New Mission--finding a cure for diabetes

This past weekend, my dear 9 year old niece, allison was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It makes me sick to my stomach to even type that. Our entire family is very upset but for some reason i am taking it extra hard. Sick children just tears me to pieces and when it is someone that i love so much it is horrible.

So this post is dediated to Allison. Who has brought so much strength to our family.

Allison was born just 9 days after my sister, Laura died from a horrific battle with tongue cancer. Allison is the reason our family pulled it together and had hope again. She was the bright spot in a very dark time for all of us. She is much to young to know the significance of the timing of her birth or how it affected our family.

Allison has always loved life. She has always been full of energy. She loves animals and babies. i always tell her that when he grows up and gets married, she should have 10 kids and 5 dogs. She will someday be an amazing mother. She loves to take care of things. She even called me all the way from Hawaii so i could make sure her Webkinz were all taken care of. LOL.

She loves my little dudes beyond words. If she hasn't seen them in a week, she will call to set up a time to see them. It melts my heart to see the way she mothers them and loves them. She will never know what that means to me. She can spend hours with them and not ever be bored with them.

She has a strength and confidence about her that I never had at her age. She is never afraid to talk to adults. She tells you what she wants and she knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. This will suit her well with what she is facing now.

She is just in the learning stage of how diabetes will change her life but if I know my Allison, her life won't skip a beat. She will find ways to manage this chronic beast and live life to its fullest at least I sure pray this is the case. It potentially can be life-changing and i am sure in some ways it will. It would be tragic for her to lose her zest for life.

My prayer is that in her lifetime we see a cure for this disease. She did nothing to deserve this but I am sure she will be an example to us all on what strength really is.

Love you Allie!

husband tag

I got tagged from Laura at A View from Our House. She has beautiful engagement and wedding photos on her blog. I don't have a scanner for old pics and most of you know what my husband looks like although he looks completely and I mean completely different from when we first met. Even his sisters didn't recognize him in a photo I have sitting behind our kitchen sink.

Anyway, here's the tag...

1. Where did you meet your husband? In Mike Warbel's dorm room, my junior year at John Carroll University. I was on my way to dinner and then Mass. Mark said "you can't eat before recieving communion". I told my roomate Meg, "he's cute, too bad he is a jerk".

2.How long did you date before you got married? 8 long years. When we eventually did get married it was the right time!
3. How long have you been married? 6 years
4. What does he do that surprises you? Not much that surprises me. He did bring me home a puppy as a surprise.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? his strong body.

6. What is his best quality? determination and motivation and sense of humor.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? he as 2. 1. kare 2. O.K (stands for Oblivious Karen)

8. What is his favorite food? Pizza
9. What is his favorite sport? To perform, Powerlifting, to watch Football and Fighting (if that is a sport).

10. When and where did you first kiss? The day finals were over; outside Tavern Company (aka Tav Co). i laid one on him. it was wonderful!

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? just spend time together. We used to play a lot of scrabble. We like to take walks and take road trips. Time in a car is good quality us time.
12. Do you have any children? Miracle momo twins who defied all odds, AKA little dudes!
13. Does he have any hidden talents? Photographic memory. He can remember the craziest things.
14. How old is he? 33
15. Who said I love you first? He did. He thought i was going to say it so he stopped me and said it first.
16. What is his favorite music? he likes almost all music. just not country.
17. What do you admire most about him? When he decides to do something, he totally commits to it and nothing will get in his way of succeeding and reaching his goals. Also, he always tells the truth, always!

18. What is his favorite color? Blue, definately Blue.
19. Will he read this? Most definately! he loves my blog and gets impatient when I am a lazy with posting.