Weekend away

Last weekend, we were supposed to have a "weekend away" at the lake. Since that did not work out, we went to our friends Brent and Heather's house in Baytown. We considered it a "weekend away" because it was 30 minutes from where we live. Our Godson Conner got to play with the dogs, Brent cooked a delicious brisket on the grill, and we brought the Wii over and played all night. We had a great time!

Boring days, wild and crazy nights

A couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to go to San Antonio to do some recruiting for my home health agency. We desparately need a physical therapist, but I don't think this trip will bring us any applicants. The conference had less in attendance than it ever has, probably because not many people are travelling right now. Or maybe because they thought about it and who wants to spend a weekend in Texas in the hot month of June? Anyway, I spent my days at the Physical Therapy conference, and my nights.....well.....the pictures should speak for themselves! It was soooo not like me, but we had a great time! My two awesome friends Tara and Carrie went too, and when we get together, you never know what kind of trouble we will get into!! In addition to the shenanigans seen below, we danced at Polly Esther's, a 70s, 80s, 90s dance club, but we made sure there was no evidence of that in the form of pictures (you do NOT want to see my lack of rhythm). It was a great weekend, and it was so nice to get away with the girls. And the best part is that it was mostly on my company's tab! :)

Tara eating ribs at The County Line

It all went down at Durty Nelly's Irish Pub!

Tara's coworker sang with the piano player

We ate at LuLu's Cafe one day for lunch, where they have the biggest cinnamon rolls! (Thanks Courtney!)

Disclaimer: All parties drank responsibly and walked back the their hotels. There was no driving involved in the pictures seen above.

Rolo's First Birthday

This past weekend we went to Forth Worth for Rolo's first birthday party. Yes, folks, my dog had a birthday party. His foster mom Holly invited all 10 of her foster puppies, and their mom, back to her house for the event! And Bailey got to go, too. Eveyone had a great time!

Are we there yet??

Rolo's Mom Candy

Playing with his brothers!

They got birthday hats!

And birthday cake (no, is wasn't chocolate!)

And party favors!!

Foster mom Holly

So tired from the trip, they laid around for days!

We visited with my brother-in-law Jason, sister-in-law Priya, Priya's family, and my niece Anjali and nephew Deven. They are growing up so fast! Priya is expecting her third child (another boy!!) in September (I can finally post that, now that the secret is out!). We also had a great time catching up with our friends Regina and Colby, who we have not seen in 4 years! We are so thankful to have them in our life again. On Sunday, we went to help out at Shane's parents' rent house in Cleburne, which they are renovating and getting ready to sell.

Overall, it was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again when our new nephew Dillon is born later this year.

Here we go again...

I wasn't sure that I should blog about this even before it begins, but I decided that my journey to have a child has always been an open book, mainly because I hope that others will benefit from my lessons. So I felt it was the right thing to do. So here goes...

I went to the fertility specialist today, for the first time in over 2 years. We met to talk about implanting the last embryo that is frozen. (Sidebar--for those of you who are not of a medical background, an embryo is formed from an egg and a sperm. Two years ago, we made 3 embryos in a petrie dish, implanted 2, which did not stick, and froze 1). We discussed that the process would start in July (the dr is going on vacation for 4 weeks), as well as the odds of it working. But something was different in that office today than was there 2 years ago. GOD was there. Now don't get me wrong, I knew God was in control back then too, but I think I felt that I needed to be in control more than Him. But today, the whole time I kept thinking, "He is in control--not me, not the doctors, and not advanced medical techniques." If this is supposed to work, it will, plain and simple. The "25% chance" we talked about are human odds, not God's odds. And we all know God's odds are the best.

What I need is prayer to KEEP this attitude throughout the entire process. Because what I WANT to do is search for signs that it will work. Signs that have already crossed my mind, like for the first time since I started working for my employer (4 years), we have short-term disability insurance starting July 1; signs like, I have a foot injury, and being pregnant would let my foot heal for a good 9 months; signs like, I would be due around my 35th birthday, which was a goal for me. But I should not look to these things to tell me it will work this time, because I KNOW my God is in control and only He knows the answer. That is the difference between today and 2 years ago--back then I knew it in my head, and today I know it in my heart.

A weekend in the city

It is hard to believe that as of Saturday, Shane and I have been married 11 years! Last year, at 10 years, we went camping in Colorado for a week. We had the best time. While this year could not top that (due to that thing about trying to be debt free), we had a great weekend in Houston, all planned by Shane! On Saturday, we first went to the Astros game. It was the perfect night for baseball in Houston: seats right behind home plate, the roof was open (it was BEAUTIFUL weather), and the music minister from the church we got married sang the national anthem! After that, we spent the night at Inn at the Ballpark across the street, which is something we have always talked about doing. We had a nice dinner at the Ballpark Cafe inside the hotel. Our room had an awesome view of downtown and the new park they just finished last month. Today we had breakfast at Le Peep, then we went to REI and bought a new tent (they were having a big sale). We needed a new one, since two years ago Bailey and Hamlet (Tara's Great Dane) decided they were lonely and escaped out of our old one by making a hole in the door. We had been able to use it with just us and Bailey, until adventurous Rolo came along and thought it would be fun to escape through the same hole in the middle of the night 2 weeks ago when we went camping! So we really needed a new tent. This one is also bigger, in case God decides to bless us with another (human) little one! Too bad it is getting too hot to go camping.

I know, it is not extravagant or fancy, but I am a simple girl and not hard to please, and he knew just what would make me happy. As Tara joked to me today when I got home from the trip, "only you would enjoy a trip like that for your anniversary. Shane is a lucky guy." ;)

Boot camp has begun

This week my marathon training group started Boot Camp. It is kind of a pre-marathon conditioning sessions that is 4 days a week for 6 weeks. Monday was our assessment (which we will do every 3 weeks) and we had to time a 1-mile run/walk, and then do as many sit-ups, seated dips, crunches, and mountain climbers as we could in 1 minute. It was tough! Tonight we started the training and I think tomorrow I will hurt in places I did not know I had. I know that I will be much better off when I am done, but the only thing I kept thinking was that people actually pay for this (and I am glad ours is free)! I was a little worried about it because since I ran the half marathon in January, I have had severe plantar fasciaitis and have not been able to run. But I went to the sports medicine doctor yesterday and they said it was not broken (which I worried about since it really has not felt any better). Then today I went and had my feet casted for custom orthotics, so hopefully that will help too. I am so ready to get back to running. Not running has made me realize how much it is a way for me to spend time to myself, away from the hectic life, and I feel so lost without that. My running shoes miss me! I am so amazed at how much running has gotten in my blood. I certainly never thought I would ever say such a thing!

We finally went camping!

This weekend we finally got to go camping. I know it is hard to believe it, but we have not been in almost a year, since our 10-year anniversary trip to Colorado last May. We went to Hill Country State Natural Area, which is on the other side of San Antonio. It is a beautiful park with great hiking. It only has composting toilets and no running water, but our rules anyway are "no showers," so that was ok with us. They are some of the cleanest composting toilets I have ever seen! We had to cross a creek to get to our campsite, which was sooo much fun when we got there at 11:30 Friday night! :) Actually, it was awesome and very secluded. It was Rolo's first camping trip and I think he loved it. We went on only a 3-mile hike on Saturday because Shane was not feeling well. Here are some pics. Check out the hilarious picture of Shane when his chair broke! He had only used it in Colorado! I guess you get what you pay for.