The Upside (and 6 months of blogging)

Happy New Year! Matt and I are excited to finally be over with 2011 and on with 2012! I have been so busy the past few months that I haven't had time to blog. I feel like anyone who reads our blog knows what's going on in our lives anyway, so what's the point of blogging, right?

Anyway, here's a recap of the end of 2011 for the Oldroyds. We had a lot of ups, but mostly downs this year (it seemed like). But even during the downs we seemed to find the upside, or at least we did our best to. So here are some pictures from the year...enjoy?

So after finally settling in as best as we could and being in LA for a month we went home to Provo to visit. We left Friday after school/work and drove all through the night (Literally! We left at 4:30 pm and arrived at 8:15 am thanks to a huge accident right outside of Primm. Never doing that again). Matt had a check up with his doctors while we were visiting and that's when we found out the cancer came back. We found out the day we were returning to LA and it was one looong drive home. Once we returned we met with doctors at USC and within the week Matt was scheduled for surgery.

Here he is all prepped. Look at the smile on his face. Matt has been such a trooper through all of this; it's amazing what a good attitude he has had. I think I still have a lot to learn from him.

The procedure took about 4 hours. While he was in recovery his doctor updated me informing me it was a tough surgery and really unusual for this type of cancer...not really comforting. He also informed me they found the cancer had spread to one of his lungs. Oh, great!

It was definitely one long day that wouldn't end!

Before Matt's surgery I was a little stressed about driving him to and from the hospital all while he was in pain, groggy from the drugs, and not knowing the LA roads Fortunately, I have the BEST cousin, Keao, and he was a lifesaver! I should have thought of calling him sooner, but we were just so busy and overwhelmed the days leading up that I forgot until just before.

Anyway, after Matt was released from the hospital Keao picked us up and drove us home. On top of that, he had gone to Trader Joes and bought all of these groceries for us so I wouldn't have to go out alone and could stay home and take care of Matt. How thoughtful! Thanks Keao!

Following Matt's surgery and recovery we had many, many more appointments. It was decided Matt would have to do 3 rounds of chemo. Of course, we wondered if he would lose his hair...and he did!
After the first round hair started falling out. At first it was hardly noticeable, but then it started coming out in clumps! If you know Matt, he is all hair! JK, not all, but he normally needs his hair cut every other week and shaves every day! So the upside? Matt LOVED not having to shave everyday, and I LOVED not having to clean it up all the tiny little hairs around the sink. Something we will both miss!

Over the next three months Matt spent a lot of time sleeping! Sleeping in the hospital, at home, in the car and if we were out too long I'd find in him odd places sleeping. So, we didn't really get out too much.

Thankfully, Matt was able to take time off from work during his treatment and his benefits kicked in just in time, which was nice. But, the upside? We got to spend A LOT of time together. Although there were some really tough days, there were days when Matt wasn't so sick and we enjoyed every minute together.

It was nice to know our families were thinking of us through all of this. And it was even nicer when our moms came out to help! My mom came out for a week, then Matt's mom came out for a week. We both LOVED having our moms stay with us and take care of us ;) Their visits were definitely an upside to this experience and something we both looked forward to.

(With mom in Little Tokyo)

While my mom was in town she helped me organize my house. We were still living out of boxes and with everything going on this was the last thing I had time for!

We bought bookshelves and used the bottom half for storage and covered it with our new couch! I think I got about 3 months of work done in a week with her help.

While I was at school mom would unpack our boxes and find places to store things. I loved it!

This a dresser Matt spotted at DI for $35! I was looking for a TV stand and knew I wanted it to be a low/oldish dresser and this was perfect! I sanded, repainted and added new hardware. (Top: After; Bottom: Before)

I recently finished another home project. I love tufted headboards and I found some pretty nice ones online. But, of course, the one I really liked was from Neiman Marcus and $4,500! So I decided to make one and I really like the way it turned out...all for $50! Since we are in a small apartment we put risers under our bed to use the space as storage. With the leftover fabric I made a bedskirt to hide all the junk. My sister also sent me the cutest duvet set and it goes nicely with our new headboard and skirt. Next on my list is to paint our nightstands and I have my eye on 2 really cute mercury glass lamps at HomeGoods. Here are Matt's contributions to our home improvement ;)

Matt had many wonderful nurses at USC to care for him and they LOVED him! He was their youngest patient so they all really liked him.

Since Matt was out of commission I had to drive everywhere. So, the upside? I have become a PRO at driving in LA. I know my way around town now which Matt appreciates since he doesn't have to drive me everywhere, especially when shopping.

In November, I had family come in from Hawaii. We wanted to go with them to Disneyland but we knew it would be too tiring for Matt to walk all around the park so we decided not to go. But, if you know Matt, he convinced me he was well enough to go the morning of. So we went and Matt made it through the entire day thanks to the wheelchair Amy rented for us. And the upside? We got to cut to the front of ALL the lines and we had a blast!

Don't you love the Wheelchair sign in the corner?

We Love DISNEYLAND

Following the week of Disneyland, Matt's sister Shannon and her family invited us to the Miller's beach house in Monterey. It was such a nice treat to get out of town and be with family.

Todd took Matt out for a round of golf and I spent the days with Shan and the girls.

Matt with Kate and Jane

It was a weekend of pampering, which we both needed! Shannon scheduled mani-pedis and massages for us at the Pebble Beach Spa, and we enjoyed eating at all the fancy restaurants with yummy desserts (notice the giant martini glass sundae and pie-sized doughnut).

So, many of you know we moved here for Matt's new job. But I haven't said what I'm up to. I'm a little bashful to share, but my family wants to see what I'm doing, so here it is. Well, a little of it.

But first, an explanation (i told you it would be a lot of reading!). Right now I am in the Fashion Design program at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising). When Matt accepted his offer in LA, I immediately thought of applying to this program. I wanted to attend a school like FIDM, FIT or Parsons after high school, but moving to New York or LA right out of high school was a little too adventurous for me, so I put it on hold. Fast forward 8 years, I suddenly had this opportunity. I thought long and hard about it and decided to take the leap of faith (Who knew I would eventually end up in LA, so I had to take it as a sign). Random, you might think? Not really. I learned to sew in 2nd grade, construct my first pattern in 4th grade and have been making my own patterns since and I love it! I love the whole process. I find it challenging, frustrating, but also rewarding. So, here I am and it’s been a great experience, but one where I feel overwhelmed at times. Especially in an industry not at all family oriented. All of my teachers (but one) are divorced and the idea of starting a family is unheard of! So sometimes I wonder, what am I doing here? Nonetheless, I am happy about my decision. I've already learned so much about the industry. It's neither glamorous, nor easy but I think I'm up to it…even when I take a break to start a family;) And as a side note, I don't claim to be fashionable. So it's nice to find comfort in some of the most brilliant designers who walk out after a show in mismatched, ill-fitting clothes and hair all out of place.

The organza skirt project which was to create a garment inspired by a something of volume so my inspiration was a double helix. I also made a bias cut dress creating a chevron print down the center seam, and a knit top in the style of Isabel Toledo with 1 seam throughout.

Since I've been sewing for so long, my sketching classes have been the most challenging for me thus far.

That's my outlining pencil...that should give you an idea how many I've drawn! Here are a couple of my sketches from last quarter.

Christmas Break finally came and we were more than excited to come home for the holidays. I hadn't seen my sister or brother in 6 months and I was so excited to see them and their kids. Luckily, my sister was in Las Vegas visiting her in-laws so I spent a week with her. After, we continued on to Utah. Of course, our alternator had to go out on the drive.

I thought this was such a cute picture. Matt and Kai. Two baldies.

These kids are growing up way too fast!

As you can see, we all really missed each other! Haha!

Happy New Year! We kept our evening pretty low key (sorry, the only picture we took. as you can see, Matt's facial hair is already coming back in full force!).

A month after Matt completed chemotherapy, he went in for a check up and he is in the clear! Now we will go in for surveillance checkups every 3 months. 2012, please be good to us!