Lucy

Today was one of the hardest days of our life. Last night, Lucy was doing good... She went on a nice long walk with Jared, devoured her dinner and cuddled up and fell asleep with me. She knew we needed a really good night, and being as amazing as she is, she gave us one. About 2am I woke up to Lucy struggling to breath. Her breathing was short and heavy and it was clear that something was VERY wrong. She would not move, eat, drink, and her neck lymph nodes had swollen severely; it was obvious that she was suffering.

Two weeks ago we had received final confirmation that Lucy did in fact have Lymphoma. We decided not to pursue any chemotherapy, and put her on the drug prednisone (a steroid) and were given an outcome of 10-14 days. Lucy's lymph nodes reduced dramatically and she returned, for the most part, to healthy activity. We have watched her energy slowly decline, but had made a deal with her. We asked her to fight as long as she could and when she couldn't fight anymore, we would let her go.

We had a very special night with Lucy, loving on her and cuddling. This morning we had a very nice time with her that allowed us to say goodbye. At 10:45 we had to do the most difficult thing we have ever faced, and we put Lucy to sleep. She was such an amazing dog that words will never do her justice. God was incredibly good to us and allowed us to have much more time with her than any of the doctors and information that we had read diagnosed. Lucy was a sweet puppy (4 years old...) full of love, and is at peace now. No pain, cancer, ear infections, seasonal allergies, pink eye, water sensitive skin, etc. She will be greatly missed.

I know in my heart that we will see her again in heaven and that she is having the time of her life right now. We have a huge vacancy in our hearts and the house already doesn't feel right. However, God is good and He will take care of Lucy for us until we are reunited.

We love you and miss you dearly

Compliments?!

At work this week we had a "team building" activity where we had to write down 3 compliments for each co-worker. I tried to think of core values each person had such as friendly, compassionate, generous, caring, etc. Apparently some co-workers don't know me very well or some decided to just get through the activity quickly. I had some very nice things written about me and then there were others that made me laugh...I thought I would share the top 5 that made me laugh and say "hmmm"

5. Beautiful Eyes

4. Dresses Lovely

3. Nice Hair

2. Stays so Teeny Tiny

1. Excellent Penmanship (this one actually made me laugh outloud)

More to come later on my Valentine weekend!

P.S. Lucy is still hanging on and we are thankful for each day we have left with our sweet puppy. Her lymphnodes are getting really large and swollen again, but she is still eating and going potty. We think we are down to our final days, so please pray for us. We have both been experiencing a deep sense of sadness again.

Friday Night Lights

Jared and I were getting a little bored of some shows on T.V. and decided to add "Friday Night Lights" to Netflix to see what it was all about. We hadn't heard much about the show, but decided to give it a shot. Well....we LOVE it!! I don't know why the show doesn't get more attention because it is soooo good! I love watching football games and watching football movies and this show allows me to do both at the same time. Plus, the plot and characters are so good that it almost feels like I am watching reality T.V. (which I also love). Last night Jared and I decided to watch the Pilot episode. We got hooked and 7 episodes later we finally went to bed. We stayed up until 1:30 in the morning watching episode after episode. A little obsessive I know, but it was so much fun watching it together. I love that they are on Netflix because then we bypass all of the commercials. Anyway, I thought I should share my latest T.V. obsession. I am a little bummed though because the show is only on its 3rd season, which means we will be caught up soon :(

In other news, we found out for certain on Tuesday of this week that our sweet puppy definitely has lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes). We had to make some difficult decisions and decided not to pursue chemotherapy. Although dogs respond well to chemo and it doesn't make them sick like it does humans, best case scenario would only give us about 9 months to a year and the cost would be around $5,000. Instead she is now doped up on a steroid called prednisone and feeling good. The prednisone will work for awhile (weeks at best) and will allow her to eat and have energy again. Needless to say, this week has been tough and many tears have been shed. It seems silly to some to get so attached to a pet, but she is a part of our family and a big hole will be left when she is gone. We just really love her a lot. We are enjoying the time we have and are glad that for now she feels good. Once she stops eating again and shows some other signs of decline, it will be time to put her down. Since this is not a fun topic, I thought I would post a cute video of her playing in the snow to show how cute she is!! This was on our trip out to Oregon over Christmas. We stopped and let her play for a bit and she loves the snow!