Good News!

Hey everyone!

Thanks for being patient for our results. We found out last Wednesday, but wanted a little time to ourselves to get used to the results one way or the other. I was scheduled to get a blood HCG beta test on Wednesday morning. As you can imagine, I could not sleep a wink Tuesday night. I tossed and turned and dreamed and prayed and worried. The doctors has said NOT to take a home pregnancy test because of the HCG shot I was given prior to the retrieval as part of the drug protocol. This shot can give you a false positive test result on a home test because it can stay in your system up to 14 days. My sister asked me Tuesday night if I was gonna take a home test anyway. I hadn't given it much thought because the drs said not to...but after my sleepless night Tuesday...I changed my mind.

I awoke really early Wednesday morning and decided to take a hpt (home preg. test). It was very quickly positive. My heart stopped beating. My brain couldn't really comprehend this result. I had never seen one of these! I have taken probably close to 50 hpts and never have I gotten even a light positive. I braced myself for the reality of it being a false positive because of the hcg shot lasting up to 14 days in your system...but wait, it had been 16 days. So this excited me, but I tried not to count my chickens before they hatch.

So I headed into the lab for my blood test later that morning at 8 am. I was somewhat relaxed, but still tenative. I had a busy day at work, and was worried that I should have taken off in case the results were less than desirable. I think it was very good that I was working because I was busy and not really thinking about it all. Around noon, I got the phone call. Thank goodness it came early in the day because I wouuld've died waiting until 4:00! The nurse from my fertility clinic confirmed my previous hpt. I was pregnant! (What? That word in relation to me?) She said my beta result was 228 and showed a stable positive result. I was to continue the Progesterone shots (I told her I didn't care, I would take those every morning for the rest of my life if I had to) and head back to the lab Friday morning to confirm the results with a doubled beta blood test result.

Friday I went back and got blood drawn. I got the results around 4:30 that afternoon that yes, indeed, my beta number had more than doubled. I was relieved to say the least. I was MORTIFIED that they would tell me..."Oh I'm so sorry...that first result wasn't for you, we made a mistake."

We haven't really told that many people except for those of you who have been following our story, praying for us, and have been so loving and supportive in our journey. (So don't tell anyone yet, Ok?) When you go through infertility, you have some emotional baggage that you carry around. Jeremy and I both are on one hand, over the moon excited, on the other hand, terrified that this baby won't stick. With help from God and some good family and friends who continue to pray for us, I am sure we will deal accordingly. I've decided to be happy. I will resist my natural inclination to be a Debbie downer. (I am negative in relation to myself, but, I think, very positive for other people...weird.) No matter how long God allows me to enjoy this pregnancy --if I get to follow it all the way through or if He takes my baby to heaven early--I am gonna enjoy what I have. I know that sounds morbid. But its really not to me. I'm going to relish the here and now. That is the lesson I feel like I've been learning lately.

So sometime mid-next week I will go in for an ultrasound. This will determine if we have one or two babies floating around in there. I have a feeling its just one, but you never know! Jeremy is excited about the idea of twins...I am a little scared! God knows what's best for us.

Thank you so much for your prayers! Please continue to pray. I hope that this is encouraging to those girls who are going through infertility and not a painful story to read. I can remember reading many conception stories and sometimes being very encouraged and sometimes being really discouraged and sad. It will happen for you too! I have read from fertility doctors that it is very rare that they have a patient that doesn't get pregnant eventually. I will continue to pray for you.

Update...kinda!

I will not know any results from my round of IVF for another 5 days or so. I have to get blood drawn for a beta pregnancy test at Park Hill. I am very nervous and my glass-half-empty side is struggling to come out. I am choosing to not think about it until its here. My mantra lately has been to not borrow trouble! I will not worry about tomorrow. I will cross that bridge when I come to it. So for those of you...fellow bloggers, friends, and family...in an effort to maintain my sanity, I will post my results here when I feel like I can face the world with them. Thank you for your prayers! And check back sometime around the end of the week or the first of next week. You have followed me on this journey and we'll see where it leads us!

Last Weekend was a blur!

Hi everyone!

I'm not sure why I haven't felt like blogging lately...I guess I felt like I had nothing to report. I still don't! Let me update you on what's been going on.
This is me in the 'recovery room' at the clinic where I got my embryo tranfer, May 3. It was painless, they didn't even give me anything for this procedure, but I have to sit still for about an hour afterwards. Jeremy and I headed home directly after because I had to be on bedrest for 48 hours. They meant serious bedrest too. I was not allowed to leave my house, to shower, to really get up for anything besides the bathroom. I was SO bored and helpless! Our sweet family and friends did bring us food. Jeremy's mom brought us dinner one night and so kindly waited on me! Idon't think I moved from the couch the whole time she was there. I felt like such a blob! Then Sunday morning came around and we couldn't even go to church. Our friends, Krissi and Will, brought us Subway for lunch. (It sounded so good to me! All these hormones that have been pumped into my body have made me crave some crazy stuff!) Then my mom brought us dinner Sunday night. She brought shrimp alfredo, salad, bread, and CAKE with cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Finally Monday morning came! I was free! I could bathe! I could LEAVE THE COUCH, much less the house! I had plans to go into town and just do nothing! Krissi met me for lunch at Atlanta Bread Company with her little girl. We had fun watching her eat. I had the California Avacado sandwich and vegetable soup. It hit the spot.

Then I left lunch to head to Hancocks Fabric and WalMart. I got this great idea to make aprons for my mother-in-law and grandma-in-law for Mother's Day. So I bought all the material and headed to my mom's house to use her sewing machine and her brain! (I'm a new sewer, so I had to ask her many questions!)

Here's my mother-in-law, Barbara's apron. This is a picture before the pocket was sewn on. I got the pockets embroidered.
Kind of a blurry picture (I took it with my Iphone). But it turned out pretty cute. This next one is Grandma Walker's apron. She lives on a farm and raises cattle among other things. No, she does not raise dairy cattle, like my husband liked to point out because of the 'expansive udders' on the cows in the fabric. Sorry, I don't know the difference between cattle quite yet!That's my mom modeling it! She will probably hate me for posting this pic...we were in our comfy clothes while I was sewing that day! She made me promise to not get her face in the pic. Here's the pic of the embroidered pocket for his grandma. I got it done in 'western' font. So cute!Now my next sewing job is to make my mom and myself one.

I am humbled...

Look what arrived at my house Sunday afternoon! Jeremy's cousins, David and Catherine, and his mom, Barbara, and his sister, Kara brought me this basket! It is the ultimate in care packages.

There are books, crossword puzzles, magazines, snacks, cash, gift cards, and the sweetest cards and notes. There are even grandma Walker's homemade snicker doodle cookies! Many of you may have known about this before I did. From what I understand, Catherine worked hard to contact people and many of you responded in love. Can I say how touched we are? Your money will help us pay for gas and medication. Your snacks will keep us chubby :) Your books and mags are right up our alley! Who of you knew I LOVED crossword puzzles? I have been journaling about this journey randomly, but now I even have a new journal to put it all in one place. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have enjoyed daydreaming about baby names, which room we will choose for our nursery, how we will decorate the room--all of these ideas are down in my new journal. Even if this doesn't work for us, we have hope. We have family and friends-who-are-like-family who we love. We know if I give birth to a child or if we adopt that you all will love and cherish that child with no reservations. I am so thankful. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for your love, kindness, prayers, support, and giving spirit.

This Just In! Breaking News!

Hey guys! Are you ready for another update from the bruised, poked, and prodded? This week will not disappoint! It has been a busy week.

First off, my needles are getting easier every day. The injections are becomming second nature to me and the only real side effect I feel is a headache. (Jeremy says I am "a little cranky" though he may just be scared to tell me how he really feels!) I have been to the doctor 5 times this week alone. They require very close monitoring. I have to have blood drawn (seriously, I only have two arms! Both of which are bruised from blood draws and it makes me feel like I have to explain myself to everyone who sees them--"I don't have a drug problem, just a getting pregnant problem"). After the blood draws I get to get an ultrasound! This is actually kind of fun because you get to see your insides! The first u/s I had around 14 follicles. (Follicles= the fluid filled sacs surounding an egg.) That is good for IVF. The 2nd u/s I had more, the third u/s the doctor said she saw 'an Easter basket-full.' I had well over 20 this morning. That, of course, is due to the high amounts of hormones I've been injecting into my belly every day. Most women only produce one to two follicles a month. For IVF they require many more, because not all of them make it thru the process.

Boring information aside, I will be travelling to Little Rock Tuesday night to stay with my friend Natalie, because Jeremy and I will be at the clinic in LR for the egg retrieval Wednesday morning. I will be under conscious sedation while they use a 16 inch long needle to retrieve the eggs. Yes, I said 16 INCH LONG NEEDLE. Yikes. Thank goodness for sedation! We will return to Little Rock sometime over the weekend to have the transfer done.

Please pray that we have a safe trip down and back both times. Please pray that I will not get ovarian hyperstimulation. It is a slight risk that would not be a good situation for me. Please pray for God's will in whether this embryo will stick or not. Please pray for our emotional and physical wellbeing during this exciting but somewhat stressful time.

I will keep you posted as to how many eggs we got and how many were successfully fertilized. As for me, I will keep downing my Gatorade (drs orders) and I'll see ya on the other side of that 16 inch long needle!

Much love to you all!
Adrienne

You Have Been More Than Patient

Today I babysat for my friend's little girl. Our friends, Krissi and Will, have a little girl who is a total doll! I had a lot of fun making her smile, rocking her to sleep, and watching her walk all over the house with me while I did laundry and loaded the dishwasher. This is her asleep. Isn't she the sweetest? She slept like that for at least an hour! She just turned one at the end of March.
This picture leads me to my next subject. Krissi and I set out on our journey to motherhood the same month in 2006. Almost two years later, 8 friends of mine have gotten pregnant and many have already delivered their babies. Jeremy and I are still on that journey. As many of you know, that trip to Little Rock a couple weeks ago was to see a Fertility Specialist. We have been dealing with them since November 2007, but we went down for information on the IVF process. This is our latest and last treatment option.

First of all, let me backtrack. Like I said, Jeremy and I have been trying to get pregnant for 2 years. When we began trying we both really wanted to keep it a secret. We were imagining the fun and excitement of announcing it to our friends and family. We were already thinking up names, planning a nursery, thinking about paint colors, everything you do when you have finally decided to start trying for a baby. We had finally gotten to the point where we felt settled. We had a new house, I was out of beauty school and established in a salon, and we felt like we could afford it. The Lord had other plans for us. I was crushed the first month it didn't work out. I remember sitting in the parking lot at Tractor Supply on the 4th of July to watch the fireworks over Baum Stadium barely able to carry on an intelligent conversation because I had gotten confirmation that morning that I was not pregnant.

That month turned into two. Two turned into six. Six turned into ten. By that point, I was convinced that I might have to see a doctor about this. Of course they kind of put me off, because after all, I was young and had no obvious problems, it was just gonna take time. I had a few tests run, all came back normal. Finally I had had enough of this waiting game. I told the nurse that I wanted to do something about it. They put me on a fertility drug. I tried this drug for two months and went in for a blood test on the second month and they called me back and told me that I was not ovulating. SERIOUSLY?? I've gone over a year and we're just now finding out I am not regularly ovulating? So I switched doctors. We tried 3 more rounds of the drugs and finally the doctor suggested I try an IUI. Interuterine Insemination. They simply give you drugs to grow and mature your eggs, then a trigger shot to make it ovulate, then inject the sperm into your uterus with a catheder on exactly the right day. We tried that twice. With two failed IUIs under out belt, I got very discouraged. I finally gathered my nerve and called a fertility clinic in Little Rock. I had been referred to those doctors by a few people and thought what the heck?

This new doctor suggested that we try injectible medication with our IUI. So I was taught how to stick a needle in my stomach for about 6 days of the month, then I would travel to Little Rock for an insemination. After two more failed IUIs with injectibles attempts, I was done. The doctors have never been able to find anything wrong with either one of us. Jeremy and I had been praying for guidance on what next. We prayed for adoption, for IVF, for doing nothing. We didn't know what God wanted us to do. Slowly it seemed like our answer came when we found out we had insurance coverage for one round of IVF.

IVF is a very detailed and intensive process. There are many drugs involved.

Yes that's a huge bag of NEEDLES! I have already started some of the drug protocol. The needle they start you out with is tiny, then the next set is a little bigger, then the last ones that you take for at least two weeks straight are HUGE. Right now they have me in a medically induced state of menopause...so far, other than being a little cranky, menopause is ok. Soon I will start large doses of egg stimulating drugs that will, no doubt, make me feel crazy. Not to mention a steriod, an antibiotic, progesterone shots in the bum, and several estrogen patches. Fun!

I will endure many appointments at my doctor's office up here to monitor my progress. I will feel like a pin cushion with all those lab draws in addition to all of the needles I'll be sticking in my belly and rear. Finally by the end of April early May, we will head to Little Rock to actually have the egg retrieval, fertilization, and transfer.

I am so excited and so ready to get the show on the road! I am a girl of action! I like to have a plan! Please continue your prayers for us. I know from day to day my emotions change about the whole process. Soometimes I am excited, others I am saddened that we had to go to this extreme. While at times, it seems cold and clinical, when I think of the outcome, my heart is warmed. We understand that we have around a 55% chance of success. If this doesn't work, we will be back to the drawing board. We will pray for the money to adopt. We know our future is in God's hands and are calmed about a negative outcome with that thought alone. He knows us, loves us, and has our best intentions at heart. He will sustain us until we are blessed with a child.

I really struggled with putting all this info up here for the whole world to see. I tend to be private about these matters, but dealing with it all has made me be open about it. Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and support. I know I have a huge group of family and friends who will be truly and genuinely happy for us when the time does come. Thank you for being so good to us!

I know!

I've been a bad blogger!

Please accept my apology! It has been a crazy two weeks. My birthday came and went in a flash. I had a great 28th birthday. My husband surprised me with an Iphone two days before my actual birthday. I was very surprised. I have wanted one since Christmas but knew they were too expensive. I told Jeremy that I still wanted one back in March, knowing that there was no way it would happen. Well, he got to discussing it with his mom and together they made it happen for me!
I have to say that I love it with all of my heart. I am a gadget girl! I love how much I can do with it. The pictures are amazing. The internet access is great. The touch screen is pretty cool. The map and weather feature are right up my alley! It makes me want to go out and buy a Mac computer. Especially after having soooo much trouble with my computer lately.

I was lucky enough to get several meals for my birthday. J and I went to Herman's. We both had steaks that were really good. Jeremy's mom cooked a big meal for J and I, his dad, his sister, Kara and his brother Andrew and his girlfriend, Kara. We had fun discussing our upcoming trip to Florida in August. Jeremy was telling us our agenda for the trip. He said it included waking up at 5:30 a.m. and doing aerobics on the beach, then eating a breakfast of cereal and pop tarts, then returning to the beach for Sandcastles 101. That's as much planning as he has managed so far. We went out to lunch at work for my birthday at Catfish Hole (my mom accidentally called it Fatfish Hole the other day and I found that quite fitting). I am awaiting my family's birthday celebration. I will get to pick out the meal of my choice at my mom's house. Hopefully my sis and my nieces will be able to come up soon to celebrate it with me. My friends at church bought my a couple nice presents and a cookie cake for me. It didn't last long. I love those things!

So all in all I had a great birthday week! It really seemed to last all week long! We had a revival going on at our church that week that really kept us busy. So between a trip to Little Rock in one day, my birthday, and the revival that first week of April...we have since tried to slow down...but it hasn't really worked out that way!

Remember how I said I was gonna try to cook at home more in the coming weeks? Riiiigghhtt...about that. Let's just say I failed and I will try to do better.

I've found a new hobby! (maybe)

So, my mom has made me many very cute dresses, a pair of bermuda shorts, and two jackets. I have had much fun wearing my hand tailored clothes. I mean, that's the life, right? Getting your clothing made for you!


Last time we got the bug to go to Hancock Fabrics I decided I was gonna give it a try myself. We set out on making this really cute skirt.



That is my skirt in the making. Those are my box pleats! We had a time pinning those bad boys!

If you look closely you can see the red thread sewed thru the top...that's for the gathers! So I pleated AND gathered on my first attempt! Ok so I admit it, my mom led me thru it all step-by-step. I probably couldn't have even read the pattern correctly it she hadn't been there to translate it for me.

Don't forget the interfacing! (I think that's what it's called!) Fancy, huh?

The final product will be modeled at Farmington Baptist Church tomorrow morning. I know you all will attend to savor my handiwork. Just don't look too close at the zipper...my stitching got a little crooked there. :)

NEXT WEEK

Please say a little prayer for Jeremy and I Tuesday as we make a super quick trip to Little Rock to go for an informational class at a doctor's office. No health problems at all to worry about. I will let you know the details when we get back. We've got some hopeful things coming up this spring! Ihope to get to grab lunch while we're in Little Rock with my best friend, Natalie, who will have just come back from Cabo San Lucas! (I've missed her so for the last, uh, 4 days, every time I wanted to pick up the phone to gab!) Then we will come home to a busy work week and a busy revival week at our church. Oh not to mention...someone is turning 28. So I'm looking forward to some scrumptious dinner prepared in my honor...anyone?

Happy Late Easter!

Ok, so it's not the best picture of either of us. The sun was in our eyes, but we just wanted a pic of our Easter finery...but really all both of us were thinking was...when can I get into my sweats? We had a good Easter service at church. We always have a very interesting and good discussion in our young adult sunday school class. Then my mom and I were in the choir performance that morning. We had been practicing 3 Easter songs and they went very well. I think they sounded better than they ever had while practicing. I'm sure that has more to do with the Holy Spirit than it had to do with us. The church was full and that's how we like it!

I need a weekend after my weekend!

The weekend goes by WAY too fast!

First of all, I am feeling much better than I was as of my last blog post. It took me several days to even begin to feel like I was part of the human race again. But I am back to normal, minus some goo floating around in my head.

So Friday started off well. I had a busy day at work scheduled and slowly but surely I got cancellations. Two color appointments cancelled, then later in the afternoon, I got another color cancellation! Its crazy how that will happen to you in one day every now and then. Anyway, my last cancellation was a late one so I was pleasantly surprised to get to leave work early (at 5).

I called up my hubby and told him to meet me in town and we would go to dinner. I then was hoping that he would agree to go look at new lighting for the salon. He was agreeable enough so we went to Marketplace Express then onto Lowe's for lighting. I picked out a chandlier, and he picked out sconces for the walls. I trust his instincts with lighting because he's a residential electrician so he sees what looks good in houses and what doesn't. My hubby was ever-so-kindly planning on using his Saturday off to come up to the salon early and put up the new lights. We went by the salon to drop them off and got distracted looking around...end ended up putting them all up and rearranging the whole waiting area in the salon.
Thank goodness for that Chick-Fil-A milkshake we shared. (You must eat one if you haven't had them...or better yet, DON'T eat one, you will be addicted.)

I am very pleased with the new look of the salon and I will post pics soon so you can see how wonderful it looks!

Saturday

It started off like it usually does. Me hitting snooze on the alarm for about 30 minutes to an hour. I made it into work and was done by 2. My mom met me up at the salon for some much needed Hancock Fabric shopping! My mom is an excellent seamstress and makes me beautiful clothes! I am so lucky! Here's what we bought!
That's the first pattern above and this is the fabric we picked out for it. It will be like the bottom right picture on the pattern cover with the black sash. So cute! I'm looking forward to wearing it. Here's the next one:

It will be made in two fabrics: this green cotton jersey material and a funky black and white pattern. It is a cute, casual, comfy pattern that I look forward to wearing this summer!After all this fun shopping, my mom and I met Jeremy for an early dinner at Red Lobster. Then we headed out to Greenland to hang out with Jeremy's cousin David and his wife, Catherine. We got to hang out with their two boys before they went to bed. They have been working on their house for quite awhile and I hadn't seen it yet. It looked so good!

Sunday
We went to church, then lunch at Firehouse Subs (sooooo good), then home to watch the Razorback game. I actually was doing some baking at the time so I didn't watch much of the game, but I listened as Jeremy and his friend Matt yelled at the TV occassionally. I was then off to choir practice and church. Our church had a team called White Mouse Puppet Ministries visiting that night. It was the cutest puppet show ever. There were tons of kids there to watch and they were oohhing and ahhing and talking to the puppets. Very cute. Then J and I were on to Powerhouse for his mom's birthday. We had a great meal followed up with birthday cake and this wonderful punch. Think strawberry, milk, club soda, and ice cream.

So since the weekend was so busy, I took my Monday off to run, do laundry, and veg a little. I got a nap, did a workout with Jeremy, had a meal with my friend Krissi at Gaby's in Prairie Grove, went by my Mom's and now its time to do the week all over again! I plan to be much better about eating at home this week! I'll let ya know how well it works soon!

Its Friday!

Yea, it's Friday! But I'm sick! Booo! and I have to work tomorrow too! Booo! I have slowly been coming down with what I assume is a cold. Yesterday I felt pretty bad and had to work. I lathered up on Germex and Kleenex. I was just afraid my nose was gonna drip on someone while I did their hair. I know, gross, but I was lucky. I kept my snot to myself. I came home last night around 8 and crashed on the couch. I went to bed early and woke up at 1:30 a.m. wide awake. I assumed I would be able to get up and take a Claritin D and go for a run...but the more I sit here...I don't think that run is gonna happen. I haven't felt this bad in a long time.

With feeling sick, I feel blessed. I am so blessed to have a body that works for me most of the time! I am thankful that I don't have chronic pain or a terminal illness. I have my issues where I have been mad that my body didn't respond like I wanted it to, but I'd rather have my struggles any day over feeling like this all the time! I thank God that He gave me a happy, healthy, working body. Now I want it to heal, so I can get out of my house! ha! And what's up with the weather? 6 inches of snow...no, 2. Oh wait maybe none at all. I am scheduled to go to lunch for a co-worker's birthday and I really want to go, but I just may not make it! :( Ok, I'm rambling, I must go!

Seriously??

Seriously. Grey's Anatomy is not due to return until APRIL 24, 2008. Bummer! I am a big time fan...I even read the writer's blog. I know, nerd.

Happy Birthday Shogun Style

Awww! Look at my pretty girls! That's my sister Laura, niece Keely, niece Katy, and my Mom. We went to Shogun's for my bro Darren's birthday. It was mucho fun, but I didn't think about not really being able to talk to each other very well. Jeremy and I were seated all the way across the table from my brother and his girlfriend, Kelly...so we didn't get to chat much.
There they are! The guest of honor, Darren, and his g/f Kelly. We teased Darren about making them come out and sing Happy Birthday to him- they dim the lights, play this loud music, and turn on a blue strobe light- and he said no. As a matter of fact, Jeremy said if they did it one more time to other patrons of the restaurant, he just might bolt for the door. My sister's goofy dancing to the music is probably what kept him from leaving. Happy Belated Birthday D! (I still don't like it when you get older...it means I'm working on getting older too).

Shoes! Oh My Gah, Shoes!

So pretty and green. Yes, these are my best purchase this week. They are part of my Easter getup. I would say maybe I'll wear them on St. Patrick's Day, but work in those babies? Nope, ain't gonna happen. I'd be crawling by the end of the day.

Arlo Guthrie Review

It looks as though I have become a Monday blogger. Like I said, its my day off to get stuff done! How was my weekend you ask? Too fast, but I will still give you the run down. I worked Saturday as usual and so did Jeremy. Then I went for a nice, long run. Then hurried home to get ready for a concert at the Walton Arts Center. Jeremy had seen an advertisement for the Arlo Guthrie concert and really wanted to go. So I got him tickets for Valentine's Day. So off we went Saturday night amid all of the hippies of NWA. Did I even have any idea who this guy was? No. No clue whatsoever. But I was determined to give it a try. Jeremy is interested in music, period. He really has no boundaries for what he likes and doesn't like. So we listened to his folk songs about love, politics, and war.
I must say while I didn't go out and buy any of his CDs I could definitely have an appreciation for Arlo Guthrie's talents on the guitar, harmonica, and piano.
Speaking of the Walton Arts Center, their new 2008-09 season is about to go on sale. Just this year, I persuaded my mom, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law to get season broadway series tickets with me. I have truly enjoyed these tickets and plan on doing it again for the new season! I am so stinkin' excited! Spamalot, Fiddler on the Roof, The Wizard of Oz and maybe Avenue Q are just a few of the shows scheduled to be here! I just may have to review shows for you. We will be seeing Stomp in May. I have seen it before but I believe it was 1997, so I am looking forward to that one.

He looks quiet doesn't he?

There's my honey about to start working out. I tried to sneak up on him, but he heard me coming outside. I heard him from the other end of the house singing at the top of his lungs in the garage. He had his ipod turned up pretty loud, and if you even know him a little bit, you would know he will be singing along...loudly.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Those who know me, know I have a completely goofy side. Well, now I know who I got that from.

What a lovely picture of my sis and her boyfriend, Sam. That was over Christmas vacation at my house. I have not seen this pic until tonight and I have to say it cracked me up on more than one occasion. That is my mom. My sweet, soft-spoken, domestic, but completely CRAZY mother. She looks like an evil puppet master trying to make Laura and Sam do her evil bidding. What a blessing a sense of humor and goofiness is. I thank God for my crazy family!

I'm BAAAACCKKK!

Hey everyone!

Now I know that I have been a very very bad blogger. I finally decided to pick back up on my blogging. Now I don't take many pics lately, but I am going to get better.

A lot has gone on in our lives since I last posted! I now own the salon where I worked. Its a lot of fun, but a lot of work too. We have been settled into our house for about 2.5 years now. I think we're staying for awhile, which is great, because we both love it. I no longer work two jobs! Hallelujah! I get my mondays to myself. That gives me time to run, cook, do laundry and watch daytime TV. Very ambitious, I know.

For quite awhile, Jeremy and I were looking for a home church. We just kinda felt like we were wondering around trying to find the place we belong. Amazing how when you really do seek, God answers. He led us right back to the place we were both already members. Go figure, huh? So for the last several months we have really enjoyed our church. We've somewhat gotten our young adult group built up and have a lot of fun planning get togethers. I have also been given the opportunity to be a part of a praise and worship team at church. I just sing. I don't play anything well so I just have fun singing. I don't really know if anyone has fun listening to me sing, but I have a ball doing it.

Today was a beautiful sunny day. It only has gotten up to 45 degrees, but the sun is just reminding me of what's to come. Spring! I am soooo ready for it. I went for a good 6 mile run with minimal hating of my life (I often start my runs hating it and end up really liking it). Jeremy and I have some new things coming our way this spring and there's no better time of year for new beginnings! I mean I began in the spring. My birthday is in April. Then our 6 yr anniversary is in May and we take a Woody family vacation to Destin, FL in August! Can I tell you how excited I am for that one!?!

Ok, So as not to bore you wayyyy too much, I thought I would leave a recipe I recently tried! For Valentine's Day I decided we should just stay home and I would cook something. So I made Coconut Fried Shrimp. It was pretty stinkin' easy and equally tasty. So here's the recipe:

1 lb uncooked jumbo shrimp (about 12) peeled and deveined
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
Oil for frying
1 Jar (12 oz) pineapple preserves
1 Tablespoon frozen nonalcoholic pina colada mix, thawed

Starting with the tail, make a slit down the inner curve of each shrimp; press down lightly to flatten. In three separate bowls, place the flour, egg whites, and coconut. Coat the shrimp with flour; dip into egg whites, then coat with coconut. Heat oil to med-hi on stovetop. Fry shrimp, a few at a time, for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

For dipping sauce:
In a small bowl combine the preserves and pina colada mix.

Sooo good! The shrimp shelling took the longest, but it was worth it. So give it a try and let me know if you like it! Oh yeah, I got the recipe from Simple and Delicious magazine.

I swear it won't be a year before I blog again!

Whew!

Well Christmas and the New Year have come and gone and I'm just now getting life back to a normal pace. What a whirlwind it all was. Jeremy and I traveled down to B-town to see my ma and fam. It was a squeeze at my mom's house. My sister and her two girls live with my mom and my brother, husband and I were all in town at the same time. We had some interesting sleeping arrangements, but we managed. You can ask Darren if he was still awake when Santa delivered all one million presents that were under our tree (he was sleeping on the couch). After two crazy days of last minute shopping and about 5 people's heads of hair, Christmas finally arrived. We woke up early on our satin sheets (which, by the way, is very hard to sleep on. We were hanging on for dear life all night long) and opened gifts, ate breakfast, and started the three hour drive back to Fayetteville. We went to my husbands grandmother's house, his mom's house and then to his other grandmother's house.


As if that's not enough, we had to unpack and repack, because we were leaving for Colorado at 5 a.m. the next morning. Colorado was great. We skiied for two days and I took care of Jeremy for a day and a half. He got altitude sickness and was completely out of commission by it. I had a great time skiing for my first time and only fell hard once. I face-planted right in the ice and kept flipping. It really kinda hurt. I had to sit there for a couple of minutes to let my brain settle back into the right place. I really was amazed that all that ski atire really does keep you warm, I dunno why I was so surprised...I guess I just thought it was all a gimmick. Believe me it was cold. I stupidly did not dress very warmly for a 7 p.m. sleigh ride (insulated underwear, jeans, sweater, ski jacket, and gloves) and was FFFRRRREEEEEEZZZIIINNGGG. Its not like it really mattered because I had taken some phenigrin (fennegrin? sp??) to kinda ward off the altitude sickness naseau feeling and pretty much slept thru the sleigh ride.















We headed back from Colorado on New Year's Eve. We got in to our house at 10:30 p.m. and I promptly went to bed. Several people called me and text messaged me at midnight, and I didn't have the heart to tell them their loser friend was already asleep.
So with the new year Jeremy and I are on a health/fitness kick. We are riding bikes and lifting weights. He is definitely doing more than me, since I am the one working he 2nd job to support us. (Did that sound bitter?? :) nooooo) I took a before pic of him the other day so he can see his results. I didn't take one of myself since that would be kinda weird and I really don't want my fat on film anywhere.

Happy Birthday!

Oh My! He finally made a decision! Nothing big, mind you, just where he'd like to eat for his birthday dinner. Friday night my husband and I went to...drumroll please....Catfish Hole for his birthday. Not exactly what I had in mind. I will tell you honestly that I do like catfish, I enjoy fried food, (well, fried anything acutally) and I was pretty excited to get into and out of a restaurant in less than an hour. I mean who has time to sit and linger? Not us! We can do that at home. I mean why else would we have said home? 'Sit and linger' is a perfect reason if you ask me! Lately its been sit and watch _______ on TV. Fill that blank with any sport-football, basketball, golf, football, and basketball. (None of the other sports are really in season to mention...I guess golf isn't either...but anyway). I don't know what I'm complaining about, at least my husband doesn't watch that hunting and fishing stuff. A friend of mine tells us stories of falling asleep to turkey calls. I would go INSANE!

I, of course, choose a much better genre of television. If it has anything to do with the Food Network, HGTV, E, Discovery or TLC, I'm there. Ohhhh Emeril Live or Rachel Ray....no, no, no...Dr. 90210 and some oogey surgery or human gene anomalies. That gets me interested. I only partake of one network show regularly, Grey's Anatomy. Which was a rerun last night, grrrr... My sis in law has turned me onto America's Next Top Model, which may be dangerous. Jeremy may have to become a closet watcher of it just like he was of Laguna Beach or Real World. Anyway, I digress.

I guess my point is that I've become weirdly old...or something. I LIKE staying home. I set my schedule up around...gasp...TV. (Thank heavens for TiVo) I like quick, country-style restaurants (maybe I outghta put some quilts up on the wall for decoration...i gotta figure out how to quilt first). I like to go home on Friday nights. I'm becoming pickier about restaurants...what age does that happen? I really never cared before and lately I find myself saying things like, "if I am going to spend money on food I want it to taste great"...and "if I want a hamburger I would've stayed home and cooked one there." Which leads me to my next story.

For aforementioned husband's birthday, his family took all of us out to dinner at a lovely little chain barbecue restaurant, Smoky Bones. The two previous times my hubby and I had been there, we enjoyed it, but this time...not so much. Our waiter was...how shall I put it...lacking in the brain cell department, at a loss for IQ points. He took about 10 minutes to write down our drink orders...and that was our first clue. Forever later we got our drinks and put in an order for an appetizer and placed our dinner order. Apparently they were out of several items on the menu. We had to ask for refills a few times and for our appetizer before we got them. Also, at one random point, the waiter asked us if we mentioned anything about onion rings. We all looked at each other and figured out no one had even mentioned onion rings (although we had mentioned something about a palm tree and my friend's boss stabbing her-totally untrue, mind you). So the waiter and the manager, or shall I call him his mob boss, (shirt unbuttoned too far, big gold chain) came over to clear up our order. We finally figured out that they didn't have some of the things that were part of our order and had to completely change two or three orders. I guess we were a little disgruntled because brain-lacking waiter continued to get a little hostile with us, at which time mob boss apologized. Brain-lacker subsequently delivered our appetizer with a holiday shove onto the table and a cheery "Merry Christmas." Mob Boss then approached the table and said he would "take care" of our bill. I didn't really know what that would mean coming from him, but apparently it means its on the house. For some reason they didn't offer us any dessert or a happy birthday song for my hubby. Go figure. Maybe it was the three cent tip we left, cuz as my father in law put it, "I didn't want him to think I forgot his tip."