April Showers.............................................

Well, technically it is still March............but we have had horrible "April" showers all afternoon. Pouring rain, thunder, lightening, hail and tornado watches. I hate storms. I can never sleep if it storms and I'm SO scared of tornados. I'm also always scared about what if our house flooded? or we had horrible hail damage? or tons of other worries.
And then of course we lost our power at home while we were at work and it knocked our internet out. Apparently it fried our router so we have to get a new one. Luckily in the meantime I can hook Scott's laptop up to a modem. GASP - how could I make it without the internet?????

Are you scared of storms like me?????

So I wanted to show you the new apothecary jar I got when my mom was here at "oops". It's the one with the green apples (which I got at Hobby Lobby for a total of $3!) The Jar was only $11. If you go to any stores in town - it would have been at least $30-$40. I love them!!!!

(For all of you in NWA - Oops is in the old Hanna candle building in Tontitown. It's pretty big and it can be full of nothing but complete junk or it can have lots of neat things for dirt cheap! You have to hit it a couple of times sometimes.)

Tomorrow is April Fools day and it is the birthday of two of my very favorite friends - Elizabeth (above) and Laurie (below). Elizabeth also has a twin sister who shares the day with her!
These girls are just precious lights in my life - I am blessed to have them as friends. Happy birthday to two of my sweetest friends!!!!

Friends are Friends Forever

I have had SUCH a good weekend and I still have one more day of it.

We kicked off the weekend by going out to eat with Laurie, Steve and Emily to celebrate Laurie's birthday (which is this week). We went to Copelands and we had such a good time with them.

Emily loves to play with the beads at Copelands

Doesn't Laurie make a cute pregnant girl???

"Uncle" Scott, "Aunt" Kelly and Emily

I helped Laurie get Emily ready for bed. This is her brushing her teeth - aren't her little bunny pj's so cute?

This morning was my big anticipated meeting with blog friends. I met Katie and Sarah for brunch at Mimi's.
They are even more beautiful and sweeter in person than they are on their blogs (and both SO tiny!) I was a little nervous but it felt like I was having breakfast with old friends. They were so fun and easy to talk to. I just had so much fun with them. I'm sad they don't live closer to me. They probably thought I was nuts but I just liked them so much. I was so excited they came and I got to meet them. Katie is 15 weeks pregnant and just has the glow!

Aren't they so cute? They are friends AND neighbors!

Tonight we went over to Mike and Kacy's house for dinner. Mike cooked us up a good ole Southern meal of ribs, DELICIOUS beans, salad and bread. It was SOOOO good!

Scott supplied the Fanta for the meal - orange and red

Here are Mike and Kacy (doesn't she look SO cute too? She is due with a baby boy in July!)
We love hanging out with them - they make us laugh so hard. They both have the best stories and are just so much fun to be around.

Scott and I were talking today about how many great friends we have and how thankful we are that God has blessed us with soooooo many wonderful friends.

Summer Fashions

Yesterday was 77 degrees and sunny and beautiful!!! Today - it's back to the 40's, dark and cloudy. Boo!
But I did get a package in the mail today! I ordered three dresses from Forever 21 this week - they were each around $10. They will make great day dresses to wear over my swim suit in Hawaii!

This is my favorite - only I got it in electric blue!
I got this one in Kelly green
And this one I actually got in this color

Scott and I are not low maintenance small packers. We normally take two suitcases each and that's for 5 or 6 days. Not sure how we are going to be there for 10 days. ha! I just like to have a lot of options. And I need at least an outfit for each day and an outfit for night. Plus travel clothes and workout clothes (ha - yeah right) and swim suits and pajamas and shoes. Oh - I need a lot of shoes.

What about you? Are you a light packer or high maintenance like us? I have heard these urban legends about a family of 5 going on vacation and all sharing one suitcase. I think that was a lady I used to work with. Is that really possible?

Verdict

Well, apparently we are one in the bond of hair!!!!

Everyone loves to discuss hair! And I love it!!!! Thank you for your suggestions and votes. 54% of you agreed I should chop it all off into a bob. I have bad news and good news.

I am totally listening to you and I value your opinions - so I AM going to chop my hair off.

But not today.

I know, I know. For all of you who have hair like mine - I think you can understand that short hair + extreme humidity do not equal LOVE. I need to be able to pull my hair up on our trip. But as soon as we get home - I am going drastic. I promise!!!
I realize my hair looks exactly the same. Scott loves to say "You paid how much? And your hair looks exactly the same?" But it doesn't - the gray roots are gone. And she did trim about an inch or more off.

Now for something way more exciting than hair..........................guess what I got today?
A letter from our Compassion child!!!!! Well, technically it is from his mom since he is 4 and can't write yet.
But he drew us a picture. And his mom wrote the longest, sweetest letter and do you know what she said? "Richard says he is praying for you." PRAYING FOR US?????? I couldn't read this letter out loud to Scott because I was crying like a baby. SO SWEET!!!! It's the best $32 I have ever spent.

P.S. How excited are you that tomorrow is Friday???? I am SO happy! I have such a fun weekend planned. We have two dinners planned with some of our best friends and Saturday morning I am meeting two blog friends for brunch!!! I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. Stay tuned for a report on who it is and for pictures! I can hardly wait!

Hair Crisis

My hair has grown out longer than it's been in years but it has taken a beating from the hair color, hair dryer and the Chi. It is just fried on the ends.
I really like having it longer but I'm going to have to do something.
I have a hair appointment tonight at 5:30 and I need advice - please vote on the top right of my blog!
Keep in mind that my hair is naturally wavy and very coarse AND that I will be going to Hawaii in 6 weeks. I'm trying to keep that in mind. Humidity, people. Consider the humidity!

LONG????

SHORT???

David Cook is my American Idol

In case you missed Idol last night..................................DAVID COOK WAS AMAZING!!!!!!

I'm pretty sure he has elevated himself to my favorite American Idol contestant ever. I don't normally vote - but I couldn't even tell you how many times I voted for him last night.

He had me at "Hello" a few weeks ago but last night was so awesome. I don't know if I could dance to his Billie Jean - but I LOVED IT!!!!!

Who did you like? And how old did you feel when they were picking songs from their birth years and it was songs from my junior high and high school years!!!! ha!

And so I started thinking what song would I sing from my birth year? I was born in 1973 and these were some of the top songs that I guess I would choose from.

1. Killing me Softly with his song - Roberta Flack

2. Let's get it on - Marvin Gaye

3. You're So Vain - Carly Simon

4. Delta Dawn

5. You are the Sunshine of my life - Stevie Wonder

Google the top songs in your birth year - what would you sing?????

Happy Birthday Scott!

Today the cute boy I live with had a birthday!

I could say some mushy stuff about him but I'll spare you. I will say that he is my rock and my best friend and I'm so blessed that he was God's plan for me. Having him by my side shows me that God's plans are SOOOO much greater than my own.
Scott didn't want a big to do for his birthday. He also didn't want a birthday cake or a big meal since we are dieting. So we did go to Outback so we could have steamed vegetables and steak (for him) or chicken (for me). Yes I realized we have had Outback 3 times in the last 2 weeks. We like it.

His other birthday activity is to watch our two favorite shows tonight!

Happy Birthday Scott! If you live to be 100 - I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day so I never have to live without you!!!!

Vacation and Baby Diet

Six weeks from this Thursday - this will be our view from our room for nine glorious mornings. (If we don't sell everything we own and stay there. A very likely possibility) :-)

This is giving me something to look forward to and something to be excited about. I absolutely can't wait to spend all that time alone with my husband in our favorite place on earth!!!!!

BUT that means I have six weeks to get bathing suit ready. The fertility drugs I have been on have made me gain 15 pounds in the last couple of months and that was on top of another 5-10 pounds I had gained in the last year or so. I probably won't lose 20 pounds in the next 6 weeks but I am sure going to try. Scott and I have even been going to the gym at 5 every morning!

My mother in law also sent me this article on a fertility diet. I've seen it before and it basically was what I had planned to follow - eating healthy, mostly chicken and vegetables, no carbs, and lots of nuts and dairy (read - ICE CREAM!). Why not give it a shot? So while we are on our break - I'm going to eat as healthy as possible. Hopefully I'll get a thinner body for Hawaii and a baby as a souvenier!

This is the fertility diet info in case anyone out there is interested:

Foods help regulate ovulation and fertility.

Peanuts NOT potatoes: The type of carbs you consume makes a big difference. "Slow carbs" (low-glycemic index foods such as peanuts, nuts, dried beans, whole grains) promote ovulation. "Fast carbs" that spike blood sugar (like cold cereal, white rice, white potatoes and sugary drinks) decrease fertility.
(Got some mixed nuts at my desk as we speak!)

Beans NOT beef: Participants in a study who ate the most animal protein were 39% more apt to have ovulatory infertility than women who ate the least. Even adding one daily serving of red meat or poultry could raise infertility risk by a third. Replacing 25 grams of animal protein with 25 grams of plant protein, such as dried beans, could cut risk of ovulatory infertility by half.
(No steaks at Does for the next few months)

Avocados NOT doughnuts: Trans fats are huge villains in infertility; the more eaten, the higher the chances of ovulatory infertility. Even the 4 grams of trans fat in a daily doughnut, compared with the monounsaturated fat in a serving of avocado, can more than double the infertility risk. Substitute unsaturated fats for trans fats, for a pregnancy boost.
(Guess I'm trading Krispy Kreme and all other fast foods for quacamole. OLE!)

Whole milk not fat-free yogurt: Heretical as it sounds, women troubled by infertility are advised to eat high-fat, rather than low-fat, dairy foods. Recommended to improve fertility: a glass of whole milk daily. Threats to fertility: frozen yogurt, sherbet and low-fat yogurt.
(Got some little single serving Blue Bells!!!)

Coffee not soda: Surprisingly, research finds that caffeine in moderation -- several cups of coffee or tea -- does not seem to interfere with becoming pregnant. But sugary soda (caffeinated and decaf) can seriously diminish fertility. Best beverage: lots of water. New studies suggest no caffeine after conception.
(So sorry Sonic - hope you don't go out of business while I quit cokes for a while)

P.S. We are going to Kauai. We went there two years ago when we first started trying for a baby. It was supposed to be our "last trip before a baby". Two years later we still don't have a baby. So hopefully this really will be a babymoon. I don't mean to make anyone jealous (even though it IS the most beautiful place on earth)...........as excited as I am to go - I would much rather be pregnant right now. I kind of consider this my consolation prize for infertility. ha!

Easter Wrap Up

We have had a nice Easter. My mom came on Saturday after dropping my dad off at the airport to go to Nicarauga. I had choir practice in the morning and then I met her for lunch.
After lunch - we drove to this store called Oops. It's one of these places where you can find a ton of great stuff or it's nothing but junk. We hit it on a good day. Mom got all kinds of cute stuff and I got this great lamp for my kitchen. It was a bargain price! I also got a pretty apothecary jar that I'll take a picture of once I get something to go in it.
We came home and worked on Easter lunch and made some carrot cake cake balls! They are yummy! Scott brought us home Outback to eat and then we went to Sam's. (Just a normal Saturday night around here).

This morning we had two church services. They both went really well. Afterwards, Laurie and Steve and Emily came for lunch.

Mom and I had both made Emily Easter baskets - so she will be on candy overload.

We had ham from Honeybaked ham (the best), potato casserole, green bean bundles, salad and rolls

Scott took a cute picture of their family

This is a not so cute picture of our family

Emily looked precious in her Easter dress

Hope you all had a great Sunday. I'm off to take a nap!!!!!

P.S. Go hogs - beat North Carolina!!!!!

Good Friday

Today has literally been a "good friday!" I had the day off and it has been so nice. The weather has been so warm and pretty. I went to a class at my gym this morning. I tried to pretend like I was on Biggest Loser and I decided if I was - I would be the first one kicked off because I hate working out and I'm lazy and Jillian and Bob would have to spend all of their time yelling at me. ha!
Then I came home and did a little laundry and got ready and met my two favorite girls for lunch - Laurie and Emily.

Emily was cracking Laurie and I up today. She kept playing with my phone and then she would throw it down and cross her arms like she was some kind of old school rapper. We have no idea where she got this?

We ate lunch at Gusano's pizza and it did not disappoint.

I came home to this beautiful flower arrangement that my mother-in-law sent me. She thought I could use it as a centerpiece for my Easter lunch! It will be just perfect!!!!
I may not have gotten an Easter dress but Dawson got his Easter haircut and scarf! He is so proud of how cute he looks now.
Earlier this week - I got this really pretty basket made for my front door but I need a long wreath hanger and I can't find one anywhere so I'm going to have to order it. Today I stopped by Linens & Things to see if they had one. They didn't - but they did have this little Easter wreath for $5 so I got it instead. The basket can wait.

Tonight we are going to a Good Friday Lord's Supper service at our church. What a great way to remember that today is the day Christ died for our sins. I know I do not deserve the grace and mercy He has shown me but I'm so glad that three days later he rose again so that I can spend eternity with Him! I can't wait!!!!!

Little bits of something

Well - I tried to find an Easter dress but then I finally just decided to give up. It's going to be 45 degrees and rainy so there would be no point in wearing something "springy". I would rather save my money and get some cute summer dresses later on. Besides- I'm wearing a choir robe during church so it's not like anyone will even know if I have a new dress on or not. :-)

I thought I would share a couple of little somethings with you:

For my brother's birthday last week - his fiancee, my parents and Scott and I all chipped in to buy him an I phone. He sent me a thank you card today and I was laughing because he drew a picture of him reading my blog on his Iphone. Hilarious!

Two weeks ago - I saw something similar to this on a blog and knew I needed it. So I found this little onesie on e-bay and bought it for $2. That was when I was feeling very optimistic that I was pregnant. It came today so I'll put it in my secret baby closet (because yes I have one) and hopefully one day I'll get to use it. (and yes - it's pink. I seem to only buy pink things). A truer message could never be found! :-)

I'm not doing too great on my bracket. But that's okay - I'm going to go watch "Lost" soon (isn't it getting SO good!) And tomorrow I get Good Friday off and I'm so excited. I have lots of work planned for myself. Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!

MARCH MADNESS BABY!!!!!!!!

Well, girls, Day one of the great Easter dress hunt was very unsuccessful. I hit up Ann Taylor, Dillards, Belks and T J Maxx. Nothing. I did find one dress at T J Maxx that is a very iffy "maybe". Tomorrow I will hit Gap and Banana Republic. If nothing else.........I'll just wear an oldie but a goodie.

I realize that I'm probably the only girl out there besides my friend Hillary who loves March Madness. But I L-O-V-E it! The next four days are practically my favorite four days of the year. I love filling out my bracket and then watching all the scores and seeing how my picks fare. Does anyone out there love it as much as me???? Have you filled out your bracket? GO HOGS!!!!!

And finally ......ATTENTION all of you mothers. My best friend Laurie (really we count ourselves sisters) is having a major dilemma with getting her 2 year old daughter to sleep in a big girl bed. Her baby sister will be here in less than 3 months and Emily is not staying in her bed at night. Do you have any advice you can give her? Visit her blog and let her know your tricks!!!!!

Rainy Tuesday

Well .......I just have a list of things tonight:

1. I'm on the lookout for Noah and the Ark because we are just flooding here in AR tonight. It has been raining cats and dogs since yesterday. I'm ready for a little sunshine.

2. Are you watching American Idol tonight? My favorites keep changing slightly but right now I would rank it David Cook, Brooke White, and David Archuletta in that order. I'm not loving the songs tonight. I'm just not a Beatles fan so two weeks in a row has just about worn me out. I'm ready to see what they will sing next week.

3. GIRLS - what are you wearing for Easter???? I'm in the mood for a new Easter dress so I plan to do a little looking tomorrow at lunch and maybe Thursday and Friday too. They keep changing the forecast so I don't know how the weather will be. I'd like something "springy" but it's supposed to be maybe 50 degrees. So I'll probably be wearing boots and tights with whatever dress I get. I found these below I kind of like:

I like the sleeves on this dress (Ann Taylor Loft)

I kind of like this - I like the color and the style - not sure how it would look on (Banana Republic)

I triple love this. I'm thinking I could wear a black shirt underneath with black tights for now and then summer just add sandals? (BR also)

(I'm ALWAYS wearing black so I wanted to try and add some color. I feel weird wearing black on Easter - even if it is cold. We are celebrating not mourning - Jesus isn't dead!!!)
So are you getting an easter dress or what do you think you will wear? I'm excited about Easter because we have two services and my mom is coming to stay with us and go to church (my dad is going on a mission trip to Nicarauga) and then Laurie and Steve and Emily are all coming to eat lunch with us. I'm excited about cooking Easter lunch!!

4. SOOOO many of you took the time to send me such wonderful e-mails telling me about your experiences with infertility and/or in vitro. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I was swamped today at work but I plan to reply to each of you because you were so helpful and caring and I can not tell you what you sharing with me means.

"You take the Good, You take the Bad"

Well - I have a little good to share and a little bad to share.

We met with the fertility specialist today. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. Basically our only option is to do In Vitro. I was very disappointed to hear that and felt very overwhelmed. I started crying just trying to ask questions. I can't describe how it feels to sit in a room and hear that we will probably never have children unless we do this one way and even then there is only a 50/50 shot.
We just don't know what to do at this point. So we have decided to take the next couple of months off. I'm not going to take drugs or go to the doctor. I just want to relax and revive and spend a lot of time thinking but mostly spend a lot of time reading the Bible and praying. I just want to seek God and try to know His will. We are planning to take a long vacation in May. We need a time of revival - both with God and with our emotions and our relationship. And after we are refreshed - we will hopefully be ready to do whatever God tells us. And in the meantime - we are just praying for a miracle. And we believe God can do it.
If you have done in vitro - please find my e-mail on my blog and tell me about your experience.

Obviously that was the bad. Here is a little good for the day:

I love ya'll so much! Thanks for encouraging me, praying for me, and give me advice on polka dots! :-) I added a few dots and I thought it turned out pretty good. I also filled in the "S" because someone left a comment and said it looked like the money sign. ha! I'm going to let it dry and then seal it and then let the meals commence!!!!
And one more thing.....................The British Bachelor starts tonight! Whoooooo HOOOOOO!!!! (Because all I needed was ONE more TV show to watch! ha!)

TV Tray

I've never painted anything in my life so don't expect perfection.

Here is how the TV tray looked before - just your basic plain Wal-Mart $10 tray

And here it is after I finished it up.

I decided to go the plain route - but what do you think? Should I add polka dots? I thought about it but wasn't sure if I was brave enough. If I was crafty like a lot of my blogger friends - I would have tried to do a harlequin border on the edge of the trays - but I REALLY wasn't that brave.

If I do polka dots - do I do just green? Or white and green? Or pink and green? Or red and green? I'm taking suggestions.

After Winter - there is always Spring

What a difference a day can make.

Something that has always helped me in hard times is to remember that the seasons always change. Every year we have a winter. But after the winter, Spring ALWAYS comes and brings life and hope. I'm in a cold winter right now but I feel spring starting to break - both literally and figuratively.
Today is another cold, dreary day (after a stretch of warm sunny days). It's been a good day to stay home and just read magazines and watch DVR'd shows and put songs on my ipod and just catch up on life.
I'm not much on decorating for the seasons. I like to spend money on things I can display all year - except Christmas - I love to decorate for Christmas. But I don't have anything for Spring. So I broke down yesterday and got a couple of things.

I loved this bunny

And I put a little nest under my cloche.

I've spent most of the afternoon painting my TV Trays. So far the black looks great! And when it finally dries - I'm adding our lime green monogram. I'll put up pictures when it's done. No matter what - it will look better than what it did and make meals more fun!

On another note - I found a new blog this week. This beautiful girl, Angie, is the wife of a singer in the Christian group Selah. They have three precious girls (including twins) and she is pregnant with their fourth daughter. They have been told that this baby will not survive when she is born. I can not imagine the pain they are enduring. She wrote the most beautiful post I have ever read here. Her post portrays EXACTLY how I feel about trusting God in the midst of my pain. I wish I was as eloquent as she is. Please go read it - but take a box of kleenex with you. I hope it inspires you as much as it did me.