10 Week Challenge

Nine loves.

1. God - I know, I gotta start off with Him. Seriously, everything I have comes from Him and I am SO grateful for Him and His blessings.

*side note, as I'm typing with the capital "H" - I'm thinking of Easy A when Marianne says "His choice, capital 'H'" - anyone else? I swear I'm not like Marianne.

2. Christmas - Just wait until September, I start playing Christmas music. I love everything about Christmas, the music, the attitude most people have, the movies. It's ridiculous, and people wonder why I choice a Christmas wedding?

3. Cooking - My favorite past-times is to walk around grocery stores, look at cookbooks and recipes, I love everything about it. Mr. Skinny hates going to the store with me because I look at everything and he just wants to get out of there. Now that I'm working part-time I only cook a few days a week as opposed to every day and it really bums me out. I can't wait until I'm home with my kids and I can cook more and hopefully cook just about everything homemade.

4. Mr. Skinny - obvious, right?

5. Exercising. Well not completely, but I really am getting there. Except for the week before my period where I'm a lazy sloth, I look forward to exercising and seeing what my body can do.

6. Family. I don't have a ton of friends in real life, really I don't have any friends since we moved back to PA, and I am so thankful for my wonderful family, and my amazing in-laws because they truly are my friends.

7. Four seasons. I cannot pick a favorite season. Although I'd prefer Maryland's seasons to PA's seasons, I can't say no to snow in the winter - as long as I don't have to go out in it - and since I'm not a fan of the humidity in summer, PA's summers are better than Maryland's. Anyways, I truly love each season for what it brings.

8. Technology. I am completely not fully up on technology - I've steered clear of Pinterest and Twitter (although I technically have a Twitter account, anyone want to tell me how to use it??), but I have to say, I love my iPhone, my mac, my interest. I love being connected, although sometimes it gets in the way.

9. Children. If you don't know why then you haven't been reading my blog in the past few months.

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Tell me one of you loves, or link up, I know a few of you have started doing this!

Tempo Runs.

I run really slow, like really slow. Normally it doesn't bother me, but sometimes, like when I'm reading a blog of a multi-marathoner, it gets under my skin a bit that I run so slow. I know that tempo runs (I think?) can fix this. Yesterday, I decided I would attempt my version of a tempo run - run for a half mile, walk for a quarter. Sound good? Yeah, the first one was okay, then it turned into run for a quarter, walk for a quarter. Eventually I slowed down and just rotated walking and running. Oh well, I tried. That counts for something, right?

On Monday though, I found myself home alone. Mr. Skinny was working late, and my mom had to take my dad for some tests at the hospital. Since I didn't get my run in on Monday due to grocery shopping and going to the dentist, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to head out. I had a lot on my mind, and wanted some time to think. Well, time I had. I started out running for about 2 miles, took about a half mile break, ran another mile and walked another mile for a grand total of 4 1/2 miles! That's the longest run/walk I've been on and I am really proud of myself for it!

I was actually sore from this run. My hip flexors still hurt from it. I've been back into my yoga this week, too, to see if it helps with the soreness.

In case you were wondering, that's my running update. I was kind of on hiatus last week, but I definitely made up for it this week with my two long outings so far, with another short one tomorrow, and hopefully another medium-ish one on Saturday.

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How has your exercise been going?

Do you count your "outings" as runs, jogs, or walks when you tell people about them?

Hummus.

Guess what I did this weekend? Well besides throw up in a Walmart bathroom, thank-you-period-cramps. Yeah. Anyways, Mr. Skinny and I went to look at a truck for him, and the only way I would drive out to look at it would be if we went to the mall that's out there, too. I batted my eyelashes and persuaded Mr. Skinny to take me to the mall and let me buy something. Well, as you may or may not know, Borders is closing all its stores and they're having a super clearance on everything in the store. Being the bargain shopper I am, I decided to go and have a look see. I went right to the cooking section. I've been trying to find a good grilling cookbook and I've been wanting to cook some more vegetarian recipes, too. I did know that Mama Pea's cookbook came out and with all the wonderful reviews, I've been eyeing up a copy of this cookbook, too.

Needless to say, I found Mama Pea's cookbook. Well actually, I saw a woman reading Mama Pea's cookbook, on the floor, laughing out loud, and I was just eyeing her up, waiting for her to put it down so I could snatch it and buy it. Yeah, it wasn't my best attitude. Eventually I thought I would be kind enough to her and ask if there was another copy. Luckily, there was! I snatched that one up, along with a vegetarian cookbook, and a grilling cookbook and checked out, so excited!

I read Mama Pea's cookbook on the way home from the mall, by the light of my iPhone (don't you just love technology?), and I fell in love with it. It's funny, more than just recipes, there are stories, too. There is an intro in the beginning to introduce you to "weird foods" according to Mr. Skinny, and where you can find them in the stores. This could easily become my new favorite cookbook, no lie.

Well, on Monday, I went food shopping like I always do, and came home with some tahini and chickpeas just to make some homemade hummus to save myself $4 each week buying Sabra hummus. Let me tell you, it is phenomenal! I can't give away the recipe, because you gotta buy the book! It's definitely going to save me some money each week to make my own, and it's super simple, too!

Not my picture, but you get the idea.

If you're looking for a new cookbook, want to explore some vegetarian/vegan foods, give it a try, I bet you won't regret it!

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What's your favorite cookbook? Or do you inspire yourself and don't need one? Are you a hummus fan?

Weekends Go Too Fast.

... And I'm sure you'll all agree, right?

Did you miss the baby update?

Even though I don't work on Mondays, the one day that Mr. Skinny and I have together is never long enough to cram in some serious bonding time, and spending time with both our families. It gets hectic, and there are days were it's non-stop eating. Like yesterday for example, we planned a family dinner with my family, then went to visit Mr. Skinny's family and they invited us for dinner, too! I didn't eat anything at Mr. Skinny's family, but I did save room for dessert - brownies and ice cream!

Anyways, today I had my first dentist appt in nearly 2 years. I was worried about cavities, that's always the story you hear, right? Someone doesn't go to the dentist for "x" amount of years, and then they have 6 cavities, have to have a root canal and whatever else the dentist does. The dental hygienist goes to my church, so she was telling me about her son's engagement party and wedding and her only grandson, so far. I know that I know her, but how many different sounds can you make with your mouth open and her hands in there? Seriously, she was actually asking me questions and all I could do was answer "uh-huh" or "unh-uh" without an explanataion. It was driving me bonkers! Oh, and seriously, she was digging so hard she knew I'd be sore and told me to rinse with salt water. Um, no thanks!

But good news, I don't have any cavities! I went food shopping after the appointment and somehow spent over my budget. I really need to get ahold of that. If we're going to keep trying to have a baby (more on that later in the week, I think), then we need to start a serious budget and pay stuff off. This debt is killing us. It's slowly crushing our souls, and sucking the life out of us. We don't even have a mortgage, rent, or really any "house" bills other than our Dish. We'll get it under control, sorry for rambling.

Now I'm sitting here, getting ready to make some dinner and contemplating where we our in our lives and what we can do to make things better.

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Tell me something about your weekend.

Do you have bad teeth or good teeth?

Are you happy where you are in your life?

Definitely No Baby.

Just wanted to pop in this morning and let you know that my lovely friend decided to spring up on me this morning when I wasn't quite expecting it. Thanks. Along with the massive, awful cramps I haven't felt in 2 years. Seriously, birth control pills are worth it just to get rid of the cramps!

No huge deal, I didn't feel like there was a baby in there, like I said on Thursday, it's like stepping on the scale knowing that you gained, but secretly hoping that you lost 2 pounds. We have plenty of time, we're young, and we'll keep trying. Now that I know (about) how long my cycle is we are going to stop trying every other day and we'll just do it when we feel like it or when I'm ovulating. It was getting to be a chore, and Mr. Skinny agrees.

Sure, we're disappointed, but we know God has a plan for us.

So month 1 is a fail, but we'll keep trying.

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How do you handle disappointment?

10 Day (Week) You Challenge.

Since it's really hard for me to post regularly on Fridays, I found this 10 Day You Challenge on this blog, and just had to borrow it. It's the perfect short Friday post, so I'll be doing this weekly instead of daily. Hope you enjoy it!

Ten Secrets:

I'll just do ten things I don't think my readers know about it. I'm awful at keeping secrets.

1. My parents are hard of hearing, and being the oldest child, this put a lot of pressure on me sometimes. I know my parents didn't want me to, but I was their "ears" and I still am a lot of the time.

2. I was a cheerleader for 12 years. I quit my senior year due to coaching issues.

3. I still sleep with the blankie that I've had since childhood. Mr. Skinny makes fun of me, but whatevs.

4. Along the same lines, when I say goodnight to my mom, she says this little poem that she's said to me since childhood. "You're the best girl in the whole, wide world. Mommy loves you very much. God bless you and good night." I know that I'm 22 years old, but there's just something comforting in hearing that every day.

5. I might have mentioned this on here, but Mr. Skinny and I met in 5th grade. I used to annoy him because I had a crush on him (duh! That's what 10 year old girls do!), but we didn't start dating until sophomore year in HS.

Us in 5th grade. No lie.

6. My chapstick is ALWAYS with me. I'm not sure when this started, but it's with me all the time. At our wedding, I made Mr. Skinny put it in his pocket. At prom, it was down my dress, along with my phone and camera (having a big rack has it's pluses).

7. I pretend I know what I'm talking about, and I know what you're talking about in a lot of cases. It's kind of embarrassing sometimes. I don't know why I just don't ask a question if I don't know something.

8. I could live on a house boat. I was raised on the lake, and love it so much, although I do take it for granted sometimes.

9. I had a small obsession with Twilight for about a year. I am superbly embarrassed to admit this. I thought it was the best thing ever. Then I remembered. Harry Potter is :)

10. I've never plucked, waxed or changed my eyebrows. I don't think they need any help. Someone please tell me if they do!

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Did you know any of these secrets?

Tell me a secret about you!

Maybe, Baby.

It's been 4 weeks since we starting trying to start our family. I feel like I owe you guys an update on our life in that department. I've said it before and I'm going to say it again, I want to be honest with this journey. I want to be honest not only for my readers, but for myself too, so that I have this "journal" to look back on and see how I was feeling while going through it. With that said, am I pregnant....??

We don't know yet.

I mentioned it before, but before starting birth control 2 years ago, my cycle was pretty irregular. I'd get my period every 5-6ish weeks, maybe longer, maybe shorter. Wasn't real accountable. It was a pain in the butt. I loved having a regular cycle for 2 years, knowing when it would be coming, and being able to explain my moodiness in that week before it came.

Now I'm off again. Since we didn't wait for a cycle before starting to trying, we've pretty much done it (and by it, I mean the 5th grade slang for sex), every other day for a month. It's kind of exhausting. I know that there are ovulation prediction things you can buy, but they're expensive! We figured we'd just take matters into our own hands and have a good time. Some days it is a good time, and some days it's an extra pain in the butt something we have to do. It all depends, but here we are, sitting at the end of the first 4 weeks of trying and we don't know if I'm pregnant.

On a 28 day cycle, my period is due this week, like the week that started with this past Sunday. If my body quickly goes back to it's pre-birth control cycle, I could have another 2 weeks yet.

How am I feeling? Well, on Friday I started cramping, I was super excited because that could be a sign of implantation, but it could also be a sign of my period coming. I get headaches a lot, but they don't last long, and my lower back hurts almost daily. My nose is a super sniffer now; either that or I've paid attention to what I'm smelling more than I ever have before. I'm tired, like super tired, meaning I sleep for 10 hours at night and could still take a nap. All this could just be me reading into certain things more because I could be and because I want to be pregnant.

Update: Remember my crazy weird dream on Tuesday? Well I had another one yesterday, and another one this morning. This morning it was the end of the world, so bizarre. Apparently, when I googled it, vivid dreams could be a sign of pregnancy, too. So maybe, baby??

I'm going to wait until Sunday morning to take a pregnancy test. Well, that was the plan, but should I? I mean those suckers are expensive, and I don't want to waste them. I don't really feel any different than my normal self. I keep hoping that I'm pregnant, but it's just hoping. It's like stepping on the scale. You think you gained, but you're hoping that by some magic power you've lost like 3 pounds.

My boobs don't hurt at. ALL. Which is SO weird because they always hurt when my period is coming. I'm not nauseous, although I keep hoping that I am because it's a different symptom that isn't attached to periods, at least mine anyway.

I keep trying to enjoy life with just Mr. Skinny and I, but it's hard when I know what I want and what we want the next step to be. I know God has a plan for us, but it's hard to not know what that plan is! I'm not stressed, truly I'm not, just curious as to how the next year or so is going to pan out.

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Any thoughts?

How do you handle the unknown?