Really Moving Along :)

Hi guys! I know it's been awhile, I am a horrible slacker with this whole blog thing. But I do have some pretty awesome news with the surrogacy. I was matched with an incredibly awesome couple from Sweden (they are a gay couple). There was nothing but positive feelings from the very first meet. This match happened just over one month ago, and as it stands right now...my medical screening has been completed and passed! And because it is a frozen egg transfer, we already have a transfer date! First of course I have to wait for all the wonderful shots and hormones and vitamins to arrive :) I am so ready for this!

Oh yes, and they are going to try for twins! A little scary at first I admit but I am all in and the more I think about it the more I really want both eggs to take. I know I can handle it and I KNOW this will be a wonderfully successful journey. I get to meet the parents in person on the day of transfer (which is just about 7 weeks away!). EEEK! Can't wait!

As far as the rest of my life everything has been running smoothly, my daughter still loves school and my spot in the office is totally awesome...except for the waking up early part, but I guess you can't have it all, lol.

My younger sister and her family moved 9 hours away to Indiana to follow her husband's job. That's been a little bit of a change but it's not bad, we use Skype :) I thought that Chloe would miss Lexi when they moved but she seems to be just fine. She actually seems to like the fact that Lexi isn't riding the bus with her anymore. I mean I knew they fought a lot but they also played really well together when they were getting along. Curious to see where that goes in the future when they come to visit on the holidays...hmmmmm...

My little brother Matt will be coming to visit for a few days around the week of the 4th in November before he gets shipped out to Korea. (He's a marine). That will be nice to see him. He says he is ready to go to Korea because he is sick of California. He's just happy he isn't being sent to Afghanistan. My other little brother has signed up for the Marines to already and will be sent to boot camp as soon as he graduates high school this year. I am glad they are doing what they want to do, it gives them both a real sense of pride and confidence. So I am happy that they are happy, just hope they stay safe.

Well, that's it for now...see ya!

A Journey Ends & A Journey Begins

It is high time I put an update on here! I'll make brief though. Chloe of course has started school and loves it. Which is great, especially when it comes to reading library books and doing homework :) She is way ahead of you on getting that done!

My sister had her wedding reception which turned out really nice. Thought I would add a few of my favorites.

The bride and groom :)

Their beautiful cake :)

Me with two friends from High School

My daughter and husband :)

They were on the dance floor :)

Me and my cousin Kristina :)

 

The other big event that occurred was in Texas! Rocky was inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Head Founder of the Year for his system of Shin-Gahn-Do. Too bad we had to rush back to work :( It was beautiful :) So here are a few pics from this event to!

 

This is me and my husband at the banquet

 My husband with Gary Lee

Allen Woodman demonstrating his art of Hojojutsu on Rocky

Rocky performing Hojojutsu on Jason (fellow class mate of mine)

Chloe found her entertainment for the day!

Rocky with Jim Thomas (Founder/Owner of this event)

Rocky, Jason and Chloe (we all traveled up here together)

The boys with Goldie

Me and Chloe with Lisa (Allen's lady) and Avery

Rocky with his Awards :)

Rocky with Frank Dux

 

The boys with Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace

 

It was neat meeting these and so many more martial artists. I even got to meet some of Rocky's students from when he lived in California! But this guy, Bill right above, is 67 years old and can still kick you in the head before you see it coming! And that is with two hip replacements and a bad left knee! And if you don't know, Frank Dux is the guy they made the movie BloodSport about.

 

And then on the Surrogacy side, we sadly had our journey we were on end due to personal reasons beyond the control of the Intended Parents. But I still had a very nice Skype session just last weekend with Mark.

I have now been matched with a new couple who are also wonderful. I can tell they will be fun to work with. It is a gay couple from Sweden! Which is kind of ironic because my husband's son's wife is from Sweden! Anyway, they are super sincere and ready to try for twins. Twins! That's going to be a new experience for me! You can tell they have really wanted this for a long time but have also thought this through completely. I just love their open-mindedness and they seem so easy going and comfortable. They will be wonderful parents and I can't wait to help them reach this dream that will complete their lives together. I already have a screening date! That's about three weeks away :) Will keep you posted from time to time!



Update...been a while

Hey, it's been awhile since I've been on here. Thought I should put something to paper so to speak since it's been so long. School is just around the corner for my daughter. For the most part not much has changed. The surrogacy journey for now is on hold for personal reasons so I will not get into that on here. I do not feel it is my place to explain anything.

Chloe turned six just a few weeks ago, I ordered a Monster, Inc cake for her. She loved it:) We also pulled out the pool for the kids to play in.

 

Rocky's son and his wife was down this last weekend. They went to Falls City and got some awesome tattoo work done :)

Marie's was a cover-up, it turned out really well. Thad's is a  good reflection of his belief system :)
While they were down we cooked out on the grill and Marie decided she wanted to do some cooking in the kitchen, then they surprised us in the morning with breakfast and a belated birthday present for Chloe. It was awesome, and Marie's cooking was very, very delicious. I really enjoyed their stay with us and hope to be able to do it again soon. Later on we were going to try and set up plans to go to World's of Fun together. I didn't take any photos of them while they were down here and I could kick myself for it now. But I have a couple photos from the vow renewal that Rocky did for them last month. (She and her family are from Sweden by the way).

From left to right: Yani (Marie's brother), Ramsay ( Thad's Son), Thad (Rocky's Son), Marie (Thad's wife), Ann (Marie's Mom), and then my family

 

The Offering before the Ceremony

Vows

Yani pretending to get his sister, haha :)

Entering the circle (part of the ceremony)

 

It was beautiful and I really enjoyed the getting ready for this. We did this at a park in Kansas City and the funny part was walking past all the people that staring at us. A few took pictures as we walked by but what I thought was really cute was one little blond-haired girl came up to us and wanted to say hi to the 'princess' (she was talking about Chloe) haha. So Chloe went up to her and said hi. That little girl (she was about Chloe's age) was just so excited, too cute!

 

For the past week we decided to take Chloe out and teach her to ride a bike without training wheels. See the progress for yourself!

 

I just think this photo is cute so I am putting it in here to.

 

I don't think I have mentioned it on here yet either, but Chloe won a fishing tournament this summer as well!

 Her 'Big Sister' Johannah took her to the Derby and she ended up placing 1st in all three categories. Prizes included two new fishing poles and a tackle box full of bait! :)

Tomorrow I will be making an appointment for Chloe because she seems to have an ear infection that doesn't want to go away :( I am thinking she got water in it from one of the many times she has been in her pool.

My sister Maryann got married on July 1st, she will be holding a reception for everybody on August 3rd...just around the corner! I am just glad she has finally found someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with :)

Well, I think I will end for now. I cannot think of anything else of note that has happened but you now have the summary...Until next time!

 

 

Picture Time :)

Chloe lost her first tooth! :)

Me & Chloe with my Grandma and Uncle Ken

Chloe & I at my Father's Grave

My husband and I :)

This was just something we passed on the way to my Dad's grave. Crazy.

Tao...he's a big kitty, haha

Chloe & Tao

This is what I am learning to ride with :)

Chloe's excited to :) But she can't ride with me...probably not for years to come! haha. She rides with daddy :)

So last weekend was a three day weekend for us due to Memorial Day. Saturday we went up to my dad's grave in Plymouth Nebraska, afterwards we had lunch with my grandma (on my dad's side). It's always really nice to see her as we don't make it up that way very often. My Uncle Ken stopped by to see us to. He's recovering from a broken ankle. And my grandma is still recovering from Pneumonia. She is 91 years old now and is having a hard time kicking it as she has had it since February. She sent us home with fresh rhubarb out of her garden and a far of homemade apricot jam :) She does great for her age. She still handsews quilts, tends to her own garden, does her own canning and mows her own lawn. I hope I am still that active when I reach her age.

We got a surprise call to, Rocky's son needed someone to watch Ramsay for the weekend. After we got back my husband's son and new wife dropped off Ramsay. Ramsay is 11 years old...and is a handful! We've has him over before but it was for one night. This time it was from Saturday night to Monday night. He really is a sweet boy, but he has ADHD which makes it really hard to keep him occupied. It was like every 15 to 20 minutes he would lose interest in whatever he was doing. I was having fun with it until somewhere around the end of the second day...the boy was draining me. I don't know how his parents do it! It would help if I knew him the way I knew my own daughter. I say this because he is a lot like my niece Lexi. Lexi is five and I can handle her for any period of time...but I KNOW Lexi almost as well as I know my own daughter. So I think that is the real issue...I need to get to know him. Plus I feel comfortable getting after Lexi when needed...but not with Ramsay, it's one of those 'where do my boundaries lay?' kind of things. Although I became a little more comfortable about this weekend...he'll push you into it I promise you, lol.

The work week went by pretty quick, especially since it was a four day work week instead of the usual five. Then Friday we went down to Topeka with Harlen, the presiden of the TailDragger's Motorcycle Club that we belong to. He had won the privelege of picking out a motorcycle to ride for 60 days. It was some kind of promotional thing they were doing, he just one of the winners. Well he decided that he already had two motorcycles and didn't see why he would need a third one to drive around even if it was for just two months (of course they will try to sell it to you at the end I am sure...we will see), so he transferred the win to me. Figured I could learn on it and maybe take my test with it since my husbands is too big for me to learn on. How Sweet! It was pretty cool, I ended up picking out a 900 because I figured that was the middle ground, not too big, but not too small to keep up on the highway with other motorcycles. My husband drove it home for me, and the next day...my classes started.

I'll have to say right now that it is harder than I had anticipated...and scarier. I rode it around the high school parking lot a while before taking it on the street. I waited to do any turns until it was clear of cars in both directions. Good thing I did because I crossed the center line a couple of times! I have a LOT of practice before I will be able to take the test that's for sure...especially in turning, taking off and stopping...at least to start with. Then I can start working on backing up and turning around and whatever else there is. I always knew that motorcycles were considered dangerous but I never really understood how dangerous until yesterday. You really have to pay attention to what you are doing...and you really have to know the bike. It takes a lot more skill than simply driving a car. Right now I am kind of wishing that I started with a 750 instead of 900. That way I could hold it up easier. If the 900 starts to tip over there's no way i can keep it up because it is too heavy. I will have to step away from it quick as I can and let it fall, which I hate the idea of because it is a new bike and I don't want to damage it. But it's better it than me. I had taken the test to get my learner's last year, and it expires in about two weeks. I hadn't had  a bike to learn on until Friday  though. So I will have to retake the test to renew my learners permit because there is no way I will be comfortable enough to take the test two weeks from now. But I will get it! My husband said it is possible to get it by the end of riding season, but I'm not going rush it. It'll be good for a whole nother year and I have pregnancy coming up to think of. As soon as I am pregnant...all lessons stop! I promise :) So, by next June I will have my Motorcycle license! I have to renew  my Driver's License then anyway so it'll work out perfectly.

Hey! Been settling into my new position just fine.  Learning more and  more about it with each passing day. I am now officially set up with my own phoneline!

But more exciting is the fact that my little brother Matt (who is 19) flew in from California today. He has a few days to spend with his family before they expect him back at the marine base. He was promoted to Team Leader recently. It is an honor, but it also carries a great wieght of responsibility. Anything goes wrong, and the blame is on him. I can tell it makes him nervous, but at the same time he is proud. He will be shipped out for combat in North Korea in November. He was happy about that because he feared being stationed in Afghanistan.

My other little brother, Tommy has just signed on with the Marines. He has to graduate high school this year first but he is excited to be following his brother. I hope he gets what he needs out of it, so as long as he comes back home when it is all done.

Tomorrow we will be going to Plymouth, NE to visit my dad's grave. Then we will have lunch with his mom, (my grandma). Matthew is coming with us :) I was a little surprised he wanted to ride along but it was a good surprise! It's hard to find time with him when he visits because his high school friends crowd him really well.

Tomorrow night is a full moon! Plan on lighting the firepit and making s'mores with Chloe :) She doesn't know it yet, hee-hee. Then Sunday and Monday we're just sticking close to home, we don't have to work Monday because it is holiday...yay three day weekend!

Until next time...

A New Position!

Hey Everybody! Just thought I would give a quick update on what's up. Last week I checked into an available spot in the office of the company I work for. The HR Manager came and spoke to me personally about it after she received by voicemails. She basically gave me a mini interview and then told me she would keep me in mind. At that time they had already filled the position so I wasn't expecting to hear back from her anytime soon.

Well, two days later my boss, Vern came up to me and said Amy (the boss in the office) wanted to talk to me. What?! Apparently the girl they put in there hated the work and wanted to go back to her factory work on the floor as soon as possible. So...I was one of three chosen for an official interview. The next day my boss informed me that I would be starting in about a week! He didn't want to lose me as a worker, he had to find two people to fill the responsibilities that I fulfilled in that area... he even tried go above Amy to keep me on the floor but to no avail.

In a weird way I felt kind of bad leaving because I know how much he relied on me...but in the long run the office will be the best place for me. Especially in the summer when it gets super hot! Unfortunately they do not have air conditioning on the floor...but the office does :)

I wasn't sure what to expect in the office but this was my second day there and I absolutely adore it! I picked up on everything quickly (which wasn't a surprise because I usually do) and the girls I work with are really nice. This is the kind of work i have always wanted to do. It still keeps me busy throughout the day, (without breaking a sweat, lol), I get to use computer programs AND formulas for list pricing, etc. It challenges my brain a bit which is something I do enjoy. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to see if this job was right for me, because it turned out to be absolutely perfect! Especially since I get to keep the same hours as my husband!!

Hey! I figured it was time to update my blog!

Last weekend was the Seneca Bike Show. The American Legion Riders put it together as their yearly fund raiser. Rocky held an MMA Exhibition there for free to help draw in more people and I helped with setup and ran the registration table all morning. The food there was awesomely deliscious! I was also able to ride the motorcycle simulator which was pretty cool. Before we left I handed out trophies to the winners of each class.

I've also been helping my sister make up invitations for her daughter's 1st birthday as well as her college graduation party. I drew up the designs and I think they turned out really well. Just finished them up last night. See?!

I found out that my little brother Matt got his first tattoo about 3 weeks ago. He found a good tattoo artist because the work looks great! It's a skull with a latin script below it. The translation is a little morbid but he's happy with it and as a Marine Machine Gunner...it actually fits him and is completely relevant to what he does right now. It means: Your Death is My Life

Here's a photo from his Facebook Page:



It's nice to finally have a warm weekend, we were able to ride the motorcycle into Seneca today for our ALR meeting. It was a nice ride. I'm just hoping the weather stays. Last year around this time the farmers already had their crops planted, not this year. They have to wait for the ground to dry up a bit after all that heavy rainfall. At least we don't have to worry about a drought!

Last week I had heard that a position had opened up in the Cabinet Office at Koch & Company. (same company I already work for but it would be off the floor) So I thought I would check into it. Betsy, the one who does the hiring, surprised me by stopping by my work area to talk to me about it. They had already given the job to a woman who had 10 years of service in with company but she wanted to know if I was seriously interested in an office position. I told her that I was. So she told me that this summer when business picks up again they are looking at bringing in another person and that she would keep me in mind. She filled me in on all the little details regarding the position to...then we discussed sisters, lol. Time will tell but it sounded promising, I always liked the idea of having an office job.

As far as the surrogacy journey goes, I enjoy talking to my IP's whether it is e-mail or Skype. Skype still takes some getting used to because you see your face on the screen to, lol. I know they are tired of all the paperwork that they are bombarded with right now. Especially when it comes to legal documents. I can only imagine how frustrating and confusing it can be to read a legal document in a secondary language when such things can be confusing enough in your primary language! I would have to agree with Mark, it is much more fun to talk about babies than paperwork! :) They already have a name picked out for the baby if it turns out to be girl, but I am afraid I would spell it wrong so I am not even going to try! My husband and I predict that it will be a girl, it might be early for such a prediction, but we catch ourselves referring to the child as 'she' or 'her' all the time! So if I ever use those terms in regards to the child to be...you know why ahead of time.

At this point I am still waiting for NEFI to call me and set up a medical screening date, but you know what they say: all good things take time! :)

Well, will close for now.

Baking :)

It's been a little bit since I last posted. Lately I've been in the baking mood...pretty heavily. Tonight I baked sugar cookies, butterscotch oddies, white chocolate/macadamia nut cookies and dinner rolls. Whew! ...AND i cleaned up the mess I made, haha. Last time (Friday and Sunday of this last weekend) I ended up making a bunch of goodie plates for everybody because that is just WAY too many sweets in a household of three. You would think Chloe would enjoy it but she actually isn't big on baked goods. She will help me make the mess though. It wasn't until just recently that I have discovered two soft spots for baked goods. ...Not brownies, not cake, not pie, not chocolate chip, etc. but Amish Cinnamon Bread and good old fashioned Sugar Cookies! Or at least this particular recipe of sugar cookies. I was pretty shocked to hear her ask for more because 90 % of the time she doesn't even want to touch them. Sounds strange for a child to say no to cookies and brownies regularly...but it's a big bonus for health! However, it isn't the same with candy...she will go through any candy given her in 2 seconds flat!

Saturday we were in Sedalia all day. It's a three hour trip up there and another three hours back. Don't particularly enjoy the long drive. We got up early and got home late. We were up there to meet with one of my husband's students who has a little gym set up for training students of his own. He has decided to try and develop his own style and asked for my husband's blessing so to speak. Well he gave him his blessing and is now in the process of trying to help him organize it. It was a pretty long day of Martial Arts. Chloe had fun running through mats, rolling, jump roping etc. She ended up finding a hacky sack and decided we were going to play hide and seek with it, lol :) It was a good day up there, the people are nice but I am always glad to be back home.

The next day I went back to my baking. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that I got on the computer and seen that I had emails from Mark & Yvon. They were hoping to Skype Sunday morning with me but unfortunately it did not work out because I checked my e-mail too late :( Sorry guys! They are just super sweet and understood perfectly fine but I really wish I had checked my e-mail when I woke up Sunday morning or even before I went to bed Saturday night. Usually I check my e-mail at least once a day but Saturday turned into one of those rare exceptions. You can bet I won't go a day without checking my email again!

My niece has a third tooth that has broken the gum line :) She is just too cute!

Well, until next time :)

Tomorrow is Friday! :)

I am very happy to know that tomorrow is Friday. The first half of the week just seemed like it dragged. It didn't help that I was sick all weekend. Needless to say that was a very lazy weekend for me, haha. Monday was my turn around day, but it was my husband's turn to fall sick. It hit him really hard. But he got up, got dressed, we picked up all the kids and took them to my mom's and at the last minute he turns to me and says, 'I'm sorry baby. Please don't be mad at me but I don't think I can go to work today.'

Awww, I had to insist of course that it was fine if he stayed home because he REALLY, REALLY looked like he needed it. Poor thing slept all day. I had to wake him up to make him eat something when I got home and then he passed out again. But Tuesday morning was kind to him. He wasn't 100% quite yet but no more fever, chills, aches, throwing up or ...anything coming out the other end :) He ended up with what I came down with except I wasn't throwing up...and it seemed to hit him harder. Luckily it seemed to miss Chloe. Thank goodness!

This weekend we will be going to Sedalia to meet up with one of my husband's students from long ago. They're gonna all talk the art and see about bringing some of his fighters up to participate in the exhibition we are doing for the American Legion Bike Show. It's a three hour drive so that part really bites but the people up there are awesome :)

I have acquired a few new recipes that I think are AWESOME! One is called Butterscotch Oddies, it was created by a woman at work and they taste amazing :) The other one is called Cowboy Cookies which I also loved when I was young but I had lost the recipe until this same lady went through her recipes and found it for me :) The last one is called Amish Friendship Cinnamon Bread. How it works is you are given a 'starter' and a set of instructions. For the first four days you just mash the bag once at some point during the day. On day five you add sugar, flour and milk. Then days 6 through 9 you just mash the bag. Day 10 is when you follow the rest of the directions to come up with 4 starter bags that you will give away...or keep if you wish...then add the rest of the ingredients to what is left. End result is some really yummy bread! I gave away three of my starters and kept the last one so I can make more :)

It's about that time of the month for me to...This is the time when anything that might irritate me just a little bit...irritates me a LOT a bit, haha :) But I am usually able to curb it when I feel it coming...occasionally it catches me completely off guard though, so I will apologize to my family ahead of time! What is irritating is when you get really miffed about something and you know that it is completely irrational and a total overreaction...but it doesn't change the fact that you're super miffed, lol. So I just vent to my husband and he patiently hears me out that way I can let it go and move on. I usually end up laughing at myself because I know how silly it sounds. The first two days are the worst, after that it's pretty smooth sailing.

My little sister has decided to lazer hair removal. Today was her first session. She said it hurt quite a bit but she's going to keep going. I guess you go once a month to treat whatever area you are wanting to rid yourself of hair of. How many times you have to go back depends on the person and their hair, anywhere from 4 to 10 sessions or something like that. And it isn't as pricey as I had always thought it would be...course I never actually checked into it but she said that just for armpits it is $40 per session. Hmmm, in the long run it adds up to be more yes but for some reason I had imagined it would be more expensive...even a doctor charges more than that just for a visit.

Well, will jump off for now. Until next time!

Chloe's Prediction?

So today my package was sent to IVF clinic! Yay! One step closer :) So now I just wait to hear from the clinic so we can set up an appointment for my medical screening. I got the e-mail after work today and my husband and I were just talking about how much quicker things were moving than we had expected (not complaining of course!). Then my daughter chips in and says, "We can talk to her. Can't we?" She looked at us like it was a matter of fact and we weren't entirely sure who she was talking about, so Rocky asked her, "Talk to who?" She answers, "The baby!" Well of course you can talk to her all you want while I carry her...funny how she assumes it's a girl :) Wonder what she knows that I dont? Haha :)

I think it's time I updated my blog!

Work last week actually passed pretty quickly which was great :) It was also pretty uneventful so I won't bore you with that. So, in more exciting news: Sunday I was able to Skype with Mark! This conversation lasted much longer than the initial meet and it felt great! I look forward to future communications. They are so down to earth it is awesome! And I didn't realize that the schools their require that students learn to swim around the age 7 and they are required to learn a foreign language (English is the most common). America should do that! If America did that....I would know how to do more than just float! I thought it was cute that they are already worried about getting the baby into a good Primary school, lol. I think it's safe to say this baby will be WELL prepared for!

Something else I learned was that if everything goes smoothly I could be pregnant by the end of May. That was a little bit of a suprise to me, I was estimating longer than that but I have absolutely no problems with it being sooner. :) As far as the actual process goes, right now I get to wait for the IVF clinic to contact me and set up a medical appointment. I'm estimating somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks from now.

In other activities the only other thing we did this weekend was attend our monthly American Legion Riders meeting. They have a bike show coming up next month and they are preparing for that. Rocky and I will help with set up, I will help with registration (where they register their bikes to be judged for the chance of a shirt and a trophy) and I was asked to help hand out trophies. I think that will be the fun part :)

So I thought I'd post some pics of my siblings and mom. These are pictures taken after my little brother Matthew graduated Marine boot camp in January this year (well except for the last one):

 

My Mom with the newly graduated Marine :)

 

My little sister Maryann with her fiance and two kids (and Matt of course). She is one year younger than me. Her kids oldest to youngest are Lexi and Morgan.

 

Close up of Maryann's youngest :) Say HI Morgan!

Both of my little brothers together. You already know Matt, the one in red is Thomas. Thomas is 7 and a half years younger than me, Matt is 5 and a half years younger than me :)

 

The REALLY short girl with the orange shirt (sorry Liz haha! :P) is my older sister, Liz. With her is Matt of course and her husband and their three kids. Her kids from oldest to youngest are named: Dillon, Colton and Leighton.

 

Here she is again! She tried long and hard for a little girl before Leighton finally came :)

 

Leighton by herself with her Adorable Binky!

 

Matt at his graduation, Mom flew all the way to California for this!

 

This is just one of my favorites showing my husband (Rocky) and my daughter (Chloe) :)