Love is in the Mail

{opening, and wearing, all the goodies}

{some of the sweeties, moms-in-touch group}

Good mail has been arriving with uncanny good timing these days. Love and thanks to all who take the time to put something in my mailbox.

Kiss me, I'm Irish

{Krista, me, Irish Soda Bread, Carrots and Taters, Cabbage}

Hope you had a very happy St. Patrick's Day, full of corned beef and other goodies, and green of course!

{corned beef, ready to eat}

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

{welcome flowers}

I guess this two bedroom place is coming in handy these days. Besides Jeffrey being able to fit TWO fish tanks in there (really messing with my feng shui) it also provides ample space for house guests, of which we have had several.

Staring with...Mama!! who came out for a whopping delightful three weeks! We had so much fun together, well, besides the whole chemotherapy thing. One of the very first things we did was get our hair cut. Since I love love love having long hair, I had a lot of hair to get rid of and decided to donate it to Locks of Love.

I didn't even cry! I just thought, "What the heck, its all about to fall out anyway." That, and I've really been wanting to try straight bangs :)

{before}

{after}

{more before, and more after; bottom right is totally a wig...just rockin' all my new styles}

After mama came, my MIL Allison paid us a nice little visit. We had the most relaxing time, that is if we ignore the tiny little stress of trying to get treated, then finding out that my white blood cell count was WAY too low ( a 0.5!!!-- normal is 10-12), meaning that I was at such a high risk of infection a cold could have killed me, so I was turned away and had to wait for a couple of days. But really, other than that we had a jolly time. I learned to crochet!

Then came Lauren.
She was really really excited to come, see:

{lovely Lars, excited}

And I was really, really excited to have her...AND still have my hair!

{bffs, both with heads full of hair}

I showed her what happens to you if you stay in Provo too long:

{the result of too much Happy Valley}

Coming up...Oso!! Getting ready for big daddy to finally grace us with his presence.

We're so happy to house all these visitors. They keep me company and help care for Jeff Jeff and I, lighten the load, and definitey liven things up around here.

Thanks to all who are reaching out to us, not only through visiting, meals, and cleaning my house, but also for the cards and packages. I'm doing great, and I don't doubt that it is, in a very large part, due to you.

The Steamboat

Christmas was grand, and we were excited for a new year and what it would bring: an upcoming first full year of marriage, a celebration of our full independence as a married couple and new family, continued health, and relative prosperity.
Then this thing showed up-



So we went to the doctor and after several days full of doctor visits, doctor calls, pokes and prods, ultrasounds, CT scans, and nobody really wanting to say what was wrong with me, I started to get a nasty nagging suspicion. Then came the word, you know, the one you wish you'll never hear in reference to your health care. The word so saturated with toxin your muscles grow weak and your mind numbs as it registers in your brain. The word that has stopped my life twice with unforgettable moments of...plain, absolute stillness. I'm not talking about, "cancer", doctors don't even like to say that word. I'm talking about, "chemotherapy". My doctor told me that no matter the results of my biopsy I would most likely need chemotherapy to remedy the monstrosity that had grown in my neck. That just made me sick. Having seen the effects of chemotherapy after watching my mama fight cancer 5 years ago, I new exactly what kind of beast chemotherapy can be.

Still, we prayed and hoped and waited for the biopsy results.

WARNING: if sick, nasty pictures of surgical wounds make your bummy tingle, I wouldn't look at the following pictures that were taken after the biopsy (the second one especially...it even makes my bummy tingle. Why didn't anyone tell me I look like that when I sleep?!).



I slept and slept for days after the biopsy, and awoke feeling a strong sense of peace. I no longer felt like cancer would be a nightmare, just another aspect of life that, while scary, would teach me to adapt and grow. On January 13, I was officially diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage 2B. The following week, I met with my oncologist, Dr. Steven Wallentine, and on January 27, I began chemotherapy.

So Jeff and I keep on keeping on. I feel like this era in our lives is like a steamboat, slowly chugging and churning away from life as we both know it. Each day takes us further from the known, but brings us to a new knowledge of life and love and joy. I strongly believe that we are able to not only make it through each day, but find joy daily, because of our faith in God and His power to heal and help us. I also know that I could never have felt so much peace and strength if I did not have a literal army of people praying for me and/or thinking of me each and every day. I truly feel their strength and love strengthening and uplifting me daily.

Get Movin'!

We've moved! (Like, back in January)
You may wonder why in the world I would ever want to leave my 500 sq. ft little love nest, and the truth is, I didn't!
But, Freffrey the Jeffrey convinced me. And now we live a little North of our old apartment in the neighboring city. Bonus features: it's closer to Freff's work so he can stop in and check on me between work and school, it's 30 seconds away from my treatment center, it has neither the freeway nor the train in it's backyard, I don't feel a wittle skeerd at night and when I'm by myself, and we have SO much more space.
Nasty features: the carpet. 'Nuff said.
You will soon see what the apartment actually looks like in future pictures once I am satisfied with my decor.

{move in, chaos}

{washing dishes in the tub... (something was wrong with the kitchen sink)...}

Merry Weekend Mirths

While most of you probably aren't thinking one tiny bit about Christmas, I still am :)
Mostly because things got a little crazy and I never finished posting about it. It was the Klis' first Christmas, we had our own little celebration and started some fun traditions, so I'd like to give it due documentation...then we can get back to the future.
Here, a photo profile:

{Christmas Eve Dinner: Roasted Duck, Brussell Sprouts Au Gratin. Sweet Potatoes with Orange Zest, and Blanched Green Beans with Toasted Almonds and Lemon}

{showing off some of my Christmas bounty}

{Park City, weekend after Christmas. Lovely.}

Merry Weekend Mirths

...a little late, but better than never!
Christmas month Weekend Mirths for December 11-13 were postponed due to very unmirthful and unmerry finals this week. But as I has just finished finals and can now breathe again (as well as sleep, eat, and do something other than sit on my roundside and study), mirth has come back into this Klis!

Highlights of finals week:
1. I got a 95% on my physics final. Yeah.
2. I spent at least 12 hours a day in the Maeser building, the same building I work in, studying. Or working.
3. I have suffered from a bulbous neck muscle all week. It is seriously very large and lumpy and in the front of my neck where my collar bone should be. Don't worry, this always pops right when I'm stressed (I like to think it's just like the little red pop-up in the turkey), would you know, it sure pops up often! But this weeek....this was BAD.
4. On Tuesday, Mama's finals care-package detailing the many ways to eat her homemade granola came...my preferred method was whenever, however, with the maximum amount possible packed into my little mouse mouth.
5. We ate Ramen. It is gross. I don't know how people eat that stuff. Eating Ramen shows how desperately busy we've been ( and how tired I am). Foods like that have no home in my home!
6. Finally....Being done! Oh it feels so good!

And now for highlights of the previous weekend!

{that's not fire in the corner, just the light of Christmas Spirit in our home :)}
{we decided to trim the tree...}

{but then ran out of lights....to be continued}

{krista distributed Christmas gifts early}

{among my favorites, a spoon cradle, handmade}

{salt and pepper dishes, handmade}

{adorable snowwoman, made by our sweet little neighbor}

I also managed to pack in some Christmas baking. From the pictures below, can you guess what I made? If you guess most of them correctly....I'll send you a treat!

The answers (in their entirety) will be revealed as I post each amazing recipe, and you're gonna want the recipes....trust me.

Sweet Nothings

Robert Browning was a Victorian poet who may not have been so very popular back in his day, and although I can't say I love all of his poetry/prose (or poetic novels for that matter), right now he's soothing my burning eyes and feeding my tired, tired soul.

"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!"

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"


“Truth lies within ourselves: it takes no rise from outward things, whatever you may believe. There is an inmost center in us all, where truth abides in fullness and to Know rather consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape than in effecting entry for light supposed to be without.”


"Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought."

On a less serious note:

“So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon,
Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!"

“Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats By drowning their speaking With shrieking and squeaking In fifty different sharps and flats"

Merry Weekend Mirths

Celebrations from the first weekend of Christmas month!

It snowed! And suddenly even our grimy street was beautiful.

{the Klis residence, street view}

We also took the first step toward family traditions and bought our first Christmas tree on this weekend! It was freezing cold, and had just started to snow, but we loaded up in my brother-in-law's truck and went searching for a tree. A real tree. I can't abide the fake ones. No sir, not in my house. But sadly we had to buy a pre-cut tree rather than timber one down ourselves, because as Jeffrey kept saying, "They just don't have trees in Utah! I mean, there's a tree farm in my yard back home!" (I thought to myself, "Yeah well I have like 10 tree farms within a 10 mile radius back at my home. And they give you hot chocolate. And it's not -10000 degrees outside at my home, and they put lights up on the town square, and a nativity scene, and they usually leave that nativity scene up through February"....there's no place like home :))

{the tree that Jeffrey wanted, a thin little thing}
{the tree that I wanted, a plump little delight}

{Jeffrey's tree, the tree that won a home}

{and, dare I say, our hearts??}

Once we got the tree into our house, it was perfect. Just the right size: good height so it doesn't look too Charlie Brownish, good width so it doesn't block our entrance to the kitchen. Now all it needs is some suitable ornamentation, oh and a tree stand...aparently cups and pitchers weren't made for this sort of thing.

Christmas is on it's way!

Weekend Mirths

First, 11/26-11/29 Weekend Mirths, starring two Thanksgivings, two apple and one cherry pie, from scratch, to-die-for stuffing, and one successfully roasted juicy turkey :)

{See those layers of flaky crust? See 'em? I had a really good baking day}

{We found out why people argue over who has to, I mean, who gets to, carve the turkey}

Jeffrey and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving at his grandparent's house on Thanksgiving day, but Krista and I have been wanting to do our own Thanksgiving for the longest time, so we did a second dinner on Friday. It was so much fun!! And so delicious!!

The downside: two Thanksgiving dinners in a row means that one must suffer the lesser appetite. Unfortunately, the sister dinner suffered...we had turkey for DAYS....