My Dear Friend

A dear friend passed away today. My friend has been struggling for awhile but that doesn't make it any easier when you lose a friend. It has been a couple years of struggles and victories alike. Vonni was diagnosed with lymphoma Cancer. She under went aggressive treatment and chemotherapy for the cancer. She went into remission. I remember the phone call letting me know that she had just gotten back from the doctor and there was no cancer, I remember this call like it was yesterday. She was so excited as any of us would be.
Vonni was still a newlywed, married to a wonderful man she met bowling, his name is Willie. If you knew Vonni she bowled on a bowling league since about 1975! To hear her talk, the bowling was fun... but the margaritas made her game better! Oh.. and no salt please. She was free to live her life with Willie... she was so happy.
While Vonni was in remission for the cancer, she started having issues with her breathing. After many many doctor visits, it was determined that she had congential heart failure due to the agressive medication to cure the cancer. Apparently, this is a known risk and only happens to about 3% of the people who undergo the treatment. Vonni had issues with her heart and she also had challenges with kidney failure. Vonni worked really hard at keeping her spirit up and living her life, but daily it became more challenging. What I remember most about Vonni is how she always made me laugh. She had the best sense of humor of anyone I've ever known. She was always "on"! She loved life and lived out loud! She was so much fun to be around. I was so fortunate to know her and work with her. She was a great partner. I will miss her dearly. I know she laughing again, now in heaven.

A concert, trips with friends and seeing Zack... a great few months ahead!

Time to write, yes folks it is time to write again. I'm not really sure who "folks" are, as I don't believe anyone reads my blog except for Rich and occasionally Bekah. Which is okay with me, I do this for me, if someone stumbles across it and reads it that is okay too. It's a nice record of personal thoughts, events and photos. It is 8:05 PM on a Thursday night, the house is quiet, I can hear the occasional car drive down the street. Rich and Bekah are at the dentist getting their 6 month cleaning and the dogs are laying down quietly. I am sitting on the sofa, first checking out Facebook, then reading email and following up on a couple of things. One annual event that is rather exciting is going to see the Dave Matthews Band concert, I just got done purchasing our tickets! Yeah! The concert is 8/15/09 in West Palm Beach, a great birthday gift for me! This year we are going with a couple that we met 2 years ago in WPB at the DMB concert. Can't believe how time flies. We met them at the bar in our hotel in WPB, went bar hoping until &^%$@ in the morning and had great time. We have stayed in touch, although we haven't gotten together as much as we would have liked, especially with me traveling all last year, we still make it a point to stay in touch. They are wonderful people and a ton of fun to hang out with. This spring is looking to be lots of fun with friends, in March Rich and I are going to NYC with two other couples. I can't wait... we love NYC! Looking forward to the shopping, eating, drinking and laughing with our friends in a fantastic city. Then at the end of March, first few days into April, Rich, Bekah and I are going on a Disney cruise with the Kosiewski Family. This will be our first cruise, so we are really excited! Rich surprised me with a massage beach side at Castaway Cay Island. I can't wait. We have also been invited to go on another cruise in October with more great friends. I 'm ready to sign up... just hoping Rich will enjoy the first cruise. (I know he will, he just wants to be sure)
In the immediate future... next week I am going to San Jose for work, the most exciting thing about going is that I will see Zack over the weekend. He is going to pick me up at the airport in Phoenix. I am going to spend the weekend with him before heading home. Can't wait to see him!
So far so good for 2009! It is shaping up to be a fun filled year!

Practicing

I know.. my writting has gone by the way side with my new hobby! No one reads what I write anyway, it really is just for me. Here are a couple more pages. I need to get back to the class so I can learn more techniques, right now I am practicing what I have learned. I also need to get my scrapbook items organized before I buy more, unfortunatly I got a little frustrated when I tried to use ACDsee, I couldn't stop my pictures from loading. I will try again soon.

These overlays are from House of 3.

Just another Sunday Morning...

I am having so much fun learning to digi scrapbook. I have a fantastic subject too... she makes for some pretty pages! The only problem I am having is that I am not getting anything else done! LOL!

Sweetheart Dance 021409

Tonight Bekah went to EHS Sweetheart Dance. Hair and make-up by Robert. Bekah decided not to go with a date this year, she went with friends instead. She wanted to be able to dance with everyone she said!

Bekah's Style

Holiday Traditions Layout

I like the way this one turned out. I like the techiques used in this layout. I know I haven't been writting too much lately in my blog, I have just been posting pictures. I will soon! I need to get back to writting! :) But until then... here's another picture.