You glow, girl

Yes, I am a night owl. And yes, I sometimes post at hours that are insane. I never, ever blog from work (I learned from Dooce.com and Petite Anglaise, thank you) so I squeeze in the updates whenever I can. I post on Eastern time, but the blog is set for Central Time, so it's not quite as bad as it looks.

Today a new phase of treatment begins and it's probably going to be a rough ride. If you pray, now's the time. If you believe in positive energy, then wrap your arms around Sahara and hold her close to your hearts.

Well, today was our last "free day" for a while. Sahara felt good, but was kinda tired, so we hung out at the RMDH for most of the day. She went to school for a couple of hours, rested a lot, and ate well. This evening we went to IHOP for dinner (Shannon was craving a big ol' omelet). She declined the menu and opted to go back to Sonic for another corn dog. LOL. Each one of us has such different tastes!

She crashed out early tonight, which is great. We have to be at the hospital at 8:15 in the morning to get checked in. This time she'll be getting chemo and radiation simultaneously, so it will be yet another new treatment adventure. We're hoping that it will go smoothly. The worst part, I think, is that she'll be stuck in the hospital for five days this time. Yuck!

Today I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to our friends at Stop & Shop Supermarket in Mounds, IL. Jeff Berryhill, owner, along with Bobby Pace and Stephanie Dixon, organized a raffle at the store which raised over $2300. They, along with many others in our little hometown, worked very hard to do this for Sahara and we are truly humbled and grateful for their efforts. We are so proud to have been raised in that small town with the best friends in the whole wide world. We love you all, and we give you our deepest appreciation! (Go see Bobby in the meat department for the most amazing Black Canyon Angus Beef...his steaks are out of this world!)

Sahara continues to get the most amazing, creative things in the mail!!! The personalized piggy bank she got today is SOOOO cool!!! So many great things, I could never, ever list them all. We are so thankful for each and every item! The thoughtfulness in each card and gift is so tangible.

Thanks to all of you, Sahara has fun things to do on days that are sometimes incredibly boring. She's really getting into the scrapbooking thing, too! Today at the RMDH a scrapbooking store held a workshop for the kids. Guess who had a BLAST doing it?

Please pray for strength for Sahara as she enters this new phase of treatment. We need all of the prayers we can get. And we know that God hears every one of them.

Love to you all,

Amy