So my aunt and cousin stayed at my house while Joey and I were away visiting my ILs in KY. I had picked up the house and put everything away before we left to make sure everything the house was ready for their arrival. However as we were walking out the door to leave for KY, I emptied my purse on this little table in the house. I didn't want to bring all the extra crap I usually carry. In the stuff I left behind on that little table was some orders for blood work I haven't been able to get filled yet. Well, i didn't think about it at the time, but very clearly at the top of the blood work it says "medications: PRENATAL VITS." So of course my aunt sees this and says to my mother and 1 of my younger sisters on Christmas day "Is Lindsay trying to get pregnant, I see she is taking pre-natal vitamins." And just like that I was outed.

My mom called my older sister almost immediately to see if she knew that we were trying. She convinced my mom that even if we were it was none of her business, so my mom agreed not to talk to me about it. My older sister called me to tell me what had happened. My heart sank when she told me. Maybe I am just really selfish but I didn't want anyone to know. I just don't need all the extra pressure. As soon as we hung up my younger sister called to see what was going on. I told her we had tried for 8 months, but then took a break b/c of my older sisters wedding. I saw my mom that night when we got back from KY, and decided just to tell her what's been going on. I felt like if she knew part, I would rather her just know it all. I also told my other 2 sisters, and my step mom who was in town because i didn't want them not being part of the know.

So yeah everyone now knows that we tried for 8 months, didn't get KU, and now are on a break for a while due to the wedding. I can honestly tell you its changed everything. To their credit, they've been really excited and supportive (which i knew they would be), but it just stinks because know everything is tainted by it. For example, I was talking about joey getting a new car and one of my sisters felt the need to tell me how expensive babies are and I should really reconsider.

On a much lighter note Christmas with the ILs was great. I went to school at UK, so I have a lot a friends who stayed in KY after college. So I spent lots of time with them and my ILs.

Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope you all have had a wonderful day. 

So I know we are TTA, but I was still disappointed when AF showed today. I definitely wouldn't want to be super PG for my sisters wedding, or miss it for any reason. I guess the reality is, I just haven't come to terms with the TTA.

So last night on the advice of GPer Nikinikinine, I decided to make Oreo truffles for my coworkers. At my new office apparently everyone exchanges gifts so I was trying to find something cheap but good. I'm pretty sure these are going to do the trick! I did Christmas colored sprinkle instead of the white chocolate drizzle as the recipe called for.




Oreo Truffles Recipe #87967
These are so easy to make and so easy to eat! Cookies and Cream in truffle form. Divine!
by evelyn/athens
1 hour 1 hour prep

40 truffles (approximately)

1 lb Oreo cookies (3 sleeves)
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (using different extracts allows for subtle flavour changes...I've used mint extract, upped to 1 tsp) (optional)
1 lb milk chocolate
1/2 lb white chocolate
Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder.
With a mixer, blend cookie powder, cream cheese and vanilla extract until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese).
Roll into small balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet.
Refrigerate for 45 minutes.
Line two cookie sheets with wax paper.
In double-boiler, melt milk chocolate.
Dip balls and coat thoroughly.
With slotted spoon, lift balls out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off.
Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.
In separate double boiler, melt white chocolate.
Using a fork, drizzle white chocolate over balls.
Let cool.
Store in airtight container, in refrigerator.

I finally got them in and all addressed on Sunday and put them in the mail yesterday! YAY! I think they were pretty cute this year. I ordered them through a friend who just launched her business. Feel free to check her out: http://www.papersavvy.net/

DH and I leave for Kentucky on Saturday so this week is of course crazy. We're busy trying to finish our shopping done and get the house straight for my family who is staying there over the holiday. I hate not spending Christmas with my family, but DH and I are on a strict rotation schedule so no one feels like they aren't getting their fair share of us. I hopefully will get to see my fam who will be in town on the 27th when we get back from Kentucky

Yep, you heard it right. Its snowing in New Orleans. And not a little snow, but a LOT of snow. Good news is its not sticking so the roads are not that bad. Last time it snowed here was Christmas day 2004 and before that it had been December 1989, so needless to say it doesn't happen often! Here's a few picts:

Outside my office, from my camera phone:



from our local news:




this is from a girlfriend of mine who works near the street car line:


DH's birthday was yesterday. Last night we went to a great dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse, which was super yummy as always. After dinner we headed to my moms to have cake and champagne with the fam.

I can't believe this semester has finally come to an end! I took my last final which was in investments yesterday afternoon, and handed in my Strategic Management paper this morning. I must say this semester has been the worst by far. I really don't think I will ever do class three nights a week again! It was seriously rough. After my final, I went to the grocery store for the 1st time in what feels like 3 months. I haven't been cooking at all because I was only home on Wednesday nights, and I never felt like cooking, so the fridge was seriously pathetic. I loaded up last night (to the tune of $200) but if feels great to actually have food in the house again! I plan to make DH and I think fish and leak dish from martha that we love tonight. We're going to have roast tommorow night, and then red beans and rice on thursday!

Last Thursday I had my appt with the NP of my OBGYN. She seems to think everything is fine with my right ovary and of course it wasn't hurting when I went in (b/c I had to wait so long for a appt), but she is sending me for an ultrasound on Jan 2 just in case. I'm pretty sure she thought I was crazy but I'll feel better once I have the ultrasound and everything comes back clear. I'll keep ya'll posted!

So I finally decorated last night! I am so excited! I love Christmas. For your viewing pleasure...

Outside:



Door:


Christmas tree, with the new angel I found while Antiquing over thanksgiving.

So apparently all this time, my husband has been living his life with out the most important thing a man can have... I present you the big-easy oil-less turkey fryer...

F

Answer the following with one word:

Where is your cell phone? Desk
Where is your significant other? Work
Hair color? Auburn
Your mother? Selfless
Your father? Chef
Your favorite thing? Home
Your dream last night? Weird
Your dream/goal? Undecided
The room you’re in? cube
Your hobby? Gardening
Your fear? Failure
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Family
Where were you last night? Home
What you’re not? Spontaneous
One of your wish-list items? Magazine
Where you grew up? Louisiana
The last thing you did? computed
What are you wearing? Scarf
Your TV? LCD
Your pet? Ella
Your computer? Laptop
Your mood? Sleepy
Missing someone? Yes
Favorite store? Banana
Our summer? Boring
Love someone? Everyone
Your favorite color? Red
When is the last time you laughed? Today
Last time you cried? Today

And now I'll tag MrsMel, Go!

So my sister and her FI have set a date, August 15, 2009. They will get married in Colorado at this beautiful location:

So Saturday night we get a call from my sister saying she's engaged!!! We are sooo excited. Her FI had asked me to help him with the ring, but I didn't actually think he was going to propose until sometime early next year. We were super surprised but very excited! We were on our way out the door to a party for a co-worker when she called, so we made a brief appearance there and then headed to meet my sister and her FI for some bubbly to celebrate! We didn't have a camera that night unfortunately but I did take some on Sunday when we all were over at my moms to celebrate with her (she was out of town Saturday night).

She's decided on a small destination wedding Sept 09 so DH and I will need to put our TTC aspirations aside for a few months if we don't get a BFP this cycle, but I am so excited to be her MOH it is totally ok by me! Ideally i wouldn't want to be any more than 6 months pg for the wedding so we need to TTA till about march I think. DH wasn't particularly excited about that, but I hope he understands.

In related news I tested this weekend. Couldn't tell you why, just felt like POAS. I literally have never tested in the 7 cycles we've been trying. I think I was 12 DPO but I'm not sure b/c i wasn't charting. Of course it was a BFN. I don't think I 'll do that again, back to waiting until I'm late.

This weekend was great! On Friday night we went to dinner with some friends at one of my favorite Mexican places. We drank margaritas, ate and talked for almost 4 hours! I think our server wanted to kill us. We made sure to live him a big tip since we stayed so long! Saturday I had school work to do, but in the evening we did date night. We went to see Rachel Getting Married (my choice) and ate at this yummy restaurant called Zea's (his choice). It was such a fun and relaxing evening.

Over dinner we made the decision that we were going to start saving a bit more. We have always had sufficient money in our savings account to cover any unexpected expenses, but definitely aren't up to the 3-6 months worth of expenses recommended for an emergency account. I suggested to DH that we save the amount we will pay in day care once the baby comes so we get used to living with less $. He liked that idea so I'm going to check with the day care at my work and see how much it is per week, and then increase the amount being direct deposited into my savings account accordingly. We are fortunate not to have any debt (other than the house) but because of that we aren't very conscientious of our spending. I think this will really help us get our spending under control.

I also would feel better knowing there is money in the bank on the off chance we have to start paying for IF treatments. I talked with my insurance and they said they will only cover the diagnosis of an IF problem, but not things like IUI, IVF etc. So here's hoping we don't have to go down that road.

I am just exhausted! This semester I am taking classes on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday which means my only weeknight home is Wednesday. So Wednesday's are usually reserved for DH and I cooking at home, me picking up the house, and running errands. Yesterday I decided I really wanted to get my nails and toes done, so I stopped at the cheap place by my house which I love! I didn't get there until 5:00pm because I was running late from work, but I got a chair right away. I had to wait a few minutes for the lady to start working on my toes, but by 5:45 my toes were done. Then someone came in with an appt so I had to wait until she was done, so I sat waited again until 6:15 to get my nails done. This, of course, meant I didn't get out of there until 6:45!! Ahh, there went all my plans for the evening. DH and I ran and grabbed some sushi which was yummy, and headed home about 8:30. I still had all the regularly scheduled cleaning, laundry ect to do so I didn't end up getting to bed until after 11:00pm, ugh! Then I was up bright and early 5:00am to head to boot camp! An of course boot camp was a killer today, so I am exhausted!

During dinner I talked to DH about something that's been on my mind. I'm feeling overwhelmed with the amount of things that are going to be on my plate when our phantom baby arrives. I know I shouldn't stress about this now, but I'm a worrier so I can't help it. I work full time, and do my MBA in the evenings (usually 2 nights a week). I also do the majority of the household chores (cleaning, laundry, paying bills, ect). Don't get me wrong, DH contributes (lawn, trash, ect) but I just tend to do the things that are done more frequently. So I finally told him at dinner that I'm worried about having a baby because I will need him to pick up a considerable load of the household chores. He seemed understanding and receptive and said he is definitely willing to help out more. I really hope he does. I just know I can't keep this pace up with a baby as well. Truthfully I don't think I will be able to keep this pace up even being pregnant.

DH and I were in line by 6:15 this morning! By 7:15 we were done voting and on our way home to get ready to for work. I'm so sad that I'll be in class this evening and won't get to follow the updates as the results come in. Love him or hate him, I'm predicting an Obama landslide.

On totally unrelated news, today I am CD15. Last night I bought some OPKs so I think that I'll try them out for the next few days, realizing I have probably already missed my LH surge. Oh well, at least I get to POAS, right?

We had a great Halloween weekend. I spent Friday night on the front porch drinking wine with my BFF and DH. We had a great time handing out candy and just talking. It was actually funny because the conversation turned to baby names, which is a subject my DH and I rarely talk about. He apparently has some pretty strong opinions on the matter, so it will be funny to see what happens when its actually time to name a baby!

Saturday we went to my moms country house, and chilled. My sister and her boyfriend were there along with my mom and her boyfriend. We had a great time, and after dinner celebrated my sister's boyfriend's birthday with Half and Half Doberge Cake and Yellow Veuve Cliquot Champage. It was supper yummy!

On the TTC front DH and I are still trying this month, but I did decide to take the month off charting (which you've noticed if you have clicked on my chart). I've just been really burt out, and figured maybe cycle 7 should be a "less stressful" cycle. Here's hoping!

So, I've finally caved and joined the blogging world. I'm not a very good writer so I've always been hesitant to start a blog, but these days the thought of venting somewhere in cyberspaceseems kind of comforting.

So a little background on me. My DH and I met my freshman year of college in October of 2000. We dated for 6 years, and finally in October of 2006 we got married in a beautiful ceremony at Oak Alley Plantation. It was the most amazing day.

In the summer of 2007 we decided to move back to my home town of New Orleans to help out with the recovery of the city we both loved. I got down with the gov't and my husband's company transferred him as well. In Octoberof 2007, 4 days after our anniversary we bought a house in the neighborhood I grew up in. Its a great little raised cottage!

Once we had jobs and house secured, we started on the obvious next step, a baby. I went off my BCPs in January, and we've been "trying" since mar/apr. I'm on my 7th cycle. So far, I haven't had any real issues, I seem to O, we normally have good timing, so I think I just fall into that "normal couples take 6 months - 1 year" category. We'll see I guess. We haven't told anyone in real life that we're trying, in hopes to avoid the 100 questions about it, so I usually spend lots of time on the GP board.

So there you have it, my first post!