Happy Halloween!

We were in Little Rock this past weekend and Saturday night our friends, Rachael and Zach came over for dinner and carving pumpkins! We had such a blast.

Dad of course had to break out the scary mask and scare Ra! And not sure about what Marc is doing to my mother. I swear this was not posed.

Finished product!

I thought they turned out so good!

Marc and my mom carved the "chevron" pattern one. Marc is very detailed and it turned out perfect! I saw a pumpkin like this on pinterest and told Marc he should try it, so he did. Ra and Zach carved the other one which I thought was great as well. It was a great night to get in the fall Spirit.

House Tour

My parents have been building a house for the past several months and it is finally done! They did an amazing job so I wanted to show it off. My dad is a builder and my mom is a great decorator and they make a wonderful team. They did this house different than any of their other ones and I love how it turned out!

So here you go!

kitchen area

love the backsplash

living room

funky powder room

master bathroom

this wine room was my dads little baby. It turned out awesome!

and this is the view off the back porch. You feel like you are in the tree tops! It is gorgeous!

Hope you enjoyed. She is still working on a few other rooms so when those are finished I will show more! If you need a builder in the little rock area or surrounding area, I know a really good one :)

 

An Update

Just wanted to update on how everything was going. The shots have actually not been that bad, just a few bruises on my belly. I'm responding really well to all of the meds, so that is extremely good. The time really has been gone by quickly, We are still not sure of the exact time everything will be happening yet, but we would love any and all prayers in the next several weeks.

I have definitely have had some freak out moments. I also keep running all different kinds of scenarios through my head about all the different outcomes that could happen. I know this is the planner and worrier in me and I also know that I cannot whatsoever control this situation. We are putting complete faith in our mighty God that His will will be done through this whole process. We give the outcome to Him. Giving up control may be the hardest thing for me, but I knew choosing ivf would leave me no other option, because this is something completely out of our control.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the support we have received and the sweet prayers lifted up on our behalf. We are humbled and thankful for each of you that have been on this journey with us and that have cared enough to think of us. I had no idea a little blog would ever allow that, but it truly has and it has been wonderful. So thank you to all that read this blog of ours.

Yesterday someone referenced this verse and it really struck me. As we go through the procedure part of this process I will know God is holding my hand through it all and He will not leave me and He will be my strength to get me through!

Psalm 77: 21-23 and 26 {NIV}
²¹ When my heart was grieved
   and my spirit embittered,
²² I was senseless and ignorant;
   I was a brute beast before you.
 ²³ Yet I am always with you;
   you hold me by my right hand.

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
   but God is the strength of my heart    and my portion forever.

10 years

This past weekend we had my husbands 10 year reunion. I have been looking forward to this literally since I met him. He grew up in a very small, farm town and may or may not have been pretty popular!
Some people {aka- me} have given him a hard time about his yearbook a lot over the years. He got "Mr. PHS", "best dressed", "Hall of Merit", etc, etc. mainly because it was a very small school and all the 9th grade girls were in love with him. Ha!
Nonetheless, I was actually pretty excited to meet the people he had grown up with. I was really expecting it to be pretty entertaining, but it was way more low key than I thought. It was actually refreshing getting to hang out with some new people and have a break from the usual, repetitive conversations.

an old friend of Marc'ss

I think he's a keeper for sure! I mean he was Mr. PHS!

a little yearbook fun!

 old love...



I'm thankful we were able to go and to also get to spend some time with his family. Since they live 6 hours away we don't get to see them very much. Plus we got to meet Marc's new nephew.

Now I'm getting so excited for my 10 year next year and Marc will have to go since I went to his! I also graduated from a very small school so it will be a blast seeing everyone!

patio revised

This summer we stained our deck and since then I had been looking for the perfect furniture to fit our small space. Well I found the perfect set for the perfect price from walmart.com. I love the color and how well it fits. Before I had a table that was way too big so we sold that. Now we can have several people over and enjoy being outdoors. What I love most is that it has become my favorite place to read after I get home from work. The past few weekends we have really enjoyed sitting out there at night just hanging out.

So what do you think from the before and afters?

The Beginning

Friday I received all my "goods" as I like to call them. They came in a huge box and some even in a cooler with freezer packs on them. This made everything very real.

this is a horrible pic, but it is about half of the "goods"

I know in my last post about ivf I was a little bit  overwhelmed. After a day of feeling down and out I quickly regained a better perspective and I was reminded about a few things.

I really tried to thank God a ton for allowing me to be able to do this and bringing me to this point of utter desperation for Him. It is no longer in my control whatsoever {it really never was}, but fully up to Him about this outcome. I really do still have a peace about all of this and I feel like it is going by pretty quickly.

Marc has been great about reminding me to let go and give it up because sometimes I get brain farts along the way.

The shots so far haven't been too bad. The first day I chickened out and had my friend who happens to be a nurse and happens to be my neighbor come over and give me the first shot. I had my mom and Marc both watch so they would know for the future.

The funny shot story I have is that Saturday we were all going to the Razorback game and I remembered I have to have my shot between 6pm-8pm and the game started at 6 and would most likely not be over until around 10. So what do I do... I take a needle, the medicine and an alcohol swab in my clutch into the game. I kid you not, my mom and I packed in a tiny stall in the bathroom and she gave me a shot right before kick- off. I did freak out right before going in thinking there was No way they would let me in with a needle in purse, but I turned it over and kind of covered it and they never saw it ... which probably isn't a good thing! Oh well we all survived and all in all it was a success.

For some reason I haven't mustered up enough courage to give the shots to myself. I just can't do it quite yet. I guess I'm still getting used to the idea that this is "my normal."

I'm very excited that this is the Beginning for us and hopefully the beginning of something great!

Weekend Of Fun

I had such an amazing weekend! My friday started off with no work {always great} and a lovely massage that Marc had gotten me a few weeks ago, it was wonderful and much needed.
My mom came into town friday night and we headed to dinner with Marc and my sis. We then headed to the AMP (Arkansas Music Pavilion) for a fun little outdoors concert. 2 of my very favorite artists were playing, NeedtoBreathe and Ben Rector. If you haven't heard of either you are really missing out on some good tunage! These 2 were absolutely awesome live and the weather made it that much more enjoyable. Then several people came over and we set out on our deck til wee hours of the morning just chatting. It was so relaxing.

Ben Rector doing his thing.

Fun fact about Ben, he went to the U of A and he married

one of my pi phi sisters! Umm major win ;)

Then the Razorbacks did some whooping up on some Auburn Tigers and I had a front row seat! It was a blast and an awesome {non stressful} game!  Plus I got to go with these fun girls. One of our best "family" friends came up too and it was her first time to come visit, so that was especially fun.It was like Florida reunion since we all went together this past july.

We had a lovely brunch at one of the more "Fayettevillish" places called Common grounds. Awesome coffee, yummy food and live music... I'm seeing a trend, are you? Lots of music, eating and fun!

me and my cutie. oh and  my yummy white mocha

 We finished this weekend off with some of our dear friends daughters 1 year old birthday party. I unfortunately did not get any pictures, but I'm sure that Leah will be posting some adorable pics on her blog soon. She did a great job with all of the details.

Oh and I pre-ordered the new iphone 4s so these kind of pictures should start looking way better ;)
Oh and on Tuesday I will post an update about ivf stuff and a fun shot story {already} so get excited!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.

Back in Joplin

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to go back to Joplin. This time it was with the large staff from fellowship with whom I'm privileged to work with daily. Each year we do a staff retreat and this year we got to do a staff work day in Joplin. To be honest I wasn't sure if this sounded so "fun" or not. Well I was proven wrong fast. They split us up into 2 groups- a work crew and a canvassing (door-to-door) crew. I chose the work crew. So as they split us up I found myself in a group where I really didn't know anyone that well.

The house we worked on needed all new siding. So I learned how to put on siding! (I still don't think the husband believes me that I did this ;).
I had a blast doing this and learning something new. I also feel like I learned a little something about each of the people I got to work with! It was so fun getting to know people that I would have normally never had the opportunity to do. Each person has such a unique story and I just love that. I feel so extremely blessed to be able to work for an amazing church and to work with an amazing group of people.

Here are a few pics from our day!

i did this side!

You can read about my first trip to Joplin here :
http://theyounthappenings.blogspot.com/2011/05/joplin-on-my-mind.html

YouTube Tuesday

I meant to post this several weeks ago, but just now remembered to do it. I'm sure some or most of you have already seen it, but it makes me smile.

This couple was trying to figure out how to take a picture on their computer but instead they videoed themselves. They are the cutest and obviously in love. Their granddaughter found it and then posted it to youtube.
I can totally see my mom and dad doing this :)




Happy Tuesday!

More Pinteresting things

I saw this on pinterest a few weeks ago and thought it would be perfect for my bathroom since we don't have a ton of cabinet space or any linen cabinets.

Source: http://www.imbusyprocrastinating.com/2011/06/design-solution-wall-baskets-for-bath.html via Pinterest

I just used 2 since I didn't have a need for another smaller one. It fits perfect right beside the shower.

thanks to my hubby for hanging these suckers

Then I had seen a picture of these yummy ham and cheese roll ups. I needed something quick to make for dinner and I had all the ingredients I needed.

Ham, provolone cheese, and crescent rolls. They were so delicious. 

Source {pic and recipe}: http://www.julieseatsandtreats.com/2011/08/ham-cheese-crescent-rolls_22.html

I seriously love being inspired by Pinterest. It's the little things, you know?