Well, eff.

So when I first found out we were having trouble TTC, I started to read IF blogs to help connect and realize that I'm not alone. I chose to follow 4 of my favorites. And I realized today that, as of this week, every one of those girls (bless their hearts) are now mommies. This is both totally and amazingly awesome, and sucky. I now need to add more blogs to my list to read so I can feel some of the IF commraderie I was originally (selfishly) looking for -while also still reading the others because I feel slightly and weirdly invested in their lives. In a weird, stalkerish kind of way. Anyone have any suggestions? :)

Drumroll, please...

There's a study thats been done with kids. The premise is simple. I think the results are fascinating. It goes like this:

Put a child alone in room and in front of them, place a marshmallow. Tell the child they can either eat that one marshmallow now, or wait and instead get two marshmallows later. As an adult, it's easy to say "Yeah, sure, wait for the second marshmallow." But to a kid that sounds like a terrible idea. Kids have no concept of time and patience is apparently not an inherent trait. And for these reasons, quite a few kids will gobble up that marshmallow so fast you'd forget it was there.

credit

And isn't this kind of how life is, too? God's saying "Duuuudddeee I've got this awesome set up goin' on for you up here in Heaven! Just be patient and good and believe me (believe IN me) and it'll all work out for the best!" Ha! Easier said than done, right?

And as soon as I thought about this marshmallow situation, the more it started to make sense in tons of areas of my life. Namely, infertility (because these days EVERYTHING works it way back to infertility).

We have plenty of people telling us to not take our time with this. Adopt right now. Finance invitro. Don't pay off student loans. We've already spent two years, so I get their point.

 But we're being responsible.
We're delaying gratification.
We're waiting for our marshmallows.

Who knows how our blessings will multiply. Maybe it will be two marshmallows (haha! Two babies is what I meant there). Or maybe it will be some combination of blessings that just isn't possible right now. I don't know.

But here's what I do know:
I feel called to wait. I feel called to prepare. I feel called to trust God and know that when he says he's got another thing comin'- he means it.

And thus you have my new blog title. Sure, it may not make sense unless you read this post. But its what seems to fit, for right now, more than anything else I could come up with.

Waiting for Marshmallows.

Happy Crap-aversary.

March marks two years since we decided to go off birth control. We decided in March, went off in April due to where I was at in the pack. Crappiest two years ever.

I could wallow, cry, and torture myself looking at nursery decoration ideas on pinterest, and eat a giant tub of ice cream (who am I kidding-- ice cream is not in the grocery budget!)

OR...

I can make a completely cliche list of things I've learned in the last two years.

Yeah, let's go with that one. Cliches. This is your warning.

1. I'm stronger than I thought I was.

2. My husband is more amazing than I thought he was. (I mean, I sorta already knew...)

3. I love babies. A lot.

4. Cool kids go to therapy and spend a lot of money telling their problems to a stranger. And it helps, somehow.

5. God gives us more than we can handle. Lucky for us, there is nothing HE can't handle.

6. I love alone time with Ryan.

7. I want to travel. But I'm scared of traveling instead of having a baby. As if the two are mutually exclusive.

8. I think somehow God is using infertility to morph me into the person I'm supposed to be when I'm a mother. Tricky one, He is.

I'm sure there are more. But please don't remind me of them. Ok. Ice Cream time.

Ahhh, it's March!!

Oh man! March snuck the heck up on me! I'm a few days late on my goal review, so bare with me :)

photo credit 

My February goals were:

1. Read all of Psalms: DONE!
2. Grocery Budget: $20 grocery/ $20 stockpile Yup!
3. Pay down $700 in debt: try DOUBLE that! Go Team Riesner!! Whoop!
4. Eat breakfast everyday: Pretty good. Fudged a few days when I was running late to work
5. Work out after practice on Mondays and Fridays: Oh my gosh. NO! Went once. Blugh.

I was really, really proud of our debt pay down this month! We worked soo hard. I was exhausted and we hardly saw each other (which is sad) but it was worth it to get a great boost of motivation! We've knocked out 2 or 3 months ahead of schedule which makes me so pleased. I promised myself to slow down a bit this month and be realistic in that we may not necessarily be able to keep that rate up. Maturity, people. Maturity. Which brings me to...


March (On) Goals

1. Read coaches manual/ take test for re-certification
2. Finish painting chalkboard end table (started this forever ago!)
3. Read all of Proverbs
4. Pay down $550 in debt (adjusting it a bit still)
5. Eat breakfast everyday
6. Train for Pear Blossom in April (goal of 10 miles/ week with a 3 mile flexibility)

Grocery budgeting is getting to the point where it's second nature, so I'm removing that from my stated "goals." And Ryan and I are really concentrating on tithing properly, which is a challenge while we're paying down so much, but we know that the blessings will be bountiful. God is so good, isn't he? :)

I'm giving myself so grace on the Pear Blossom training. If I can run a half marathon pretty easily I know I can kick it into gear for a 10mi. I'll be sore, sure. But I'm not looking to place or anything here. And the savings goals take precedence and since I work so many hours (110 in 2 weeks-yikes!) I feel like I should listen to my body and rest when I need to. (Geez- cop out much?!?!) Plus this morning I woke up with excruciating pain in my knee for no good reason. It has ice on it currently, but hopefully it goes away soon!!

We planned a little 'splurge' mini getaway for a weekend in March after working so hard and not seeing each other. Really looking forward to hanging out with my favorite person!! :) Happy March, everyone!



9 reasons I'm a little hippie.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a hippie. Somehow, this mostly happened AFTER college. Don't know how THAT happened. Here's a few reasons I've decided this matter.


http://simplemom.net/oil-cleansing-method/

9 Reasons I'm a lil crunchy:

1. I wash my face with oil. Yes, you read that right, and it's amazing.

2. If people didn't have such a strong aversion to it I would completely douse myself in patchouli--yes, NG, I'm partly talkin to you ;)

3. I bring my lunch to work in glass jars and canvas bags instead of plastic tupperware or ziploc. Mostly thanks to my MIL.

4. Both of my dogs are from shelters. I'm not opposed to buying a 'designer' dog. They're adorable. I just have a bleeding heart when it comes to stray, underfed pups.

5. I <3 recycling.

6. I drink more tea than should be legal. Rooibos is my fave. Mate is a close runner up.

7. I'm buying a CSA(Community Supported Agriculture) share for the first time this year, and I'm really excited!

8. I love living in the PNW. :) Not really hippie. But kinda hipster.

9. I read about a bazillion simple life/green living/ frugality/ "homestead" blogs.


Maybe all of these things alone does not a hippie make. But I'm content in learning and growing and finding new ways to do things I used to give little or no thought to. If that makes me a hippie, then so be it. But I'll keep using my razor if that's cool with you. ;)

Vote, please!!

I've been thinking lately...

I'm not crazy about my blog title.

I actually put off writing a blog for a long time because the title was the hardest part for me. I somehow feel like SOMEONE is going to judge me no matter WHAT I come up with. Silly, I know.

I tried to come up with something that I felt described me, and settled. I don't like it because it's too long and doesn't really 'go' with what I usually have written about.
Therefore, I propose a change. :)

I usually write about infertility and saving money. Plus wifey things. Plus humor. So I need a slightly humouros title that includes all of that. No biggie, right??

Here's my faves so far:

*Cheapskate Conception
*Coupons and Conception (theres some variances here)
*Frugal and Infertile
*Frugal Mama Wannabe
*Baby Bargains (this one makes me lol)

Anyone have any other suggestions? I'd love input! Saying you like my existing name is ok, too. But only if you mean it. And only if you like it better than all of the above. :)

I must be crazy.

I have NEVER been one of those people to create a hypothetical travel idea just for fun. You know the type. They start playing around with flight dates and planning, with no intention to actually go.

I became that person today.

Round trip tickets to Paris for our 5 year anniversary- $2,900. Ryan, pack your bags!!

http://favim.com/image/242155/

As if. I MUST be crazy.