July Goals

Ok. Time to fess up. I flaked out on most of my May/June business.

Partly out of laziness. Partly because I got a promotion (yay) and so my work duties amped a little bit. And partly because of the whole clomid-no-go-hey-what-about-adoption-thing.

Good thing I never claimed to be perfect, eh?! ;)

Nevertheless, this whole monthly goals thing was always about progress and encouraging myself rather than perfection. So in that vein of thought... Here are my July goals!!

July Goals

1. Make a homemaker binder. Plus write a post about it.
2. Finish paying off credit cards (down to the very last bit!)
3. Read some scripture 4 days a week. Amount and book not important. Just get in the Word.
4. Take DHS Foster/Adoption class.
5. Paint cubby box for bedroom.

Hopefully the break from my goals will have been refreshing and not the start of a lazy summer. Ok. A little lazy is good. ;)

Figuring it all out

I took an inadvertent little break from blogging. Every once in a while I get to a place in my life where something happens and I just need time to process. I swear to myself and my husband that I will keep X Y or Z to myself, as I tend to be an oversharer and thats not something I love about myself. I dont love that I process outloud. I dont love that sometimes I dont understand how I feel until I get it out. I dont love that I have very few secrets to myself.

But thats the way the Lord made me. And thats how I've always been. So eventually I come around and next thing you know the lady next to me in the grocery store innocently picking out strawberries gets my whole life story. Sigh.

And such is how I've been about our recent life decisions. At first wanting to tell no one- and the next moment shouting it from the rooftops.

Anyone else like this? Caught between wanting privacy and needing to get things off your chest... Multiple times to multiple people??

Anyhow. Down to the news.

Clomid = a big fat NOPE. Not even a little.

I think I started crying before we got to the elevator on the way back to the car. Scratch that. I know I was bawling by the time I was reaching for the keys.

I dont know why I was so surprised. The doctor told us in no uncertain terms the clomid wasnt a sure thing. But the thing is --I just got so damn hopeful. For months I crossed my fingers, (and uncrossed other parts- ha!!) and hoped and prayed that it would work well enough to do an IUI. I was even hopeful enough to think maybe it had raised enough to conceive on our own. No such dice. Nice try, sucka.

But, instead, I found myself sobbing in the parking lot of a urology clinic with a death grip on my husbands hand. My sweet husband. I looked at him, sighed, and said 'I dont want to do this anymore. Can we adopt?'

He wouldnt admit this if you asked him, but I saw a lot of tension leave the poor guys body as he sighed and sweetly agreed. And we've been ga-ga about adoption ever since. Serious excitement and planning and day dreaming going on, I'm not gonna lie. It all feels magical again, like when we first started TTC. I dont know how else to explain it but I feel so much more at peace.

Yes, pregnant woman still make me a little... envious/anxious/want to punch something-ish. But its much better than before.

And I cant get over the very strong feeling that there is a very specific baby/scenerio/wonderful epiphany waiting. We just have to find it. So here I am, shouting from the rooftops of Blogdom-

We're adopting!!! (And if anyone knows of an available baby... Uh... Hook us up!)

Why I'm glad...

... that we're infertile.

Aka: The list of over-generalizations about parenting I'm glad I don't have to deal with.

Aka: The list that keeps me from being a crazy person.

1. No need to lose 'baby weight'.

2. We could leave to go somewhere on a moments notice.

3. My Ta-tas look normal. 'Nuff said.

4. On no occasion do I have to deal with another persons poop.

5. I sleep through the night. Every. Night.

6. I'm never the one person with the screaming child in Target.

7. On no occasion do I have to deal with another persons boogers. Or urine. Or slobber.

8. I get to shower on a regular basis.

9. Did I mention I sleep through the night?

10. I haven't seen an episode of anything regarding Elmo, Barney, or The Wiggles in years.

and last, but not least...

11. I've never had to push something equivalent to the size of a bowling ball out of my body.

Would I give all of that up in order to have a family? Absolutely. Does reminding myself of this list make me feel any better? You best believe it. ;)

Adoption (?)

Somehow found myself watching videos on youtube about adoption. Bawling my face off. Oh my.

Freezer Adventure

I took an afternoon (about 4 hours) this weekend to stock up our freezer! I've done a little freezer cooking already, but this was my biggest undertaking so far. A few mishaps, but altogether it went really well!


It took some preparation... (basically a long list of what I needed and what order I wanted to do everything in) and the middle looked kinda crazy:

Especially when I had a little "accident" involving some wayward granulated sugar.

Luckily Penny was there to help me clean it all up! Ha!

But then end was so worth it! Here's what you're looking at: (other than my trash can. Ha. Sorry about that!)

From left to right: Enchiladas, rice and bean burritos, baked oatmeal, breakfast burritos, chocolate chip cookies, and blueberry orange bread. (that one was a 'for now' snack. Didn't end up freezing it.)

It was so fun, and its really nice to know now that if I want a quick snack I can just grab something from the freezer and zap it. Helps cut down on the temptation to grab fast food for lunch! Good for the pocketbook AND the waistline. :) If you want any reciepes or a link to good freezer cooking tips, let me know!!



Chickens!!

We got 3 of them!!

We're really excited to have fresh eggs. And, frankly, a few new pets. Ryan LUURVVESS him some chickens. They're about a week old and already I think he likes them more than the dogs.

But, really, how could not LOVE these little fluff balls?!?

My husband is so handy. Check out the coop he built from *free* materials.

So anyhow, we have to keep them inside under the heat lamp until they're about 4 weeks old. By then it should be warm enough for them to go out in the coop (Ryan's next project is the actual little building part of it with their nesting boxes, etc.)

YAY CHICKENS!

 

May Goal Update

April was a beautiful, sunshine-y month. :) I loved it.

Ryan and I went on a gorgeous hike on one of the days it was 75+ degrees.

The doggies and I had so much fun! They're the best little trail dogs. They don't run ahead too far and know to go off of the trail to do their business. And really, what more could a girl ask for than a dog who knows where to do its dog stuff? Right?

Anyhow, here's my goal review for the month!

April Goals:

1. Pay down $550 in debt. We're getting so close to the next level. yup.
2. No buy month!!! Essentials only. Food, gas, and regular bills. Really, really well!
3. Throw my sister an awesome baby shower. Yes!! Awesome.
4. Go on 1 walk a week with Ryan + dogs.  Pretty good.
5. Go paperless on all my reoccurring bill statements. Meh. Got through one bill then got a headache.


The Pear Blossom was rough. But I finished, and was pretty proud of my time! A co-worker and I did it together with the goal of a 10minute/mile and no walking. And we did it! Finished the 10 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Although I wanted to trip her for not letting me walk (ha! I kid.) I was really happy she was there to hold me to it. Because, lets face it, I'm kind of a slacker. ;) Other than that exercise goal, Ryan and I did McAndrews (a brutal, butt busting hill here) and a hike. So all in all, not as bad as past months. The nice weather helps for sure!

Carlie's baby shower was so fun! I'll post pictures soon.

The "no buy" thing went through a few phases. It started out really tough. Then about half way through the month it started to feel totally normal, like I would never have to buy anything ever again. Then the last few days I was literally ITCHING to spend money. haha. So strange. But I'm glad we did it, because I learned a lot. What we can do without. What can be made from a little effort. And how sometimes the anticipation is everything. (This was especially true for buying our little baby chicks.)

May Goals:


1. Pay down $500 in debt. (I'm starting to feel like the Little Engine that Could. I think I can. I think I can.)
2. Finish paperless bills.
3. Read all of Luke. (My bible reading has been not so good since it wasn't a goal last month. Oops!)
4. Plant garden + move chickies outside.
5. McAndrews or one other walk/ week.

Happy May!