Yummmmm

Look what I had today:


After going 41 full days without my delicious neon-green Mountain Dew, I gave in and quenched my thirst. You know how people say that after giving something up they realize they didn't miss it? Not true. At all. I missed it every single day and it tasted just as delicious as I'd hoped it would. I'll never drink as much of it as I did, probably just have a couple per week. I'm proud of myself though. I didn't think I could do it and it ended up being fairly easy. Levi is still going strong without Diet Pepsi. He's going to have one on Easter Sunday, going 47 days without his liquid crack.
This week has been fairly uneventful. I had another acupuncture appointment today and this time was even more relaxing. I fell asleep within five minutes and was unbelievably peaceful. Even if it doesn't help my fertility, it's worth the money to go into a warm, dark room and relax for forty minutes. Seriously, when else in life can you just sit and relax and not have to do or worry about anything. It's worth every penny.

I'm excited for Easter this weekend. I need to plan Levi's Easter basket. That's a tradition that we've had since we got married. Even if we're flat broke, we still scrape enough together to buy a few knick knacks and some candy for each other. It's one of my favorite holidays because of this. This year I was able to get the entire weekend off, which is an absolute miracle. I have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off and I'm not going to do ANYTHING except have a good time.
We've been working on our front yard and I need to get some more bushes this weekend. Slowly but surely our house is becoming more of a home. I'll post some pictures after we get some more plants in. Why do plants have to be so expensive?? They should be free! They're just part of nature! Sheesh.

Well, hopefully I'll have more pictures to post in my next entry. Hope everyone is having a great week!

End of March already?!

This post brought to you by one of my new favorite CDs. (Normally at B&N we play really mellow music. This is the first pop album we've played in forever and I love it! Total 80s dance.)


I feel like it's been forever since my last post. The weeks have been flying by and I can't believe we're nearly 1/4 done with 2010. Crazy!
Last week I got to see my cutie-pie niece Eliza and her Irish dance group perform at the capital. They were darling and I'm so proud of her. I can't even do step aerobics, so I can't comprehend how she makes her feet move the way she does.
While attempting to take pictures of her dancing, I realized that our two month old $400 camera was a giant piece of crap. We had taken it to the experts at Idaho Camera about a month ago and even they said it was awful. I still had the receipt for it (we bought it at a place that rhymes with "Lears" and has the words "Satisfaction Guaranteed" on the back of the receipt.) Obviously I was not satisfied with the camera and wanted to return it for one that actually works. We decided that we just need a little point and shoot camera, nothing fancy. After much protesting and a call from the sales guy to his manager we were given the credit and we bought a much simpler camera and still have lots left over on the store credit. I splurged a little and bought not ONE full-figure minimizing bras, but TWO full figure minimizing bras. *Yes, they happen to be buy one get one half off. I was still excited. Levi almost splurged and bought a fancy hammer, but he held back. Such restraint!


Today I went to my acupuncture appointment and enjoyed every minute of it. Seriously, it's so relaxing. I fell asleep in the chair and woke myself up snoring. It's in a dark room and you sit in a heated recliner and listen to soothing new-age music. I was in heaven for that half hour. One downside is my smelly feet. I have no idea why, but my feet stink. It's something that I'm used to, but this morning while I was getting ready I remembered that I'd have to take off my shoes for the acupuncture and I thought I'd counteract it by actually wearing socks. This may have helped minimize the damage, but it certainly didn't cure it. I hope she didn't notice. I tried wiping my feet quickly with my socks while her back was turned and she stuck the pins in so quick I don't know if she even had time to get a whiff. I even listened intently when she left the room to see if she said something like, "Man, that girl's feet are funky!" Luckily I heard no such thing. I will have a better plan in place when I go back next week.

Levi has been reading like a machine! I'm so proud of him and I find myself struggling to keep up with him. About two years ago I bought him the Harry Potter box set because I knew that he would love them. He loves all the movies and I've poked and prodded for years to get him to read them. Finally he decided to read number seven and I almost punched him when, halfway through it, he said, "Why didn't you tell me these were so good?" Aaaaghhh! I've done nothing but tell him how amazing they are. Oh well. I'm just glad he likes them and is now starting with number one after completing number seven. Now he can understand why I wept openly when Sirius died (not to mention Hedwig, Lupin, Fred, Dumbledore, Snape, etc. etc. I've realized how in love with each character I am and how devastated I was to lose them.)

I can't wait for the Harry Potter theme park to open in Orlando. I will most definitely be making a trip there. I hope they serve butterbeer!

Well, I better go to bed. I work tomorrow and then have two whole days off in a row! What to do with myself.

Working twice as hard with half as much.

We found out some more disappointing fertility news this week. The mystery of why I only ovulate some months, even when on medication, has most likely been solved. It appears I'm only able to ovulate on one side, which means only every other month. This news sucks, as I realize that instead of twelve potential months per year, only six were ever possible. Six?! That's hardly any at all. I feel like we already had two strikes against us with my progesterone/ovulation issues and Levi's lower sperm count. I feel like this is three strikes. I guess it's a miracle that I was ever able to get pregnant in the past; it also makes those two miscarriages more infuriating, knowing how perfect everything had to be to get pregnant and then not being able to get those babies past the first trimester.
Another frustrating thing is knowing that Boise only has two infertility specialists (they both run the Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine) and my insurance considers them out-of-network. So I can see them, but I'll have to pay nearly 50% out of pocket. As anyone who knows anything about infertility knows, the procedures, appointments, medication, etc. are not cheap so paying 50% would bankrupt us. Why does my insurance care who helps me with infertility? Why are they out-of-network, when they're the ONLY two specialists in Boise. Oh yeah, there was a third specialist and he was in-network with my insurance but when I called to make an appointment with him last week I was told he just retired. Lovely.
So we're getting to a fork in the road: Do we continue doing what we're doing, which is becoming increasingly frustrating, only to perhaps miscarry again? Or do we take the adoption route, which is so expensive it would take years to save up enough money. Thankfully I have a supportive husband who is fine with either option. He's been so kind through all of this. Whenever I start to feel like a freak of nature who can't do what women are supposed to do, he's there to remind me that it's not my fault. He's been to so many appointments with me, has been to adoption seminars, has been poked/prodded/tested all in the name of bringing a life into our home.
I have to stop thinking of terms of, "Well next year I might be pregnant...." or "I wonder if I should wait to buy a dress for Avery's wedding, because I might be pregnant..." or "We shouldn't plan a trip for next summer because I might be pregnant..."
These thoughts are limiting our ability to make plans for the future, outside of babymaking. I need to be okay with assuming I won't be pregnant and live my life to the fullest. This will be the biggest obstacle to overcome as I've never given up hope, even being the realist that I am. I have to face facts soon and make the decision of what to do. This is terrifying, especially considering all our choices are based on money. It's too much money to adopt. Too much money to have in-vitro fertilization. Too much money to have procedure after procedure done if they don't guarantee I'll get pregnant and keep the baby.
I can only hope we make the right decision and that all our hard work will be rewarded. I usually avoid the, "I deserve this!" mentality, but I find myself having that attitude more and more as the months pass.
Woah, I guess this has turned into a more personal journal entry than a blog. I'm sorry if this was a bit rambly (is that a word? It is now.) I just ask that you all hug your children extra tight. They are such a blessing and should be seen as the miracle that they are.

My favorite place in Boise.

Can I just say how happy I am with the outcome of the Oscars. I really feel like the right movies were rewarded in their proper place.
One of my favorite things about living in Boise is having The Flicks theater so close. The Flicks is a locally owned, independent movie theater. It's a small movie house with two normal sized screens and two smaller screens. They serve food and have homemade cookies and don't charge out the nose for a tub of popcorn. When I first moved to Boise and didn't know very many people, I would go there all the time and catch the latest independent movies. Salt Lake City has a couple of indie movie houses so I was grateful to still have the chance to catch great movies. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the movies just about anywhere, but The Flicks definitely has a special place in my heart (and a special place in my stomach too, since they have the world's BEST panini sandwiches!)
Having that type of movie house in Boise has been so great for Levi and me. We got to see The Hurt Locker when it wasn't even playing in most cities. We've also seen amazing foreign movies and other movies that wouldn't normally play at a regular cinema. We saw Slumdog Millionaire three times at Flicks before it even hit the regular theaters. Can I also just say that it was the first place to be playing Napoleon Dynamite before it became popular :) Heather and I saw it there and were howling with laughter so hard, I was sure the people in the lobby could hear us.
So because of this place, I was able to see just about every single one of the Oscar nominated films. The only ones I haven't seen yet are The Blind Side and Precious. Obviously I was cheering for The Hurt Locker to win, but I was also so glad to see Jeff Bridges win for Crazy Heart and Christoph Waltz win Best Supporting Actor.
I love it also for opening my eyes to so many great movies. We wouldn't have ever seen Waltz with Bashir or The Lives of Others.
In days where movies like Avatar (which I strongly disliked) are the clear-cut box office winners, it's good to know I have a place to go see the underdogs.

Another fun website

Hackedirl.com




It's definitely good for a chuckle.

Time flies.

Some of Levi's birthday treasures :)
Phew, how is it already March?!
Last week we had a lot of fun with Eliza and Levi's birthday. My mom and nieces Carlie and Rachel came up with her and we had a blast. I have pictures of Eliza's birthday, but I haven't got the chance to upload them yet. Levi's party was a success. Bowling at the BSU student union building followed by The Big Lebowski at my father in law's house. Levi made out like a bandit and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who came or wished him a happy 30th.
I'm getting really excited for Spring. This WILL be the year I fix up the yard, despite having two dogs who are determined to ruin my efforts. Our rock garden will be complete and we'll lay more sod in areas that have died. I'm so excited for baseball to start. Life is always better when a game's on. Buying the MLB Extra Innings ticket for DirecTV is one of the best purchases we ever made.
Well, I have to get ready for work. Here are some pics of the party (although anyone who reads this is already on Facebook and has probably already seen these. Oh well.)