Once again, I haven't updated in quite awhile. I've just been SO busy lately!
This weekend we had my grandma's 80th surprise birthday party. It turned out SO beautiful and she was completely surprised. She thought she was going to my niece's birthday party...but her reaction to finding out the party was for her was priceless. It was a wonderful day with family and everyone had a good time.
I've been dealing with trigeminal neuralgia this past week which hasn't been fun at all. Once it calms down, I need to go in to have my spinal x-rays done to see how much my scoliosis has changed. I thought I was going to be able to do it here in town, but the office here doesn't do full spine x-rays. Had I checked sooner, I could've had them done while we were already up at the other facility, because we were there earlier this month for Johnny's ENT appointment. But we won't be up there again until next month when Johnny has his surgery. So hopefully the trigeminal neuralgia will ease up and I can make it up there this week. We're also trying to figure out who/where we can find a geneticist knowledgeable in Ehlers Danlos. Back in 2007, I was told "probable MS" by the neurologist at the hospital since I had many of the symptoms but my MRI and lumbar puncture wasn't showing it. I kept being told that it would eventually show up on the MRI. However after some looking into it, it seems that Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos is far more fitting for my symptoms. It basically fits with every medical issue I've had since I was a baby. My daughters, sisters, and nieces all show signs of it as well...which wouldn't be surprising since it's genetic. There are 13 different types of Ehlers Danlos, so the genetic test will help rule out the other 12 types since Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos doesn't yet have a genetic test. But...the problem is actually finding a geneticist. It looks like there's only ONE here locally...and she only accepts pediatric patients. I think there might be on in Kansas City and I know there's one in Nebraska. So...we shall see how that goes.
But...aside from all that, I've been busy with my newest CandiMaker Etsy shop! I opened CandiMakerStickers on Friday 1/13/23...which was also National Sticker Day! I created the shop in late 2022 but purposely waited until that date to officially open and create my first listings. :) I started with 14 die-cut stickers and then added 7 more the next day...and I've been gradually adding more ever since. I also plan to offer different products in the future as well...including bookmarks, sticker sheets, planner stickers, and even disc planner covers and page markers. I'm SO excited about my new shop. I've loved putting together sublimation designs...but I really like making stickers even more.
From November through the beginning of January I was testing out a lot of different sticker papers...basically every single sticker paper that is on Amazon. ;) I also played around with the best settings for my Cricut to cut different kinds of stickers and other products. And before I opened my shop, I worked on my prices, the wording for my listings and FAQ, shipping methods and packaging, plus made all my package inserts and packaging stickers. I like to be as prepared as possible before even opening my shop. However, I still do quite a bit of fine tuning as time goes on. I'm a perfectionist and I have a hard time with always thinking something can be better...so I keep tweaking things. But I'm really pleased with how everything has turned out so far.
And on that note...back to work! :)