I was coming back from a weekend at the river when I decided to check on a local social networking board I frequent. I was expecting the usual chatter or even "silence" since it was the weekend. I was completely wrong. What I read shocked and saddened me.

One of the ladies, Jewelyn, was due to give birth and everyone was excited for her. She had posted a few days ago asking for advice and what to expect in the delivery room. One of the other ladies (a friend of Jewels and also a member of the networking site) was even all set and ready to head to the hospital as the official photog for the beautiful event. None of this was to be.

The photog (I would rather not say her name since I have not asked her if it's OK) was the bearer of the heartbreaking news. Jewelyn was taken in for an emergency c-section. Baby Gabrielle was born but Jewelyn did not make it. She suffered an amniotic fluid embolism & disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). She lost brain activity and was placed on life support. Her husband had to make the most difficult decision he probably will ever have to make. Jewelyn passed away Sunday September 27 at 11:30 PM. Jewelyn leaves behind a wonderful husband and beautiful baby girl.

The ladies of the networking site have come together and set up a Paypal account for donations. Donations can be sent to; 4jewelyn@gmail.com. 100% of the donations will be given to Jewel's family. Also we are holding a yard sale this Saturday. All the proceeds will go directly to Jewelyn's family.

Troublemaker

We have one of these across the street. A punk ass teenager who has no respect for others or their property. The cops have been called on this kid for trying to set fire to people's cars. He vandalizes property. The mom thinks he is an angel and everyone else is delusional...*sigh*. Laying on the roof and shooting the kid with an airsoft rifle sounds really good right now.

Question of the day...

How can one be happy for someone when that person (the someone) is not genuinely happy themselves?

Reading is my passion

Lately I have been reading a lot. My passion for reading was rekindled with the Twilight series. Now, this series and type of story is not my normal genre. I tend to stick to John Grisham And Mary Higgins Clark and maybe some Dean Koontz but I am so bored of those books. I have read almost all books from these authors. It's time to try new books. Since I finished the Twilight series I have read a few more books that were very interesting. First is The 19th Wife.



The 19th Wife has two stories within. One is nonfictional and about the start of polygamy in the Mormon religion in the 1800s and the fight of one woman to end it. The second story is fictional and set in the current day and is of a young man who was kicked out of a polygamist sect and his involvement with a murder scandal within the sect.

This type of book is not what I normally read but I have been stepping out of my reading comfort zone and reading genres that are new to me. I loved the historical part of the book. It was very interesting to read about the struggles women faced when it came to polygamy. The fictional part of the book was OK.. The stroies jumped back and forth each chapter so when I started reading a new chapter I had to get my mind set for whichever story was being told. In all it really kept my interest.

Then there was Summer Sisters by Judy Blume...yea, I know...she writes adult novels?? Well, yup, she does!



This book was really great and an easy read. I read it in one day. The novel is a coming of age story where two girls begin a friendship at the age of 12 and spend each summer together. The book chronicles their experiences and friendship each summer as they grow older. As the summers go by and the girls get older they become closer and eventually further apart as their relationship strains.

Great great great book! This is the book that I was reading and posted about below.

Currently I am reading The Doctor's Wife and I am not into it at all. I am hoping it picks up some.

Coincidence??

What the heck? So yesterday on our way out of Hawaii (will post about the vacation later) I picked up a book from WalMart to read on the plane ride back to Cali. They had a horrible selection so it took me some time to choose a book that interested me. None of the books I planned to read were there. So anyway I finally choose a book and while on the plane I start reading it. Well, a few pages in I realized I made a bad choice...here is why:

Cassandra & Von are characters in the book that was published in 1998.

Why does this even matter to me? Well, here ya go...

My name is Kasondra. My ex's name (Suraya's dad) is Vaughn and we met in 1998.

So do you see the connection here? Names spelled different but same names. I mean really, how coincidental is that? Who actually has those names? I mean mine is kinda normal but his isn't and they just so happened to be in the book I bought on a whim. So weird! Sheesh...that must be what I get for reflecting on my past!

A Decision Has Been Made

No No No! There's no baby in my belly BUT there will be....one day! HAHAHA. Ok, so on a serious note, yes there will be a baby in the future. Andrew and I have deiscussed it and as of right now we are planning for the end of next year (2010) to begin trying to conceive. Hopefully by that time I will be about done with school and graduating with my bachelors. Hopefully more stable financially with paying off debt and maybe just maybe making more money. We have a good foundation right now but we want it to be better before bringing another child into our lives.

Ever since we came to this decision I have been at peace. I no longer have "baby fever". I think I needed a more concrete answer than 1 or 2 years. It seemd like with Andrew that was always the answer and it never changed. It's been almost a year since our wedding and it was still "1 or 2 years". I finally broke down and verbally attacked him on this. I know...mean, huh? But my baby fever was getting to be really bad, to the point that I was secretly hoping my birth control would fail! I would never purposely get pregnant without him agreeing but I was still hoping to be the 1% statistic that gets pregnant while on birth control.

Anyway, after the talk and our goal I no longer have that hope or wish. I'm perfectly content. Of course our plans may change and we may push it back and it may be a longer time before we decide to try but for now the end of 2010 is it.

Pondering....

I wonder what has been up with me lately. I seem like I am in a dark place all over again with my last 2 posts. It's really not that I am. A few weeks ago an issue arose that got me thinking about the past and realizing how much better things are now for me. My past is something I have kind of kept to myself. Everyone knows the basics about it but I have never really opened up about the feelings I had.

For some reason lately I have been reflecting a lot on who I was back then and by doing that I can feel the "ghost" feelings from them. It's not like they come rushing back or anything but I can remember what it was like. You know how a scent or a song can bring back memories....it's kind of like that.

So, no there's nothing bad going on in my life. It's just time for me to let it all out.