And I'm Off!

While I am writing this I really should be finishing up Kelly Ann's quilt! I planned to get up two hours before I had to leave to finish it, and now I only have 45 minutes! So this will be quick!

My flight leaves at 3:30 today. I fly to Toronto, then I have 1 h 20 min to go through customs and get on my next plane to Florida. Not a whole lot of time but I am not worried! I get to Florida at 11 pm and I have already pre-booked a shuttle to take me to my hotel. Then first thing in the morning, at 8, I have my first seminar!

Please pray that I will have a safe trip, that I will learn a lot, and most importantly that I will be a blessing to everyone I come into contact with!

500!

This is my 500th post! It is hard to believe that I have written so many useless things! Well, I am glad you are reading!

Actually, to commemorate this momentous occasion, lets delurk!! If you are reading this right now, please comment and let me know who you are! A few times people have commented to me that they read something my blog, and I didn't even know they were reading! Don't be shy, my blog is here to be read by whoever wants, but I would just love to know who you are!

Thanks for reading!

Testing...

I just downloaded this app so I can blog from my iPod when I am away. My hotels have wifi but I don't have a laptop to take with me! This is my test!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:6 Ave,Gimli,Canada

Hockey!

I haven't talked about it for a while! I am still playing and loving it, for the most part. I am the type of person that likes to be good at things when I do them, and I am not great at hockey, so it is frustrating in that way. But I guess it keeps me humble!

I have not played a game yet, and probably won't until I get back. We also have a few tournaments coming up that I am very excited about! I can't wait to play a game, but I am nervous that I will make my team loose!

The girls I play with are great. They are lots of fun, and really encouraging. I have always felt welcome with them, and they don't make me feel bad at all for sucking!

My feet still kill me every time, I am really hoping that will go away soon. I have not skated that many times, so it makes sense.

My Current Project

Sewing a rag quilt for Kelly Ann! She is running for Carnival Queen in town, so I am making this for her to raffle off! I think it is going to look awesome when it is done! I really want to finish it before I leave, but that is only 3 more evenings and I have plans every one!

David After Dentist

If you have ever had your wisdom teeth pulled under sedation, you will know exactly what he is going through! This is one of my favorite YouTube videos ever!

Six Days!

As my ticker says, there is only 6 more days before I leave for Florida! I am so excited, but the reality that I am going somewhere has not sunk in.

I am excited for this for SO many reasons. I am excited....
... for the conference, because much of my skills and knowledge need a major overhaul.
...for the free stuff you get at the trade shows.
...all the new ideas I will be able to bring back to the clinic.
...to be somewhere warm for 10 days. I have never been somewhere warm like this during winter!
...to have a bath everynight after the conference.
...to get some reading done in the evenings.
...to watch movies on the plane.
...for Eric to join me. I love traveling anywhere as long as he is there too!
...to go shopping at the Florida mall. I will be by myself, but I will have 270 stores to entertain me!
...to go to Disney World of course. The rides. The atmosphere. THE STORES!
...to go to Universal Studios. The rides. The atmosphere. THE STORES. Especially the stores. They have the candy shop from the Harry Potter books there! And many other cool stores from books/movies!
...that we have saved more than enough money for this trip, which means we have not taken out any loans, nor do we have to put anything on the credit card. That is such a great feeling.
...that being gone for 10 days before my Dr appointment will make the time pass faster, so it won't feel like I am waiting around.
...to do something that distracts me from infertility. I finally have something else to look forward to other than the end of a cycle or a Dr. appointment!
AND MOST OF ALL
...because I get to wear my beautiful Birkenstock sandals for 10 days!

Today I will get some packing done, because I can't wait and because the clothes I need are summer ones, that I don't need in winter! :)

I Want This

I think this video is hilarious. I saw it several months ago, but I just got reminded of it today. I love driving mini vans. I don't know why, but they are just so smooth and they handle nicely! I love this one, but Eric constantly tells me that we are never getting a van, we will get an SUV if we need too. But when I have 5 babies, we will need this!

Biggest Loser

Today Eric and I entered into the Biggest Loser Challenge in town. There was about 20 other people that signed up. Person with the highest percentage of weight loss takes home most of the entry fees ($40 a person) with the second place person getting their money back.

I have wanted to do something like this for a long time. Actually I was wanted to start it up myself, but I was waiting to get all my fitness instructor stuff done before so I could incorporate that!

Nevertheless, I am so glad someone started it! This is exactly what I need for motivation. One, because I am highly competitive and have to win everything even if it isn't for money. And two, because the winner gets a nice cash prize!

My New Favorite Pastime

Baths.

I love them, but until a few days ago, I probably had 5 baths since we have lived in this trailer. At first it was because the bath tub was yucky. And then we painted it nicely, and I had a few baths then. But then the paint started peeling, so I didn't really want to bath in there anymore cause I thought it was gross.

Well it turns out it isn't gross, and that baths are awesome. I have had three in the last couple days, all with Lush bath bombs or bubble bars that I got for Christmas! With all the bath stuff I am planning on making, I am going to have to take a lot of baths to try the stuff out! I can't sell a batch without trying it out first!

And the best part of all, is that baths can be combined with reading, if you are careful. And that makes them extra awesome. Cause baths can get boring, but when you read you can soak forever!

So that is one of my new years resolutions, to take more baths while reading.

Books

I just counted yesterday, and I have like six books on the go. Ones that I have started, read the first few chapters then forgot about. That is silly. I also have a dozen or so more books in my possession that I would like to read. AND there is more books I would like to order from Amazon. But I am not allowing myself to buy any more books until I read the ones I already own!

I am not like my husband, I rarely read. I enjoy reading, but I get bored easily with it unless I am really into the book. BUT I really want those other books, and I want to read the books I have, so I have decided I am going to start reading a bit every night. I spend far too much time on the internet, and not nearly enough time feeding my mind! Eric always know all these fancy words and fun facts about things, and that is because he reads so much! I want to be smart like him. So when I go to Florida I am going to take a bunch of books with me cause I am going to have 5 evenings by myself and I need something to do!

I already finished off one book , and will finish the second tonight!

My New Running Goal

I want to keep running. And in order to do that, I need a goal. In the summer I stopped running after I reached my goal because it wasn't exciting anymore.But I realized how much I missed running in the last couple days and I am so happy to be starting again!

My goal is to run for 45 minutes non-stop.

When I reach that goal, I want to work on running faster and farther in that amount of time but we will come back to that when I reach this goal!

Every Day For A Year

Today while I was running, I thought of an idea. I am going to blog every day for a year. So far I have a great start. I thought of taking Sundays off, but that is when I have the most time to blog!

I can't promise that every post is going to be interesting to you, but I do promise there will be something for you to read, see, watch or listen to every day. Here we go...

A Great Start

I had a great day today! It was the perfect way to start the new year. I stayed up LATE last night, and slept in! We stayed at the cabin with a few friends. Then at around 10:30 it was freezing cause the fire had gone out while we were sleeping, so we packed up and headed home. We had some lunch and then just lazed around for a few hours.

In the afternoon I went to the farm to do some laundry and some chores for Kathleen. Then I went for a run! I haven't ran in months and I still managed to run for 20 minutes straight no problem. I think running has a lot to do with the mind. There is no way I am at the same fitness level as four months ago when I stopped running, but I knew I had ran for 20 minutes before so I wanted to try again! I also took the big dogs with me, and they had a great time. Well Maeve did anyways, I let her off leash because she follows along well and comes when she is called. Finn desperately wanted to run and play with her, but if we let him off leash he just runs and runs and doesn't come when he is called! He gets so focused on whatever he is chasing he can't listen to anything!

Yesterday I bought YakTrax from MEC for running, and I tried them out today! They are great, I didn't slip once. One of my excuses for not running is because I was scared of slipping! Well now I can't use that anymore. I was also pretty warm while running, and it was very chilly outside today, so that excuse is useless too! I would love to have a balaclava though, my cheeks got a bit frozen.

After my run, Eric made soup. Then I had a bath, which I haven't done in months, with a bubble bar from Lush. I used the whole thing, and realized later that it was supposed to be for 3-4 baths! Oh well, my skin is really soft now and I will be making my own soon! I made a big order for supplies from Voyager today! I am really hoping people will be willing to buy this stuff, cause it was quite the investment!

I put on my sweats (my new addiction) and my favorite comfy shirt, made some tea and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. After supper we went to the in-laws to watch hockey and play games.

It was a very relaxing day, but I must admit I am a bit antsy now. Like tomorrow I need to get something productive done...

Today I also started taking Clomid, for the last time. Maybe this is horrible, but I have already written this cycle off. Of course God can work miracles and this cycle could be successful, and in that case I will be thrilled, but I need to be realistic. The odds are against me right now. I am not stressing about it, though. I am looking forward to moving on to an IUI . And having 5 babies. IUIs have the highest chance of multiples. It's how Kate Gosslin got pregnant with 6 babies. I know that is a rare case, but it kinda freaks me out a bit!

Good Riddance 2010

I am happy to see 2010 go. I can safely say it was the worst year of my life. Not that anything majorly bad happened, but nothing life changing happened either. I feel like I didn't get anywhere in life. I feel like I am in the same spot I was a year ago when I was saying goodbye to 2009.

If I could sum up 2010 in one word, it would be struggle. I feel like I have struggled in so many areas. I struggled to get fit and get into an exercise habit, here I am and I haven't exercised in two months. We struggled financially, I went back to work full time and we cancelled our trip to BC. I sure loved working part time, it was ideal. We struggled to conceive a child, after 8 cycles of fertility drugs, I still have an empty womb and an aching heart. I struggled with my relationship with God, trying to grow closer to Him, loving Him as much as I can, trying to live a life that pleases Him. I struggled with myself, trying to figure out if the person I am is the person I want to be.

I know I am focusing on all the negative right now, but I need to mourn. 2010 was a very hard year for me. I am hoping and praying that 2011 will be dramatically different, in a good way. I am nervous about more disappointment, but excited for new possibilities.

My resolution this year is to not just sit around waiting for life to happen. I am going to make life happen. I am going to have an amazing year, and when I sit here next year and write my review of 2011, it is going to be awesome. I am going take advantage of the time Eric and I have while it is just the two of us. Going to Disneyworld is sure a great start! I leave in 14 days!! Eric leaves in 19!

Christmas Gifts I Made

I meant to take pictures of everything I made, but I have been SO busy making all this stuff it slipped my mind and then all of a sudden everything was given away already! So I will just list them off:

1. Cinnamon Sugared Almonds
2. Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
3. Vinatarta Cookies
4. Spicy BBQ Rub
5. Jamaican Jerk Rub
6. Fruited Vinegar
7. Basil Olive Oil
8. Oregano Olive Oil
9. Toffee
10. Tree Skirt for Eloa
11. 12 Placemats for my Mom
12. Knit Toques
13. Knit Mittens
14. Knit Slippers
15. Fabric Coffee Sleeves ( like the cardboard things)
16. Oven Mitts and Pot Holders
    
17. Lemongrass Olive Oil Body Scrub
18. Cucumber Bath Salts
19. Sugar Plum Bath Salts
20. Chamomile Mint Bath Salts
21. Grape Strawberry Lip Balm with beeswax, olive oil, shea butter and vitamin E.
22. Strawberry Limeade, Mandarin Mango, and Grapefruit bath bombs
23. Green Apple Shea Butter Soap
24. Warm Vanilla Sugar Shea Butter Soap
    
25. Turkey Jerky
26. Indian Paneer Cheese with hot Chillis
27. Rye Multigrain Cracker

Wow, when I write it out in a list like that it seems like a lot of different things! No wonder my life has been completely consumed in the last month by making gifts! Pretty much every spare minute I had, I made gifts. I truly did enjoy it, and I am glad I did it.

My favorite part was probably making the bath stuff, mostly the bath bombs! So much so that I think I would like to start selling them. We need to pay for our fertility treatments/adoption some how, so why not make bath stuff in my spare time. I could sell it at local craft shows and on Etsy! We will see...

I love Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Birthday Jesus! I hope everyone had a fantastic day and was able to enjoy time with family and friends.

I was again reminded in the last few days of how blessed I am. I have a wonderful family and they are so good to us! I always feel accepted and loved when I am with them. I couldn't ask for more!

And the best Christmas present of all?!?! The arrival of AF! Thanks for making this the merriest of merry Christmases..... NOT. But, I will not let her bring me down, this Christmas was still amazing despite the failure of Clomid #8, only one more to go and then we can finally move on. At least I can still go on the rides at Disneyword. :)

Holiday Rabies Shot

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8133783

This is hilarious, because it is so true.

Hi

I feel like I need to post something, but I am coming up empty! I would really love to post about all the stuff I am making for Christmas gifts, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone. I will say I am having fun and I am really glad I am doing this. I will post pictures and info AFTER I have given them all! I think making my gifts has really helped to put me in the Christmas spirit.

I haven't posted a lot about infertility lately. Mostly because I have been trying my best to keep it at the back of my mind. My friend Hillary over at Making Me Mom wrote a great post. Please check it out. I could not have written it better myself and it describes so much of my feelings of loss that are difficult to put into words. And probably even more difficult for people to understand. I hope that helps.

Learning

Sometimes I overwhelm myself with things I would like to learn to do. Here is a few things:

1. Play the piano well, and be able to read music.
2. Speak French, or any other language.
3. Edit HTML, design and some programming. I think it would be fun.
4. Crochet.
5. Make a real quilt, not a rag quilt!
6. Make soap.

But where to find the time! What kinds of things would you like to learn?