I have, literally, started more than a dozen blog posts in the year since my last post. Nothing ever seemed worthy of sharing or I would never finish the post. I didn't even do my typical New Year post for 2017. I supposed it seemed like after the wild ride that was 2016 I would just be grateful for a new year, period.

2017 started off exciting, for sure. We woke up to no power and our electrical pole in the front yard on fire. Yep, for sure. I worked by candlelight and the kids had a blast. It was cold and rainy and we survived. That week the van broke down in the middle of a left hand turn across a busy highway. We survived that too. And then Mom went into the hospital AGAIN with more gall bladder stuff. And that went on and on for a couple months until she finally had the surgery she needed. We all survived that and she is doing much better with the occasional flare up.

I had two more skin biopsies early in the year which came back negative so I was cleared for 6 months. At the 6 month checkup they didn't find anything abnormal. Hallelujah!!! Right??? Right. I felt like I could breathe again.

Made two trips to Salt Lake City this year for Young Living. One for annual Convention and the second for Silver Leadership Retreat which was absolutely amazing. Here are some photo highlights! Can't wait for next year!!

























In between all of the bumps in the road and the business travel we did baseball and softball in the Spring and just wrapped up baseball and softball for Fall. Caleb and Kiki both love to play ball and are already looking forward to another season next Spring.






Reagan played the Queen of Hearts in our co-op's production of Alice in Wonderland this Spring. She was wonderful!!! For the Summer, she got her first taste of community theatre where she was an Ancestor in Henry Players' youth production of The Addams Family. It was a huge month-long commitment that she absolutely LOVED. It was an incredible experience.







Now that the kids are going into their slow seasons for extracurriculars, I am going into my busy season for oils and my oily business. It's pretty perfect how it works out. And Georgia is finally getting some gorgeous weather that is perfect for working outdoors while the kids and puppy girl play. This is my favorite time of year, for sure.




We are loving the heck out of October and Halloween festivities. We love harvest decorations and all things pumpkin, orange, yellow, brown, and red. Every week is a tradition of our favorite Halloween movies and books, baking, pumpkin carving, pulling out hoodies, hiking, hunting for the perfect leaf, and tossing acorns into the pond.








Tomorrow is Halloween and we couldn't be more excited! The kids have their costumes all ready and we will carve our last pumpkin during the day while we wait for trick or treat time. And I will use the festivities as a much needed distraction from my latest "news".

Sigh....so, probably around the time of Silver Retreat (mid-September) I discovered a teeny lump in my right breast during a monthly self-exam. (So, check your boobies ladies!!! Not just in October!!) Got in to see my doctor about it last Tuesday and was promptly sent to imaging for a mammogram. Had the mammogram last Thursday (first-ever at age 38) and let me just say that it's not as painful as I imagined from what others have said but it was shocking how much of you they try to squish into that damned machine. Uh, it sucked. And the pain started the next day and has lasted until now. You will be sore after for AWHILE which is something no one ever told me.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity in the waiting room full of other women, all wearing our upper body smocks, feeling like part of a sad club or something, I was finally called into a private room where the tech told me they wanted to do an ultrasound also. Ok. More waiting. Finally, they called me in for the ultrasound, after which the tech called the doctor in to tell me there was "a definite mass that is undeterminable in nature. Next step is biopsy. Good news is lymph nodes look good. We want to do it as soon as possible but realize you need to have some time to process all of this. Do you have any questions, Mrs. Bader?"

My mind was going a million miles an hour but my body was in shock so I'm not sure if I responded more than a mere shaking of my head. I tried to play it cool like I was fine. He explained to me that the numbing procedure would take the longest. He sounded like he was in a tunnel as my brain tried to block him out. Yes, of course I know the numbing part is the biggest bitch of all. We did that 3 times last year with the skin biopsies and twice this year. By far and away the most painful thing....but not in my boob. I may have started crying??? He looked worried and kept telling me to take a deep breath, which really pissed me off because it made me feel like I needed to be worried about something. Should I be? Deep breath, right.

Anyway, my biopsy is scheduled for Monday, November 6 in the morning. I'm trying very hard not to freak out because it could be nothing, just like my last two skin biopsies. It could be nothing. Or it could be something. And then what??? And that's what the mind does, folks. It goes there. And I start to consider all the possible scenarios. And I convince myself that's proactive because I want to know what I will choose to do when the scenario presents itself. But then my mind looks around my house at all the "things". All the things that I love that make me happy that will be awful sad memories for those I leave behind if something happens to me. And it's all downhill from there.

Y'all......this is where I was last year waiting for the biopsy results from my borderline melanoma. I can't freaking believe I'm here all over again. I'm in shock, I'm angry, I'm sad, and sometimes I'm hopeful and optimistic that everything will be fine. Mostly I'm scared.

And I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how in love with my husband and my family that I am. I think about how young Mike and I were when we met and feel sad when it feels like we wasted so much time that we could have been together but the odds were stacked against us back then. And when we finally were able to be together we felt like we had the whole world ahead of us. So many dreams and possibilities. A future we'd both dreamed of for years and years. And then I start to feel like there's a weight on my chest and I can't breathe.

Soooo......if you're the praying type and can spare a few moments to pray for me, I would appreciate it more than anything. I will be back next week to update once I get the results back from the lab.

So much has happened since my last post I don't know where to begin! I have wanted to update and share the goings-on but hardly knew how to express my gratitude and happiness. So, I guess I will start where I left off.

It's been several weeks now since I got my lab results back. Excision surgery has come and gone. That was quite the experience. The multiple deep numbing shots were the worst part of the whole thing. They were very painful. I got the call within a week from surgery and the margins were clear! Got my stitches out at 2 weeks and the incision healed much faster than the biopsy site. I go back in January for another full body scan and will continue that indefinitely. All in all, the best possible news and I'm so happy that it's over.

This was with stitches still in. It's healed now but the scar is very sensitive and dark in color.

Moving on to the best news in the world!!! Y'all who follow me know that I've been working on my big dreams for quite a long time. And if you don't know my story, maybe now is the time for me tell it! Because my dreams are coming true!!

So, some of my earliest memories are of attending Monday night meetings and skin care classes with my mother back in the very early 80s. You see, she was a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant back then in qualification to become a Director. I used to go with her to makeup deliveries. I helped her during skin care classes by wetting the washclothes for the ladies in attendance. I sat with her during recognition and through her Monday night business meetings. Even though I was under 5 years old I knew something really special was going on. My mom earned the use of her first Mary Kay car when I was 9 years old. And then my dad got a job relocation and we moved to another state. In 1989, it was difficult or totally impossible to coach a team long distance since the Internet hadn't even happened yet on a consumer level. My mom lost her team and I watched her dreams fall away. It must have struck a chord in me on some level.

Fast forward to 2004. My first daughter was born and I was working a terrible job in a crazy city with a crazy commute in a tiny cubicle with no windows and bad lighting. It was Hell. I still remember locking myself in a bathroom stall and bawling each and every day because my tiny baby spent practically her whole life at daycare and I hardly saw her at all. It was the definition of heartbreak. I never knew devastating heartache until that year. I decided one day that Mary Kay was the life for me too. I got my hands on some teaching tapes (aka personal development) and spent my days in that dark and lonely cubicle listening to what would become prophesy in my life.

Rena Tarbet was the angel who changed my entire existence. My mom used to listen to her in the car when I was little and now I was soaking in her words for myself. Teaching principles she had learned from John Maxwell, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, and Napoleon Hill I soaked in ideas and universal laws no one had ever bothered teaching me in school. I started to believe in magic, y'all!!! That's totally what it seemed like at the time, MAGIC!! I decided that network marketing was my answer to being able to stay home with my daughter. Soon after going all in with my business I truly felt like God told me I would be a National Sales Director, which is one of the highest ranks you can achieve in MK.

Well, life has a way of happening and I did fairly well at first but fell off when life got hard. I got divorced and gained full custodial custody of my 2 year old girl and moved back in with mom and dad at the age of 26. I enrolled in esthetics school and while my path changed, my dream never did. I still felt destined for greatness in God's Kingdom. During my stint in Esthetics I was introduced to Electrology and felt called in that direction as well. That was a couple years and a couple miracles down the line (another story for another post) but that panned out as well! I became a nationally certified Electrologist in addition to a licensed Esthetician.

After a new marriage and 2 more kids I found myself in the same sort of predicament as with my first daughter. I was working 12 hour days in a tiny treatment room performing electrolysis on clients who could afford to stay home with their kids and I was barely making ends meet with all 3 of my kids in childcare, a husband in hospitality who worked double time, and me working part time but missing out on way too much. I also suffered terribly after my last two children with postpartum depression. After my 3rd in 2011, the PPD nearly took me. I was at risk of never recovering from that. My life was in a downward spiral. Yet, I still felt called to something great!

A friend of mine from an online Expecting Club 2 years earlier had started coaching with Beachbody and was incredibly successful! Being no stranger to how awesome MLMs can be and also being very intrigued in getting in shape after 2 kids I totally jumped on board with her. I had almost instant physical results with Beachbody! I was in the best shape of my entire life! I even ran a Spartan Race with my brother as many of you know! I blogged all about THAT! One of my greatest life achievements. :)

With the business side of BB I achieved moderate success but found it to be a struggle. Now, I am not opposed to a struggle and some hard work with business because I realize that hard work and hustle are required for success in any venture at all. And I was completely willing to stick it out for the long haul. I quit my part time job as an electrologist in October of 2013 to pursue BB full time. After almost 2 years in Beachbody I hadn't really advanced much but I felt like I was making progress. Until my grandfather died and we moved all within the span of a couple of months. I was thrown. I slowly began to lose all of my physical progress and with it, all credibility I had as a fitness and wellness coach. Things began to spiral after that.

August of that year (2014) was the catalyst. Like many families of 5 with small children we visited the pediatrician's office FREQUENTLY. It seemed like one of the 3 was always on some kind of medication whether it was an antibiotic, a steroid, or some kind of breathing treatment. My oldest was even on multiple ADHD meds. And though I felt highly called to homeschool my kids were in public school because I was terrified of going against the status quo. But August.

August of 2014 I bought a premium starter kit from Young Living through a friend of mine who was an avid oils user. I had been researching essential oils for a year or so and knew some about them from my time in Esthetics school. But I didn't know how amazing they were therapeutically. Being a desperate mama to keep my kids off Rx meds and out of the doctor's office, I bought my kit. Since that day, my kids haven't been for a SINGLE sick visit!!!! Not a single round of antibiotics!! Seriously!!

I was sold! And I wanted to shout it from the rooftops to other moms and share with the world the amazing new reality I had found!!! And so I did! And when I did other moms wanted to know what I was doing so I helped them learn what I had learned. And their families got healthier too!! It was this chain effect of health and vitality!! I was completely astounded!!!! And without even meaning to I was in the business side of Young Living and ranking up with little to no effort at first. Completely amazing!!! All for sharing my love of oils.

Once it began to sink in that this might be the opportunity God meant for me all along I began to see what the possibilities would be in this business for me and my family, which were HUGE!! I set goals accordingly and went "all in" just like I had with Mary Kay many years before. One of my first goals was to hit Silver rank with my team. Silver rank is considered by many to be "quit your job" earning potential. So, that's what I aimed for first. I am amazingly PROUD to announce that I made Silver rank in October of this year!!!!! WOW!!!! First of many BIG ranks to come!




My team amazes me each month! All we do is share our love of these God-given oils with our friends and family and the oils themselves do all the real work! And we are rewarded!! I had the incredible opportunity to go to Young Living Convention in June of this year and witness the farms and distillation process for myself and know that our company's Seed to Seal guarantee is the real deal! And there is NO OTHER company anywhere in the world who can say the same thing. From the very seed of the plant to the time the oil ends up in the bottle Young Living controls the whole process and verifies and guarantees 100% therapeutic purity. Absolutely amazing!! As an esthetician I can truly appreciate that and as a business person I am proud to have a guarantee like that to back my claims!!!

Mom and I at the Young Living Lavender Farm in Mona, UT!

Planting yarrow seedlings on the farm in Mona, UT!

Standing in front of the Lavender.

So, there you have it!!! From skin cancer to Silver!!! My prayers were answered and my dreams brought to fruition in the same year. What a blessed 2016!!! I can't wait to see what 2017 has in store for us!!! I'm looking at you Gold and Platinum!!! :)

Also, I need to welcome our newest family member, Kohala, our adorable yet HUGE 4 month old German Shepherd. She gives my heart all kinds of tickles. :)

So, it wasn't quite Pivotal Moment #3 but it was definitely a standout moment. Life isn't different forever based on that one phone call but I will, no doubt, remember the phone call the rest of my life. Let's rewind to the night before the call.

I went to bed very, very late as I tend to do because I'm a night owl. While showering before bed I began testing out different scenarios in my mind. How would I react if the results were this? Or that? What would change? What would never been the same again? It began as a preparation exercise and ended in total panic. The thought of leaving my children alone. The thought of our upcoming beach trip having totally different undertones due to it being one of our last as a family. So many awful thoughts flying at me at once. I began to pray. I crawled into bed and looked up scriptures in my Bible app on my phone and fell asleep reciting The Word.

Since our bedroom has been temporarily relocated due to last month's flooding, I don't have a night stand and currently sleep with my phone under my pillow. I don't recommend that, actually, because all notifications go straight into your ear and scare you awake. Anyway, 9am is early for me and that's when the phone started ringing. Typically, I'm extremely annoyed by a phone call. Nowadays, I prefer an email or a text but NEVER, ever call me. But it was an Atlanta number and my heart jumped into my throat.

I answered and, sure enough, it was the dermatologist's office. I can't remember if my palms started sweating or if I lost all sensation in my body in anticipation. I was terrified and anxious about what the next few moments would bring into my life. She asked me if I had time to speak and I answered yes.

"Mrs. B, the pathology came back for the mole on your left thigh as moderately dysplastic which means that the cells cells are changing. Since we already removed the mole we typically just monitor the site and do full body scans every 3 months." Okay, breathe, breathe. I had expected some dysplasia so I'm not shocked; relieved actually that they'll be checking me more frequently.

Then her tone changed. I'm not 100% sure that I didn't imagine it but I'm quite positive that there was a shift in her tone for this part, "The pathology on the mole on your right thigh, however, returned severely dysplastic which is one step before melanoma. It's good you came in when you did. The doctor would like to do a complete excision of this area." My head was spinning and my heart was pounding so I can't even remember if I made her verify "not melanoma" or if I made it up. But I held to the part that severely dysplastic is before melanoma.

So, I caught it in time???!!! My heart was trying to celebrate while my brain was reminding me I still had to have more removed. And another pathology report to wait on. AND I'm now at a higher risk of developing melanoma at any other point in my life. Which means my kids are too. I couldn't celebrate.

I ran to the kitchen to my calendar so I could schedule the excision procedure while I was on the phone with the doctor's office. The first date she gave me was the date we were due to leave for our final beach vacation of this year. I asked her if it could wait an additional 2 weeks and she obliged. So, my excision is scheduled for September 26.

I went back to the bedroom to tell Mike, who had been waiting patiently since my phone rang, the news. He was much more enthusiastic than I was. I, who had been ok the whole time, burst into suffocating tears after I finally got the words out. All of the buildup of fear and uncertainty had weighed on me and all came crashing down at that moment. I wasn't dying. I wasn't going to die soon. My life didn't even have to change a whole lot for now. I need to be cautious, yes. But I can still pursue my dreams full speed ahead. God's promises to me still stood!! I was just overcome with so much emotion.

So, I'm in the waiting again. Waiting for my excision appointment. Waiting for my biopsy sites to heal. That has been hard. Those biopsy sites have hurt, itched, not healed quickly, and generally been awful. It has been HARD. I just needed to say that again.

But I'm ok. In fact, I'm better. I see things differently. I realize that life is shorter than I even thought before. I was still living with the idealistic views of an adult in her 20s when the world is your oyster and you have all this time ahead of you. Now I know that it can vanish and end before you're ready. I have prayed more, been grateful more, tried to be angry less, and tried to be a better mom.

That brings me to today, in the van with the younger two kiddos. Caleb asked me about Heaven. So we had a discussion about it. We talked about what the Bible says about it and what others have said we could expect about it. The conversation came around to when we each die and go to Heaven. I told them that when I die I will be watching over them and waiting for them so we would all be together again someday. Kiki said, "If you died, I would be so sad." Caleb said, "When you die I will want to die immediately so I can keep being with you." Oh. My. Heart! I just can't even. I love those kids so much it hurts me physically. Little did my sweet 7 year old know he described losing a parent perfectly. Even for those of us that are 36 (37 in a week). I imagine the same exact reaction when 'nightmaring' losing one of my parents. I would want to die immediately to be with them. Jesus come get us all!

Anyway, it's better news that I had imagined it might be. Still in a waiting pattern for awhile longer.

Peace out!