Almost back in the game

I had my appointment with my gyno today for my annual torture, a.k.a "annual exam." It was a lot better experience than any other pap I've ever had. It went really quick and wasn't as awkward as my past experiences.

The best part of the visit was discussing my infertility issues. My gyno told me she wanted to refer me straight to an RE that is part of the hospital network. I was able to contact the office and they are going to send me out a fertility questionnaire that I need to fill out. From there I was told that I will have to attend a group seminar that will go over the basics of infertility treatment. I already know pretty much everything that they will tell me at the seminar because of knowing so many people that have already been through the testing and treatment, but I guess I might learn something new. After that I will be able to schedule an appointment to sit down with someone to go over what my insurance covers and what the plan for treating me will be.

I just hope that it won't be too long until I can start getting some testing done. I was hoping to have some blood work ordered today so we could get the process going, but I guess I will have to wait until I get over to the fertility clinic. I'm feeling so impatient to get some answers. I've already waited almost three years to get pregnant. What's another few weeks to get testing done, right?

Crawling Around in the Attic

I was a very busy girl this last Friday. I ran all kinds of wiring to remote locations of our attic. Our bluray player has the ability to connect to Netflix so we can watch movies instantly. However, in order to enable this ability we either had to spend $100 on a little device that would connect to a WiFi connection from our internet, or run cable from our internet connection to the player. Being frugal we decided we would rather spend $25 on 150 feet of cable and run it through our attic. Of course this meant I had to get up in the attic to run the wire since I am the smaller one between the two of us.

I definitely made up for the fact that I hadn't exercised in a while. I used muscles I didn't know I even had. I'm still sore from trying to balance myself on my stomach without falling through the ceiling and doing acrobatics to navigate the air ducts.

The most exciting part of it all was when I got myself stuck between 2 beams. I had successfully gotten the first half of myself through but couldn't wedge my butt through the tight space. Then to top it off I couldn't get out the way I came. This is when I started to panic. I was laying there crying and thinking about the fact that Soren would have to call the fire department so they could rip the roof off and use a crane to get me out. Soren told me to just focus on breathing and work on getting dislodged in a few minutes. Obviously I got out eventually, but when I was stuck I really didn't think there was anyway I was going to get out.

I think it will be a while before I offer to do any projects that involve getting in the attic.

New Job and Doctors Visits

I figured it was about time to tell you all a little about how much I'm loving my new job. I started on Sep 25, so I've been working there about 2 1/2 months now. Most of that time was taken up with training. I have been taking calls for about 3 weeks now and I think I'm starting to get into the swing of things. There is still a lot to learn so that I can best help the customers and meet my goals as an employee. It's just so nice to be able to have a good paying job in these uncertain times. It has been great having health insurance again too.

I was able to get into see my primary doctor about two weeks ago. It was my first opportunity because I couldn't take any time off during training. It was supposed to just be my annual physical but for two weeks before my appointment I was having constant stomach pain so I made sure to mention that when I met my doctor. She said she thought I have reverse acid reflux which I had never heard of before. I guess what is happening is that my stomach acid is flaring down into my intestines instead of going into my esophagus like normal acid reflux does. Anyway she has put me on a prescription for pepcid which has been helping. It looks like I will also have to change my diet a little to try to prevent the acid reflux since I don't want to just take pills for the rest of my life.

While I was there she also scheduled a bunch of lab work to make sure nothing else was going on. All of the test results have come back and everything is normal except for my good cholesterol levels are a little low. She told me to eat at least one serving of fish a week. I'm fine with that, but my husband hates fish so I guess I'll just have to take a tuna sandwich or something for lunch once a week.

The appointment I'm really excited for is the one with my ob gyn in a few weeks. The appointment is unfortunately for my yearly torture, but I figure that while I'm there I will tell her about my infertility so that we can start testing my hormone levels and make some treatment plans. I'm so excited to finally get the ball rolling again and hopefully get some answers. It has almost been 3 years since I went off birth control and we started trying so I'm ready to feel like I'm actually doing something to fix the problem.

Baby Shower

My best friend and I threw a baby shower for a good friend of ours on November 21. We were both kind of stressed out about everything that needed to be done leading up to it, but it turned out really well. I'm glad we threw the baby shower, but I am also glad it is over. Here are a few pictures from that day.

We made bear creek potato soup, sandwiches, strawberry lemonade, and cupcakes. The cupcakes turned out cute, but it took us forever to get the sprinkles just around the edges.

Here is the soon to be mommy. She is such a character. She posed herself this way when I told her I needed a picture.

Clean up time!

I Finally Feel Like Updating

I'm sure at least some of you have been wondering if I was ever coming back. I have been looking at my blog every once in a while with the thought that I would update, but it just never happened. Well here I am not able to sleep so I thought I might as well put my insomnia to use. I will try to give the short version of what I have been doing. Just to warn you I have lots of pictures.

We took our nephews to an air show a couple months ago. We really thought it would be fun for them. There were a few things they really liked, but near the end they were bored out of their minds. Watching what the F 22 could do was very impressive. Here are few pictures from our day at the air show.

Soren with our two nephews: Jeremy and Eli

Me and Eli. I just love the crazy faces he makes.

Next was a deer hunting trip with my dad. We didn't actually get anything so it up ended just being a camping trip where we got up before dawn to freeze our butts off while traipsing through the woods. My biggest accomplishment was discovering that I could in fact go with out showering for 4 days. You better believe I took a shower first thing when we got home though.

A picture of me relaxing at camp. Please excuse my grungy appearance. Remember, no shower for 4 days. I would post pictures of other people, but I'm not sure they would not appreciate it.

An awesome picture I got of the mountains right after dawn one morning. We may not have bagged a deer, but seeing the sunrise was amazing.

The last event I will share is a trip to Apple Hill with my Best Friend and her son. We were big slackers and didn't take many pictures. There were just a few of her son, Henry. He's way cuter than either of us anyway, so I guess we didn't need pictures of all three of us. The day was beautiful and I was so excited to buy fresh apples and yummy apple cider. Here's a super cute picture of Henry.



I will have to post again soon to update you all on my new job and what is going on with doctors appointments.

Yes, I'm still alive

Someday I will find the motivation to write an actual post. For now I just don't really care. I just wanted to let all of you wonderful people out there know that I am still alive and well. I have been so tired lately and I just can't work up the energy to actually get on here and say anything meaningful. It is now 9pm and I am ready to go to bed. I will try to do better about posting in the near future.

Goodbye Satan, Hello ?

So it is official: I am leaving the evil company that I work for. My last day is next Thursday. I can't wait to be done. This whole week it was hard to find the motivation to go in since I hate the place so much.

As of September 25 I will be working for Verizon in one of their call centers. It isn't a company that I plan on making my career with at this point, but it is a definite step up. I will go from my crappy part-time job to a position that is full- time. I will be making almost twice as much as I currently do. Plus, I will have benefits.

The part that I am the most excited about are the benefits. They start my first day of work. That means that in the next month I will be able to see a doctor and start to figure out why Soren and I haven't been able to have kids. I will also be able to catch up on stuff like dental work. It has been years since I have seen a dentist. My poor teeth are way overdue for a professional cleaning.

The call center for Verizon is also really close to where I live so I will have a much shorter commute. I think I am going to ride our scooter to work until it starts getting really rainy. I am just so excited to be finding a position that will allow us to pay down some debt and move on with infertility treatments.

I hope that Verizon will be a great company to work for and that I will do well in my new position.

Farewell to One Great Lady

I attended a funeral of my dad's cousin recently. She was a lot older than my dad and growing up I actually thought she was my grandma's sister. My grandma and her were very good friends and I got to know her from all the times that I went and visited my grandma while growing up. I'm really going to miss her. She was really a wonderful person. She died of ovarian cancer and I know she will be much better off now that she is no longer in pain. She was ready to go and was at peace with how she had lived her life. I was lucky to see her a few days before she passed and am so glad I got one last chance to see her.

While I was listening to the service I remembered how kind and patient she was. Everyone spoke of how she would always put other people first and the fact that she always seemed to be there when you were having a rough time. They all said that they don't remember her losing her temper. She was a very sweet and patient lady. They also spoke of how talented she was and that she shared these talents with her friends and family. I remember that as a wedding present she gave me an apron, a bunch of delicious things she had canned, and a recipe box. These things may seem very old fashioned, but she was an excellent cook and baker and I'm sure she was sharing her love for these things with me.

I left the service feeling that I wanted to be more like her. I definitely am short on patience and I would really like to change that. I know I am much more patient than I used to be, but I still have a lot of room to grow in that department. Another thing that I need to fix is the fact that I sometimes say horrible things to people when I am frustrated or angry. I really need to learn to hold my tongue. I also really want to develop my talents more fully. I hope that when I leave this life people will have only good things to think and say of me.

Here's to you LouAnn. The world has lost a wonderful person, but all that knew you are better for the time they spent with you.

Here are two pictures of her. One from when she was young and a recent one. They are both taken from her funeral program. Please forgive the fact that they are a little fuzzy.

Charging My She-Ra Powers

First of all I will share a little back story. I was tom-boyish growing up. Don't get me wrong I still loved being girly sometimes, but overall I was a tough little girl. This was mainly due to the fact that I was raised mostly by my dad and he always had me help with fixing the car and doing projects around the house. He always made me feel that a girl could do anything a boy could.

Here is where She-Ra comes in. I loved the show He-Man when I was little (among many other boy shows like Transformers and Thunder Cats). He-Man was awesome, but just as awesome was his sister She-Ra. She could do anything and she kind of became my hero (or rather heroine). Whenever I do something that most girls have to rely on a guy for I am so proud of myself and call it "Charging my She-Ra powers." I know you probably think this is silly, but I'm just telling it like it is.

Anyway, I have totally been a superwoman this week. Earlier in the week I changed the spark plugs in my car. Sure my hubby was there and helped a little, but I did all the work. It was the first time I had done it and I was so proud of myself. I have done other car related things like changing the oil a lot, but it was fun to learn something new.

Today was another She-Ra type day. I was lucky to not have to work and so I decided to take care of some projects around the house. I had a fairly leisurely morning of reading and then my dad and I went to the hardware store to grab a few things we needed.

First of all we fixed the tub in the hall bathroom. The tub had a steady trickle of water coming out of the faucet for quite a while that we have all been procrastinating fixing. I picked out the right stems and seats and then my dad and I changed them out.

After that we prepped the hall ceiling for being re-textured. We are removing all the nasty popcorn ceiling (it's real name is acoustic ceiling) throughout the house slowly but surely. After we sanded down some uneven spots and patched a few parts we were ready to pull out the texture gun. It was a ton of fun to use and the hall ceiling looks so good now that it has the same orange peel texture as the walls. I stopped tonight after I had put primer on the ceiling. It was getting really late. I'm so excited to finish the hall by painting the ceiling and walls and then hooking up the new lights we bought. I think I will have Soren teach me how to hook up the lights so I can learn another thing to be self sufficient.

I'm on my way to becoming Julie the Plumber, Mechanic, Painter, Carpenter, Electrician, etc. However that's way too long, so just call me:

Julie: Princess of Power!

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday. I am now 27. I never pictured that life would be like it is now. I thought that I would have a decent job by this age and at least one kid. It's funny how life never goes as planned. Oh well, I'm not feeling sorry for myself (at least not that much). Sorry if it came across as me being a whiny.

As you can see from above on my weight loss ticker: I have been doing well with eating smaller portions and exercising. I'm so proud that I have lost 8 pounds in the last 3 weeks. Yay for me! I decided to give myself a free day since it was my birthday and didn't worry about how many calories I consumed. I definitely went over, but not by that much. I didn't exercise today, but if I had it would make up for what I overate.

I'm feeling optimistic about what the near future might hold. I have recently had two people tell me they would give me a good referral to the companies they work for. I put in applications to both places and hopefully I will hear back from at least one of them. I also have another person that told me that their friend's work is hiring. I really hope I can get a decent job soon. I am really hating my current job. However, I do keep reminding myself that I am lucky to even have a job.

I hope this next year of life has some good changes in it and that whatever happens I will have a good attitude.

Getting Some Motivation

If you remember, a little over a month ago I decided to get serious about losing weight. I was doing a little better and lost a few pounds in a month. However, two weeks ago I found some major help in my quest to let the skinny person who is trapped inside of me free.

The night of the No Doubt concert my best friend told me about a free website that she had joined. It's called My Fitness Pal. It helps you by having software to log what you eat and how much you exercise. I signed up for it the day after she told me about it because it sounded like it might be a really helpful tool.

I have now been using it for 2 weeks and have already lost 5 pounds! I love the website. It is the most helpful thing I have ever found to help me lose weight. It really helps to see what you are eating every day because then you are more conscious of what you are putting in your mouth.

The exercise tool is also wonderful because it helps you to be more motivated to exercise. I love seeing how many calories I have burned by doing a certain type of exercise. It is also great because exercising gives you more calories that you can eat for the day. This helps to stop the feeling that comes with most dieting that you are starving yourself.

Another thing that really motivates you is that after you are done logging your calories for the day it tells you how much you will weigh in 5 weeks if you eat like that day every day. If you have a great day it encourages you to continue eating well and exercising. If you have a bad day it helps you realize that you need to do better tomorrow.

I'm sorry if I sound like an infomercial. I'm just really excited about how much it has already helped me and the prospect of losing some major weight. I'm not thinking of this as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. Watch my weight loss ticker keep counting all the pounds I have shed! I'm already looking forward to fitting back into my cute skinny clothes.

No Doubt

I got the best birthday present ever! I have loved the band No Doubt for the longest time and they were part of the music I listened to through High School and College. My hubby bought me concert tickets for my birthday and the concert was this last Friday.

Since my hubby hates the band he had been trying to convince me for the last two months that I should take my best friend instead of making him go. For quite a while I told him he had to go since it was my birthday present and my first concert that I was ever going to. In the end I decided to be merciful (and also I knew I would have a lot more fun with someone that actually wanted to be there) and asked my best friend Megan.

We had a blast! There were only about two songs that I didn't know well enough to sing along with Gwen word for word. Megan told me it was the best concert she had ever been to and I agreed that it was the best one I had ever been to also ;).

This was by far the best birthday present I have ever recieved. I had to come home and wake Soren up a little to thank him. It was about 2 in the morning so I don't think he was very aware of me talking to him. I told him thank you again the next morning.

I would go to another one of their concerts again in a heartbeat. In fact I think I might just become a concert addict in general. Soren told me Green Day is coming to town in the next few months and that it was the best concert he had ever been to. We shall see how it stacks up.

I forgot my camera and so I had to take some pictures with my cell phone. Once I figure out how to transfer them here I will post them.

Let the Weight Loss Begin

For a while now I have been needing to get into an exercise routine. I have been exercising, but not very regularly. I was having a hard time finding something that I felt confident enough doing that I would stick with it. I was doing a dance workout video and it was pretty fun, but I suck at dancing so much that I was having a hard time with the routines.

This week I found an exercise video that I totally love. It is a mix between yoga and pilates. My ab muscles are so sore from doing it yesterday (It hurt to roll over in bed this morning), but it is a very good sore.

I'm so excited to get into better shape and have more energy from being better to my body. My goal is to go down one or two sizes by the end of summer. Wish me luck!

My Equivalent to Windex (Almost)

If you have ever seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding you will remember that the dad uses windex for everything. Have an arthritic elbow, soak it in some windex. Nasty pimple, put windex on it. Anyway, I have found a product I love almost as much as he loves Windex.

I LOVE Soft Scrub. While I don't reccomend using it to solve every problem, it is an amazing cleaner. We have been living with my dad for the last six months and it was pretty gross when we moved in (I don't think he ever cleans anything). Needless to say we have been really been cleaning up the place since we moved in. Months ago Soft Scrub helped me get our shower sparkling. Today I used it on the kitchen sink and it removed what I thought were permanent scratches. I clean it regularly and no other cleaner has even come close to removing the scratches. It is amazing!

I wish I had taken before and after pictures. The sink doesn't look brand new or anything, but at least it is bright white and clean. I might just use it as my all purpose cleaner.

Stupid Neighbor!

One of our neighbors lives on the corner and his property backs up to the side of our house. I don't know what it is with this guy, but he is addicted to watering his back yard. He always waters way too long and since our property is lower than his water floods into the side of our yard.

This didn't used to be such a problem, but somehow the drainage on the side of our house has gotten messed up and so the water turns the side of our house into a pond. It has been flooding our garage regularly for the last few weeks. I am constantly having to go over there and ask him to turn off his water because my garage is once again flood.

And what's his response to this? It's not, "I'm sorry. I'll go turn it off and stop watering so frickin' much," like any decent human being would respond. Instead, he always claims he has only been watering for 10-15 minutes. I'm sorry, but if I turned on a hose by the side of my house and let in run directly into my garage it wouldn't get that flooded after 10-15 minutes. Some of the water should actually absorb into his stupid lawn if he needed to water.

What makes it worse is that we want to fix the drainage, but we can't because he waters so much that the ground never has a chance to dry enough for us to dig down and fix the drainage pipe. I am so freaking annoyed by this whole situation. I'm seriously considering reporting him for wasting water. I haven't done it yet because I'm not the kind of person that tells on people. I generally believe that you can go to the person and work it out. However, I have tried that and it doesn't seem to get through this guy's thick skull. Next time I think I'll just turn off his water main instead of knocking on his door for 10 minutes (while my garage floods more and more) trying to talk to him.

Three Years

May 27th was our 3 year wedding anniversary. This day always means a lot to me for a couple reasons. First is the obvious reason: It was the day I married my wonderful husband. I am so grateful to have him in my life. He makes me so much better of a person by encouraging me to do my best. He also makes me laugh (even when I'm trying to be mad at him and I try not to laugh).

The second reason is that after we chose this date I found out it is my grandpa's birthday. He died before I was born, but I have always felt a connection to him that I can't explain. When I found out that our wedding was going to be on his birthday it seemed like the perfect choice.

I can't believe it has already been 3 years. I still feel like a newlywed in some ways. In other ways it feels like I have been married to Soren for a long time because he has become such a part of me that I can't imagine my life without him.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our wedding day:

I think of this as the classic fairy tale kiss.

Here is our delicious cake. It is by far the best wedding cake I have ever had. Usually they look good, but taste terrible. This one was great inside and out!

Soren and my brother Jeremy being goofy. I think Jeremy looks like he is trying to model underwear.

I love the glow this picture has. This is actually the reason why I chose of photographer. I instantly feel in love with the back lighting I saw in other pictures he had taken. Also, I think this picture is just downright cute with our noses touching and us smiling.

The first picture of us as a married couple.

A picture of my best friend, Megan, and me.

Your Dreams are in God's Hands

While at work today I happened to see a woman's t-shirt. It had a picture of hands holding baby feet and under that I read what I thought said: "Your dreams are in God's hands." In my bitter state this shirt kind of upset me. I guess I didn't want to hear that I have absolutely no control over my dream of becoming a mother. As I thought about it a little more I realized that my dream being in God's hands is a good thing. After all, who is more capable and trustworthy than he is. I don't know why my initial reaction was so negative. God means a lot to me and he has gotten me through a lot. I guess I just need to trust in him more and rely on his strength to get me through this difficult time. I trust that God's plans for me are so much better than my own plans ever could be. I just hope that his plans include me being able to have kids. It just hurts that I'm pretty sure he has already told me they don't. Is it wrong of me to hold out hope or should I work on coming to terms with this fact?

On a lighter note: The funny thing about me thinking about of all this stuff is that it started with me misreading a shirt. I saw the woman walk by me a little later and her shirt actually said: "Your dreams are in good hands." It was a shirt for Kaiser Permanente (a health insurance company here in California).

I'm back

I've actually been around pretty much the whole time. I just didn't know what to write about. The wedding was great. Megan and I made the trek to Utah with her 11 month old son and he was surprisingly good. He actually slept most of the trip (and we didn't drug him).

It was great seeing Misty. See looked absolutely beautiful and so happy. I'm so glad she found a great guy to marry. They are living in Las Vegas now so I will have to use that as a reason to go to Vegas. I've never been there and never really had any great desire to visit it but Misty is a good reason.

Megan and I were both glad to get home. Her son Henry was starting to get cranky about not sleeping in his own crib. The last night he actually couldn't sleep. I feel so sorry for the little guy. You could tell he was trying to get comfortable but he couldn't. I ended up only sleeping for an hour before I brought him to bed with me and I was up until we left at 2 in the morning (we wanted him to sleep as much of the car ride as possible.) Then I drove for the first 5 hours of the trip. I don't how I did it but I seemed to have to enough energy. Then I totally crashed when Megan started driving.

I'm glad we went, but Megan and I decided that in the future we would either leave Henry home or bring our hubbies to help out.

So Excited

A good friend from my mission is getting married in about a week. I told her months ago that I would definitely try to make it. However, lately I have been worried that I wasn't going to be able to go. I requested the time off of work only to scheduled on the day of her wedding. Over the last few days I have contemplated just calling in sick that day.

However, I'm not going to have to do that now. Everything is coming together! I found someone to take my shift at work. I am so grateful. Also, I have family connections that are getting me a discount at a nearby hotel. It is only going to be $20 a night and it is a really nice hotel. Now all I need is for my best friend to get the okay from her husband to run off with me for a few days.

The wedding is 2 states away and I'm going to hopefully be able to see a bunch of other people from my mission that I haven't seen in years. The time can't go by fast enough. All I have to say is: ROAD TRIP!

Bruise on my Bum

I managed to give myself a massive bruise while at work on Saturday. It happened because I was trying to hurry and I was cutting corners. Go ahead: give me a slap on the hand. I was being a bad girl.

Want to hear the details? Ready or not here they are:

I was in the stock room trying to find a specific sheet set for a customer. The shelf with the sheets was too high for me to thoroughly look through the sheets on the back of the shelf. I didn't want to take the time to find a step stool so I just climbed the shelves.

Everything was fine until I decided to get down. I wasn't that far off the ground so I squatted a little while holding onto the shelf and then decided to hop down the rest of the way. This would have worked out perfect if there wasn't a large cloth tote ( we are talking 3 ft x 4 ft and about 4 ft deep) right behind me. Before my feet could touch the ground I landed on the corner of the tote with my left butt cheek. Oh my gosh was it painful. I had to take a minute to hold back the tears and regain composure. Then when I walked out I had to try not to walk funny.

I went in the employee restroom a while later to check out the damage. At this point the area was bright red and I knew I was going to get a pretty nasty bruise. Sure enough the whole area is now dark purple and it hurts like crazy to sit down. I think I need a pillow to sit on or something.

If only I had been more careful ... but then I wouldn't have this funny story to tell all of you. Maybe in the future I will have to tell you more stupid things I've done. Like the time I forgot to put on deodorant and thought it would be a good idea to use the air freshener at work.

It's hot!

I'm sure there are some of you that would love to change weather with me, but I'm going to complain anyway. It is over 90 degrees today! That is way too hot for April. It should be in the 70's. I wondering if we are setting some kind of record today for the high.

I was going to do some more clearing of the planter and plant some more of my veggies but that is now out of the question. They will just have to wait until the weather is a little cooler for me to go out there. I'm not afraid of getting sweaty, but I'm not going to fry myself over something that can wait a little while longer.

I did still manage to get a lot done today. I was out running errands for a few hours this afternoon and I think I completed everything that needed to be done today except for the laundry. On that note, I better go check on the laundry. It is probably time to put another load in the dryer.

Changes

Just to let everyone know I have decided to change my playlist so that it doesn't automatically start the music when you come to my page. I know it drives some people nuts to have to turn the music off. I can relate because I always have to remember to pause my own music before going to some friend's blogs or I start hearing a cacophony of music. Still, I love my new music selections and I encourage you all to check them out.

Worst night ever

Disclaimer: some parts of this post may be gross. I will try not to go into too much detail.

I woke up at about 1:30 this morning with horrible pains in my stomach. At first it seemed like maybe it was just gas so I went to the bathroom to try to relieve some of the pressure. After sitting there a minute I started feeling extremely hot, nauseous, and dizzy. Then, all of the sudden I started violently throwing up all over the floor. I didn't have a chance to grab the trash can or anything. All I could do was continue to trow up for the next few minutes.

Soren heard me and came over to help and somehow I managed to tell him not to come over in between throwing up. (It was pretty gross having my dinner on the floor in front of me and I didn't want him to have to see it.) He came over anyway with a bowl for me to finish throwing up in.

When I was done he told me he would clean it up. I told him "no, I clean it up," as I was bawling. (I wasn't exactly in a state of mind to use correct grammar.) I don't know why I was even crying. It was probably a mixture of feeling physically horrible mixed with relief that I felt I felt a little better and being embarrassed that Soren had to see something so nasty coming out of me.

Soren wouldn't take no for an answer and he helped me get cleaned up enough to lay down on our bed while he clean up the mess in the bathroom. I am so grateful to Soren for being willing to clean up the bathroom for me. My love for him has grown a little bit since last night. It truly is love when you will clean up someone else's barf. (I commented to him this morning that I bet he didn't think he had signed up for this when we got married.)

The rest of the night I woke every 30 minutes - 1 hour in pain or feeling like I was going to throw up again. I kept a bowl on my night stand just in case I needed it. I hope I never have to repeat another night like that again. I called in sick to work today because I was absolutely exhausted and I still don't feel completely better yet.

The Cuteness Contest

My husband and I have an ongoing contest over who is cuter. He started it all and he claims that while I am definitely a cute person, that his cuteness level is far higher than mine. Most of his cuteness comes from his personality. Still he has his moments when he just looks downright cute. Right now is one of those times.

He is utterly exhausted this afternoon. He fell asleep on the way home just like you would expect a baby to. I woke him up just long enough to get him in the house and he went straight to bed. Anyway, I just went into our bedroom and couldn't resist taking a picture of him sleeping. Hopefully he won't be mad at me for posting it. (Or at least he won't find out.)

I had to resist the temptation to snuggle up next to him. He just won this round of the contest without even trying.

It All Comes in Spurts

I apologize for the fact that I post nothing for a week and then all of the sudden I have a ton of things to say. I wish I could space it out a little more. My inspiration always seems to come all at once. Does this happen to anyone else?

Any way, I just wanted to get on and let everyone know I'm doing good. My overall outlook on life has seemed to improve. I still hate my job, but hopefully it will hold me over until I can find something better.

Well, I just wanted to post a short update. Nothing has happened this week that is worthy of being posted.

What's under your couch

Today we were clearing out some of the furniture in our Living Room. My mother-in-law gave us a couch and love seat set so we decided to get rid of the couch that was in the room. (It has a hideous flower print all over it.) As is to be expected there were a few things hiding under the couch. It actually wasn't as bad under there as I expected. One thing we did find was a VHS movie called "Caught in the Work." None of us knew what it was and my dad asked me if it was a church video.

Well, it was the complete opposite of a church video. As I was carrying it to get rid of it later in the day I noticed that on the tape it said: "All models appearing in the visual depiction of actual sexual conduct displayed on this box or contained in this video are over 18 years."

We had a porno under the couch! I have no idea where it came from. We don't watch pornos and even if we did I don't think we would be watching them in the living room where there isn't even a TV.

I had to share this with you all since I thought it was somewhat funny and disturbing at the same time. The movie is now in it's new home the garbage can.

Better in time

For some reason the song "Better in time" by Leona Lewis is sounding very inspirational to me right now. Even though the lyrics about moving on after a break up have nothing to do with my situation (no, I'm not leaving my hubby), they are oddly comforting to me and even make me feel somewhat empowered.

Here are lines that really touched me:

"It's been the longest winter without you
I didn't know where to turn to
See somehow I can't forget you...

[Chorus]

Thought I couldn't live without you
It's going to hurt when it heals too
Oh yeah (It'll all get better in time)
Even though I really love you
I'm gonna smile because I deserve to
Oh (It'll all get better in time)

No matter how hard it is
I will be fine without you
Yes I will

[Chorus]
Thought I couldn't live without you
It's going to hurt when it heals too
Oh yeah (It'll all get better in time)
Even though I really love you
I'm gonna smile because I deserve to
Oh (It'll all get better in time)"

Okay, now let me explain why this song fits how I feel. It describes how this whole process of trying to conceive is emotional and painful.

• It seems like a long time that I've been trying to have a baby and I have nothing to show for it (It's been the longest winter without you).


• Even though this whole process stinks and there have been many times I have wished that I could just get rid of the desire to have children and move on with my life, it is easier said than done (See somehow I can't forget you)


• I know someday I might have to face the fact that we can't have kids and I will have to try to heal and move on with my life. Even then I know there will be scars and an ache in my heart that remain (It's going to hurt when it heals too).


• This next part may sound weird to some of you. I desperately love the children I don't have and may never have (Even though I really love you). There is so much room for love in my heart. I think one of the hardest parts about infertility for me is that I have already made room in my heart for children. Now it seems that I have to try to deal with having a hole in my heart.


• Here's the empowering part: I'm going to be okay. I know I will survive whatever happens (No matter how hard it is I will be fine without you. It'll all get better in time) and that I will find joy in life (I'm gonna smile because I deserve to). I will get my sunshine back. I'm not going to settle with being self pitying and pessimistic.

If you want to read all the lyrics you can click here. You can also listen to the song on my blog. The song is in my playlist.

My writer's block is over for now

Sorry for the flood of posts. You will need to go down about three posts to start with the first one I posted tonight. I really couldn't think of anything to post about this last week. All my inspiration seems to have come to me in the last day or two. Hopefully you won't get so tired of all the junk I've said that you will skip reading it.

Actually, even if no one reads any of it at least it was therapeutic to get it all out. I guess maybe I don't need a person to be my counselor. I have pretty good one right here with my blog.

One good thing (well maybe two)

Maybe you haven't noticed by my last few posts, but I'm feeling a bit down lately. I just don't feel I have much going for me right now. We are in a ton of debt from all the student loans we took out for school, we have no good job prospects to help us pay all these crappy loans that were supposed to help us move on to bigger and better things, and I am working for a blood sucking company.


I might have sunk into a self pity pile of worthlessness by this point if there wasn't something to look forward to. I honestly think my garden is helping me to keep going. Every day when I go out there and see how great the plants are doing it makes me feel like there is something I'm doing right in my life. It just feels so good to be able to grow and nurture something. It is also somewhat fun to play in the dirt since I never really did that as a kid. (I was a little girl that hated being dirty.) Clearing out the planter is coming along nicely and every couple days I get more and more veggies planted in it.



To all my friends out there: You keep me going too. Knowing that there are such amazing people (especially you Megan) that want to my friend helps me remember that I must be a pretty cool person myself. You all help me keep it all in perspective and realize that while things suck now they won't always.

My husband thinks I'm crazy

As wonderful as Soren is I guess he isn't able to support me in my baby craziness right now. As I mentioned in my previous post I am upset about the fact that I will not be getting health insurance with my job. Well, I mentioned something about this and he walked out of the room.



A few days before he told me he wants to be supportive, but he is so stressed out himself right now that he doesn't know how to help me. He feels really guilty about the fact that I can't get pregnant. (Even though we have no idea what the cause is at this point. It could be all me.) He told me that he thought I needed to go to counseling so I could talk to someone about all my feelings and frustrations and maybe have some help working through them.



I guess this would be helpful, but the pessimistic part of me that has developed from being infertile just figures I'll get some fertile woman for a counselor who has no clue and she will just say stupid and hurtful things to me. Oh how I wish I could have a postive attitude about this. My friend's nickname for me used to be "Sunshine" because I was always so happy and optimistic. I want to be happy again so I will give counseling a try. I just hope it works out for the best.

I HATE My Job

I know I should be grateful to even have a job with how sucky the economy is, but I still despise the company I'm working for. I feel so used and deceived. As you may recall I worked for TJ Maxx for two years. It was okay, but there were so many things that ticked me off while I worked there. This last summer I reached me breaking point of how much junk I could take from them and decided to find a new job for the last 4 months we were in Grand Forks. Well, then we graduated and moved back to California.

While I am so happy to be back in my lovely home state, the economy is in the crapper right now. We have both had the hardest time finding jobs with our newly acquired bachelor's degrees. Most jobs we find in the classifieds are for very specific things, requiring very specific degrees, and wanting at least 5 years experience. Needless to say, we don't really fit the mould for these positions.

One thing I do have a lot of experience in is retail. I worked my way through college doing retail and so I figured that I could at least fall back on that experience until there were some jobs that my degree qualifies me for opening up. A few weeks ago I was offered a position as a Coordinator (same thing as a Department Manager at other retail places) at Marshalls. They are owned by the same company as TJ Maxx so I am even starting the job with some idea of what they want from me. This position pays next to nothing. When I tried to negotiate my hourly wage they made excuses about the economy and payroll, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, I accepted the position because I was getting desperate for some income and I figure something was better than nothing. Plus Coordinator was supposed to be full-time so I figured I would get health ins and could maybe figure out the infertility stuff.

Well, yesterday one of the managers was introducing me to someone else in the store and said: "This is Julie. She is going to be a part-time coordinator in the store." I responded: "I better not be part-time. This is supposed to be a full-time position." She then said: "Maybe I wrong. We'll have to check with one of the other managers." Then her voice trailed off.

I got off work before the manager I needed to speak with came in so I called back later in the day and she confirmed that I am in fact part-time. She also said most of their coordinators are part-time. Excuse my language, but WHAT THE HELL! All the coordinators at the TJ Maxx I worked at were full-time. I can not even express how pissed off this makes me. I guess this is just one more way for this devil company to screw over their employees. No full-time status means no health insurance and half the monthly pay I was planning on.

I Hate this company. I hope they fail miserably. I don't think I will ever buy another thing from them and I plead with all of you to stop buying anything from TJ Maxx, Marshalls, AJ Wright, Homegoods, or Bob's stores until they start treating their employees as more than something to walk all over.

I am stuck there until I find something better (wow, that makes me feel so depressed), but I'm outta there the second something else (anything else) comes along. Until then I think every time one of the managers speaks to me I will answer with "Yes, Satan?"

My Arch-Nemesis, The Shower

I love showers. There is nothing like a nice shower to help me wake up and start my day. That being said: My shower hates me. I don't know where our relationship went south. I have been nothing but good to it. Despite this fact my shower has been trying to make my life miserable over the last week.

It all started with the water getting colder no matter how much I turned the cold water down. And mind you, this was at the beginning of my showers. No one else had showered to use all of the hot water either. Whenever I turned down the cold water it would get warmer for a few seconds and then go ice cold again. I had to just take as quick of showers as I possibly could to not freeze my butt off.

I guess the evil shower decided that this tactic wasn't working well enough since I hadn't completely left and changed tactics. I had a couple days of blissfully perfect water conditions and then things went bad again. This time it wasn't cold water, but hot.

There I was taking a nice warm shower when all of the sudden the water turned scorching hot. I immediately jumped out of the water and had to call Soren to adjust the water for me since there was no way I was going to go back into the water to reach the knobs. I have no idea why this happened. No one had flushed a toilet or anything. The shower tried to burn me several days in a row and I barely escaped with my skin intact.

Now the shower has gone back to treating me nice. It is probably just trying to figure out its next attack.

Pictures of future yumminess

As requested I'm posting some more pictures of the veggies I'm growing. My little tomato sprouts that I posted a picture of before didn't really make it. There are only 3-4 of all of them that I planted that survived. I was so sad. The guy at the nursery thinks that the fertilizer I mixed into the soil was too much for them. The daycare my best friend takes her baby to has the theme "spoiled with love." The thought that comes to mind in the case of my tomato sprouts is "killed with love." I did everything I could possibly think of to help them grow and thrive, but I guess it was overkill.














The good news in the midst of this tomato tragedy is some of the other things I planted are absolutely thriving. My bell peppers are doing great. They are starting to get more leaves than just the two that all sprouts start out with. You can't really see the leaves that well in this picture, but overall don't they look so green and happy.

As far as the tomatoes are concerned I gave up trying to grow them from seeds this year and went out and bought a few plants. The plants are doing really good so far. They are even starting to flower.

I am also very excited about our fruit trees. Today I noticed that they are getting leaves. It is good to know that we planted them in the ground correctly. Here are pictures are the peach and plum tree. We also planted an apple tree that is budding, but it doesn't have any leaves yet.

We still have a ton more to plant including: baby carrots, green onions, green and yellow string beans, sugar snap peas, zucchini, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Hopefully we will have a ton of delicious produce this summer and fall. I can't wait!

Wow, I feel dumb

All this time I have been wondering why no one ever leaves comments on my blog anymore. I just realized tonight that there is no link to let anyone leave comments. I'm not sure how or when it happened, but in my comments settings it got switched so that new posts didn't have comments. It looks like this has been the case for several months and I just now realized. I have switched it back so that people should be able to comment. It looks like the posts during the months when comments weren't allowed still won't allow comments. However, now the problem will hopefully be fixed.

For anyone that wants to be a part of my last post please leave your comments in this post.

Pay It Forward

I found this on a friend's blog. I thought it was a cute idea and so I'm going to continue it. You know you want to be a part of it too.

The rules:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will pay it forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item (no pressure there!). This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember it’s the spirit and the thought that count!

4. When you receive your gift, blog about it! If you are not one of the first three to comment on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! It's all about paying it forward. Or just lurk the blogs of the people who respond to mine- then you'll be ready to add yourself in the mix.

What a crazy afternoon

Soren and I were out running some errands this afternoon. The first place we stopped at ruined most of our plans for the rest of the day. We were getting back into our SUV and when I put the key in the ignition it broke off. I don't know how it happened. I wasn't being rough with the key and I hadn't even tried to turn it yet. As far as I know my key looked like it was in perfect condition before.

Luckily we have AAA so we called them and they sent out a locksmith to extract the broken piece of a key that was stuck in the ignition. It took them about an hour to get there. They ended up making me a new key too.

I didn't know that we were going to get another key and Soren hadn't brought his keys so I walked home to get his keys. We weren't too far away from home so it wasn't too big of a deal to walk home. Still, by the time I got there I was really thirsty and had to pee really bad.

The craziest part of all of it was the locksmith charged $120 for coming out and he was only there for about 10 minutes. We only had to pay $20 and AAA covered the rest, but still that is a ridiculous amount of money to charge. I guess these kinds of places figure they can charge whatever they feel like because people don't have any other option.

My blog has been hijacked

I just noticed that some of my past posts have ads linked to them. I don't know how this happened. I never signed up for anything. I'm going to investigate further. For now I just want everyone to know that I didn't intentionally puts these in my posts. (I'm not trying to sell you anything.)

Love this quote!

I was reading the February Ensign (All of my church friends will know what this is. For the rest of you as way of explanation: it is a magazine put out by my church.) and came across a quote that I feel was directly speaking to me. It's from Elder George Q. Cannon. It says,

"The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them. If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that he may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by-and-by."

When I read this it seemed to be an answer as to why I haven't been able to get pregnant. I don't know for sure what God has in store for me but I am trying to have more faith that he knows what is best for me better than I do. Over the past several months I have had the feeling that the Lord is preparing me for the fact that I will never be able to have biological children. Granted, I don't know what (if any) issues Soren and/or I have that would be preventing me from getting pregnant. Still, I feel as though we need to be prepared for the fact that we will most likely have to go the route of adoption to have children.

One example of how things can work out for the best is my Grandma and Grandpa. They adopted all of their children. My Grandpa died from Huntington's Disease. For all of you who don't know it is hereditary. Growing up I thought they decided to adopt because they didn't want to pass this disease onto any children they might have had. A few years ago I found out that they didn't know my Grandpa had Huntington's when they were trying to have children. My Grandma wasn't able to get pregnant and she told me that she had been very angry at God about this. (I can't imagine my Grandma being mad at God. She is one of the sweetest and most faithful people I know.)

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise that my Grandparents had to adopt because they didn't pass a disease on that would have greatly shortened their children's lives. Plus, because of this fact I was able to be a part of my Grandparents family. I love them so much and can't imagine what it would be like without them.

I try to keep this in mind myself when I feel frustrated or angry about the fact that I haven't been able to get pregnant. For now I am just trying to have faith that everything will work out for the best. If I do have to adopt to have children I will love them just the same as if they grew inside me. There is another quote that I can't remember word for word, but it says something like this: Being adopted means you grew in your mom's heart instead of her tummy.

Trying to be grateful for small blessings

So, I have been offered a job at Marshalls. It isn't exactly my dream job and the pay is going to be less than what I'm worth. Even though I'm not that excited it is good that we will have some income. With the economy being so bad I do feel grateful to be finding employment. It will be good to have something to help us out until we can both find some good jobs.

I just hope that the saying that it is always easier to find a job when you already have one will be true in my case.

I have an interview!

Soren and I have been getting so stressed out. We still don't have jobs even though we have been handing out resumes like crazy and filling out as many applications as we can get our hands on. We chose a great time to graduate and move. Our bank account has been steadily dwindling and as it does our stress level goes higher and higher.

Anyway, I have been feeling pretty desperate so I have been applying to retail establishments. (I'm not trying offend anyone that works retail. I just hate working rotating shifts.) I figure I have a ton of experience since I worked my way though college doing retail.

I think luck is finally starting to get on my side because I not only have an interview, but it is one for a great position. If I were to get it I would be an Environmental Planner for the California Lands Commission. I really hope I get it so that I can feel like there was actually a purpose for me getting a Bachelor's Degree.

I'm going to have to do some studing and preparing so that I can do my best at the interview. Wish me luck! Hopefully in a couple weeks I will be employed and loving my job.

Infertility Etiquette

I lady I know gave me a link to a website that talks about what to say and not say to a person that is dealing with infertility. As someone who is struggling with infertilty and has had many people say rude and inconsiderate things to me during this whole emotionally painful process I felt I would share a few quotes from the website. If you want to read the whole thing here is the link: http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lrn_ffaf_ie

"Chances are, you know someone who is struggling with infertility. Yet, as a society, we are woefully uninformed about how to best provide emotional support for our loved ones during this painful time. Infertility is, indeed, a very painful struggle. The pain is similar to the grief over losing a loved one, but it is unique because it is a recurring grief. Infertile people grieve the loss of the baby that they may never know. They grieve the loss of that baby who would have had mommy's nose and daddy's eyes. But, each month, there is the hope that maybe that baby will be conceived after all. No matter how hard they try to prepare themselves for bad news, they still hope that this month will be different. Then, the bad news comes again, and the grief washes over the infertile couple anew. This process happens month after month, year after year. It is like having a deep cut that keeps getting opened right when it starts to heal.

Your infertile loved ones need your emotional support during this journey. Most people don't know what to say, so they wind up saying the wrong thing, which only makes the journey so much harder for their loved ones. Knowing what not to say is half of the battle to providing support.

Don't Tell Them to Relax
Everyone knows someone who had trouble conceiving but then finally became pregnant once she "relaxed." Couples who are able to conceive after a few months of "relaxing" are not infertile. By definition, a couple is not diagnosed as "infertile" until they have tried unsuccessfully to become pregnant for a full year. In fact, most infertility specialists will not treat a couple for infertility until they have tried to become pregnant for a year. This year weeds out the people who aren't infertile but just need to "relax." Those that remain are truly infertile.

Comments such as "just relax" or "try going on a cruise" create even more stress for the infertile couple, particularly the woman. The woman feels like she is doing something wrong when, in fact, there is a good chance that there is a physical problem preventing her from becoming pregnant. Infertility is a diagnosable medical problem that must be treated by a doctor, and even with treatment, many couples will NEVER successfully conceive a child. Relaxation itself does not cure medical infertility.

Don't Minimize the Problem
Failure to conceive a baby is a very painful journey. Infertile couples are surrounded by families with children. These couples watch their friends give birth to two or three children, and they watch those children grow while the couple goes home to the silence of an empty house. These couples see all of the joy that a child brings into someone's life, and they feel the emptiness of not being able to experience the same joy.

Comments like, "Just enjoy being able to sleep late . . . .travel . . etc.," do not offer comfort. Instead, these comments make infertile people feel like you are minimizing their pain. You wouldn't tell somebody whose parent just died to be thankful that he no longer has to buy Father's Day or Mother's Day cards. Losing that one obligation doesn't even begin to compensate for the incredible loss of losing a parent. In the same vein, being able to sleep late or travel does not provide comfort to somebody who desperately wants a child.

Don't Complain About Your Pregnancy
This message is for pregnant women-Just being around you is painful for your infertile friends. Seeing your belly grow is a constant reminder of what your infertile friend cannot have. Unless an infertile women plans to spend her life in a cave, she has to find a way to interact with pregnant women. However, there are things you can do as her friend to make it easier.

The number one rule is DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR PREGNANCY. I understand from my friends that, when you are pregnant, your hormones are going crazy and you experience a lot of discomfort, such as queasiness, stretch marks, and fatigue. You have every right to vent about the discomforts to any one else in your life, but don't put your infertile friend in the position of comforting you. Your infertile friend would give anything to experience the discomforts you are enduring because those discomforts come from a baby growing inside of you.

Don't Treat Them Like They Are Ignorant
For some reason, some people seem to think that infertility causes a person to become unrealistic about the responsibilities of parenthood. I don't follow the logic, but several people told me that I wouldn't ache for a baby so much if I appreciated how much responsibility was involved in parenting.

Let's face it-no one can fully appreciate the responsibilities involved in parenting until they are, themselves, parents. That is true whether you successfully conceived after one month or after 10 years. The length of time you spend waiting for that baby does not factor in to your appreciation of responsibility. If anything, people who have been trying to become pregnant longer have had more time to think about those responsibilities. They have also probably been around lots of babies as their friends started their families.

Perhaps part of what fuels this perception is that infertile couples have a longer time to "dream" about what being a parent will be like. Like every other couple, we have our fantasies-my child will sleep through the night, would never have a tantrum in public, and will always eat his vegetables. Let us have our fantasies. Those fantasies are some of the few parent-to-be perks that we have-let us have them. You can give us your knowing looks when we discover the truth later.

Let Them Know That You Care
The best thing you can do is let your infertile friends know that you care. Send them cards. Let them cry on your shoulder. If they are religious, let them know you are praying for them. Offer the same support you would offer a friend who has lost a loved one. Just knowing they can count on you to be there for them lightens the load and lets them know that they aren't going through this alone."

I know this was long, but I really felt I needed to share it.

Developing my green thumb

Look at my beautiful tomato sprouts!

First of all: I must admit that I am not even close to having a green thumb. In the past the only plant I could get to stay alive was ivy. This was mainly because it is very forgiving and it won't completely die if you forgot to water it for a few weeks. My husband jokingly says I have a black thumb because I kill plants. I would argue it isn't that bad. After all, it wasn't me that practically killed our house plants by placing them on the BBQ and not moving them when he fired it up. (They looked so pathetic!)

Anyway, I have decided that I am going to learn to have a green thumb. I have always found gardening enjoyable, I just haven't really been that good at it. I have decided we are going to have a vegetable garden this year. There are a few things that had to be started indoors. Well, I planted them and then crossed my fingers that they would actually grow for me. I was so ecstatic when they started sprouting this weekend. Yay, there is actually hope for me having a garden!

Getting settled

We are slowly getting settled into our new home. We are going to be living with my Dad to help him get out of some financial trouble. Let me say it is a very interesting experience moving back home after you are married.

We have been having to clean out a lot of things to make room for our stuff. It doesn't help that my Dad is a pack rat. There wasn't even any room in the garage when we arrived to unload the truck. We had to spend a few days getting rid of junk before there was even enough room to put our boxes. The process of moving in is ongoing.

I just hope that living in my Dad's house doesn't drive me completely crazy. We are trying to make the best of it. There is just a lot to do.

Move In Delayed

We were planning on moving our things in today, but my Grandma is sick and had to be hospitalized. So, instead of our original plans we have spent the day at the hospital off and on. My Uncle Ray and Soren gave her a blessing. The doctor told us she is really bad and that she most likely will not make it.

I felt so bad for my dad and aunt when they had to tell the doctor how much they wanted done for her. They told them to do their best for her, but not to put her on a breathing machine or feeding tube to keep her alive. She hasn't has much quality of life and they don't want to prolong her suffering unnecessarily. I don't envy them the decision they had to make.

At this point we are just wanting for more news on whether she has been moved to an actual room. They have had her in the Emergency Room all day.

If it is the Lord's will I hope Mimi (my Grandma) makes it through this. In she does pass I'm sure she will be happy to be with my Grandpa again. More than anything I just hate to see her the way she is. I miss my Mimi that I fought with almost constantly when I was a teenager. I also miss the times that we would sit and talk for hours. I look forward to a time in the next life that I will able to give her a huge hug and talk with her again.

We Arrived Safely

Just in case anyone is wondering we arrived in California safely. We had one mishap before our journey started. The moving truck wouldn't start when we went to leave on Sunday. It got too cold and the diesel fuel gelled up. Penske had to send someone over to tow it away and get it warmed up. On a positive note they payed for our hotel room and I decided to go with a room that had a whirlpool tub. Soren and I took turns spending the evening soaking in the tub. It was so relaxing!

After that we didn't have any problems. It was a little slow going through parts of Montana, but we got through okay. When we got to Nevada we had a marathon driving session and drove 13 hours in one day. Soren drove the moving truck and I drove our Isuzu Trooper.

We are moving in with my Dad for a while. The last few days have been spent cleaning out my Dad's house in preparation for us moving in. A lot has accumulated in the last 13 years he has lived there.