Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Pumpkins and Purple what more could a girl want?? - Day 6

 

As I am sure you can tell by now..the fall is my favorite time of the year! I love to switch up my decorating and I love love fall colors :) This year I am really into deep purples, dark oranges, yellows and browns. I had to go to Pottery Barn today to return something I had ordered on-line and I was ecstatic to see their fall decor..oh my!

Right now our living room colors are yellow, white and robins egg blue. I am confident I can take a lot of the things we already have and still use them as  I switch into my fall decor mode. Especially since yesterday when I mentioned to the hubs that I wanted to redecorate he gave me a really strange look (you have to remember that we just moved here and decorated like a month and a half ago). If I was really budget conscious I would use the same fall stuff every year, but all the new stuff they come out with is so cute and well I get board and like to change it up. So now I am focusing on taking looks from Pottery Barn and other places and trying to recreate them as cheaply as possible!

But a girl can dream though…right??

So here are some things that I am loving from my beloved Pottery Barn (and I might even have to splurge and buy a few of them)..

pb candles How cool are these candle holders..love it!

pb corn These just scream fall :)

pb fall

pb pumpkins usually I love pumpkins but this year I am obsessed with them!

twig pumpkins

pumpkins

JoAnn’s, Michaels, Home goods, etc…her I come! Oh and yes I do realized that it isn’t even technically September yet but in my book fall decorations are now allowed to be busted out!

see you all tomorrow :)

Monday, August 30, 2010

Ready for Fall – Day 5

One of the big things I am still amazed with after living in Utah for a few months is the Utah storms. We live closer to the mountains so the storms seem to pass through rather quickly. I love how it looks like fog is rolling in (mainly because I grew up around dense fog) and it is actually rain rolling in that is only there for about an hour (or two minutes) and then moves on. It has been rather hot lately which makes running more difficult. I never thought I would ever yearn for cold weather but the more into running I get the more I appreciate cooler weather. Really, I used to love love hot summers of 115 degrees but now I can’t wait for them to be over!

So imagine my delight when I woke up today to 50 degree weather :) I usually really dislike rain but today it was a welcome change. It stayed for most of the morning but cleared up just in time for our run. Now it is the best weather ever! Oh and the run was totally easy due to the temp :) It totally smells and feels like fall. The high mountains are caped with snow and it is crisp and clear outside. The views are amazing! Fall is one of my favorite seasons and I can’t wait for leaves and pumpkins and hot tea and of course candy corn!!

I am totally not going to think about how this is only a teaser and it is suppose to go back to the hot weather later this week :( I am going to live in denial the rest of the night and pretend like this is my normal for right now.

By the way, I am totally stoked for the snow to come to the mountains because it is beautiful.

Oh but it did make me nervous when on the news they said the snow was in the mountains just above Logan UT which is where we are running on marathon in three weeks! I love the snow but not for a marathon…oh well i’m sure it will work out fine :)

What is your favorite parts of fall?

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Fro-Yo loyalty-Day 4

All of my friends and family know that I have a huge huge sweet tooth! It is seriously bad and I am trying to tame the beast but one of my weak spots is frozen yogurt. I totally love the self-serve places and have to stop and try every one I see (I’m not joking, ask the hubs). For the first two years in NJ there wasn’t a self-serve fro yo place anywhere near us. To make matters worse, my favorite fro yo place back in cali closed down so I had no where to turn. To my extreme delight last year a new and slightly expensive (but who can really put a price on fro yo) self-serve frozen yogurt place opened up. I was so excited it totally didn’t matter that we had to drive 40 minutes there to indulge in this treasure, I made the Hubs take me there a lot! Luckily I had an amazing friend in NJ who also shared my love of frozen yogurt and would make the trek with me as well.

When we moved to Utah I was ecstatic to see that there was a new self-serve fro yo place about 5 minutes from our house (and yes it did cross my mind at how dangerous this could be). The first week we lived here we literally went every night. At first I was embarrassed that the same girl worked every night and started to recognize us. The embarrassment passed though, and I soon embraced my obsession with frozen yogurt. We have made friends with the manager and even request certain flavors such as peanut butter ..yumm! I am glad that the hubs also loves frozen yogurt (though maybe not as much as me) so that I don’t always have to get it alone, though I would if it came down to it.

When I was in SLO (San Luis Obispo) last week I was so excited to return to my first and favorite self-serve fro yo place. It literally got me through the first 1/2 of my freshman year of college. However, while I was shopping around I also happened to come across a new self serve place and of course had to try it as well…so yes I ate two full cups (one from each place) in the matter of a few hours. Yikes!

Since I practically live at target I have been keeping my eye on a frozen yogurt place that they have been building for the past few months. I get so excited when I see new places but I have to remind myself that not all frozen yogurt places are self serve and well basically I am a snob when it comes to this stuff and won’t go unless it is self serve. As I watched them build the place I was excited to see that it looked like it would fit my standards.

On Thursday when I went to target I saw balloons at the frozen yogurt place. And you know what balloons means…they are open!! I almost forgot why I was even in that area (to go to target of course) and ran over to check out the new goods. I was greeted with many new and yummy flavors as well as supper yummy toppings! I had to try it out but I did my best to restrain myself and only get a little since I knew I would have to sample it more with the hubs later that evening since they had his favorite flavor. It was amazing and when I went home I googled them and found out that they offer many many yummy flavors that I can’t wait to try! Oh and the toppings are the best in the area.

So here is where the problem lies. I feel like I am cheating on the first fro yo place but I totally love the new one! Luckily, the first one is closer so we wont totally abandon it but I do feel a little guilty! Also, in an effort to curb my sugar intake the hubs and I have made a rule where we can only get it once during the week and then on the weekend (but only once a day on the weekend). Yikes, this is going to be tough! As I found out yesterday when we do our long runs I crave sugar more than ever so I am glad those runs fall on the weekend :) So anyways, I guess I am not a very loyal frozen yogurt partaker but I have to go where my heart and taste buds take me :)

Do you have a favorite frozen yogurt place?

Have a great Sunday!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

I think I have that – day 3

I hadn’t been to the movies in like forever, well like 4 months, so the Hubs and I decided last weekend to check out The Switch. So freaking cute!! I had figured it would be a really good movie because it had some great people in in (Jenifer Aniston and Jason Bateman). But to my sort-of-surprise they paled into comparison to the little guy. I am serious when I say he totally stole the show (or movie in this case)! I really just wanted to jump into the movie and steal him away as my own..don’t worry though i’m not partaking or condoning kidnapping but he was so cute!

One of my many favorite parts was when Bateman was explaining to him what hypochondria was and he states with big wide eyes “I think I have that”. I turned right to the hubs and said..that is so going to be our child :) Yikes are kids really have no chance because I have major anxiety (maybe even a slight case of hypochondria on occasion) when it comes to hearing about ailments and then freaking out! The funny part is that I never actually follow through with my fears, I usually just sit in silence worrying to myself that my toe is going to explode due to a major blister and basically giving myself a panic attach unbeknownst to anyone else.

Yes, I know sad and a little pathetic but sometimes I can’t help it. I know it runs in the family due to the fact that the women on my side suffer from anxiety. But the bad part is that sometimes there actually is something going on and I end up in the hospital due to very low potassium levels. Does anyone else do this?? Do you ever get a pain or a symptom that could be something scary and then freak yourself out worrying till you go to bed and are able to sleep it off?? I am working on it and trying to trust God but sometimes I get a little crazy :)

Anyways, so yeah, when I saw this movie I just couldn’t help having a flash into the future (hopefully our kids will take after their dad though). I knew watching this movie would make the baby fever super intense and I was right! Such a good movie and you totally have to go see it but just remember I already have dibbs on the kid ;)

Happy Saturday!

Oh and PS we made it through the 18 miles with minimal blisters and it went pretty well..thank you God!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Day 2 of bloggy randomness..

Okay so I should have guessed this would happen..while vacuuming yesterday I had all these crazy good ideas for different posts and I thought to myself “hey self, you should really write these down so you don’t forget” however I did not and then when day two came (today) I literally forgot..like can’t remember any of the ideas from yesterday. Man I knew my dyson was an amazing sucker-up of dog hair..but ideas, I had no warning :)

Anyways, so needless to say I am glad I gave you all fair warning about the content of this next month! Hopefully my memory will return but for now I am going to share with you all what is taking over my mind at the moment. Well two things actually..I just returned from a job interview with a temp agency out here (I had worked with their office in NJ) and I am hoping that something good will come out of this because holy smokes I need a new wardrobe (more on that in a different post)! The girl was supper nice and we totally talked about skiing out here and all the fun races to run.

Which brings me to my second mind takeover…tomorrow’s upcoming run and the blister that has taken over my pinky toe..ahh! The hubs and I are T-minus four weeks (I think) from the Top of Utah marathon and so we are revving up our long runs in preparation. Last week we did 16 miles which went really well but when I got home and took off my new kicks (yay for new shoes) my pinky toe which already had a black toenail felt very tender and bouncy to the touch. It wasn’t until a few days and runs later that I finally realized I had a blister that had taken over the top of my toe. During our run on Wednesday it was really starting to bother me but I can’t afford any down time right now.

After the run I did a close examination of said toe and found that the blister had now moved around the toenail and so basically I felt like my toenail was floating and not attached to my toe (weird I know)! That night I woke up several times to a throbbing sensation and I think the pressure from the blister was just getting to be too much. We had a run planned for yesterday so I didn’t want to go to the doctor or anything in case he said I couldn’t run yesterday or saturday. I mean it’s just a toe..how bad can it get?? However my sleep is a different story and I knew I would be dying on our long run on sat if I didn’t do something about this asap! So what did I do? I googled of course!

Dr. Google said that I could pop and drain the blister on my own (don’t know why I didn’t think of that) and then wrap it during the run. So in an effort to keep the wound clean I busted out my extra needles and syringes from the fertility stuff and stabbed that sucker several times. What happened next was not a pretty sign but a welcome one since as it drained the pain lessened :)

We went on our run yesterday and it did okay..it actually hurts worse when I am walking than running! I had to wear heels to the interview today which wasn’t that pleasant of a feeling but luckily my running shoes are more comfy. Tomorrow we have to tackle 18 miles and I am hoping it won’t cause an issue..oh and that it won’t rain!

Well that’s all for now…be back tomorrow with hopefully all 10 toes intact :)

Happy Friday!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

30 days of blogging randomness

I will be the first one to admit that I have been a horrible horrible blogger these past few months! I don’t know if I am the only one who deals with this but it has been really hard to get back into the blogging grove after being out of it for so long. I want to write and I want to read what is going on with all of you lovely ladies, but when I actually sit down at night to do so I either get distracted or am tired or start looking for jobs (did I mention how hard it is to find employment here without connections and in this day and age..not cool!). Anyways, I have seen a few bloggers do this lately and I thought it would be a really good idea to help me get back into my bloggy grove..because I really do miss you all!

So here it goes..

My mission: To blog once a day for 30 days ..I can do it..I know I can…

I can’t promise witty banter or even entertaining content all the time. I might not even make sense some of the time, but no matter how short or random or long a post is, there will by george be one every day! This will not be easy as we do have travel plans coming up but it will just give me a chance to master blogging from my droid..yikes!

So I know I'm cheating today because I am not providing any real content (unless hopefully un-empty promises count)! But hey, I can’t use up all my content right away :)

So wish me luck because here we go and hopefully you will find my lack of a life right now somewhat entertaining..or at least it will make you feel better about your own!

See you tomorrow :)

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I am so sorry to keep y’all hanging..

Words can’t describe how bad I feel about giving a teaser and then taking forever to fill you all in on what has been going on around here. We were out of town and now my wonderful mom is visiting us and then I head back out of town..and well…things have just been a little crazy!

First I want to clear the air by saying that we ARE NOT pregnant. When I re-read my last post again I realized that it kind of sounded like I was or it was something of that nature. That being said, we will progress to what is really been going on with me and the hubs (and of course the Charles)! The main topic area for this post is of course the elephant in the room..our fertility treatments (or lack there of). After the last cycle and all the drama that it ensued it caused the Hubs and I to stop and think about where we wanted to go with this next. If you want a recap on that you can read here and here. My initial plan was to jump right back into the treatments once we got to Utah and I got all of my tri-care stuff switched over. At the same time though I was really dreading injecting more medication, dealing with more swelling and everything else that I have experienced during these treatments (don’t misunderstand me…if there was the end result of a baby it would all be worth it but the more negatives we get the harder it is). I was also dreading finding a new fertility specialist and going through all of the initial stuff again (we did however get our full records from the NJ doc).

This whole process has been very frustrating and heart-breaking but I am finally coming to a point where I am at peace with the wait and what God has for us. The hubs and I had a long talk a few weeks ago and decided not to start fertility treatments out here right now. Each time we to through another cycle my body seems to take it harder and harder. The more I thought about trying to find a new doc out here and getting started again the more anxious I got! I finally stopped and thought "what if we don't jump into it right now and just see what God has for us" and it is really funny because I felt instant peace. God is crazy like that :) As much as we would love to have kids we also are enjoying getting settled here and spending time together. OH yeah and we baby sat a 3 month old little girl last week and the Charles wasn't really a fan of a baby that cries! We had a lot of fun but we also realized how much our lives are going to change when we do have our own and right now we just need to get settled here first.


We finally just realized that no matter what measures we take God has a plan and he can bring us a baby whether we are doing fertility treatments or not. Not to say that we won't have to do them again down the road but we are waiting right now for God to show us what he has for us NOW and we don't feel that it is that. I do want to make it clear though that we are not expecting to get pregnant miraculously and I know that we will most likely have to start the treatments again once we are ready but I am also not doubting God and His timing in all of this. I hope this makes sense! I don't mean to bash the treatments and I think God could still use those but not now. I debated on how much or whether to share any of this because I really don’t want to discourage anyone from treatments or talk bad about them at all. I do feel though that you all have been such an encouragement during this process and it is only fair to share this with you too. I also want anyone who has gone through any type of fertility struggles/treatments or is going through them now to know that I am praying for you and that you are amazingly strong for enduring this!

One of the biggest frustrations since our decision has been dealing with the after affects of the treatments. Since I had so many big follicles last time my tummy swelled up some. The nurses said it was normal because of all the follies. That was fine as we were going through the treatments but I thought that once I had my visit from AF my tummy would return to its normal state. That however has not been the case. It has been over a month now from AF and my tummy is still just as swollen. When I went home last weekend I made my mom, sis and bf feel it and they all agreed that I felt like I was two months pregnant (which would be fine if I was but since i’m not..well it is driving me crazy)!!

I went to the doctor on base on monday because I wanted to see if I could get an ultrasound to make sure that the follicles didn’t turn into cysts and that they weren’t going to cause problems.  He proceeded to dash my hopes at finding that out by stating that since I have PCOS that most likely they did turn to cysts and that unless I want to go back on birth control I just have to tough it out until we want to start treatments again. Since we are planning on starting treatments in the next year I opted not to go on BC (and because I hate it) so basically I have to deal with the pain and swelling…oh yay :( The doc did do some blood work to make sure my testosterone isn’t too high but other than that he said he didn’t want to take the chance of damaging my ovaries by removing the cysts. So yes, right now I am working through the hard thoughts of feeling fat and swollen without the end result of a baby (i’m not going to lie, it has and will continue to be very hard for me to overcome this).

The hubs and are are getting adjusted and really like it in Utah. We are planning on running two marathons and a crazy 10k in the next few months and we just ran in the San Fran 1/2 marathon which was amazing (more on this stuff later)!

Thank you all again for your support and encouragement through all of this! I will keep you updated on what is going on with us (and try my darndest to be a better blogger)!

Oh and I am proud to say that the Charles turned 3 on tuesday..my baby is getting so old! We gave him doggy ice cream with a bone candle :)

Have a great day!