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Our Normal Life

Sometimes it amazes me how normal things can be.  Our daily life is much like everyone's, the kids go to school, Joey and I go to work, Brad plays baseball and Ashley dances.  School started here a few weeks ago and Ashley is loving all of her classes and her teachers; she is the top dog, an 8th grader.  We got so involved in the normalcy of our life that we I completely forgot that Ashley has a trip to the Shands Liver Clinic next Friday.  To prepare for our two hour trip to Gainesville, Ashley needs to have blood work done this week, she needs to see her pediatrician for her 13 year old physical (I think I will schedule Brad's 15 year old physical as well).  So as normal as our life seems with school, work, dance and baseball, it really isn't all that normal when compared to others.

We are excited about Ashley dancing/competing again this year.  She will be doing two solos, a duet and 3 group numbers.  I am looking forward to NOT having to fundraise to keep her dancing. I work the first UCF Knights Football game this Saturday.  I am praying that we make some good money.  The more money I make for Ashley that less I have to fundraise and the more time I have with my family.  We are still looking at getting people to sponsor Ashley with dance competition.  Ashley said if we can get 5 people to sponsor $100 that would be very helpful. (Ashley likes to dream, she dreams big). This may be Ashley's last year competiting so we want to make the best of it.  We hope it's not but with her starting high school next year, she is going to be even more busy with academics not to mention a high school social life. Don't worry though, Ashley will always be dancing somewhere, it could be at her current studio, or at a workshop, a masters class or even her high school dance team.   Dance is in Ashley's blood, her great grandma was a beautiful ballerina.

Ashley and some of her friends after a dance competiton.
From left to right:  Ashley, Kylie, Alexa, Delaney and Ari



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Ashley's Story

“Although Ashley’s liver is failing, she isn’t sick enough to be placed on the liver transplant list. We were told that Ashley would need a new liver by the time she reaches puberty." Ashley was born at the end of July in 1998, but her story doesn’t start there;her story begins when she was just a little peanut in my womb. At 24 weeks gestation we learned we were having a girl, but our little girl had something wrong with her. Imagine sitting in the examining room, and the excitement of learning you are having a girl, then at the same time you hear the silence in the room when something is just not right with the baby. We were told that Ashley possibly had an ovarian cyst. It was normal and not to worry. But something told us it was more than just an ovarian cyst. As soon as Ashley was delivered she struggled to live. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, and she was blue. Thankfully the doctor cut the cord immediately and although Ashley was still blue; she was b...

It's been a while. Did you know...

that Ashley was in the hospital  after Thanksgiving and before Christmas?  She had a bleed. She has varices.  Just a little reminder that she is not healthy and has a life threatening liver disease. that we lost our beloved beautiful puppy, Sarge, on January 2.  It was sudden, shocking, and sad.  We think he had leukemia based on his symptoms.  Not sure if we will ever get another dog.  Sarge was one of a kind and a perfect fit for our laid back, drama free family. that Ashley made the Principal's Honor Roll her 1st Semester of high school while taking all honors courses.  She is beautiful and smart. that Ashley is still dancing for her high school dance team minus a solo this year. She loves being part of the team but really misses competing in her favorite style of dance, lyrical/contemporary. that after a couple years of not having a dance studio to call home.  We think we may have finally found just the place.  Maybe som...
Okay so I made you wait a couple years.  I promise I will try to get better at this.  Now to help  you catch up on what happened in 2018, 2019 and so far in 2020. Let's see...this might be a very short post at least for the years 2018 and 2019.   2018 In 2018, Brad graduated from the Univeristy of Alabama with a BS Degree in Economics and Philosphy in May. He is still dating his high school sweetheart, McKenzie, there is talk of marriage.  After graduation, Brad got a job with Reuters as part of their Graduate Leadership Program.  Then the division of Reuters that Brad worked for became Refinitiv. He lived in NYC for about six weeks for training and then lived in Chicago for about 9 months before they transferred him to Houston to work as a Customer Success Manager in Commodities and Energy. McKenzie also graduated with a BS in Pharmacy but continued with her graduate studies.  Ashley is a Junior in college and she is doing well academically and h...