Thankful Thursday

1 Thessalonians 1:9-12 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

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Today I'm thankful that my unexpected need was unexpectedly meet! I'm fairly certain it involved sacrifice on another person's part for me. And if so I'm truly grateful!

Here's some back story, This week I've had an appointment every day! Very much out of the ordinary for this house bound disabled. But on Wednesday last week I went to my dentist and had my teeth cleaned. My dentist's office is half a block away from my aunt's hair salon, and it's been ages since I've seen her. A real shame too since we live in neighboring towns. So I stopped into her shop to visit with her a little bit until her next customer was coming in. We chatted a bit about how damaged my hair had gotten from still having some old hair color on it, and now with regularly swimming (thanks to my parents who bought me a Y membership so I can attend the 3 times a week arthritis swim! Hey, another thankful post can spin off this one! Hmm...) so we made plans for me to come in Monday and get a trim. Monday came and 4 inches of damaged hair came off. Also on Monday, I skipped swim class because I've some bad rashes under my arms. And it's fairly raw. So instead of swimming I called my dermatologists office, only to find out that they won't be able to see me for a month, and suggested I see my GP. So I called my GP and was scheduled to see him the next day. So Tuesday happens and I'm off to see my GP. We talk about how dry I am, and how I probably have Sjogren's syndrome considering a few symptoms I have, and that goes along with my RA, so it's a very likely diagnosis, but he's leaving that for my Rheumatologist to determine, and he wants me to make an appointment with my dermatologist anyway in case the rash is still there in a month. So that's now two more appointments I need to make! I really should be on the phone planning those except today I just got back from the dentist office (AGAIN!) and feel the need to blog about THIS and save the phone calls for just after. See, on Tuesday night I chipped a couple teeth. We were having a pasta casserole for dinner, so I honestly have NO idea how it happened. But, for whatever reason, all of a sudden, two teeth chipped, and one so badly my tongue has been rubbed raw on the tip from the sharp edge of the tooth. So yesterday I was able to be squeezed in to be seen for an estimate of work. As I was leaving they were scheduling me for when the fillings could be done. The soonest was an entire month away! And the first date available happened to be one I'm already booked on, so it was going to be even later than that! I literally started praying for an opening as soon as possible as soon as I left the office door! Then, as we were eating dinner last night the dentist office called and asked if I could be seen today at noon, that there was an opening then. I jumped at the chance, at this point being agitated with the sting on the tip of my tongue I wasn't going to say no no matter what time it was, so long as it was sooner.
As I was waiting for the dentist to come in the room I glanced around the room. On the wall nearest the door was the days schedule, and that time slot was blacked out as his lunch time. As best I can tell he took an early lunch if their was a cancellation before his lunch, but my guess is he sacrificed for me and squeezed me in. He was very polite and friendly, but I heard him quietly burp a few times during the 40 minutes he was working on my mouth, and his stomach was making all sorts of sounds. It reminded me of my retail days when I'd have 15 minutes for a break and had to cram down my lunch quickly. I believe he ate as fast as he could to fit me in between appointments. When he was done he thanked me for being available so quickly, and I said I was just thankful to be seen so quickly! He said, well, I felt bad sending you off with a broken tooth yesterday and I'm glad we could fit you in sooner. To me that pretty much told me what I was already speculating, that he squeezed me in for my comfort, knowing a month would be far too long of a wait. If I'm right, I'm thankful for his sacrifice of indigestion to put my comfort before his! If I'm wrong in my speculations, I'm just thankful that my unexpected need was unexpectedly fixed so expediently!

Since I'm blogging, I should probably mention now that my dropping out of NaBloPoMo back in November was a much needed thing. I honestly thought it would be fun to push myself to write daily, but I ended up finding it didn't allow for the natural flow of my creativity. Some people can write under pressure, I'm not one of them. Which may squash my dreams of being a published author someday, but I'm not going to dwell on that.

By mid November I was in a frenzy trying to prepare the house for my families Thanksgiving visit. And then before they even left I was off to Montana to be with my cousin and her family for a few weeks before Christmas because she just had a baby and named Kevin and I God-parents. So now we have a second God-son, and it was a joy to help them transition to their new life as a family of 4 and to spend so much time with a newborn! Kevin joined me for the last week. He rode out on the train. Our friend (and great author) Tricia Goyer picked Kevin up from the train station, had him hang out at their place for a bit, and then dropped him off on the bus to catch the last leg of his trip. Then he rode back with me in our truck. We're thankful for Tricia's kindness as it really helped us save on the trip, and I know it was a nice break for Kevin to be with friends on the way out.

At Christmas we were in Oregon visiting Kevin's family and so we were literally home only a couple days before leaving again. By the time all my traveling was done, it seemed like I hadn't been home for over a month, and as a result many of my personal routines didn't happen, including blogging. But I'll gladly trade my simple daily routines for time with all those family members again!

So, hopefully I'll be able to blog again a bit more regularly, and work on some of the topics I started rough drafting back in October. I'm excited for what this new year holds, and amazed that a month and a half is already gone! I guess unpacking and catching up on doctors appointments and so on has just really kept me busy. I still plan on editing my photos from Thanksgiving and since and posting some, but for now I need a nap. I started the week only expecting to visit my aunt and get my hair trimmed, and now I've had something every day. And tomorrow is grocery day so I don't even get a break tomorrow. I'm sure their are plenty who have errands and jobs everyday, but for me this has been a big deal. I'm thankful I've had the endurance to keep going all week, and I know that's a gift from God. I did have a hard time getting out of bed today, so in the interest of not building up a huge sleep debt and running out of spoons for the weekend I'm going to nap until hubby gets home, and save the phone calls for tomorrow.

No real news

I haven't had anything to post mainly because this physical therapy stuff is sucking the life out of me! That and arthritis...

When Kevin and I got back from California we both had colds, and I only just got over mine almost a week ago. Because my medication for arthritis is an immune-suppressive I can't take it when I'm sick, or I risk getting pneumonia or an upper respiratory infection. So I just had my shot last night. Normally it's every two weeks, but that was 5 weeks since my last shot. So of course my arthritis flared up. Monday after PT I slept for 4 hours in the middle of the day, followed by sleeping for 12 hours that night! And today I had PT too, and feel again like I want to skip lunch and just sleep. My body says "Please let me repair!"

Today was the absolute most painful. So much sharp pain in my left hip, and virtually no range of motion. My PT was concerned, but said it was my flair up and for me to just do as much as I could.

Amazingly I was able to ride the bike for twice as long as on Monday, but it still was only 8 minutes and then both my hips started popping and making snapping sounds. I think the most painful was massage and ice. Both of those I felt like I could barely move after. I think next week I will bring my cane just in case. I haven't yet, but progressively I've been feeling less mobile instead of more... Which bums me out because Mica, her kids, Kevin and I are camping tomorrow night through Saturday morning and I really want to enjoy being out. I guess I'll need to pack my cane for camp. After icing today I could only shuffle out of the clinic, it was kind of depressing. I'm still hoping that this is just more pain on the way to progress. It isn't the same kind of pain like warm muscles after a workout, it's stiffness and tenderness.

I also woke up yesterday with a charlie horse in my right leg. I haven't woke up from one of those in a while, I'd say that says the shots have been working in that department, and that this crept up since I've been off them a few weeks. Another sign I'm dealing with a flair up I guess.

Just sitting in a chair is a lot of pain right now, so I don't think I'll type too much longer. I need to get a nap.

Changing gears...

I'm so happy to have recently gotten back in touch with some long lost dear friends. Sarah Dougherty, (Now S.J.D. Korel,) I was able to find her on Facebook! I haven't seen or talked to her since I lived in Colorado. It has been good catching up with her!

I also found David Kaiser! YEARS have gone by since we last talked. I won't mention how I found him out of privacy for his family, but finding this dear friend has also told me many things to pray about for him and his family.

Topic change again (I'm feeling like a distractible butterfly today!)

Kevin is way over stressed these days. 'Back to school time' always means there is SO much work for him as all the schools work to get the products back online for a new school year, and also activations of new accounts. It's strange to see him stressed. He's such a mellow guy, but there definitely is more work right now. On friday he worked 13 hours! I wasn't too happy about that. I ended up driving out to his work and waiting for him another 45 minutes to take him out to dinner since he wasn't going to get home at a decent dinner hour. I wasted my time there playing on-line video games as I waited. I really hope things start to taper back to normal for him.

Well, I have only have 368 days left of being 20something... Is this supposed to be a big deal? At the moment I'm just hoping that when Saturday happens that I'm not feeling like I do now. I'd like to have nice memories of my birthday. I guess I'm kind of fearing my birthday in one sense... I always hear some kind of horrible news on my birthday. I wont list it out as some of them really kind of depress me, but it's always something. I guess I'm just wishing that for that day it could be like it is in childhood, something so special that there would at least be some kind of hedge of protection about me now too. That special day that makes me feel good. Why can't we have that in adulthood too?

There are some other things holding me distracted, but I'd rather not blog about them. I'm starting to feel again like I'm neglecting my blog, but on the other had I don't want to feel obligated to write, I just want to write when it seems right. If that makes any sense. I guess some of that is what I was getting at in my tightening my circle post... I'm not cutting myself off, I'm just not sure what I want to share.

I'm still brainstorming my handicaps post I want to make. Sunday afternoon Kevin and I went to see The Mummy 3. I loved it, then again seeing Brendan Fraser topless was certainly yummy enough for me to watch it over and over again. I know, I'm a bad girl for that, Kevin knows I've had a crush on Brendan for ages... And I let him watch Jennifer Connelly movies knowing he crushes on her. ANYWAY, big distraction there... So we went to the movies. After the movie I went to the ladies room, and as I strolled into the handicapped stale I noticed some women staring daggers at me! This is something I've dealt with before. I've noticed that all too often people don't think someone needs a handicap stall if they can just walk into it. But I do use the handles to get up and down. While I can still, praise God, walk, I do have limitations to my mobility. But people can't see that all the time. And there is this perception of just being lazy or whatever that I haven't quite figured out either. I've seen people give offended looks like I should only use that stall if I'm in a chair, and maybe that will be so someday, but I'm not going to put myself in a chair any sooner than I have to just so people stop staring. And they won't anyway... I felt like such a spectacle when I was in a chair at the airport. But I'm so grateful for the service. I know I wouldn't have been able to walk that much and still feel good. It really helped me. I still hurt after the trip because sitting for the whole flight is never good on my hips either. I just really shouldn't fly unless it's the only option, (though it feels like it with the price of gas. At least that's improved some.) But at the airport I felt all eyes on me as I'd stand to get up out of the chair to pass through security. I truly think people don't understand physical limitations, like handicapped can only be if you are paralyzed or something. Stigmas are everywhere, it just makes me feel worse. I know after the return flight I felt super depressed. I don't know anyone else in there 20's who is dealing with this, so I end up feeling an alienation I can't quite explain.

I mostly feel bad for Kevin with all this. He certainly is living up to his vow of 'in sickness and in health'. I just wish I had more times of 'in health' to give him. He has so much extra he has to do because of me. He goes to work and then often comes home and works on clothes or dishes, simply because I can't ever seem to get it all done. He's amazing. He doesn't get mad at me for my limitations, and often pampers me even when I don't completely need it. I'm grateful for the love and caring he gives me.

I don't know why I'm writing or what I'm writing about. I guess I'll end for now, I can't think of anything else to write about. I'll probably not post until after my birthday trip, simply because tonight we need to pack and while we're gone I won't be sitting near a computer.

I guess one last thing I'll mention is I'm so thankful we're back to the grey rainy weather! The heat last week was unbearable. I love the cool rain and the dramatic skies, I'm so glad that has returned! The heat fatigue was making all my muscles spasm, and sometimes I hate spasms more than stiffness. It just feels so creepy to me. I'm glad that's over for now. So that's all for now.

My latest photo albums.

Here are the links for the latest photo albums.


John and Nadine's wedding



John and Nadine's wedding reception



2008 Tallmon Family reunion photos from my camera.



2008 Tallmon Family reunion photos from my mom and sister's cameras

this n that

I wish I could got to Colorado in a few weeks. My High school there (where I went for Freshman and Sophomore years) is having it's 10 year reunion. I only just now got the notice about that! Way too short notice. Since it's the only HS I went to for more then a year it's the one I'm most curious about. Still, I don't see any of my reunions as that big a deal. I only know a handful of people from each school, and all but two people who I'd like to keep in contact with are either on Myspace or Facebook, or I have addresses or e-mail addresses for them, so I've been able to keep up with people pretty well. I'd love to find my friend Cat from Sequoia, and my friend Kelly from Thornton and Lindsay from Woodside. I keep holding out hope that they'll join one of the sites, or that someone who does go to reunion (if they go) can help me get back in touch. Who knows, maybe it'll happen someday, maybe it wont. As far as I know I haven't heard of a reunion for Sequoia, it looks like that'll be sometime in the school year, so more like an 11 year reunion. And Woodside will be having theirs soon... But I really don't want to make any more trips to California this summer, and the price is 3 times as expensive then the one for Thornton! Maybe I'll go to my 25th reunions or something. It's just weird to think of having three different HS reunions I could go to. But I did go to that many schools.

Switching to a different type of reunions... Family reunion last weekend was loads of fun. I've been working on trying to get my pictures up too, but because the file sizes are so large I"m having to take time out to make web ready sized versions to post. Time consuming. It was wonderful having three babies there to hang out with and cuddle. And my nephew Ethan kept hugging and smooching me, it made me feel like very loved aunt. I think I spent more time with kids then grow-ups! Camping was OK, but the first night a skunk slammed into the side of our cabin and sprayed. We have no idea why, but that night the smell was so bad I could barely sleep. The next night the smell blew away with the breeze for the most part, and the last night we had a different cabin altogether. That one was at a slant because of the tree growing behind it, but that didn't bother me at all. Staying at that particular KOA didn't feel too much like camping though, all the sites are so close together, seemed more like a tailgate party! But it was nice. And it did feel like camping when we were at the family reunion site. It's under a giant oak tree at the ranch property of some in the family. There is a stream there, and lots of trees, it felt nice. I wish we could go every year! Maybe things will improve for us financially soon, Kevin's boss is trying to get their groups status raised to a higher tier. Don't know if that'll make summer vacations any easier though... Since Kevin works the tech support, his department tends to be needed the most in summer and his boss is always hesitant to give time off. The only reason Kevin gets a day or two in August is because that's when my birthday is. So we'll be camping once more in August. Again at a KOA, but the Leavenworth KOA is a bit more like camping, and has access to the Winatchee river! That'll be fun, I can't hardly wait! There's also great antique stores, and apple and pear farms in short driving distance, I so look forward to my weekend coming up! I just hope I won't be too sore to enjoy it...

Yesterday was my first physical therapy and I've been worn out and sore ever since. I was worn out and sore before the appointment too, so I just didn't have a chance to recover, and then Kevin and I went to Costco afterwards so all that walking and pushing a heavy cart didn't help either. I do feel like my PT knows what she's doing. She does agree that I probably have AS, that I do have OA and has now added bursitis to my list. Yeah, my hips are messed up in probably 3 ways. She encouraged me to make my appointment to meet with an orthopedic surgeon. That scared me a bit. From what all I've read on-line I'm not sure what good surgery would do on an non-displaced labral tear. The things I've read have only said it's worth it when the tear starts to stick out of the joint, and for now I don't have that. But who knows, I might in my left hip, they still haven't scanned it yet. And we still don't know what's going on with my back. I was able to walk without my cane to my PT appointment, but felt like I needed it afterwards, maybe I should bring it just in case next week. My homework is pretty easy, it's exercises I do for the most part already, I think the pain was mostly from the examination part of the appointment.

Not much else to tell for now. I'll be sure to make a post when the albums are ready.

My heart fills with joy!

John and Nadine Houser's wedding was as beautiful as they are! I loved their wedding. There is just something so heartwarming about a Christian wedding, seeing to people who God has brought together seal their vows in front of those they love. I wish we could have been in California a couple weeks ago too as Kevin's cousin got married then, and that also was a Christian wedding. To me, it shows how the structure of marriage is to be. A spiritual commitment to each other, not just a romantic notion. Fortunately we should be able to see Sam and his new bride this weekend at family reunion! I always love the family reunions for Kevin's family! And I love how on Sunday mornings we have church as a family. There are pastors and musicians in the family tree so it really is a blessing of a service every year. I can hardly wait!

Also, my heart fills with joy for one of my best friends! Jennifer Nelson! She just announced that she's engaged, and that they are tying the knot a year from now, that's really good news! I love her dearly and am so happy that she is in such a loving relationship. I pray that they have a stress free year of planning and loving as they prepare for sharing their vows together. Jennifer has been one of my best friends for about half my life it's just so amazing, our friendship. We may not chat all the time, or see each-other all that often. But I know when I do need to talk or have a prayer partner, she's there by my side, and I am the same for her. I've been praying for her, to find the love that Kevin and I share. I've always known in my heart that God hasn't meant for her to be alone, she just has the heart of a wife. So I've been praying, and I'm so thankful to see that this prayer journey is reaping it's blessings in her life! Now I just need to make sure I can save the money this year to be there. We've both been trying to get together in the last couple years and neither have been able to. I'm not missing her wedding for anything so I have to be diligent now.

What a blessing this has been, to see so many friends and family share their love together with their spouse and with their Lord too. I know I'm all over the place, but I'm happy.

I do plan on publishing the pictures I took of John and Nadine's wedding to my Piccasa albums soon, I need to edit them and then I'll post them, but that may not completely happen until after family reunion. So I might just wait and publish two albums at once.

That's all for now. I feel a bit rushed because I just got us all unpacked from last weekend, and now I need to work on this weekends things! What a whirlwind life is right now! But such a blessing too!

I also got to see last weekend Stephen and Amy's kids (we saw them in May too, but got to spend more time this last weekend.) We will get to see them again this weekend! As well as our nephew and nieces, of whom we'll get to finally meet our niece Eliza! Eliza's first birthday is coming up very soon!

We continue to make improvements on the house as money permits. We finally got curtains for the sky lights in the kitchen, so hopefully soon I won't be making so many posts about being miserably hot. And hopefully soon, if the house starts looking good enough we'll start moving forward again with plans to try to foster adopt! MY heart is so full of anticipation. At this point in my quest to be a mother I just want to be able to care for children who would call me mom in my home. I know not every foster child would do that, but this is a start. And while our Etsy store is named For Celestina, I don't fully know that we'd get a girl and rename her Celestina, We're open to either a boy or a girl, or even a family. Whoever the Lord feels drawn to bring to us.

Because of my difficulties with my arthritis we're planning to ask for children who can already walk and have put the idea of babies behind us for now. It hurts to think about that, but caring for our friends child for the weekend really opened my eyes. I know we can do it, but I also know my physical limitations.

Speaking of my physical limitations, I was set to have my first physical therapy session on Monday, but that's postponed to tomorrow because the therapist was sick on monday. This was such a blessing since when we finally got back home Sunday was after 11 at night, and I was both exhausted and sore. I was really thinking about calling in and canceling my appointment myself.

Well, I'm done with trying to write up my blessings and reflections at the moment. I need to change gears for dinner. I'll try to review this later tonight.

Best wishes Nadine and John

Today we're in Salem,OR for a wedding! The daughter of one of Kevin's cousin is getting married today. Kevin's cousin's husband was one of our two pastors who married us 8 years and a month ago. It just feels neat to be going to a wedding for a family member. And to recal our joy of our marriage as a newly married couple celebrates their love together.

Nadine is a kind woman, her love for her husband is sweet and I'm so glad for her, that she has someone who loves her dearly as God would have her be loved. What a blessing the commitment of marriage can be!



Best wishes Nadine and John, may the Lord our God bless your marriage for many years to come!

With our Love,
Crystal and Kevin




Colossians 3:14 (ESV)
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Ephesians 5:33 (ESV)
However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (ESV)
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Mark 10:9 (ESV)
What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."


Proverbs 31:10
An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels...

Pictures from the CA trip.

I'm finally able to upload to my FTP server again, I don't even know why I couldn't, but apparently it's working again, so, here, albeit a bit delayed, are a few pictures from our trip to California. Most all of them are in Napa Valley, in Calistoga (Golden Haven Spa) or St. Hellena (Cooking Institute of America - Greystone restaurant), the one where I'm with stickers is at Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory in Petaluma, CA, and the one of my mom and I inside is at her place in San Jose. To see any of the pictures larger simply right click and view in new tab. I know I look like I had a fake smile in every picture, but I was in loads of physical pain during most of these pictures. I think they look pretty good considering I spent most of that time walking with my cane. I still need to optimize the pictures I took with my camera, so those will be another post soon. My favorites are grandma with the artichoke plant, and Kevin in the roadside chapel.

The first two are from my sister's camera. The rest are from my mom's camera.

Top photo - Kevin & I at our favorite spa
1. Wine barrels at CIA
2. Mom & I at my parents place
3. Mom and Dad at Golden Haven spa, all ready to relax.
4. Kevin and I at Golden Haven.
5. Grandma K. at Golden Haven
6. Grandma K. and C.I.A. with an artichoke plant
7. Sister Susan in C.I.A. giftshop
8. Sister Susan and I at C.I.A. with Napa Valley in the backgroung
9. Grandma K. and I in C.I.A. gardens
10. Kevin in a roadside chapel at a vineyard we stopped at.
11. Me at the sticker factory.

All the more reason why I only stay at Best Western Hotels

At first I thought, "so what, with capitalism a hotel chain can choose to do things how they want."

However, the more I thought about it, the more it just seemed sleazy. It'd be one thing if they simply dropped the night-stand bible, or simply added the option to get an intimacy package added to the room, but to do both changes at once makes one wonder what the motive is.

Read the article to see what I'm reacting about.

I really want this!

At the start of summer Kevin and I went down to OR for the Rose Festival Parade. We met up with his parents there and the festivities were a lot of fun, however I was a little bummed that I couldn't get any kind of mementos for the scrap books. This would be awesome to have. I'd love it if someone got this for me for Christmas. (hint, hint.)

I don't even remember seeing these there. And normally I can find these machines easily. Fortunately I found a great website to check where they are so when we do have outings I can try to find them.

Soon I plan to scan my collection for all to see, and maybe if you have some or find some you can add to my collection.

Gothic Arch - Vacation

When I think of vacation I don't always think of leaving and going somewhere. I guess I'm quite the homebody. What came to mind for me was winter vacation and having fun in the snow. I downloaded the winter fun clip art from Karen's Whimsy, colored it with colored pencils, mounted it on snowflake/stars paper, added more snowflakes and some star brads, rubbed a few word decals on, trimmed it with craft stickers and outlined the gothic window with silver ink.

Easter week 2007 slideshow.

I do plan on fixing the pictures and adding some more, but just to show some of what we did you get a look here now.