store Finds

A view of all of the treasures

Good brands like Levi's, Old Navy and Gap

Nice Shirts

Adorable Princess Jacket with lining and all

Osh Kosh Pants and Levi's

Lately we have found this Salvation Army by our house that has 50 percent off days every other week. You can find some amazing things there. They are constantly restocking throughout the day, so there are new things all the time. They also have a lot of kids clothes. Natalie has gone through a growth spurt lately and my mom and I decided to check things out to see if we could find a couple things for her to play in. I have had such good luck finding clothes for other friends with kids and this time was no different. We got 5 pairs of pants, 3 of which were jeans. Then one really nice Disney Jacket and 3 hoodies. We also purchased 5 shirts and 3 skirts. All of those clothes for 35 dollars. It was great. I love half off days. It is fun to go through all the racks finding that treasure that looks brand new. That is another thing each item looked like it almost just cam off the rack. Getting a good sale is like getting a good high. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Well thought I would share my finds with you and wish you luck on your discount store adventures. Be patient and take your time to scan through racks and you are bound to find a treasure in there somewhere. Happy shopping!!

Natalie's Preschool Christmas Program

Mom, Natalie and her Doll with matching dress

Daddy and Natalie

Natalie and her best friend Skyland

Natalie telling Santa what she wants this year

Yesterday my little niece Natalie had her first Christmas program. I was unable to make it because I don't do well in crowds and mornings are not my thing. My mom went though and said it was wonderful and oh so cute. They sang songs and each one was a Christmas character. Natalie was Santa's little helper, which is perfect because she is a great helper and loves to do it. She was dressed in her Christmas party dress that was red and she looked gorgeous as she always does. Love her to death!!! Good job Natalie, we are so proud of you little miss.

Christmas Decorating

Kids Decorated ornaments, It was FUN!

Our "kids" tree of homemade ornaments

The outside of our house almost done with lights

Santa waving Hello to everyone

Our Red and Gold beautiful tree

The Christmas village complete with snow

Our huge and gorgeous nativity

My new buy this year, a huge Mountain Santa.

So I decided to take an attempt on keeping this blog going again. So many of you have encouraged me to express my thoughts in writing and have blessed me so much with the encouraging words that my writing is understandable and deep to them. I do need an outlet and a way to show the wonderful things in my life, I am excited and decided to start out sharing with everyone our Christmas fun at out house. Last year was the first year that we started this where the kids were here and we decorated Christmas ornaments for our "kids tree". Last year I baked the homemade one that you bake, paint and then lacquer. This year I have not been feeling so chipper and have not had much energy that I bought some ornaments at Joann's for 30 cents a piece and the kids had just as much fun painting them.

We have also been super busy decorating our home for the holidays. We like a lot of decorations and enjoy doing a new color theme on our "grown up" tree every year. This year I wanted to do red and gold and I think it turned out gorgeous. You are able to do that fairly cheap by adding some of your own ornaments and buying the rest at the dollar store. You can find some gorgeous ones there. So here are pics of what we have done so far. Still in the process but almost done. Merry Christmas to all!!!!!

National Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month

September is national leukemia and lymphoma awareness month. I know in our world now we seem to have a "day" or "month" for just about anything. Some I think are a bit ridiculous but there are some really good dedications of time, like those that benefit people and the overall good of the quality of life.

Before I was actually diagnosed with Leukemia I am ashamed to say that I didn't even know what it was, I was not even aware that it was a cancer at all. I now see the importance of being aware and educated of important things such as illnesses and major things that affect many people we come in contact with and are within our families as well. Our health is not guaranteed us. Never did I think at 22 I would have had to face a cancer diagnosis that could have left me dead in a matter of months or even weeks if not treated. I was healthy overall and pretty active so to me there was no reason to worry about a serious illness coming my way, which I have found to be the case with most people that get faced with a leukemia or lymphoma diagnosis. It is not a hereditary cancer like many others and there is no way of preventing it. So more than ever I have seen the importance in patient advocacy and raising awareness of it's symptoms and what exactly this nasty thing is.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to meet a lot of awesome people during fundraisers and marathons/walks. I have loved being involved with the national cancer society and the relay for life walks. Also the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has been a life saver in my journey. I have helped out with TNT (team in training), and the light the night walks that they put on to raise money. These amazing organizations give tons of free material and ways for patients to feel connected. They also help patients who need financial help along the way. I have been truly blessed by the help and knowledge I have received from so many of these cancer organizations.

On the right side of my page I do have a list of sites I like, which provide and abundance of information to those that are interested in learning more of this illness.

I am proud to say that today I am a survivor and that I love telling of my experience, even though at times it is difficult I know that I am spreading awareness around me. Those that might have had no clue of what leukemia or lymphoma is would now at least know a tidbit about it and pass it on to another person. Knowledge is power and they are developing and advancing so much in treatment options for cancer. That's why I am so thankful to everyone who gives of their time, money and resources to help raise awareness and maybe one day there will be a cure for this big nasty called cancer.

March Cooking Class- Fiber

My mom and I attended another healing foods cooking class at the Cancer Center this month. The topic this month was fiber. It was amazing how much fiber our body really does need and the lack of it that an average person consumes. We were given lots of information on how we can incorporate more fiber in our diets and the benefits that we receive for having a fiber rich diet. It was yet again very informative and fun to go through the class and try new recipes. Here is a list of the recipes that were made at the class:

-Traditional Swiss Oat Muesli

-Roasted Peppers Stuffed with Eggplant Hummus and Mushrooms

-Red and Napa Cabbage Salad w/ Apples and Spiced Pecans

-Moroccan Stew with Sweet Potatoes in Peanut Sauce

-Spicy Garbanzo Bean and Turkey Sausage Soup

-Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

-"Soda Jerk" Beans

-Chocolate Espresso Spelt Cake

My two favorite dishes that we had were the Spicy garbanzo bean and turkey sausage soup and the "soda jerk" beans. I will share these two recipes with everyone on here and if you are interested in any of the other recipes just let me know and I would be more than happy to give it to you (:

Spicy Garbanzo Bean and Turkey Sausage Soup

Sliced or diced fresh avocado makes a colorful garnish for this hearty southwestern soup. If you want to cut up the avocado ahead of time but don't want it to discolor, simply place the avocado pieces in a colander and rinse them with cold water. They will stay bright green or about two hours.

1 tsp. olive oil

1 pound turkey sausage, casings removed, crumbled

8 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 med. onion, chopped

1 cup canned diced peeled tomatoes with juices

1 large jalapeno chili, thinly sliced, seeded

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried

3 15-16 ounce cans garbanzo beans (chick-peas), undrained
4 cups canned chicken fat free low sodium broth

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

chopped fresh cilantro

1 avocado, peeled, sliced

Heat olive oil in heavy large dutch oven over med heat. Add turkey sausage and chopped garlic and onions. Saute' until sausage is golden brown and cooked through, breaking up sausage with back of fork, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juices, sliced jalapeno chili, ground cumin and chopped fresh rosemary and simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garbanzo beans with their liquid and chicken broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer soup 15 minutes. Stir in fresh lemon juice. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before continuing.)

Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and top with sliced avocado. Serve immediately.

"Soda Jerk" Beans

12 oz. Soyrizo (optional)

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes in juice, drained

1 15 oz can vegetarian baked beans, rinsed, drained

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed, drained

1 15 oz can butter beans, rinsed, drained

1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed, drained

1 large onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sparkling apple juice soda

1/2 cup Italian lemon soda

2 tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp. dried savory

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in heavy large pot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until juices are thick, stirring gently and frequently to prevent burning, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

So I hope that you all enjoy these recipes as much as I did. They are good, healthy and flavorful.

Enjoy!!!