One down, Three to go

JP passed the regulation part of the CPA exam! He takes the financial part on January 22.

UPDATE on Matt

Since I last posted about Matt Chandler a lot has happened.

First off PLEASE watch THIS video before you read further or even if you have no intention of reading further.

After the surgery, Matt was admitted to Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation for speech, occupational, and physical therapy. On December 15 (about 10 days after the surgery), Matt met with doctors to receive the pathology report. The findings of the pathology report revealed a malignant brain tumor that was not encapsulated. The surgery to remove the tumor, the doctor said, was an extremely positive first step; however, because of the nature of the tumor, he was not able to remove all of it.

Words from Matt regarding his Battle Plan and Team:

Let me start by saying, Thank You! The outpouring of love and prayers for my family and me has been so overwhelming that it has moved us to sobs. To see the tangible love of God for us in the saints has been overwhelming and a great comfort…Thanks.

Prognosis: Anaplastic oligodendroglioma

Battle Plan: Radiation and chemotherapy start on Dec. 29, bolstering my system with some homeopathic means.

Dec. 29 at 1 p.m.
Start radiation. This will continue every day for six weeks.
Chemo will be happening right along side of radiation and will go through February, and then we’ll take a four-week break, get an MRI and see where we stand.

The players:

Dr. Karen Fink, neuro-oncologist – Dr. Fink is the quarterback for my team, and she happens to be the Peyton Manning of neuro-oncology. Please pray for her as she monitors my treatment and vitals through all of this. Pray for her wisdom and insight.

Dr. Scott Cheek, radiation oncologist – I enjoy Dr. Cheek very much. He has a refreshing and encouraging personality with a great sense of humor.

Dr. David Barnett, neuro-surgeon – David performed my brain surgery, and it was an amazing success. He is a man of great faith, and I have enjoyed getting to know him as a surgeon and a brother.

Dr. Hammon, homeopathic doctor – He’s working with my other doctors. I have been moved by everyone’s humility and willingness to hear from each other

Prayers:

• My doctors
• That God might glorify Himself in amazing ways through all of this
• The Village Church and our elders
• Complete healing
• Healthy appetite
• Protection from side effects of radiation
• Protection from side effects of chemotherapy
• Peace for my family…specifically my children and their salvation
  • Audrey 7 yrs. old
  • Reid 4 yrs. old
  • Norah 6 ½ months

Christ is All,
Matt Chandler

War Paint

Both JP and my Dad refer to makeup as War Paint. Dad has always called it that and JP loved it so much that he too uses these words to describe makeup. So... that is what this post is about... war paint.

During one trip from Dallas to Birmingham, I left my makeup in Birmingham. I decided that was the perfect opportunity to checkout the makeup my friend Erin had been raving about. So, I went down to NorthPark to the nearest BareEscentuals store. After spending quite a while in the store... as well as quite a lot of money... I left with what was my new favorite makeup. For those of you who don't know, BareEscentuals is a mineral makeup.

Lately I've been trying not to spend a lot of money. Recently, I discovered E.L.F. (eyes, lips, face). Here are reasons why I have determined that E.L.F. is my new favorite makeup.

Price

Although E.L.F. is not exclusively mineral makeup they offer a good selection of mineral makeup. Best thing is, E.L.F. is MUCH cheaper than BareEscentuals. Foundation and blush at E.L.F are $5 while at BareEscentuals the same sized foundation and blush run over $20. As for eyeshadow, E.L.F will cost you $3 while BareEscentuals $12+. Not only that, but E.L.F. offers eyeliner, mascara, and tons of lips products for $1 a piece!

Quality

I know you are probably asking the same question I did... what about quality? I have just started using E.L.F. and am very impressed with the quality! I definitely recommend it!

Customer Service

Not only is their product good but so is their customer service. With all packages ordered, E.L.F. provides a tracking number. The package I ordered was tracked and it said that my package had arrived. I looked in our apartment mailroom and could not find it.

After a week, I called E.L.F. and they had no problem shipping me another package. I was very impressed! (turns out my apartment had labeled the package with the wrong apartment number)

Coupons/Discounts

I was able to find a discount code for my order. Since ordering I receive discount offers frequently in my email. Plus, with my order I received a free subscription to Vogue magazine. I'm not really a Vogue magazine kind of girl, so I discovered that if I clicked on the tiny rebate button under the magazine offer, they would give me $12 instead of the magazine!

Fun

Because E.L.F. mineral products won't break the bank, I have been able to have a lot of fun ordering colors I might not order if they weren't so cheap.

The only thing that I can think of that might be a problem with E.L.F is... to justify shipping which is about $6 you need to order more than just one item. You might be able to find a free shipping code that would eliminate this issue. Target does offer E.L.F. products in-store, however, their selection is slim and typically limited to gift sets (at least from my experience).

Mother Daughter Shopping Trip...

This weekend my Mom and I went shopping. We haven't been shopping just the two of us in a LONG time! We had SO much fun, especially at Anthropologie.

This is actually the only piece I came home with. I really like it a lot!

It is actually not gray but a deep red. I tried this one on and was feeling ok about it. The lady in the dressing room told me to try the smaller size. They didn't have the smaller size in the red but in the gray. Once I tried it on in the right size, I loved it! They called to see if they had the correct size in Birmingham. They didn't. But, they had it in Chicago... so they are sending it to me from Chicago. I should get it when we get back from Phoenix!


I tried this one on and loved it! The lady in dressing room insisted I try a smaller size. Since she was right on the previous shirt, I figured she would be right again. Well, they didn't have the smaller size in any color. They did have tons in Birmingham though, so I went to the one in Birmingham and they had it in the right size.

The Perfume Movie

When my sister and I were kids, we loved watching the 25 Days of Christmas on the Family Channel. Our favorite movie was "the perfume movie." At one point in time, "the perfume movie" was played all the time. Then, they just stopped playing it. Sarah and I really missed it!

Last Christmas I decided to see if I could find "the perfume movie" on DVD. First step was to find out the real name of the movie. I thought it might be difficult but when googling "christmas perfume movie" you get a link to a mymerrychristmas.com message board with a discussion entitled "movie with the perfume sales lady? Help!" Through this discussion board I learned that the REAL name of "the perfume movie" is The Christmas List.

I was able to find a recording of "The Christmas List" (they don't actually make and distribute a DVD) and gave it to Sarah for the best Christmas gift ever last year.

So, we are now able to continue our "the perfume movie" tradition. This weekend I was at my parent's house and Mom, Sarah, and I enjoyed watching the movie together!

"Singing praises to his name, Singing praises, glo-ry Hallelujah"

Senior Year Memory Part THIRTEEN: Our First Christmas

JP and I have been watching Christmas movies all day, and I've been making Christmas gifts. This makes me think back to our first Christmas together.

We had only been dating for about 2 months and I had NO idea what to do for him. I finally decided to make him a small scrapbook of the past two months. He loved it!
Let's ask him:
Me: JP, do you remember what I gave you for the first Christmas we were together.
JP: A book.
Me: What kind of book?
JP: One of those books that you make.
Me: Did you like it?
JP: Yep.
Me: Did you really?
JP: Yeah *nodding his head profusely*

If I remember correctly, when I gave it to him he said, "Man my brothers would be so jealous of this." I'm not really sure what that meant, but I took it to mean he liked it.

So what did he give me?
He gave me:

• A stuffed animal bear that he recorded a message on (Neither me, JP, or my sister can remember the bears name! It was a Hispanic name we know but which one we don't know! See, this is why I need to write this stuff down!)
• A heart necklace (he had it on the bear)
• The Jolly Barnyard (This started our trend of giving each other children's books. We would always make changes in the words.)
  

Senior Year Memory Part TWELVE: Life in Plastic... It's Fantastic.

So, I totally slacked off on my "Senior Year Memory" posts. I had said HERE that I would update each day of November with a post. Apparently I lied. Of the 30 days in November, I completed 11 updates... sad, I know. So, I will be completing the other 19 "November" posts at some point in time... starting now.

If you walk on to Samford's campus during the month of January or February there are two words you are bound to here Step... Sing... If you don't know what I'm talking about check this out... and while you are checking it out go ahead and mark in your calendar the 2010 Step Sing dates (February 18-20 if you are too lazy to click this).

Our theme was Phi Mu Steps Out of the Box. We were Barbies and sang a medley of:

• Vogue
• Supermodel
• I Feel Pretty
• Popular
• Golddigger
• Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend
• Barbie Girl
  
• Vogue

We even had diamonds...


Phi Mu's trademark move... the leg prop.

JP hates Step Sing... when asked what his feeling on Step Sing are he responds "bleh". However, he was kind enough to come see me in the Friday night show and fully supported me during all of the practices. He even downloaded Barbie Girl and played it ridiculously loud.

During the Saturday night show, JP pulled out his chalk again and left me another message in front of the Phi Mu house...