Misty's News Corner - personal update

  (Personal family update)

Guess who got to come home?!!!
 
Our brave tiny heart warrior got to leave the hospital for the first time ever exactly 5 weeks after his first open heart surgery. (This is a miracle and the shortest recovery time we could have dreamed of. 
We know so many have been praying for and supporting us and we are sure this played a part in how well he is doing. Even his Drs and nurses have been blown away by his progress and have told us it isn’t normal for a baby with his diagnosis.)

Ian had plateaued on the eating from a bottle skills as he is still so tiny and not yet strong enough to take in all the calories he needs on his own. So, a feeding tube was surgically inserted directly into his little tummy for now. We are SO, SO happy to be home and all together finally, and Ian is doing well - almost like a completely different baby as he is much calmer and more relaxed than he was in the hospital. His care schedule is crazy busy and it’s hard to get even a few minutes of time away (I’m holding the little guy as I type this), but this is a season that won’t last forever. Missing my art time and the community here, but I lurk when I can and still try to sketch or say hi when possible.

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4 July 2018

  (for those following our family’s journey with a CHD baby)

Ok, so this picture might not look very exciting, but this is actually a HUGE milestone! Baby had his first heart surgery at 3 days old and has been an absolute rock star recovering from the surgery. He’s off almost all his lines/machines/meds, but we still have one big task left - he has to be able to feed and grow before he can finally come home for the first time. Since they often have never fed orally since birth, this can be a big challenge for a heart baby and often takes weeks or even months to master. The feeding therapists have been working with our little guy since he was able to breathe on his own, but he has not had the desire or energy reserves to eat on his own... until these last two days! Baby is coming up on the 4 week old mark and just started to drink from a bottle for the first time! He’s also starting to grow a bit (almost weighs 6.5 lbs now) though he’s still the tiniest patient in the cardiac unit. We still probably have a few weeks to go before he is able to get all his feeding from a bottle and can have his feeding tube removed, but it’s nice to see a ray of sun in this tunnel.

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10 June 2018

Our little man decided to make his appearance one day early. We are both doing very good so far given the circumstances. I’m tired but my recovery is going well. Baby “Ian” was not impressed with his first few hours of life , but has been very stable so far. We should find out possibly tomorrow when his first heart surgery is (probably later this week). We are so happy and in LOVE!!

First time holding baby, almost 12 hrs after he was born.
He calmed down instantly when I put my face by his.

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16 May 2018

Down to the last few weeks until our little man comes! We are very excited and praying the best outcome for him as we walk into this “adventure”as a family. Appointments and monitoring are weekly now and I’m feeling more tired and ready to be done with this pregnancy.

I was REALLY hoping to get one more month of the monthly races and schooling show in before I closed them out, but at this point I think I’m going to have to bow out. I’ll be finishing up the last month of the schooling and get that judging up ASAP - sorry you’ve had to wait if you entered last month. I’ll keep the mini show up right now- since that’s just RNG and doesn’t take much to run at the moment (though that may close for a bit starting in June depending on real life stuff).

~ Misty

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23 March 2018

For those who read my status update a month or so ago, you already know, but for those who didn’t - [long story short] our upcoming baby boy has a critical congenital heart defect. For those who might be interested in knowing more I figured I would share our “Caring Bridge” site: www.caringbridge.org/visit/bab…

We are still a few months out from his birth, when the most critical period starts but just wanted to reiterate that though I may disappear for a time this summer/fall/???, it’s unlikely I have died - most likely will be dealing with this ^^ real life stuff. I’m still *hoping* to be able to get in some “therapy art” time in the middle of this. Even if I have to drag my art supplies to the hospital with me! But we will see... However all shows, group responsibilities, etc will likely go on indefinite hiatus by or before June of this year. If there is something you want to help to keep going during my hiatus, let me know so we can talk about if there is a way to work that out.

Anyways, love you all! 
~ Misty 

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10 January 2018

Ok, I feel I owe a quick update about show results, particularly EquiCanine (since it has now been a month and I don’t have the results posted - for which I apologize). Originally I was trying to write up a little post about each entry, just little comments about what I loved and perhaps a point to improve if I saw one. Generally I love being able to share my thoughts on each beautiful entry and honour the work and care that went into it. However, given holidays, sickness and pregnancy ( ) I’m just not feeling like the adding comments is working in a timely manner. So, in the interest of getting results out ASAP, I’ve decided to scrap publicly posting comments for those results. As always, I’m more than happy to discuss scores and my thoughts or suggestions for any artist that would still like that.  

So, I should have results posted within the next 24 hrs. For those waiting on the SVI Schooling results for December - I will finish those results after I have the EquiCanine results up.

Hope you are all having a lovely 2018! (Or at least better than 2017, right? )
~ Misty

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25 October 2017

I’m back! Flew in very early this morning. Had a fun anniversary trip - lots of time at the ocean, got to go on some fun tours (including a movie studio and an aquarium).

Lots of stuff going on here on DA, so I’ll be trying to catch up asap.

Other big news: my hubby and I are expecting baby #2! We are very excited! Little one isn’t due until next summer so we have quite a ways to go, although he/she has been making their tiny presence vehemently known more in these last 2 weeks (aka “morning sickness”) . Hopefully that subsides soon though...

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13 October 2017

Hi all! Hubby and I leave on our 7th anniversary trip this next week, so I’ll be mostly unavailable until closer to the end of October. Looking forward to travel with my best friend, exploring new places, spending some time at the ocean...

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10 July 2017

   I've been a part of HARPG for over 3 yrs now and DARPG almost as long! Wow, time flies when you are having fun! And I want to preface this following announcement with the assurance that I am in no way leaving this community. I am and will continue to be active.

   However, after almost 3 years of leading TheJockeyClub, I'm currently looking to step down from leadership, at least for a time. I feel like I need a break, a time of returning to just having fun with my art for a while with fewer responsibilities. I love, and will continue to love and be a part of the group - this should be in no way taken as a negative on the group or me leaving TJC. The group has grown immensely and I'm incredibly proud of the great community we have. But larger groups require a significant dedication of time, energy, vision - and I've noticed for a time a decrease of mental energy and vision for the group on my part. And I don't want the group to suffer because of that.

   We have an incredible team at TJC - seriously, I could not love these people more!!!! We have already been talking and will be working to figure out what new team members should be added and any structuring needed to ensure a smooth transition. I've been excited to hear creative ideas from the current staff as we look towards refreshing and reorienting the group to better meet the community. (So if you have ideas as well, please share! We LOVE community feedback. Also if you would be interested in helping with some aspect at TJC, send a note to the group with some info about yourself and what you would like to help with. For sure we can always use help with registration and events/program development, and are always looking for experienced judges.) 

   This is such a bittersweet decision for me, and something I've been contemplating for over a year, but excited too to see what this next "season" brings!

Cheers! ~ Misty

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13 April 2017

Just wanted to give a quick personal update since I know I've been falling behind, particularly in judging a few shows. Some of you may remember that last year about this time I mentioned struggling with severe chronic fatigue and mental health issues. (Tests didn't find much more than some vitamin deficiency. By the end of last year I was doing much better except a series of illnesses our family over several months.) Fast forward to last month where I suddenly found myself facing down extreme fatigue again. Thankfully no depression this time which is good, but I'm still not accomplishing goals in the timeframe I'd like. 

All this to say I'm sorry for dropping the ball in events/groups! I'm still working on things and also getting some help from admins in groups where possible. I'm praying this is just a temporary bump in the road and that I'll be back to myself soon, but in the mean time thank you for your patience and graciousness!

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7 January 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Hope this year is starting off great for you.

Im not a "new year's resolution" kind of person, however something that has been on my heart and mind for a while (like 6-10 months?) is becoming more focused in my community involvements. I have a lot of groups/roles/etc. but in reality, too many. I don't want to drop ANY group roles, but the reality us that I can't truly give my best to each and TheJockeyClub needs to be my main focus right now, so... *big breath*
I'd like to start finding people to take over positions in the following groups:
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LOVE this sweeping HARPG group, with it's varied programs and training/preparation focus. There are some more changes and programs I would probably like to finish implementing or updating, but I would like to otherwise step out of my role as head of Foal/Bloodline/Conformation inspections. It's not an incredible intensive role at this time, but is "mental clutter" for me at the moment. If you have a reasonably good sense of correct equine conformation and sense of detail and would be interested in taking over for me, let me know.

 >> Side note: if you have knowledge of natural horsemanship and would be willing to collab with me, I'm trying to put together a "natural Horsemanship" training program for this group and could use some fresh thoughts here.
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Ok. This is my baby. I started this group earlier this year and really don't want to let it go. But IF I can find a suitable admin to help take over, I would consider stepping down here. This is a already set up, functioning domestic cat arpg group. Point systems, championship systems, title systems... It's all there. Cat arpg is not yet a super active community, although we have seen a nice stream of incoming registrations/activity, so I think that the potential is there, especially as shows/events start being held on a regular basis. (I may want to stay in as an admin for now, but once again - this is about clearing out my responsibility so I can focus on few groups.)

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