Whistle While You Work

I had a great weekend of crafting - well, at least on Saturday. We spent all day Thanksgiving Day with family. I stayed as far away from the malls on Friday as possible. Saturday, I spent the whole day with my mom doing some paper crafting...

This is my mom lining up some Basic Grey patterned paper for the front of a card.

Here are some of the other cards we put together. It was a mass assembly line...

This paper is by Echo Park and is so cheery, we couldn't use it for anything except a birthday card:

Here is a different version of the "thank you" card we made. All the papers are by GCD Studios. We used our nestie to cut the hole and stamp the sentiment on the actual card.

These will make great stocking stuffers!

On Saturday night, Carson and I went to dinner at a Greek restaurant in the area with some friends. Carson is Greek, so that was right up his alley. The food was good - the wine was even better. We had appetizers, salads, entrees and even desserts. You'd think we'd not eaten in days!

Today, I put the Griswold Christmas Tree up ("Do you think there's enough room for the angel, Clark?" - Name That Movie!) There are a few ornaments from my childhood that have seen their last Christmas...

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

Always Playing Ketchup...

WARNING: LONG POST; INCLUDES FERTILITY TALK THAT MAY BE TMI!

Ok, so what I meant was playing CATCH-UP. But I do love Ketchup. I could put it on almost anything. It is the king of all condiments. And really, what is food without a good sauce to dip in or drizzle on?

It seems as though life is whizzing by at the speed of light and I just can't seem to keep up. It is Thanksgiving week. Luckily, I am not hosting; Which means I can darken the doorway of someone else's house and enjoy the yummy things that they have prepared. I will, of course, take a dish to pass.

We met some friends out for dinner last night. They are fellow "infertile warriors." For those of you who know me personally, you may be aware that we are (and have been for quite a while) taking a journey through the world of infertility. It's weird. I never thought I would ever have a problem starting my family or have a problem once it happened.

Here's how it actually went for me...It's really the natural course of life. I found someone who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with; After about 3 years of dating, we were engaged; We planned our wedding and were married in 2002; We were married about 4 years. We were settled and began to wonder what the pitter-patter of little feet would add to our lives. We stopped "not trying" to have a baby and just thought we'd see what happened. Fast forward 4 years - that's where we sit today.

About a year ago, we made our first visit to the doctor's office. We were poked and prodded to reveal - nothing. We fall into the "unexplained" category. If you ask me, that basically just means that there's a problem, but they don't know what it is. It's just not one of the standard reasons.

And every time I go to the doctor's office, I see faces that are not wrinkled and spotted by age. They are young, just like me. Which makes me wonder, why is this happening to all of these YOUNG people?

We are at the stage where we are taking a more invasive approach. I am responsible for injecting drugs into myself - which I never thought I could do, but seriously isn't so bad. I'm not saying that I enjoy it. I still don't know how people do this for fun (i.e. drug use) but whatever.

So I guess, what I am trying to say is life has been busy. And that's why my postings have become so frequently infrequent.

But, when you go through this and you start to talk to others that have been through it as well, there is a crazy thing that happens. Everyone feels exactly the same. And, the experience is the same. The feelings are the same.

So if you know someone going through this, here's what I have to say about how they feel:

1) They will never stop blaming themselves or asking what they did to deserve this. They will question if they are being punished and there is nothing you can say to disprove this thought.

2) They probably don't expect you to understand what they are going through. Unless you have dealt with infertility, it is impossible to know what it's like. However, people going through treatment do expect you to consider their feelings when you COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR OWN CHILDREN! It is highly probable that once they start their family, they will also complain about how they would like to ship their children off to a foreign country, if but only for a short while. But at this time, it is EXTREMELY hurtful to hear others b**** and moan about something that seems so unattainable to them right now.

3) Unless they bring it up, don't ask. If there is positive news to share, it will be shared. They will not interpret you not asking as lack of concern. Bringing up the topic only leads to advice that we have heard over and over including but not limited to:

-"Just relax. It will happen."

-"It's just not the right time. It will happen when it's supposed to."

-"You'll be a mom, even if you have to adopt."

-"Have you tried....(insert advice here)?"

Well, that was a lot of fertility talk...but, that's my life right now.

Tomorrow is my day off, so maybe I will spend some time in my studio creating. I also must take that dreaded trip to the grocery store to buy the things I need for my dish to pass. Ugg!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Back From Costa Rica!

We are back from Costa Rica. It was a great vacation. It felt a little remote, but the scenery was beautiful. We had 2 days of nice weather and 2 days of not so nice weather, but made the best of it.

It was really interesting to fly into the airport in Liberia and get out ON THE RUNWAY! The seriously pulled a staircase up to the side of the plane, and let us out. It was probably my one moment to act like a rockstar and wave to the crowd as I left the plane, but I missed the opportunity!

It took about 45 minutes to get from the airport to our hotel. We settled in, went to an event that night and the following day, we spent some time on the beach.

You might be saying, "Where are the pictures?!?!"

Well, watch this video, and then I'll explain:

Unfortunately, this is what happened when we climbed out onto the rocks to get a better look into the tide pools. I was getting ready to video some crabs crawling on the rocks and we were VERY unexpectedly hit by a VERY large wave. My Flip and my regular camera were completely soaked. My Flip survived, my regular camera didn't. I was just thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't carrying my Nikon! My mom was relieved that I didn't get swept into the ocean myself!

Just before this happened, we climbed the staircase to get a better look at the coastline.

Have a great weekend. I am going to be busy with the ECP holiday fest. If you are wondering how the first wedding went, you can view a slideshow from the wedding here.