Beautiful Temple Lights

Eric's Adorable Nephew Jake

Although it was freezing cold and windy, Eric and I and his family had a nice time seeing the temple lights Wednesday night!

More Sea World Pics!

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My Guitar!!

This is my other favorite gift from my daddy!!! He let me choose one from his collection! I can't wait to learn how to play!!!! Thanks dad!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Well, Christmas is over now. It has been a wonderful one! Saturday we celebrated with Eric's family. We had a very nice time!! Then Sunday we went to my sisters and celebrated with her family, my mom, her boyfriend Steve, and his brother and mom, Peg and Jeff. Another very nice time! I told my mom that I wanted a compilation of poetry and short stories that she has written over the years for Christmas. I completely forgot I told her that and that was her project for us for Christmas, amongst other things. It brought tears to my eyes and I will cherish it forever and ever! Monday night we went to my dad's house to celebrate. There were lots of people including my dad's fiance, her sister and fiance, her brother, her son and daughter and their children, my sis and her family and my brother. There was tons of yummy food! Then Tuesday morning Eric and I celebrated our little Christmas together! He got me the tiniest, cutest little video camera ever!!! I was so excited!!!! Then we went to my sisters and hung out till eleven. So, those were all of our Christmas celebrations! A little update on the cancer treatments.....I have finished 17 radiation treatments. Fortunately the only real side effect I am having is a really red itchy forehead. I go for a CT scan on Friday morning to see what the tumor is looking like and I may or may not be receiving 4 extra focal treatments. My radiologist here in town wants to, my neurologist at Cedars says its not necessary, and my radiologist from Cedars says we can do it later. Hmmm.....kinda annoying that there isn't one general opinion. Anyways, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year!!!

I Love Whales!!!

A Much Needed Weekend Get-a-Way!!

If it weren't for my wonderful mom, Eric and I probably wouldn't have taken this little trip to San Diego. So....thank you thank you thank you mom!!! You're the best!! Eric got off work early on Friday and we headed off for San Diego around 1:30! Traffic was pretty much horrible the whole way there, but that's alright. I think we arrived at our hotel, The Country Inn, around 5 or so. Then, we headed off to dinner at Chili's. We had some really good food there and really enjoyed ourselves! We went to sleep fairly early because of the big day ahead of us! The hotel had a really fabulous breakfast. Not just bagels and cereal....it was the works! Eggs, potatoes, sausage, waffle batter, all sorts of bagels and bread, hot cocoa, cereal, yogurt, granola, oatmeal, fresh fruit, and juice. Isn't it sad when it's free and you just can't fit it all in? We tried, though. After breakfast, we headed off to Sea World, only about a 20 minute drive. I could not stop smiling! I was so incredibly giddy I could hardly get a hold of myself! The atmosphere was so Christmasy and Festive!!! We got a schedule of all of the shows going on and went from one to the other the whole day. We saw 2 shamu shows. One was at night and it was the holiday show so it was really cool! I love Shamu!! We also saw an amazing dolphin show, a sea otters show, and a Pets show with dogs, cats, pigs, and ducks! And who says cats can't be trained to do tricks! They were so smart!! We also got to pet the dolphins, see sharks, penguins, turtles, and fish!! What a magical place!!! I can't believe I had never been! It was so wonderful to share it with my sweet husband! For lunch we went to a pizza place which was pretty good. We shared a chicken caesar(how do you spell that?) salad, breadsticks, pizza, and pasta! Yummy! Why am I addicted to carbs? Later on it started getting pretty chilly so we went to the car to get beanies and gloves and a jacket. Then we shared a funnel cake with strawberries, whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream. Wow was that good! During the Shamu Holiday show we warmed ourselves up with hot cocoa. The weather was so perfect the whole day!! For dinner, we went to Arby's and brought it back to our hotel. After eating, we went down to take advantage of the spa. Boy did that ever feel good! Oh, before going back to our hotel we went to see the lights at the San Diego Temple! They were so incredibly beautiful!!! The next morning we woke around 8, packed up, went down to breakfast, and headed home. The drive home was very nice. No traffic! So, that concludes our much needed weekend get-a-way!!! Next trip, maybe Hawaii!!!

Sea World San Diego!!!

My First Trip To Sea World!!

Meet This Sassy Little Dolphin!!

Eric's In Dolphin Heaven!!

The Lovebirds & Flamingos!!

Dedicated To My Sweet Husband

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Fun Stuff!

Yesterday I went to my first radiation treatment. It was pretty easy except for the mask that they strap down to my face to hold me in place. I can't really see out of it but at least I can breath. That's a good thing. Afterwards I got a pretty bad headache. My first in a long time. My doctor prescribed me decadron to help with that and the swelling in my brain. So I'll be on that the whole time I'm receiving radiation. Remember that stuff I complained about in a previous blog....the stuff that makes my face all puffy and that makes me have a big appetite and that makes it hard for me to sleep. What fun! Oh well, it's worth it. I decided to go back in time with this slideshow because I am now addicted to making them. It's kinda long, so be prepared to spend about 6 1/2 minutes watching it if it interests you. It has a bunch of wedding pictures, some from my bridal shower and a few of the pioneer trek Eric and I went on in Bakersfield where we were "parents" to a group of teens. All fond memories! Thank you all for your comments! Until next time...

Meet The Silly Sisters!

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Finally!!!!

I don't know how many hours my husband and I spent trying to figure out how to post these slideshows but finally, Eric figured it out! My Hero!!! Thank you lovey!!! Let's see, what have I not written about....? I don't remember if I wrote about getting a blessing from one of the Stake President members. Eric and I renewed our temple recommends and I asked the presidency member if he wouldn't mind giving me a blessing. He gladly accepted. Thank you Lew, for the wonderful suggestion! It was very comforting! The following day, last Wednesday, my mom, dad, husband, and myself met with a couple doctors at cedars. Following, Eric and I went to see the lights at the temple and do a session. It was so fabulous to be back. I just finished an awesome book by an amazing Christian author who is a cancer survivor. My father-in-law, Lew, gave it to me to read after reading it himself. It's a short book, so it was pretty easy to read. I love to read, I just need to make more time for it. My sweet mother-in-law, Lorrie is coming with me to my first radiation appointment, treatment tomorrow. I'm not too worried about it. Just not looking forward to having my hair fall out again. Oh well, just as long as it grows back I'll be fine! Anyways, I'm so grateful for all your love and prayers! I know it is helping me keep a positive attitude and feel well! Thank you!

L.A. Auto Show

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Good Times!

Friday night Eric took me to see August Rush. A must see!! We both loved it and highly recommend it!!! My new favorite movie!! Friday afternoon the sweet wife Linda of my husbands boss took me to get a pedicure. I love my cute toenails! I picked the funnest brightest color I could find! It was a nice treat! Today my sister and her husband Andrew dropped by. While the guys played video games, we had a lot of fun and laughs taking pictures. Wow! We can look pretty scary, can't we?! It was so much fun! My cheeks were hurting and my abs were burning! The last time I laughed like that was when my mom was over and we were looking at really silly pictures she had just taken of me. Good times!! Eric and I are probably going to see Enchanted and Bee Movie so I will end my blog for now! Love you all!

Thanksgiving

I had a great Thanksgiving! Thursday we celebrated at home with Lew & Lorrie, my wonderful in-laws. Eric's brothers and their families came to join us as well as his grandma and aunt and their friends from Lancaster. We took some family pictures. We had some really good food and had some yummy dessert! It was a nice day! Friday we went to Hometown Buffet to celebrate Thanksgiving with my dad, brother, sister, and her boys. Good stuff there! Then we went back to my dad's, hung out, went in the spa, and watched a movie called Innerspace from the '80's. It was actually a pretty cool and funny movie! Saturday we headed off to my mom's in Aliso Viejo. On the way we saw a car fire. No flames but it was smoking like crazy and a cop was just arriving. We stopped at the L.A. Auto Show where my brother-in-law was working to sell tools. We walked around for a couple hours and met my dad and brother there. There were some really nice cars. My favorite was the car covered in crystals! Could you imagine getting in an accident driving that! Diamonds scattered all over the scene of the accident! We left from there with my brother to go to my moms. We enjoyed another fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks mom!

Things I am Thankful For:
~Husband
~Eternal Families
~Friends
~The true gospel in my life
~The atonement of Jesus Christ
~The beauty in nature
~Service, whether by me or given to me
~Laughter
~The temple
~Babies
~Inspiring new friends and people
~Animals
~Vacations
~Education
~Funny or uplifting movies!
~Music
~Singing
~Food
~Shelter
~Clothing
~Smiles
~Good books
~This trial to mold me into the person God wants me to
~be
The list could go on and on!

Bump in the Road

Double date at The Cheesecake Factory

Dinner at Olive Garden

My daddy and me at Olive Garden

Smiley me after mom helped me tint and shape my eyebrows

Sexy cross-eyed Shelsi

Hello Lovely People!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Unfortunately this update isn’t going to have good news like we had hoped to give. I still have hope and faith that we will get through this bump in the road like we have done throughout this entire year. I know it is thanks to all of your love and prayers and the power of priesthood blessings. I really appreciate all of your faith and support that you have given to my family and me. I got admitted to the hospital last Tuesday like I always do. I was hoping to leave Saturday like I was able to last round but my white blood cell count was too low. I thought for sure I’d be leaving Sunday. Nope. I cried when they told me they were making me stay another night. They wanted me to wait until my regular doctor could see me and decide if I could go home Monday. I was so frustrated. I just wanted to go home with my husband and sleep in my own bed. I was feeling a little better later so I told Eric he could go home so he could work in the morning since he would be taking Thursday and Friday off for the holiday. Monday morning came and a new doctor came in and told me my white count was up from 1.7 to 1.9 but that I still had to wait to see my doctor because that still might not be high enough. Around 3 I broke into tears again because my doctor had still not been by and I wanted so badly to go home. All day I kept asking my nurse if she had any idea when my doctor would be coming by. She didn’t. I even called my doctors nurse but she was at the hospital getting a cast put on her broken arm. Finally around 4:30 my doc came in along with my neurosurgeon who performed my craniotomy, another doctor, and a couple nurses. I thought to myself, this can’t be good. Usually it’s just my doctor and maybe his nurse who come see me. He asked me if I had any idea what was going on with my last MRI scan. I told him I hadn’t been able to find out anything about it since I had been at the hospital. They told me that they saw a small spot of tumor in my brain again about the size of a marble. I was in shock. The methotrexate that I was being given just wasn’t strong enough to kill remaining cancer cells so the darn little things started to grow into an ugly mass again. I was trying so hard not to fall apart in front of everyone. It was hard to hold back the tears but I didn’t let them fall down my cheeks. Not then, anyways. They told me that most likely the next step will be radiation and a stem cell transplant with intense chemotherapy, even more intense than what I have already gotten. They weren’t sure when everything would begin, but they knew that they wanted it to be soon. When they left the room I closed my door and balled like a baby. I called my husband, sobbing, then my dad, sobbing, then my mom, sobbing, etc. My sweet husband took the news so well. His voice and words stayed positive and upbeat. I was grateful for that. My dad came to pick me up from the hospital. We had a nice ride home together. Tuesday my mom came to visit and help me out. We had some fun girly time shaping (she had to rip off my wax strip cuz I just couldn't pull myself to do it. Ouch!!) and tinting our eyebrows and laughing hysterically at really silly scary pictures of me. The Monday before I went back to the hospital my dad and his fiancé Gretchen took Eric and I out for our anniversary. We went to Olive Garden and had a very nice time. The Friday before that we double dated with a young couple whom we have known for a while. We went to Cheesecake Factory. It was really good! Well, that is the latest news. I am doing very well and look forward to the near future when I can finally say I battled cancer and won!

I love you all!!

Shelsi

Before and After Brain Surgery

How 'bout Another Round?!

My sister came with halloween decorations to hang up in my hospital room! Her boys came with her dressed as a spiderman ninja and a ninja. They looked so cute! My sister was dressed as Marilyn Monroe. She looked beautiful! My husband brought the red roses and white daisies to the hospital when we hadn't seen each other for a few days. He's so sweet! My mom also had those pretty yellow flowers delivered to my hospital room! Thanks mom! The other pictures are of Kira, Andrew, Tony, Jamin, Mom, and Eric and I when we went to Universal City Walk to see Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D. It was way fun! When we got home from the hospital during the fires this is what it looked like looking across the street from us. The fires were the opposite direction so I think that is just from the wind blowing the smoke around. It looked crazy! Anyways, I have to be at the hospital at 7:30 in the morning on Tuesday for some scans to show that I am in remission. That will be exciting! Then Wednesday is round 6 of chemo. Then home again Saturday or Sunday. I met a really sweet and inspiring girl around my age who found my website on the web. She had cancer as well and went through chemo and surgery and is now in remission. She is also LDS (Mormon) What a small world! Eric and I went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with some friends. We had a nice time! We are really looking forward to sharing that piece we got to go tonight. Peanut Butter cups, caramel, and butterfinger baked right into it. Yummy! Well, I'm gonna go for now but I'll try to write again soon!

YES! AN UPDATE FROM SHELSI!!

I know, I know. I am the worst blogger ever! I don't update for months and I don't post any new fun pictures. I'm a bore! Well, at least everyone else has fun stuff to talk about and keep us entertained, right? I will give you my little excuse, though, so excuse it if you will. Boy was it exciting when I finished radiation. It was such a breeze! My doctor said, "alright, it's time to start gaining your weight back and get back to your normal life. Rebuild your strength and put this cancer stuff behind you!" I believe that was the end of July. So, that's what I did. For some reason, though, there was something in the back of my mind that said, sorry, but you aren't out of the woods yet. Towards the end of August I started getting sharp pains in my neck and up my head along with the dry heaves. My mom had a co-worker that had a bunch of tumors in her head that were caught too late and she died. Well, dying really isn't my thing quite yet so I called my nurse, thanks to my mom and my sister pushing me to. When I called, she was very concerned and had me come in right away so that I could get a brain scan. After I got it, I went home. The next morning I was woken by a call that told me they had seen something on the scan. So, back I went to the hospital. SCARY!! They did surgery right away to remove it. I've never gone under the knife before so it was weird breathing and then all of a sudden it being done and slowly coming to. My head looked so huge with the bandage and I looked all swollen and bruised like I'd been hit by a bus. I felt like that too! What fun! Do you ever watch Everybody Loves Raymond? I love that show. After my surgery, Brad Garrett who played Robert was there visiting his dad who was having surgery, too. My fam ran into him and told him I would love a visit! So in my room he walked and introduced himself. He is very nice! He asked for my address so him and Ray could send me something. When I returned from the hospital there was already a package. He included a hard back book of Everybody Loves Raymond that all the cast had signed before the series ended, a signed head-shot of him, a personal note to me, and a couple of dvd's. How cool is that! Anyways, back to the cancer thing. So I started more chemo right away. I am done with my second treatment. Each time I get chemo I have to stay in the hospital 3-5 days. Then I go home for like 9 and come back. I'll be doing this till like right before Christmas. That will be an awesome Christmas present. Being done with chemo, again! There is talk of possible radiation. Let's just pray that whatever is best will be what is done for me. I guess there is just one more thing I want to say. I really hate decadron! It is a steroid that I am fortunately almost off of. It helps the swelling in my brain but does not help the swelling of my face. So, for the past while I have looked like a cabbage patch doll and little miss piggy! My eyes look all little and beady! I'm really getting tired of it! Decadron also changes moods so one minute I'm happy and the next I'm all depressed. Not fun stuff I tell you. Not fun stuff! Anyways, that was me complaining to you. Sorry. I feel better now! Well, that was my novel for you for the day, or week, or who knows with me. Thanks for reading! You all rock!

My first words!

Hey everyone who is reading this! Everyone is starting a blog so I thought I'd give it a try too! This is fun! I just finished my first week of radiation. YAY! Eric is working hard right now. He is so wonderful! I can't wait until I can go back to work so I can help out more with saving for our future. That will be great! I signed up to take some classes at Moorpark College in the fall. That will be fun! I met a nice lady at radiation today. She has one more day of radiation and she will be done with all 35. I only have a total of 20 so I will be done in three weeks! That is very exciting! Anyways, I better be going for now! I'll write more later! Bye!