Weight Watchers Tonight.

Yes I am going.

No it will probably not be a great week for me.

Yes I am 100% back to being committed to the plan, as I seem to have lost my ways recently.

I will update when I get home....yikes!

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Well, I gained.

I knew it.

2.0

I hate being on a freaking rollercoaster in my life.

When will I go steadily down a good road? WHEN???

Our Myrtle Beach Vacation

***I have decided to edit this after John read it last night and told me it was really long. Sorry!!!***

I finally have found time to document our trip, so here goes!!!!!! Sorry this is soooooo long!

Saturday, July 19 - John and I get the call from Dan that the "family truckster" was approaching Columbus so John and I headed over to meet them...at 2:15 A.M. We met just east of Columbus and begin our journey to Myrtle Beach. While I had gone to AA to get directions, the boys decided to follow directions from MapQuest & GoogleMaps...B.I.G. M.I.S.T.A.K.E!!! Route 33 beyond Athens, OH is two-laned roads and a TON of deer. FINALLY at 5:30 P.M. we pulled into "A Place at the Beach" IV.

Unit #131, our Home Sweet Home for the week.

We go to Kroger, come home, unpacked our groceries, then Dan, John, Kevin and I headed to Finn McCool's (a.k.a. Quinn's) for a light dinner.
Sunday, July 20 - We woke up to GORGEOUS weather. The sun was shinning, the pool was relatively crowded on and off all day, and the beach was packed. It was a beautiful day.
Here is a picture of Allison and Daddy (Dan):We laid by the pool all day. It was WONDERFUL. The pool was rather cold, but it felt good after sitting in the warm sun. That night Robyn made her tuna casserole and afterward the boys went to Finn McCool's for a few hours. Robyn and I stayed home and relaxed.

Monday, July 21- Another beautiful day in North Myrtle Beach. More pool time. More sun! The boys were constantly trying to out-do each other with their cannonballs, can openers, and hammocks. Here are a few pictures of their efforts:

John's Can-Opener

Dan's Hammock

That night we went to "Broadway at the Beach", a large area full of shopping and resturants. We ate at Key West Grill then returned home to put Allison to bed, then Dan, Robyn, John, and I went to Finn McCool's...see a pattern here?? :-) We LOVE Finn McCool's (or as John calls it, QUINNS!) !!!

Tuesday, July 22- Another beautiful day. Today I went down to the beach...where I went into the Ocean just up to my knees. I decided then that I really hate salt water. I really do. It is so beautiful to listen to, so beautiful to watch, but I really hate salt water. I finished my first of four books while sitting at the ocean. I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult. It was FABULOUS. That night we did Quesadillas. Afterward, the boys went to play Putt Putt while Robyn and I stayed in and watched a movie. When the boys got back, we headed out to Finn McCool's. Where else??? When we came home we took a nice walk on the beach...
Wednesday, July 23 - Happy 3rd Anniversary Dan and Robyn!!! Today was another pool day. The weather was hot and steamy. We did burgers and turkey brats on our portable grill today, as we knew we were going out to eat tonight for Dan and Robyn's Anniversary. After Allison was put to bed, the four of us headed to Umberto's Italian Resturant at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach. After dinner we went to play Putt Putt where I came in first, Robyn second, Dan third, and John fourth. Ha ha ha. We missed a rain storm at the putt putt place by about five minutes. We headed to Finn McCool's for a few hours and watched the rain come down.

Thursday, July 24 - I finished another book today while sitting by the pool. I finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It was a great read about life in a traveling circus. The weather today was cooler than the past few days, but the sun was still shinning.
John treated everyone to a Prime Rib with Twice Baked Potatoes and a salad for dinner. It was a great dinner. Afterward, we went to...Finn McCool's!!!!


Friday, July 25 - Where did the time go? We simply could not believe that it was our last day here. We spent almost all day outside, enjoying our last day on the beach and by the pool. I finished my third book while at the beach...The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain. I couldn't put it down it was such a great read!! We had a great time too with Allison, who, for being 1 1/2, was so wonderful the whole trip. We enjoyed her songs, her giggles, her little voice, and she warmed to us so well. She especially loved my water shoes and we became fast friends because of my silly shoes.
That night the boy's went to the Nascar Speedway to race cars while Robyn and I began to pack up. When they returned we went to The Giant Crab for dinner, then to some of the beach shops, then to Finn McCool's for our last time.

Saturday, July 26 - It was so hard to believe that our week long vacation was OVER. Ugh! We packed all morning with the goal of leaving by 10 A.M. After making sure we had everything, we went outside for some last minute pictures and then headed on the road.

John is sad about leaving...

It was such a wonderful week!!! We got on the road at 10:30 A.M., made a few stops, and eventually pulled in to Cleveland at around 12:15A.M. (We went straight up there so as to avoid having to drive there later in the week to pick up Cider.) We can't wait until our next vacation!!!

We're home...

And we are drained! We had a WONDERFUL vacation. It was relaxing, restful, and just wonderful. I will write more this week and share pictures, but wanted to let everyone know that we made it home safely!

~Kristen

My family never ceases to AMAZE me!!

I was downstairs in the basement folding laundry and getting some odds and end to bring upstairs. Unbeknownst to me, while down there, a package was place at my front door. I surely wasn't expecting anything, so when I saw a brown box on my stoop I was instantly intrigued.

I opened it to find a card from my sweet cousin Carolyn. I won't share with everyone what it said, but it was a sweet note about Hope...

And this is what I found wrapped in the box:

Isn't he sweet? I LOVE him, and will keep him near me as we move forward in our journey.

Thank you Carolyn...you are so sweet and never cease to amaze me with your love and support!!! x o x o I LOVE YOU!

Gramma Update...

I thought it would only be appropriate to post an update about John's Gramma. Thank you everyone for your posts and e-mails about her!

The feeding tube was placed into her stomach on Wednesday. I guess that surgery was a success, as I didn't hear anything else about it except that it was in and working. When I spoke to mom (my mother-in-law, Myra) yesterday (Thursday), she had been visiting with Gramma and Gramma was much better. She was up, sitting in a chair in her room, for almost 30 minutes. She was rather alert and trying to talk. As she hasn't had fluids down her throat in over a week, so her throat is rather raw. They did have a speech therapist in to see her while mom was there. Gramma was able to process pictures and able to speak words and even a few sentences, so it doesn't appear that she has had significant brain injury, which is a wonderful thing.

They are now in talks with the social worker to get Gramma moved to a rehabilitation center soon. Basically the family chooses three places for her to go, and then a place is chosen based on bed availability. I don't know when that move will happen, but it is certain to be soon.

Thanks again for the prayers and thoughts. Last Sunday John and I were sure that we were going to have to divert our vacation some how, some way, as she was doing so poorly. What a difference a week makes!!

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On a side note, we head out tomorrow morning at 2 AM for Myrtle Beach. I will have no computer access for a week, but promise pictures and an update when I return!! Have a great week!!

Ah, summertime

Just thought I would pop on and say hello. I honestly cannot believe it is already July 16. The REALLY scary thing is that school starts in just one month and one week! EEK!

This past weekend we were in Cleveland. John's Gramma is quite ill. Early last week they determined that she had some bleeding in her brain. They don't know what has caused the bleeding, but it should be reabsorbed by her body. It has, however, taken a toll on her body. When we visited Sunday we were completely unprepared for how bad she would look. She hadn't eaten in about four days, had a feeding tube down her nose, was completely non-responsive, slept the entire time, and had about fifty wires coming out of her head...apparently from the eeg, which was checking for seizures (she had mild ones upon entry into the hospital, but nothing since getting medicine). Thankfully Monday she was WORLDS better. She was awake for most of our visit, had sat up with the PT person before we got there, even said to me "Oh, you're still here?" when John and I were out of the room for a few minutes, and then asked John "John, check my bank account please" and "John, take these things off my hands" (large mitts to prevent her from tearing her tubes out). Sadly though, Tuesday we heard she was like she was on Sunday. Today a feeding tube is being placed into her stomach. Once that is in, she has a chance to be released to a rehibiliation facility by weeks end. I'll be sure to update later...

Today I'm headed over to spend part of the day with Jen and her boy's, Mason and Cole. We are headed to a little park with fountains so the boys can play in them. It should be a fun day. Tonight I am having dinner with a friend I met on "The Nest". Shannon has experienced miscarriages and has gone through two IVF's (one was a miscarriage, one was a chemical pregnancy). While it is a sad thing that brings us together, it is so nice to meet up and talk. I'm excited to see her.

This weekend we are headed to Myrtle Beach, and we couldn't be more excited! A week of relaxation by the pool and ocean is going to be SO refreshing! WE CANNOT WAIT!!! We are headed with our friends Dan and Robyn and their daughter Allison and Dan's brother Kevin. It will be a full house at the condo, but we are expecting lots of laughs and lots of great memories.

Finally, I want to remind my readers that I am not going to be talking about my future IVF experience on my blog. If you wish to be included in e-mail updates, please send me an e-mail at jjkj2004@gmail.com. I do not want to air my laundry when anyone, especially students, could potentially find my blog. Thanks everyone who has already e-mailed...you should have heard from me already with a preliminary e-mail! :-)

Insurance SUCKS!

Sorry if you don't like that word...sucks...but it is SOOOOOOOO true. How can our health system be so screwed up that person A gets complete infertility coverage, person B gets 50%, and person C gets next to nothing?

I hate being person C.

Everything is set to go for our next IVF round. I am doing the same meds I did a year ago... The one and only change this time was to be the progestrone. Progesterone prepares the body (uterus) to receive a fertilized egg. WELL, there is a new medicine on the market called Endometrin, which seems to have a fairly high success rate when used with the two medicines I will be stimming my body with. The medicine is $4.99 A PILL! Ouch. As I'd have to take this twice daily, one box ($104.79) would get me 10 1/2 days worth of medicine. If I acheive pregnancy, I would have to be on this medicine for 10 to 12 weeks.

My insurance won't cover this new medicine.

Great, of course. Why would I get so excited that it would be covered? Why? Just another let down in the world of infertility treatments. So now I get the sheer pleasure of being given a shot of progesterone in oil (sesame oil - nice and thick!) in my arse by my sweet loving husband every night. And not to mention, the needle is the size of my pinky.

Back to being a loser...

A small one, but a loss none the less.

0.8 lbs down

Sadly my overall weight loss isn't great, but it is coming down slowly but surely. I did get out today and walked 2 1/2 miles around the condo complex, and my goal is to do that daily, if not more than 2 1/2 miles. It was a nice, warm walk.

Martha Stewart, I am not......

I saw these cupcakes a few months ago in a magazine and thought "I have to try those"...so I did! And I think they turned out great. They weren't too much of a hit on Saturday night, but I made more on Sunday and I took only one "corn-on-the-cob" home out of six. They are SUPER easy...

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/corn-on-the-cob-cupcake

And I tried to make mine a little more healthy...the cake mix was regular lemon cake mixed with 12 oz. of diet ginger ale. Bake as instructed on the box and they turn out so moist!!! I then had to use regular icing as the cool whip was too runny with it, so I have white icing in this picture...on Sunday I mixed yellow food coloring with the white icing and they turned out even better. The "pats of butter" are partially melted starburst.

Betty Crocker and Martha Stewart, eat your hearts out! Ha ha ha ha ha

Whew!

It has been quite a few weeks! I can't believe it is already July 6...WHERE DID JUNE GO???

Last weekend I was in PA for my cousin's graduation party - Anna from college and Doug from high school. It was a busy, fun weekend. I arrived earlier and stayed longer than others, and I am so glad I did. I really had a great time.

Anna & Doug, the graduates!
Autumn - my sweet buddy. Joshua eating raisins..he too is a sweetheart. Brooke eating at the party...another sweetheart!
Amma just got a strike on Wii bowling!

Ampa bowling and yelling at the bowling ball to move over!

I am so lucky to have such a loving and supportive family. I took over 200 pictures and had a hard time picking ones to put on my blog.

In other news, it has been a nice 4th of July weekend. My birthday was spent shopping with Myra, my mother-in-law. We had lunch then hit up the mall. I treated myself to a new pair of sunglasses and a Vera Bradley eyeglass holder for the new sunglasses. Then that night my mom and dad came over for drinks and we all walked to Casa Fiesta for dinner. It was then back to the condo to open gifts. My birthday was a nice day, despite the crappy, rainy weather. On the 4th itself Myra and I went to the 4th of July parade in Gahanna with my parents, where I proceeded to cry like a baby as the flag corps marched by. This was the first parade in 10 years that I wasn't it, and I took it harder than I thought I would. That afternoon Myra, John, and I had a small bbq, and we had my good friend Lori as well, then the four of us headed to Gahanna for the fireworks.

This week ahead is going to be for relaxing, catching up with friends, and reading a few good books, among other things. I can't believe 1/2 the summer is almost gone!

Lastly, I want to let everyone know that John and I ARE moving forward with our 2nd IVF. My period started yesterday and I will start my mandatory birth control pills tomorrow. I have decided, however, to not blog much about it. I would rather keep our personal information off my blog, as I don't know if students can read this or any other stranger, for that matter. So, if you are a blog reader and would like to be part of the e-mail updates, I will be happy to send that to you...please e-mail me at jjkj2004@gmail.com to get added to my "IVF support group" e-mail list.