Change...and lots of it!

It's funny how life can completely change in the span of one day.  We were fully counting on Jason extending his military contract to stay in until after the twins are born.  That's not happening now.  His extension didn't get approved, and as of December 1, we will be considered "civilians" again.  We are scrambling.  I am slightly panicking.  We have to get our house moved, figure out what we want to do with the house, figure out job security, insurance (especially with twins coming soon!), and so on, so forth.  In the middle of all of this, there are so many things that we are so thankful for.

1. We have an amazing family who have already jumped into action planning, and helping.  We are able to move in with my Daddy & Momma until we get through this transition, get a job, and are able to find something to live in.  They are all jumping to figure out how to move us, and help in many ways since I'm not as spry as normal;o)
2. Our babies are moving a good bit now, and I'm able to feel little flutters and bumps throughout the day.  They are constantly reminding me that they are still my joy through this!
3. TMO.  They are the moving company for the military.  They will come in and pack everything as well as move it.  Ashley and Matt have so graciously let us use their large basement to store everything until we get another place, thus saving us a good bit on storage fees.
4. An amazing support system, including family, friends, and a wonderful church family who are praying us through this, and putting their feelers out for job opportunities for J.
5. The fact that Momma will be here Monday, and that Tuesday we will be going in to find out the genders of the twins!  We are all so excited!
6. And, more than anything, that our God is SO good, and always faithful.  In my moments of insecurity, panic, or confusion, He is always there.  We have felt in so many ways, that this was God closing the door on J's military career.  We have been on the fence about it, and both of our hearts' desires are to be back home.
7. With a few health scares through the pregnancy, it is comforting to think that we will be near our support soon, making it easier for them to get to us, and close by for when the babies come!

As scary as this new season in our lives is, we feel God in every part of it.  There's still a lot that we don't know, but we know that God has a plan for us, and we are trusting in that.

Last week, in Walmart of all places, I decided to pass out.  Well, not really decided, my body kinda forced it on me.  Luckily, I had the foresight to get to the floor, and also J was with me.  I had a seizure, and woke up throwing up (this is a horrifying experience, let me tell ya, throwing up in public has always been a big fear of mine, I've decided that I will probably never show my face at that particular Walmart again).  After a long night in the ER, I was sent home with instructions to rest, and that this sometimes happens.  Geez.  But, the babies are fine, and I got an unplanned visit from Ashley.  After lots of rest, and some major blood sugar monitoring (they went nuts afterwards, thanks in part to the fact that the ER staff didn't give me any of my night time meds despite asking for them), I am on the mend health wise.  I'm still trying to overcome a lot of anxiety when I go anywhere, and we've decided it's not a good idea for me to go anywhere alone.

With all of this to say, I'm not doing a 2 week chalkboard update this week.  I'd rather stretch it to 3 weeks and do the next one when we know the genders:)  But, I wanted to post a few pictures of baby related happiness.

Jason came home from work a few weeks ago with a present.  I love presents.  This one made me so happy!  A Willow Tree to celebrate our miracles, and an owl tea-light holder.  Did I mention I love presents?  Especially ones like these.  He knows me really well.

I can't see my feet anymore.  It happened so fast, but with them being between 4.5-5 inches each crown to rump, plus all of their "baggage", I can't say I was too surprised.

And a profile shot.  They have moved up over the past 2 weeks, and I'm carrying higher now, and they have pulled to the front a lot more.  I can tell too.  Heartburn is so much fun.  I'm also thankful for Zantac.  Especially since I still love pickles, and they give me heartburn.

As I wrap this up, we are asking for all the prayers we can get.  We covet them, and would appreciate them more than we could ever express.  Thank you for checking in with me today, be back soon with our exciting reveal (praying they both cooperate)!

Jeremiah 29:11-13

New International Version (NIV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

15 Weeks

1 week away from the 4 month mark!  We are so excited!  I'm feeling pretty good other than the hormonal headaches that the doctor warned me about.  Apparently hormones drop a little between now and week 20, causing a lot of women to have headaches.  Treating with Tylenol is not always a sure fix, so I'm thankful for ice packs!  And I'm thankful that our freezer got fixed today to keep me supplied with ice packs!  It's been broken for 3 weeks, and they had to order parts and wait for all the warranty stuff, and then fix it, we were glad to see that man pull up this morning!

Oh, and it is officially FALL!!!  I am LOVING the cooler temps, and the even chillier ones at night!  We are seeing a little yellowing on some the of trees, I always get so excited at this time of year.  Plus, the first signs of fall are in the stores, too!  Hello Honeycrisp apples & Pumpkin Spice creamer!  We saw pumpkins at Wally World yesterday too, looking forward to loading up on those pretty orange gourds this weekend:)

Target has some really fun wigs for Halloween this year.  We had a good laugh trying them on and taking pictures.  There were a lot of fun ones, but here are a few of my favorites!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Second Trimester!

So, I missed week 12.  My plan was to do every two weeks, but week 12 was chaos!  Jason's parents were down visiting, and his dad had a massive heart attack while here.  We are thankful that he is okay, and that he had such good doctors and paramedics that saved his life.  He had a major blockage, and had to have a stint put in.  The heart attack damaged 55% of his heart, but it is recoverable.  He started having major chest and arm pain in the middle of the night, so I called for help.  Thankfully, he actually had the heart attack in the ambulance, and they were able to save him.  God was looking out for him for sure.  But, all that to say, we were back and forth at the hospital in Wilmington every day, and by the time we would get home, I was totally wiped out.  The week before that, we had a scare with some bleeding.  We were really shaken, but beyond thankful that everything was fine with our precious babies.  The doctors think that since I've stretched out so quickly, that I may have popped a blood vessel or that my cervix got bruised, and caused some build up of blood in the bruise.  All foreign to me, but the most important words were that the babies are just fine!  We are praying that we won't have any more scares like that!  I am taking it easy, and when my body says stop, I do!

Anyways, here is the most recent chalkboard update.  I am actually over 14 weeks now, and will do another chalkboard in the next week or two.  

We did this one last week, and I am just getting it posted since we had our family down to celebrate Alaina's 18th birthday this weekend!  Ashley and Austin hung back a few extra days, and are still here with us while Matt is traveling for business.  Saturday night we rode into Beaufort and ate at the Dock House.  The weather was perfect, the view was amazing.  It's located right on the waterway, so we enjoyed views of yachts, sail boats, and a few kayaks.  The cool pre-autumn breeze was even a bit chilly, which to a woman carrying twins was refreshing!  We ate out on the upper deck, so we could see a ways down the water, and the lights across it where beautiful once it got dark.  We walked the boardwalk afterwards, and made a stop at the fudge factory for some yummy dessert.  It was a really fun time with everyone, and we all left uncomfortably happily stuffed.

Now that we are in our second trimester, we are no longer being seen by our infertility specialist, and we have moved to our regular ob-gyn.  We also get seen by a maternal-fetal medicine specialist for the high risk part of it (diabetes, twins).  Both appointments, we were really pleased with the doctors, and the staffs. Everyone was really nice, and we got another ultrasound at our maternal-fetal appointment yesterday.  Both little ones looked good, and were active, moving, kicking and punching.  In one picture, one of them had their arms behind it's head, lounging.  In another shot, it already looks like they may have Jason's pouty lips. It's so neat how they can see all of that with ultrasound.  We go back October 15 (less than a month!), and that's when we find out their sexes!  I'm so excited about that one.  We will be a little over 18 weeks by then.  They did all my organ function labs as well as a thyroid check, so that we will have a base line to go by, and right now, everything looks really good and normal:)  They will be monitoring my BP since it was a little higher than I normally run, and just making sure they stay on top of any early warning signs of preeclampsia.  I really feel like they have a good handle on things, and that God has placed us in the right offices.

In other news, we are less than a week away from the first day of fall!  We are feeling some cooler temps in the evenings and early mornings, and it's getting me so excited!  I can't wait to wear boots.  I keep holding off, but probably not for much longer.  To wrap up, I have to say how very thankful I am for my family and friends.  For my parents who rushed to be with us at a moment's notice when we didn't know what was happening with our scare and helped calm us down, and brought in a voice of reason, a daddy who makes his famous homemade vanilla milkshakes and a momma who dries my hair, for Alaina who stayed behind and took care of things at their house so they could be here with us.  For Ashley who has helped pick up the slack around the house this week because I've been so tired, by cleaning, doing laundry, and even making our bed, it was really nice to come home yesterday evening to a clean, peaceful house with candles lit, smelling like fall.  For the most wonderful friends who have been continually praying for us through everything, and calling/texting to check on me, and for a neighbor who came to sit with me when I was nervous in the days following our hospital visit, mowed our yard while we were back and forth visiting J's dad in the hospital, and has let us take up most of her freezer space since ours died.  Again.  In the midst of everything going on.  God has given us an amazing support system, and a bountiful supply of love.  We are so blessed.

These twins ain't wastin' time!

We found out that we were expecting early, only a little over 4 weeks pregnant!  And, from then on, these two have not wasted any time making their presence known!  I never thought I'd show SO early, but I guess with double everything, the rules don't apply!  At week 6, I already had a little pooch but didn't know there were two yet, I just chalked it up to the bloat everyone talks about...

At week 8, they had popped out and we knew there were two by then!  It made a little bit more sense that my stomach was forming a basketball shape...

But, even two weeks later, they were appearing even more!  I'm thinking I'm going to be pretty uncomfortable by the third trimester, whattya think?!

The first trimester has surprisingly gone by pretty quickly.  I'm 11 weeks, and am looking forward to the 2nd trimester coming soon!  We have another ultrasound Tuesday, and we are excited to get to see our little ones again, and hopefully a little more detail than our first ultrasounds when they were so teeny!  They will be the size of figs this week, seems funny to compare them to food, huh?  With the first trimester bringing me so much nausea, I think the lack of food that agrees with me has counteracted much weight gain.  You'd think with that belly, it would be at least 5 lbs by now;o)  My weight gain as of yesterday is 1.8 lbs!  Woohoo!  I'll be trying to post an updated picture with a few fun facts every two weeks.  It's a good picture journal to look back at, and for the babies to see one day.  

We're getting excited for summer winding down, and hopefully cooler temps soon!  We're coming up on my favorite time of the year..autumn and winter.  I have some cute second trimester fall weather clothes that I can't wait to wear.  Only 29 days until the first official day of autumn!

Our Twins

I have been absent for a while now.  Mostly due to the previous post:)  I've been quite nauseous, and extremely exhausted most days, and lack the energy to do much with the blog.  I haven't gone into detail on here about our journey to becoming pregnant, or our desire to have kids.  It's been a very private matter to me, and hard for me to talk about at times.  But I want to chronicle this time, and to get the full understanding of what this time means, I feel like I need to give some history, plus, it will be cool for the twins to read someday.  So here goes!  (Disclaimer:  this is a long post!)  

5 years ago, at the end of 2007, after discovering that once I was off of birth control, I had constant, debilitating migraines, and no periods, we knew we were going to need help getting pregnant.  We had been married 2 1/2 years when J got back from his first deployment which was 7 months long.  We got a referral to an ob-gyn here in town, and they promptly put me on Clomid (an ovulation inducing drug),  they did a few tests on both of us, and determined what we pretty much knew.  I have PCOS, and don't ovulate on my own, let alone, ever have a period.  We prayed the Clomid would work, and it did.  My levels were showing that I was now ovulating, and I was having 34-36 day cycles for the first time ever without bc pills.  But, the doctors at this particular office didn't take into account that my cycles were longer than a 28 day period, and they just had me on a generic schedule.  Turns out, down the road, after getting in with an infertility specialist, they had us trying at the wrong time of the month, and being new to this whole thing, and not really understanding what my body was doing, I had no idea that we were completely missing our window.  After 6 months, they gave up on me and sent me somewhere else.

This is when we got referred to a specialist a few towns over, this guy was legit, and knew what he was talking about.  He was worth the hour and fifteen minute drive.  After a few month break to give my ovaries a break from the ovulation medicine, and a few more tests, we started with Clomid again.  Only a few months later, we found out J was getting deployed.  Again.  For a year.  Big bump in the road.  We decided that we didn't want him missing everything if I did get pregnant, and stopped the treatments at the end of 2008. He left in January.  Once he got back in December, we waited for awhile.  We enjoyed getting to spend time together, take a few trips, and get reacquainted after living apart for a year.  Plus, J was on a new schedule while he was working as a combat instructor for the Marines.  The schedule was unpredictable, and they told them that our treatments weren't priority and weren't their problem (understanding, aren't they!?) Towards the end of 2010, when he had a year long instructing break where his schedule was a little more flexible, we picked up treatments again.  This time, we were pairing the Clomid with IUI's (Intrauterine Insemination).  I won't go into detail on this, but if you're curious, you can Google it!  It is the procedure before they try IVF.  It's less invasive, and much less expensive.  The procedures were emotional and stressful.  I had a hard time dealing with the fact of what was supposed to be so special between a husband and wife, had become some planned and "clinical".  My reproductive body makeup is all set very high, so the procedures were painful and took much longer for me.  Usually they take about 10 minutes, mine averaged about 30-60 minutes.  I questioned getting help and not letting it happen naturally, but we came to the conclusion that without help, it may certainly never happen (God can do anything, can perform miracles, I truly believe that, but we were worried about my health with the PCOS being out of control, and the migraines not being able to be controlled), and I wasn't ready to accept that.  I also felt that if I didn't try, and we never got pregnant, that I would always wonder "what if" and regret it.  After another 6 month period, and no positive pregnancy tests, we were both emotionally drained again.  We took another break.  So at the first of 2013, we had decided to give it one more go.  This time, our doc wanted to pair the Clomid with hormone shots.  While I was ovulating on Clomid, it wasn't helping me make enough eggs. So, enter Follistim.

Basically, our schedule looked something like this:

Days 3-7:  Take Clomid 

Days 8-??:  Take Follistim shots, going in every 3-5 days for ultrasounds to make sure we weren't getting too many eggs, or that we weren't going to miss ovulation.  When we had a few good eggs, we would schedule an IUI for 2 days later, that night I would take another shot called Ovidrel, that would induce ovulation, and that would make it more precise for doing the IUI on time.

The first month, not knowing how my body would react to Follistim, my eggs got overstimulated.  I had about 20 good ones.  I was instructed not to do ANYTHING, that the risk of 3 or 4 getting fertilized was too great, and that would be threatening to my health.  I was disappointed, but understood.  I tried to just be thankful that the shots were working, and be hopeful that we would get the right dose next time.  The over-stimulation on my ovaries hurt, I could barely bend over without being in pain.  So once I started, they did another ultrasound.  The previous month had caused a lot of cysts.  The second cycle was canceled, and I was put on low dose bc pills.  I felt like we were moving in the wrong direction, and was crushed.  I tried so hard to hold it together until I got out of the office. I called my mom and just cried when I got to the car. And then we waited another month.  Once the next cycle started, I went back in to check on the cysts. They were gone, and they told me we would go ahead with treatment.  Yay!  We finally had a good month.  The dose was right, and we had a couple of eggs that looked good.  We proceeded with an IUI.  And, exactly two weeks after, I started. Another month of no.  I went through the process.  I cried, I wondered why, I prayed, and hoped that everything would be okay to go on with another cycle.  I had one cyst, but they said it was dissolving, and decided to go on with another treatment.  This month was June 2013.  It took longer for the eggs to develop this time, but they watched them closely, and by the time everything was ready, I had 4 large follicles (eggs), and 2 medium ones.  They said that was good, and we scheduled the IUI.  It was Friday, June 21.  It was by far the worst one.  It was painful, and they had to try several techniques to get where they needed to be.  It took a consulting physician to come in and help.  The staff was so professional, and felt so bad, the nurse, Joyce, was by far the best.  She calmed me down, and was so reassuring.  For a little while, we weren't sure they were going to be able to get it, but about an hour and a half later, they did.  I prayed almost the whole time through tears, and questioned that if this month didn't happen, would I be able to do this again.  We prayed daily for the next two weeks, that it wouldn't come to that, and that this time it had worked.  

On July 4, I made an impromptu trip home for a few days b/c J got put on a stupid duty schedule where he would be gone for 3 days, and I didn't want to spend the holiday alone.  All weekend, I was tired, and crampy.  I kept waiting on my period.  I was nauseous, but chalked it up to the hormone treatments, because they sometimes made me nauseous.  Since my periods have always been so unpredictable, I decided to give it a few days, but that following Monday, July 8, I couldn't wait any longer.  I just wanted to know so I could mentally prepare for another month.  Austin had come back with me for the week, and J was home early that morning.  I went to the bathroom without telling anyone what I was doing.  I took the test, set it down, and went to the bedroom and prayed.  I waited the 3 minutes, and took a deep breath before going in to check it.  I could.not.believe.my.eyes.  It was POSITIVE!!  I had never seen one of those!  I got weak in the knees, I burst into tears (happy tears this time!), and I praised God!  I grabbed the test, composed myself, and called J into the bedroom.  He came around the corner, and I was standing there with the test, speechless, just crying and nodding yes. We cried together, we hugged and kissed, we thanked the Lord again.  We calmed ourselves, and knew we had to tell our family.

We told my mom first.  We facetimed her, and while we were talking, I just held up the test.  It was so fun to get to see her reaction. We then three way called my dad.  After that, we called Ashley who was on the way to the doctor for an ear/throat infection.  She still screamed through her scratchy throat:)  Afterwards, we told Austin he was going to be a cousin, and his eyes got as big a golf balls, and about jumped in my lap to hug me.  After that, we called J's parents, and his dad couldn't hear us over Teresa's shrieking. We filled in a few close, trusted friends as well.

Once we got past the first 9 weeks, we decided to announce it publicly.  That was so much fun, and we have been shown so much love and support.  I had originally wanted to wait until week 12, but with there being two, I am showing early, and it was impossible to hide any longer.  I am about 10 1/2 weeks today, and excited about getting close to entering the second trimester!  I see my infertility doctor one last time next week for another ultrasound:)  A few weeks after that, I will see my new ob-gyn for the first time, and we are praying for an excellent experience.  The new doctor is also in the same town as my infertility doctor, which makes me happy, they have a really nice hospital, and really big!  Much better than the rinky-dink one we have in our town (that still has shared rooms..I didn't even know they still did that!?).  So, that's our story on getting to where we are and being so very thankful that God has blessed us with all of this!  I know there are so many women that battle this and struggle with infertility and I grieved many times over, thinking I may never get to experience this miracle.  But maybe my story will give someone else going through this hope, sometimes it takes a long time, but then sometimes, after 5 years, you get a yes!  So, I will take every nauseous, exhausted day in stride, and continue just being happy that I am going through it, knowing that it means that there are TWO precious lives growing inside me.  It's a miracle, and there are still times I am just overcome with emotion at God's grace and His blessings.  Thankful doesn't even begin to cover it.

Coming March 2014....

And we couldn't be more excited!!!

Peonies

Oh how I love the big blooms of peonies.  Since we are probably moving at the end of the year, I have hesitated to plant them here.  They will be at my next house.  So for now, I found these pretty fake ones at the HobLob.  They will work for now, especially when they are in this old blue mason quart jar.  Pretty good for fakes...

Summer Mantle

I love switching out the themes on my mantle, but after Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter, I was looking for something I wouldn't have to change through the summer.  This is what I came up with.  I am digging it.  It's a little coastal, a lot summer, and nice and bright.

I made the big wooden "flag".  I had a few pieces of 1x3 board, and I had J cut them into 2 ft. pieces, I attached them together with the Kreg Jig on the back after staggering them randomly.  To paint it, I used some leftover blue and white paint.  The white is just an acrylic white paint by Apple Barrel, and the blue was from our dresser update, found here, it is a Valspar color called Vintage Blue.  The metal stars were from a little garland that I pulled off, and spray painted white, then roughed them up to let the metal show through a bit.  I hot glued them on with huge globs of glue.

And to finish, I had to rough up the edges a little, and sealed it with a satin sealer.  I accessorized with stuff I already had, milk glass, candle holders, grapevine balls, a fat birdie, candles, and flowers.

I definitely think it will carry me through summer.  Plus, it was perfect for Memorial Day, and for the 4th since it's sorta patriotic.  Almost all of my patriotic stuff is now in the office since it's kind of our military themed room.

Dresser Salvage

I heart free stuff.  There was a house down the road (a single mom) who was moving, and to save some of the hassle, she was giving away certain things that they didn't want to move, or didn't fit in the new house.  J and I quickly snatched up this small dresser as I had big plans to use it as extra storage in my office/craft space.  It was a wooden dresser, unfinished, and in pretty bad shape, but I knew I could do something with it.  Two of the drawers were chewed by a dog, and there was no saving them.  The knobs were also unfinished wood.  I sanded it, painted it with a flat no-so-bright-white paint, stained the top with Rustoleum's Early American stain, and then roughed it up with the sander.  I removed the knobs and spray painted them with rubbed bronze spray paint, they turned out really pretty, and it saved me from having to buy 11 new knobs!  After painting, I sealed it with a a stain spray sealant.

For the empty drawer compartments, we used some Gorilla Glue and put in some thin white panels we had laying around from another project to make a shelf for some baskets, in place of the damaged drawers.

I looked for about a week, when I finally found these at Michael's.  I hadn't seen these the first trip, but they were the perfect size and fit nicely.  I like the different browns in the baskets, I think it ties the lighter top in with the darker knobs.

You can't beat free!  And the extra storage has been so nice!  Plus I have a better place to put my gargantuan printer.  The little plastic drawers it was sitting on were giving out.  I'm pretty proud of this project, I did (almost) all of it by myself:)  Jason helped a little.

My Summertime Table Box

The box that we made last fall needed an update.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for summer, so this is what I came up with.  I used the white candles I had, and stuck glass tube vases in between.  Add a few white and yellow daisies, and call it a day.

I like the brightness of the white and yellow against the dark wood.  It's great for the warm months.

This box is one of my favorite projects ever.  It has been so versatile, and it fits our table perfectly.

I like this centerpiece.  Even if I'm not a big fan of the hot summer months.  Oh, and please don't look at the dust on the rim of the box.  I told you that stupid drywall dust gets everywhere, and I'm not going to dust everything until all the sanding is done.  I dusted the table down at least, I just forgot the box.  Ooops.

Master Bathroom Project

Oh, what a mess we've made over the past week!  About a month and a half ago, I pulled all the batting strips off the walls in the master bath, thinking that would motivate J to do the drywall.  I finally convinced him it had to be done before our friends come visit on the 20th.  Crunch time!  He has been working so diligently after work/school, and over last weekend (man, I love him!).  As of today, there is only a little sanding left, and then clean up time!  You cannot even begin to imagine how much this forces the OCD into overdrive.  Even though we have closed it off, the dust still escapes.  And it gets.every.where.  But the drywall looks fabulous, and I am so excited to get painting.  We also got stuff to frame the mirrors and new light fixtures.  I'm wanting a light green in here.  I think it will look beautiful against the darker wood.

 

These are kind of the beginning/before pictures, right after J had put on the first layer of drywall goop (that is my very technical term).

 

This corner was difficult.  They do not sell 45 degree angle drywall joint pieces.  There was much hammering and bending involved, but once again, J didn't fail to impress me.  It's looking so good!  This is the corner that we are waiting on..it is taking twice the time to dry, so hopefully today will be the last sanding for it.  (This picture is right after he put the first coat on..it looks so much better now.)

Handsome working so hard.

 

Ummm..yeah.  This is why I'm cringing.  I hate this dust.  Hate it.  I cannot wait to get in there and wipe it all down, sweep it all up, and mop it all away.  It looks like a fine, smelly, gritty dusting of snow.  I would prefer snow, I think.

 

More pictures to come...

Unrelated

I have been on a major break from blogging.  I think my head is back in it now.  I just wasn't feeling it for a while, but I feel like it's time to pick it back up.  This post is just a few random pictures I had wanted to blog about, but never got to, so they kind of got mashed into this post together.  Random.

 

I am kind of obsessed with beauty/hair blogs and YouTube channels.  My mom directed me to TiffanyD who has wonderful tutorials.  The one I used for this hairstyle is here.  My hair is shorter than hers, but it still did exactly like she said it would.  And the Paul Mitchell Hot Off The Press spray is wonderful.  I love it, but it's kinda pricey.  I got lucky, and found some at a wholesale place that a friend of mine, that does my hair, has access to since she has her cosmotology license.  Much more reasonable price, and that makes me happy.

 

I made a new wreath for our front door with some neutral colors since the front door is in direct sunlight for most of the day, my wreaths seem to fade pretty quickly.  I used flowers from Hobby Lobby, and hot glued them into an oval grapevine wreath, and painted my last name initial wooden letter (also from Hobby Lobby) with Antique Parchment by Apple Barrel (acrylic paint).  It's attached with a cup hook on the back and some floral wire, and a little hot glue so it doesn't move too much.  I finished it with a light colored burlap bow.

Jason made me dinner awhile back (I just came actross this picture and it reminded me to give him some major kudos) on an evening that I was feeling a little blah.  Oh man.  It was so good.  He made bacon wrapped chicken bites with a cream of chicken dipping sauce, chunky mashed potatoes, and spicy green beans.  I could have eaten another plate it was so yummy, but I did have a little self control.  J is becoming quite the chef.  Sometimes his recipes flop, but when they turn out how he envisions them, they rock.  Cheesy sausage topped asparagus with toasted crackers was not a hit, but I love that he tries, and that he likes to cook for me.  Now his homemade southern mac 'n cheese.  That one has a solid place in our recipe book.  I am so lucky to be his bride:)

These Shoes Were Made for Walkin'...

Lately, I've hit a wall with losing any weight, but I'm pushing on.  I'm trying to do what I know I need to do, and remember how much better I feel when I do it.  Exercise is hard for me.  Really hard.  I hate it.  Unless it's swimming.  And then I love it.  But even with our above ground pool, there is only so much you can do in 4 ft. of water, and I don't have a swimming buddy to go with me to the one on base, since my family has declared a no swimming alone policy for me.  Well, I think I've hit on something that I can stick with.  I'm walking at home with Leslie Sansone.  These workouts are actually no joke.  Ask Jason..he did one with me over the weekend, and he was for real sweating (and he's a marine who is used to working out!), I felt a bit justified after that.  I typically try to do a 3 or 4 mile video for 3 days straight, and then I take a one day break and start again.  I've been doing it for a little over 2 weeks, and I don't hate it.  I feel better, better blood sugars, and I'm sleeping better.  Plus, my back is feeling stronger, and my right foot has stopped hurting me (heel spur or something?).  I was able to buy several at Target and Amazon, so switching it up helps too because I'm not doing the same video, watching the same people, and doing the exact same moves every day.  I have workouts that are 1-2 mile if I don't have a lot of time, all the way to 5 miles.  I'm slowly getting to where 4 miles doesn't cause me to collapse at the end, so hopefully the 5 miles is not too far away.  Plus, J took me to get new shoes.  Shopping for anything always motivates me a little more.  Plus, these pretty blue and pink shoes are just so bright and fun, that I look forward to wearing them.

So, I've been starting my days with a Tinker Bell mug full of coffe, and I'm striving to get back into devotions every morning.  Then I strap on those pretty tennis shoes, and walk.  Even if I'm not seeing it on the scale, my body is feeling it.  And that's what I keep reminding myself of!

Piggy McFatterson

That's my dog.  Kojak.  A.K.A. Piggy McFatterson.  I was looking through my phone and realized I had several pictures of him that I haven't blogged about, so this is a post all about him.  Anyways, he acquired this name because he has no self control.  He eats all of his food, hardly ever leaving a single piece, and even if he has just finished off his bowl, he will finish off the neighbor dog's food, his love/hate relationship girlfriend's bowl (even though technically, they are dog cousins since Lola is Ashley's dog), or any object on the floor resembling food.  Last vet visit, he had gained 5 lbs.  Apparently, that is not good at all for animals (we have had to cut his food back).  Me...heck...I can put on 5 lbs. in a day:/ #womanproblems.  It doesn't help, either, that my mom loves him and feeds him popcorn, and chips, and scraps from cooking, and says that he looks good with a little weight on him..he super duper loves her.  Aaaanyways, now that I have explained the reasoning behind his nickname, Kojak has been the best dog we have ever had (besides my childhood dog, Abby, who lived to be old and feeble, and faithful to the last day).  He has such personality, and makes us laugh.  A lot.  He thinks he is human.  And he thinks he weighs 10 pounds.  Add about 50 more to that 10, buddy.  He really wishes he was a lap dog.  And he tries to be.

 

After this late-season cold front moves out, and it warms up again, he's getting shaved.  We leave his fur long for winter, and while I love him furry and think he's so cute with lots of fuzz, I hate. HATE. the fur cleanup.  I vacuum up fur pretty much every dang day.  J has gotten better about brushing/raking him, because it's his decision to leave him furry in the winter (My vote was to keep him shaved and buy him sweaters.  My vote was vetoed.), so therefore it is his job.

 

This was last week.  We get this much fur everytime we brush him.  I do not know how it is physically possible for him to still have so much!

 

See, even Kojak is shocked at the amount of fur!  This picture gives you a better idea of just how much fur comes off of him, as you can see it is the size of another dog.  And no, it's not actually another dog.

Another thing you should know about Kojak, is that he thinks his sole purpose in life is to play fetch (and to follow me everywhere, and eat, and try to herd cats--that always goes well--and children, but you throw a ball, and everything else no longer matters).  His favorite toys are his rubber ring, and his ball.  The ring is for indoors, the ball is for outdoors.  Although, he frequently tries to tote them everywhere.  He can only have rubber (the kong type of rubber) toys because we have yet to meet another toy that can survive him.  I'm just glad that destructiveness has never been shown towards our house or furniture.  He is so stingy with his toys, and J loves to annoy him.  This particular night, he was wearing his ring as a hat, or a halo..but that's not very fitting;o)  You can just see the spitefulness in his face...

Kojak..not pleased.  He did not stop staring him down, and when he didn't throw it for him, he stalked him.

 

And stalked him.  This went on for a good while until he became really annoying and wouldn't stop circling, whining and grunting.  Spoiled brat, he did finally get what he wanted.

 

And we wonder why he is like he is...

 

 

What A Week..

First, I want to say how blessed I am that yesterday marked mine and J's 8 year wedding anniversary.  It came and went, and wasn't the best one, but it is not just about the day.  It's about everyday of the past 8 years.  I have found my true love, and I was fortunate enough to be able to marry my best friend.  Not everyday is easy, not everyday is fun, but I wouldn't want to do it all with anyone else, and we work at it, we love, and we keep God in our marriage, and for that, I feel we have been blessed with such a wonderful and strong relationship and bond.  He is always, without fail, there for me.  He's my rock.  Growing up, I saw that firsthand with my parents.  They supported each other, and my mom could always depend on my dad.  They were each other's biggest fans, and nobody could come between them..they were always united, and from then on, I knew I wanted that.  Needed that.  It took some time, and there were a few frogs before I found my prince, but just like the song says, "God blessed the broken road".  A lot of times, daughters with good dads look for men like their dads, and I found one.  Jason is funny, smart, driven, brave, strong, not afraid of hard work, a provider, and so durn handsome.  I am so thankful for him and for our marriage, and I look forward to the rest of my life with him, and what our future together holds.

With all of that said, this week my sugar britches has what the docs think is E. Coli.  SHRIEK!  You hear so many bad things about this mess.  It's true.  We are waiting to hear the official results of the tests hopefully tomorrow, but he has all the signs and symptoms.  It started Sunday night, and here we are on Wednesday still battling it.  We think it may have been from the sushi he ate over the weekend.  I stay away from that stuff like the plague (plus I think it's nasty), and hopefully he will from now on too!  He has been soooo sick. Yesterday, he tried so hard to feel better, and he did for a little bit, he even tried to go to dinner (against my warnings), which ended in to-go boxes, and rushing home.  Without too many icky details, it's been like the worst stomach virus you can imagine.  Add on top of that, horrible cramping, fever, and dehydration resulting in IV fluids today.  Who knew symptoms can come and go...he thought he was on the mend yesterday, and then he started all again last night.  Being in the military, you can't just call in sick (dumb, if you ask me), so he had to go report in and go straight to BAS (the base doc), but now he's home again (he insisted I stay home and not drive him because he was feeling some better this morning, and I didn't sleep but maybe 2 hours..I still feel like a bad wife for that).  I am sitting here typing this as he sleeps on the couch.  I feel so sorry for him, so helpless.  Plus, I'm pretty sure he's ready to throw his bottle of Gatorade at me if I tell him to drink one more time, he'll thank me later.  Maybe.  He's feeling better today than he has yet, and no more throwing up today (crossing fingers!)..he has extremely low energy, but his appetite is coming back.  He was starved when he got home, and so I researched the best things to try and made him some toast and scrambled eggs...so far, so good.  It settled and that has been about 1 1/2 hours ago.  Please pray that this is the end, and he can recover.  We are supposed to celebrate our anniversary with a few days at Myrtle Beach starting Sunday, and hopefully he will feel like going, we are really looking forward to a little getaway.

This is where Kojak has been every minute that J has been home.  Right by his side.  And when he's in the guest room, he's outside the door, and when I go in to check on him or help him, he is hot on my heels, crying.  He does not like when one of us is sick, he is super intuitive.  Last night, I was watching t.v. when I heard a bang/boom noise, and thought chalked it up to the nearby ranges doing bombing drills last night, but then I kept hearing a strange noise I wasn't sure of.  Kojak, who was surprisingly laying by my feet last night, got up, went to the bedroom door, and just stared and kept sniffing at the door jamb.  I got up with the quickness then, and J had fallen out of bed and was throwing up.  Thanking my lucky stars that I put a trash can by the bed.  J said he is our modern day Lassie;o)  

So, Kojak and I are holding down the fort.  I'm ready for this week to turn around.  But, I will uphold my part of the vows, and this is definitely putting that "in sickness" part into practice!