Pinterest Love

I've been on pinterest for a few months now and I'm in Love. I also have been meaning to do a post about it forever, but just now getting around to it.
If you haven't heard about, this website allows you to store, organize, and post all things that you love that you find on the internet. It's perfect if you are wanting to find new recipes, get decorating ideas, or fashion ideas.
It didn't take long for it to get my creative juices going. I want to re-do my whole house now (pretend you didn't read that Marc), although it also has re-inspired me to cook again, so that is definitely a plus for Marc!

Here are a few things I've been inspired to try so far...

2 ingredient lemon bars... so easy. You just need a can of lemon pie filling and and box of angel food cake. mix. And bake. They aren't ooey gooey, but still worth making.

http://livingpractically.blogspot.com/2011/04/two-ingredient-lemon-bars.html#comment-form

 I made these spinach lasagna rolls tonight. They are actually pretty healthy. They have spinach and chicken in them and weren't tooo hard to make suprsingly! Yum.

you can find the recipe here or on my pinterest "recipe" board.

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/04/spinach-lasagna-rolls.html

 I was also inspired by this little creative idea. I have no linen cabinet in my bathroom so this was a perfect solution for me! I mean such a simple idea, but also cute!

Thanks Pinterest. You are a inspiring, creative, and the best time waster I have ever met.
You should try it out if you haven't. You will thank me later.

Updates and Such

I haven't done a good ole update post in awhile and I wanted to bring everyone up to speed on where we are on our infertility journey.
The month of July we decided to take a break. We took a break from meds, procedures, shots, appointments, etc. It was good, but I resorted back to my PCOS ways which reminded me that I DO still have a problem. Although I do respond very well to the lowest dose of clomid, it still immediately went back to the old ways which means a really long cycle.
So this past month, about 2 weeks ago we did our 4th and final IUI. We felt we needed to give that one last shot. The Dr.'s say to do it 4-6 times, and we decided 4 would be our limit. We also sent out emails and texts to a lot of our family and friends to get them on our prayer train (which we really had not done before). We felt a tremendous amount of love and support from everyone. This time it didn't feel like it was just us battling, but that we had a team backing us. It felt really wonderful and I wanted more than anything to be able to share some good news with all of our prayer team. Unfortunately the inevitable happened. The evil aunt flow reared her ugly head again.
So with that concludes Chapter 2 of our journey. Chapter 1 was trying naturally.
On to chapter 3....
We have decided to move on to IVF. We have spent a lot of time praying through this decision. It definitely has not been an easy one to make, nor did I ever, ever think that I would have to. I do strongly feel that God has made this available for us and we have been blessed with great insurance, so we are doing it.
We don't know when we will actually do it, we just know we most likely will go through with it.

Since we have had so much going on lately, I haven't had much time to process what is actually happening or has happened. The past 3 days have been a whirlwind. Yesterday we went to a funeral in Piggott, drove 3 hours and visited my dad in the hospital (he had a knee replacement surgery), then we drove another 3 hours and got home around 12:30am. Needless to say we are tired, brokenhearted and a tad overwhelmed. 

Thanks for sticking with us and praying with us! We really appreciate it especially entering in this next chapter.
To Be Continued...

Pa

Yesterday the world lost a wonderful man, Marc's grandfather. Glynn Dale Yount. We were saddened to hear of this news, but we are rejoicing that he is now in heaven with his King and his wife that he hasn't
seen in 22 years! I mean I can't imagine how wonderful it was to see her.

I first met him on his 70th birthday 7 years ago. He was such a sweet man and always carried candy and would make jokes. At Christmas he would read the Christmas story to us all out of Luke each year. He was a man a few words, but definitely a man of the word.

I'm thankful I was able to meet such a wonderful person. Marc had an amazing grandfather and we will miss him dearly.

Anniversary

I know this is a week late, but I did want to document what we did for our 6 yr anniversary.
We ended up going to my parents lakehouse for the weekend. We were going to go have a nice dinner before, but I had a horrible head cold so we decided to go the next week.

We had a yummy dinner at our favorite restaurant in Fayetteville which is Theos!


It is the best, fancy food ever. If you know me, you know I love me some yummy, fancy food!

Our time at the lake was great, although I was still very congested and did not feel that great, we did still have a great time.

Aww look how romantic. Marc leaned back on the back of the boat to kiss me while I was surfing. We also attempted to surf together, which resulted in a fail. ha.
It was probably our last lake trip of the summer and we wanted to make sure and get one more trip in! I'm so glad we did, I just love it there.

We mainly considered our NYC trip our big anniversary present to each other, which it was wonderful and I'm so grateful we were able to go.

All in all it was a great anniversary!

Summer Book List

This is what I have been reading this summer...

 I know most of you have heard about "Heaven is for Real" but OH MY, it is wonderful. I loved, loved it. When I was at the beach, it seemed that everyone was reading it and talking about it. It is written really well and very easy to follow. I know some are skeptical, but I'm definitely a believer.



"Jesus Calling" is a daily devotional that I read daily. It has simple reminders that God wants us to find peace in his presence and a reminder to walk daily with Him. LOVE it! Get it, it will not disappoint. I go no where without it, and there is even an APP for it.

This book was written by one of my very best friends dad. He is very knowledgeable and a great writer. I'm only halfway done with this book and really enjoy it so far. It's encouraging and challenging all at the same time. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

This book was just given to me by a friend, I'm trying to finish the other one before I start it, but I'm really excited to start reading it. I've heard awesome things about it and can't wait to get into it. I would love to know if you read it and what you thought about it!

Anyways, just thought it would be fun to do another book list! There are just so many good ones out there! The funny thing is, I'm really not even a reader. Ha! Although, I feel like my brain will turn to mush if I don't do something that is semi-effective and productive. So I'm reading more. Maybe I like it now because I'm not being forced to or having to take a test over what I read. Anyone else feel like that?

Happy Tuesday!

Six

Years is how long I have been married to the most amazing man ever!

I can NOT believe it. I know everyone says this and it is all cliched, but seriously where has the time gone? Just this anniversary I have started to ask myself, "what were we thinking getting married so young?" I mean seriously, that was crazy. We were only 21 & 22 and thought we knew everything. Although it does sound crazy getting married that young, I don't regret a single minute of it.  I've never ever wished we would have waited longer to get married. We've had some incredible times together and have basically "grown" up with each other.

As I think back over this past year and how it has not been the most pleasant of years, I do think about how much more I have fallen in love with Marc. I did not think that this was possible, but I cannot tell you what it does to you going through something difficult and having someone that loves you regardless by your side. We understand each other more than we ever have. We are a team. We will continue to fight through our battle by each others sides. He encourages me, respects me, leads me and supports me always.
I'm grateful and I'm blessed. I don't know where I would be without him.
I love you!



1 Corinthians 13:4–8a
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (NIV)

Cracker box

This cracker box was purchased 1 year ago.
This cracker box was bought for just in case I had some morning sickness and needed to eat something plain.
This cracker box has been saved in my drawer at work un-touched and un-opened.
This cracker box is just another reminder...




A reminder of... that I have no control over my situation, that I cannot plan how things turn out, and that I have God that is bigger than that cracker box. Much bigger.

"You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail." Prov. 19:21

Besties

I got to spend a short 24 hours with 2 of my favorite people this past weekend! It was just what I needed.
My friend Rachael and I woke up sat morning and headed to Tulsa to meet our friend Liz. We did some shopping, eating, and mainly just catching up!
Ra, Liz and I all became really close friends in college. They definitely made my college experience better than I could have imagined. I loved annoying them late at night in the sorority house, although I'm certain they did not. We did everything together! Like ate every single meal together.
We talked about how we wish we could just go back for one night. We reflected on how amazing life was in college and how simple It was. Since we cannot go back, we just reminisced instead.




I'm so thankful to have faithful, loyal friends like them. They just get me and are always there for me when I need them. I can't imagine not knowing them or not having them in my life!




Love you girls!!

Truth

The Truth is I have been struggling with Truth.

Satan likes to jump in and start telling me lies, like "you won't ever have a child, you don't deserve one, only everyone else does, you have no purpose, you stand out everywhere you go because you have no kids, etc, etc." The unfortunate part is that I begin believing them sometimes. I begin questioning everything. I begin resenting and become bitter to those that find out they are pregnant with their 1st, 2nd or 3rd child and so on. I also become self-conscious and want to go no where kids will be present since it is a constant reminder that we don't have any. Then I start thinking about all the time that has passed and ask more questions, "Why us, why?" It seems everyone else can get pregnant but us. Then I begin feeling like a horrible person because I don't want to be that way, I don't want to act that way but yet sometimes I do.

The truth is I want to move away and start all over. I feel trapped in a world of pregnant people and babies. It's as if I'm suffocating and walls are closing in on me. I know moving away will not solve our problems, but we could pretend we are a newly married couple and hang out with only newly married couples where babies aren't even on their radar. I know it really sounds absurd, but I think about moving a LOT. I thinik Europe would be fun for a few years ;)

The truth is I hate milestones. You name it; anniversary, b-day, mothers/fathers day, Easter, Christmas, 1 yr old b-day parties, etc, etc. I dread them. I don't want them to ever happen, when normally I would love every one of them. I think infertility is the devil himself :)

The truth is that all sounds horrible and I know that. But the truth is those are the lies that go through my head daily. The good news is, God is full of grace and will forgive me for believing horrible lies like that and can redeem me with His love. He can also give me an overwhelming peace, which I'm seeking.


For now I'm clinging to this verse:
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." {NLT}

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" {NIV}


To get a better understanding of how I feel and more about an infertility journey please go to this blog.
http://embracingplanc.wordpress.com/

Carrie is a tremendous writer and seems to always post exactly what I feel or the journey I'm just beginning. This post is my favorite. So if you have 5 minutes, read it. You will not be disappointed!
http://embracingplanc.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/my-cabbage-patch-kid/