Aquarium Visit

I took J to the aquarium with my family on Memorial Day. I had really been hoping to take him to the zoo, but since Utah had a record-breaking rainy May, the weather just wasn't cooperating. Although I think he is still a little young to really enjoy seeing everything, J loved looking at all the brightly colored fish. It was so fun to watch him stare at everything and just soak it all in.

The aquarium had a penguin exhibit, so we decided to compare J to the size of the different penguins. When I tried to show him the penguins that were swimming around, I think he was more interested in the water than in the actual penguins.

They had an area where you could touch some rays that were swimming around. For the most part, it was a little too deep for J to reach, but we were finally able to get one close enough that he was able to touch.

Staring at the fish...J's favorite were definitely the ones that were colorful.

All in all, it was a fun trip. I think that J will really enjoy it once he gets a little older (and we go when it isn't quite as crowded). I still really want to take him to the zoo, so hopefully we will be able to go sometime this month. I have a feeling that he will LOVE watching all the animals.

An Elopement and Some Pics

I feel like it has been a while since I had time to post or blog! I will blame it on a combination of having a different work schedule this week and also finally having some beautiful weather to enjoy!

Well, my sister that I referenced a few weeks ago continues to have more drama. She broke off her engagement and got back together with her fiance several more times. Then, a week ago, she told my mom that she was going to run some "errands". My mom had a suspicion that my sister was lying, so she decided to search her room. Good thing she did, because she ended up getting married! My mom found a letter which basically informed the family that she had eloped. When my sister came home that night, my mom asked her about it, but she totally denied it. Finally, my mom got her to admit that they had gotten married the next day, but only because my sister was packing up her stuff to move out. I am glad that hopefully this will make things a little easier for my family and decrease some of the drama, but another part of me worries that this is just the beginning. Only time will tell...

Earlier this week, I invited my sister, mom, and MIL to come with J and me to enjoy something called the "Tulip Festival" which is held every year at a place near us called Thanksgiving Point Gardens. The flowers were beautiful, and everyone had a great time. I loved watching J, because he seemed so interested by everything. He was fascinated by the flowers and the bright colors, and I was able to get some really nice pictures.

Freaks of Nature

One of my friends who battled IF before getting pg with triplets posted this on FB. I thought it was pretty funny and decided to share...now I think that they need to make one about adoption! Enjoy!

Fall Leaves and Update

Not much is new with me, but maybe that is a good thing. It means that nothing is too crazy with me right now.

I think that I have patched things up with my sister. We haven't really talked about what happened, but things are better. I decided to invite her to come up to my house last Friday to help me work on a project we were doing for my mom's birthday. At first it was a little awkward, but by the end of the night, I had her laughing and happy. Apparently she told my mom that she had been excited that she was the only one who was coming up to hang out, so I guess that is a good thing. I think that I just need to maybe make more of an effort to include her and make sure that she knows that I am glad to have her as my sister.

Last weekend, DH and I took a drive up the canyon by our house to see the fall leaves. I was a little nervous about how they would be because we have had such a warm fall, but there were some really pretty areas.




The drive made for a really relaxing day. The route we took included a pass through the mountain that led us to a small town, where we stopped for lunch. Autumn is definitely my favorite time of year, so I am so glad that DH and I were able to take the time to go enjoy the leaves.

4 Years!

DH and I celebrated our anniversary this weekend, and I honestly can't believe that four years have already come and gone! It seems like just yesterday that we were just friends, hanging out with everyone else.

Our anniversary was a little low-key, but it was really nice that way. It made it easier to focus on each other and enjoy each other's company. On Saturday, we went out to eat at a restaurant called The Roof. It overlooks the place where we got married and offers a beautiful view of the city, which was nice and quite romantic. We had such a good time reminiscing about the past four years and sharing our hopes for the future. We both made comments about how even though our journey has been a little different than we thought it would be when we first were married, we are so grateful that we could share it with each other.

Our actual anniversary was on Sunday. Instead of going out on Sunday, I made a fancier dinner for us to enjoy at home. DH gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses and we exchanged gifts. It was pretty relaxing, but still nice. It was nice to not have any distractions and really just enjoy the time we had to spend with each other.

Although I didn't let myself dwell on it too much, this weekend also marked when we would have had a one year old child if it weren't for the m/c. HOWEVER, I have been doing so good at moving away from the what-ifs lately, and so it wasn't too hard. Of course I wonder how things would have been if we were celebrating a birthday, but it wasn't as painful as it could have been.

Quick Update

Just a quick update on my lab situation...I got an e-mail from the genetic counselor, and she said that my labs were NOT LOST! She said that the lab has the results ready and she was just waiting for them to fax them to her, and then she would give me all the details. That was Friday, and I am STILL WAITING. I hate to be a nag, but how long does it take to get a fax? I hate this waiting! At least I shouldn't have to go in for a redraw or start this whole process over again.

In other random news...I am pretty sure that one of the secretaries at my work is KU. I overheard her talking about how "if she and her boyfriend ever breaks up she will totally hang it over his head and he better not do it to another girl" and she "isn't ready to have this thrown at her". If she is KU, I know that it was definitely not planned...she is only 21, a bit of a partier, and keeps talking about whether she should keep dating her bf. Sometimes I think I would have had better luck getting KU if I had just been promiscuous in my younger days...j/k. Obviously it is just my speculation, but I can't say that I would be happy for her. It is hard to be happy for someone when you know it is an accident and they aren't able to care for a child.

Also, DH and I are heading out of town this weekend! I can't wait - we have seriously been planning this trip for like two years. We are going to spend a few days in Charleston, SC (DH lived there for a few years), and then we are driving over to Nashville, TN for my graduation ceremonies. I graduated from Vanderbilt back in August, but they only do commencement once a year, so we decided to head on over. I am a little concerned because the city is so badly flooded. Hopefully it will work out okay!

Race Day!

On Saturday I ran the Salt Lake City 5K. I decided to sign up for this race a few months ago because I figured that it would give me something besides IF and TTC to focus on, plus it would be something that I would actually have some control over. I was planning on running the race alone, but then I got an e-mail from my dad on Thursday asking me when/where we were going to meet up to run together. My dad is an excellent runner, and apparently he had told me that he would run with me, but I had spaced it. It totally made my day!

Before we began the race, I reminded my dad that I am not as good of a runner as he is and that it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if he did not want to keep pace with me. He was so nice and said that "he wasn't there to win anything" and he stayed with me the entire time.

DH took this picture of my dad and me just after we had crossed the finish line. My original goal was to complete the race in 35 minutes (I know, not super fast), and I am pleased to say that I ran it in 35 minutes, 31 seconds. I think that is close enough...goal met! I also finished 19th (out of 80) in my division, and right about in the middle of all the participants.

While we were cooling down after the race, we ran into two of our good friends, J and G. I had no idea that they were running, so it was fun to see them unexpectedly.

I am really glad that I stuck with it and ran this race. It was good to have something to focus and something healthy to keep me motivated. I think that I will probably start training for a 10K. It is nice to remember that their are goals out there that I can have control over and achieve.

Easter Weekend

This past weekend was a lot of fun!

I didn't end up getting together with my friends on Saturday night, but instead went out with my mom and sisters. We just went to the mall and then out for a treat, but it was still a lot of fun. I don't remember the last time that I went out with all three of my sisters and my mom at the same time, so it was obviously overdue. While we were out shopping, I got these new crop pants from American Eagle.

The best part about buying them was finding out that I have gone down almost two sizes since the last time I bought pants there! It is nice to see that even though the scale isn't changing much, my body is responding to my running and increased time at the gym!

Everything went well on Easter Sunday. It was a little bit stressful cooking all day and trying so many new recipes, but everything turned out and I think that everyone had a good time. I should have taken some pictures to have proof of my work, but the only proof I am left with now is refrigerated leftovers and sore feet! :)

Getting Ready to Run...

...No, not a marathon, but at least a 5K! I figured that would be a good short term goal for me to look forward to. It is something that I know I will be able to accomplish and can be in control of. Plus, having the deadline to look forward to (the race is April 17) will help keep me on track with my exercise. I can run a 5K right now, so my goal is to improve my time and run it in under 35 minutes. We'll see how that goes. But, it is nice to have something positive to focus on besides TTC.

Weekend and Cycle Updates

DH and I had a great long weekend! On Saturday, I took the opportunity to go get a massage with the gift certificate DH had given me for Christmas...it was wonderful! It was so relaxing and honestly just what I needed. I wish that I could rationalize spending the money on a massage more regularly, but unfortunately, I can't. After I came home from the massage, we went out for Italian Food.

Sunday (Valentine's Day) was a lot of fun! When I went to get into my car after church, I found that DH had left me a plate of my favorite sugar cookies. They are from Cutler's Bakery, and I can never get enough of them. They are so thick and rich, but so delicious! That evening, I made a nice dinner for us to eat at home. Everything turned out really well (I was a little nervous because it was the first time I had made some of the recipes). DH loved everything and it was all delicious! After dinner we exchanged gifts and watched "Couples Retreat". After the movie was over, we purposefully stayed up late playing Xbox...just because we could. Neither of us had to work on Monday, so we wanted to take advantage of being able to stay up late on a Sunday/sleep in on Monday. Maybe that is a little immature, but we had fun! :)

Yesterday, we went to lunch and to see "Dear John". I thought it was okay. I had already read the book and there were some big differences. I think I would be okay with the changes they made, except that the movie just seemed slow.

Now for some cycle news...
I am feeling really frustrated with my cycle. I know that I need to just relax and quit stressing myself out, but I can't help it. Today is CD 17 and I still haven't O'd. Last cycle, my monitor peaked on CD 12, so it just seems really inconsistent. The latest I have ever peaked on my monitor was CD 18, so hopefully I get those three bars tomorrow! I know that it is okay for there to be some variation of when O happens, but it frustrates me because I used to be so regular. Part of me worries that I won't even O this cycle. Maybe it doesn't matter that much because I go see the RE in a couple of weeks, assuming that I don't get a BFP. I just hate waiting!!! Sometimes I think it is harder to wait for O than it is to wait to POAS.