Life Archives - Page 66 of 92 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

So Much to be Thankful For…..

November 24, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

We are at my sister-in-law’s house today for Thanksgiving. It’s Jenn’s first time hosting the entire family for Thanksgiving and she’s done the most amazing job. Jenn (or “TT” as we all lovingly call her…..her nickname was “tattletale” when she was younger). Boo is well on her way to being “mini TT.”

Boo helped me with the place cards this morning (TT got the printables from Over the Big Moon):

We’ve all been adding things to the “thankful” tree:

The house and tables are all so beautifully decorated…..I hope I don’t have to host anytime soon because this would be hard to top : )

I want to sit at the kid’s table….why don’t the adults get crayons?

TT used “The Perfect Turkey” recipe….doesn’t it look perfect?

We still have an hour or so before we eat so everyone is resting and the kids are playing outside in the amazing weather. We have six cousins under the age of 5 and they are just in heaven playing together! We have a huge blended family and I just think it’s amazing that we have friends, ex husbands, step-siblings etc that all show up to every holiday and everyone gets along so well. The house is filled with laughter and fun. I’m sitting in the living room surrounded by napping adults…..writing this post while listening to the fun banter from the kitchen…..my hubby just got “fired” from helping because he was too messy. Life is good.

There is so much to be thankful for.

It’s been a month and three days since my surgery and start of chemotherapy and I’m thankful for every day since.

I’m so thankful to be here today.

I’m so thankful for my sweet daughter and loving husband.

I’m so thankful for all of my wonderful family.

I’m so thankful for my wonderful friends who have helped us out so amazingly and without hesitation over the last month.

I’m thankful that my father passed away peacefully this year and that my mother is such an incredibly strong woman of faith.

I’m so thankful for wonderful doctors and a doting father-in-law who are helping me get better everyday.

I’m so thankful for all of you. I have so many wonderful online friends that I’ve become so close to over the last 2 years.

I’m so thankful for the most wonderful, loyal and hardest working assistant ever: Lisa. I’d wither away without her.

I’m thankful for all my other Lil Blue Boo employees and helpers: Gicela, Dawn, Mariela, Irizima and Carolyn.

I’m thankful for Cole’s progress……getting just a little better each day.

I’m so thankful for health, a roof over our heads, and food on the table.

I’m thankful for the little things.

I’m thankful for spandex.

I could go on and on and on…..

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families today. I pray for anyone who is having a hard time today and needs uplifting. I pray for everyone to have tons and tons to be thankful for.

Love and thankfulness to all of you!

XOXO,

Ashley

Project Recovery: The Nitty Gritty

November 21, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

So today was my fifth round of chemo. It was Brett’s turn to take me. I kept Boo home from school because she has the worst cough and allergies mixed in….so Gicela came in early to work to watch her.

Lots of good news today:
:: My levels went down again. 2648 (from 3416 last week). Still a long way to go but it’s going in the right direction. I keep joking that I should start a “pool” so people can guess what the levels will be the following week…..so put a guess out there….chemo can be fun you know. I was bored while resting today and made this super nerdy, yet informative chart:

(A friend asked if I’ve worked out the mathematical equation yet….the answer’s yes. I loved statistics.)

:: I didn’t lose any additional weight. I’ve been able to eat some really random foods and my quinoa/lemon/almond mixture is still the most palatable thing for me oddly enough. I refuse to have my butt photographed anymore…..so here’s a random smiling photo from the infusion center at Lucy Curci right after my blood was drawn.

Here’s the nitty gritty:

:: I’m getting my chemotherapy (methotrexate) by an intramuscular shot. Since I’ve lost so much weight and kind of have a small frame anyways I’ve learned that I can ask for the “kid size” needles so I don’t have to get the thick long scary needles.

:: Each week I feel like the chemo gets a little harder. I feel fine sometimes and then I get up and start to jump into a normal routine and all the sudden a wave of exhaustion and nausea hit me. I find myself out of breath with the tiniest of tasks….so much so that people are always asking if I’m okay. I lean on walls and hold onto furniture while I’m chatting to someone. I guess it just takes a lot out of you. I just feel REALLY old all the sudden.

:: Miralax is the bomb. I buy the generic version…..because seriously, who wants to spend their hard earned money on laxatives. Constipation after a hysterectomy can make everything more painful. Here’s what no one tells you….when they cut your stomach muscles open you can’t use them to go to the bathroom for a while.

:: Okay….so Boost, Slim Fast, Ensure…..ice cream….none of those worked for my appetite. Honestly, I would need a beer bong to get them down quick enough so I wouldn’t gag. I don’t throw up….but I dry heave……it’s my “false alarm” that tells me to go and lay down. I have found that if I lay down while I eat….and just pick at the food over the course of an hour I can get it down….whatever works.

:: I still only wear spandex…..so I ordered a small pair of GAP maternity jeans so I can get back to wearing my wardrobe staple. The chemo makes my skin super sensitive and my incision gives me the heebie jeebies to touch so what better than jeans with spandex on top.

The only frustrating thing for me right now is that the chemotherapy is hampering my recovery from the emergency hysterectomy and surgery. When I had my c-section with Boo I was driving 10 days later and back to the gym after a month and running again after 6 weeks. That was a piece of cake. I guess when they cut you open from above to bellybutton to the va-jay-jay it’s a little harder on your body. Today I was super exhausted and watched Toy Story 3 with Boo FOUR times. I’m glad it’s a cute movie. I sorted through fabric samples on the floor……fabric = happiness. This weekend Lisa picked me up to see Breaking Dawn with our friend Jackie…..it was awesome. I’m an Edward fan. And Bella looked so pretty.

Photos of the Day: Blue Steel

November 17, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

I desperately needed a few headshots for some projects and appearances coming in the next year (yes, I’m planning a full schedule….just giving myself some time to get better first!). I rallied yesterday and put on makeup and curled my hair. The hair only got half done because I got too tired…I gave up towards the back….but Lisa just shot around it. I’m not feeling great today (maybe I overdid it) so I’m glad we just went ahead. Headshots are for the birds.

I know it was like pulling teeth for Lisa to take shots….I never stop talking and I scoff at any artistic shots.

“Put my hand under my chin? NO way.”

“Hands on my face? I’ll look like a Palmolive commercial!”

“What do you want me to do? Look at the camera?”

“Can you fix my poor chapped lips?”

Here’s my pal Diesel….he just got a new haircut:

My sister-in-law Carolyn came out to help. Not sure what I was laughing at…I laugh at anything so who knows. My sister Perry and I both joke about our “horse teeth”……my dentist even had to file them down when I was younger…..it takes work to keep my mouth closed…neeeeiggggh!!!

Too cheesy for my taste…it looks like a photo you buy with a frame. I realized looking at the below photo that my shirt is on inside out:

Just normal….but you can tell my hair curling isn’t that great in this photo. And the chapped lips. Ugh.

If there’s a “brown thumb” (i.e. green thumb) for hair styling….I’ve got it. I never had the knack for doing hair. Thanks so much Lisa. Love you. You can make anyone look good! Sorry I gave you the finger, at first glance this photo looks like I’m censoring boobies.