~ VAY-K-SHEE-ONN~

1st off, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to tell you about my vaca. 2nd, I'm having lots of trouble with my laptop & I can't get the pics to load. But, I didn't want to wait anymore, so here's the rundown on our trip and hopefully I can add the pics soon.


Albuequrque, NM~ We stayed here the first night. No specific reason, it just made a good bre
aking point. Had dinner and went to the mall.

Las Vegas, NV~ We stayed at T.he M.on.te Ca.rl.o for 3 nights. Had a lot of fun, walked way too much, shopped a bit and played a few slots! My favorite thing there was the water show at the Bel.lag.io. It was AWESOME!!! Loved it!! Several times a night, they have a synchronized water-to-music show. I could stay and watch it all night. We didn't see any real shows though, I think that would be fun. Maybe next time!

Santa Monica Beach, CA~Just stayed one night here. Visited LA but was not impressed by either. The weather was cloudy and cold, and the water was ICE COLD - no swimming in the ocean. We did see a seal, that was the best part of being there. I'm fairly certain I saw the "I c.an't be.lie.ve. i.t's no.t b.ut.te.r" guy, not sure. Maybe he has a twin. Too bad I didn't see someone cooler!

San Francisco, CA~ Awesome!!! Would definitely go back! We stayed here for 2 nights, we should've stayed longer. Well, actually it was 20 minutes outside of San Fran, but none the less. We went to Palo Alto, where St.anf.ord College is. That was a cool little town, plus my sis used to live there(Palo Alto not S.tanf.ord.), so I got to see where she lived! We went to C.hin.a To.w.n - and I got 2 wicked cute purses. We also went to the Fi.she.rma.n's W.ar.f and drove across the G.old.en G.at.e Br.idg.e - way cool!! Saw more seals at the wharf, lots more. Saw Al.cat.raz from the bridge, bought my nephews "escaped from a.lca.tr.ez" shirts - too funny!!

Las Vegas, NV~ Came back for 2 more nights on the way home. Stayed at T.he E.xca.li.bur this time, definitely liked the M.ont.e Ca.rl.o much better, but it wasn't bad. 2 stays in Vegas and still didn't win any money--> bummer! And I have no idea where those "free or cheap" buffets are. The only ones we saw were wicked expensive. So, we ate a LOT of P.and.a E.xp.ress, which is weird cause J doesn't normally like chinese food. Hmm.

Albuequrque, NM~ Our last night of vaca - bittersweet!! Out to dinner and back to the hotel ;) ;)


That pretty much sums it up. We came back a few days early which gave us some time before we had to go back to work. We took the boat and spent 3 days out on the lake. The weather was great and the water was even warm enough to swim! We did some fishing and I caught a bass! It was a small one, so we threw it back. Well, J did, I didn't want to touch it. Too slimy & scaley - Ewww!!! I like to fish, but I don't like to touch them and I definitely don't eat fish. Ewww again.

All in all, we had an AWESOME time and I can't wait til' our next vacation!!!

Hannah

~Exalted by God~

"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts."1 Samuel 2:6-7 NASB Hannah struggled. Although desperate to have children, she was barren. Meanwhile, her husband's other wife had given birth to children. Why, she wondered, had the Lord "closed her womb" (1:6)? When she came to Shiloh with her family, Hannah "would not eat" (1:7). Greatly distressed, she prayed "and wept bitterly" (1:10), vowing that if God gave her a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord. God answered that prayer, and she conceived and gave birth to a son whom she named "Samuel" (1:20).When Samuel was three years old, Hannah fulfilled her promise by bringing him to the house of the Lord. Hannah then prayed a prayer that was filled with insight. Beginning with praise and humility, she exulted in the Lord. She knew that there was "no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God" (2:2).Through her struggles, Hannah understood that God was the source of life and of all financial blessings. He enabled people to be poor or rich. He brings low, but "also exalts" (2:7). She had felt hopeless, but after she cried to the Lord, her life turned around.Today, remember that God's promises are just as true for you as they were for Hannah. If she could speak to you, she would remind you that nothing is impossible with God. No situation is too difficult! She would encourage you to follow her example and seek Him in fervent, even desperate, prayer.Don't give in to despair, but turn to God for the needs you face. Keep believing. Stay faithful. Keep Sowing Seeds with your time, talent, and treasure. Continue to seek Him. He will exalt His people!

Today's Inspirational Prayer

Father, I commit these needs to You: ________. Thank You for Your favor and blessing. I wait upon You and commit my life to You. Thanks for hearing my prayers! In Jesus' name. Amen.

!!!BEWARE!!!

Apparently, there is something said in that Infertility Etiquette brochure http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lrn_ffaf_ie
about remembering your infertile friends on Mother's Day. Now, when I re-read it just now, I took it to mean send them a note/card letting them know they are being thought of, not necessarily a mother's day card. I still haven't received the cards(I'm avoiding going over there), but maybe they are just a "thinking of you" cards. I don't know. Maybe I over reacted (See post below) I guess I should've waited to open them before I reacted, but she did tell J it was MD cards, so who knows.

So, beware if you gave that brochure to any IRL people. If they're like my family they only picked up on the wrong hints. Maybe I should have highlighted the parts that apply to me. :D

NEVER in my life...

What were they thinking? I don't think they thought at all. There's NO way possible a normal human being would do that, had they thought it through first. Or, would they?



~SIGH~



Sorry, let me fill you in. J comes home today(from helping his brother) and says, "my family's stupid, so don't be mad" Whenever a sentence is prefaced with that you know your gonna be mad. Back to what happened - then he says, his brother's wife told him to tell me I have 2 cards over at the house. And he asked, Cards, what for? Get ready here comes the kicker.....and she says, "For Mother's Day." To which J replies, she's not a mother, and she says, "oh I know, but we(her & J's lil' sister) got them for everyone." WHAT???

What in the world?? Are you kidding me?? What are they trying to do to me? It's bad enough not being a mother, but now I'm getting mother's day cards???? How about they just pour salt, lemonade, & vinegar in my open wound? Actually, that would have hurt less than a md card when I'm NOT a mother.

ARGH!!

~SIGH~

What should I do?
a. respectively decline
b. take them & just throw them in the trash when I get home(unread)
c. take them, wait & read them the next time I'm having a bad day, and wallow in self pity

Hey ~ going great

Oh, its CD3, so my dream didn't come true(finding out I was pg, while on vaca). But, I'm ok. I'm dealing with it better than I thought I would.

Our vaca is Great!!! And, we still have another week ~ whoo-hoo!!! We are currently driving across Cali. Well, J is driving, I'm trying to stay pre-occupied so I don't get sick, what with all the hills and curves. I will post all about our vaca when I get home. Stay tuned for some awesome pics and great finds.

The time has Finally come....

To leave for vacation!!!!! Whoo-Hoo!!! We leave for Cali or Miami first thing Monday morning. J can't seem to make up his mind on where we should go. Either way, I get the beach, so I don't mind where we go. I think it will be Cali though, plus that way we can stop off in Vegas, Baby!!

It's going to be a nice 2-week, road trip. I have been so stressed out lately, with moving, being homeless (per say), not having our own place, looking for countless houses & trying to get a loan, and never having any me-time or time with J.

He's been working 2 full-time jobs. And with me working now, we hardly get to see each other, much less do anything. He leaves for work at 10pm, and I go to bed. When he gets off at 7am he goes straight to his 2nd job. I leave for work and get home around 5:30pm and he is already in bed asleep. He wakes up with just enough time to eat and leave for work. And, we start all over again! Our weekends don't even match up, cause I work days, M-F and J works nights, Wed - Sun.

Okay well I really need to go do laundry and start packing and wake J up for work. Busy busy all the time. I'll try to post some, but I really want to hang out and have fun with the hubs. So I'm going to try and not be on the laptop too much.

I want to thank all of you for the support and kind words. I know I've been quite down and depressed lately and your encouragement has been a godsend. ~ I want to see lots and lots of bfp's when I get back so yall get to workin' on that!!!! ;>

Hope you ladies stay strong and have an okay day tomorrow, I know its hard. Tomorrow's our 6th Anniversary!!! I'm going to try and focus on that instead of what everyone else will be celebrating.

I HATE IT WHEN:

~~> you get stuck behind a slow driver on the back roads. (411-people take the back roads to speed)

~~> the stupid lady that bought my house gives away my tv before I can get by to get it, doesn't apoligize, lies to me, tries to argue with me and is really rude to me.

~~> I'm so frustrated & mad that my hands are shaking & I can't focus on work because I'm secretly plotting revenge.

~~> people tell you to "let it go" or "it is what it is"

~~> people ask what's wrong, but don't have time to hear the answer. DON'T ASK THEN!

~~> there's not enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to be done.

~~> I find out 2 more girls I know are pregnant.

Well that pretty much sums up my FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC' day.

Ick, Yuck, & Ick Again.........

I had to go shopping today for a dreaded, baby shower, present. ICK!! I just co-hosted a baby shower 2 weeks ago for one of my sisters and now here I am shopping for another sister's shower. YUCK!! I absolutely HATE shopping for other people's babies. I'm ready to shop for my own babies.

I found some adorable things, but I didn't buy those. They would've been something I would have bought for me, for my baby. And, as bad as it sounds, I couldn't buy something that I want so badly myself for someone else. It would drive me crazy every time I saw it, so I didn't get them. I walked away and found others, cute ones to buy instead.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The other ICK will be here next weekend, yep you guessed it, Mother's Day. ICK!! Another motherless year, and a day set aside to celebrate just what I'm not. What I want to be so badly, what I have unsuccessfully-tried to be for the last 5 years, but still what I am not, a mother. Oh, sure I grin and bear it for my mom's sake, but its probably my least favorite holiday. Its so hard for me to go to those mother-daughter banquets(at my mom's church) or sit through church where they acknowledge all the mothers by having them stand ever so proudly, while I stay seated trying to hold myself together, after all the day is not about me, now is it?

The mere thought of it has put a tightness in my chest, I just don't even want to think about it. Every year I tell myself maybe next year, but then another year goes by and I still don't have a baby and all I want to do is cry. I really do try to stay positive, but shopping for a baby shower present just puts me over the edge. I don't know how much more I can take. At least I don't have to endure the shower itself, thankfully, I will be on vacation. Sorry to be debbie downer, but I'm feeling really blue and depressed right now. I feel the tears starting to come so I better stop typing/thinking about it for now.