make glemonade

It is so hard to put into words the feelings I have about temporarily losing Peggy in our life. My mother in law passed away December 18th. I might think of something to say in the future, but right now all I can think to do is post the few pictures I have of her from my perspective of life. She lived so much more than I got to see, but here is my small tribute to her. Tom and Peggy are two different people that work great together. They are wonderful. She was one of our four very supportive and loving parents that got us to the temple and stood by us at our sealing. There weren't very many members of my own family in the temple with me for my endowment; I remember distinctly looking over when Peggy and my sister-in-laws walked in and feeling overwhelmingly grateful that they were there and a new part of my family. The whole Glem Crew. Peggy's prides and joys: husband, parents, children, grandchildren. <3 Don't they look so much alike?! This was the family hanging out ...

I will journal this blog because I certainly have not in a while. First of all, you can all come to my rescue. I am a very good speller, if I do say so myself. And on occasion I have an error on the blog just because it is difficult to write and edit when you are posting for everyone to see. But I can never remember if it is "a while" or "awhile". HELP ME!!! I don't know if they both are legit, if they are what's the difference? What's wrong with me?! The BYU basketball home opener went really well. It sold out and I honestly attribute it to Eric and Brady for all their hard work on the videos (besides word of mouth and camping). They worked really hard and it was an awesome game. Definitely haven't stopped working, but I am glad that we are getting into the season and it isn't the all consuming force in our lives that it was before Nov. 12th. Eric had a new great idea for the Arizona game on Saturday--- a little motivator to entice students to ...

For some reason this is my favorite video. But in case any of you were feeling unsure about how to go about getting tickets.

If you live in Utah, particularly Utah County come to the BYU basketball home opener on November 12th. We really want to see it sell out! come on guys, and Eric can give you $1 ticket vouchers.

Please be aware that both of these photos were taken during the same Pandora session. I like Jack Johnson, I love John Mayer, and I enjoy the occasional Dave Matthews. But Dave has plenty of songs.. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if it didn't happen to me EVERY TIME I listen to like three of my stations!! But fine, I thumbs down it once again (Crash Into Me has been my pandora rant now for about two months). This is approximately 20 minutes later on the same station.

But we just wanted to let you all know that we went to the doctor last week and Eric is officially in remission. And check out Eric's new project. Gotta love it. And go to the home opener!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHxiivb8njI&playnext=1&videos=CIYhIeV17aE&feature=mfu_in_order http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3ypAMMP0UE&playnext=1&videos=KmowwuLSq7s&feature=mfu_in_order

Eric and I planned on moving back to Orem on August 25th. And it wouldn't be a day too soon. We are tired of our men's student housing!!! Last Wednesday, I received an email from our complexes management reminding us that we hadn't signed up for a cleaning check. I HATE cleaning checks! The email says to call and schedule an appointment for Thursday, which is the day after we are supposed to move out this week. So I call and say that I need to set up a cleaning check, and they say okay what time tomorrow? Me: Tomorrow? Why would I do a cleaning check a week before we check out? Mngmnt Girl: It's not a week before you check out, you check out tomorrow. Me: What?! I specifically called you two weeks ago to double check what day we move out and whoever I talked to said August 25th. Mngmnt Girl: Oh, I'm sorry. That was probably me. I'm pretty new here. Me: Okay... so if you said that, you understand that we are not ready to move out yet? Mngmnt Girl: Hold on let me ...

Summer goes by so quickly. I thought when I finished school I would finally have time to work out, read, play my guitar... and I do. A little. Here and there. But we have hardly had a night to sit down and do nothing. Here are a few reasons why we've been so busy: I've worked with Eric a few times at The Mug now, and it is a blast! It's been really busy the whole month of July, and Eric is there pretty much everyday. Mom and Kelli came out two weekends ago to visit and we spent most of our Saturday up there. We became aware that "tiger's blood" is a mix of something and coconut. Boo. Everybody loves it so I told Kelli to try it and it was a travesty. How do so many people enjoy coconut?! The hotdogs are delicious and the help are sweet as pie. Another part of being busy is our one night a week bowling league. If you have the means, I highly recommend joining one. Ours is a very casual league, thankfully. We are doing really well, I think our team has only lo...

Merriam-Webster online defines the word almost as... ... Oh wait. I'm not the youth speaker and this isn't a high school graduation. I'll skip this attention-grabber and get straight to the guts. We've had a lot of almosts going on in our life lately. First, for those of you who thought I already graduated... PSYCH ! I still had one class to take in the Spring. I had originally signed up for it in Winter, but due to Eric's chemo appointments being on Thursdays I had to postpone it. It ended up being worth it considering the busy schedule of a cancer family, but taking the last class in the Spring was awful! I had almost graduated. The good news is I got through it, it ended last week, and now it's official. I'm done with school. Mom, I know those last few phone calls where I asked you to pray for me really made the difference. Thank you. Second, I had almost got settled in to my new job a couple weeks ago when I was asked to interview for another one in t...

Eric did have a doctor's appointment this week. Again, these are all quick checkups only until July 1st, when he will have all his scans etc. again to see if the cancer is all gone. But I know everyone still likes to know what's going on. He's normal and he's gained a bit of weight back (~4lbs.). He talked to his nurse for a long time and she said she really thinks he won't have anything show up on his scans. She has been pretty right so far, so we won't start doubting her now! We are both a bit obsessive about his hair growing back. It looks so good! It's still really short, but it's there!

We went to our friend Nate's wedding, wait! Look back at our first post with a Visitor of the Week, and it was Nathan and Rachel! Yep, them. They got married last weekend, so we drove out. We wanted to fly, but Eric wasn't allowed to after transplant. He got the okay last doctor appointment, but it was too late to buy tickets. So we rented a Jeep. It was so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. The drive was gorgeous and we had a really good time. We took the back route through Napa Valley and it was well worth it. The wedding was on Friday, and we got to see the Oakland Temple and the gardens on top of it. It was really windy. We really love Nate and Rachel and are so happy for them! We love when a friend gets married to someone great, because we get to double our friends! Terry Herrera came out for the wedding; he is really close to Eric and Nate from their mission in Houston, Texas. It was really nice for me to meet him, and we got to hang out a...

Eric and I wrote this song while he was desperately ill this summer and couldn't work. He had just been told he had shingles, but we knew something else was up. We were reminiscing the other night about it, so we decided to share it with all of you! Here are a couple of photos to go along with the song... He pulled his hamstring during city league football a couple seasons ago and kept playing on it. The second pic is of course, his shingles. We didn't take any pictures of the kidney stones, sorry. :)

Yesterday Eric and I were standing in line at the movie theater waiting to see Iron Man 2, but we were standing in separate lines holding a place for some other friends going at a different time (yes, we are nice). You might be thinking that Eric shouldn't be at the movies with his low immune system, but you would be wrong! He went to the doctor yesterday and everything is great! His counts are as good as most other patients at their 100 Day mark, and we are around 50 days out if the quick math in my head is right (ANC = 3.5 for those of you that have been paying attention). He also gained 3 lbs. So we can do whatever we want now. So a guy in line behind Eric asked said that he always wants to shave his head but never gets a smooth shave. He asked how he gets his head shaved so close, and Eric said you get cancer. He said well I put my foot in my mouth. On an unrelated note Eric's eyebrows are starting to grow back. I am really excited about it. His facial hair too. It won'...

Alright alright it's my turn to blog. Eric here, going to give you the readers an update on our lives. Be forewarned I am in no way a good writer. I can't compete with Holly and her blogging skills. And don't make fun or judge me if I use the wrong kind of "there". So without further ado let's get on with it. First things first. We went to the doctor last week for my 2 week check up. (I will be going every two weeks until my 100 day mark which will be the beginning of July). The check up is just some blood work and talking to my doctor. My levels were great last week. My levels were great last week. My white blood cells were at 2.98! Anything between 3-10 is normal, so I'm getting there. All other blood work looked great. Dr. Gilbert talked to me and pretty much said don't get sick in these next 100 days and we will go from there. They took my pick line out of my arm, so I'm normal. Since then my showers have increased dramatically. The doctors al...

Everything has gone great since we've been home. There was a bit of an adjustment period, Eric was cold, and we didn't sleep well because we were scared he'd get a fever. Now everything feels almost normal. It's weird. He had an appointment a couple days after we got home, and his counts had increased significantly (ANC = 1.1). I can't wait to go back and see how much it's grown this week. He finished his homecare medication so all we have to do is flush his lines daily and take it easy. Eric is still tired and weak, but I wish you all could see him. He's starting to be highly amusing again, and he's back to singing before and during showers. When we both start working again things will really feel normal. Old normal. But for now things are going well. I started a new job on Tuesday. And I graduate this week. And we bought a teeny charcoal grill. Life is good.

Eric is finally home! It was 23 days total, which is better than many other transplant patients. It is still a very long time. It is difficult to describe how long each day feels. He passed the days showering, biking or walking in the small hallway outside his room, watching basketball and Judge Judy, listening to an ipod... it was a simple life. The fatigue made it so hard to get out of bed, as you can see from this <-picture! He was so tired so this is how he biked that day! Bless him. Visitors of the Week: My parents came for conference weekend to hang out with us and to help me clean the apartment before Eric's return. Initially they came just to visit, but I don't know if I could have got this place into ship shape without them! They were amazing. Cleaning ceiling vents, bathrooms, cupboards, washing everything in the house even if it was recently cleaned. My mom washed every single dish we own. Dad single-handedly cleaned our bathroom! We worked, and worked, and worke...

Eric did not come home today as hoped. He had a fever again late last night and thus will be kept at the hospital at least two more days. Probably longer with the way things are going. We'll keep you posted.

I know I'm not so quippy these days when it comes to titles, but I just can't be bothered with it. I cannot believe it has been a week since I last posted, longer even. It goes so fast and slow at the same time, as most things do that one is not accustomed to. Eric's ANC count has been at 0 for a few days now, which is a good thing. But he has been really sick because of it. This whole weekend he slept; I think he was awake about an hour or so each day total. He throws up almost everytime he tries to eat, which isn't all that often since he is so tired. They give him shots now like the ones they gave before he collected in order to stimulate cell growth, and the projected day to go home is Saturday (this would stem from 2 consecutive days of an ANC>.5). I won't hold them to it, but it would be really nice. Eric is drained, but mostly physically. He can't speak for himself right now because he is sleeping, but it would wear on anyone. I admire him so much f...

The next few days (days 3-5) were spent watching March Madness. That was pretty much all Eric did those days. Davy and Jeff came up for the first BYU game and they caused quite a stir. The nurses, etc. all loved the rowdy room! We are so proud of BYU for making it out of the first round! They had a really good season and we love them. That whole last week Eric got chemo twice a day, once in the morning and once at night... about 5 hourse total per day. It didn't make him feel sick much, but the first day was the worst. Lisa, Eric's sister came up and hung out a little too, but Eric fell asleep after one round of Yahtzee! Sunday (day 6) we thought was going to be a day of rest; they told us he wouldn't have any chemo or anything but they were wrong. He did have one chemo that day that was short. We turned the tv off on Sunday and Eric left his room for the first time. Walking around the hall is very anti-climactic because it is about 4 feet long. He rides the exercise bike i...