Charting

(cycle 4, day 10)

Since I've started charting my BBT, I'm not sure how to interpret my temps. I'm using fertility friend to keep all my data stored and have them help me decipher my chart. So far, I think I might have to buy an actual BBT thermometer since my temps are all over the place, varying by .8 degrees some days. Maybe my temps are actually that erratice, or the thermometer isn't the type I should be using. I bought just a simple fever one. It does have the one decimal place temps and it remembers what the last one was so I don't have to turn on any lights to read it in the morning or try to remember what it was before drifting back to sleep or remember to write it down when I do turn on a light to read it. I wait until I get out of bed to go to the washroom and read it then. I can remember what it was after I'm awake and out of bed. Hopefully I'll be able to read when I've ovulated (which is the whole purpose of charting your BBT) and better predict my cycle.

Christmas

So Christmas has passed and now begins the cleanup and catch-up from the holidays...

We had a busy weekend. Friday was spent getting last minute groceries so I wouldn't have to go back until today to do regular groceries. I wasn't about to go anywhere on Boxing Day! Friday night, we went to my moms for homemade pizza and gifts.

I love my mom and my sister, I do, but sometimes their gifts aren't as awesome as they think they are... Granted, my mom did get me some good stuff, but then again, I picked it out. She did get me a plate for serving turkey since last time, I just borrowed hers or used a cookie sheet. Its nice, but not what I would've picked out. Good thing turkey is only a Thanksgiving and Christmas thing. My sister and her boyfriend bought us a 'Date Night' gift basket. The movies are okay, not ones that we really wanted but she didn't know that. She also bought me lingerie and a bone for HayHay. A nice thought, but just because we just got married and have started TTC doesn't mean we need those kinds of things. It was a nice thought though, but the lingerie she picked out, isnt exactly something someone that has body issues would pick out, someone like me.

The highlight of the night was the 'shocking' pens she got for the boys. Mark had no idea what it was, so he was caught off guard and got a good shock. Sean was expecting it so it wasn't a complete surprise, but his reaction was well worth it, the video is priceless.



Saturday we had my sister-in-law and her boyfriend down, which I always love seeing that baby belly of hers :-D I made a turkey, everyone brought something and it turned out great. After supper, I was reminded how much I love my kitchen. I never would have been able to host a turkey dinner in our old apartment since there was very little counter space. If we ever move, I'll never be able to have a smaller kitchen, haha.







My Christmas Cake



Sunday was supper at the grandparents. I always like getting together with the whole family. Everyone loved the cake that I made for my contribution. It was a big hit. Everyone opened gifts and for the most part, everyone got something they wanted or something they needed.



Once again, my mom got everyone one of those gifts that no one needs or really wants, but they put on the 'thank you so much' face so she isnt dissappointed when no one likes it. Last year and this year she got desk calendars for everyone. I find them pretty useless since I have a calendar on my computer and don't need one that has random facts or useless tidbits. All that happens is I forget about it and then peel off 40 at once and read them all and toss them out. My aunt also has a tendency to buy everyone a gift even though we only have to buy for our secret santa and the aunts and uncles buy gifts for the kids. For the most part, she does buy good gifts, but she also ends up also buying useless gifts. Apparently she hasn't noticed that neither Sean or I light candles. I don't mind the dark and Sean has practically every light in the house on all the time. I never did like candles as I see them as a waste of money. Sean has too many lights on for a candle to be useful. We only use them when the power is out, which is almost never.



Christmas Coloured Layers



I always love when my auntie Jen or uncle Larry get my name. They always pick out something awesome. This year my aunt got my name and she bought me some lingerie, something that I actually like (unlike my sisters) and doesn't make me feel like I should lose about 20lbs. She also got me a salad bowl that has its own ice pack, bowls and utensils. Very handy for family things that I have to bring a salad to since I won't need to try to put the salad in the fridge and find the space for it in there. This year, I also happened to have her name. I had a hard time thinking of something to get her and Dylyn didn't really do any of the fishing I asked her to do. When I went to the city to finish my xmas shopping, I looked at the housewares section of Walmart and came across a fondue set, I called Dylyn to ask if she would like one and she was pretty sure she didn't have one and would like one, so I picked it up. I then went to Home Sense to finish her gift off, and to my surprise, it was really easy there. She loved everything I got her and she could've used the fondue set a couple days earlier. Perfect, I was pretty proud of myself for what I bought her ;-)

It's now Monday, and I get to slowly get my house back in order from the holidays. A good way to end a very busy weekend, relaxing on  my day off and doing what I need to get done at a slow pace.







Possible Family Reunion Trip

(cycle 4, day 4)

Last night, we got two christmas cards in the mail. Yipee, the first two of the year :D
One was from sean's aunt and uncle and they mentioned that they hoped to see us next summer at the MacLean family reunion. We would really like to go, but with our plans of starting a family, it was kind of a 'if we can, we'll go, and if I'm too pregnant we won't' thing. Well last night I think we decided to put off really trying for another month and just have fun this month but try not to make a baby so that we can go next summer. It's all the way in New Brunswick! and I would really like to meet the rest of his family and he really wants to see his family again. Especially when just about everyone will be there without having to travel around everywhere.

So this month we are going to actively try to not get pregnant and then really start trying after my next cycle. I won't be allowed on a plane at 8 months pregnant, so that is the whole reason for delaying trying. But I did start charting my BBT so that I will know my cycle better and find out if I am for sure ovulating. So far, its only been 3 days, lol.

Already? Really?!?!

(cycle 4, day 1)

seriously body? you couldnt wait even a couple more days to give my my monthly gift? three and a half weeks between starting periods is just a royal pain in the ass! four weeks, not so bad, not desirable, but better than what i got this month. so i went from 33 days to 30 days to 26 days. what's the next one gonna be? 24 days?! i sure hope things start regulating now.
with this lovely gift this morning, i have no idea how to figure out when i ovulate so we can better time baby dancing. guess i'll have to start really tracking now. like start taking my BBT so i can see when i ovulate and better predict when AF is going to show up.
ugh, just not a happy camper this morning. at least i wont have AF during christmas... but no amazing christmas gift either :(

Training :D

(cycle 3, day 25)

This post doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the previous post, so it gets it's own :P

Today, I got my course material so I can start my training to become an Safety Codes Officer! I'm so excited, but also kinda scared to be doing this whole 'studying' thing again. What if I don't understand the material as well as I should? What if I'm not cut out for 'distance learning'? What if I fail the exams hard core? Just a lot to worry about right now as I embark on this new endeavor, haha

Feeling Pretty Blah Lately...

(cycle 3, day 24)

i dont know why, but thats how i feel the last few weeks. i'm not really happy with myself. i'm not depressed or anything like that, its just the feeling i have lately and i think it mostly has to do with being the only employee in the office and still not given any more responsibility, the extra weight i've put on and the lack of fetus in my tummy. i feel like i'm lacking purpose right now. i know i'm not actually lacking purpose but it just feels that way.
lack of work responsibilities bothers me since i feel like my boss is stunting my potential. hence i am beginning training for a better job that pays me what i'm worth. he said that he needs to pass more responsibility onto me because he's often not here or clients call and i dont know what to tell them. he has yet to actually grant this responsibility to me...
the weight gain bothers me since my clothes dont fit all that great anymore, something i'd be okay with if it were for a purpose. a food baby isnt at all attractive compared to a human baby.
which ties into the lack of fetus i am growing... i know we're not quite at the point where we were going to start actively trying, but you cant blame me for being dissappointed when AF shows up each month. it doesnt help that he tells me he wants to have a baby but then doesnt follow through. i'm not blaming him for it not happening yet, but it takes more than just myself to get the deed done. its too late into this cycle to do anything about it, so i hope we actually start really trying next month. i'd be shocked if i already am pregnant though. it would be the most effortless conception ever, aside from those that get pregnant on their first cycle within the first couple attempts....

on a brighter note, my house is finally clean! we got the rec room done 3 weeks ago and have basically been down there ever since, lol. i love the way it turned out. we (we i) painted the longest wall red and it looks awesome behind the tv. also got some of the frames out and hung them on the wall. there's more seating down there to have ppl over instead of making ppl sit on the floor. and we each have a couch for when he has a nap, i dont have to force my way onto the couch, lol.

after xmas, we'll be moving the computer desk down there too and we'll be able to start getting the old computer room fixed up to be turned into a baby's room. it mostly just needs paint and work in the closet. maybe that will get him to baby dance with me more often... ;)

Training!

well, i guess since office life is getting pretty crappy and i'm going to be leaving with the first opportunity, this is as good a time as any to divulge what i'll be up for the next year...

i just got word back that i can start training to become a safety codes inspector! i've been waiting nearly a month for the safety codes council to do a competency review and they finally got back to me today. about time too since they said it typically takes a week, i waited 2.5 before sending an email to find out what was taking so long only to find out i actually had to send in my diploma. then i waited another 1.5 weeks and another email. finally! she also mentioned that i was granted equivalency for 2 of the courses so i'm not sure if that means i don't have to do them (which would be a score since it would save me over $500) or what? i'll get my review package in the mail in the next week and i can finally start taking the courses.

i'm basically following in my uncles footsteps. i'm just taking less time to do them, lol. he actually persuaded me to follow this path. after he told me how much i could be making and i have the schooling for it, i was convinced. yes, it will probably mean working out of town, but a massive pay raise, benefits and more vacation time? i'll take that over what i'm getting where i am. my future family just can't really survive off the money we bring in right now without always feeling money pinched.

it will probably take about a year to get all the training done so that i can get the most pay off the bat instead of getting an employer to pay for some of my training. my uncle said each course takes about a month to complete and there's about 12 courses i need to take. i can get started now, finish what i can before i have that future baby, and finish what isn't done during mat leave so i can find a new job when my mat leave runs out. that's my plan for now. it may change, it may not.

its a fantastic step in the right direction!!!

:'-(

(cycle 3, day 3)

Well, my coworker is now on a contract work basis. Our boss decided to send her home today with pay for the next pay period (probably because there isn't enough work to keep both of us busy) because she's entitled to it if he sends her home. So for the first time in 4.5 years, I'm alone in the office again.
I dislike being the only one in the office. I get no ppl interaction. I feel lonely all the time. It's quiet. It's harder to just go grab coffee for a quick break. Harder to do appointments during the day.
I worked the first year here by myself. It wasn't bad then since I had a second job at a restaurant so I got to talk to other ppl and not feel like a shut-in. I also lived at home so I saw my mom and sister all the time. Sean's always so busy between the fire department, hockey, working on vehicles, working on the house. I see him every day, but I really only get to spend time with him when our weekly shows are on on Mondays and Thursdays. I miss spending time with him, even more now that I'm alone at work.

Son Of A Freaking Bitch

(cycle 3, day 1)

title speaks for itself. i dont know what to think. i was so sure because of all my symptoms. now what? does my stomach just balloon like it already has for the next how many months until i am pregnant and i feel like a freaking whale until i have a good excuse to have gained a few pounds? i don't even feel sexy or pretty or anything if my stomach wasnt for a baby. so discouraged now cuz it feels like dh doesn't even want to make a baby since he hasn't exactly been keen in practicing making a baby. i know it's only been 2 cycles and we've only just started trying, but it won't stop me from feeling like my body let me down. i know there are plenty of women out there who have been trying for 2+ years and still no baby, but it doesn't stop my wanting a baby any less since we're only starting.
the only thing thats making me hold out hope is if it's just spotting and i actually am pregnant, but now i wont know for a couple hours.
i'm so mad. if thats what typical pregnant women feel like, i dont want to know how i'm going to feel if this is me not pregnant....

My Grandma's Book

(cycle 2, day 29)

so my grandma has written her life story. i read it. is it something i enjoyed reading? yes, except for the very scattered format it was written in. it's like a bunch of random facts just kinda thrown together in some order, but slightly out of order and seemingly having no tie to the previous paragraph or the proceeding paragraph. cuz of that, it was a little hard to read. the family tree that she has in the back is really confusing since there's not really any uniformity in the format. don't get me wrong, i really enjoyed learning things about her life and the rest of the family's history that i didn't know before, it was just a bit hard to read and keep the timeline straight.


as for my story, i still don't know for sure if i'm pregnant. no AF, but no BFP either. i'm still pretty sure that i am, but now i have to wait a few more days to find out for sure. either i get AF or i don't. i'm waiting until wednesday (CD 33) to test again. all of this coming after my boss talked to me yesterday about slightly restructuring the office. once i do know for sure that i'm pregnant, whenever that may be, i don't know what other 'restructuring' he's going to do when both of us are pregnant knowing we'll be on maternity leave at the same time.... i just hope i can keep my job with the same hours until i can do otherwise.

Baby Shower

(cycle 2, day 25)

Sunday was my sister-in-laws (SIL) baby shower. I'm so excited for our neice to be born so I can cuddle a newborn baby :) We played a few games, my favourite being the chocolate bar diapers. I wasn't allowed to play since I put them all together. It was hilarious watching everyones reactions as they examined each diaper. Best. Game. Ever. We snacked all afternoon and watched her open her gifts. She got a lot of pink and a lot of cool stuff. I'm not quite done the blanket I was making her, but at least I still have a couple months to do that. I should be done in a couple weeks.

As for me and my possible pregnancy, I don't know what to think :s  I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant, but there's always the possibility that I'm not since we again, haven't really been putting in an honest effort. AF is due next Wednesday and I have a feeling she's not showing up this month... Since last Tuesday (CD 18) I've been pretty crampy. If that was meant to tell me AF was coming, I think it was a lot too early. Since Thursday (CD 20) I've been hungry almost all the time and having to go to the bathroom about every hour where normally I can go 4-6 hours between bathroom breaks. My back has started hurting for the last 3 days, I've had a few cravings that aren't like me, and I'm tired as hell. I've vowed to myself that I'm not testing until Sunday (CD 30) but its gonna drive me nuts until then if it even shows up. I loathe the 2ww.

Laundry!!!

(cycle 2, day 18)

The long wait to use the new appliances is finally over! Sean got the freezer, washer and dryer set up in the basement. I can finally do laundry in my own appliances, in my own house, on my own time. It's been a long 6 weeks without going somewhere else to do laundry. The room is nearly finished, just trim work and some shelves to build, but nothing that will stop us from using it or moving everything back into that room so we can work on the rec room to get the new tv up and running :) I commemorated the day by doing a load of laundry, lol. Tonight, I'm going to do the rest of the laundry I've been falling behind on, only about 5-6 loads of it. Ha!

On a side note: I hope I get pregnant this cycle. We aren't trying very hard still, but I'm pretty sure we BD'd around the right time that it could actually happen this month. Going with my last cycle, I should have ovulated yesterday (CD 17) or sometime in the 4 days before or after....  We BD'd on CD 13 and 17 and hopefully once more for good measure ;) I really hope it does the trick, I don't want to be left at work for too long without my coworker when she takes her maternity leave! So for now, I basically get to experience the dreaded Two Week Wait and lookout for any signs that I might be pregnant or AF showing up.... Not fun.

Basement Reno's

(cycle 2, day 13)

we're finally getting close to the end with our ongoing basement renovation!

last night we finished hanging the drywall in the furnace room. it feels like such an accomplishment since i havent been able to be much help with everything he's done up to that point. doesnt help that he's a little hot headed so the drywall could probably look a little better than it does, but hey, its done right? if it werent for me continuing working while he was at hockey, we probably wouldn't be mudding tonight :) he's also learned that i am much better at measuring and cutting out the pieces than he is so now that becomes my job instead of just holding things up for him, lol. boys! ;-) tonight while he's at fire practice, i fully intend on getting that room fully mudded. i also plan to get the last two coats of mud on tomoro so that we'll be painting on saturday! sean's convinced there will be so much sanding that we won't get to paint until sunday, i'm planning on painting on saturday. i just want my basement back, my house to remain clean, and to do laundry at home... it's getting there....

Living Vicariously

(cycle 2, day 10)

so my coworker is PREGNANT! we kind of knew she was since she had pretty well every symptom in the book. she got a BFN on wednesday, tested again on saturday and sunday and got two BFP! now i can live vicariously through her until i end up pregnant, which if im anything like her, it'll be this month, lol. she got pregnant on her 3rd cycle (4 calendar months trying) and they got engaged around the same time of year they conceived... i'm in my 2nd cycle, and the time that we got engaged was this coming weekend last year... and i'm due to be ovulating between this weekend and the middle of next week... coincedence? i'm super excited for her since i know she's been wanting one.

now i wonder how long it'll take me....

San Diego Update

(cycle 2, day 6)

I think today's post will be spent updating the San Diego Honeymoon post... There isn't really much else I care to talk about today since I'm kind of in a lazy mood, so it will have to do until tomoro :)

Feel Better Challenge Pt. 2

(cycle 2, day 2)

Well I've started lagging in my feel better challenge :(
Day 4 was a marching challenge. You had to find a hill and march at a steady pace up and walk back down, only to march back up, 3 times. My problem is that there aren't really any hills in my area... So that was a bit of a write off.

Day 5 was going to be much easier, but I just never put aside time to do it. 10-20-30: 10 push-ups, 20 jumping jacks, 30 seconds raising your feet 12" off the ground while laying on your back and criss-crossing your feet back and forth, then resting for 60 seconds and repeating 3 times. Sounds super easy, I have yet to try it :s

Day 6 you have to hold an excersice ball or fluffy pillow in front of you while squating to a sitting position and doing 10 reps. Then you raise your hands above your head and do that same thing, repeating both 3 times.

We've also been working on the basement this weekend, well Sean has. Unfortunately, not much headway was made. He ran into a couple problems with the plumbing so I only just got my running water back after 36 hours without it. You never realize how important running water is in every day life until you don't have it. Every night I make supper, I rinse my hands. You can't do that without water. Not to mention the toilet. Women can't exactly not go and can't not use toilet paper everytime unless you drip dry, but that is a lot harder to do with AF is in town.... Kind of the worst time for no water when other people are around and need the washroom. Thank god we have two toilets and Sean was super understanding about it. He stayed up super late to try and get it working since he was having issues with one joint because the shut off valve was leaking. Water + saulder = no good. He ended up replacing the copper he going to do with pex just to make it easier and no leaks. Man I love my husband. I just hope we don't run into any more problems with the basement and the rest is relatively smooth sailing. I've getting to the point where I'm sick and tired of dealing with the mess that renovations cause. There's always dirt on the floors, my living room has turned into a storage room for a few things that can't fit in the already full basement, my kitchen is always full of garbage and dirty dishes. I never feel like I'm getting anywhere with anything I do because the second I turn around, there's more mess. I'm done and ready to go back to normal life, whatever that is.

On a last note, I'm obviously not pregnant. Not that I was really expecting to be since we didn't put in an honest effort this month and I'm pretty sure I didn't ovulate since I didn't see any of the signs. And it's nice to know I didn't have to wait another month for AF. Let's just hope she's regular every month ;) I won't deny that I would be excited if I got pregnant this cycle even though we didn't really want to conceive until the new year, we're just getting a head start <3

Feel Better Challenge

(cycle 1, day 32)

On Tuesday, I got an email from Sport Chek with a 'Feel Better Challenge' that lasts 10 days. I figured, why not? I've been trying to lose some weight recently after my month long binge on candy (I have a massively bad sweet tooth. Thank you dad and grandpa!) and 6lbs heavier.... I've been doing the challenges, but also modifying them to fit into my schedule. I haven't noticed any differences yet, but I've also started drinking more water again, so it could be water weight and soon I'll start loosing the weight ;)
Day 1 was to dance for 30 mins until I've worked up a sweat. Well since I was at my moms doing a load of laundry (we no longer have a useable washer or dryer until the furnace room is done) so I used the treadmill for the 30 mins.
Day 2 had you walking forward for 10 houses, then backward for 10 houses. I took HayHay to the dog park and walked a bit alternating the direction every 30-60 seconds. That's actually a really good workout! Except for the fact that my feet and legs got a bit sore after what would be 60 houses in town, I just decided to walk forward for the rest of our walk.
Day 3 (today) is to jump up the stairs. Seems easy enough. And I can even squeeze it in between 'The Office' and 'Private Practice', lol. All I have to do, is jump up a flight of stairs (they recommend 20, but I only have 14 in a row), walk back down and repeat 4 times. So since I have fewer stairs, I'll just do it 6 times to make up for it.
I'll keep updating with all the different activites :)


Onto another topic, pregnancy... This is going to be kind of TMI, so fair warning....
Today, I thought I was going to start my period since there was a bit of bright red blood when I wiped. Well I put on a pad just incase it was in fact starting today, but nothing has happened since then. Implantation blood maybe??? It seems to be in the right time frame of when I would get it if I did ovulate and in conjunction of when we BD'd (baby danced) to fertilize an egg if there was one.... Now I just don't know what to think, lol. I don't have any other symptoms, except this morning I find I have to pee more, but that could be from the water I'm drinking every day, but it is more than the last few days that I have been drinking water. I don't have the back pain that I usually get when AF is coming, I usually get that at least an hour before I start. And I have been napping more lately... But for now, until I know for sure that it's AF, I'm going to keep counting as though I'm still on the first cycle.

How Likely is a 28-day Cycle?

(cycle 1, day 27)

I'm still on the fence on when I should take the first pregnancy test after the 28-day mark of my first cycle. i know it can take a bit before I get the first one after going off BC but if I've already concieved, I'd like to know sooner rather than later.... I'm excited to find out if I am or not, but I don't want to start driving myself crazy for the next 4 weeks incase the first one doesn't come until after 8 weeks, not to mention, tests can get expensive! so until I know for sure by AF visiting me, I don't know when I want to start testing. I'm just a bit anxious to how this is all going to play out I guess.

Thanksgiving :)

(cycle 1, day 23)

The weekend was as busy as I thought it was going to be. Friday wasn't so bad, but the other 3 days were.

Friday
Did my half-day of work. Picked up my cousin to spend part of the afternoon with since she was off school. Brought HayHay to the vet to get her rabies booster shot. Vet said she was healthier than a horse, of course he didn't say it like that. She's now 11.3kg. I hope she doesn't gain anymore weight, she's getting a little heavy to carry around, lol.

Saturday
Got up a little early so I could squeeze in a Wii workout (I've unfortunately gained about 6lb since the honeymoon :( ). We went to the city for Sean to look for some things to install a sound system in someones car, we stopped at Home Depot to pick up some stuff for the basement reno then we went to Chapters to pick up 'Dirty Minds' and 'What to Expect When Expecting'. He asked if there was a book for before pregnancy, but I didn't want to buy that one incase it does happen right away then that book would be slightly useless. Plus, WTEWE has a whole section on pre-pregnancy things I can be doing, so it's kind of 2-for-1 deal.
We then went to my grandparents for their Thanksgiving. We played a little beanbag toss for a bit before supper was ready. My aunt is already trying to tell me what's good and bad to do during pregnancy and I'm not yet and if I am, it's still too early to test anyway. Of course I know drinking is bad when you're pregnant and if I was, I would turn it down. The chance that I am is so small that I'm not really thinking about it for at least another week, if not another 3.
Supper was .... good. Unfortunately the turkey was a little dry, my aunts brocolli casserole was burnt and no one made potatoes. Sean kindly volunteered to make sure there was potatoes and a pumpkin pie for next year. I hope he knows that I'm not helping, lol. After supper was dessert and my delicious buttertarts that I had made from scratch the weekend before were a hit! They always are.

Sunday
Got the rest of the house cleaned before getting my turkey in the oven. just had to do the vacuuming and put away a few things. I started prepping the turkey around 1pm and got it all ready to go in oven for 1:30. Easy peasy japaneazy ;)
The boys were busy building a potatoe gun while we were waiting for his sister to get here. Boys and their toys, lol. When my sister got to the house I took her to get my last two photo's I needed for the frames I had at home for some wedding pictures. I still need to print off the rest, but these ones were just the ones going on that wall and I wanted to have them up for when we had ppl over.
The turkey was ready just on time and very tasty. I sure do know how to cook a mean turkey. And we even had a few left over buttertarts. Boy was it hard for me to not eat them all earlier in the day.
After supper we played two rounds of 'Dirty Minds' and then switched to 'Apple to Apples', one of our go to games when we're all together. It was a good time and I love seeing that growing baby belly on my sister in law <3

Monday
The last day of the weekend. I wish I could've slept til noon, but if I did that, I wouldn't have been able to sleep lastnight. I got an early start on groceries since I needed to pick up some vegetables for my homemade soup that I make with the leftover turkey. I love doing all these housewife-y things like buttertarts from scratch and homemade soup. I don't know why. They can be quite time consuming, but I still love it. Other than making my soup, that was the end to my busy weekend.

Bring on the next weekend when I can sleep in, lol.

The Fall Cold

well i think i've caught my fall cold, blah! i usually catch either the fall or spring cold every year and it varies how bad it gets. sometimes its just a stuffy nose, sometimes it completely wipes me out and i'm exhausted for a few days. so far, i have the stuffed nose, scratchy throat and sneezes, and just in time for thanksgiving.... double BLAH!!! i sure hope that those symptoms are as bad as it gets and it's gone by saturday :{

speaking of saturday.... i get to pick up 'What To Expect When You're Expecting'. Yay! not that i'm pregnant yet, it just has a section on preconception that would be useful for now and then i don't have to buy another book when i do get pregnant. of course i'll have to hide it over thanksgiving so that my family doesnt see it then ask me everytime i see them if i am yet. only my sister and his sister know that i'm off the pill already, and we're keeping it that way :) speaking of that process, i really have to get to taking my prenatals on time. i always forget to take them when i have supper and then i remember when i'm almost ready for bed....

Babies & Spiders

(cycle 1, day 16)

So I went to my doctor yesterday to get my iron levels checked and find out what prenatal vitamins I should be taking. Not an overly exciting appointment since it wasn't really anything new that I didn't know already. Once I get my iron checked at the lab, she'll call me and let me know if there is anything else I should be taking for prenatals. Kind of exciting to be thinking that anytime now I could be carrying a baby inside me :)

Yesterday, we also got to see a video of our neice kicking in my SIL's tummy :) Cutest thing ever! I didn't know they moved so much at only 23 weeks that others can see it too. I think my husband thought it was pretty cool since he knows next to nothing about babies, just how to make them ;) haha. He also asked me yesterday if I felt pregnant yet, lol. I told him I wouldn't know anything for at least another 2 weeks anyway, but found it cute that he asked <3 I told myself when I took my last BC pill that I wasn't going to test until it's been 8 weeks since my last period (tmi, I know). I know that it can sometimes take a while to get a regular period so I wasn't going to start worrying prematurely. The only reason I would test earlier than the 2 month mark would be if I started getting a lot of pregnancy symptoms, so we'll see...

Now for the spider part... I noticed last week that a spider had been hanging out (no pun intended, seriously) in our kitchen window. I've been lazy lately and didn't bother taking the vacuum out to suck it up, not to mention the fact that I'm slightly scared of even just little spiders let alone bigger ones, so I'm worried that even if I do vacuum it up, it'll find its way out of the vacuum and I'll be at square one again. Crazy, I know. So I asked DH (dear husband) to kill it before it moved never to be seen again until I'm least suspecting and it scares the crap outta me (not litterally ;) ).

So this morning I'm getting the coffee maker going and I look up and notice it's GONE. At first I panic and look around to see if I can see it anywhere else. No such luck. Then I remember that I asked DH to kill it so I start hoping that is why it's not there anymore. So I go upstairs, all the while freaking out incase he didn't remember to kill it, to ask him if he infact actually remembered to get rid of it. He first looks at me as though he did, then his face changes to give me the impression that he's not sure if he did or not. He forgot :( So now I have a spider on the loose somewhere in my house.... Not what I want to be worrying about finding everytime I open a cupboard door....

Busy Weekend

(day 14)

Well today marks the day that I should be ovulating (give or take a couple days) if I have a 28 day cycle. I doubt I'll be concieving a child this cycle... We aren't trying very hard and I have no idea when or if I'll be ovulating since coming off birth control.

So this weekend has been fairly busy. I've been trying to be as lazy as I can be since weekends aren't nearly as long as I would like them to be.

Friday, my family had supper at my grandparents' for my aunt's and cousin's birthdays. We decided when the family would be doing Thanksgiving as well as when we're going to the dinner theatre. My grandparent's decided to pay for everyone to go to the dinner theatre as their Christmas gift to everyone instead of shopping for everybody. Awesome! A nice night out and only having to pay for drinks :)

Saturday, Sean got a late start, but he did go and buy all the 2x4's and a few other things we needed for the basement to get a start on it. We also got a few things cleaned up like the bottles and the dinning table so that there isn't as much to clean next weekend when we have our Thanksgiving here with Sean's sister. I got the yards raked (which I'm kind of paying for today, lol), Sean mowed them and fertilized the lawn for the winter. By supper time, we were done for the day. I bbq'd the potatoes and porkchops and he made fried onions (something we loved down in San Diego). I missed when we used to make supper together and I'm so glad I've got him helping out in the kitchen again :P

Today, Sean got an earlier start on the day. My job for the day was to get the buttertarts made for next weekend. I love my kitchen. It's the first time I've made them in this kitchen since moving in last year. I love the counter space and I can spread out without having to move everything out of my way and put anything away. I love it! Sean got one wall done so far, which to me, that's progress and means something's getting done. It may not seem like much to others, but to us, it's a start. Once all the walls are up and the plumbing and electrical is cleaned up and done, it won't take much longer to do the rest of it. I can finally start to see the finish line. I think it just took a bit to get it started.

Last on the agenda for the weekend is to do this weeks groceries and watch Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. Then we get to start the week all over again... Ugh. At least next weekend is a long weekend!

San Diego :)

(cycle 1, day 12, at least that's when this was started....)

yesterday, my husband comes downstairs after changing from work with a huge smile on his face and told me to smell his t-shirt... he was so happy that his shirt still smelled of San Diego from when we were on our honeymoon <3

and since i'm on the subject of san diego, i guess i'll tell the story of our honeymoon:

Day 1

we got up super early on september 4th to catch our 6:30am flight. nothing exciting happened, nothing out of the ordinary. just a slightly crabby husband from his lack of nicotine, lol. did i mention it was also his first time on a commercial flight?

we got into san diego around 12 and just sat in front of the airport for about 20 minutes trying to decide which taxi to take to our hotel. we weren't in any kind of rush since we didn't have a whole lot planned, just the zoo on one of the days we were there. we were able to check in early at the hotel, we just didn't get a king sized bed. not a big deal at all. the first thing we did was go for a walk, which we quickly realized there really wasn't much in the area so we promptly hit the pool, lol. what else were we to do when the weather was so nice? after our swim, we had a late lunch at the hotel restaurant. their fries were to die for! the seasonings they use were so tasty. i still have yet to try it out at home, but i'm worried they won't live up to my expectations, lol.
once getting back to our room, we got ready for an excursion to explore san diego. we started walking, not really knowing where we're going or how far, but trying to get to the bridge to coronado. we saw it on our way to the hotel from the airport and we didnt think it was really that far. boy were we wrong! we were walking along one of the busiest roads short of being a freeway with no sidewalk. we noticed a trolley that was kind of paralleling us but we didnt want to get on it without knowing where it would take us so we decided to keep going just a little further. the further we got, the worse it was to walk. there plants that had thistles that we were walking on and they were sticking to the bottom of our shoes and getting into hubby's shoes and sticking to his socks. i decided to wear flip flops and my feet were just black after that long walk. we finally got to a point where the sidewalk started again and decided to cross the road to the trolley station and figure out where we were going to go and how we were getting there.

within minutes of getting to the trolley station, a security guard asked us if we had tickets and we had to explain to him that we didn't know how to get where we're going and were just trying to figure out what to do. he helped us out and we bought our transit tickets and were on our way. we ended up taking a bit of detour when we got to the transit centre and got on the right bus, but it was headed in the wrong direction. so we got a bit of a tour of the gaslamp quarter before heading to coronado. it was a good thing we didnt walk the whole way since you aren't allowed to walk on the bridge anyway.

Orange Avenue



we got off the bus when we got the beginning of orange avenue and decided to walk down the beach town and take in the fresh air and our surroundings. the first thing we decided to do was stop for something to eat as it was about supper time. we stopped at the burger lounge and discovered that americans are kind of weird with their cheese... cheddar cheese isnt called cheddar down there, they call it 'american cheese'. we found it slightly odd that they found a need to do that, but whatever, everyone knows its cheddar, lol. after supper we did a bit more walking and then stopped at a diner for dessert and a coffee. even after only being in california for 5 hours, we wanted to move there. it was beautiful, the weather was great and i never needed to bring a jacket or sweater incase it got cold. we did some more walking and sean found some sunglasses since he broke his last pair two months ago and he needed some in the sunshine state :) our feet started getting a little sore from all the walking we had done that day so we started heading to a bus stop right after quickly going to the beach at sunset since we were there. i could really get used to that! we waited for a bus for probably half an hour, but who really knows since neither of us were carrying cell phones and didn't have watches. we took the bus the rest of the way down coronado and got off at a trolley station to take back to the hotel. as soon as we got back to the hotel, we put on our swim suits and hit the hot tub. thank god for that. we both soothed our feet with the jets and relaxed for 20 mins before heading back to the room to relax before going to bed.

Day 2

we slept in a bit since we weren't in a rush again and were just going to take our time doing our exploring for the day. we decided to have a late breakfast at denny's. it was delicious, like all the other food we ate :) banana's foster is now my favorite breakfast, lol. if only i knew how to recreate it... after our breakfast, off we went to the trolley station do downtown to try to find horton plaza. im so jealous of that place. there's no way you could get away with an outdoor mall in canada, let alone most of the states. they only get 10" of rain per year! we love san diego. we were starting to not want to even leave when our holidays were over. there was a store full of candy and i wanted to go in there so bad, but i knew if i went in there, i either wouldn't come out, or i'd spend most of my money there, lol. we walked the whole plaza with a stop in macy's to buy watches so it would be easier for us knowing when busses would be around and that's about it. plus they would be good souvenirs :p we walked downtown a bit more before heading back to coronado for a second time.

we hoped on the bus to coronado for our second afternoon. the weather was just as nice. we did some more walking and stopped by the beach for a quick dip... IT WAS FREAKING COLD!!! i've been in the carribean seas, but this was freezing. not at all what i expected, lol. i figured since it was that far south, it would be a comfortable temperature. boy was i wrong. but i now understand why you always see surfers in wet suits on tv.... after our 'dip' (if you can call going in to our knees a dip), we went to one of the diners and had an afternoon snack.
we slowly made our way back to the hotel afterwards to enjoy a quiet evening before heading to the zoo the next day. we went for a swim, in the hotel pool that wasn't freezing, and then relaxed in the hot tub again. side note, the more i talk about the hot tub the more i kind of want to get one for our backyard, lol. we ate out at the hotel restaurant again before going back to our room and took it easy and went to bed early so we would be ready to go first thing in the moring.

i'll finish the rest of this another time....

Sweet Surprises...

(cycle 1, day 9)

Last night, I was looking at my bangs and thought they could use a bit of a trim. I was going to wait another day or so since they were looking pretty good last night....

...Then I realized that there was something in my bangs. I didn't know what the hell it was. It was brown. Enough to completely freak me out. I convinced myself to smell it (not an easy task when you don't know what it is). IT WAS CHOCOLATE!!!

Now let me explain how chocolate got in my hair:
Earlier in the night, we were laying on the couch watching CBS's Monday night line-up eating chocolate chips since they were the only chocolate we had in the house. I knew he had dropped one, but I thought he found it and ate it. Apparently not as it was in my hair which prompted me to wash it out and then proceed to trim my bangs.

How's that for a late night snack?

Busy, Busy, Busy

(cycle 1, day 7)

what a busy weekend. well moreso for my husband than for me.

on friday afternoon i went to edmonton and had a lot to do, but didnt get a chance to get everything done. but i got one of the last few things i needed to change my name on done. just my health insurance is left and a couple collector's cards for various stores. what i didnt get done, was something that i cant talk about in public just yet as certain ppl cant find out yet... but when i can start telling ppl, i will :) and no, it has nothing to do with a baby yet.

after work, sean went to my moms to help her with the concrete pad she's putting in for the pool. although he didnt have to do much since they delivered the concrete late and he had to leave for our next thing on the 'to do list'. friday night, we had the fire cheifs retirement party. had a ton of fun there. not much else to say though so i'll continue onto saturday...

my husband got up to go golfing with a couple buddies before the weather stops cooperating and they cant go anymore. then we caught up on a couple shows from the week before getting ready to go to a friends wedding reception. we weren't going to stay long since we only knew a small handful of the guests. we ended up staying til around midnight since we had to come home to our puppy and let her out.

today, he's down in red deer looking for stuff for his buddie's car (my sisters boyfriend) and stuff for the basement. cannot wait for that to be done. its just taking a little longer than we wanted since we have to wait for certain things to come in and have to wait for others to be bought. i just hope it gets done for the end of october...

guess i should get started on my list of things to do for the day...

Am I a Bitch, Really?

(cycle 1 day 4)

my coworker effectively ruined my day. we have this love hate relationship. we get along really well, but there are days where we just don't see eye to eye. today was one of those days. i won't go into details because i honestly dont know how it got to that point today. but i do know that she makes me feel like an uber bitch on those days when i for sure don't intentionally set out to do so.

Look but Don't Touch

(cycle 1, day 3)

OUR NEW STUFF COMES IN TODAY!!!

today our new washer, dryer, tv and sound system are being delivered, yay! And I literally just got the call about when they will be here :)
the only part that sucks is that we can't use anythis since it will all be staying in their boxes in the basement until reno's are done so nothing gets banged up in the process. hopefully it will serve as motivation to get it done faster, lol.

One Month

can't believe we've been married a whole month already <3 crazy how time flies. it feels like its been longer since that amazing day. taking 4 short weeks at work and splitting up our holidays between the wedding and honeymoon made that month feel a lot longer than just a month. kind of sad it's over, but now we're starting on a new, more exciting journey :p

Fall

(cycle 1, day 2)

so i hate alberta's fall. the leaves dont turn spectacular colours like they do in most other places that experience fall. they turn brown or yellow and within a week, they proceed to fall off the trees and onto the ground. not the beautiful scenery you picture when you think of a nice fall day. disgusting.
so summer is over, at least it is here since its so damned cold, and fall pretty much already happened. boo :( and this year with our plans to start our family i can't even whole heartedly look forward to winter since i spend my winters snowboarding. won't be able to do much of that this year if any, unless it takes a while to conceive a child.... doesnt help that its been so dreary here the last 2 months with very few days of sun (like the day of our wedding). its really doing a number to my outlook on life right now. my moods are suffering because of it. where is the sun?!?!

Money

well today we went and ordered our new front load washer/dryer and tv for the rec room. after adding in the service plans, sound system, wall mount and delivery (which we did get all of it for a decent price) we managed to spend a good portion of our wedding money. the last time i spent that much in one place was when we bought our house and paid the down payment...
so they're getting delivered this wednesday. we arent ready to use any of them, but they were all on sale so we wanted to take advantage while we could. we're still working on our furnace/laundry/storage room. so far, everything is ripped out, windows are ordered (that's another part of the money topic) and is ready to be framed, insulated and drywalled. then we can put everything in that room and fix up the electrical in the rec room and paint the walls and set up the tv.
back to the money topic. so on top of spending all that money for our new appliances and tv, we also spent $400 on two windows. tally for today: $4050. the unfortunate result of our spending spree today, less money to finish those two rooms. so maybe i dont get the upper cabinets i wanted above the washer and dryer. maybe i dont get the wash tub i wanted so it was easier to wash HayHay and paint brushes. it'll all work out, we just have to be smart with the leftover money and try not to make any mistakes that cost us money....

onto the second part of this post.
today i realized that our debt isnt getting paid down quite as fast i would like it to be with us planning on starting a family in the near future (and me currently going off the pill). it just got me a little worried that maybe we shouldnt be making this step quite yet. i mean, if we run out of money while im on mat leave, i can just go back to work early. as much i would rather stay at home with my baby for that full year since you never get that time back, i would do it for my family if we needed the money. it just made me a little sad. but my husband did promise that we get it under control so it was down to a certain amount before a baby would be born. it just makes me worry is all.

first step in starting a family

so last night was my last BCP. i'm excited, nervous, scared and happy all at the same time.
we had originally decided to wait until this christmas to kick the pill, but we've been talking since the wedding that maybe i go off sooner and just see what happens. not actively try, but not prevent either. there are a few reasons why i wanted to go off earlier and a couple reasons why i didnt want to.

Pros:
-hopefully lose the few pounds i'd been trying to get rid off for the last year
-i can get the hormones out of my system before we were wanting to actively try, just incase it took a few months for my cycle to regulate
-hopefully be able to figure out if my cycles are regular or not
-possibly give my husband a baby before he turns 30 (something he said he would like to have)
-his sister is having a baby in january so they would be closer in age

Cons: (all of these basically have to do with getting pregnant right away....)
-not being able to go to his family reunion in new brunswick next august
-not being able to afford going on maternity leave sooner
-the uncertainty of not knowing what my cycle is and being unprepared when aunt flow visits

i'm not quite sure how i feel about it all yet. i know i can't wait to be a mom, but there's that voice in the back of my head that makes me worry about us not being ready for this.... we have a week to decide for sure if im staying off the pill or if i'm going to go one more month. i'm pretty sure this is it though.
FYI, starting when AF shows up, i'm going to be keeping track of my cycle in my blogs, so anyone that doesn't want to know about it just don't read it ;) i just want to remember everything about this journey we're taking <3

getting to know us (pt 1)

i'll start from when we met:

in oct '06, a girl i went to school with in ontario moved to edmonton with her bf. we became good friends and i was up there almost every week. a guy her bf went to school with lived out here too and we ended up meeting eachother at their place one night in dec '06. it all started there...

we found out that our lives were actually pretty intertwined together. when we were younger, his sister was my cousins best friend. his mom and my aunt were best friends. my grandma taught him in grade 6. when i was appartment hunting for college, we lived 6 blocks away from eachother for 4 months. he rented a room from my landlords father. CRAZY! we started dating in march of 2007. our first date we went snowboarding and then out for dinner. we ended up moving in together that december. after 2 years together we started house hunting. we took it slow and looked at 3 house a week since we weren't in a rush and not tied to a lease. in june '09 we found what we thought was the perfect house and put in an offer but unfortunately someone beat us to it by just 4 hours! we went for our holidays in ontario since he was standing in his friend's wedding and we would jump right back into house hunting when we got home. we found a house within a week of getting back, put in an offer and it got accepted! we always said when we got a house we would get a dog, so on the day we got possession, we went and looked at some puppies and picked ours out and picked her up the next week. we named her HayHay <3 she's 3/4 jack russell terrier and 1/4 beagle. her tail is always curled and she has the cutest floppy ears. she's quite the character too :)

The Proposal:

the evening of november 5, '09, i came home from work as usual. Sean asked me to make him some coffee (which is not an odd request as he drinks about 4 cups of coffee a day). he took off upstairs to change out of his work clothes and i went about making coffee... i filled the pot with water and i open the lid to the coffee maker and a ring was sitting inside! attached to the lid was a note 'and how bout 50 years from now?' I WAS SHOCKED! that was the last thing i was expecting to be in the coffee maker, lol. over the next 9 months i planned our wedding.


The Wedding:
It was beautiful. everything i ever imagined it would be. the happiest day of our lives. i cried during nearly the entire ceremony and most of the speeches. everyone had a good time. great food. awesome music. amazing friends and family. in a word: perfect.