http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72 recent pleonast.com entries by user amyjane72 en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=616400 • the rain..its not fun to walk in, but i know it does us a lot of good • my quilting circle from jordan park. its fun to be part of a group who makes gifts for others. • surviving my high impact cardio class last night. i wanted to quit many times, but endured for the whole thing! :) 2009-01-06 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=615976 yesterday morning our lesson was on gratitude. the speaker, david griffin, referenced a gratitude study that was conducted by a couple of men from UC-Davis and the u of miami. a summary of their findings are below: "In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). A related benefit was observed in the realm of personal goal attainment: Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions. A daily gratitude intervention (self-guided exercises) with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states o... 2009-01-05 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=614826 **cross-posted from dad's caring bridge site** I have to admit that when 2008 began, my Dad having brain cancer was not anything that we could have remotely anticipated. It had been a relatively good year. My parents got their home updated and redecorated, I sold my home and moved in a new place just 2.5 miles away from Mom and Dad, my sisters and their families were enjoying good school years and new experiences. Then of course on October 17th, we learned that Dad had the GBM. Things radically changed in the blink of an eye, literally. As my Life is Good t-shirt says, "the little things in life are the big things" and that is so true. Our family is learning to appreciate everything we have. We take more time to talk to each other, share with each, love each other. It is unfortunate it took something like cancer to make this happen. We have always been a good loving family, but now I think we are an even better one. We enjoy the little things and try not to worry about ever... 2009-01-01 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=611420 i have been home for 7 days with a sinus infection, but finally got some good meds yesterday. so hopefully my recovery will be quick now! stolen from her The things I have done are in bold. Stolen from Miss Maggie over at maggiereads.blogspot.com 1. Started my own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band (rock band counts right?) 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than I can afford to charity (I don't think we can ever give more than we afford to a charity. There are always those less fortunate than us.) 7. Been to Disneyland/world (Disneyworld, not Disneyland...maybe one day.) 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis (It seems like I remember doing this sometime in my childhood) 10. Sung a solo (i could be called "the Wedding Singer") 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched lightening at sea 14. Taught myself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning this is something one never forgets! 17.... 2008-12-20 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=605892 so last year, i wrote up this. it is amazing to me now to see what i was thankful for then and think about what i am thankful for now. alot of the things on that list are the same. well, actually, all of them are the same, but this year...some mean so much more. #2 and #1 especially. when you have unexpected news like we got on october 17th, perspective changes... you get clarity about things. God is more real than ever. so on this the 36th anniversary of my birth... i say this: i am thankful for so much in this life and more thankful for the life to come. i am thankful for the most wonderful family God has seen fit to give me and i am so thankful for the spiritual family that surrounds me. i am thankful for the parents who have encompassed me with their love and support and i am thankful for my Father who loves me even more than my parents do. i am most thankful for a God who is so merciful and gracious that even on the darkest of days, finds a way to send a ray of sunligh... 2008-12-04 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=601824 my dad asked me to post this on the caring bridge site last saturday and i realized today i should cross-post it here because so many of you may not be reading the caring bridge site, but have been offering up prayers on dad's behalf. _________________________________________________________________ "If you have posted a message on this page, checked on my progress by consulting this page, sent me a card, written me a letter, visited me in the hospital or at home, provided food for us, or are taking time to pray for us, this message is for you. The number of you who have done one or more of these things is so overwhelming that I realized soon after my surgery that I would not be able to thank each one of you personally. Included in this number are many who have never met me personally but who have a connection with someone in my family or with some of my friends. Please take what I say here as my very personal message of gratitude to you. It is difficult for me to convey to you ... 2008-11-21 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=600805 for those of you who haven't been following along on the caring bridge site, i thought i would let you know my dad starts his first round of treatments tomorrow. he will be taking 15 minutes of radiation followed by 30 minutes of IV administered Avastin (which is an experimental drug that has seen great success in the past few years.) he will also take another chemo in a pill form. we expect the next few weeks daddy will start experiencing the side effects of these treatments and i ask you all to pray for him that those side effects will be mild. also, continue to pray for our family as we try and encourage each other every day. thanks! amy 2008-11-18 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=598955 remember a few entries back i posted a picture showing how my cat likes to watch nascar? i have discovered she also has a serious side. she enjoys reading the Bible, especially the book of Proverbs. 2008-11-13 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=595252 this is one of my favorite songs by ginny owens. i actually had kind of forgotten about it because i hadn't heard it in a while, but this morning i heard it on xmradio and thought i would share it with you. through the trials my family is experiencing right now, lyrics like this give me comfort. the pathway is broken and the signs are unclear and i don't know the reason why You brought me here but just because You love me the way that You do i'm gonna walk through the valley if You want me to Chorus: cause i'm not who i was when i took my first step and i'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet so if all of these trials bring me closer to you then i will walk through the fire if You want me to it may not be the way i would have chosen when you lead me through a world that's not my home but You never said it would be easy You only said i'd never go alone so when the whole world turns against me and i'm all by myself and i can't hear You answer... 2008-11-04 http://www.pleonast.com/user/amyjane72?l=5&entryID=592752 we got the call from duke! mom heard from the doctor at duke tonight. he said that he actually had another clinical trial he wanted to put daddy in. ge thinks it will be even better than the one we originally found. this trial has been going on for 10 years and has had a good success rate. apparently, the placement of daddy’s tumor and the fact the doctors were able to remove a good portion of it, helped daddy qualify for this clinical trial. when mom told the doctor that daddy had walked four miles today he was very impressed and said that is what he wanted to hear. the details still need to be worked out. the doctor told mom his nurse would be in touch with her tomorrow to set up things. hopefully daddy will be heading to duke at the beginning of next week. one thing we did find out is that this clinical trial will require daddy to stay at duke for a period of weeks for treatment. as much as we would like daddy to be at home, we are extremely pleased that the doctor think... 2008-10-29