7QT Vol. 11: While I Was Out & Other Random Thoughts

So... remember that time I didn't blog for, oh, over a month for no reason? Yeah, sorry about that. I thought I'd give a little explanation for my absence from this little corner of the interwebs and catch you up on what I've been up to.

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Why I Haven't Been Here

I really have missed blogging.  Its just that I only have a couple of hours of free time when I get home from work to bed time, and most days I like to spend that time relaxing or hanging out with the hubs.  It only took a few times of me yelling at him to stop talking while I was trying to blog for me to realize that mayyybe I had my priorities backwards.  Free time is still pretty hard to come by, but we'll see if I can work this into my schedule more often.

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Fourth Anniversary

The day after my last post in August was our fourth anniversary.  I really meant to write a post about it but, well, see above.  We made a week of it really.  We went out of town the weekend before and went wandering around in the mountains, which was a pretty good time.  Then we had a nice dinner on our actual anniversary.  I have to say ,this last year was a pretty crazy one on our marriage.  Lots of downs, like financial issues, medical treatment and surgery, but lots of positives too, like making it through the rough patches.  I definitely feel like we're stronger for it all.  Despite how cheesy and cliche it sounds, I do feel like I love the Hubs more each day, and I am so blessed to have him.

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Hub's Promotion

Speaking of the Hubs, and my excuses for not writing, the Hubs got a promotion in the last month.  He has worked very hard for it, and I'm very proud of him! Of course it means longer work hours for the Hubs too now, and less time together, so take that as another excuse for why I haven't blogged recently.

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Paleo Diet

I don't know if you caught the brief mention in my last post, but after my doctor recommended that I cut out gluten and dairy I decided to dive right in and give the paleo diet another try.  The Hubs got dragged along too, under some protest.  The first month, we went the easy route and got food delivery.  That ended a couple weeks ago though, and we've been on our own... a little scary, and I haven't been perfect.  I will say, when I'm actually complying with the rules I feel so good!  Oddly enough, the hubs has actually felt worse.  We're pretty sure he's highly evolved and requires food that is processed and includes chemicals to survive. My cooking skills also have much room for improvement, thought I will say, I made this chicken tikka masala recipe yesterday, and it was pretty awesome!

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Other Miscellany

There's nothing else I have enough to say to write a whole blurb about, so I'll just ramble about some other random things I've been up to. Hmm, there was a random day trip to go apple picking (so fun!), a last minute 24 hour trip to as Vegas with my sister, a boat ride for my sister's birthday, the death of all of my tomato plants :( (apparently they require water), trying Indian food for the first time (so good), and arguing (and winning) a super important motion (with less than a day to prepare for it). So... lots going on!

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Disneyland

My birthday isn't for a few weeks, but we're already making plans to go to Disneyland for it!  I'm so excited!  I had passes growing up, but stopped renewing when I went to college in a different state. I visited a couple times when I was home from college, but haven't been back since then, its so pricey.  I finally have convinced the hubs and rationalized to myself that it'll be worth it for my birthday!  It should be a good time!

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The Pope!

I am so excited that the pope is in town (or the country) right now! I may be on the opposite side of the country, and not able to get to the east coast, but I'm still keeping up with everything going on over there as much as I can.  I'm loving his speeches and homilies, and pictures and videos are fun too!

I'm pretty sure this video is my favorite so far.  Though the pope in his fiat is pretty great too!

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That's all I have for you now!  What have you been up to lately?

As always, for more great posts, check out Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum.

7 QT: A Little Recap of the Last Couple Weeks

Hi! I haven't joined in on 7 Quick takes for a while, so I thought I'd jump in this week!  There has been a lot going on, so I thought I'd just give you an overview of that!

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A couple weeks ago, after over five months on the job hunt, I got two offers of employment! That felt awesome! They were both great companies, and it was a tough call.  I ended up going with the firm that's closer to the field I want to be in.  I'm so excited to start next Monday! Thank you for listening to me whine along the way, and for any prayers you sent up for me.  I am not patient, so that was a tough wait.

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Of course, getting a new job means giving my notice at my current job. I did that on last week, and I thought it went decently well.  I was trying to keep things amicable, as much as I just wanted to do this:

Things were awkward since I gave my notice though.  I guess that's to be expected, but I really hate awkward situations, so two weeks of it was not particularly fun.  I'm glad it's all over now though! My last day on the job was yesterday! So I get a nice three day weekend to rest up before the new one starts!

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On a different note, we had our first meeting for our Catholic Infertility Ministry on last week!  It's off to a small start, we only had five people, but they are really great people!  I learned so much from them in just one night!  I'm so excited that people actually showed up and we actually got started!   This next month I'll be kicking up the spreading the word effort (even more), which is a little daunting, but I guess I just have to do it! On that note, I've created a blog button for the ministry's website:

Clicking it will take you to the Catholic Infertility Ministry website, where we've got some resources, and are always working on making it better and adding more (and are always willing to take suggestions). I am not super tech savvy and haven't figured out how to share the html code for the button yet, but feel free to take it and make it link back to www.catholicinfertilityministry.com If you'd like!

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On a random note, its actually been raining in my drought ridden state a little bit over the last few weeks.  Probably not even close to as much as we need, but it helps.  My garden is loving it too!  I have some lilac bushes that just refuse to be happy, and I can't figure out if it's from over or under watering.  But when it rains, whether its because they're getting more water or because I don't water when it rains, they perk right up.  Maybe they just prefer their water from the sky, but whatever it is, I'll take it over them dying.  My peaches are coming in nicely too.  I just hope this year I can beat the rats to them. Last year I think I only got a few, the rest were gnawed on right before it was time to pick them :(.

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Ooh, there's something else going on in my garden right now too. I can't believe I haven't mentioned here what I'm growing yet.  I made a (tiny) vegetable patch out of a planter area that was looking messy, and I'm growing... TOMATOES (and a little bit of basil)! That's right, little mascots for this blog.  No, I couldn't help myself, I had to do it.  So far, they're pretty happy and growing fast! I even see our first few tomatoes coming in! I love it!  Here's the latest picture I have of them:

This was a week or two ago, they've gotten bigger since then! I really need to get them some cages but keep forgetting.  Hopefully soon I make my way to home depot.

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Last weekend we went to nearby city to see the Hubs's favorite band in concert!  It was a last second idea and kind of ended up being an early birthday present to the Hubs after we realized how much it would cost to go out of town on a holiday weekend.  It took about three hours for us to make the usually one hour trip, but we expected it and were prepared.  The concert was awesome and totally worth it!  We got to see Matt Nathanson, who was very talented, and hilarious, though his squirmy dance moves bothered the Hubs a little, lol

Then we saw the Fray!

Ah, I love them so much.  Really, I think they were better live than recorded, I love when that happens.  Oh, and I managed to get, oh, this close to the lead singer.

not the best picture, but you get the idea

Yea, that was awesome.

Last was Train.  Always so good, an they put on a great show.

The only negative is that they saved the Hubs's favorite song (Drops of Jupiter) for the end.  We knew they would do this from the last time we saw them (for his birthday a few years ago. Yes, I am awful at coming up with original ideas), but this time we wanted to beat the traffic, so we left before it played :(.  I did play the song for him a few times in the car ride back to the hotel :).

On the way back home the next day we picked up wine! Yay! We were a couple shipments behind on our wine club (we're cheap and don't want to pay for shipment) so we got four bottles! Surprisingly, we've only had one so far, lol.

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I don't have a bunch of plans for this weekend.  I've actually turned down some invites, just so I'll be rested up to start the new job.  Today I have a doctor appointment (yep, that means another cycle review headed your way) and a facial scheduled (from a gift card the Hubs gave me years ago).  I know, it's a rough life.  All I need to do for the rest of the weekend is go shopping for some new professional duds, maybe get my car cleaned, and clean the house.  I have a feeling I'm going to be pretty busy starting, so I want to get a head start on the disaster the house is going to turn into, lol.

That's all I have for you now!  What have you been up to lately?

As always, for more great posts, check out Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum.

7QT: Infertility Awareness Week

This week this little blog went overdrive for infertility awareness week.  I think its an important topic so I'm going to sum up the week here.

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I'm going to start with a little recap of my posts.  First, we talked about my favorite posts already written on the topic.  Next, I gave you a home tour of infertility.  I then shared a beautiful post written by the collaboration of 430 catholic men and women on the Catholic Perspective of Infertility.  After that I gave some tips on the care and keeping of an infertile friend.  I'll be wrapping things up with a post about what I wish I knew earlier.  I also shared quite a bit on twitter (I've got a little twitter addiction problem going on right now).  Whew. This blogger is going to take a little break on writing now

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Conceiving Hope's infertility awareness week series has been beautiful (literally and figuratively) and enlightening in so many ways. I would recap it, but it wouldn't do justice, and she has her own summary post with links.  Head on over there to see it for yourself.

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Most fun post in my opinion was this one, with some infertility memes.  Maybe my brand of humor just pairs with a dash of snark, but I loved it.  Here's my favorite for you:

Credit here

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Melody's Harmonies had some great posts too.  My favorite is the faces of infertility. It's both heartbreaking and beautiful to read the wide range of stories.

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A surprise entry in my favorite series of posts this week was Mama Needs Coffee.  I love the empathy showed to the infertile community by this sweet mommy blogger, and I loved reading the posts each day.  They were all great posts, though I'll have to say this post was my favorite, such a great story and perspective.

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There's really no way I can cover all of the great things that happened and were posted this week, but here's some of what I could think of.  Lucky as Sunshine shared her kindness and her story,  An interesting discussion on an article (in the comments). A courageous post. A beautiful success story. An honest view of secondary infertility. Some solidarity. And I finally mentioned infertility on my personal Facebook page and received the support of friends.  All in all, a good week.

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Tomorrow I'm going to the Catholic Women Blogger's Network Conference in California (say that three times fast).  I'm pretty excited, though a little nervous because I think I'm the only infertile blogger going, so I'll be a little out of my element with no safety net.  Here's hoping it goes well and I have some great tips to bring back to this blog.

Thanks for stopping by.  As always, for more great posts, check out Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum.

7QT: Holy Week Edition

Welcome back for another Seven Quick Takes.  Since this is Good Friday, I'm going to keep this post focused on holy week.

photo credit: here

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Palm Sunday was a roller coaster of a day.  It started out with the events of this post, not really a high point for me.  But when we got to mass (we go to evening mass) things turned around. We were asked to bring up the gifts, and as simple as that was, it was a whole lot of healing for me. I finally felt at home in our parish, and felt like I had something to offer, beyond all my brokenness. Sometimes its the small things that make all the difference.

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Ok, so maybe not a holy week event, but Tuesday I went to a talk by an amazing priest, Fr. Robert Spitzer, about happiness and suffering, which is mentioned on his website here.  I had never heard Fr. Spitzer speak before, though I had heard great things about him, and I can say he lived up to what I had heard and then some.  The talk really made me look at some things in my life, and was really helpful in considering suffering too.  I'm really glad my sister dragged me along to it :).

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On Wednesday, the Hubs and I went to confession and holy hour.  There is an awesome Norbertine abbey close to us, St. Michael's Abbey, which offers adoration and confession ever day during their night prayers.  Attending is always a beautiful experience.  This one was no different.

The wait for confession was pretty long, an hour and a half, and I'll admit I got impatient at some points, but in the end I consigned myself to the fact that God wanted me there.  Having adoration the whole time was beautiful.  The first half hour, maybe 45 minutes, was easy, as I counted up my sins, got ready to go, and said prayers for anyone I could think of.  The rest was more difficult, but good.  I took a good hard look at the sins I was bringing to confession, and made sure I was actually sorry for them, and was going to do something about avoiding them in the future. Then I just spent time in silent prayer until it was my turn for confession.  It was a wonderful experience.

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After confession I felt awesome.  The next day (yesterday) I felt like I was bouncing on a cloud of grace for the first half of the day at least.  I always know confession is good for me, but I don't always get the happy clean soul feeling, as I think of it haha, so that was nice.  Of course, as the day went on it got harder and harder not to slip back into the usual routine of being irritated at people, gossiping, and the rest of it. I did my best though.

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Last night we went to the Holy Thursday service at our parish.  Again, it was a beautiful mass.  Growing up it actually wasn't something we would traditionally do, so going has kind of been a new tradition the Hubs and I have started.  I will admit that sometimes I do get impatient with the long masses (anyone catching the fact that I have an issue with patience? lol) but I love being more immersed in the liturgical year, and especially the happenings of holy week.  It also makes me appreciate our parish, our pastor and priests, and the community there more too, you can really sense the reverence and care that goes into everything.  After mass we picked up pizza at the same place we ate at on Ash Wednesday.  Not so much a symbolic intentional gesture, really just because its one of the closest places to our church to eat and I was hungry!

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God has made pretty clear that I should be clearing my distractions for Good Friday.  My boss gave us the whole day off for Good Friday, which is a first.  I will give him credit, the last couple years he would give us the afternoon off if we asked for it. I also had a phone interview that was supposed to take place at 12:30 that I was feeling uneasy about.  Yesterday it was cancelled (due to the position being filled).  So, I guess that leaves me free and clear.

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That leads us to today, Good Friday. Having the day off has been a nice way to slow things down.  I'm going to try to make more time for prayer and meditation, especially during 12 and 3 pm.  A few church near me have services, so maybe I'll catch on now or later when the Hubs gets home.

Thanks again for stopping by.  I hope you are having a blessed triduum. For some great conversion stories (I love conversion stories) and more great posts, check out Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum.

7QT: What I've Been Doing When I Haven't Been Here

Its been a little while since I posted something with actual substance.  If you don't count the domain change announcement and a weigh day post, its been at least two weeks (though if you hadn't noticed, never mind the apology, we'll call it even).  Since I do want to write a post, but I can't think of anything exciting to write, you get to hear more excuses for why I haven't been posting, enjoy :).

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The domain change.  See, I have been here, I've just working behind the scenes.  Or, I don't know, in front of the scenes changing the blog appearance but not actually writing anything?  That analogy got confusing fast.  What I'm saying is, I have been workin' on the ol' blog, just not in the usual way.  I have been entertaining myself greatly with it, and luckily the Hubs too.  He doesn't complain about my spending lots of time and maybe some money on this hobby because he finds it "cute."  Hey, whatever works.  Now lets see if I can find a way to work some more tomatoes into the appearance...

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Work has been crazy busy.  I know, lame excuse, but I do have to get paid somehow.*   We have had some big things going on lately which have required a lot of prep work on my part.  What's most maddening is that I won't know the result on one for months now.  Why am I always having to work on patience?  Anyway, the point is, I've been productive elsewhere, just not writing here.

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The job hunt.  Yes, almost four months into the search and I'm still looking.  I have had to turn down some interviews after I heard more about the business or heard they were located too far away.  Really, if companies didn't post anonymous and barely informative job listings, I feel like it would weed out a lot of applicants. I did have one interview that went decently well.  It was on St. Joseph's day of all days too.  I have a feeling someone out there included me in their St. Joseph novena, probably my mom, she loves novenas.  I haven't gotten a definitive answer yet, and I have an interview for a different job lined up for next week, so here's hoping something works out soon.

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Watering my garden.  Ok that's a stretch.  But I have watered it twice in the last two weeks, which is more than I watered it between August and March (yes, you should feel sorry for my garden).  To be honest, the only reason I have been watering is because we did a complete overhaul of part of the backyard.  I was instructed to water it twice a week until everything got settled.  I completely forgot until the plants started looking...unhappy (to my defense, it had also rained a little too, I thought that had the plants covered).  Luckily most of my plants are California natives, which means they understand life without water.  However, my cacti killing count is up to around 5.  You know you have a black thumb when you can kill cacti.

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Catching up on shows. I don't know if you remember me mentioning that the Hubs was super busy for a few months, but during that time I stopped watching (most of) the shows we watch together and let the DVR pick them up for us to catch later. It's actually taught me what shows I cared about and which I don't.  Out of like ten shows, we've only caught up on two, Flash and Arrow of course (we're totally not comic book geeks or anything).

We also have Netflix shows to work on. We really weren't fans of the new season of House of Cards. Even besides the blasphemy, the show didn't live up to the earlier seasons of storytelling and sharpness.  We have started already watched (twice) a new show, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  If you liked 30 Rock, you'll love it, though I can't say the sense of humor would work for everyone.

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Being hormonal.  Since I took Clomid again (likely for the last time) this cycle, I've been fun and mood swingy again, though not as bad or for as long as last cycle, thankfully.  Even so, I like to step away from the keyboard (and the world actually) when I know I'm being crazy moody.  I generally like to have some control out of what comes out of my mount (or fingers?) and I don't always hold the reins when Clomid is involved.  I've also been a little stressed about this cycle being weird, and the blood work results from last cycle (my doctor didn't give me the exact numbers, I just got them from the lab, and they were worse than I was imagining).  I'll probably talk about it in more detail in the next cycle review post, but suffice to stay, there's been a lot going on in my head that I've been sorting out away from here.

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Falling asleep early.  Yes, I am aware this is super lame, but with everything else going on, I have been tired!  While our usual bedtime is 12-1 AM, I've been falling asleep between 9:30 and 11.  I feel like I'm getting old, but I have to tell you, the sleep is glorious.

So, that's the super exciting synopsis of what's been going on for me right now.  For more (and most likely more interesting) posts check out Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum.

*You may notice there are ads on this blog (well there were, they've decided not to comply since the domain change, ugh) they are mostly an experiment and I've tried to make them as unobtrusive as possible, so they haven't even pulled in a dollar yet, just for full disclosure

7QT: Road Trip Edition

Ok, I know I'm late for seven quick takes, but I wanted to post about the roadtrip we took last weekend, so here goes:

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What lead to it? I got a little antsy and decided I needed to drive somewhere, far away.  Last road trip we went on that was longer than a few hours was two and a half years ago, so obviously we were overdue.  I was first dead set on some longer options, but the Hubs wasn't exactly keen on the idea of driving 12-14 hours each way on a 3 day trip (yes, I am crazy).  So I decided on a 7 hour drive up the coast instead, and planned it over the last few weeks.  The poor Hubs got dragged along, under some protest, but he did have fun in the end.

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Biggest takeaway from the trip?  My cell phone is homicidal.  Seriously, it took us on some scary routes, from a windy mountain "shortcut", curvy one lane roads with barely enough room for two cars, up and down steep hills in the middle of a city, and everything in between.  Next time, I'm plotting the route out on an actual paper map ahead of time, like we used to back in the stone age.  Lesson learned.

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Also, I wasn't the biggest fan of nature either.  First of all, that whole getting dark at night thing is a real drag when you're unfamiliar with your surroundings.  The trip was planned to all take place during the day, but we hit some problems getting started (like having to turn back for my medicine) and ended up driving the last 2-3 hours after sunset.  Second, I learned a couple days before the trip that a big storm was on its way in, but I didn't let it deter me.  Yea... driving in the aforementioned dark while its pouring and you can't see the lines on the windy one lane road, no good.  Also unappreciated, random hail storm (which mostly had be worried about my paint) and pouring rain up a winding freeway (luckily the snow just stayed on the hilltops).  For someone who only drives about ten miles through the suburbs to work (my commute before that was a half a mile), it was quite the challenge, to say the least.  I told the Hubs I felt like the post office.. neither snow, nor rain, nor dark of night... lol

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Destination one was Carmel, CA.  It was pretty great.  We stayed at a little bed and breakfast type place built in the 1920s, love the old charm.

Unfortunately, we were a little behind schedule (see above) and rolled into town around 9 pm.  We scrambled (mostly unsuccessfully) to try to find food before the town essentially closed down at 10 pm, which it did.

Yes, this was "dinner", wine and cheese

At 10 there was only one place to go, the bar.  Yes, one bar.  It made for some great people watching.

The next day we did some sightseeing at the local mission. There are 21 missions that were built by Spanish missionaries in the 1700s (I believe) up the California coast.  Fr. Junipero Serra was a Franciscan missionary responsible for founding most of them.  You may have heard lately that the pope is planning on canonizing him on his visit to America, which is  pretty awesome.  So we were pretty happy that we got to visit the mission he was buried in.  It was really beautiful.

The restored mission

A beautiful statue of our lady where JPII had prayed!

Where Fr. Junipero Serra is buried

After the mission, we did some sightseeing, then were on the road to San Francisco!

Our last view of Carmel

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The drive to San Francisco was pretty short, should've been 2 hours, but was 3 after some small detours and the blinding hail encountered.  There were some fun places we passed through that I totally want to go back to some day.  This town that claimed to be the artichoke capital (of the world)  and this one  that was pretty emphatic about garlic.  We also got off the freeway on the misleading exit of silicon valley road, where we did not see silicon valley, but did see this tumbleweed.

The Hubs did not understand my enthusiasm over seeing a tumbleweed, but I thought it was pretty cool.  To each his own I guess.

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San Francisco!  (Not pictured due to terrifying ascent and descent of hills).  So much to see in so little time.  Although we couldn't make it to some of the big tourist attractions, like Alcatraz and China Town, we did get to some of my favorites.  We first stopped at a decently famous restaurant the pier for some sourdough bread and clam chowder (and dinner).  The ten minute wait turned into almost an hour, but it was worth it.  Next we walked down fisherman's wharf, checked out the pier, picked up some sourdough bread to take home (nothing better than sourdough bread straight from San Francisco).

Fisherman's Wharf

View of the Bay Bridge from the Pier

Loved these! Sourdough animals!

Then we headed to Ghirardelli square for some chocolate... and ice cream.

Sooo yummy

(Now are you amazed that I still managed to lose weight last week?)

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After mass the next day we had to head home :(.  We did drive over the golden gate bridge and stop in a cute little town on the other side.

Driving over the golden gate!

Sausilito

The rest was a mostly boring mostly straight 7 hour drive.  I think we heard every song on the radio at least 3 times.  Also, there was a big of an intense case of road rage on my part, which had the Hubs a little concerned, but I eventually got past it, lol.  I was definitely happy to finally get home!  Thanks for stopping by!  Hopefully next time I get by post done on time.

Head over to Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum for more!

7QT: Valentines Edition

So, I'm sure you all know that valentines day is tomorrow (you do know right?  If not you still have like 24 hours or so to prepare!).What you may not know is that today is our half anniversary :).  Yes, we're dorks and both actually remember that.  We probably wouldn't if it wasn't right before v-day, but who knows.  Anyways, that means that as of today we've been married 3.5 years, sweet right?  Well, since we're already being mushy by remembering the half anniversary, I thought I'd go ahead and get even mushier.  So here's 7 quick things I love about the Hubs :).

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He's a romantic.  Seriously, this guy.  He sends/brings me flowers on all the big dates (birthday, valentines, anniversary), and a bunch of times for little or no reason too.  He always writes the sweetest cards, and is always reminding me how much he loves me.  He even saves little things like movie stubs from dates and tickets from trips and what not.  He is always sweet, thoughtful, and loving, and kind, even in the smallest ways.

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He's a gentleman.  Through and through.  And I don't mean just opening car doors for me (which he's done from day one).  He pulls out seats for me, walks on the side closest to the road, carries things (even my purse) for me (he call himself my pack mule), and plenty of other things that I can't recall or might not even notice.  Oh, and he will not cuss in front of me, and if he does he'll apologize, which is kind of entertaining because I have a tendency to cuss like a sailor on occasion, oops (I never said I was lady like).

Except for when he attacks me with a chicken wing

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He's my rock.  He always supports me, and when things get tough, he's always been there for me.  Back to when we were dating in law school, he was always there to calm me down when I got stressed out. Even now, when things get tough, I can count on him.  If I get upset, he'll listen to me, let me vent, or let me cry my eyes out (getting mascara and snot all over his shirt more than once, lol), and always help me to either see the bright side or to fix things, if possible.  Even if it isn't possible (like is the case so often when dealing with IF) just the fact that he is there, listening and reassuring me, means the world to me.

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He always fights for me.  There have been plenty of obstacles in our relationship.  From big ones, like us being from places 3,000 miles apart, to small(er) ones, like dealing with relatives.  Even when the obstacle is me, and I'm being moody, pushing him away, and exile myself to the couch (I never said I made any sense).  He always fights past the issue and for me, from moving to California, to never letting me spend a night alone on said couch, lol.

Too bad NY wouldn't work out, it was pretty cool

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He has a great sense of humor.  I've said before, from the first day I met him I have always felt comfortable with him.  Part of that is his great sense of humor, and the fact that he gets mine too.  We can laugh for hours about the silliest little things.  Like making comments at TV shows, or the crazy things our dogs do.  For example, the other day we were talking about how ridiculous our dental insurance company makes it to get a replacement card.  That quickly morphed into a talking about the company sending secret emails that would self destruct the computer reading it and all the other computers around.  You might have had to have been there, but we were laughing about that for days.

Always making me laugh, that guy

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He's really, really, ridiculously good looking.

Yes, I'm referencing Zoolander

I know looks aren't everything, but what can I say, he's got it all in my opinion.  From his the little curls in his hair, to his piercing blue eyes, to perfect nose, to his sweet smile that is so warm it could melt a snowman :).  Yea, I think he's the most handsome man in the world, and (I hope) he knows it :).

Handsomest wedding date ever

-7-

He bring me closer to God.  I love the fact that we share our faith.  We are able to talk about it and work on it together.  And even though sometimes praying together can be difficult (or when I get cranky when its too late and I don't want to wait to pray to go to sleep), he always makes sure we do.  Sometimes its not even that he has to say anything, its what he does, his unconditional love that is a reflection of God's love to me. Definitely the most important thing on this list.

With the priest who married us!

Well, thank you for wading through all this cheesiness (I don't blame anyone who didn't).  Head over to Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum for more!

7QT: Random Happenings Around Here

I haven't joined in on Seven Quick Takes in a while, and I really wanted to.  Problem is, I don't really have like some interesting, overarching theme to talk about.  So, you just get a random amalgamation of what's been going on around here, lucky you!

-1-

Ok, first of all, lets talk about the super bowl.  We kind of had a super bowl party.  And by kind of, I mean it was just me and the Hubs.  But we got chips, dip, pizza, soda, and beer (all things that are usually not stocked in our house) and had a good time watching the game commercials.  No leaving the house, no dealing with awkward small talk, and I got to watch in my pajamas... it may have been my favorite super bowl so far :).

-2-

I found out on Monday that I ovulated this cycle!!  I know I've already talked about it, but it really is the most exciting thing to happen around these parts in a while!  I'm still super psyched about it :).  In case you're new around here, check out the Infertility Journey page to see why this is a pretty big deal.

-3-

At the same doctor's appointment, I got a new handout of advice.  I love my doctor because she seems like she's always on top of things.  She said this handout was based on the latest research, so cool. Along with suggesting a bunch of new supplements, it also suggested that I avoid BPA and Phthalates.  I have to confess, I've never really been "crunchy".  I have nothing against it, it just seems like a lot of work and I'm lazy.  But now I kinda have to try.

You guys, I had no idea how much stuff BPA and Phthalates are in!  I got some new, more natural shampoo, conditioner, body and face wash, to try to avoid all that stuff and all.  I tried them all out today, and I'm not sure I love them yet.  One the positive side, my hair looked great, on the negative, it didn't feel great, and it all smells like baby powder, not like the advertised scent.  So the jury's still out on it, I guess we'll see.  Anyone else have favorite natural products?

-4-

Along the same vein, one of my newer medications is giving me vivid dreams.  While its a good thing that the dreams aren't scary or upsetting usually, they're not really particularly interesting.  For example, last night I dreamed about getting laid off at work (in a mostly non-dramatic way) and applying for new jobs.  A few nights before I dreamed about vacuuming .  Yep, you read that right.  Hours of vacuuming, emptying the vacuum, and then continuing with the vacuuming.  I tell you, my subconscious knows how to party. I can't wait to find out what's next, sweeping? doing the laundry?

-5-

Speaking of jobs, the poor Hubs is not only working, but has been busy studying for a couple important tests lately (please send up some prayers for him if you can).  I really appreciate what he's doing, and know its gotta be so tough. I really shouldn't even be whining about it, but I miss him!  What it means is I see him while we get ready in the morning, for the half hour or so when we eat dinner, and mayyybe for a little bit before I fall asleep, if I don't fall asleep too early.  And I'm so bored without him to hang out with!  I forget how lucky I am to have such a awesome hubs that I have so much fun with sometimes, at least this is a good reminder.  Also, I need someone else to take up some of the dogs' attention, I love them, but sometimes they drive me crazy.  One of them kept waking up wanting to play (fetch, of course), and kept it up for almost a whole hour last night.  Crazy dog!

-6-

I still haven't taken the plunge on a diet (as if that wasn't clear from the first take) but I think I'm leaning towards weight watchers.  They have a promotion where your fees for two months will be reimbursed if you manage to lose 10 pounds during them, which is totally (possibly) doable.  The promotion ends valentine's day, so that gives me some motivation to get started.

I had a humiliating run in with the ghost of weight watchers past this week though.   I was ordering lunch at a new restaurant and, not knowing the portion sizes, ordered two things.  Turned out I ordered enough to last me at least three lunches.  Oh, and right behind me while I was ordering was my old weight watchers leader. So yea, humiliating, especially since I've gained like 40 lbs since I last saw her :(.  Oh well, more motivation, right?

-7-

This story, about the husband who's wife divorced him because he wanted to keep their son, who they found out after he was born has down syndrome, has been on my mind.  Its so heart breaking, yet heart warming that so many people have rallied around baby Leo.  It also makes me think of the children have not been so fortunate. They will all be in my prayers.

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Thanks for stopping by!  Head over to Kelly's at This Ain't The Lyceum for more!

7 Quick Takes, a Change of Season Edition

I think the tone around here could use a little lightening up.  I hope this weeks 7 Quick Takes can do the trick!

--- 1 ---

So the first time I linked up, I mentioned that fall was taking forever to show up.  I think I mentioned somewhere else that I thought fall was finally here, that was a lie, it got hot again.  Its slowwwly getting cooler, but there's still 80 degree days here and there.  Seriously ridiculous.  I've been wondering if I'm just going (more?) crazy, considering the fact that I live in the same area that I was born and raised (I moved away for 6 years, but I've been back for a few), I should be used to this by now, right? Sooo, I checked online, and the weather has been consistently about 10 degrees or more higher than the average this year.  I'm not completely crazy, this year is warmer than usual!  With that confirmation, I've decided to give up on it ever getting cool. I'm just going to pretend its getting fallish/wintery anyways.

--- 2 ---

My absolutely favorite part of fall is apple pies. I was going to say apples or pies, but then I realized it isn't one or the other, its both together. I made my first apple pie in college with a friend... it was actually the first thing I ever baked from scratch(ish... I've never made a crust on my own).  Just in case you're wondering, this is my favorite apple pie recipe, though I do tend to add spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mmmm cinnamon, my favorite spice.  I feel like I've added cloves too, but I'm not sure, its been a while.

--- 3 ---

Speaking of apple pie, I made an awesome discovery this week.  I was having a sweet tooth moment and discovered the most amazing combination, apple pie and gelato!  I was thinking that it couldn't possibly taste as good as it sounds, but oh yes it does! If you're an apple pie lover, but not feeling up to baking one yourself, and also like gelato (who doesn't like gelato?) you should probably pick up some of this.

heaven in a pint

--- 4 ---

Another one of my favorite things about the change of seasons is fall/wintery clothes.  Over here in the land of sunshine, that means light sweaters and scarves mostly for decoration.  I finally got around to dry cleaning the sweaters that really needed it, but when I got them back, I discovered something super sad. My absolutely favorite sweater appears to have been a snack for some moths or something in the last year, it has holes everywhere :(.  Of course I realized this while wearing it at work... not embarrassing at all lol.  I haven't had the heart to check the others yet, but I have a feeling that it might be time to go sweater shopping.  Apparently I need to invest in some moth balls too?

--- 5 ---

Despite the lack of cooler weather over here, it looks like we might finally experience some elsewhere.  Next week we're heading to the other side of the country to visit my in-laws in New York. I've been checking the weather and it doesn't look like we'll be seeing any snow, but at least we'll see some sort of season changing. We haven't been over there in a couple of years, so we're excited to get back there and see the Hubs's family again.  The plans we've made so far consist of nothing but hanging out with family and Hub's best friend, so I'm looking forward to the fun and relaxation.

--- 6 ---

Related to the change of seasons is the change of liturgical seasons!  Advent is just around the corner!  I cannot believe its already that time of year again.  I'm not sure what we're going to be doing to participate in the season, but we did get an advent wreath.  Actually, we kind of accidentally ended up with two advent wreaths, one more traditional:

and one with a nativity

It had to do with a little mix up with the amazon account. You see, we recently got amazon prime and switched over to both using the Hubs's account instead of each having our own (I haven't figured out how that's going to work with Christmas shopping yet).  I have learned that the Hubs only puts things into the cart when he actually wants to buy them (such a strange idea), while I tend to put things I want to consider buying (but probably never will) in there.  So of course, when Hubs went to purchase some things, he just bought the stuff I had in there too.  Lesson learned, and now I have a wishlist instead, lol. I think I'm going to keep one and give the other as a gift, but I haven't decided yet.  I don't know which one to keep, they're both beautiful!

--- 7 ---

Speaking of advent, another blogger is hosting advent prayer buddies.  I absolutely love the idea, have signed up, and think you should too!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes on Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day

--- 1 ---

Happy Halloween! I have to be honest though, I’m not a huge Halloween person. Growing up, my parents weren’t huge fans, I think the last time I went trick or treating was around 4th grade. That, along with my having an aversion to scary things (even the most mild of things can give me nightmares, I’m a wimp), has led to me just not being super excited about Halloween. I’m not anti Halloween,  I’m just more likely to buy a bag of candy for myself and hang out at home than to get dressed up or decorate for it (which is probably exactly what I’ll be doing this year).

--- 2 ---

Back in college, I did tend to go all out and dress up for the school wide party.  I think my favorite costume was when me and two other friends dressed up as a blonde joke.  We had a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, and went around telling blonde jokes.  It was pretty entertaining.  (In case you’re curious, I was the blonde out of the trio). 

--- 3 ---

I think my creepiest Halloween was the year I had to fly on Halloween.  I don’t know why, there was just something about the airports and planes while taking a red-eye flight on a half empty plane that was a little spooky, haha. 

--- 4 ---

While I might not get excited about dressing myself up, I am a big fan of dressing my pups up.  They might have a small wardrobe of their own. Last year I got my poor dog a koala and shark costume, though my favorite was the pig costume for my parent’s pug. 

This year I seriously considered getting these for my dogs:

Wonder Woman Dog

Thor Dog

The Hubs is a huge action hero/marvel fan, and Thor is his favorite, so it would’ve been perfect.  I don't think the dogs would've loved them though, and since we didn’t really have anywhere to take them, I couldn’t really justify the cost for the sole purpose of putting pictures up on facebook.  They sure would’ve been cute though. 

--- 5 ---

Although my parents weren’t into Halloween, they were into All Saints day. One year I was dressing up as some nun saint (though I can’t remember which one) and actually borrowed a habit from some Dominicans we’re friends with (I may have mentioned before I’m a pretty big fan of Dominicans).  I’ll have to see if I can find a picture of that somewhere.  That was probably the best costume I had for All Saints Day. 

--- 6 ---

Speaking of All Saints Day, I saw this post by Simcha Fisher and it made me think about which saints I like more or less.  For the longest time, I had a really silly reason for disliking St. Thérèse of Lisieux.  You see, my favorite saint has always been St. Theresa of Avila.  I was born on her feast day, picked her as my confirmation saint, and even was lucky enough to visit Avila when I was younger.  I've always admired that she was intellectual, spiritual, and seemed to have a good sense of humor and balance as well.  I’m a big fan of her writing too. 

Anyways, when I was really young I decided that you couldn’t like two saints with the same name, but that they were rivals and you had to pick one, lol.  So I was firmly pro-St. Theresa of Avila and against any other saints by the name of Theresa.  Even though rationally I know that’s silly, that underlying feeling has stuck with me for most of my life, and I’ve disliked Thérèse of Lisieux for no reason.  This year I’ve tried to learn more about her and get over my Theresa issue, and she really does seem like a lovely saint, but man, deep seated ideas like that are hard to get rid of.

--- 7 ---

This year I’ve also been doing more thinking about All Souls Day.  It’s a great opportunity to remember and pray for our friends and family members that have passed away.  My maternal grandfather’s brother, so I guess my great uncle, has been on my mind lately.  He passed away when I was very young, like 5 or 6, and I honestly don’t remember much about him, other than that he had some troubles.  So I don’t really know why he’s been on my mind, but maybe he needs some prayers. So if you could join me with praying for him especially on this All Souls Day, I’d appreciate it.  I’ll pray for you and your lost loved ones too. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!