Waiting isn't easy....

especially when you're waiting to find out if you're pregnant.

I bought OPK's in hopes of that helping us to get pregnant. We used them this month and well....now, I'm not just waiting. It's too early to test and it's KILLING ME! I just want to know!

I really want to know by Christmas but that might even be too early, we'll see. I'll def. keep you updated. And please cross your fingers for us! :-)

I've been bad...

At blogging lately. I just haven't had the time to sit down and write nor have I had much to say.

1st, I can't blieve it's December and only 20 days until Christmas. What happened to October and November?

Thanksgiving was great. My Dad came into town, alone, which was really nice. I think it was good for him to see where we live. He loved it here and went home to 30 degrees and snow on the ground...he wasn't happy nor do I blame him.

We also had Chris's parents, sister and her boyfriend come into town as well. Lots of family and good times!

Here we all are at the Sandbar having a great time!

About 5 days ago or so, we got our Christmas tree. She's beautiful and I love her! She smells delicious and I'm so very happy we made room for her. I would have been a very sad 28 year old if we didn't get a tree.

Today I went shopping with Chris's cousin's wife and we had a great time. We went to Scottsdale and were suppose to be Christmas shopping but mostly bought stuff for ourselves. HAHA Oops! That's ok though, right?!

And last but not least....3rd month of TTC and I bought Ovulation Predictor Kits to see if that can help us pinpoint exactly when I'm ovulating since we apparently don't know. haha

I hope that in a month, I will have some great news to post! That's really all I want for Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Is only2.5 weeks away and Chris's birthday is the day before. I haven't bought him a present yet nor do I know what to get him. I was going to get him an Ipod since his died in May but he just uses mine because I hardly ever use it. There's really no point in me getting him one when he's got mine. There's always Christmas if he really wants his own.

The main reason for this post is because I'm a little sad about the holidays this year. It's my 1st time away from home for both holidays. Chris's mom, dad, sister and her boyfriend are coming for Thanksgiving/Chris's birthday so we'll have visitors but MY dad was suppose to come.

He and his girlfriend have free tickets but since they waited so long to look at flights, all the ones they could use the free tickets on are all full. So, on Thursday of last week, I was ecstatic my Dad was coming. Then yesterday, he said they probably won't be coming because of the flights being booked and if they bought tickets, they would cost $3000 for the 2 of them. WHAT?!?!!?

I cried....a lot! I am close to my Dad, not AS close as my Mom but he hasn't been here since we moved and I really want him to see it and us. He'd love it here and I miss him a lot!

He text me today and said he might come alone....I think he really misses me and Chris but I'm not getting my hopes up. I've done that too much in my life with him and I've gotten disappointed A LOT!

I'm crossing my fingers for a miracle. lol There's no love like a love a daughter has for her Daddy!! :-)

Flag Football?!?!

Yes, you read that right...I'm going to be playing flag football with some people from work. haha I cannot believe that they asked me to be on their team but they needed girls.

I'm excited, nervous, and a little scared.....these guys are really serious about their flag football. They won the last 2 years, I guess and aren't into girls who aren't competitive. Good thing I like to win and hate losing..............

I'm not sure when we start but I think it's soon and we get jersey's. I'm pretty damn excited!! lol

Who doesn't like FREE jewelry?

Time for Some Free Sophisticatedly Free Jewelry!

DarcusTori is offering a beautiful pair of Ocean Blue Zircon Round Stud earrings for FREE!!!!!! These earrings normally retail for $59.95; but if you use the checkout code: 0801, these beautifully, sophisticated earrings are FREE +shipping. You can't beat it.... especially with the holidays coming up! The email says you can add as many pairs as you like to your basket, so stock up! Click HERE to order.

I just ordered 2 pair for $9.90 which was just the shipping! I saved $100. I don't know who I will be giving them to but they can def. make good xmas presents. Go get your free earrings!!

First month down

Well, as most of you know, we started TTC as of Oct 1st. We weren't trying "very" hard this month and it showed. I have yet to get my wonderful monthly "friend" but I took a pregnancy test that clearly stated "not pregnant." So, on to month 2!

Let me just say, this month we will be trying a lot harder. Originally, I didn't want to get pregnant "right" away but now that I didn't, I hope I don't have to wait too long to see "PREGNANT" show up on a test.

My baby fever has just gotten ridiculously out of hand. lol I really want to have one of my own and finally give my Mom her grand baby she has been waiting for!!!

It's official...

We are TTC!!!! Woohoo! I'm so excited and really hope for no problems from here on out. I guess time will tell....

I'll keep you all updated! :-)

Birthday in Vegas

Was AMAZING!!! I hate the most important people in my life there with me; my husband, my Mom, her boyfriend and Chris's cousin David and his wife, Lacey. It was so much fun!

We got there around 5 on Thursday, my actual birthday so we got our rooms all settled and then got ready to go find food and drinks. We started off at the bar at our hotel and had a shot at 8:06 pm because that was when I was born. Then we just walked around and found cheap drinks...drinks are typically VERY expensive where ever you go but we were on a mission to find it cheaper and we did. I also gambled a little that night on Blackjack and didn't win anything. :-(

All the other days, we drank and gambled some more and just touristy stuff. We went to NY NY (my favorite hotel/casino) and went on the roller coaster there, MGM and saw the Lions which Chris had never seen and there were 2- 9 week old cubs, they were adorable! Then we had some jello shots at MGM that were $2 and the strongest jello shots I've ever had so we had a few. lol

We had to go to the M&M store so I could get some girly colored M&M's. lol

Treasure Island is another one of my favorite hotels/casinos. Since David and Lacey had never been to Vegas, I had to take them to the Pirate Show at night. I saw it 7 years ago for my 21st birthday and it was great so I was expecting it to be pretty much the same. Boy, was I WRONG! It was no longer a Pirate Show, it was a freaking sex show. Ok, maybe not completely but that's what it felt like. One ship had girls in lingerie with 1 main guy and the other ship had guys with their shirts off...it's was SO strange and I was VERY disappointed. I have now come to the conclusion that there is NOTHING in Vegas that's not geared towards men or sex. It's sad! I'd be pissed it I took my child to that show.

Other places we went to were, MGM where we found out they have a topless pool called Bare but it was $40 for guys to get in so we decided not to go. lol Next time we'll go in. haha We also went to the Venetian and got to see the new sister hotel, Palazzo which was gorgeous and the Wynn and it's sister hotel, Encore another amazing place.

Me, Chris, my Mom and my Mike went down to Old Vegas. That place is just cool. It's where Vegas origionated from and let me tell, things are def. a lot cheaper down there.

Well, I think that's about it...I will leave you with some pictures.
This is my birthday shot..lemon drop.














Me and Chris infront of the Mirage's volcano.














Me with my birthday boa at Margaritaville.



















Our bed with my purple stuff (boa, m&m's, laffy taffy, hershey kisses, a shot glass and mike n ike's) from David and Lacey.



















I found Madonna and Elvis in Vegas.

















Me and Chris in Old Vegas.

My Mom's HERE!!!

YAY! My Mom is finally here. Her and her boyfriend flew into Vegas because it was cheaper to do that than to fly into Phoenix and then fly out of Vegas. They got here around 6 and then we had dinner and just hung out. It didn't feel like we haven't seen each other in 4 months. Dexter, our dog, sure was excited to see Grandma. She brought him lots of treats and some toys so he was happy.

Tomorrow is my Friday so we'll be hanging out again tomorrow night and then Thursday...we are OFF TO VEGAS!!!!! We cannot wait!!!

Sad story

So, many of you know that I go on The Nest all the time. I go on the Phoenix board and the May '08 board because that was the month and year that I got married. Anyways....one girl on my Phoenix board posted about one of her friends that she met on The Nest or The Knot, I'm not sure which one. This girl passed away after having a c-section because amniotic fluid got into her blood stream and caused her to be brain dead which leaves her husband a single dad with a newborn and also had to plan a funeral and mourn the death of his best friend and soul mate.

I don't personally know the girl but I feel terrible for her family, husband and now daughter. They have set up a fund for her husband and child to help him get through all of this. Any help that you can do, whether it's sending coupons for diapers and/or formula, a card saying you're sorry for his loss or even bigger than that with actual gifts would be great!! Here is the address to send to:

Jewelyn Okamoto Memorial Fund
PO Box 235971
Encinitas, CA 92023-5971

For bigger packages send to:

Brandi Futrell
c/o Jewelyn Okamoto
14928 S. Maple Ave
Gardena, CA 90248

You can read more about it here: http://tinyurl.com/ybdg94a

I just can't believe this still happens in 2009.

I wish I had some girl friends....

I feel like such a loser because I don't really have any girl friends here in AZ. I know I've only been here for almost 4 months but isn't that long enough to make at least 1? haha I mean, a few girls I work with, I would consider friends, I guess but we don't really ever hang out. I want some girl friends that I can go out with and do girly stuff with, without my husband. :-)

There's one girl in my Hip Hop class that seems really cool. We talk every class but haven't gotten to the point of saying "hey, lets hang out" or "here's my # if you ever want to get together." I just feel funny saying either of those 2 things. Hopefully as the class continues, maybe we'll eventually hang out. She's super nice so I'm hoping. haha I feel so stupid about it. Why is it so hard to make friends when you're an adult? Why can't I lose all my inhibitions and just ask her if she wants to hang out sometime? I don't want to look desperate though..............

Atleast I'm working up a sweat in my class. Today was a little rough...we did a lot of cardio stuff and some B-Girl stuff (break dancing). Wow, let me tell you, it's hard and of course the instructors make it look super easy!! I'm getting there though and really enjoying it too.

Where is my . ?

Ok, I'm a bit confused right now. The last time I had my period, it was August 4th. I don't count the days in between my periods which I know I should do but just never really had to. I've always gotten it around the date of the month before give or take a few days.

When the 4th came around, I had some spotting, so I def. thought my period was coming, which is how it always starts. Well, to my surprise, it never came. Today is the 17th and it's not where in site. I took a pregnancy test this morning, 99% sure that I wasn't pregnant but had to, and it came out negative. So, where the hell is my period? I'm not stressed or anything so I'm clueless. It hasn't done this is a really long time. About a year or so ago, I completely skipped a month but that doesn't happen very often so...............here I am waiting for it to begin.

We head to Vegas, 2 weeks from today and if I have my period while we are there, I am going to be royally pissed off!!!

I think after Vegas, we will start TTC!!! I'm terrified! I am sooooooo excited to have a baby and I have waited for this day for as long as I can remember but now that it's actually here, I'm scared as hell. I'm scared that I won't be able to get pregnant (my biggest fear in life) and I'm also scared of actually becoming pregnant. I've prevented it for 28 years and now I don't have to anymore...wow, I have a lot of emotions running through my head and it all hit me today!!!

49'ers/Cardinals game

Sunday me, Chris, Chris' cousin and his wife all went to the 49er's/Cardinals game. We all had 49'ers gear on because those 3 are HUGE fans. I, on the other hand, am NOT...I'm a NY Giants fan but I did it for my husband. And he will do it for me when the Giants come here! haha

We had a GREAT time. It was the opening game for the Cardinals and Jordin Sparks sang the National Anthem. She was awesome! We tailgated for a few hours before hand and had one little mishap before the game. We didn't know we couldn't buy beer before 10am on Sunday so we only have 6 beers for the tailgating. It turned out to be good though, me and Lacey didn't drink until we got inside and let the guys have the beers. We bought a small grill and cooked chicken wings and spiedies and they were awesome!

Well, without further a do.....here are a few pictures!

A little bit of this...a little bit of that...

I don't have a good title for today's post because it's a little bit of everything.

I had my interview for the Senior position yesterday. It was a very short interview, only about 5-6 questions. I don't know why I wouldn't get it when my Manager was the one who approached me about applying but we'll see. I should find out by the EOB day tomorrow, I hope!!

We took our little pup to the vet today to get his nails clipped. He just won't let us do it so we have to go to the Vet and once we pull up, he starts shaking and gets so nervous. Now, we had never been to the one here so how'd he know? I guess they have that instinct like humans do. Poor little guy! But he was taken very good care of. The lady that clipped his nails was very nice and let me go in with him since he does better if Mommy's with him. haha Now he's all trimmed and looks nice.

Tomorrow I have my dance class. OH...did I mention that before today? If not, my bad, I forgot. I signed up for a Hip Hop dance class at Scottsdale Community College for 1 credit. Not that I need the credit, I have my Bachelor's but it's really fun and a good workout too. It's a 2.5 hour class so you can image the soreness the next 2 days. I'm so glad I'm taking this class and I can't wait to go back on Saturday. Then we are getting ready for the big football game on Sunday. We will be staying at Chris's cousin's house which is closer to the stadium since the guys wants to get there really early to start tailgating. It'll be fun but I'm wearing a 49ers shirt and I am NOT a 49ers fan at all but I'm doing it for my husband. lol I'll post pics probably on Monday.

Rain in AZ?!?!!?

Yes, you read that right...we are getting rain here and I don't like it at all. A 3 day weekend where we didn't have a whole lot of plans but it's still annoying. Today we were planning on laying by the pool and getting our Vitamin D :-) but it's been cloudy all day so that's out. By Noon, I was feeling crazy from being in the house and that's def. because of the weather. So, we decided to go to the Outlets in Anthem. We were a little disappointed in them...not a whole lot of great places, that we liked at least.

All the rain and clouds are coming from Hurricane Jimena hitting the West Coast. I never knew that hurricane's came in to the Pacific. HM?! The forecast for tomorrow says no rain, thank God. I hope we can at least lay by the pool but we might go to the new water park, Wet 'n' Wild which would be a lot of fun if it doesn't rain. We also bought tickets for the Diamondbacks game on Monday. We had a coupon for buy 1 get 1 free...woohoo! Gotta love those! And they are playing the Dodgers...guess what Manny....you're going to hear some haggling from this New Yorker! :-) I hope the Diamondback's beat them although it doesn't look like that will be the case.

Possible promotion??

So, yesterday morning, my Manager stops by my desk and says, "I only have like 30 seconds but I just wanted to tell you to apply for the senior position." And then he ran off. haha I was like, um, ok, I guess that's a good thing...he came to me about applying.

Today, he brought me into a conference room and explained that he can't force me to apply but he thinks that I would be good at it. He also said, that although I've only been with the company for 3 months, that he thinks I'm intelligent enough and capable of doing the job. I'd have a lot more to learn but that's ok. I'm learning a lot more than what some of the people there know.

There are going to be 3 positions for Seniors so I think I have a really good chance. I'm hoping that come 2 weeks, I will have had a promotion! Yay....I'm really hoping to start moving up this Corporate ladder!


On another note......1 month til my birthday and VEGAS!!! I am so freaking excited! Oh, and to see my MOM!!!!!! That makes me really happy!! It's been 3 months since I've seen her. I have never gone that long without seeing my mom! :-( Here we are on my wedding day!

Amy's coming!!!

I am SO excited that a friend of mine from HS is coming into town tomorrow. She's actually the one who got me the job out here in AZ so I'm pretty excited!!!

She has some meetings to attend but we'll be able to hang out quite a bit and she'll be staying with us from Thursday-Sunday.

Oh yeah, and I took Friday off. YAY to a 4 day work week!!!

Traffic and Insurance-BLAH!

So, I've been going to a Chiropractor since I was like 18 because I have such a messed up back. I had surgery for a herniated disc (L5/S1 Lumbar) back in June of 2002, I was 20 years old, WAY too young for back surgery. Ever since then I've been going to the Chiropractor religiously because my upper back has gotten worse.

I lost my insurance in May because I lost my job in NY so when we moved here we didn't have insurance right away. I had to wait 3 months before going to the Chiro again and let me tell you, my back was PISSED at me. It was getting worse and I couldn't handle it. My right hip even started hurting. I was scared as to what was happening and what my future would bring esp. once I got pregnant. I could just see it....me being 7 months pregnant no longer being able to walk. Not really my cup of tea.

So, August 1st, my husband's insurance kicked in. YAY! (His was a lot cheaper than mine and I mean A LOT plus my work insurance doesn't cover Chiropractors. WTF?) So, I got a recommendation for a Chiropractor in North Phoenix, which is only about 20 miles from here. I thought, hey, that can't be too bad so I started going once a week since the beginning of August. BAD idea!!! The only time I can go is after work so either there's not traffic on my way there and a shitload on the way back or vice versa and the traffic here isn't your typical traffic. Think of 600,000 people all on the damn highway at once. That's what it feels like. The highways are 4-5 lanes wide here and even then it's stopped traffic for MILES!!! Therefore, I'm changing Chiropractors. I can't take 2 hours out of my day for something that should take maybe an hour with driving. I found one that's covered by my insurance that's only a few miles away and NO highway is needed to get there! WOOHOO! So, I will go to my last appt. at my current Chiro next Friday then I will switch. Plus, I think the one I'm at now is a little too expensive. Charging $25 for using one of their heating pads...are you serious?!?!

And now onto Midwives........lol
I really want to give birth, to my future children, in a birthing center. I thought I would have NO problem finding those here in Arizona. Well, I thought wrong. They don't exist. There use to be 1 but they don't do it anymore. I don't feel comfortable giving birth at home so now I have to resort to doing it in a hospital which I would have rather given my right leg than do that but I have no choice now. :-(

But one of my fellow nesties just told me about a Midwife that she goes to that works at a regular OB's office so I wouldn't have to see both an OB and a Midwife, I could just see the Midwife. Cheers to that! lol AND they are part of my insurance network!!!!!!!! Another Cheers! My nestie friend also has a friend who is a Doula who's just beginning so that's great too because I don't think my husband is going to be too much of a help with calming me down. haha

Some of you may think I'm a nut for thinking about this stuff already and I'm not even pregnant but I'm the type that likes to have things planned so this makes me feel SO much better especially since we'll be starting in a few months.

Working out..

As I said in a previous post, I really want to get back into working out not only to have a nice body but to feel good and to prepare for baby-making.

I've been doing my Wii Fit off and on but just isn't giving me the cardio I'd like. So, yesterday I did like 20 min's on the fit and then did Turbo Jams for 20 minutes. Wow...I was a little sore today but it def. gave me a great workout.

I decided to keep it going, that's the only way I'm going to see results. I want to lose about 5 pounds by Vegas time which is October 1st (my birthday).

I did Turbo Jams again today. I did the 20 minute workout which is a calorie-burning workout and then did 20 minutes of the Turbo Blast which tightens and tones your muscles. Woohoo! YAY for me! Now, lets see how long I can keep it up............here it is!!! If you want a great workout right at home, I suggest you get it!

Babies...they are everywhere

No, really, they are EVERYWHERE!!!! No matter where I go, there's one starring right at me and I can't help but stop and talk to them. I love them.

I've been scouring the bump every once in a while because I love to look at everyone's baby pictures in the siggies. They are so cute!!! Plus, I just like to hear about things I might not already know. I started looking at baby names. We've already picked out our boy name but still aren't 100% on a girl....here are the ones I like:
Reagen
Emily
Amelia
Isabella
Lilly
Kennedy
Gabriella
Kara
Aubrianna

For boys I don't have as many:
Jackson
Garrett
Preston
Brayden
Wyatt but Chris has a cousin with this name so we won't be able to use it! :-(

When I'm shopping and I see cute baby clothes, I want to buy them but I've always told myself, "no, people will think you're weird if you do that." So, I haven't done it yet but now I'm being told to do it, if I see them on sale or something that I really love. Will that jinx me? I only find girls clothes cute and I really want a girl first so I don't want to jinx myself. And what if I do buy just girls clothes and then I have a boy first....oh the dilemma! haha

The weekends..

Why is it that the weekends go by like a blink and the week days drag on? It's so frustrating. I feel like there's never enough time during the week to do the things I want to do yet it goes by so slow.

This weekend was fun. Friday night we went to David and Lacey's to watch the 1st preseason of the 49ers game. I am not a 49er fan but my husband, David and Lacey are. I'm a NY Giants fan and always will be. We had some snacky stuff and I got to see their beautiful children. I just love them both but I especially love the 4.5 month old. He brights my day every time I see him and he makes my baby fever 100x's worse.

Saturday we went to the Westgate in Glendale, had dinner at the Yard House, walked around and then went to Margaritaville for some drinks. The balloon guy made me a princess hat. lol He didn't know me but knew I was a princess! ;-) Here is a picture...




















Today (Sunday), Chris went golfing with a few guys and I went shopping. lol It was nice but I wish I had more money to spend. GRRR!

Off to do my Wii Fit!

Trying to get back into working out!

Oh, what fun it is trying to get back into the habit of working out. I did so good the 6 months before our wedding and then it all went to shit after that. And now that we live in the desert, my motivation to go outside to walk up to the gym, is barely there. Plus, I just really don't like doing it...it's not fun for me but the older I get, the more I realize I have to do it to keep a nice body.

Well, we are going to Vegas in October for my birthday and quite frankly, I want to look HOT! lol So, I bought Wii fit a couple weeks ago and did the boxing one on Monday night. Wow....I am REALLY sore today. I guess it's a better work out than I thought so I plan to keep that up. I also want to get the Active for the Wii which is compatable with the Fit board but has a lot more exercises on it.

I also want to start exercising to get my body ready for when we start TTC, which may begin in November. I am super excited about that. I haven't told any of my family or friends because I want it to be a surprise when I do get pregnant. I've been taking prenatal vitamins for about a month now....I was taking them about a year ago but then stopped. So, getting this body ready for baby making. I also bought Taking Charge of your Fertility. I'm only on Chapter 1 so I haven't really learned much but I'm excited to read more. I've heard it's a great book.

A little bored so here's a blog

I've been a member of blogspot for a while but haven't really decided to make a blog since I thought I'd be horrible with keeping it updated. I know a lot of people that have them and it looks like a good way to get things out so I've decided to join the fad.

Right now, I'm sitting at work with not much to do. My job, well, is a job. I'm very grateful to have it especially since I now know what it's like to lose one. What a horrible feeling that is. You try not to take it personal but it's really hard not to. They tell you, "we're sorry, it's not you, we just lost our funding for your position." Yeah, whatever, don't sugar coat it for me as I sit here and ball like a little baby. But anyways, my job now is ok. Not something that I want to be doing forever, that's for sure. It's with a Fortune 500 company though and there's room to grow so I'm going to work my butt off to try and make it to the top. I need a raise though. LOL

As far as my life here in Tempe, Arizona, other than work, is just amazing. I don't know how anyone couldn't like this life out here. It's sunny EVERY day! Now, that's something I'm not use to. The summer is hot....115 degrees, HOT but it's not humid so that helps. It def. beats the -10 degrees back in NY. I can't wait until November...I hear that's the best month of the year, the weather is perfect!

We haven't met a ton of people yet. Luckily, I work with some cool people so I've got a couple of people to hang out with. I also have my nest girls that I'm starting to get to know. We've had a few GTG (Get togethers) in the past 2 weeks so I hope we can continue doing those.

Dexter, our 10 month old Chihuahua, is doing amazing. He is the best dog in the whole world. I will post a picture soon because he's not only the best dog but he's the cutest too! :-) As of the middle of last week, we stopped putting him in his crate when we leave. This is HUGE! He loves it though...he lays on the love seat the whole time we are gone and sleeps. He hasn't gone potty in the house while we've been gone either. YAY for Dexter!!!