The One with the "Stuff"...

Hello friends and family...is it time already for another week in review?  Wow.  Time is flying for us now as we prepare to move to the States in only 4 days!

This week started with final packing of our bits...and oh my word...how did we get so much stuff?  I'm pretty sure that if we were moving our house in a truck...it would look like this.  I love the cat in the picture...can you find it?





Speaking of a cat...Bella the cat has been doing well...thanks to our good friend and vet Laura.  She has been given a mild...all natural calming supplement that we sprinkle over her food in the mornings.  I've seriously thought about taking some of it myself at times!

Like...

...when I became a little...how shall we put this..."upset" when I handed over my slow cooker to its new owner.  I'm pretty sure I looked like this...

So after a few "it will be okay honey" from the hubs...I came back to my senses and was reminded it was only "stuff".  After getting rid of most of our "stuff"...we began to pack what was left.  Mainly our bare necessities we would need for the next possible 6 months to a year (our stuff when it arrives in the States will be going directly into a storage until we are able to get our own place).




And get this...we ONLY USED 4 BAGS for ALL of our stuff. So needless to say I thought it would be impossible to fit it all but we we were pushing and shoving to make it all fit. I'm pretty sure we looked something like this...

Then it was off to finish more things which included...collecting final medical records...closing accounts...cleaning...going to this appointment then that appointment...etc etc.  By the end of each day I am pretty sure I was looking like this...

And I'm pretty sure I could have used a Starbucks injection like this in place of my chemo treatments.  Wonder if the Docs would have gone for that?

Then it was on to say our goodbyes.  We had a lovely send off with our office full with cakes and goodies...they must know me really well!  We also had a great send off from our home church here in England.  It was such a sweet time of the entire church praying over us!


Speaking of...their prayers and your prayers must be working! The very next day we heard our final report from our docs here in England.  My inflammation rate is down from 31 to 9! (Keep in mind a healthy person is considered to be at 5).  WOW.  I have noticed a bit more energy...which has been such a God send with all that has been going on with the move.  So needless to say we are over the moon right now!

Then it was on to say goodbye to neighbors, who many of you will get to meet when they come to the ATL sometime next year!  He is from England and she is from Hong Kong...so we both have a lot in common
with the whole living in a country that is not your own thing.

They took us out for a final British meal complete with roast beef, roasted potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.  It was so yummy.  We love them and our little neighborhood...which...

...reminded me of when we first came here. It was around Easter of 2010...pictured above we are just out front of our house...

Here we are again with our first meal in our home.  Sniff Sniff...I am going to miss it and have been told by many who have been married much longer than we have...that you will never forget your first place together.  Sniff Sniff...

So many people have asked us just in recent weeks "How have you grown in your walk with the Lord throughout this journey with my illness.

The biggest thing has to be our level of TRUST with Him!  Oh my word...I've

never been so stretched in my life...but He has shown me that if I just TRUST Him...He has a good plan.  His plans are perfect and full of peace no matter the storm that is surrounding you.

 And one more in particularly for me...I've learned to "LET GO"!  Something this planner by heart never thought she could do.  I've had to just sit back and watch Him unfold what all was going to happen.

Now it doesn't mean that I did nothing. I read something this week that sums it up..."Work as if everything depends on you.  Pray as if everything depends on Him!" Enough said.








 So many of you have also asked what we will do once we get to the States?  Well...the first week or two...

A-B-S-O-L-U-T-L-Y nothing!  Oh yes...I see some relaxation in both J man's and my future.

Soon after arriving in the States, however, we will begin our transition re-entry time with OM. This will last until the end of January 2012.  During this time we will be re-acclimating to life in the States, debriefing with OM, finding permanent work for J, and getting me sorted with new Doctors.  I'm sure it will keep us VERY busy!

Well that's about it for now.  Hope to see you all very soon.  We will, Lord willing, be home after October 31st.  We'll see you a couple of weeks after that.

America...here we come!

The One With the U.S. Embassy

Well hello there friends and family.  Welcome to another MOJO week in review.  One HUGE praise happened this week...ready...drumroll....

J got approved for Permanent Residence Status to the United States of America!!!!!  Whooo Hooo!  After six long months of agonizing and seeming endless paperwork and red tape...we made it.  Needless to say this was a huge relief to us so thank you for your prayers!

Many of you have asked if this means J will be a US Citizen and the answer is no...not yet.  This Permanent Residency Status simply allows J to live and work in the States indefinitely.  We will, however start the road to citizenship for J man just after coming to America...but the entire process will take about 3 years time.  One thing we have learned with dealing with the government and visas...it takes a long time so you must be patient!



This picture was taken just as we were leaving the Embassy...oops...don't think they liked us doing that as we were escorted off the property by men wearing suits...meaning business!

We also used this time of being in London to reunite with two of my besties... Leena & Andrea.  We all lived together at one time in Ireland as housemates and have made it our goal to reunite every few years...no matter where we all are.  I just love these two girls and their heart for God!

J and I were exhausted from the Embassy interview so the girls continued on in the city site seeing (it was Andrea's first time there)...while J and I took a train back to rest for a bit.  We had been up since 4am at that point!

So just as we were about to board our train we saw a glorious sign...a sign that said Krispy Kreme!  If you are an American living abroad...this is a BIG deal...and you would stop for one as well.


 We were good and only had one each...and score...they were giving away free hot drinks that day to go along with it!  They were oh so yummy...and we both had to laugh as all we could think of while we ate it were the words of Christian Comedian Tim Hawkins when he refers to them as "little baby angels melting in your mouth."  Oh yeah...that's about true!

Then later on in the evening we all gathered back together at an Irish Pub for dinner...and met up with our friend Orla and her fiance and little precious baby boy.

Orla was our neighbor in Ireland...who lovingly took us "immigrants" in and showed us the ropes of living abroad.  Without her we would have been lost and certainly would have never learned how to make a proper "cuppa" (cup of tea)!  We love you Orla!

 Then it was back to reality only a day later as me and the hubs started the final stages of us departing...PACKING!  Oh my word.  Although we are taking as much as we can with us...there is still so much we are having to leave behind...mostly electrical items since they won't work in America.

But God is good and our sweet friends Kerri and Michael back in Atlanta will be hosting a "re entry" couple's shower for J and I to replace some of the things we had to leave behind.

It is going to be an amazing blessing and we are looking forward to it.  Plus it is the first time we as a couple have actually registered somewhere...so we felt like newlyweds again!

We are having many mixed emotions now with getting so close to the end of our time here in England.  Only 15 more days to go!  So to offset what we will miss...we have been talking about what we are looking forward to in moving to one of the greatest cities in the world.

Where is that you may ask?  ATLANTA!!!!!!




Our first stop will be here...Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport.  Home of Delta Airlines and one of the word's busiest airports.






This will be us in only a couple of weeks as we are herded like livestock into the immigration lines.  Although we don't mind...I am thinking tears of joy will be rolling down both our cheeks as we hear "Welcome to the United States of America."





Now back to Atlanta...many of you may not be familiar with this great city so let me tell you a few things about it.  Atlanta is the home of CNN Headquarters...here is a picture of the CNN building.  People work, eat, shop, live, and even park their cars in this one building...it is huge!

 Atlanta is also the home of the Coca Cola Headquarters.  The hubs has not yet visited the World of Coke Museum...pictured here...so I have a feeling we will be making a visit soon to taste the over 100 different flavors of coke!  Well J will be tasting them considering I haven't had a coke in almost 2 years!

And we will of course have to stop at a Chick Fil A!  Can I get a witness.  Oh my...my mouth is watering just thinking about this.  Again...if you are an American...in particularly a southern American living abroad...you know what I am talking about.

Can't you just taste that juicy chicken sandwich right now?  So sorry to all my American friends living overseas who have looked at this picture and started salivating only to realize there is no Chck Fil A in site!  :(

And finally...what we are looking forward to the most is to be reunited with our family and friends at our home church in America...First Baptist Church Woodstock.

Oh how we long to be there.  And don't be surprised that in the first few Sundays you see me and J man just busting it out in song...we've really missed the praise and worship team who do such an amazing job in leading us to worship Him.

But until then...we will wait for Him here a little longer and just enjoy our last 15 days in England.  Great...there I go crying again...oh what an emotional time this is.  Pray for us...and send loads of kleenex our way! :)



How was your week?

The One with the Beautiful Video...

Well hello wonderful friends and family...glad that you are stopping back by. We are grateful that you take an interest in our lives and pray for us. A lot happened this week but we are choosing to focus on only a few highlights. So with out further a-dew...here is our week in review.

One major thing happened this week...and that is...DRUMROLL...We have an appointment with the US Embassy in London for J's Permanent Residence Visa interview! After a long seven months, we finally got this great news! Our appointment is on October 12 and that is so incredible because...

...that date will be almost exactly one year since when I received my residence visa to stay here in England. Of course a lot has happened since then...like my diagnosis...which has changed our plans a bit.

Just goes to show you that you can NEVER fully anticipate the journey the Lord will take you on in this life. But we obediently and humbly choose to follow Him...and for now...He is leading us back to America!

As we prepare for a new journey, I can't help but look at God's hand in our lives over these past almost 2 years. In reminiscing...one thing that has been so prevalent in my own personal life...is God's changing me from the inside out.

At first I was really upset that my physical appearance changed so much (due to part of the illness and also treatments). But God has been so good to show me that His Grace is sufficient when I am weak...and that He is TRANSFORMING ME INTO HIS IMAGE. And that is Beautiful thing!

I have a real heart to share this with other women...in all stages of life. So many times as women we tend to compare ourselves to other women or think we don't measure up in some way. Sometimes we even do crazy things to try and make ourselves beautiful...without realizing what true beauty in Christ is. I hope to live my life as an example in this area.

Below is a little video I've put together of my "Journey with Lupus". I hope it blesses you!

Till next week...keep being transformed into His image...because He and YOU are beautiful!

The One With the Burnt Toast...

Hello sweet friends and family and welcome to another fabulous week in review with MOJO!  This was a week full of many unexpected things...but also many beautiful things too!  So lets get started...

First of all you may notice a different look to my blog...I changed it around just a bit and integrated the new interface...yes I did that all by my little lonesome...proud of me????

But had the biggest scare when I got a message from Google saying my blog had been deleted!  Turns out it was a security measure as I was rearranging so many things...just goes to prove that this blogging stuff is tough!

Now a little update on J...you may remember he had a blocked mucous membrane surgically removed last week.  He is doing much better after a round of antibiotics and his stitches are dissolving quickly. He'll be up to singing his heart out (in the shower) again real soon!

The beginning of our week we were so blessed to meet with this crazy Alabama man...Marvin.  He is from the OM USA office and serves as our member care contact. We just love him and felt so encouraged by his visit!  We even took him to see his very first castle and to eat some fish and chips.  It was just what we needed and was great to hear a "hey ya'll" from someone else...other than from my own lips!

 Boy of boy did we need that encouragement...as the week proved to be very difficult physically for me.  But first the good news...we found out that my liver function had dropped back to normal and that my c-reation rate (the test done to show how much inflammation is in your body) was down from 31 to 21!

Now for some perspective...the normal healthy person's would be around 5.  The amount of inflammation in my body at these levels (21 or higher) is the same as someone who has severe burns all over their body.  Not a pretty picture but a good visual to explain to someone about an "invisible" illness such as Lupus.  You may "look good"...but you could easily feel as much pain as a burned victim.  YIKES!


So we were praising God that the treatments I have been on (for one month now) seem to be working!  But then it was on to the hard stuff...we now were at the mark in my treatment...to start to increase the dosage.

Okay...so for those of you who don't know...yes...I am on a mild form of Chemo called 6-MP.  The hopes are that this treatment will dial down my over hyper active immune system just enough to be "normal".  Remember...with Lupus your immune system is in overdrive and starts to attack healthy tissue such as skin, joints, heart, lungs, kidneys, and nervous system.

So this tiny little pill...was given at a bigger dosage which then led to me feeling the first negative side effects of the treatment.  BLAH!  Let's just say that it was good for me to be able to dress myself. The poor hubs was doing EVERYTHING. I am so thankful he is able to take care of me!

One fun story to lighten the mood...J-man was making us dinner (tea and toast by my request).  As I heard him scuffling around in the kitchen and the sound of banging pots and pans everywhere... I went in to see what all was going on.  It was like a scene from Mr. Mom...without the kids.  :)

Me:  "Honey the toast is burning."
J-man:  "Yeah...I'm not the toast master like you...I'm more like the solar eclipse toast master.  Sometimes I get it right but its rare."  I love him for trying though!

 So yeah...it was a rough few days as I was dealing with the phsycial and emotional side of things.  And I did have some more than normal hair coming out in the tub.  So needless to say I started to have a little pitty party...which was not made better for sure with looking for cute options to cover my head should things go that way.

I mean have a look below at what is called "Chemo head gear".  But good news...the Doctors think that since I am on such a low dose that I most likely won't have substantial hair loss.  PTL...I mean look at these things.

So I did what any girl who wanted to feel pretty would do...I mustard up the energy and went and got a whole new do!

That's right...I went full fringe and LOVE it!  Someone asked me how I could do such a drastic cut...I say...its just hair...it will grow back...I mean after going through so many drastic changes over these past 2 years...I figure I can do just about anything!

But ain't I cute?!?!

Then we had a fright of our lives when we woke up Sunday morning to the sound of something very loud and what seemed very heavy falling off our roof!  

Yep...that's right...our chimney...that we have told our landlord about 4 times now...finally starting to come tumbling down.

And it came crashing down "like a ton of bricks" onto our bathroom's roof...breaking through the tile! Its all good and the landlord is coming tomorrow...but for now I feel like wearing a hard hat every time I go outdoors.  

Thinking of making one for bella the cat too.  Would that be cute or what?

Then it was on to watch the season premiere of Grey's.  We've seen all 7 seasons so we were super excited to watch the 2 hour premiere of what we are hearing will be the final season.  That was until...

...until these peoples went all crazy and such!  I mean come on Grey's...you got people stealing babies like they done lost their minds.  And by the way...I'm guessing no one at Seattle Grace has ever read the book Boundaries.  Just sayin'....

Then it was off to take Bella for a little spin in her cute kitty transporter.  I mean we have to get her ready for that 9 hour flight somehow.

This photo was taken at the beginning of our trip.  By the end she managed to get herself totally underneath the blanket.  Poor Bella boo!

Then I was feeling quite crafty...and was pretty much homebound...so what did I do?  I made a 31 day personalized prayer journal for us.  We had been using this poor system of sticky notes all over the place so I decided we needed to step it up a notch!

It's a 5/7' 3 ring notebook...and I added clear page protectors for the prayer (I typed out) and for pictures of people.  We like to have a name with a face.  So look out...prayers heading your way soon!  

Then it was a big ole surprise (imagine me doing the happy dance) when I found out that "Getto Netto"...our local grocery store on the corner...was bought out by ASDA (Super Wal-mart) and is set to open next week!!!  Before we had to drive like 20 minutes in traffic...yes I know this sounds so spoiled! :)

And in case your wondering...no word yet as to when J's appointment will be with the US Embassy in London.  We are thinking it will be the end of October some time...but praying for sooner!  As soon as we get his permanent residency approved (Green Card)...we can be in the States...Lord willing about 2 weeks later!  

And by the way...we laugh that they call it a green card...it actually looks like this...and most of them we have heard are pink.  Does anyone know why they call it a green card? 

Now its time to start wrapping things up.  So I will end on something that happened today.  I was and am so honored to be asked to share my testimony of how God has been my rock through my illness with a group of teenage girls from our church here in Carlisle!  As soon as I was asked I knew what I would speak on...

"Don't Let Comparison Steal your Joy".

So often...especially as young girls...we tend to compare ourselves with other girls.  This can get us into trouble quickly.  One thing God has taught me through my illness is that even if you change on the outside...you are still SO BEAUTIFUL to Him.  

So I hope to share that and encourage the girls to look ultimately to HIM for love and acceptance.  I will let you know how that goes...it will be mid October...so please be praying over that!

Well that's all for this week.  Tune in next week to see how MOJO is getting on...and in the mean time...remember...whatever hurt you are going through as a person, a couple, or a family...God can take your broken-ness and mend it.  Keep trusting Him because Life and all its quirkiness is truly a beautiful thing!