~Sunday Evening~

I can't believe the weekend is already over! I always look forward to the weekends but they are gone before you know it and it is back to work.
On Saturday we visited an old friend of mine in Gurnee. Actually, it was a guy that I dated in high school. I had reconnected with him on classmates.com several months ago and we planned a night to get together. Sam and I went to his house and had dinner with him and his family. We really had a great time and it was great to catch up!
Sunday was cleaning day! I did the cleaning and Sam did some maintenance work around the house. I cant believe winter will be here before we know it!
Later in the evening we met my dad for dinner at Outback Steakhouse - yum yum!
Well, tomorrow it is back to work and 5 more days till my mom comes home! My mom has been in the Phillipines for the past 2 weeks for work and we all miss her very much and cant wait till she comes home next weekend!

~Saturday~

For my birthday this year, Sam had bought me a gift certificate for the spa. So, on Saturday I decided to use it! The services I received were a 50 minute massage, facial, parafin manicure and parafin pedicure. It was all very nice and I came out of there all relaxed and rejuvenated!

Before I went to the spa though I stopped by my parents house because Monday is Muffy's 3rd birthday and I had a couple gifts for her.
Dad helped unwrap them - the first was a rawhide! She loves these! Whenever she comes to our house she steels Abby's...lol

The second one was a Nyla bone.
Muffy was such a good girl that she got a treat!

Happy Birthday Muffy!

~Update on Me~

I got the results of my ecocardiogram and all is normal - what a relief! Still not 100% sure what the weird feeling is. The doctor thinks it could be stress related. It has subsided alot since last Thursday afternoon, although that is when I started my vacation :-) Hmmm.....could work be causing me stress?? I guess we will soon find out.........I go back to work tomorrow :-(

~Me~

Last Tuesday I started experiencing some weird feeling in my chest. I had an appt already scheduled with my doctor for last friday, but my dad convinced me I should go get it checked out right away. So, I went to the doctor on Wednesday and they did an EKG and checked my thyroid - both were fine. They did a complete blood work up and my white count was slightly elevated and with my past history and all......well I sort of freaked out! I emailed my blood test results to my oncologist and she confirmed that everything looked fine....what a relief that was! However, we still don't know what this funny feeling is in my chest so I had an Ecocardiogram done today which I should get the results in 24-48 hours.

~Light the Night Walk~

Sunday, October 12th was the Leukemia and Lymphoma's Light the Night Walk. Light The Night is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's nationwide evening fundraising walk to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by cancer - like myself. Participants walk along a two to three mile route, carrying illuminated balloons -- white for survivors and red for supporters. Funds raised support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. This organization is very important to me - 14 years ago I was diagnosed with Leukemia and 11 years ago I underwent a bone marrow transplant. I am proud to say that I am a Leukemia Survivor! I am now helping in the fight to find a cure.The starting line~
Look at all the wonderful supporters participating in the walk!
Ciara, me and Brian walking~
Ciara and her dad Brian~
Sam and Troy~
When the walk was over Ciara decided to let her balloon go in honor of all those that lost their lives to Cancer~

Ciara and I~

Thank you SO much to everyone who supported me in this wonderful cause! I not only reached my goal of $1,000 but surpassed it by raising $1,425!!! Each donation helps accelerate cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma and brings hope to the patients and families who are on the front lines of the battle against these diseases, like I once was. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society helped my family and I when I was battling Leukemia and now I am help them help others.

~Ciara's 13th Birthday~

October 10th was Ciara's 13th birthday! So we all went over to her house to celebrate~

Ciara is an ice skater so her cake was decorated with an ice skate~

It's only tradition to get the birthday girl with some cake!

Look at all those presents!
Ciara really likes Jermaine Dye on the Chicago White Sox so I got her an autographed photo of him - she really liked it!
She really liked my card I bought too!
She couldnt believe what my parents bought her (my dad is her godfather)..........

.......a Digital Camera!!!!!!

She really liked her Coach purse she got from her parents too!

After all the presents were opened my dad sat down with her and showed her how the camera worked.
Troy and Sam~

Me and Rosa~

My mom and I~
Hope you enjoyed your birthday Ciara!

~My Niece~

On Sunday I got to visit my brother, sister in law and my niece! Lana is growing so fast!

Lana is on the move! She crawls all over the place and is starting to get into just about everything~

Lana and her daddy~Lana reading~isnt she cute!

~Jelly Belly Factory~

For the longest time we have been talking about going to the Jelly Belly Factory with our friends and this past weekend we finally went~
Our friends the Koppes~

I made Sam and Joe pose with Mr Scarcrow - they werent that happy about it!

When we got into the factory we had to board the Jelly Belly Express to take a tour of the factory~

Before we boarded the train the Koppe girls decided to pose by the Halloween display~

FDA law requires that we must wear hats when in the factory - mine just didnt like to stay on though so I had to hold on to it :-(

They had decorations hanging from the ceiling~

They did alot of decorating for Halloween~

Can you believe this was made out of bags of sugar?

This Ronald Regan and Elvis picture were actually made from Jelly Belly's!



After the tour we got to go into the gift shop and buy some candy - we also got to taste free samples!

Joe and Sam went to taste some very odd flavors of Jelly Belly's -

I can't believe they actually made these kind!

On our way out we saw this cool Jelly Belly Beatle~

Hannah, me and Sarah~