Colleen and I have been having MANY conversations lately about friends. As I approach my 32nd birthday (and Colleen is 28), we have both come to the realization that having friends as an adult sucks. It really does. Back in high school one had plenty of friends to go around, so if one girl wasn't pulling her weight in the friendship, then she could be let go. But as time passes, true friends start to show their colors. Cutting the strings is not an easy thing, especially when you have years and years of vested interest in that person. But through all of this, we have come to realize how wonderful our friends are who HAVE stuck by us through thick and thin, the good and the bad, and all of what is to come.

With that said, I was nominated by a dear, sweet friend to receive an award. I met Christi (Our Journey) on the nest. For those of you non-nest girls, it is a where women come together to vent, talk, and exchange stories about the roller coaster of life. Well, Christi and I met on the trouble trying to conceive website. We chatted often online as we both went through failed fresh and frozen IVF cycles, but recently have chatted more about life. Now we talk a few times a week. Imagine...I have someone I am calling a dear friend, yet we have never met! Ah, the wonders of the Internet...I tell you! Anyway, she nominated me to receive The Pink Rose Award, and I thank her for that and her wonderful friendship.

Now I have to spread the joy...but I am going to do it a different way. Some of the people I want to "nominate" do not have blogs, but they have been there for me and deserve recognition.

1. Jenn - Jenn and I have been such great friends since they day she rejected me as a college roommate! :-) We were supposed to live with each other our freshman year but Jenn decided to have one of her friends room with her instead, so I was switched to another roommate. After we discovered that we had originally been paired together, we were almost inseparable. We then roomed together our senior year. We hardly ever fought, and here we are, 10 years after graduating from KSU, and we are still good friends. While we don't live close, she is someone so incredibly dear and special to me. She is one of my biggest cheerleaders and is someone I can't imagine life without. I love you Jenn!


2. Lori - Lori and I met our freshman year at KSU. We were friends...good friends...and eventually lived together after I had graduated KSU and was back in Columbus. While living together wasn't the brightest idea we ever had (I still love you though), I have come to REALLY appreciate and and admire our friendship. Lori is always so quick to ask how I am doing, or John, or even my family. She is a true pillar for me when I am down or having a bad day. She, like Jenn, is so supportive of my quest to become a mother. And of course, she is another one of my biggest cheerleaders. Sometimes I feel as if I don't tell her often enough how much she means to me...but I hope she knows it. I love you Lori!


3. Jen - Jen and I met at GLHS when I was assigned as her mentor. Little did we know that we would be the best of friends now...what, eight years later? Jen was there for me when I was dumped by Matt, then there for me when I dated some real winners (not!) before I met the love of my life, my husband. She is always so positive and is definitely one of the reasons why I love going to work every day. Jen too has been one of my biggest cheerleaders. She allows me to love her babies as if they were my own nephews as I continue on my own quest to become a mother. I love talking to her, watching her get excited about the small things in life (think Cherry Delight), sharing triumphs and tribulations, and mostly, spending time with her. I love you Jen!


4. My sister Colleen (IronDiva-In-Training) - I would be remiss if I did not mention my sister who is hands down, my best friend (besides John). While we have definitely had our fair share of ups and downs, she is there for me no matter what. When I embarked on IVF #1, Colleen knew about every doctor's appointment, every needle I injected into my belly and buttocks, and so much more...definitely more than ANY sister would probably want to know about her sister. But that is Colleen. She has the heart of gold, and I could not imagine having anyone else in my life. She is now training for one of the biggest events of her life, and I am so incredibly proud of her. I don't tell her enough how much I admire her courage and determination to become an Iron Diva, and I certainly don't tell her enough how much she means to me. I love you Colleen!


5. Lastly, I want to recognize my mom - Wow, I think back to two years ago when you were just my mom. Now, you too are one of my best friends. We have certainly grown in our relationship and I cannot begin to fathom what life would be like without you by my side as I encounter the road blocks and pitfalls of life. You are one of the first people I want to call when I have hit a mild accomplishment (like my loss of 0.6 lbs. after spending a week in Vegas) or when I have big news. I am so proud to call you my friend...I know I am VERY lucky! I love you Mom!

Here's what to do:
1. On your blog, copy and paste the award, these rules, a link back to the person who selected you, and a link to this post: http://smartone.typepad.com/smartone/2008/05/pink-is-my-favo.html. You will find the story behind the Pink Rose Award and other graphics to choose from there.
2. Select as many award recipients as you would like, link to their blogs (if they have one), and explain why you have chosen them.
3. Let them know that you have selected them for an award by commenting on one of their posts.
4. If you are selected, pass it on by giving the Pink Rose Award to others.
5. If you find that someone you want to nominate has already been selected by someone else, you can still honor them by posting a comment on their award post stating your reasons for wishing to grant them the award.
6. You do not have to wait until someone nominates you to nominate someone else.

Don't know when I'll be back again...

Oh sorry, I do know when I'll be back ~ 8 AM on June 21st. What does this mean? No blogging for me for the next week. No internet either!

I am going to be disconnected from friends and family for a week as I head to Las Vegas for the Speech and Debate National Tournament. As we are staying in a casino (not exactly on the strip) they charge outrageous prices to access the internet. If I wanted to get online to send e-mails from the business center, it would cost $10.99 per HOUR. If I had a laptop (which I don't) it would cost $10.99 per DAY for internet access in the room. I love you all, but not enough to spend that sort of money.

So I am heading out. I hope everyone has a great week. I'll be judging some of the best high school performers and debaters next Monday through Wednesday, then watching the final rounds on Thursday and Friday while you carry on your lives at home. It will be a busy week...for us both!

It is now Wednesday at 4:30 and our realtor still has not heard from the two interested women. I'm heart-broken. Why can't we just get ONE SINGLE person to come through again or pursue our place more than just saying they will call.

This is the worst feeling...hoping and praying that when the phone rings it will be my realtor! He is going to call the women tomorrow (Thursday) and follow-up. I guess I just have to sit on pins and needles until then!!!

Well, despite it being about 93 degrees out today and us being sure that no one would dare come to our open house, we had four people (a husband & wife and two single women) come...and two are interested.

Bobby, our realtor, said that two of the four visitors stayed quite some time checking our place out and really liked it. One of the two visitors has already been pre-approved for lending and is renting month-to-month right now, so she can move forward whenever she finds something she is really interested in. Both visitors really loved how our place was decorated, loved the location, and were just really happy with the place overall.

Please, please, please say a little prayer for John and I that Bobby gets a call tomorrow for further inquiry on our place.

I am terribly sorry if I have not returned e-mails, but it is now 12 days after my first call to Circuit City and I'm STILL having problems with our computer.

I HATE TECHNOLOGY.

P.S. I did lose 1.2 at WW this week. I haven't been posting much about my hurdles with my weight loss...it has been a TRUE roller coaster. I need to be stronger, and now that school is out I look forward to keeping on the straight and narrow with my weight loss!

Well, after MANY nights on the phone with IT support personel with Circuit City, it seems as if our computer is fixed. Woo Hoo! Thank you to all the well-wishers about my files and photos being lost...I am THRILLED to report that the first IT gentleman I spoke with was able to get my computer to a point where I could put all of my files AND photos onto an external hard drive before they were permanently lost. $100 later I now have the peace and mind that my files and wonderful photos are not just on my computer but also on an external hard drive. So far, so good with the fixes made to the computer...I just hope it stays this way!

This weekend was sheer madness. I attended 11 graduation parties - 7 on Saturday and 4 Sunday. I went to two the weekend before and still have 5 left to attend, and this isn't all! I'm not going to 5 total parties. I'm tired! :-)

Lastly, I wanted to let all of my family, friends, and trouble trying to conceive friends know... that John and I have decided that we would like to pursue IVF #2 sooner rather than later. We have spent MANY days and nights talking about when the best time would be to move forward, and we are ready. The money issue will never be 100%, but we have both been very careful with our spending and have been able to pay off some debt, so we are happy about that. Likewise, part of why we didn't think we'd move forward this summer was because we had hoped we'd be in the middle of moving into a house. Sadly that is not a possiblity in the near future as we've had NOT ONE CALL on our condo. We are ready for some good news and would like to move foward to starting our family. We realize that our condo just might have to be the first home our child/children live in, and we will make it work...many around us make it work, so why can't we?? So that is our new news. Might seem insignificant to some, but it is MAJOR to us. As far as I can determine, we won't "cycle" until mid-September, most likely, so I still get to enjoy my summer needle and doctor free. I put a call into my doctor today and am anxious to talk to his staff tomorrow to see where we begin.

Let the prayers start coming our way! We're going to need them! :-)