Angela's Bachelorette Party

This weekend was Angela's bachelorette party. A total of 8 of us girls went up to her family's lake house on Lake Poygen in Wisconsin. I have never been to a lake house before and I left there wanting to buy one ASAP! It was amazing!

We went through a town called Pardeeville on the way there. Just awesome!!
After we got to the lake house and unloaded all of our stuff, (Based on the number of bags and food we had, you'd think we were staying for a week instead of just one night. Girls!!) we all piled back into my car and went to The Bridge for lunch.

This picture took 4 takes! But sweet success!!! (And I really love the way my eyes look.)

We had a great lunch right on the river. We took loads of pictures. Here's Angela and all her bridesmaids.

Here are all of us girls that went doing a shot. Of course there were celebratory shots.

Bride and bridesmaid. It wasn't too long ago that these roles were reversed!

Some of the girls in the lake.

I really loved this lake because it was shallow for so long. It made it really nice for swimming and goofing around.

After we got back from lunch, we went swimming, played games, ate, drank, danced, had some serious girl time.

Angela's wedding night lingerie. Ha!!

I think we all had a great time. There was a lot of drama that happened much later in the evening. Let's just say that I didn't go to bed until 5 AM and woke up at 9 AM. Then, my sister and I had a 3 hour drive home. Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe it. It'll take me months to catch up on sleep. Ha!

Forming A Game Plan

Today, Drew and I went to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist. The man who's, hopefully, going to help me get pregnant. Well, along with my husband, right? Haha!

Anyway, we had our first consultation with him. We sat and talked with him for an hour and a half and formed a plan on how we're going to attack this infertility issue. Obviously, our goal is for me to get pregnant, stay pregnant, and deliver a healthy baby.

We all know how a baby gets made right? Well, the ovary releases an egg. Then, the fallopian acts like a sort of vaccuum to suck up the egg. The egg then gets fertilized by the sperm in the tube. It travels through the tube and implants in the uterus. Life has started.

Well, for me, when the tube acts like a vaccuum sucking up the egg, it also sucks up a whole bunch of other gunk (like endo), which acts like "battery acid" to the sperm. Once the sperm hits it, it kills it, giving it no chance to fertilize the egg.

There are 5 levels of aggression when it comes to trying to make a baby.

• Level 0 is no contraception. That could take a couple up to 2 years to conceive.
• Level 1 is Well Timed Sexual Intercourse. This is using charting and/or ovulation predictor kits to time sex around fertile periods. This will take a couple up to 1 year to conceive.
• Level 2 is using fertility meds to increase the number of eggs that are released and using WTSI. This will take anywhere from 6-8 months.
• Level 3 is allowing the body to release one egg, but doing an IUI. An IUI is an Interuterine Insemination. This is injecting the sperm into the uterus so that the sperm has less that they have to swim. This will take about 5-6 months to conceive.
• Level 4 is using fertility meds to increase the number of eggs that are released and an IUI. This will take 3-4 months to conceive.
• Level 5 is In-Vitro Fertilization. IVF is taking my eggs and Drew's sperm and fertilizing the egg outside of the body. Then, transferring embryos to my uterus and praying feverishly that at least one sticks. This will typically take a couple 1-2 months to conceive.

I told the doctor that my choice was Level 5. No questions asked. Let's get this done, Doc! Ahhhh, but life can't be so easy. You see, the insurance company has to approve such a procedure. And obviously, IVF is quite a costly procedure. So, insurance companies like to see at least a couple tries with IUIs.

Are you asking the same question I did? "But Doc, if my tubes are like battery acid to the sperm, what's the point? Won't that just be a waste of time and money?" Apparently they don't look at it that way.

So, our game plan. Drew will be doing a semen analysis (S/A). I have to do Day 2 bloodwork. Then, when those results come back, he will decide if he wants to do an SIS or an HSG on me. Basically, those are just looking inside my uterus to see if there are any abnormalities. If there are, I will be scheduled to have a hysterescopy to remove them. After all of that, we will then strategize whether we doing Level 4 or Level 5.

Angela's Bridal Shower

We had a bridal shower for my friend, Angela, today. You might remember that Angela was in my wedding. She's getting married on August 28 and I know that she's anxious for it to get here. It's my first time being a bridesmaid, so I'm pretty excited too. Here we are at her shower. Angela and another one of her bridesmaids, Kristin.

Angela and her mom. Don't they look alike??

We played the toilet paper wedding dress game. I've actually never played it before, so it was pretty fun.

The winner!!

I may be biased, but I totally think we should have won. I mean, we even had a one-shoulder strap. You don't get any more fashionable than that with toilet paper.

The video is the gift that I did for Angela. Drew's aunt and grandma did this gift for me at my bridal shower and I absolutely loved it!

Our New Ride

Remember here when I talked about Drew and I car shopping for something to replace Snowball? Well, tonight, Drew and I bought a new car!
Isn't she beautiful?

She is a 2010 GMC Acadia.

And she is loaded with features! Back-up camera, OnStar, Navigation system, two sunroofs, power everything.

The second row of seats are bucket seats, which we figure will be the best in the long run. All of the seats fold down for cargo space also.

The only thing that this one doesn't have that we wanted was the rear entertainment package. Drew and I think that will be nice when we go one trips and stuff. But since we still have a few years before it would be useful, we aren't too disappointed. We can always install some after market equipment.

This car was a demo, driven by the president of the company. That means that there were only 2200 miles on it when we bought. She still has that new car smell!!! I'm smitten!

Independence Day!

We never do anything too exciting for the 4th of July. We usually either hang out at our house or at Drew's parent's house. This year wasn't any different. We stayed at our house, had a bonfire, and lit off some fireworks

I decided to try to take some fireworks pictures after trying the lightning pictures. They didn't turn out good at all. I definitely need some more practice. Oh yeah, a tripod would help too!

Capturing the Light

We've had a rather stormy week here. Drew and I decided that we would try to take some lightning pictures. Um.... yeah.... It is definitely A LOT harder than it looks.

I had my shutter speed set at 8 seconds. 8 seconds!! Do you know how hard it is to hold the camera still for 8 seconds? I don't have a tripod, so it's very hard, in case you're wondering. And it never failed. I would press my shutter and as soon as the shutter closed, lightning would flash almost instantly. After about 20 times of this happening, I said, "Screw you Mother Nature. I'll show you!", and I extended my shutter speed to 10 seconds.

It didn't help any, in case you were wondering. I did manage to snap a few though. Enjoy!

Here's actually a good lightning shot. Too bad all the rest of the picture is pretty blurry.

Lesson learned: I need a tripod!

Extreme Thanks

When I got home from work today, the first thing I did was go to the mailbox. Are you surprised? When I got in the house, I flipped through its contents.

Junk, junk, bank statement, junk, credit card off, junk, card addressed to Drew, junk, and junk.

I did what any good wife would do, and ripped open that card right away.

Here is where I should probably tell you that on Sunday, Drew and I purchased a treadmill from Sears. We talked with a really nice guy, named Josh, who educated us on the different bells and whistles of the different models. We found out that he works on commission because we were exactly going to purchase it that day. We did ultimately decide to just purchase it because we knew that it was something that we have talked about for a while and both wanted.

Inside that envelope addressed to Drew was a card. A thank you card from Sears. More specifically, a hand-written thank you card from Josh, our salesman.

I could hardly believe it. The card was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. and very explicitly thanked us for our purchase of the treadmill. He also reminded us of the cartridge that we can purchase for personalized workouts. And, he even made a joke about something that we were discussing during our conversations with him.

I am seriously impressed. This is good customer service folks!! This small little gesture will most definitely bring me back to the store.

Have you experienced any outstanding customer service lately?

Head's Up!

Drew had to work today, which isn't a big surprise. At about 10:30 this morning, he called me to let me know that he had to go to the doctor to get some stitches. Stitches!!!!

I guess that he was greasing a landing gear and stood up too fast. Which resulted in a pretty decent gash to his head. A gash that required 4 stitches.
After getting stitched up, he went back to work and completed his shift. Such a trooper, huh?

When he got home tonight, he showed me the accident report that he had to fill out.

"No damage to aircraft, just personnel"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ::breathe, breathe:: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Some of you may remember that this isn't the first time that he's had to get stitches while he was working. At least he makes it memorable!

Crushed

I had an appointment with my OB/GYN today. I wanted to discuss with her my charts and why she thinks I'm not pregnant yet.

I went in totally prepared. I had lots of questions to ask and I had printed my charts out. And my charts look fabulous, by the way.

Then, she comes in. First, she breaks out the good news.

"Well, from looking at your chart, you're very obviously ovulating."

Thanks Doc! Tell me something I don't know. "So, why do you think is going wrong?"

Then, it happened. She said words that should never, ever be uttered to a woman. She told me that I have a very, very little chance of getting pregnant on my own and that I'll probably have to resort to in-vitro treatments. As in totally skip an IUI.

So, that's it folks. My hopes and dreams have been crushed. I will probably not conceive a child naturally. I have already made an appointment with a reproductive endocrinologist (RE) for August 5th. Please say a prayer for us.

And... I'm really sorry about this, and I may change my mind, but the way that I feel right now is that if Drew and I do have to pursue in-vitro treatments, I'm probably not going to talk about it. We've already been through so much with the endo and infertility, I just can't take anymore. Plus, doing treatments like this open the door for judgments. I do not want to be judged for the choices that Drew and I make. Like I said, I may change my mind, but as I stand right now, this will be a journey that Drew and I take with only our very immediate family members

Baby Shower Wreath

Since I'm sure that everybody would like to know how to make the absolutely adorable wreath that I made for some decoration for Jessica's shower, I thought I'd share the instructions with you. Want to hear a confession about how I found this wreath? The mail person accidentally left our neighbor's Woman's World magazine in our mailbox a few weeks ago. I decided to flip through it before taking it back to her. Totally illegal, I know. But that's how I stumbled across this little gem. (And don't flame me, I would never open mail or anything, and I usually take it right over to the neighbor's house, it just happened to be raining this day.) Anyways, I knew right away that I just had to make this for Jess's shower.

So, I used all of these blankets and toys. Well, most of them anyways.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• 16" Styrofoam wreath
• DecoArt acrylic paint in Taffy Cream (I didn't use this exact brand, and I used a greenish color since the nursery is sage green and baby blue.)
• String (I didn't use this either, I rigged up some ribbon to hang it with.)
• 1 1/2 yds. 1 1/2"-2" yellow printed ribbon
• Strong, fast-drying glue, such as Beacon Fabri-Tac (You don't need this if you make it the way I did.)
• 3 receiving blankets, about 30"x40" (I used four just for symmetry.)
• Corsage pins; straight pins
• Assorted baby things - soft toys, rattles, toiletries, brush-and-comb set, pacifiers, lullaby CD
• 3 yds. 5/8" yellow dotted ribbon
• 2 yds. each 3/8" pink, blue and green dotted ribbon
• Scotch double-sided tape (I didn't use this either)
• 1 1/4 yds. each 1" pink, blue and yellow ribbons
• Soft animal for top center
• 12-15 flat faux flowers and 1/2" pompoms (I didn't use these either.)

Note: As you can see in the above picture, I didn't follow the instuctions for the ribbon, I just bought a couple different options and in the colors of the nursery.

1. Paint wreath.
2. When dry, make hanger: Poke two holes through wreath, 2" apart, front to back. Thread string through and tie. This is the top. Glue printed ribbon around wreath's outside edge. (I didn't do this. See step 6 for my instructions.)
3. Fold blankets lengthwise; roll tightly. Place first blanket on wreath along inside edge; center at bottom. Pin on; ends may overlap at top. Place second blanket next to first; pin on. Add third blanket near wreath's outer edge. Ends probably won't meet at top. (This just didn't work for me. So, I wrapped the wreath with the blankets. I folded the blanket lengthwise, picked a starting spot, and wrapped the blanket around the wreath. I pinned the blankets in multiple spots and was able to use the pins to create a smooth finish with the blankets.)
4. Tie toys to wreath with ribbon. (I even used pins to pin the ribbon so that it wouldn't slide and would hold the toys in place.)
5. Pin flowers to empty spaces; glue pompoms to center
6. Here is what I did to hang the wreath. I wrapped thin ribbon around the wreath on either side of the large toy on the top and used pins to be sure that it would stay in place. I then threaded large ribbon underneath those thin ribbons to create the way to hang the wreath. Worked like a charm!

I am so proud of this project! What do you think? Will you be making one soon?

Baby Shower Part 1

I don't think that I've shared it here on JTT (Journey To Together), but I'M GONNA BE AN AUNTIE!!!!! Drew's sister and her husband are expecting a little boy due August 18. This afternoon, her mom and I hosted a baby shower for her.

Here are Jessica and Gaupy.
I flexed my creative muscles for this shower. This is only the second baby shower that I've been to, and the first one that I've co-hosted. I was very nervous! Here we are posing with the baby toy wreath that I made for her.

A couple of group shots. You can tell that we had a good amount of people.

One of the games that we played consisted of all of the guests making something baby related out of Play-Doh. Jess had to then pick two winners. Guapy didn't waste any time and made a large pair of boobies. I even heard her say that they are a baby's favorite thing! Lauren is in the middle and she made a really cute train!

Jessica and her "Hooter Hider"

Jessica and Betsy.

Overall, I think Drew's mom and I threw a fantastic shower. It seemed like everyone had a great time.

101 in 1001 - Update

Every month, I promise to be a better a blogger. And every month, I suck a little more at it. I'm going to start my better blogging with finally updating my 101 in 1001 list. I haven't updated since October - more than 6 months!! Shame, shame!

1. Take Drew to Arizona
2. Read the Bible
3. Visit the Daughtry’s in North Carolina
4. Visit the Landgren’s in Colorado
5. Make dinner every night for a week
6. Go to church at least one Sunday a month
7. Take a dance class
8. Move out of our apartment
9. Buy a house
10. Start our family
11. Pay off all credit cards (2/4)
12. Go to a Cubs game with Drew
13. Watch at least 5 Cubs games each season with Drew (and not complain about it) 5/15
14. Learn sign language
15. Learn to play the piano
16. Go on a spontaneous overnight trip
17. Go snowboarding or skiing
18. Don’t drink pop for an entire week
19. Go to Florida
20. Read 5 books that have turned into movies (3/5)(Twilight, My Sister's Keeper, The Time Traveler's Wife)
21. Watch the movies too (3/5)(Twilight, My Sister's Keeper, The Time Traveler's Wife)
22. Do a drastically different hairstyle
23. Get braces
24. Read the Twilight series (4/4)
25. Organize the closets
26. Host Christmas Eve for my side of the family
27. Go to bed before 10PM at least 60 times (30/60)
28. Go on a second honeymoon
29. Organize address book
30. Find 4 new recipes to cook for dinner (1/4)
31. Start a family tradition with Drew and me
32. Find a family doctor
33. Have 8 girls’ night (2/8)
34. Take a yoga class
35. Get a massage
36. Go to Starlight Theatre three times (0/3)
37. Clean out Drew’s clothes
38. Pick and print out wedding pictures for frame
39. Go to the movie theatre with Drew
40. Try 5 new restaurants (3/5)(Granite City, Land's End Tavern, Lucerne's)
41. Stay off the computer after work for one week
42. Get a job in my field
43. Take a cooking class
44. Put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean
45. Put my feet in the Pacific Ocean
46. Go golfing
47. Make a new friend
48. Teach someone something
49. Play hookie with Drew one day
50. Play a video game with Drew
51. Pick apples from the apple orchard
52. Plan a big surprise for Drew
53. Make dinner for my family
54. Make dinner for Drew’s family
55. Spend a day with my brother
56. Let Drew teach me something new
57. Learn one new word a week and blog about it (39/143) - Due to requests, I have stopped blogging about this.
58. Put at least $20 into my savings account every two weeks (31/71)
59. Eat dinner at the Signature Room again
60. Volunteer anywhere
61. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Museum of Science and Industry
62. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Shedd Aquarium
63. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Field Museum
64. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Hancock Observatory
65. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to Adler Planetarium
66. Go to Navy Pier
67. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast
68. Go to Brookfield Zoo
69. Go on a picnic
70. Go camping
71. Read “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” when I become pregnant
72. Take a photography class
73. Cross stitch a picture
74. Set up a 401k
75. Get a physical once a year (1/3)
76. Pay off bills as soon as they come in rather than waiting until they’re due
77. Host Thanksgiving
78. Throw a surprise party for someone
79. Send out birthday cards every month for a year (0/12)
80. Completely clean bathrooms every week for a month (0/4)
81. Recycle
82. Completely clean the tables off every night for a month (0/30)
83. Vacuum and dust every week for a month (0/4)
84. Don’t swear for a week
85. Go skydiving
86. Become known for making or doing something
87. Take a ballroom dancing class
88. Take an acting class
89. Research getting an MBA
90. Drink only water for a week
91. Splurge on a spa day for me
92. Splurge on a spa day for me and a friend
93. Encourage at least one other person to make a list like this one
94. Purchase a china cabinet
95. Purchase 5 new pieces of clothing and DON’T feel guilty about it (5/5)
96. Host a game night with our friends
97. Clean and organize garage
98. Do something I don’t want to that will make someone else happy
99. Preserve my wedding gown
100. Donate $5 to a charity for any uncompleted items on this list
101. Make a new list at the end of 1001 days and include any items I didn’t complete on this list