Graciously Tenacious

Last November I started looking into devotionals for my husband and I to do together during the Advent season. I found a variety of different types of devotionals but nothing that would fit into the schedule I wanted. So I decided to put a devotional together for my husband and I to do together once a week for the season of Advent.  Each devotional has a bible passage, a worship song and a prayer.  My husband and I made time on Sunday afternoons to do these devotionals together. We would sit together to talk about the passage, worship together and pray. Here is last years devotional. Week 1 Song: O come O come Emmanuel  Passage: John 1:9-18 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become child

A couple weeks ago I decided that I wanted to celebrate my remission by doing a Light the Night Walk. The Light the Night Walk is an fundraising event by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that raises money for the research of cures for blood cancers. The walk is only 1 mile (yay). This weekend my husband and I went to our very first Light the Night Walk. I went into this event already knowing that I would cry at some point but not knowing that I would want to cry at every point... mostly tears of joy. When my husband and I got to the event we checked in at registration and walked over to the tent to get our lanterns. At this event each participant is given a lantern with a specific color. Red lanterns are for family and supporters. Gold Lanterns are in recognition of those we have lost to the fight. And a white lantern if you are a survivor or current fighter. My husband got his red lantern and I was told to go to a different tent to get my white lantern. I walked over to the ten

A year ago today, I walked into my Oncologist's office for my last chemotherapy appointment. I still can't believe that it's been a year. No more chemo drugs, fatigue, pain, brain fog, or a picc line. That stuff is in the past. My current desire is to forget all those things and move on! But there are lessons in those moments of pain that need to be remembered. That's partially the reason for this blog, to write down the things I wish to forget but know that I need to remember. (October 2017) I choose this day to be my cancerversary because the day my doctor announced I was officially in remission was about a month and a half later. It was very anti-climactic, I didn't ring the bell or anything like that. (Ringing a large bell is often a celebration of the end of chemo in some oncologist offices.) So I choose my last chemo day because that was exciting to me, it meant no more feeling like crap and finally allowing my body to feel better. No more roller coaster

In my last post, I shared a few of my go to recipes and mentioned some of the other things I cooked. I was asked to share the recipes I did not write out yesterday. So today lets talk about oat waffles and marinara sauce. The marinara sauce that I make in bulk and freeze is not made by an exact recipe. Much like the salsa recipe I mentioned in the last post, the marinara sauce recipe is just a list of approximate ingredients. 3-4 lbs Roma Tomatoes 1 yellow onion (cubed) Tomato paste 3-5 garlic cloves (minced) Red pepper flakes Salt Pepper Oregano Basil Sugar Olive oil In a large pot over medium/ high heat pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into the pot. Add the minced garlic and cubed onion. Stir together the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant. Use a cheese shredder to shred the tomatoes into a bowl. Shredding helps the tomatoes cook faster and takes off the tomato skin easily. Add the shredded tomatoes into the pot. Also add a tablespoon or two of tomato paste

I thought I would take a break from writing about cancer to share some of my favorite things to meal prep. I love cooking and baking, it brings me joy and if there is one thing I have tried to incorporate into my life more, its hobbies and things that bring me joy. If you love cooking or if you are just trying to feed yourself and others, I hope you will enjoy this weeks blog. Now just to get this out of the way, let me say that I am in no means a chef or great cook. I am still learning and thanks to Pintrest and Google, there are a plethora of recipes at my fingertips. I like trying out new recipes and figuring out how I can make meals on a larger scale. I also am very frugal so I try to cook with whats in season if possible and I try to make food from scratch. If you are new to meal prepping let me offer a few tips: Give yourself plenty of time, prepping multiple meals in one session can take time, don't rush, give yourself a few hours to cook. Bring in help if possible,

Earlier today I was working on some health insurance paperwork and while doing that I was getting flash backs of when I was going through the process of being diagnosed with cancer. So I decided that today I would talk about how I got diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I will skip the problems I had with insurance because I don't want to go into an angry rant. In November of 2016 I felt a lump above my collar bone. I didn't think anything of it. A month later I noticed the lump again and realized that I should probably get it checked out. So I made an appointment with my doctor in January. If you can't tell yet, this process took months. When I had my appointment, I remember sitting there telling my doctor that I felt a lump on my neck. As my doctor started to palpitate my neck she was having a hard time finding the lump that I mentioned. She said she couldn't feel anything. As I look back on this moment I realize that I could have just said okay and moved o

Last year when I was going through chemotherapy, I realized the importance of surrounding yourself with good people. I also learned that some people are not sure what to do when others are struggling. Whenever people say, "If you need anything just let me know", I kind of cringe. I know it's said out of kindness but it's not the most helpful thing you can do. Especially if it is said over social media. When people are struggling, whether it be sickness, mental health issues or any other life hurdles, it is difficult to ask for help. So people will not let you know if they need help. Although I had a few people say this line to me, for the most part I experienced the most genuine acts of love and kindness from my community. Instead of just saying "Let me know if you need anything" they offered to help, asked how they could help and sacrificed their own time to help me. Family, my husband and friends offered to cook for me, drive me to appointments, hang o

Hi Friends, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Christina but everyone calls me Nina and last year I was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I am currently in remission, (almost one year) and this upcoming anniversary has me thinking about all the things I learned over the last year and a half. So I decided to restart this blog and write things down so I wouldn't forget #chemobrain. So excuse me if this blog sometimes sounds like a diary post, or even a rant. I just really feel like I need to write these stories out and share how life has changed, hoping that someone out there will be blessed and encouraged. Today lets talk about... talking about cancer with new friends. I would be the first to admit that I can sometimes be an awkward person...especially in social situations. Cancer intensified that. I didn't know and still quite don't know when is a good time to share about my journey with cancer (kinda the reason for this blog I guess). Las