The "Fall Festival" is coming!!

It's just a little over a month (YIKES) until 

our 3rd annual "Really Local Farm Market & Craft Fair"!!

As you know I've been making jam, jelly and salsa like crazy for our booth!  

I was asked by a (new) reader (Hi, D!) for more information about the Festival.

It's always on the second Saturday of October, so this year it is on October 8th.

10 am to 2 pm.

I will have farm fresh produce, eggs, and (if I can get the chickens to quit eating them) pumpkins. 

Also, if weather cooperates, we will have fall decorations (Indian corn, mums, corn stalks, etc).

Additionally, we will have our Homestead Yummies

Jams, Jellies, Salsa, Pickles

Bread, Cookies, Candies

Possibly Jerky

Man will be cooking up his delicious BBQ Ribs and Pulled Pork.

Boy will have his Snack Shack with chips and drinks

He will also have a limited number of his wood and acrylic turned pens. And some other handmade gifts from wood.

Our vendors so far this year are outstanding!!  Applications are still rolling in, so there will be plenty more but currently we have:

NikCo is all about adding a little beauty and whimsy to every day life. http://www.etsy.com/shop/NikCo

https://www.facebook.com/NikCo-361111847309832/

Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Earrings.

Our "Kid Collection"-These are girls in our homeschooling group that have some of their homemade goodies to share including cupcakes, crocheted dish c

lothes, American Girl clothes, and friendship bracelets.

Daryl Roche Glass Artisan will be sharing his handmade Glass Drinking Straws, Glass icicles, and Glass Pendants.

Then we have the 5 Savvy Sisters each with a booth:

The Country Road: Variety of Hand crafted primitive decor items

Natures Emporium: Hand crafter potpourri, dried flowers, seeds

Take a Hike:  Walking sticks, bird houses, seeds

Houseplant Fever:  Houseplants home started and grown, in a variety of pots.

Bobbin Robin: Grocery bag holders, burp cloths, denim aprons, purses and more.

I'll update again on the 15th with all the additional vendors!!

BE SURE TO COME OUT TO SEE US!

Flash back: Race to Save Face: July 11th

One of my 101 in 1001 goals was to do a 5K...well, we did a 2 mile walk instead.   There were about 167 people preregistered for the race and/or walk.  It was a five mile run (with a big crazy hill) or a 2 mile walk.  There was also a kid's 1 mile "fun run".  

 It was to raise research funds for Trigeminal Neuralgia, which is the disease I have.  Not many people actually go into the "fundraising" aspect of it, but I did!  I raised $280 in addition to my entrance fees and was the top fundraiser. 

Our "color" is teal.  We had a "Team" to go, but as the day came closer, most everyone else ended up with something else they needed to do.  My Man was too sick to go....so it ended up just being me and My Boy. It was an awesome day anyway.  It wasn't very hot for July!!  YAY!  

I found Teal Shoes the morning of the race. 

Here is my determined young man....not a kid anymore! 

He may have been in the "Kid's Fun Run" but he took it totally seriously, and finished the mile in just over 6 minutes!!! 

I met a few others that are "warriors" with TN.  It was nice to know I'm not the only one!

It' was a great Mom N Boy Day!

I love this Boy!  He's become such a nice young man.

And even while walking, we "barn safari"ed.

And check out these chickens on a water tank...they were easily 9 feet tall!

As we left the race for our 2 hour drive home, it was under the July Super Moon.

My good friend, E. had a "Race to Save Face - South" as her mom has TN, too.

I'm Thankful for...Day 16

I am so thankful for the love and understanding my family has when I am in the midst of a full blown Trigeminal Neuralgia attack/seizure.  They are not only are aware of my pain, they also see some of the habits I have when I'm about to have one.  I'm blessed that they take care of me and all my chores when I can't.

I am also thankful for the support group I've found on Facebook that all have some form of Trigeminal Neuralgia.  I know that my family love me and don't mind hearing me "gripe" about what is going on, but I also know that they want to "fix" it....and there is no fix, at least not yet.  I like that I can go online and read what others are doing for their pain and post and know that they completely "get it".

I am in extreme pain today, so no pictures or fun today.

I'm Thankful for...Day 10

Today I am grateful for my disabilities.

My gratefulness is probably surprising.  It's easy to thank God for all the blessing and good things in our lives. But did you ever consider thanking Him for something that doesn’t seem like a blessing—such as a trying circumstance you want Him to remove or change? A grateful heart is most precious to God when, humanly speaking, we really don't want to give thanks.

The afflictions of this life are God’s powerful invitation into deeper intimacy with Himself. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.  I can count it all joy when I meet trials of various kinds,  for I know that the testing of my faith produces steadfastness. (James 1:2-3)

If we don’t experience difficulty, why would we need God in our day-to-day lives?  Troubles move us toward Christ. 

The apostle Paul was the greatest Christian who ever lived. Paul was given insight into the things of God that no other New Testament writer was given.  He even saw things he was not permitted to describe. So why should Paul, of all people, suffer affliction? 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10. 
  7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Real faith is not receiving from God what we want, but it is accepting from God what He gives. He is good and faithful, and so thank Him and praise Him anyway

 

 

 

Romans 8:28

Trigeminal Neuralgia...and the first International Awareness Day

First of all, this is the first time my actual real name is being used on the blog.  Rea is Rickki....Rickki is Rea.

Stay with me here:

Trigeminal neuralgia [also prosopalgia or Fothergill's disease] is a disorder in which the largest cranial nerve -responsible for the motor function of chewing and facial sensations- is damaged, often but not exclusively from swollen blood vessels scraping the protective sheath of the nerve.

Because the trigeminal nerve runs from the temple to the jaw and across the cheek in three branches the pain associated with TN can strike almost anywhere in the face leading to frequent misdiagnoses. Some patients experience symptoms for years, often undergoing unnecessary dental work before receiving the proper diagnosis.

Symptoms include sharp, intense pain described as "stabbing electric shocks, burning, pressing, crushing, exploding or shooting pain that becomes intractable" and has been called one of the worst pains known to medicine.
Sometimes attacks are triggered by talking, eating, brushing your teeth, wind, loud noises, touch or high pitched sounds; however, sometimes there is no apparent cause.
Episodes can last anywhere from a few seconds to hours and sometimes occur in clusters of up to a hundred attacks in a day. This disease exists and strikes 1 in 15-20,000 people (hard to pinpoint the exact # as it is so often misdiagnosed).

Because of it's randomness and intensity, it's also known as the "Suicide Disease."

Monday, October 7, 2013 is the first internationally recognized Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day.

Here is an article about how awareness is being raised around the world, as well as a PSA.

OK, so if you have read this far.....

I was diagnosised with Trigeminal Neuralgia in January 2012.  I started having symptoms in November 2011, but went through the rigmarole of being diagnosed with ear infections, sinus infections, the need for a root canal....etc. etc.  My family physician came back from maternity leave in January (I LOVE my doctor) and knowing my history with the back surgeries (one failed, one semi-successful) and everything else, she listened carefully, and said "I've read about this...I think you have...Trigeminal Neuralgia. "  Then wrote the name on a piece of paper that I googled and then carried around in a state of shock for a week.  I told no one that first week (But my DH).  I can still taste the metallic taste of fear when I think about it.  But the pain was too intense for me to just wander about in a stupor.  The blinding pain was causing me to fall, for me to try to hide my head while at work.  To wearing sunglasses at night hoping to cut some of the pain.  I considered buying stock in Ora-gel because I was going through a container a week trying to numb the pain.

Then I went to the neurologist.  I had MRI's, MRA's, looking for brain tumors, signs of stroke...everything.  I started intense anti-seizure medication and pain killers and then slept a lot.  I had to leave my job.  My life and that life of my family was flipped upside down. 

I'd like to say that I've learned to live with it...and in a way I have.  But then a "flare up" comes along and I'm brought to my knees again.  And really that is where I should be...on my knees in prayer to my Lord and Savior.  For He is the only Way out of this.  I've had a really bad time for the past month, and have been hoping for a remission.

It reinforces the timing of the first International Awareness Day.  This is a very rare disease.  I've been blessed to find a few different groups of people on Facebook that I am able to talk with who also has this terrible condition.  It helps to not feel so alone. It's fun that these folks are from the UK, Ireland, Australia, and the States.  But it's also sobering because in the last year, we have lost a few members because of this disease. (Sadly, also by their own hand-reinforcing the "suicide disease")

Please take time today to pray for the people who have TN, the doctors trying to find a cure, or at least a good way to treat it.   Pray for the families of TN patients.  They are lost in the shuffle too.  (MY family is my concern--they have no support and yet have to see me suffer and their life is forever changed too)

If you have it, WEAR TEAL today as it is our COLOR. 
And thank you for your love and prayers.....

And PLEASE leave me a comment, so I know you were here!


Write up stolen from my cousin's blog www.thenikiverse.blogspot.com