Nightmare to end all nightmares!

OK, not really.  But, Dave Ramsey has apparently set up camp in my psyche and has no plans to leave.  I'm not complaining, but I had a horrible nightmare two nights ago.  I seriously woke up in a sweat over a dream involving... buying a brand new car... and (are you ready?)... FINANCING it!

 

Sheer terror!  I vividly remember bawling in my dream after the realization that the hub and I bought a brand new Nissan something-or-other (What the hell?  I've never owned a Nissan in my life.) for $13,500 and we now had car payments!  Horror!  Like I was seriously stressed out in my dream and was freaking out.  I kept saying through tears to the hub, "How could we do this?  This puts us right back where we started!  We might as well have never sold the 4runner at all!  OMG!!!"

 

Then I woke up and was SO relieved to realize it was 3am and that we have no car payments or a random new Nissan in our driveway.  I tapped the hub on the shoulder to tell him I had a nightmare (we always do this if we do).  After a drousy "sorry babe," he pat me on the head and rolled back over.

 

So random.

 

But, I daresay, it's a great lead-in to a post I'll put up here shortly regarding a couple of great Dave/money questions I got from some readers recently.  Oh how I do love to talk about money!  Back soon with those...

 

 

Seven Years!

Let's see... this time 7 years ago, I was probably drying my hair at my parents' house while getting ready to meet all of my bridesmaids to take a limo to get our hair and makeup done at Phipps Plaza. We got an early start! Today the hub and I celebrate 7 years of marriage - woot woot! It's amazing how time flies, yet our first year of marriage seems ages ago. We've learned so much about each other and life together and we have grown as a couple and as individuals. Marriage is no easy road - there are a lot of bumps and even a few potholes. But I couldn't think of a better man to do life with... love you, hub!

And my parents share our same anniversary. Or I should say, we share theirs - they did claim it first, afterall. Today they celebrate 41 years of marriage - WOW. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

The party shoes.

Aren't these so fun? Mine or black, as is the dress for Lucky's wedding. But you can see the bow detail (in the 2nd pic below) better in red.






And this is the bridesmaid dress, in case you forgot...




It's such a fun party dress - very young and playful. As are the shoes! The shoes are way cuter on than in the pic. It's so fun having a new shoe box in the house... I mean, it's been over a year since I bought new shoes!

OK so you're dying to know how KISS was, right? Haha - it was fun. We had a good time. I was a little disappointed that more fans weren't in full on costume, but there was a good bit of face paint. But the main ensemble of choice for concert goers last night? A black band T-shirt with jeans. Seriously - like that's what 95% of the people there had on.

We actually had really great seats. Lucky's hubby-to-be got them free through work and we found out they were $137 tickets - geez. Even though I only know a few of their songs and don't really call myself a "fan," I must say it was pretty surreal seeing them on stage, so close. I mean, like 'em or not, you can't deny the fact that they're iconic rock 'n roll figures. But after about three songs, we were all over it. Been there, done that. I can now mark "see KISS in concert" off my bucket list. Had no idea it was on there, but it's checked off now. Oh and the hub, as per usual, got one of his earplugs stuck in his ear and had to go to one of the medics at Philips. This seriously happens EVERY time we go to a concert. All I can do is laugh at my goofy husband - gotta love 'im.

Alright, nighty night girls! It's past my bedtime. Oh speaking of - I think our "let's get the dogs used to the sound machine" the last couple of nights has turned into "we can't sleep without the sound machine!" Too funny... no wonder babies dig it.

Rock 'n Roll all night and party everyday. That's me!

Thanks so much for all the fab advice on the white noise machines!  I went in Target and found nothing on Friday.  But inbetween showers on Saturday I had two amazing finds... first, shoes for Lucky's wedding in January, and second, a white noise machine for only $16!  I'll tell you about the shoes in a minute, but we found the sound machine at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $19.99.  It was the same brand as one of the machines you all recommended, so I figured it couldn't be horrible.  And kuntry bride was like, "do you have a coupon?  I have one in my car!"  So she gave me her 20% off coupon and I got it for $16!  Awesome. 

 

We tried it out in our bedroom that night with the dogs.  Belly was a bit freaked out at first.  Charlie kept whining and trying to get out the door.  Gertie didn't notice a thing.  But once we all settled down, they all were fine with it and we slept through the night with it going.  We used it again last night - no issues whatsoever.  It seems pretty loud - I think it will definitely work fine for crating the doggies in the basement.

 

As for the shoes, I'll have to come back and add pics, but they are so fun!  I did feel guilty buying shoes, even though it's something I had to do before the wedding.  As dumb as it sounds, I did not have any black dress shoes that will work with the bridesmaid dress.  The only black dress shoes I have (and by dress I mean like for formal occasions) are strappy heels with a huge crystal butterfly on top.  Don't think Lucky would go for that.  Neither would I.  I usually wear metallics with more formal stuff, so I have my fair share of those.  But I am super excited about these new shoes.  And while handing over three $20 bills at DSW was rather heartbreaking, I'm proud of new me.  Old me would've insisted on something Italian and much more expensive.  How stupid.  Though I'm sure my expensive shoe fetish will somehow make its way back into our budget once we get debt-free.  I'm just sayin'. 

 

OH so girls, guess what I'm doing tonight...  Nope, not even close.  I got talked into going to see KISS tongiht at Philips Arena.  Hahaha...  not *exactly* my usual crowd, but it should be interesting, huh?  I do like a couple of their songs but sure don't have any of their old albums.  I'm sure they put on a great show though.  And it's GOT to be great people watching, don't you think?  I bet there will be tons of fans in full-out makeup and costume.  Perhaps a better drag show than a Madonna concert!  My mom keeps saying, "Be careful, I'm serious, be CAREFUL!"  I think she's afraid the hub will get into a fight with some obnoxious Gene Simmons impersonator or something.  

 

Yeah, so yet again I've got another action-packed week ahead.  But of main concern right now is when the heck my spa dude is going to work me in this week.  My brows are about to need their own zip code.  Ugh.

 

OK Halloween is like here and we still have not figured out our costumes.  My dream idea?  To be Emma Pillsbury and Ken Tanaka from Glee.  OMG that would be hilarious.  One of my friends said to me today that I look just like Emma... don't really see it, but I do think she's precious so, OK!  That would require a red wig for me and some incredibly tight football shorts and a fanny pack for the hub.  Hmm....  pretty sure the hub will NOT go for that.  Plus he thinks Glee is stupid and says "no one will know who we are."  He does not comprehend Glee's awesomeness.

 

Alright y'all, gotta bust out of here and get ready for Kee-us!  I'll let you know how it goes on the other side...

Need some white noise. Pronto.

OK mommas, quick question...  I need to find a white noise machine this weekend.  Does this require a trip to Babies 'r Us?  Target?  I know this is one of the #1 essentials for newborns, so I'm hoping you all have some opinions to share on which brand/style is best.  I, however, need this not for a crying baby, but for my three yapping dogs.  The mission:  to get my pups crated in the basement with a noise machine that will block out (as much as possible) the sounds (of the humans) from upstairs.  And we have hardwoods and tile, so there's lots of clackity-clackity going on when we move around. 

 

So what I need is a decent white noise machine that is LOUD enough to block out other sounds,  but cheap enough that I won't cry when I make the purchase.  I've been digging around Amazon's site for different types and reading the reviews and dammit if those suckers aren't expensive!  I do not need a fancy or cute one.  This is for the dogs.  It will not ultimately end up in my someday-nursery.  I will be more concerned with cuteness later.  This one can be ugly as sin - I don't care.  It just needs to be affordable and effective.

 

So give me your recs, please... ready, set, GO!

 

And I hope you ladies have fab weekends lined up.  I've got BBQ pork going in the crockpot at home - mmmm!  And tomorrow is a bridal and baby shower extravaganza...  I've got a marathon of showers starting at 11am.  I actually was invited to four, but I can only manage three.  Seriously.  Is October 24th like the day of showers or something?  Geez.  I've got to figure out what to wear.  Sunday we have church and brunch afterwards with some friends.  Then I'll be slaving away on Lucky's wedding invites.  Action-packed!  Have safe and happy weekends, girls! xoxoxo

Whatever. Puh-leez. Gawh.

So... how come things haven't slowed down since October 15th?  Geez.  I've already got a couple of big projects thrown at me so I'm totally busy again.  But at least I don't have a big deadline hanging over me - that makes it way easier.  I'm still a busy bee outside of work too... been working on Lucky's wedding invitations and there are like 200 of them so that's kinda time consuming.  And I'm already getting geared up for the holidays.  Getting Christmas parties on the calendar, trying to figure out what to do for Christmas cards, and developing a game plan for the rest of my Christmas shopping...  it keeps a girl on her toes. 

 

Oh and meanwhile I'm trying to figure out Halloween costumes for me and the hub.  We're going to a party this year, so it'll be fun to dress up.  But I'm not about to spend a dime on costumes. We gotta work with what we have.  I still have one of my old HS cheerleading uniforms so I might be Quinn Fegray from Glee.  Not sure about the hub...  the wheelchair kid maybe?  Haha... doubt he'll go for that, but at least he'd have a seat at the party.  One of my friends let me borrow her nurse and doctor outfits that she and her hubby wore last year, so we need to try those out too - that might work.  But it's a *SEXY* nurse and I'm not so sure I can pull that off.  The sexy, yes, but the outfit - not so sure!  Are y'all dressing up?  If you've got a fun costume, do tell.

 

So if you haven't noticed, I've totally been ignoring the baby thing lately.  It works out well because I've had several baby showers to go to lately, people light years younger than me are sprouting baby bumps at my office that I have to see everyday, and I get at least one new birth announcement in the mail or my inbox every week that's not nearly as cute as the ones I would do.  So for the time being, I am admittedly living in my I-don't-have-any-kids-and-I-can-do-whatever-I-want-and-aren't-you-jealous-ha-ha-ha world.  Yeah.  I go for the extremes, apparently.   Well, thing is - we are on hold on baby makin' right now for cash reasons.  The hub is looking for a new job and until we get that squared away, for one, it makes no logical sense to move forward just yet.  But job or not, there's still some major saving to do if we end up having to go the IVF route.  My insurance of course covers nothing, so everything is completely out-of-pocket.   But I do have a cafe plan that'll allow us access to cash for medical stuff at the beginning of the year.  So I'm thinking, worst case, we'll do the next IUI cycle in January if not sooner. 

 

But if January's a bust, we'll probably give it a rest till tax season is over.  Because Lord knows if we're shelling out thousands of dollars for IVF I do *not* need to be stressed out and overworked.  So it'd probably be late April or May before we could even think about that - not to mention the cash issue.  But seriously I'm totally not worrying about it right now.  I'm just like WHATEVER.  Kids are annoying and I totally don't need any.  Plus they get sick all the time and crap.  It's really ridiculous. 

 

OK y'all know I'm kidding and I don't really hate kids and the people who have them.  Just sometimes.  I'm not in a rut.  I think any of my fertility-challenged pals understand that you go through the weirdest of emotions/phases/moods - whatever you wanna call them.  I'm just in the whatever-I-don't-care-forget-you room right now.  I'm still praying and waiting on God and trusting and yada yada yada.  All that shit.  But all I can say is WHAT-EVER, world.  Bleh!

 

Ha - some of you probably find it refreshing that I'm not blabbering about my busted uterus.  Oh but stay tuned, dear readers, I'll be out of this padded cell at some point.  But right now I'm not tracking, I'm not taking my vitamins (though I eat my multi-grain Cheerios which are about as good), I'm not caring.  Maybe tomorrow I'll care, but for now I've got a date with Lucky and some Mexican food.  We'll worry about babies later.  I need some cheese.

Spanx much?

First of all, happy October 15th! That's a nod to my fellow nerdy tax accountants out there. Hallelujah... But the real reason I'm hopping on here before I run off to work is to let you know that Atlanta-based Spanx is looking for more wear testers. I've mentioned a time or two on here that I do some test wearing for Spanx. I can't dish on the products, but I will say it's a fun experience. They are always testing new products on guinea pigs like me. I give them my honest opinion through online surveys, and I get to keep the products. I mean, what's not to love?! And as I said, Spanx is looking for more volunteers to do some testing. Basically, they send products to your home, you wear them as much as you can in the given time frame, and then you complete a survey with your feedback. It's of absolutely no cost to you, so if you're interested, go for it! To get involved, drop an email to product coordinators Amanda Gardner or Kyli Cohron.

But bloggy world, one word to you guys... they specifically request that you do NOT post any information or reviews (good or bad) on the products you receive for wear testing. Your feedback should only be shared with Spanx via the online surveys they send you directly, as many of these products are not on the market yet. And that's exactly why I don't talk about it on here except to say that (a) I'm doing it, and (b) you should, too!

They want women of all sizes, all ages, and even you mommas-to-be. They do have a line of maternity Spanx and are always happy to find prego wear testers. So get to it!

Almost there.

Hey all! What is it with me only posting on Tuesdays lately? It's not really on purpose, but it's just kinda happened that way for some reason. Not forever though - I promise. October 15th is almost here! Last big deadline of the year at work and hopefully I can have a little more breathing room afterward. Goodness.

And of course, I don't have a ton of time to blabber right now, but just wanted to pop in and say hello. And thanks so much for all the birthday wishes from last week. I had a GREAT birthday. The hub really surprised me - which is quite a feat for him since he can't keep a secret to save his life. While I was snoozing away on the morning of my birthday, he got up and snuck into my office at work (he conspired with one of my co-workers to get into the building). He gets up insanely early quite often to go play raquetball, so I certainly didn't suspect anything. So when I got to work, I was very surprised to find this...

These pictures don't really do his work justice AT ALL because there were balloons everywhere! I took these after making a "path" to my desk. And I was using my phone to take the pics, so they aren't the best. He also had heart confetti all over my desk - too cute. So needless to say, there was no hiding the fact that it was my birthday at work. Geez, not that I would. I love my birthday!

We really don't do birthday (or any other) gifts for each other right now while doing our debt snowball, so it forces us to get creative. But I gotta tell ya... I have gotten some of the best "gifts" over the last year. When funds are tight, you really do have to use your brain. He probably spent, what... $20 doing all that? But OMG... it was the best.

Alright, no real news here today. Gotta be off to work. Oh but one big thing - we sold the Lexus last night! Got $3500 for it - woo HOO! We were just hoping to get $3k or more, so we were thrilled. A huge, huge blessing that arrived at the perfect time. Hope you all are having fabulous weeks. Stay dry, Atlanta girls. Back later...

Thirty-two. But who's counting?!

It's here! My favorite day of the year! That's right... my birthday! I think I will always love my birthday, no matter how many candles there are on my cake. Thirty-two does sound kinda old though. Hmmm...

Anyway, yay for today! And I'm so sorry to be so absent-go-bloggy lately, but it's just been a very busy few weeks here. I have tons of stuff I want to post about but just haven't had the time to sit down and do it! But I'm still alive and kickin'.

I've already gotten some fab birthday prezzies. Y'all already know about the freezer, my new best friend. And my godmother gave me a gift certificate to a local gift shop here that carries Vera Bradley. So I got this little ditty...

I'm in love! I needed a wallet SO badly. I've been carrying around a Dave Ramsey wallet since it was made to hold his cash envelopes. It's fine and all, but it ain't cute. And you know me... I like cute. So I found my birthday to be a good opp to get a new CUTE wallet. But it has to somehow hold my cash envelopes, and this cutie one does perfectly! I got it in the new Paprika pattern - SO cute.

I also got a giftcard for J. Crew from my MIL - sooooo excited! I screamed a little when I opened it. OK, maybe a lot. The hub and I also had a birthday-day-of-fun-on-a-budget on Sunday. We went to church, had brunch at The Flying Biscuit, went to Fernbank (on BOA's dime), and then later went to see The Invention of Lying that night. Really cute movie - I loved it. Tonight, the hub has something up his sleeve, but I'm not sure what it is. Though I'll probably know by 11am. He can't keep a secret to save his life. It's terribly cute, though.

So far, 32 looks pretty good. I think I'll like it. Hope you all are having a great week! And hopefully I'll find some more time to hop on here and jibber jabber. I know my commenting has been nearly non-existant lately, but I'm keeping up with you lovelies on my reader!

OH also - Javis Davis is having a big sale this month, so hop over here and check out the details. If you have some momma friends looking for crib bedding, now's a great time to go custom!

Ahhh, success.

So the bachelorette party for Lucky went swimmingly... the cabin we stayed in was FABULOUS. I have a ton of pics, so I'll get those up shortly. It was just an all-around great weekend. It ended up storming most of the time we were up there, but we had planned a girls' night in for the main event, so it worked out well. The rain was actually a bonus. Lots of laughs, a ridiculous amount of food and booze - a lot of which we brought back with us - and TONS of fun.

But I gotta say, I was worn out once I got home. It's not like we did anything crazy. We did stay up late (OK "late" for me is like midnight) and got up early both mornings, but it was still a very chill weekend. Though I did get up at 4:30am Friday to get everything pulled together. I was on my feet ALL day Friday. Literally, the only time I sat down was while I was in the car. So all that combined makes for a very tired girl come Sunday afternoon. But the event was a huge success and kuntry bride and I had a total blast putting it together.

Also last week, which I've yet to catch y'all up on... we met with my doctor on Wednesday. To save myself from typing the same info over again (cuz it's rather exhausting), I'm just going to copy and paste the email I sent to my parents Wednesday afternoon after we got back from the doctor. I gotta run out the door, but wanted y'all to have the latest. Back soon with pics and more deets! Here's the email...

Well we had a very lengthy information-filled appointment! Long-story-short, Dr. T wants to do one more IUI cycle on Femara and then move to IVF if that doesn't work.

He wants to first do one more Femara IUI cycle since my lining did show improvement. He thinks it's definitely worth one more try since all our numbers were good last time. We would pretty much do the exact same thing as last cycle but he'd have me start taking estrogen earlier. During this cycle, he wants me to have a SHG (I think that's what it's called - [the hub] has the folder!) - it's a type of ultrasound - to see if I would need to have a 3rd surgery if we had to move to IVF.

So if that test is abnormal or shows enough residual septum that concerns him, and the IUI is not successful - we'd do a 3rd surgery - but it would only need to be hystereoscopy (probably spelling that wrong) vs. hystereoscopy AND laproscopy (spelling that wrong too I'm sure). So, less invasive than my others.

Learned a lot about IVF and that there are ALL different kinds of "protocols" as far as medications, so it's very tailored to your situation and needs/issues. Like several people I know or have read about had to go on birth control or take other meds before their actual IVF cycle to do whatever... but I won't have to do that. I basically would go on injectable meds right when I start my cycle, be monitered that first half (much like IUI) and then they would do egg retrieval around day 12ish - just depends. That's an actual surgery, done at RBA, but much less invasive than what I'm used to. [The hub] does his thing and they put the boys and girls in a dish. They let some try to fertilize on their own, but then others they'll actually inject the sperm into the egg, forcing it to fertilize. Lots of info...

Once fertilized, they give the embryos 3-5 days to mature before implanting back in the uterus. After implantation, you're just on the 2-week-wait to see if it worked. He did bring up the whole issue about what if we get pregnant with more than 2, are we OK with having to remove the extra embryos. Again, I forget the terminology - it's all in our folder. I said I do not want to be put in that position... so it may be that we end up only putting in ONE egg if it comes to that, b/c they can split. It's a slight chance, but it can happen. And he does not think I could carry more than twins. The success rate is significantly higher when you put in two eggies, but it's something we have to think about. Because there's like a 20-30% of twins when you put in two. And if they split? Dear me.

ANYway... we can worry about all that if and when we need to. Just wanted to give you the gist of what we learned today. :-)

Happy Birthday to me!

Look what got delivered a la casa yesterday! I'm in love. We've been wanting a freezer for a long time now - ours is always overflowing because I buy meat and stuff in bulk when it goes on sale. And I live off Lean Cuisines at the office - also like to stock up on those when on sale. So yeah, not a ton of freezer space in our standard fridge.

I'm pretty sure asking for a freezer for my birthday shows my age. But I gotta tell ya, it's pretty damn exciting. Thanks, Mom and Dad! OK so my birthday's not for a couple of weeks, but I enjoy stretching it out - in both directions - for as long as possible. I love my birthday.

Stop raining on my parade!

If anyone has seen the sun, please let him know he's skipped over our city for like 10 days straight now. Is he slacking? I've seen you in the Jimmy Dean commercials, Mr. Sun. Get your butt to work and make this rain go away! My poor dog's gonna get a blatter infection. Saw this on someone's Facebook page and it cracked me up, so kudos to whomever made it...

We got tons of rain up by us but luckily no real flooding - at least in our immediate area. And my drive to and from work yesterday was totally fine. Gross, but fine. I don't have to go really far, so that helps. I've been here all my life and I really cannot remember a case of "flooding." I mean just last year we were in a drought and couldn't water our yards - like ever. So I'm really feeling for those who have homes under water and whatnot - and especially those who lost their lives. My goodness... I think we forget how very powerful water is.

And of course - as trivial as this is - we've been waiting for a "sunny day" (what is that?) to take a picture of the Lexus to sell. Because a rainy, cloudy picture of a car is kinda depressing - who wants to buy that? Well... we're still waiting.

In other news... we're off to see my doctor tomorrow about the whole baby thing. Not sure what direction he'll want us to go in, so I'll let you know what we find out on the other side. Now seriously, somebody send us some SUN!

Phew.

What a week, y'all.  We made it past the 15th at work!  Not that y'all care or know, or care to know, but that deadline was extra tough this year because the Feds decided to make EVERYTHING due that day, starting this year.  Basically it's the final extended deadline for all corp, partnership, and trust returns.  You kids still have till 10/15 to get your returns in, but everything else had to go out this week.  So yeah, a little tougher this year.  But we survived...

 

So work has been busy, but my weeknights and weekends have been crammed lately too - I feel like I've just been running around like a mad woman.  This week my new girls' small group met on Tuesday.  We've also been serving with the 2-to-1 ministry at our church on Wednesday nights.  I don't really talk about that on here because God forbid one of our engaged couples find my blog and think I'm going to post about them or something!  Other than to say we're involved in it, I won't ever really talk about it on here - for that reason.  Anyway, so that's Wednesday... and tonight our couples' small group meets.  So like Monday was going to be my only real night at home to get to do anything domestic, but I ended up working late.  And I've been getting up extra early trying to get a couple of invitation orders out the door - so I'm really just exhausted.  We have no plans Friday night and I'm SO glad.

 

So I think the women's small group is going to be really fun.  There are 13 of us.  It's my first *official* women's small group through church, so it's an interesting experience as compared to our couples' groups (which we've been in on-and-off for years now).  Some of the girls already started telling their "stories" and it's funny how much more in-depth women go with their stories in a group of women versus a bunch of couples.  It's not like it gets all sappy but I think we just open up more and are a bit more vulnerable - which is cool.  Like one of the girls just came out and said "I don't have a relationship with God.  I want one but I have no clue how to go about it."  I thought that was wicked awesome.  To be able to say that in front of a bunch of girls you don't know in a "church-ish" setting - so cool.  I have to say I love the first few meetings of a new group - I love hearing everyone's stories because people come from so many different places.  And of course we automatically have these preconceived ideas of who these people are before they open their mouths - and I'm always surprised by what I hear them say.

 

I do know a few of the girls in the group, including the leader, so it's not like I'm totally in the dark here.  I am (of course) the ONLY one of the 13 without kids.  Welcome to my life!  Ha!  But that's cool - I totally expected that.  I certainly don't know everyone's story yet - so I know there's something for me to learn here.  Though I'll probably pass on our first "social" gathering - a trip to the pumpkin patch next month with our "families."  That's a great place to go with kids and all, but what the hell would me and the hub do?  I'll catch the next one.  And speaking of pumpkin patches, has anyone else noticed that going to the pumpkin patch in the fall is like THE thing to do now with kids?  Seriously ALL of my friends with kids have pumpkin patch pictures each fall.  I don't ever remember going to a pumpkin patch when I was a kid.  I think our pumpkins came from the grocery. 

 

Moving on...  so this weekend is also pretty busy, but it's a fun one.  The hub and I are going to see Dave Ramsey on Saturday at the Civic Center!!!  OMG, so excited.  It's his Total Money Makeover Live event - which we attended for the first time last year.   And as y'all know, we've been drinkin' the kool-aid ever since.  It's not really any new information for us, but he's just SO fun to see that we didn't even think twice about going again.  Plus it's good to get a a pep talk from him to re-energize our efforts.  I can't believe it's been a year since we sold the townhouse - remember this post?  And it was this time last year that Dave was in Atlanta.  God has amazing timing, you know.  His perspective is a little more clear than ours.  We were so fired up - we immediately started an FPU class the very next day.  But anyway, y'all have heard me ramble on here about my love for Dave and his ministry.  It's certainly changed our lives and empowered our marriage.  His "program" is nothing new... it's not some "get rich quick" scheme or anything like that.  It's about living on less than you make, getting out and staying out of debt, and building wealth so that you can live like no one else, give like no one else, and ultimately change your family tree.  He just calls it "grandma's advice," but like I've said before, he is blessed with this amazing ability to communicate this info in a way that gives people hope and really gets them fired up to make a change.  Love it.

 

Oh and while we're talking about money - I've got two quick things for ya.  One - I totally returned those Pottery Barn flatware sets I mentioned and, hell yeah, they gave me a store credit!  No questions asked.  What's even funnier is that the price per set had gone up $5 since we got married (ahem, 7 years ago), so we actually made money.  I am genius!  I really do like a $250 giftcard in my hand over 5 unopened boxes collecting dust in a random kitchen drawer, don't you?  And hellz yeah if I didn't already buy some Christmas gifts with it.

 

And number two - this is a biggie, actually.  We got a new car!  Totally random, I know.  Turns out my dad decided he wanted a new car.  And once my dad gets his mind set on something, he is like ALL about it.  So when my mom told me they were going to look at cars last Saturday, I knew they'd probably come home with one.  So anyway, I was on my way down to Piedmont Park to meet kuntry bride and my mom calls me and tells me that she and my dad talked about it and decided to offer their old car to us.  Even though we love our little beaters (Phoebe, do not take offense to that - it's a term of affection, really), my mom - the ultimate worrier - worries about us having two cars with like 200,000 miles on them.  "They could break down any minute!"  Like when we go on a trip out of town she always insists we take her car.  But we love our little paid-for cars.  And we'll drive those kids till the wheels fall off!  Which according to my mom, is "ANY minute!" 

 

So anyway, they offered to GIVE us their old car - a 2003 Honda Element.  And my dad takes excellent care of any gadget he has - from desktop radio to a car.  So it's in as pristine condition as it could possibly be for its age.  The car, not my dad.  OK, my dad too - he looks great.  Anyway, the car also has less than 100,000 miles on it.  AND it's a great doggie mobile.  We gave up our doggie mobile, if you remember, solely to get rid of the debt and monthly payment.  And sure, we can cram our three crazies in the back of either of our cars, but it's a little tight.  Belly always ends up sitting on poor Charlie's face or something.  "Because I can," she'd say.  Oh and did I mention the car's free?  I was like, "OK maybe y'all should see what they'll offer you for it at the dealership - you might change your mind!"  But my parents had already made up their minds.  We of course said, hell yeah!  We loves free!  And we offered to give them cash from whatever we sold our Lexus for (yep, the Lexus will be going - Phoebe's staying).  But they said no.  So not only are we getting a free car, but we're able to sell our Lexus - it's like free money.  And we think we can get more than what we paid for it.  The hub got a really good deal on it and we also had a new transmission put in earlier this year.  So all that was just an amazing and unexpected blessing this past weekend.  Granted, my dad's car is a little goofy looking.  It's an orange box.  But heck if we care.  It's free.  His old-busted is our new-hotness.  And it frees up a lot of cash for us to be able to make even more progress.  What's not to love?!

 

OK but just to give you a great and very real comparison between the new coupon-clipping-money-saving-debt-busting me and the old hey-that's-cute-OMG-let's-buy-it-and-the-$200-shoes-to-match me...  A few years ago, before we bought our townhouse, it was time for the hub to get a new car.  We had only been married like maybe a year.  His car was about 11 years old and truly was on its last leg (unlike Phoebe who's almost 12 and is still kicking ass and taking names).  My mom was also getting a new car around the same time.  Just like this past weekend, they offered up her old car to us.  For free.  It was a periwinkle Pontiac Grand Am - I don't remember the year, but it wasn't that old.  Older, but certainly not old.  But instead of taking the *FREE* car, our idiot we-think-we're-so-smart selves went out and bought a NEW car with payments.  Because we were too cool to drive a purple Pontiac, I suppose.  So let's go into debt and get something flashier!  Awesome plan, Betty!

 

Well you know, all you can do is laugh.  Sometimes you have to get drug through the mud and learn things the hard way.  I wouldn't change anything - it's part of our story.  I mean this whole financial journey, along with all the infertility shit, has taken my relationship with God to an entirely new level.  I probably should not say "shit" and "God" in the same sentence.  Anyway, I'm truly a new person because of it all and I've grown SO much and in ways I'd never had imagined.  So no, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

Gosh, this post has totally gotten outta control and terribly long - thanks for sticking with me.  Alright, I'm outta here, ladies.  I'll come back with a pic of our new car, who I'm thinking of naming "Ross."  If the hub lets me.  OK peace out!  Back later... xoxoxo  Oh! And...

 

 

Be sure to enter my Dwell Baby Giveaway by Friday, September 25th!

Dwell Baby Giveaway!

Totally busy, y'all. But 9/15 is here! Ugh, I was at work yesterday till 10pm. Ready for a break! Just doing a fly-by post here inbetween projects... but wanted to alert y'all to my fab giveaway I just posted over at Make Room for Style. It's a delicious bib and burpee set by Dwell Studio. Hop on over to enter - you've got until Friday, the 25th! I'll be back later when I can breathe a little bit...

Back to the drawing board.

Hey all! Hope you had fabulous Labor Day weekends. Mine was really good - Britney was awesome on Friday! Our seats were great and it was extra awesome considering it was *FREE*... and the funny thing was my boss called me that afternoon to tell me he had two spare tickets and wondered if I wanted them. Of course I would've snagged them had I not already been going. I was just destined to go, wasn't I?! The show was pretty much the same, as expected. But she did change up all her costumes! All but one... it's pretty sad that I know them so well, but yeah, I knew which pieces were repeats and which ones weren't. OK but another new addition that honestly freaked me out was one of her true "circus freaks." I hate to call this girl a freak, but for purposes of the show, she was a real circus freak. She basically had no legs. Which, OK that's not all that off-the-wall, but it wasn't like they were cut off at the knees... no, she had NO legs. Lucky and I were trying to figure out if she had a crotch or not. She was doing trampoline tricks with another dude who was tossing her around. Maybe I can find a picture... OK no luck, sorry. You'll just have to go catch Britney and see for yourself!

What else... my parents' party went really well on Saturday. The Georgia game? NOT so well. We'll just move on. Ahem. The hub's parents were in town for the party and stayed with us Saturday night, so we had a nice visit with them. And Sunday was pretty chill. We took the doggies to the lake and that was about it.

I went in to work Monday to set up my new office and I'm so glad I did because my computer was MIA for a couple of hours. We found it though in someone else's office and my dad helped me put together all my computer junk. I took it all apart (OK, unplugged it) but I wasn't about to try to put it back together by myself.

And also on Labor Day, we took a pregnancy test... I thought the fact that we'd be testing on "Labor Day" might be a good sign. You know, *labor*... haha. Right. Well, not so much. Looks like this 3rd IUI cycle was a bust, but that's OK. I've been the most care-free about this one for whatever reason, so maybe God was just helping me prepare for the answer I didn't want. I of course (duh) was really hoping this one would work out because we're not sure what our next steps are. So many unanswered questions... What are we gonna have to do? How the heck are we going to pay for it? When is it going to freaking happen already? Did you notice I'm AGING here?!? Well our plan (with my doctor) was always to do only 3 IUI cycles before moving to IVF. But since my doctor switched me to Femara last cycle, I'm wondering if he'll want to try IUI again a time or two. Whatever the answer is, I think we've decided to chill this next cycle. Being at the doctor every week starts to really wear on you. As soon as Flo arrives I'll be calling to set up an appointment to lay out our plan, but yeah we'll probably cool our heels for a bit.

Work has been super busy, especially with the move to the new office, so that's kept my mind off things. This whole week is going to be bizzy. Shoot, this whole month is bizzy. But it's all good. Alright... I've got to call it a night. I'm exhausted!!! xoxoxo

Oh P.S. Who else is freaking excited about the premiere of Glee tomorrow?!?!?! We'll be out but my Tivo is SET!

Just like a circus.

Oh, be jealous girls. Tonight's my date with Britney! OK, so there may be like 20,000 other people there, but whatever. I saw her back in March and the show was awesome (hop over here for my full report), but this time we'll be in a suite! I've seen a couple of shows at Philips from suites before and it is totally fun. What's not to like? Then tomorrow my parents are hosting a BBQ / garden party type thing so the hub and I will be helping out with that. Sunday I've got a paper order to work on plus a million other little things, and then it looks like I'm going to have to work on Monday (groan). I know, on Labor Day. But 9/15 is a huge deadline for us and with our office moving over the weekend, today is pretty much killed since they're taking the network down. And with my job, there's nothing you can do without the 'puter. We're mostly packing up our offices and heading out today, so I guess I still get a 3-day weekend sorta. Just too much to do next week and honestly I'll feel better if I can come in Monday and knock some things out. No big.

Last night was our first meeting with our small group and it went really well! I actually attended solo because the hub has been feeling really crappy the last couple of days. I knew if my spinach dip couldn't coax him into going, he was truly ill. Anyway, it was a very casual first meeting and everyone seems really cool. We'll start telling our "stories" at the next meeting which is always really eye-opening - you get to know people pretty fast that way. That's usually how all our groups have started off and it's just really interesting to see where people came from and how people got to where they are with the God stuff. Most of the couples do have young kids and naturally, the "mom club" quickly formed and everyone was suddenly talking about what Star Wars character their kid was into. And then, as always, they turn to me and ask, "do you have any kids?" "No, just doggies right now," like I always say. And then it's that awkward couple of seconds where they smile and don't know what else to say to you because you're not a parent. Oh, but I was totally expecting these moments last night so it sure didn't throw me for a loop or anything. But one of the good things is, our group leaders are a little older and don't have kids (nor do they want any), so they kinda help keep things on track and I don't feel so alone in being foreign to kid world. But any awkwardness aside, the group seems like it will be great and I'm really looking for the getting to know these other couples with the hub.

Well I'll be running around a lot this weekend, so not much time for the 'puter. I hope you gals have a FAB Labor Day weekend! Be safe and enjoy! xoxoxo

The dirt on baby registries.

Hey there... I'm so totally busy today at work but wanted to pop in supa fast to tell y'all I FINALLY posted my baby registry basics over at Make Room for Style.  Thanks to all the sweet mommas who participated in my survey (like a million months ago).  You all gave me some great info and I hope the newbies will find my post somewhat helpful.  Hop over here to take a look, mommas!

One week down. A busy one to go.

That's right - we're half way through our 2-week-wait. I actually haven't been thinking about it TOO much really. Just been busy at work with deadlines approaching and busy at night with other stuff. So my mind hasn't been too wrapped around it, but I do feel like I've seen more pregnant women in the last week than in like the last year. And not just random people out and about... Project Runway last week had a maternity challenge. Every flippin' magazine cover in the checkout aisles had something about pregnant women. It just seemed to be everywhere. Well it always seems like it's everywhere to me, but it REALLY seemed so this past week.

Friday night I had a girls' night out - with myself. I had a massage and back facial after work and then headed home, took a shower (to get the oily massage funk off) and snuggled up with my pups to watch a movie. The hub and some of his buddies made an impromptu trip down to Cape Canaveral Friday to watch the space shuttle launch. He was on cloud 9 - he LOVES all things NASA and space. This was his first one, so he was just on a high all weekend over it. But the kicker was - they drove all the way down there (about 7 hours), watched the launch, and drove straight back. Crazy boys. Sounds like torture to me, but he was all about it. Needless to say, he was pretty worthless on Saturday. But I must give him props because he still was a good sport Saturday afternoon - we had to drive up to Athens to visit Christmas Bride and her new baby, and then immediately hit GroupLink at church that evening.

Christmas Bride's little girl was too cute to boot. She snuggled up on my chest and started snoozin' away. I don't know what the hell you moms are whinin' about... looks pretty easy to me. Hahahahaha... that's always our joke when we visit other people's babies because they always seem to act like little angels around us. Though the hub will tell you it's his doing. So I call him the baby whisperer. Christmas Bride invited us to come back about 3am that evening and see just how fun it was then...

So after getting back from Athens we ate really fast at the house and headed over to the church. GroupLink went REALLY well. I was feeling good about it when we went. They did a much better job of dividing up the geographic areas this time versus the last time we went to a GroupLink there. So there was a true "Buford/Suwanee" area this time instead of "everyone southeast of the church." We found a group that's lead by a great couple in their early 40's. They don't have any kids, but most of the couples in the group do. BUT the group has a babysitter, so the kids are off in another room. This is a big, big deal. I'm cool with being in a group where people have kids, but I don't want the kids AT the group meetings. It's just incredibly distracting. That's happened a few times in past groups where couples who had babies started bringing them to group every session. And it's not because I'm sensitive around babies and want to throw cement blocks at your fertile uterus, it's seriously just distracting. Especially to the hub... we'll be in the middle of reading some serious scripture and I look over and he's making googly eyes at the baby. So anyway, we're really looking forward to getting started and to see how the group works out. Our first meeting is this Thursday, so I'll give you the scoop later this week.

OK so in other SUPER exciting news... guess who's going to see Britney Spears Friday night! ME, ME, ME!!!!!! OMG. Last Friday afternoon, Lucky emailed me and was like, what are you doing Friday 9/4? And I was like, getting my hairs cut (also super exciting as I haven't had a hair cut in - gasp - 6 months). Then she was like, how would you like to show off your new do that night? OK... what do you have in mind? Um, she totally scored FREE box seats at the Britney concert!!! Her firm is apparently "looking into" renting a skybox at Philips Arena and they were given a bunch of Britney tickets to woo them. Lucky was able to get two of the tickets and she asked me to go (because she knows I'm in LOVE with Britney)!!!! I'm soooooooooo excited! Just such a fun surprise. We saw her back in March (or whenever it was) when she hit Atlanta the first time, but I can't wait to see her again! Super fun! Aren't you jealous?!?! You should be.

Alrighty... my to-do list here is barking at me. Gotta run, dear readers. xoxoxo

Oh P.S. - question for you Pottery Barn fans. I looked on the website, but only see return policy info for web/catalog purchases. Do you know if the stores will take back merchandise without a receipt for a store credit? Don't laugh, but we are seriously thinking about returning the flatware sets we got for our wedding (um... 7 years ago). They still sell the collection, so I'm hoping we could get a store credit for what they're currently selling for. We only got 5 place settings and they literally have been sitting in drawers for 7 years in their boxes, unopened. So perfect condition and all... anyone done this there? It would be over $200 of a store credit which would be fab to use for Christmas and shower gifts!!!!! Thought some of y'all might know off hand. I'm probably going to run by our PB this week to find out.

Hey, y'all.

Geez... I feel so disconnected from bloggy world. I can't get on blogger at work, but I had been able to at least get on Google Reader and keep up with y'all that way - even though I couldn't leave comments. But now Reader has been blocked - um, hello! Highly annoying. And I haven't had the energy or time lately while at home to hop on here much. I've been slappin' Lucky's bachelorette invitations together over the last few days and finally got them mailed out today. These pics are craptastic because I had to resort to using my camera phone (my real camera crapped out on me last night), so just trust that these are WAY cuter in person...




We're doing a whole bachelorette weekend at a cabin up in Helen, Georgia. We're old... we're over the whole go-out-and-wear-a-veil-with-condoms-and-get-drunk thing. We're all in our 30's, so it's going to be a low-key weekend of good girly fun.

As for Buford Baby, we had our IUI on Monday! I had another ultrasound first thing Monday morning to make sure my lining was OK before going forward with insemination. My doctor wants it at 7 and it was at 6.9! Last Wednesday it was only at 5.5 - not good. So I had been poppin' the fatty estrogen pills since then to help it along. Everything going in - my lining, potential eggies, the hub's specimen - looked the best of all 3 cycles we've done. So we were really thrilled and feel pretty great about this cycle. Of course there's no promise it'll be a success, but we're excited about it. So yeah, we're on the forever long two-week-wait right now. Luckily we've got plenty of other stuff going on so I'm not dwelling on it 24/7. And now I know definitely not to read into any symptoms too soon... The whole sore boobs and wonky nipples were totally due to the estrogen. Had to be. They've already started again - before I even ovulated, so yeah. I'm just trying to stay chill and keep praying for a sticky baby to set up camp in my oven.

Not much coming up this weekend other than GroupLink at church - we did decide that we're definitely going. We had a training thing at church Monday night and it kinda firmed up the fact that we need to get back in a group. So we're just gonna give it a go and let God do his thing. I'll of course let y'all know how that all goes!

And lastly... finally I can post the recipes I mentioned last week. Sorry it took me two forevers! First is this great Sangria recipe. I had one that I used all the time, but I can't find it to save my life. So I resorted to google to find a similar one. My main concern - I had the red wine but no other liquor. A lot of recipes call for brandy, triple sec, or some other liquor, but it was a Sunday when I decided to find this magic recipe and well, you Georgia girls know you can't buy liquor on Sundays (for the same reason Sally Albright said they don't make "Sunday" underwear). I looked high and low for a recipe that sounded good that ONLY required red wine. But I gave up. I found the closet thing, that sounded good and similar to what I'd made before and tweeked it a bit. So here goes...


Red Sangria With Oranges and Apples

1 medium apple, cored and cut into chunks
1 medium orange
1 bottle of quality red wine (um, the cheap stuff will do)
1 cup club soda
1/4 cup sugar (I only used a little sugar - I don't like it super sweet, so do this to taste)
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup Cointreau, or any other orange flavored liqueur (I substituted a 1/2 cup of 100% grape juice)

Directions:
In a large pitcher add the red wine, orange juice, club soda, sugar, and orange flavored liqueur and stir till sugar is disolved. Slice the orange into wheels and add the apple chunks and orange slices. Chill at least one hour and serve over ice in individual glasses. (I usually don't add the club soda till right before I serve it so it doesn't go flat.)


Ahh... I do love a good glass or six of Sangria. OK so my dessert that I made the same night was baked apples with vanilla ice cream. I used bestest's recipe or method or whatever you want to call it for apple pie filling to do the apples. Then I found a recipe for a walnut topping to finish it off. OMG it was SO good. Peeling and cutting the apples takes a little time, but this is all so easy. Check it out...


Baked Apples with Walnut Topping

Apple mixture:
6-8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Walnut topping:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whole walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:
For the apples, mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon and set aside. As you slice the apples, set them in a separate bowl and add a little of the sugar mixture after every apple or so. (So like slice up an apple or two and sprinkle some of the sugar mixture on top, then repeat - you don't necessarily have to use all of the sugar mixture). And bestest - totally correct me if my amounts are way off on the sugar mixture. I did it from memory.

For the topping, melt the butter, then add the brow sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Stir until well blended. Then add the flour, powdered sugar, and the walnuts. The mixture should be crumbly but also clump together some.

In a baking dish, spoon the apples in and sprinkle the walnut topping all over, covering the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Yum-O!!!!!!


So there you go. Alright, I'm off to enjoy a bowl of cereal and then I'm gonna call it a night. I'll check back in soon! xoxoxo

Group Project

One day, I'll actually get on blogger and get those yummy recipes I mentioned up, but I've failed to get on this week while at home.  So you're stuck with my pictureless email posts for now, sorry.  I've just been running around lots this week and haven't had much time on the 'puter at home. 

 

Anyway, so I had my mid-cycle check early this morning.  Possibly four eggies there, but they're not as mature as they usually are at this point in my cycle - which means I'm probably gonna ovulate later than I normally do. Whatever.  And I didn't respond to the Femara as well as they'd hoped - my lining is better, but it's still not where it needs to be.  So this is downright annoying.  We were all hoping this would be my miracle drug.  So I've got to go back on my insta-fat-ass estrogen pills today to try and pump up my lining.  They're bringing me back in Monday a.m. for another ultrasound to see where I'm at then.  If I detect a surge before then, they'll bring me in the next day, but still do another ultrasound to see if all looks OK before doing any insemination.  So yeah... keep praying for my jacked up lining.  (Do I sound a little bitter?!  Hahaha...)

 

In other news - sorta related, sorta not - we're supposed to be going to GroupLink later this month at church to get back in a couples' small group.  We've been in small groups the last 4 or 5 years through church and have loved it.  And we've made some great friends through them.  But our dilemma has always been finding a group of couples our age, in our proximity, that don't have kids.  Not that we hate all couples with kids... um, hello - we're trying to be like you!  Most of our friends have kids - friends we hang out with a lot.  But the truth is - our lives are TOTALLY different.  We are just at an entirely different stage in life - depsite being the same age - and honestly, I love you, but I can't relate to you just yet.  And that's OK - doesn't mean we can't hang out with you.  But in a small group setting, I think it's best when the majority of the group is around the same age and at a similar stage in life.  That's what makes it awesome to me - doing life together and growing with other people who are on a similar path.  Of course no one's exactly at the same place in life, and sure won't stay that way - but you know what I'm saying.

 

And while we attend the Buckhead campus of our church, we do GroupLink through a different campus up here in suburbia in order to find couples closer to where we live.  Which means, couples our age are more prone to have kids already.  Cuz you know all the hip childless couples still live in the city.  The 'burbs are full of minivans and strollers.  I still contend we moved up here for our dogs to have a yard... but we obviously didn't buy a 5-bedroom house so I could have 4 walk-in closets.  Whatever. 

 

So we find ourselves stuck between getting in a group of people our age who are already parents, or a group of people without kids, who are 10 years younger than us.  Geez, what is worse?  We're outsiders in either case because hello, what the hell do I have in common with a 24 year-old who just got married?  A whole bunch of nothing.  Just as the parents our age are in a different league, so are the 20-something newlyweds.  Totally different stage of life and we just don't relate.   Again, doesn't mean we can't be friends - but in a small group, no thanks. 

 

So all-in-all, that's really been our reason for laying low over the summer and not getting in a group till this fall.  But we were hoping we'd know if we were gonna be pregnant or not by then - 'cause if we were, then I'd be like OK let's go ahead and find a group with kids.  But we still don't know and I'm hesitant to place us in any sort of "category" at this point.  On one hand I'm like, let's just wait.  But then on the other I'm like - God is at work here, and there may be a group for us we need to be in and I need to stop worrying about the stage of life crap so much.  I mean our last two group leader couples have been blessings in more ways than imaginable.  Both women also had major battles with infertility and it's been so awesome to share our struggles with each other.  And I know God put these two women in my life.  So maybe I'm being a bit over-dramatic here and just need to let him run the show.  What do y'all think?

 

Anyway, we'll see how I feel once the date rolls around for GroupLink.  I think the hub is kinda iffy too - so we'll see.  Just thinking out loud here.  Alright, y'all...  gotta get back to it.  Hope y'all are having fab weeks!  I'll check back in later.