Revamping our bookcase

So, we got this bookcase as a gift from my uncle.  The same bookcase that I made our refurbished frame out of from one of the old glass panes that was on it.  I have just been thinking that it looked a little grandparent-ish hand-my-downy, so I wanted to give it a face-lift!  Here is our before:

Once I took out all the books, I had no idea that I had a small bookstore on my hands!  And this doesnt include cooking, or old schoolbooks I've kept!  Or the books that I knew I'd never read again, so I gave them away!

Then I bought some semi-gloss black paint from the hardware store and gave it 2 layers of black paint EVERYWHERE except the back wall.  I probably should have sanded/faux sanded, but I really had no interest in adding another step messy or not.  Just the painting alone killed my wrists (massage therapist, they're already abused, didnt need more), so I crossed my fingers and prayed it would be alright without that little step.

I thought it turned out quite lovely!  Then I went to all the local hardware stores.  I wanted to find either a damask or striped wallpaper to put on the back wall in some sort of shade of green.  Wouldn't you know it, I couldn't find anywhere that carries wallpaper or wallpaper samples anymore!  Maybe I missed the only store that does, but everywhere said the same thing: "We only carry it online now!"  ARG!  So thats what I did!  I found a ton of wallpapers I LOVED... that were $36/roll with a min. 2 roll purchase.  Um, not really in my budget.  In the end though, I found something that I loved that also worked for my wallet! =)  TaDa!

I'm in love!  I put the books back in and almost took them out again cause I felt like not enough of the green was showing through the books!  I no longer feel the constant urge to buy a new bookcase anymore!

Saying goodbye, and catching up

A couple of weeks ago, we had to say goodbye to some of our close friends because they were moving to New Mexico. =(  We're very sad, and we will miss them, but hopefully we'll be able to see them occasionally!  So we had a little "last hoorah" at Dimples, the Kareoke bar.  On a Monday night.  Obviously, it was packed.  Ha.  But it was nice, cause all of us girls's microphone hungry husbands had (almost) total domain over the stage for a majority of the night!  It was a lot of fun!  I sang "leaving on a jet plane" (even though they drove), and the boys sang every off key hard rock song they could.  lol.  It was hilarious... aside from the brawl that we almost started... lol.  Seriously though.  Don't mess with us, or we will cut you.  lol.  "Seriously, are you still talking?!?"  Best night ever!

I don't know what those boys are gonna do without each other!  lol.  But we'll keep in touch as they raise their adorable growing family!  Malia just had her second little boy this morning!  We're so happy for them!

Other than that, I know I'm a bit behind!  Thanksgiving was great...I cooked!  Christmas was great... I cooked!  Robs birthday was great... I only cooked some appetizers, and some really hard brownies.  Note to self: When accidentally pouring the batter into a too large pan and deciding to go with it anyway, remember to cut the time in half!  For christmas, Rob got a TV, and I got a Kitchen-aid mixer, so that pretty much means, we will NEVER be able to top this christmas!  Then Robs birthday came around shortly after... luckily I plan for that... I hope to never give him a present and say "Merry christmas!  Oh yeah, and its your birthday gift too!"  Boo!  I got him a nice sports coat, a fireproof safe, and I framed the ticket stub I saved from our first date to the movies.  Aw, right?

New Years was great.  I made one resolution.  I will run a half marathon this year.  Maybe I'll do a 10k first to get warmed up.  I decided against the little things that I'd break right away, like losing 10 pounds, or working out every day... I figure if I get that big one, all the other little ones will follow =)  And if I don't, at least I only broke 1 resolution instead of 5 ;) hehe, no but I will do it!

Last year I made the resolution to find out I was pregnant before christmas 2011.  I was thinking I didn't make it, but then I remembered that technically, I did.  We found out I was pregnant... right after my ectopic ruptured... but still, we found out, so resolution accomplished.  Now to do it again... this time with a better outcome.  This whole thing is such a rollercoaster.  Right now, is definantly a heartbreaking time.  Like one of those moments when you just want something with all your heart, and nothing you can do will get you there any faster.  I mean, if I am just DYING for a certain pair of shoes, I can just drive over to the store and buy them (and then hide them in the closet and hope rob doesn't notice the first time I wear them...which he ALWAYS does).  But you really can't do that with a baby.  Nope.  Appearantly the life lesson I need to learn is patience right now.  If you pray for kindness, God gives you the opportunities to be kind.  If you pray for patience, God gives you the opportunities to be patient... OK God!  Lesson learned!  Moving on! Sigh.  I know, I know.  Gods timing.  Not mine.

Well, if you made it this far, you are a rockstar!  Happy New Year, and if anyone needs anything at all, please let me know!  We really want to find more opportunities this year to help others out.  Plus, the more people we help move, the more help we can expect when the time comes for us to move! ;)  haha, jk.  Kind of.

Medical stuff again

Ok, don't feel obligated to read this... this is just a short (short?  I read this through after I was done, and it is anything but short! sorry!) little update for those who are interested, or are just trying to figure out just how successful certain fertility treatments are.  Sorry in advance if I bore you =)

So about 2 1/2 months ago, Rob and I got the go ahead that we could start trying again, and I got the prescription for Clomid (or in my case, the generic Clomiphene).  I was told to take it on day 3-7 of my cycle (5 days) and then do my thing, and do a blood test on day 21 (or 22 if needed, but it is a very time sensitive test) to see if I ovulated correctly.  That test apparently is very important because if it turns out that I did NOT, then my dose needs to go up the next month.  If the dose is not increased, the whole next month is a waste, and that is no bueno considering you can only take this med for up to 6 months at a time, and there is a lifetime max, but I don't know how much it is... anyway, I digress... If I did ovulate, then all is good and I stay on the same dose for the following month.

So, 2 months ago I started my first round!  I was so excited.  I know it's only a 7-10% of twins, but here I was half expecting the first shot at it to work, and not only that, but it would be twins!  That first month was the longest month ever.  Though I was happy to say that I did not have ANY side effects.  Well, at work for two days I seemed to get a little hot, but who knows if that was just a lack of A/C... cause it was definitely not the "hot flash" that they said was possible.  So good news people!  Not everyone has awful side effects with that stuff.  Anyway, here's the quick version of the results so far...

Month 1:  I ovulated!  yay!  Not pregnant  =(

Month 2:  I ovulated!  Not pregnant  =(

And now we are in month 3.  I won't do these posts regularly cause if it does work, I don't want anyone thinking "oh, she didn't post this month...she must be pregnant..."  Gotta keep the mystery alive, right?  Truth be known though, every month that passes increases my discomfort about the situation.  I heard, though I didn't confirm it with my doc, that every month you are on Clomid, it is less and less likely to be successful.  I try not to think about it though cause everyone says "Just stop thinking about it.  If you don't worry, then it'll happen."  Which, just so you all know, is a slap in every woman's face who is dealing with infertility.  Basically you are telling her that it is her fault she can't get pregnant, which most of the time is completely not true.  Sometimes, no matter how stressed or relaxed a woman is, it just will not happen for them due to physical issues beyond her control.  And these women know that too.  So hearing that phrase just will not help and will only make her feel worse.  Sorry...didn't mean to go all preachy but it just had to be said...

Infertility is hard.  I recognise that.  I know it could get harder... I really haven't been forced to deal with it for all that long yet.  I also recognise that it could get easier as well...I could be one of the lucky ones. However, I have not lost hope nor do I intend to.  I'm not getting depressed...sad, disappointed, impatient, at times heartbroken, yes.  But not depressed.  Because I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.  There may be a perfect little spirit out there made just for us... we just may not get him or her in the conventional way... they may need to come to us through someone else.  One day it'll happen... adoption, or naturally...it will.

And heres something fun and informative that I found online, check it out... please? =)  (click on the link below)

 The Top Ten Things Not To Say To Someone Experiencing Infertility 

(with bonus pithy commentary)

This is a fun one too...

Things Not to Say

I really love this one... great miscarriage/loss section as well

Infertility and loss etiquette 
And just speaking from personal experience, one of the hardest things to hear people tell me is "At least you know you can get pregnant" (#2 in the loss section).  I COULD get pregnant.  And it wasn't even successful...it destroyed my tube.  Whose to say that it wont happen to the other side?  There is no guarantee for future success because I had a failed pregnancy in the past.  Its a really hurtful thing to hear.  And I know it is only meant with the best intentions and comes from a good place... or maybe the person just doesn't know what to say to help...I'm happy to have friends that care... it's just hard to know what to say when you havent experienced it... heck, it's hard to know what to say even if you have... its a hard situation and everyone is different in how they deal with it.

Smell my face

So yesterday Rob and I were in the car heading to a wedding reception/open house celebration.  I leaned over while he was driving and told him to smell my face cause I wanted to see if it smelled sweet.  LOL  So many things he could have said in response to that, but instead all he did was take a big whiff and tell me I smelled like cinnamon and he liked it!  Yes!  Thats what I was hoping for!  I found this diy face mask that was supposed to be amazing, so I tried it!

This mask is supposed to soothe swelling and redness in skin, along with helping to ease acne scars and prevent infection!  So easy to make and I had everything on hand too!

2 Tbsp honey

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix it all together, apply to skin (I did it in little circular motions to exfoliate at the same time) and let it sit for 30 minutes.  That seems like a long time, but I just watched a show, tried not to scratch when it started itching a little bit, and then washed it all off!  It's not pretty when its on, but you feel so radiant when it all comes off.  It looks like you're glowing and you have this perfectly flushed skin like a professional just applied blush to you.  

Rob told me the next time I do it not to skimp on time cause he likes how it smells =)

2 years!

Today, Rob and I have been married for 2 years!  Here we are then:

Awww.... we look so...um...the same-ish?  Who am I kidding, it's only been two years.  We're still relative newbies at this!  We celebrated first on Saturday night.  I have this awesome massage client that gave us a gift certificate to a restaurant in town called La Chene.  The service there was AMAZING!  Such a sweet server, host, busboys, everyone was great!  The food was great too!

Today we both got the day off, and started it right by sleeping in! <3  Then we got up and I got my anniversary present!!!  He got us tickets to go see the play Wicked next month!  I'm so excited!  I have been wanting to see that play for forever, and I just keep hearing everyone rave about it!  I love that Rob knows me!  I would prefer experiences for gifts, especially experiences we can both have.  Those memories will last far longer than any material thing he could ever give me... unless of course we are talking about diamonds.  Yes...diamonds are the exception... ha ha.

Then we made our way to Santa Monica.  I grew up in Southern California, and I had never been on the Ferris wheel at the pier, so that was the one thing I knew we had to do.  Everything else would just be bonus!

We kicked back and relaxed a bit... and took a few snapshots up there!

I absolutely love the faces we're making in this next one... soooo attractive!

Get a good laugh?  Good, cause the rest are kinda boring, but look at the hottie that was following me around all day...

Seriously, isn't he so handsome? 

 After strolling around for a bit, we grabbed a late lunch, and then we saw The Three Musketeers and then came home.  The movie was great, I think Milla Jovovitch is so stunning, though she was more cutsie in the movie than anything.  If you've seen the "original" with Chris O'Donnell, you'll basically know how it goes.  Same basic storyline, but slightly different.  Anyway, great day, great night, I hope the next year brings us many joys and very few trials!

Who does that?!?

Sad day!  We woke up and got ready for church this morning.  As we were leaving and locking up, we noticed something different about our wreath!

Someone stole the "W" last night!  How rude!  I guess thats what I get for putting up something nice.  Seriously though... who does that?!?