Sissy's alley

As Time Passes

2010-10-31T13:16:00.000-06:00

As I look out my cold frosty window, it is hard for me to believe summer is in the past. I always have the best of intentions when it comes to blogging and feel guilty that so much time passes between posts.........NO MORE! It is what it is and I will do whatever I am moved to do and no more,,,,This is for fun anyway right???

This summer was so strange,,, other than going to Glacier Park with my step-mom Nancy, I stayed at home healing from my wicked surgery and started chemo in August. It is so hard sometimes having this cancer. I view it as having a chronic disease, meaning that it will rear it's head every now and again which will always mean more surgery and more chemo for the rest of my life,,,however long that will be. Makes it hard to decide what to do with my life .... believe me!!
Chemo this time has been easy compared to what I went through before. I have barely been sick and praise God, I'm not losing my hair. It is more like a maintenance dose (although it isn't,,,just saying).

In August, as I mentioned above, Nancy took me to Glacier Park,,,I got to see it from a helicopter...........

TRUST AND BELIEVE!

Graduation Party (back in May)

2010-07-28T23:10:00.001-06:00


Our Bull Lohann decided to join my 'white trash" bash for graduation!


Amber does white trash with style!! The party was in the field behind my brother Steve's house!

This would be Bryan Brewer in his best white trash outfit!

Tailgating it by the Bon Fire!

Abby

Melanie,,,,,good friends and family made for a really fun little party....very simple,,,very Montana!

Tammy Coston Evans and Me,,,old High School buddies

Amber Brewer! Strutting her stuff!

Bunches of new stuff going on!

2010-07-26T12:19:00.001-06:00

Don't have time to update thoroughly but I have a ton of new things going on,,,,first off, surgery went really well and chemo will start in a few weeks. So stay tuned for further updates and lotsa new pictures!

My big fat swollen belly after surgery,,,,,UGGGHH! 62 STAPLES!

MY BLANKEY THAT DEB MAGAW MADE FOR ME!!!

MOM AND ME having tea out of our fancy tea cups that my church gave us!
Until I get a chance to get caught up,,,TRUST AND BELIEVE!

Something Wicked this way comes...

2010-05-31T00:04:00.002-06:00

Well,,,,,,we've had many changes since my last blog.

Really too many to mention but I need to fill you
in so that we can move ahead and deal with the path the Lord has put me on.
First off, the move is over. The place we initially moved into didn't work out so 10 days later we moved AGAIN! We are getting settled in slowly. Luckily this little house has a garage so we put everything in the garage, unpacked the necessities, and continue to unpack as we need something. Sounds a little crazy but it sure keeps the house from looking cluttery. I can't wait to get some pictures put up because this place is a little slice of heaven,,,,with a great yard, mature trees, flowerbeds not to mention we live directly across the small town street from one of the biggest historical houses in the valley.....(pictures to come).

Now, on to the bad news. In 2007 I was diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian cancer. I underwent an extensive surgery,,,,complete hysterectomy, appendectomy, gall bladder and omentum removal among other things. When I recovered from the surgery I started aggressive chemo treatments including a "port" in my stomach to which I received a gallon of chemo at a time into my body cavity as well as a port in my shoulder where I received chemo into my blood.

I lost all of my hair (pictures of this are on fb) and was amazingly sick. The chemo affected my body so badly that I now have neuropathy (nerve damage in my feet and hands) so badly that I spent 7 months in physical therapy to learn how to walk because my balance was so "off" that I walked like I was drunk! In addition, I had to learn to write, hold a fork, tie my shoes,,,,,you name it! My poor hands didn't work at all. It was actually quite pitiful.

Slowly, Slowly, I got a little better and a little better. I was finally able to attend college for one class at a time, then two and finally three in my last semester. I received my paralegal degree and graduated on May 15, 2010 ...

But on May 11th I found out that the ovarian cancer has shown up again in my pelvic area and a spot on my liver.

I am numb....WE are numb.

Since there are no gynecological oncologists in our area, I have to travel to Spokane Washington for surgery on June 10th with chemo to follow in Missoula, MT after I heal. :( :+(

My mom Brenda (pics on the Easter post) is an ICU nurse and will be with me the whole time just like she was the last time. Alan and other family members will come over the day of surgery and other friends and family plan to visit during my hospital stay which will be at least 10 days.

I will probably have my friend Susan update this blog so as to keep everyone informed.

PRAYERS ARE NEEDED AND WELCOME!!!!

I also received a new corgi puppy as a gift from my special young friend Abby......I was so surprised and delighted!! Lola LOVES him and treats him lick her baby.
We have named him TANK!

Trust and Believe....

Nothing Unusual

2010-04-11T17:40:00.003-06:00

This week strolled along with nothing really unusual happening. We had our normal gray weather for this time of the year, still working on packing stuff up for the upcoming move and I am still trying to get through this LAST MONTH of school!!! OMG I can't wait to be done with this Paralegal Degree!

I took a couple of drives this week. Both places I tried to get to are still closed because of our winter weather. They were nevertheless beautiful drives.

Skalkaho Falls is a gorgeous place. The next time I go we will get some great pics, but for now I could only get pictures of the creek alongside the road.

Onward I go, to another location more north of the valley. On the way I stopped at a local duck pond were you can buy pellets out of a bubblegum looking machine and feed them to the ducks.

There are so many different ducks in this little pond, they love their food, AND they are very LOUD!

This location goes out to my friend Becca in California. She was married here some 26 or so years ago. We go camping here every year; the best part about it is it is only 10 minutes from the house (20 from where I will be moving to).

This is coming back out of the camping area (because it was closed). This little bridge is where Becca has some of her wedding pictures taken,,,of course it was June then and everything was green and beautiful:::especially here.

This is the view off of the little bridge. I will go back later this summer and get more pictures of the summer greenery.
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Until next time:::TRUST AND BELIEVE!

Easter

2010-04-04T22:55:00.001-06:00

Happy Easter Everyone!

Here is a special shout-out to my middle son JCB who is serving our country in the NAVY and couldn't be home for Easter....WE LOVE YOU AND COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD OF YOU!!!!

I had a great morning at church followed by baking, cooking and then out to my mom's for Easter dinner.

The Easter bunny came early to our house this year,,,Literally!

This is Louie the Lop eared bunny. Isn't he cute!

I am babysitting him for my friend DD. He is a birthday gift for her daughter.
Here is my oldest son JLB holing little louie, while jealous Lola looks on..........

DD had left the bunny in my kitchen while I was gone. When I came home our HUGE black cat (also named Louie) was perched on top of the carry-cage and there were wood chips from the cage all over my floor. Obviously Louie the cat was closely examining Louie the Bunny. My youngest JRB said " Louie (the cat) just wants to make friends!!!!!" (somehow I seriously doubt that!)

Lola loved to steal his carrots!

I also went on another little drive up the Mountain. Usually the pictures I take are from the valley floor looking west towards the Bitterroot Mountains but this time I was IN the mountains. It only takes about ten minutes to get on the mountain road from my house.

We saw this amazing bird house! I've never seen anything quite like it,,,,BRILLIANT!

A little further down the road I ran into some wild turkeys. Their chests were puffed out and they were strutting around enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

A family of deer were also out scouting the mountain side for a snacky-snack. I was able to get surprisingly close to them.

I stopped so I could get a postcard picture of the valley floor. I am looking East across the valley to the Sapphire Mountains here.

Pretty creek

Onward to cooking and baking for Easter dinner. In my house I am the baker. I don't like to do everyday cooking, maybe it has something to do with cooking for 3 hungry boys for many, many, many years,,,,now that they are grown, I just don't like to do it anymore. But I LOVE to bake! I love to make frilly pretty amazing deserts!

Northern Banana Pudding........................

Lemon Berry Mousse

Deviled Eggs!!!!! Ha Ha! don't you just love this!!!

Dinner at Mom's was fun. Lots of good good food with friends and family all around*******************************************************

This is me and my youngest boy JRB.

Here is my Mom with my God Daughter Ava.

Me and Ava,,,,she is showing off the recent teeth she lost!!

We had a Blessed day indeed!

Until next time, Trust and Believe!

Nature Walk

2010-04-01T21:29:00.000-06:00

Today started off with more packing,,,I am only doing a little at at time because I have a few weeks to get it done, although that still doesn't make it any better.

The cold, hard fact is I hate moving. The packing and sorting makes me feel like I have too much stuff! I want to walk away from it all but as soon as I do I'll end up back at Wal-mart re-buying it!!

YARN..************************************************

.....................................Have I mentioned how much I love YARN!!!
I love wool yarn, soft, silky wool yarn! Last June I got to go to Pennsylvania to Amish Country and purchased a whole duffel bag of home-grown, home-spun, hand-dyed wool Yarn! I know it will sound silly to those who could care less about such things, but to me, it was better than Christmas.

This is a blanket I am making for our bed. I am using three strands of yarn at once so it will be full of soft, fluffy goodness!!

After packing up my beloved yarn and sewing supplies, Alley and I decided to go on a Nature Walk.

This type of walk is intended to help me get some exercise by diverting my attention with the beauty of the things around me.

Nature Walks are free, easy and very enjoyable.
The weather was the typical Montana everyday collage of several different types of weather at once.
We went to the wildlife refuge which is about 3 minutes from the house......
Lola enjoys her walks everyday,,, can you see her smile?

Forgive me but I get a little picture happy here....

I love how the sky meets the clouds, meets the mountains, meets the trees, meets the ground, meets the sand, and at last, meets the water,,,,pure BEAUTY!

While looking over the edge of the river bank Alley found a nest with and egg in it. It seems to have fallen out of a tree and landed on another tree in the river>> How sad...

ME: Damn, I forgot the Bear spray!"

Alley: "There are bears here????,,,if there are bears here I am takin' my damn self back to the car!!!

Me: APRIL FOOLS!!!!

I love playing around with people who
are new to the area!! Alley hasn't lived here very long so I suspect there will be several more games I can play with his mind!!

Walking along we found a tree that had fallen into the crook of another tree, its probably been there for years and years.

On the way back we ran into some Canadian Geese swimming peacefully in the cold water of a slough.

And a Magpie squawked at us as we left the nature path.

Driving through the rest of the refuge brings us to the big white barn that has been there for as long as I can remember. I love this barn. It is so typical of the many barns built here in Montana.

The final event of the day was or THURSDAY DINNER at my dad and N's house......

My dad is one of the toughest men I know! He is amazing and like myself, he is a CANCER SURVIVOR!!

He loves to be in his shop or out running his ranch...always busy!
There is always good eats at dad and N's......
Homegrown beef fresh off the grill!

On the way home we saw the buffalo...........

Today's walk was simple and best of all free! We live on a budget like I'm sure most of you do. I try to be creative with ways to entertain us and feel like I do a pretty good job most of the time.

As long as I can breath and have a pulse, then I know I'm alive and that goes a long way in making me a happy person!
Until next time,,,,,,Trust and Believe.

Crazy Weather!

2010-03-31T19:41:00.001-06:00

Wow! Today's weather was wild! It was snowy, windy, cloudy AND sunshine with blue sky.

There is a well known saying here in Montana, "If you don't like the weather wait ten minutes and it will change" this is exactly what happened today.

See the *snow* in the sun?

The mountains were haunty looking, like a bad prop in a movie,,,they didn't look real.

Sorting, purging, packing and burning were still on the agenda and I accomplished quite a bit. The garage looks like it ate a yard sale and barfed it up! I took a big load of stuff to our local "free" store and donated it.

(My brother will be so proud of me because this means it is less stuff he has to help move!!)

AND THEN, went out to my dads ranch and fired up the little yard pit.

I still had papers from my 20 year marriage and finally got to burn them!

Lola and her dog cousin Shelby love to play together,,, generally getting in the way.

Little donned her new riding coat and joined us as we burned my old life away.

One thing about Lola is she LIVES to roll in cow shit and eagerly finds the nearest pile as soon as we get to dad's house! However, she hates her bath!

(((((How about that nasty blue paint?? My landlord would never let me paint the bathroom so I've had to live with that for the last five years!))))
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Until next time, Trust and Believe.

IN THE BEGINNING...

2010-03-30T21:03:00.001-06:00

HELLO FROM MONTANA,,,,, This is my first blog post! My name is Karren but most people call me Sis. I live in Western Montana and decided to start blogging about my area and to memorialize my simple, ordinary life.

I feel so blessed to live in such a rural and beautiful place. I grew up here in Western Montana and wouldn't have it any other way.

Why start blogging now?? Well, I am starting several new things at once so why not! To begin with, I will be moving in April if everything goes according to plan, I am graduating with my Paralegal Degree in May and will be so excited to have everything done.

The calm in the morning was interrupted by::::::::::::

packing, purging, sorting and burning!!

"Moving food",,,,easy and sinful meet at last!

Hope you enjoyed my first post. Please be patient with me until I learn how to do this blogging thing, I am winging it, learning as we go.........