California Here We Come (came)

6 months.

That's how long it's been since I have posted anything here. 

I wonder if anyone still reads this thing. 

Guess we will find out. 

Things have changed over the past six months. 

For starters, we no longer live in Texas. 

July 9th, we packed everything up and moved back to California.

I couldn't be happier to be back. 

We are less than 5 minutes from my parents house and 15 minutes from my sister.

The dogs are LOVING it here in California. 

But who wouldn't? 

We were incredibly blessed to find an amazing house to rent,

and we got an insane deal on it. 

Once it starts looking more like a house I might post some pictures. 

We live in a great neighborhood filled with kiddos, a park, several pools

and everything I could want or need within 5 minutes. 

Travis was able to transfer back out here with his job. 

I however am still looking for a job. 

It is not going well. Not going well at all.

Anyone need a nanny?! 

If you had told me 6 months ago we would be living back in California by July

I would have thought you were slightly crazy. 

We did intend on moving back by the end of 2013,

but not this soon. 

Things started happening in our life, and the lives of those closest to us

and we realized we just needed to be back here and close to family and friends.

So here we are.

 And we are here to stay. 

 

Perspective

We have been living here in Texas for almost a year and a half now.

I have to say, I really do love the people here. 

We have made some amazing, life long friends. 

We have added two wonderful dogs to our family.

Travis finally got a much deserved promotion. 

Texas has been great to us. 

And I can't wait to leave!

Living here, away from family has really put a lot of things into perspective for me.

I always knew I was close with my family, but never

truly realized how much I would miss them until we moved. 

A big part of moving here was because it was that dream that we would be

better off financially, and be able to "live the dream". 

The idea was we would be able to afford for me to stay home once 

we had kids, and be able to purchase a house, and fly home 

when I needed to see my family and friends. 

But that's how it works, it's always "supposed" to be a certain way. 

I can tell you, it hasn't been a single one of those things. 

But what moving here has given me is time to think about what is really 

important to me. What do I REALLY want?

What I really want, isn't a beautiful big house, it is a comfortable

place to call home within driving distance of my sister and parents. 

And if having to work after having kids is what has to happen, so be it. 

I grew up living very close to my grandparents, and seeing them all the time.

I always dreamed of having the same thing for my children one day.

That simply isn't going to happen living this far away.

I want my kids to grow up near their cousins and my friends kids. 

I want to be around when my first niece or nephew is born. 

Or when something exciting happens, to be close enough to celebrate.

I want to be able to meet Kim for margaritas and happy hour on Friday evenings,

and spend a few hours with the girls more than twice a year.

I want to be able to sit with my parents in their backyard chatting the afternoon away.

I want to take the dogs to the beach! 

I have realized those are the things that mean the most to me.

And those things are all back in California,

where I long to be. 

I will never look back on this decision to move to Texas as a mistake. 

It has shown me what I want and what is important. 

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery to make you realize

everything you ever wanted was right there in front of you all along. 

And while life there wasn't what you hoped and dreamed it would be,

it was actually much better. 

Hoping and praying we will be back in California by the end of 2013!

December

This post is going to sum up the entire month of December. 

Don't worry, it won't be as long as it sounds.

Here is how our month went...

I did some Christmas crafting.

Glittered Canvas

  

Wreath on the front door

Callie had her pictures taken with Santa Paws at the 

daycare we send her to. It was free for all the pets and they sent 

me 7 pictures from her photo shoot!

This was the best picture.

She looks like she is having the time of her life!

 

 

Meet Hershey, the newest addition to our family. 

 

Travis has always wanted a chocolate lab, so she was his Christmas gift.

We adopted her from a military family who is moving and wasn't able to take her.

She is the sweetest dog ever. 

It took Callie a little while to warm up to her, but now they are BFF's.

 

We hosted our first Christmas at our place. 

Travis' parents, sister and Grandmother came over.

The highlight of the day for me was that it snowed!

I have NEVER had a white Christmas, hell, I don't remember 

the last time it rained on Christmas. 

Everything was so beautiful covered in snow. 

And the dogs loved it. 

 

 

This past weekend we celebrated Travis' 30th birthday.

We didn't do much. He hates his birthday. 

But I took him out for a day of all his favorite things:

breakfast at Chick-Fil-A, a trip to Bass Pro, a movie 

and lunch at Hard Eight BBQ. 

The day after we got to enjoy a relaxing day together and have lunch with

our good friends. It was so nice to have two relaxing days off with him.

Beer and a movie in a huge leather recliner...the only way to see a movie

  

The "menu" at Hard 8

 And now we are sitting in our pj's, watching House Hunters and waiting to ring in 2013.

Happy New Year friends!

A Drinking Game

The Holidays are here. Blast. 

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas more than the next person. 

But, the holidays tend to be a constant reminder that another 

year has gone by and my uterus is still empty. 

I decided to create a little drinking game to get through Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Play along. 

Rules: Make sure you have plenty of alcohol on hand before starting.

 Drink = a hefty swig of the adult beverage of your choice, no sipping

  You are headed to your inlaws for the day - take a drink

The first post on your Facebook timeline is a picture of a  friends baby - take a drink

 Each additional baby picture post on Facebook - take a drink

 Every time someone refers to their baby as "little turkey" - take a drink

A family member asks when you are getting pregnant - take 2 drinks

Your sister/brother/cousin/family member has an "announcement" to make - drink a bottle

Every Facebook post referring to a child being who they are thankful for - take 2 drinks

 Your friend you would have shared a due date with had your last cycle worked

posts how she is 37 weeks and ready to have this baby - drink 2 bottles

At dinner when asked what you are thankful for this year you reply; Clomid, Gonal F, progesterone and the dil.do cam at your RE's office  - take 4 drinks

You are thankful for your Reproductive Endo and nurses - take 2 drinks

You find yourself in the bathroom with said adult beverage, crying because you swore 

by Thanksgiving this year you would be pregnant -  drink a bottle

Every pregnancy announcement the past year you replied "congrats" instead 

of "i-hate-you-why-you-and-not-me" - take a drink

You are thankful for the online community of friends you have never met but
offer more love and support than most IRL friends - take a drink

 You have to excuse yourself from the table to give yourself an injection -  take a drink

You are in the middle of the 2WW - take a drink

You had to reschedule when you are eating because T.I. fell right in the middle of dinner -  
take a drink

A family member "knows" your pain because they tried for 3 whole months - take 3 drinks

You have to work Black Friday, and you work at a baby store - drink a bottle

A family member gives you their baby so you can "get practice" - take two drinks

You are told: just relax/ get drunk/ it will happen when it's supposed to/take a vacation/
once you stop trying it will happen - take a drink per comment

Aunt SoandSo comments "if it was meant to happen, it would happen" - take 2 drinks

Your dad/FIL/brother/uncle/cousins hands your husband male en.hancement pills and says
"this should get her pregnant" - take 3 drinks

You get home and completely lose it emotionally because another year has gone by - 

drink another bottle

Well friends, by now you should be good and wasted. I know that's my plan for tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong, I have so much to be thankful for this year, and I really am. 

But I'd be lying if I acted like it's not  hard to keep things in perspective when the only thing in the world I want is to be a mom and it still hasn't happened. 

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

Randoms

1. I somehow got lucky and my Target still had a good selection of Halloween

stuff, and it was marked 90% off. SCORE!

Three pillows, 2 giant bags of candy, a wall hanging, 2 cupcake mixes,

2 set of cupcake liners, and I know there were a few other things. 

Grand total: $16.00

2. I made a headboard for our bedroom last week. It's just about finished...

as in it just needs to be hung. It was a huge pain in the ass, but I love it! 

(note to self, stop taking on projects with chevron prints)

3. My parents are coming to visit for a few days.

It's a very short visit, but I am so so so so so excited. 

4. I'm going to nanny again. For twins!

I should start at the first of the year. They are 2 weeks old right now.

I'm really excited and the family is awesome. 

They just moved and there are 4 sets of twins on their street. 

I'm thinking I just watch them all for a giant group rate! haha

5. Does anyone watch Revenge? 

I am obsessed. Completely obsessed. 

And, I'm pretty thrilled Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is back. 

6. I bought the most amazing candle yesterday at Market Street.

It's Roasted Espresso and heavenly. If you have a Market Street near you,

get yourself one stat.

My Sister's Visit

Back at the end of September my sister finally made her 

way out here to visit me and see what Texas is all about. 

It was so nice having her here, and just being able to hang out like we used to.

We didn't do anything super special, but we did have a list of

places and things she just had to see before she left. 

One night we went to dinner at Babe's.

We went on a Sunday night and it wasn't too crazy busy.

Our server told us at the end of our meal Shaque was there. 

We contemplated asking to take a picture with him, but we both chickened out.

I also took my sister to Bahama Buck's to experience her first shaved ice.

Now for all my friends in CA, this is nothing like a slurpee or icee..

it's about 1 million times better! 

My sister is a huge Icee fan, and she agrees shaved ice wins hands down! 

If you haven't tried it, get yourself to a shaved ice stand. 

Or come visit me and I will take you!

The biggest of our adventures was heading to the Texas State Fair.

I have never been, and obviously, neither had she.

Travis tagged along with us. 

We ate some really terrible fried food, saw Big Tex, walked around, 

saw some animals, and did even more walking.

Overall we had a great time, but holy hell is the fair expensive. 

Big Tex. RIP.

These were nightlights. My BIL may need all of them.

Biggest Frito Pie Ever. Literally.

Enjoying said Frito pie.

Fried cinnamon roll with bacon. Barf.

Fried Shiner Bock beer. And a cold Shiner. Fried beer = blah

 

Fried alligator. Double barf.

Butter sculptures.

This is Boris. He is HUGE.

Big Tex

Vacation 2012

Travis and I just got home from a lovely 10 day vacation. 

We got to spend our time in California with my family.

It was so nice to be home, but as always it goes by far too fast. 

There are so many people I want to see, and as always I don't 

have enough time to spend with each and everyone. 

I hate feeling spread so thin while I am there. 

But enough complaining! On to the trip.

The whole point of the trip was based around my sister and brother inlaw's

house warming party they were having. 

So the first few days were spent working on my sister's house.

My sister and her husband both work full time and had a ton of 

work to do on the house, so it's been a work in progress.

But, we were able to get it all together just in time for the party!

I don't have any pictures. Sorry. 

It was a lovely party. 

And I was able to see lots of family and friends at one time!

Between getting ready for the party I was able to get away for 

a few hours to go down and visit Kim and the girls! 

It was so great seeing the girls.

I miss those ladies like CRAZY. 

Travis got to do lots of golfing while we there.

We did some wine tasting.

A little bit of reading. I may have read through the 2nd & 3rd books

in the "50 Shades" trilogy. I'm obsessed.

Many, many cocktails were consumed.

Spent a day at the pool with my sister and mom.

Had breakfast with my cousin and her family.

 

One day Kim drove up and met my sister, mom and I at Pechanga

for some old school Bingo! woohoo

(Random fact, I LOVE bingo)

After bingo we went to winery to enjoy some wine and chit chat.

By the end of that we all needed to eat so we met Travis and my dad

at our favorite mexican restaurant. 

While I LOVE the girls, it's so nice getting to spend time with Kim alone.

In a nutshell, that was our vacation.

We got home yesterday, and spent all day today doing laundry

and trying to prepare mentally for going back to work. 

 It was a wonderful getaway.

 

* Miramonte Winery. They did an excellent job on their recent reno

 

* A pitcher of Sangria and snacks makes everything in the world great

*Moonshine soaked cherries. They will knock you on your ass

* B-I-N-G-O

* The soundtrack to our drive to LAX to pick up Travis. Let the good times roll

* Hippie juice. Mmm

* This is Pearl, my parents newest addition. More on her later.

* This is why Virgin rocks

Going Away Party

I'm a little (or a lot) late blogging about this, 

because I just realized I never hit publish way back when I wrote it. 

Better late than never?!?

Back in August my sister and parents threw us a little going away party.

Since we were moving to Texas, we thought  a bbq / cowboy theme would be appropriate.

We had a great time, and my sister did a great job with everything.

It was so nice to get to see everyone one last time before we moved away.

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

All photo's courtesy of LuLu's Photography

Vacation

Monday we returned from a lovely 10 day vacation in California.

It really was one of the best vacations we have had in a while. 

Being able to spend time with family and friends was just what we both needed.

Travis spent the first four days in Las Vegas with my Dad playing in a golf tournament.

While he was in Vegas I got to spend time with my sister and mom which was fantastic.

{My sis}

The second day we were there I got to see the girls!

I'm doing a separate post about their birthday and getting to see them.

There were lots of babies I got to play with on vacation, which was bliss! 

I met friends I haven't seen since high school for lunch and meet their new baby boys Troy and Donovan.

My cousin Kimmers (that's what I call her) drove down with her SIL 

so I could meet their new baby boys Isaac and Dylan! 

My sister's best friend who lives in Arizona happened to be in So Cal 

and drove out so I could meet her 5 week old baby girl Harper.

 

{Me with Miss Harper. Ignore the fact that I look like an exhausted new parent, even though I'm not!}

 

Travis and I spent our days relaxing, enjoying the sunshine and warm weather,

drinking wine, celebrating our wedding anniversary and 

realizing how badly we love and miss our family and friends and want to move back to California! 

 {Wine tasting}

 

Randoms

Just a bunch of random thoughts and happenings.

~ I finally called our insurance co. to see about IVF coverage and whether we had to try

X,Y, and Z before we could try IVF. Turns out, we don't have a dime of coverage for IVF.

I was stunned. When we met with our first RE they went over our coverage, and we were told

we had $20k for IVF. Looks as though it's only for A.I. 

We are going to continue trying IUI and try to save some money along the way for IVF.

~ I started taking Zoloft two weeks ago. It's life changing. Amazing. 

I love the new person I am. I wish I had done this years ago. 

I honestly cannot believe how much it has helped my anxiety in such a short time frame,

and how much I am enjoying life again. 

Travis keeps commenting what an entirely different person I am. 

It's a good thing! 

~ We are headed to California in a few weeks and we both cannot wait! 

The girls are turning 2, and I wouldn't miss their birthday for anything. I am so excited to see them!

It will be so nice to spend so much time with family and friends.
I don't think I'm going to want to leave. 

~ A few weeks after we get back from California Kim is flying out here to visit me for a weekend.

I am beyond excited! 

But now I am in a rush to make our little apartment look pulled together and finish 

the decorating I've been working on since we moved in. 

Hopefully it will look decent by the time she gets here.

~ I'm torn between switching to a new RE. The guy we see now has a fantastic reputation, 

and comes highly recommended. However, I didn't see him a single time during our last cycle. With our first RE I saw her every single appointment. Also, the office infuriates me. A) You don't get to schedule your own appointment, they just tell you when you are coming in. B) They don't open until 8 am and close at  4pm. Then Wednesdays they close at noon. Even just for a monitoring appointment I can get anything earlier than 8am. And finally, they want to see you ALL THE FRIGGIN' TIME. 

I had 9 appointments in a span of 20 days last cycle.

I understand I have to be monitored, but I certainly didn't have that many appointments with our last RE. 

And the fact that they don't accommodate appointments around my schedule doesn't help. 

Do I leave a great RE because of this, or am I just being dramatic? 

I think I was so spoiled by Dr. Morales and expect nothing less now.

That's all for now. Hope you are having a great start to 2012!

Christmas 2011

Christmas has come and gone. 

I know I've said it before, but I cannot believe just how fast this past year went. 

We spent Christmas Eve just the two of us.

It was so nice.

We went to candlelight service at church, which is one of my favorite traditions of Christmas.

The church service was probably one of the worst ever. 

The entire 45 minute message was about "conceiving" and "delivering" the message of God to others. 

 At one point he asked you to turn to the person next to you and say
"God wants to get you pregnant".

Let's just say, this did not sit well with me.

I sobbed the entire service. 

I honestly don't know why we didn't just get up and walk out. 

When we did leave Travis even said the pastor took it way too far. 

A lovely start to Christmas.

After church we went home and made chicken tortilla soup. 

Actually, Travis made it while I downed an entire bottle of champagne. 

Nothing like drinking your feelings away.

Christmas morning we slept in, Skyped with my parents and then headed to Travis' parents house.

We had a nice time hanging out and opening presents.

They got me a North Face jacket which I am so excited about! 

I also racked up 3 Starbucks gift cards, score. 

And Travis got me a North Face scarf.

This Cali girl cannot handle the cold winter weather here!

Overall it was a lovely Christmas.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Little Men, Volume 2

Most of you probably don't know but I have the most fantastic sister in the whole world.

I really would be lost without her.

She has been a photography assistant for the past 5 years, and is working on breaking out on her own.

I'm so proud of her and I hope that she is able to accomplish all of her dreams.

A few weeks ago both my cousins had their baby boys. 

The same boys we threw this baby shower for back in July.

They live within minutes of each other, so my sister drove up there for the day to take their pictures.

I just love how they turned out. 

Sweet, precious boys. 

Baby Dylan

 Baby Isaac

 

Isaac's Big Sisters, Kayla and Mallory

Last Week

As I mentioned earlier my parents were here visiting last week.

It was so nice to have them here.

We didn't do too much, but just getting to hang out was fantastic.

They got a room for two nights at a local resort and I went and hung out

with them while they stayed there. We pretty much drank and hung out by the pool the entire time.

My kind of day.

Thursday Travis was supposed to be off work, so we headed to Cowgirls stadium. 

My Dad and Travis were super excited to go on the self guided tour. 

I thought it would be cool, but wasn't as excited as they were.

Until we got there.

And I stepped foot on the field.

I lost my shiz.

I was like a 12 year old boy seeing b00bs for the first time.

I was running up and down the field.

Taking a million pictures.

Running play's with my dad and Travis.

It was awesome.

Until my dad forgot he was 53 and make several attempts to kick a field goal,

which resulted in a pulled hamstring and him limping for the next 24 hours.

The rest of the tour was a little lame.

But I did get to see where hottie Miles Austin gets dressed, so that worked for me!

I wish I had pictures, but they are all on my mom's camera which is back in California.

As soon as we got home, Travis got called in to work.Great ending to the day.

They left Saturday morning, and we have been chatting on Skype every day since.

I miss them so much, but I'm so thankful they were able to come out and visit.

Now I've just got to get some more people out here to visit!

Hey Y'all

 We finally made it to Texas.

It was just a short little 28 hour drive. 

NEVER. AGAIN.

We had a few mishaps along the way, which included pulling over in Arizona 

to unload the entire trailer and repack it.

In 108 degree weather.

But it helped immensely in the long run.

And it was a million times safer after we did that.

But it still sucked balls.

Anyways, we are finally here.

I am still in shock that this actually happened.

Saying goodbye to my family was worse than I thought it was going to be.

I haven't cried that hard since my Grandpa passed away a few years ago.

My mom was a complete mess, full on hyperventilating sobbing.

My sister refused to cry in front of me, yet I still lost my mind as I hugged her goodbye.

My dad tried to keep it together, but he cried too.

I guess we are a family of hot messes.

So now the real fun begins.

We are staying with my in law's for the next 13 days 

until we can move into our new place.

I am FREAKING out about finding a job and have applied to every single place I can think of.

The stress of not having any income is really getting to me.

Oh, and since we are a one income family right now,

it would only make sense that the trailer we rented for the move wasn't big enough for all our stuff.

So we had to get rid of tons of stuff.

I realize it's just stuff, but now we have to buy all new things.

Normally I would be super excited about that, 

but not right now with me not working. 

(*note to self: don't let travis be the judge of how much will fit in uhaul next time we move)

So the very little amount of money I had set aside for decorating,

will now be going to purchasing all new stuff that I had just days ago.

At least shopping will keep me busy and out of this house!

Fun In The Sun

This past weekend we headed out to Palm Springs.

I love it out there, especially during the summer.

I LOVE the heat.

There is nothing better than laying in the pool when it's 110 outside. 

It wasn't quite hot enough for my liking this weekend, but we still had fun.

The weekend consisted of lots of golf for Travis.

And lots and lots of cocktails for myself.

It was just what I needed.

Time with Travis, my family, friends and hard liquor.

Sunday my sister, mom and I met Kim for lunch.

It was so nice.

We just talked, laughed, and drank while my mom told embarrassing stories.

Sounds like a good time, right?

I took pictures, but I don't know where the cord is for my camera so I can upload them.

I will find it one of these days.

Overall, it was a great weekend.

A perfect little getaway.

It made me sad as this was the last trip we will be making for a long time like that. 

The next few weekends are going to be busy.

I think we have something going on every weekend until we move. 

(Or when we are guessing we are moving. A legit moving date would be GREAT!)

Sista.

This post is all about my sister, or Sista as we call each other. I have a bond with my sister like nobody else on the planet. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing relationship with her. My sister has been there for me when nobody else has. She has helped me through some of the toughest times of my life. She knows me like nobody else does. We can finish each other's sentences and often times say the same random thing at the exact same time.

Not only is my sister just my sister but she really is my best friend. I pray that when T and I have children if we are blessed with a girl I pray we have two so they can experience what I have with my sister. My mom always told us "there is no bond like the one you have with your sister. Friends will come and go but your sister will always be by your side", and she could not have been more right.

My sister far more than just a rad individual but she is talented at just about everything. Seriously EVERYTHING (except sports). It often times makes me sick. She is awesome at photography and hopefully one day soon I will be her studio manager! I cannot wait to see her business begin and I know she will thrive. She is also an incredible craft-er! She can make something awesome out of nothing. She spent so much of her free time making special little touches for my wedding. I have her to thank for so many aspects of my wedding. She is a great chef. Anything and everything she cooks turns out well. Seriously. She can cook, bake, flambe, grill...you name it, she can do it. She is a wonderful daughter and I'm positive my parents will back me up on this one. She always was the good daughter who never gave my parents any trouble (that was me.) Above all else she is an incredible person. She always thinks of everyone else first and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She is caring, thoughtful and so compassionate. Sista, you are far beyond Martha Stewart....You are Sista Stewart.

I cannot wait to see what this new time in our lives holds for us. I am dying for her to make me an Aunty and I am so looking forward to the day I get to announce to her that T and I will make her an Aunt. I know she is going to be an amazing mother and I am sure she will continue to teach me a thing or two.

Sista, you mean the world to me and I love you with all my heart. Thank you for being my cheerleader, therapist, wedding coordinator, marriage councelor, life coach and best friend. You inspire me far more than you will ever know. You are amazing! I miss you so much and can't wait for our tri-weekly trips to Target and Joann's again.

p.s. please hurry up with my wedding pics..thanks.

Let me share my favorite pictures of my sister with you..each has a fab story behind them!