Near the end...

I have to say I am a littl ereleaved that this quarter is over...although I do love this class, and I really enjoyed Cassie. Things were just a little hectic for me this quarter. I don't know if it was because harvest was going on in the beginning and now it is Christmas time, or what the deal was. Christmas is always a stressful time for me. I have 3 children with my first husband and we have shared parenting, so I don't always get to see my kids when I want to, and Christmas time we alternate years to have the kids. This year is his year to have the kids, so I won't get them until the day after Christmas. It is really hard sometimes. I hate going to family get togethers without them. but I can't expect family to change plans when some members come from out of town. Anyway, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas...=)

My little Maggie May...

This week I decided to tell you all about my little doggie. All my life I have grown up with big dogs...I had a collie growing up and an australian shephard...but I always said I would never own a little dog. I had been around little dogs and just felt the were too high strung and always yapped and basically were little ankle biters....(just being honest). Well my dad and his wife got a mini dachshund and I just loved her. So, after a few years went by, I met my husband and he already had a Blue Heeler when I met him and she was awesome...she was one of the smartest dogs I have ever seen. A few months after we got married a rescue dog kinda got thrown off to me that we ended up keeping, and he is a pit-bull mix. Well around Christmas time two years ago I was kinda just browsing on the internet looking at little mini dachshunds and showed my husband and his quote was 'NO way...I will never own a weiner dog!'. But after a few weeks of pouting...(yes, I said pouting...try it sometime girls...you never know when it may work...lol) he gave in. Two days before Christmas, I brought home this teenie tiny little weiner dog...I swear she was smaller than a rat. =) Now she is two years old and honestly I feel I could not live without her. My husband and I can't have any kids together, because I have my tubes tied, so this little girl is like our baby. And as far as my husband goes...the one that said "NO way!" He is so in live with her. He often tells me that if I ever leave him, HE gets Maggie...haha. If any of you ever consider getting a dog, and don't know what kind to get, I highly recommend a mini dachshund. They are such great companions. I don't care how bad your day has been, the second you walk in the door and are greated the way these little dogs great you...your troubles are forgotten. They are the sweetest, most loyal dog I have ever had. They are excellant with children and if you get a short haired one, like mine, they shed very little. I wouldn't trade my Maggie May for the world...=)

More Pictures....

My hobby...

I know a lot of you like that post pictures with my blogs, so I thought I would do this blog about my photos....I love taking pictures...It is something that I have always loved to do. I considered going to school for photography but thought that it just wouldn't be a profession that would pay the bills. I felt it would be something I could do as a part-time job or hobby. I really don't have a high-tech camera like most would think I do. My mom was so impressed with my pictures that she bought the same camera that I have and she doesn't understand why she can't take pictures like I do. Now don't get me wrong, it is a great camera, but I feel that sometimes you just have to have the eye for what makes a great photo...and no, I don't have a fancy editing program either...most of my pictures, I don't even edit. So here are a few of my pics I have taken...let me know what you think...=)

Looking back at the week...

This week has been another busy one...It rained some this week, so my husband got a break from the fields. He is an avid hunter and has been complaining that harvest is dragging out so long that he will never get the chance to get onto the woods, so the rain coming was a blessing in disguse. He got up early in the rain and took to the woods for the day. He didn't really see much, so he came home and ate lunch and headed out for the evening hunt. After a few hours in the woods he sent me a text message saying..."I just missed a big buck...I think". After looking for about 20 min. for his arrow he decided to come home because it was dark. The next morning he ventured back out to find the deer he thought he missed. There it was laying in the creek...I was so excited when he said called and told me he found it...because now it is back to the grind. It was just luck the way it worked out on his rain day...=)

research paper...

I really like how this course is taking us through steps each week for our research paper. I believe it helps make it easier on us as students in writing our paper. I know being a mother of three andworking part-time and taking other classes can make it hard to manage time. I think the way this courswe is set up is a great way to helpo manage our time. I know that I have been really busy the last few weeks with harvest and trying to balance work and school and family time, and this layout has really helped make it easier on me to pace myself and take steps to getting my paper done.

Blog for the week...harvest

I almost forgot about my blog for the week. I have been so busy this week. Being the wife of a farmer can be stressful sometimes. I think I have seen my husband a total of 2 hours in the last week. =( For those of you that have never been exposed to being on a farm, I encourage you to sometime in your life taking a visit to a working grain farm. You will see things in a different light. Most people don't realize the bi products from Corn, Soybeans and Wheat. These are things that a lot of people take for granted, but without farmers, you would have to go without a lot of the things you use everyday. For example...Soybeans are used in vegtable oil, soy sauce, tofu, soy milk, diesel fuel, livestock feed, among many other uses. Corn is used in so many things, I would be here for days listing them all, but a few examples are adhesives, fuel oil, mayonnaise, chewing gum, baby food, paper manufacturing, cosmetics, whiskey, soft drinks, pharmaceuticals, crayons and chalk...etc. Some of the many uses of wheat include, flour, bread, cereal, beer...etc. Everyone in this world uses one of these grains for something that they use in their everyday life.

Farmers work very hard during the year to provide these grains for the workd to use. I am very happy to have grown up on a farm I think it has given me a better outlook on life and where the things we use everyday come from.

I have posted a few pictures of our farm and my husband harvesting...enjoy=)

What I posted to discussion board...just incase you didn't see it...I need ideas!!

Hello everyone…
For my topic I have chosen “Pregnant with Cancer"
I picked this topic because it hits home for me and my family…
I posted this on our last discussion last unit, but for those of you that didn’t get to read it because I posted later in the week…

This is something that has a personal impact on me. In February, my 25 year old sister-in-law was happy as could be...her husband had just got home from his first tour in Iraq and things were just getting back to normal. She was excited to announce that she was pregnant with their first child. Everything was going great and then in June at a regular check-up, she had the dreaded glucose testing...she went home from the Dr's appt. and enjoyed the rest of the day when she awakened by a phone call at 1am. It was her doctor telling her to get to the hospital RIGHT AWAY! Frightened, her and her husband jumped in the car and drove to the hospital. Once there they started hooking her up to IV's and running tests and then the doctor came in and sat on the foot of her bed and told her that she had acute Leukemia. Her she is, 25 years old, things are going great and the doctor is looking her in the eye telling her that she has cancer. Her first thought was "Oh my gosh...the baby!!" At this time she was only 25 weeks pregnant, so the chance of survival of the baby was slim but it wasn't unheard of. The next few days were very hard on her...making tough decisions. The doctors told her that she was far enough along that they could administer a low dose of chemo and it wouldn't affect the baby and possibly buy her time to let the baby get further along...the next few weeks were horrible...she was sick and weak from the chemo and yet all she could think about was the baby, not worrying about herself...2 weeks after the chemo treatment was done, she had a second bone marrow biopsy and amazingly...it was clean!!! The low dose chemo had appeared to have done the trick. The doctors wanted to administer a few more doses just as a precaution, but still needed to wait until the baby was born...so, at 29 weeks, they delivered the baby. Because she would have to wait awhile for her c-section site to heal all the way before she could start the next round of chemo, they decided to go ahead and deliver the baby. They didn't want to take the chance of letting the cancer come back....
As of today…the baby is a little over a month old and has been home for about 2 weeks and my sister-in-law has to undergo 2 more rounds of chemo in the next 2 months as a precautionary measure and after that she will have to go through blood testing once a month for awhile. But she is totally clean of the leukemia and truly lucky. The
Good Lord was on her side. So this is why I picked this topic…

My thesis statement is…
Being diagnosed with leukemia during pregnancy is very rare and poses a clinical challenge for doctors treating these patients. In addition it also causes concerns between maternal survival and fetal health in both short and long term.

My resource is:
Paterson,(Aug 2004) GayeBritish Journal of Midwifery; Vol. 12 Issue 8, p496-501, 6p

I really don’t know if my thesis is good enough or not…please everyone help me out and give me a few ideas….thanks so much=)

Being an online student....

Being an online student is very convienant for me. have taken classes at a local college and find it harder to get the motivation to go to class. Being a mom of three of my own children and one step-son, we have a very different and changing schedule. By taking classes online, it is easier for me to decide when I can sit down and work on school work. Contrary to most people's belief, online schooling is not by any means, easier. I believe it is more challenging and keeps me from getting bored. This is my 3rd quarter here at Kaplan and I really enjoy the how it is set up and I am happy that I chose to continue my education at Kaplan...

About me...

Hello everyone...I just wanted to tell you all a little about me...I am 32 years old and I live in Jamestown, Ohio. My hometown is Washington Court House, Ohio, which is only 15 to 20 min from Jamestown. I live on an 80 acre farm and my house sits in the middle of a field back a 3/4 mile long driveway. I have 3 children which I only see 3 or 4 days a week because I have shared parenting with my ex-husband. (It is very hard to be away from them...trust me) Cassidy "Cassie" is 12, Hunter is 9 and Caylin is 6. I am re-married and I know have a step-son, Michael, who is 10. My husband is a farmer and owns his own welding business. And together we have no children, except for our little mini dachshund, Maggie. I think she is just as spoiled as the kids. I think she believes she is a person.=)
I'm in my 3rd quarter here at Kaplan, but took a few classes at Kaplan's sister school, Ohio Institute of Photography and Technology. Online school is much more convenient for me. Medical Office Management is a big career change for me, but is not unfamiliar. I have worked in the field of agriculture for over 10 years. I have worked for a couple local grain elevators buying and selling grain. Although I love working in agriculture, I am ready for a change. My mom is an RN with a Masters degree. She currently works as the Director of Business Health at a local hospital. She has worked in ER to director of surgery and OB to Assistant director of nursing. So needless to say she has had somewhat of an influence on my career change...=)
I am looking foward to having class with all of you...and wish you all the best of luck...

Setting up my blog site...

I really like the blogging idea in this class...I think it will give us a chance to really express ourselves. Excellent idea...=)