Michelle and Cinders

The lovely and talented, Michelle Davidson Argyle

Back in Middle and High School, I had a bestest friend named Michelle Davidson (who is now Michelle Argyle!). She was always writing / drawing something. And she has always had amazing talent. :) I was privileged to read stories that she wrote back in the day (and even one a few years ago called 'The Breakaway' that was even MORE amazing!)

And now?

She has published a novella (shorter book) called 'Cinders'. I personally can't wait for it to come out this August. I've already ordered my copy - which she has promised that she will sign - and am waiting to read it... :) I want to give her some props and showcase her beautiful cover and the book trailer for this book so that you can check it out, too.

First, Check out her website:
http://michelledavidsonargyle.blogspot.com/

And now,
I present to you
the art that is
CINDERS...

BEAUTIFUL COVER

Awesome Book Trailer

Random-MAN-i-DY

1 - So I was asleep. Jeremiah was showering and I had (have) a headache and passed out while he was in the shower. Except he turned the light to our bedroom on when he came in from the shower, which woke me up. Now I'm awake and my brain won't shut down. So I'm writing.

2 - I watched over an hour of Eclipse (New Moon and Twilight) parodies today. And loved it. Some were funny. Some sucked. But it was good times. With my Angie.

3 - I totally forgot about the free "Make and Take" craft at the library today. I was watching parodies on YouTube and letting kids run through the sprinklers outside instead. Here's a picture from last week's make and take... Rocket balloons and creative hats.
4 - I think I'm one of the only people in Utah who didn't mind the 4th of July celebrations being spread out over 3 days. I thought it was kind of fun. I watched Stadium of Fire fireworks outside my house on the sidewalk by MYSELF (the boys were in Koosharem and Robyn was asleep with Miah) for the first time since we moved here. Sunday we all just let sparklers in our jammies. Monday we partied with friends. Here are just a few pictures of that...

1st - sparklers, 2nd - Robyn and Abbi V, 3rd - Miah and baby Eden

5 - I love this picture of my boys watching the parade. They look like they are friends. Excited, happy friends. 6 - I threw a birthday party for Tanion at a nearby park yesterday. I had 39 goody bags. They are all gone. I think (if I counted correctly), we had 30 kids there and a handful of really awesome parents. That's a good turn out! :) I took pictures of him opening presents, but they haven't been downloaded yet (and the lighting was TERRIBLE!!!)

7 - I don't know if I'm ready for my 'big guy' to be SEVEN!

8 - I love Robyn in these pictures. :) She totally cracks me up. Diva in training, no doubt about it. :)

9 - I'm annoyed at the fact that my husband can eat like an unhealthy little piggy and yet he still can drop weight like no one's business. Not fair. Normal 'after dinner / before bed' snack for him?

10 - I just compiled a bunch of pictures of my Tanion for a blog about him (in honor of his big 7 birthday)... NOW I remember why I had more children. He was (and really, still is) SO stinkin CUTE!

11 - I adore my Father-In-Law. He is very humble and quiet and pretty much awesome. And how many guys can wear a shirt that has a picture of a guy who looks JUST like you on it and think it's awesome? :)

12 - You may have already noticed, but I had Angie cut and color my hair. :) I like it.

13 - I'm doing better on my withdrawal symptoms. Only affecting me sometimes instead of all the time. Mostly just dizzy every once in a while. Nights are the worst, though.

14 - The kids and I have played outside in the sprinklers 3 times in the last few days. I've actually ran through them a few times too! :) We have had some great times with our friends who have joined us on our water adventures. Thanks Stuart, Draysen, Bagley Family and Hartley Family!

15 - I'm going to end now and post a little blog on my BIG BOY over on the family blog... Here's the collage I'm going to use. Isn't he a cutie pie!?! :)

There is a Reason why I'm going INSANE!!!

For the last 2 weeks,

I've been going crazy.

I'm talking totally fine one minute, bawling the next (for no reason, mind you).

I'm talking feeling okay, eating some ice cream and then spend the next 12 hours vomiting up everything possible (sorry for the mental picture). That's happened 3 times in the last 10 days. Not a fun time. Not a good way to start / end / spend a day.

I'm talking sleeping for days at a time (and by days I mean that I'm asleep more than I am awake lately and even when I'm awake, I could still be sleeping and still try to crawl back into bed if kids / hubby will allow).

Other feelings lately...

Super Nauseous
Dizzy
Upset Tummy
Vertigo
Headaches
Crampy, yucky tummy
Throbbing

Whole body shocks - kinda like cold chills but worse

No Patience - whatsoever.

So I know if a friend of mine was saying all these things, I would think one thing (and believe me, I have even thought it too) - she's pregnant. But NOPE. Let me make that really, really clear. I'm NOT pregnant. Negative pregnancy test to prove it. There is no baby hiding in the midst of my flab.

Okay, so next thought? What's your diagnosis? Any doctors out there wanna give it a try? :)

I googled it. Yep. That's right. I got on the computer, went to Google (and WebMD) and typed in symptoms. I found my answer. I'm 99.75% sure that I have found the answer... Ready? Suspense killing you yet? :)

SSRI Discontinuation
Syndrome

Click HERE to view a great article on it.

So about 2 weeks ago, my prescription for Zoloft (my mood med) ran out. AND since we had no insurance (well, actually we did but I had no card to prove it or see who accepted it or anything like that), I just quit. Cold Turkey. Just stopped taking it and trying my darned-est to be a normal, happy, non-anxious soul.

About 3-4 days later, the symptoms started. The dizziness, the nausea, the upset tummy - whatever. I was fine. Then the vomiting (sorry, again), really upset tummy, vertigo, 'brain-shocks', etc set in. Even as I type this, the room is spinning and I feel queasy.

But there is a reason for it. I stopped my drugs - cold turkey. Because I ran out and had no money to see a doctor. And now, hopefully, I can look forward to the end. Symptoms usually only last 1-7 weeks. I'm ending week 2, starting week 3. And then hopefully, I'll be better.

Phew. At least I'm not pregnant! :)

Best of Friends

Right now, I have 3 girl friends that I consider 'my best'. :) Mandy and Heather, sadly, this post is not about you. This one is about my Angie. :)


Angie and I met in 4th grade - that's right people. We've been friends since we were 10ish. We've gone times without 'playing' with each other on a regular basis. We've gone in different directions in life but we've always managed to end up back together. She was even my Maid of Honor at my wedding (and other than family, the only one I even see anymore).

Currently, Angie and I 'play' about once a week or at least every other week. Jeremiah even affectionately calls her his "Every Other Weekend Wife" because (her hubby) TJ works every other weekend, which means she comes to our house. :) Her kids are basically the same ages as my kids. We've gone to each other's baby showers. We've been there for each other when our when babies are sick. We've vented about life's frustrations (in detail!) to each other.

We laugh. We cry. We love.

So why am I suddenly all mushy about my Angie? TJ (currently an RN) has been accepted to Med School - IN FLORIDA!!! They are trying to sell their house and their rental property so that they can move. TO FLORIDA. That's a 4 hour *expensive* flight that I don't have money to take. And I don't even want to think about how far of a drive that is. :(

Angie and I have this thing of taking middle of the night trips to movies - sans kids and hubby's. It's our time. We've also got this weird holding hands at movies thing - to comfort at sad scenes, hang on to for scary scenes or to convey our excitement at happy scenes. We went to a movie a few weeks ago and in the middle of it, I started to cry. It wasn't even a sad scene. I just realized that there aren't going to be many more middle of the night movie trips with my Angie for at least 3 years. And I cried. It went basically unnoticed, but at the end, when I told Angie that I had been crying because I realized it was coming to the end of our time together, she started bawling. And we both sat there and cried and held each other's hands and hugged for about 15 minutes because we're losing our best friends to distance. We ended up talking to each other for an extra 2 hours after the movie was over about our friendship and our lives and how we'd be okay. How there will be great phone conversations. How there will be at least a trip a year where she will come back 'home' and we'll go out. About how the family we choose is just as important as the family we are born into.

I'm sad to see her go - more than I can adequately express here. I know I'll be okay because I have other friends / family to keep me busy that are just as awesome as my Angie. I know she'll be okay because she's just awesome that way. She can make friends SO easily and she has a great husband who will show her unwavering love. But I'm going to miss her.

I'm going to miss having her around every other weekend. I'm going to miss having her only a 15 minute drive away. I'm going to miss holding her hand at movies. I'm going to miss taking cheesy pictures with her. I'm going to miss her amazing memory that calls me on stupid things I did as a teenager. I'm going to miss the teasing that her and Jeremiah get into every other weekend. I'm going to miss her closeness. I'm going to miss her honesty.

But we'll be okay.
Somehow.
Right? :(

I love you, my Angie.