Joyce's back....

...isn't it lovely?
Thanks for the support all the way in Texas!

I'm thankful for so much.

I love this time of year. People are busy, but happy. The weather is changing. Today, I'm officially only 2 weeks away from my final chemo. My energy is back and we're looking forward to hosting dinner tomorrow for family from South Dakota.

I'm thankful for my husband who doesn't complain. He does so much around here to help. He tells me how proud he is of me and reminds me daily that I'm a "hot bald chick." :)

I'm so thankful for my kiddos.
They love me unconditionally. Although they're loud, their hugs are like no other.
They make me get out of bed every day. They make me stay positive and FIGHT.

This is their Thankful Tree. They drew pics of things they like. It's full of words, pictures of turkeys and feathers to decorate the branches with. It's my favorite tree.

I'm thankful that my mom takes such good care of my family. This lifts a huge weight off me on the days I'm struggling.

She will be leaving to go back to South Dakota on Friday. We'll sure miss her!

I'm thankful for my friends.
They're amazing. They never give up on me. They keep my spirits up. They send thoughtful gifts, texts and calls. They don't make me feel like a nuisance. It really makes me feel proud to know such great people. They make me feel loved. I love them.

Want to see the thoughtful gift I just received from Danielle, Keri, Kelly, Mandi and Melissa?
They had some of our friends take a picture of themselves with a sign of hope. The pictures were then printed out on adhesive paper and sent to me. I framed them today and can't wait to hang them!

I love seeing which words they chose.
I know these ladies will hold a very special part of my heart forever.

Hope you all count your blessing this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving!

It takes a long time to grow an old friend.

I have been blessed with fabulous friends.
Some are ones I have met since moving to Minnesota, some have been around for ages.
Some, I talk to rarely...but think about often. With all of them, we can pick up where we left off the last time we spoke.

One of my oldest and dearest friends is Kyra. Our friendship has lasted through moves, marriage, babies and more moves.
We got in lots of trouble together and have made tons of memories. She is one in a million.
Her smile is unforgettable and her laugh is contagious.
She's beautiful and I can only hope to some day be as good of a daughter, wife and mother as she is.

Somehow in the midst of another of her out of state moves; which involved living in a camper for over a month with her husband and three small children, she decided to make me a quilt.

She sent out material squares to some of our elementary and high school friends from Watertown, who are now living all over the U.S. She asked that they decorate the blocks and return them to her.

My mom returned yesterday after almost a month away and brought the quilt Kyra and our friends had made. What a surprise.
Upon seeing it, I had no words. The tears flowed.

All these wonderful people put so much time, thought and energy into making their squares perfect.

Kyra and her Grammy pieced it all together and Kyra sewed each stitch on her "little machine" herself. This was her first quilt, but I'm sure not her last. She's talented.

Thank you all for thinking of me and all of your support.
This gift from all of you means so much to me. My quilt will be displayed proudly.

Thanks to Kyra Wolkow, Betsy Hills, Dayna Semchenko, Tana Reihe, Jessica Aker, Stacy Sundine, Tera Oland, Toni Connors, Niki Waege, Laura Hejl, Nikki Sejnoha, Jenni Carter, Julie Krejchi, Melissa Meyer, Casey Schmidt, Tina Stemwedel, Steph Ziegeldorf, Marisa McDonald, Liza Wornson, Rachel Bindert, Christy Borseth, Tawnya Jensen, Rachel Hemke, Cori Meadows, Liz Dailey and Missy Soper.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!


Kyra, hard at work!

Kyra and Grammy

The Masterpiece!

I also received this awesome Scentsy warmer from Amy Moss. It has the breast cancer ribbon, along with Love, Life, Hope. It is beautiful! Scentsy has donated over $600,000 to the The National Breast Cancer Foundation. What a fabulous company! The bar Amy sent with it is called, "You Go, Girl." It smells so good. Now I understand everyone's obsession with Scentsy! If you're wanting to do some holiday shopping, this is Amy's Scentsy site. There are a ton of warmers and scents. I'm sure she would love to help you out. :)
Thank you, Amy!

Half done with chemo!

Today I completed chemo 3 of 6.
I will still have the Herceptin IVS every 3 weeks from December to August, but the side effects should be minimal...so I'm not counting those.

I had a fabulous time chatting with Jamie, eating Starburst (Thanks, Amanda!) and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's, courtesy of Sam.

The staff seemed to appreciate my fun new pink wig. I love it also.
I seem to care a little less every day of what people think of me, but I still like to make people smile.

I also sing really loudly in the car now. I never did that before.
The old Angela would have held my phone up to my ear while I sang so the people in the car next to me wouldn't realize I was jamming out. I thought I was so sneaky. What's the point?
Sing, if you want to sing.
Are you ever going to see the people driving next to you again?
Who cares?

For some reason, I feel more at peace with myself now, even though I'm battling breast cancer.
I feel pretty secure with my baldness. I am fine going out without wigs and with barely any makeup.

I'm ecstatic that I'm tolerating the chemo so well and that my side effects can be controlled mostly with meds and a positive attitude.

Although I wouldn't say I'm lucky to have gotten cancer at such a young age, I still think cancer picked the wrong bitch. I'm not going down without a fight.
I'm ready to brawl and I WILL win.

I will then have the rest of my LONG life to live the way I SHOULD have been living, but wasn't.
I will slow down, appreciate more and love freely. I will spend less time complaining and more time praying.
I will continue to sing in the car. I may even roll down the windows so everyone can hear. :)

My friend Jamie took some shots from today. I love her...and her camera. She's very talented.

My 'new to me' wig! Jamie's mom is a breast cancer survivor. She bought a wig that lucky for both of us, she didn't have to use. I LOVE IT!