Big Month

So, it has almost been one year since I got the phone call that said "Lizzy, I'm sorry to tell you but

 it IS in fact breast cancer" I got that call on Feb 9, 2012. My husband told me, "Lizzy, if they

 come back and tell you that it is cancer, when you get back here, we are going to Paris and

 Greece.

These are the top two places on my bucket list.  Well, twice, we tried and just couldn't put things

 together enough to make the trip work. It has now been almost exactly one year, and the tickets

 just got booked today!

 

I am beyond excited! This is going to be a trip of a lifetime! My girls are going to get to see such

 amazing places and are going to see world history first hand!

 

I can't wait! We are leaving on the 16th of March. I am glad about that, because that means we

 will arrive in Paris on March 17th, which is the day my dad suddenly passed away. That has been

 a very hard day for me these past years, and along with the sad memories I have for that day, I

 will be able to add some amazing memories also!

 

We are going to Paris from the 17th-20th of March, Rome from the 20-24th, Athens from the 24-

25th, and Santorini from the 25th-30th.  If anyone has any travel tips, web sites, blogs, lists,

 anything .. . pass them my way. I want to be as prepared for this trip as I can be :)

 

 

Wahoo!

Lizzy

More Jakarta

So, on Friday I was planning on taking pictures of the extreme wealth here in Jakarta. That didn't work out so well. We went another way home, so I was not able to take pictures of what I wanted to. Instead, I just took the real life pictures of what was around me. I also took some videos!
These are the pictures from that day . . .

This picture has a lot in it. Let me tell you, it was not easy to get some of these pictures from a moving taxi. On the far right, you see a sign that says "OJEK" . . . That is one form of transportation here. It is motorcycles. It's fast, and easy. Behind that, you also see a street vendor selling some type of clothing . . .

This is one of the new malls that is being built (as if Jakarta doesn't have enough huge malls) Right next to this, which I wasn't able to get a picture of, is a very low lying kampung (village) that is made up of tin houses mud, and sadly a lot of trash.

This is one of the places in Jakarta where the sidewalks just stop. Things just get so torn up here. They just stay like that.

This is Jakarta power lines. I took this for my Uncle Art who worked for PG&E for years . . . 

Yes, there are starbucks here! EERYWHERE!

I tried to get a picture of this amazing building we were passing. This was about 200 feet away from the ripped up and broken sidewalk.

A bad picture of the building

Beautiful flowers in the front

Then, as we came out of that area, I see this guy sitting in the shade.

Why not have random holes in the sidewalks. That is actually in pretty good shape

This one could have been a lot better, but the darn motorcycle got in the way. This is a guy who is pulling a 2 wheel cart through the streets. VERY common to see here! Also keep in mind, they RARELY have any shoes on.

My drive home

It is amazing what you see on the drive home here in Jakarta! This is the first round of pictures... The "run down" face of Jakarta. Today on my way home, I will focus on trying to take pictures of some of the extreme wealth.

This is a very normal thing to see here in Jakarta. Actually it is more normal to see a family of 5 all on one motorcycle! Crazy!

This is also something you see everywhere . . . a SEA OF MOTOR BIKES.

To me, this woman is a rock star!

Playing children

Street side stand full of all kinds of Indonesian goodies

Tore up "sidewalk" Normal everywhere around here

SOUP SOTO! These little food vendors are everywhere in Jakarta. For locals, it is great, but for us, not so much . . .

Shops

In between these bikes is one of the normal alleys you see throughout Jakarta. It winds back and is full of tin houses, laundry hanging up to dry, and kids playing.



 

WHO????

Is reading my blog in Russia and in other countries around the world?
I keep seeing that there are people from all over the world reading, but I don't know who! I would love to know how you came to my blog, and say thank you for reading as constantly as you do!
If you are in another country OTHER than the United States, let me know!!!! I would love to "meet" all the awesome peeps that are reading my blog! :)
Comment your country and how you came to find me (if you would like) !!! I can't wait to hear! :)
Lizzy :)

One year

So, this week is the one year mark for when I started on this breast cancer journey. My what a year it has been. I can't believe how much I have grown in this time.

I have tried to transition back into my normal life once all of my surgeries were done, but each day I realize how my "normal life" has changed.

I am not going to lie. Fake boobs are not all they are cracked up to be. I mean maybe it is different you are adding implants to your existing boobs, but just having implants and nothing else can get interesting. I am however thankful that I chose to do the reconstruction.

Here are a few things that I have noticed in the last 6 months that I have had these implants.

1. Every time I bend over it feels like I have rocks in my chest. These things are not that light.
2. Laying on my stomach is very difficult. These things don't just flatten out or move over. They are there . . . just there. That changes things in your life. For example, I can not go and get a normal massage anymore. It is too painful to lay on my stomach and then having someone push on my back.
3. Laying on my side, I now have to sleep with something to keep the weight even, or it hurts.
4. When the cats want to cuddle, it can be painful.

So, these are all little things but all of these things remind me every day that I have to get used to a new kind of normal.

Which leads me to my next thought . . .  I would deal with all of this for the rest of my life (which I will) as long as I am alive and able to be with my children and husband.

One year ago, I was getting on a plane with my ultrasound pictures and the comments from the ultrasound tech and the dr saying we have no doubt this is cancer. I flew across the world completely alone not knowing what was going to be next.  One week later, on Feb 9, 2012 I got that call. The one you never want to get.

I love that I kept record of this on the blog. Here is the post from when I was in the airport in Japan

I am not going to keep this hidden and hope that this all turns out to be nothing, but here is what has been going on in my life for the last week or so.

Last week, I found a lump on my breast. The same day, I went to the dr at the embassy. She sent me to get an ultrasound done and I got the results of that back the next day. They were not really what I wanted to read. There was no definite answer, but a high suspicion of a malignant tumor. I brought these back to the embassy, and by that night, they had me on a plane back to the states. Right now I am sitting in Japan just waiting for my next leg of the flight. While I type this, I am listing to the praise song "SHOUT TO THE LORD" blaze through my headphones and right into my heart.
I have no idea what to think about all of this that is happening. I just keep telling myself, "this is nothing and they are just trying to be safe by sending me back to the states" but then I think " but if they didn't think it was serious why didn't they just send me to singapore like they do with everyone else?"
I am scared, but I am also feeling stronger than ever. I don't know what this dr is going to tell me when I see her tomorrow. I have to prepare for both the good and the bad. God is still God, no matter what I am feeling, and I know he is holding all of this together.
Please just pray for us. Joshua is still in Indonesia with the girls. I don't want everything to be ok for me, I just want everything to be ok for them. My girls need their mommy. They need me to be there as they grow up. The need me to help them pick out the perfect prom dress, and then the perfect wedding dress. I don't want them to have to do any of that alone. I am their mother and it is my job to raise them. Not anyone else's.
Ok , I could go on and on about all of this, but I need to go take care of the next leg of this journey.
Thank you for your prayers!!!! Lets hope this is nothin!!!

Hmmm . . .

I don't really know what to title this post, mostly because I don't know what this post is going to be about. There have been so many things going on in my little head . ..  some silly, some random, and some quite serious. Do you ever have days like that?

Here are some of the things that have been going on in my head for the last couple of weeks . . .

1: I always laugh a little bit when I am walking here in Indonesia. In America, when you are walking on a sidewalk and someone is walking towards you, what do you do? You step to the right. Well in Indonesia it is  opposite! It always looks like we are doing some crazy dance. I step right, they stay right. I step left they step left. I am trying to remember which country I am in and how to get out of this poor persons way! HA! Oh the life of a Bule (foreigner).

2: I find it amazing here in Indonesia the VAST separation of people here. I have been here for over a year and it still shocks me when I am going to this newly built, 6 story mall, and right in front of it is this Kampung (village) that is so run down it looks like a garbage dump. I don't understand how the Indonesian Gov't can justify spending so much money building ANOTHER big mall here in Jakarta, when there are so many people here that are living in tin homes with no protection from the elements.

3: The RESILIENT nature of the Indonesian people. We have had a LOT of rain in the past couple of weeks and that has brought on some major flooding. It is amazing to watch these people who deal with this every year! They do just that . . . deal with it. They don't do the cry me thing (from what I have seen) they just take care of what they need to take care of. It is inspiring!

4: I have gone back to work, and I LOVE it! I am working at the Embassy here in Jakarta! It has been about 10 years since I worked a full time job outside of raising my 3 daughters. I love the place our family is in right now. The girls are old enough (mostly) to get themselves ready in the morning. Abby has been wonderful offering to make the lunches in the morning while I get ready for work. It is nice watching my girls grow up and become more responsible! It was pretty funny yesterday. Abby had been at a sleepover and the other two girls and myself went to go pick her up so we could go to a birthday party. Emma and Aubri would not stop arguing with each other and Abby kept trying to get them to calm down. Finally she just sighed and said "Geeze, now I know how Mommy feels when she gets home from work and all we are doing is fighting" EXACTLY, sweet child . . .  EXACTLY!

Changes

So, I have been MIA laterly . . .

Life has been busy, kids have been busy, I have been busy . . .

I am now working at the Embassy, and I really like it. I am based out of HR but am also a rover, so I get to go into all the different offices and fill in when people take leave. I really like that because I am never bored doing the same thing!

The girls are all doing great! They had a talent show at school a couple of weeks ago and ALL  did awesome! Abby played the song that she wrote on the piano, and Emma & Aubrianna sang a song. Once I get the videos off my phone, I will post them so you can see. I must say I was (am) one proud Mama!