I'm Back!!!

Hi Friends! Wow. I cannot believe it has been over a year since my last post. I ended up taking pretty much a year off of crafting as I was recovering from my brain surgery on March 2, 2015. I've been updating everyone regarding my Trigeminal Neuralgia and Anesthesia Dolorosa on my YouTube channel. I'll include the link to that playlist at the end of this post for anyone who'd like to watch those videos. Don't get me wrong, I will for sure be discussing how I'm doing with my TN and AD pain but I will title those posts as Trigeminal Neuralgia Update so I can keep those posts separate from my crafty posts and it makes it easier for my fellow TN'ers to find my posts. I want to keep this post all about the crafty and what's been going on with me since my last post. 

So much has happened but in a nutshell...we moved from Oregon to Florida this past June for my husband's company. I was put on medical leave by my doctors in Oregon prior to our move as my pain from TN and AD makes it difficult to work outside the house so I've been focusing on my crafting even more than before. My son Tre' stayed in Oregon as he has a job there, he's 21 now...yikes! My daughter Kaley moved with us and she's a Junior this year and she's doing great. She's in all AP/Honors classes and wants to become an attorney. Our little dachshund Bella is doing great, she certainly loves the Florida sun. Its been quite the whirlwind for sure but it's been a fun adventure. I lived in Oregon my entire life until this move so I was a bit nervous making such a big move but it's been really good so far : )  

Here are a few photos from our move and some fun times we've had so far here in Florida...

This is a photo of Steve and I before he left for Florida. His mom and step-dad drove the moving truck, which was towing Steve's car, and the Tahoe to Florida. I flew out a few days later. My doctors were concerned about me making the week long trek in the Tahoe due to my facial pain. 

Filling up the moving truck. I sure miss that house. It was SO beautiful, but on to better and bigger things right : )

Kaley was trying to convince us to let her drive the truck...lol. 

Bittersweet moment. Watching Steve and my in-laws driving off to Florida while I was heading back to Lebanon for a few days before I flew out to Florida.

Bit of an Oregon tradition to take a photo of your feet with the carpet at PDX. So here I am, in my purple kicks ready to fly South. It was so hard leaving my friends and family.

This was the night Kaley finally arrived. She stayed in Oregon for the summer with her dad. I was SO happy to have her back with me. 

Me with my two most precious gifts in life, my son and daughter. This was a rough day as I knew I was saying goodbye to Tre' for quite some time as he stayed in Oregon. 

 
Me and my baby girl. She flew out to Florida in late August. 

Just look at this handsome young man. I can't believe he's 21 now. I've yet to have a photo with him where he has a "normal" smile...lol.

Okay here's the last one. This is me pumping gas after Steve taught me how...lol. I grew up in Oregon and you don't pump your gas there. I never had to do it before so it was a funny photo : )
 

I have about half of my craft room setup here in our rental house. It's a bit smaller than what I had before but I'm happy to have a place at all. I have everything organized in totes out in the garage so I can easily get to whatever I don't have in my actual room. We wanted to live here for a bit and check out the neighborhoods before we purchased a home. So while it's not super convenient to have half of my stuff in totes and half in the house, I know its temporary. 

I've really been focusing on my YouTube channel this past year. My channel has really grown and continues to grow daily. I have quite a few tutorials, project shares along with hauls and crafty tips on my channel so be sure to check it out if you haven't already. I'm coming up on my 5 year anniversary for being on YouTube. Crazy! I've also been updating my website behind the scenes and I expect to have it live by next week. Oh, I've also created a crafty page on Facebook called Purple Cottage Crafts. You should stop by and check it out. 

Well, I think that's it for now. I want to start posting some projects I've made recently along with the videos that show you the item up close so please make sure you check back for those as well. 

I want to thank all of you that check in and see/read this update. I know it's been a really long time since I've updated this blog but life has been crazy and I was still recovering from my surgery and trying to learn how to live with chronic pain. Crafting has become so much more than just a hobby as it started out all those years ago, it has become my therapy and what keeps me from falling into the deep dark hole of depression that can goes along with living with chronic pain.

It feels good to be back and I cannot wait to start sharing what I've been up to these past few months. 

Have a great day and I'll see you in my next post : )

Links to my YouTube Channel and to my Trigeminal Neuralgia Playlist:

YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScrappinAbby

Trigeminal Neuralgia/Brain Surgery Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMgyDqJade4zVir2FJ6Nxz6llEYjovxGM