Embracing Life

Today is release day for author Julie Johnstone's newest book: M y Seductive Innocent, A Once Upon A Rogue Novel Book 2 .  I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy before today in exchange for an honest review.   Book description: Miss Sophia Vane, a hoyden of the first order, makes an unlikely match when she weds Nathaniel Ellison, the rich and wary Duke of Scarsdale. What starts with an unexpected friendship soon blooms into a fiery passion. But a betrayal plunges Sophia into the thorny world of London Society and entangles her in a labyrinth of manipulation and jealousy that will test the strength of her marriage. Behind her husband’s sudden icy facade, Sophia believes dwells the caring, passionate man she loves. To break through the barriers and reclaim their happiness, they must do more than simply cast away their pride. They must fight for their very lives. My review: Wow! This book was amazing!  The excitement begins at the beginning of...

So life got away from me before I could finish blogging about our amazing family trip to Disney. Here is day 2! Beautiful view outside our hotel We started off early, heading to Hollywood Studios. There was a 30 minute wait in line, where Colin lost his magicband (because nothing says family vacation like losing your ticket into your first park!) He had left it over by the gift shop. Thankfully I had already written my cell phone number on the inside, however, the gift shop attendant had not looked! Our first stop was the Muppets in 3D. Connor and Keith sneaked off to do the Star Wars Tours (twice!). The rest of us put on our 3D glasses for some Muppet magic! I do have to say, one of the best parts of the Magicbands is the ability to book your fast passes well in advance. We knew what three things we "had" to do and what time to be there, and the rest of the day was just wandering and doing other fun things.  We had fast passes for the Frozen Sing-a-lo...

Eight days ago, my life changed forever. But to go forward, I must give some background: In 2011, I had some funky blood work and was referred to a nephrologist because my kidney levels were off.  He couldn't figure out what was going on, since I didn't have high blood pressure or diabetes, so he recommended a kidney biopsy.  The results showed that I had Thin Basement Membrane Disease, a hereditary disease that in his words, "was the best disease to have" since it rarely progressed.  It turns out that my grandma had kidney disease but hers was attributed to high blood pressure and age.  It was not until my biopsy that we learned she had something more. My plan was to live a normal life, with blood work being done every 6 months just to track any changes.  Last May, my levels had changed.  My serum creatinine had doubled, and it appeared that my kidneys were leaking protein.  My nephrologist had me do another biopsy to see what was happening. ...