Of course there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. On June 23rd, I do remember sitting at work and noticing the date and thinking about how different things would’ve been if we had gotten different news on May 23rd. Would’ve been pretty exciting – but it just wasn’t meant to be this time around. Our spirits are still high and we're hoping that our patience will pay off someday somehow.
Girls Night in Tiffin: Two weekends ago I got together with my high school friends in our hometown. It was so nice to see them and catch up and just be together again. It’s funny how we remember the same stories a little differently after so many years (Class of 1998). We went out to dinner at a local restaurant called the Pioneer Mill. I tried to be adventurous with my entrée selection and it kind of back-fired, but the company was exquisite! After dinner we went to a couple local bars and ran into some other folks from high school. We realized that we are now old – because we were home eating AJ’s heavenly pizza by midnight. In the old days we would’ve been closing the bars down! But I think everyone was okay with the fact that we were home by midnight.
Father’s Day: The next day was Father’s Day, so I went home and went to church with my parents. It was nice to sing in the choir with my dad on Father’s Day. Our church is merging with another church in our hometown this summer. Our building is pretty old and it costs a lot to keep it maintained. The thought is that we could do more for the community with the money that is used to keep the building up and running. Even though I know it’s just a building and I agree with the decision to merge– it’s sad that there won’t be any services held in the church anymore. It’s the church I grew up in and got married in. We had memorial services for my grandparents at the church. It’s just always been part of my life. Even though it’s super-hot in the summer (no air conditioning) and has some crazy blue/yellow paint in the sanctuary that doesn’t seem to make sense – it was always my church. Anyway, during that church service we sang the hymn “Here I am” – which is a song that reminds me of my youth group days at church.
Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
And out of nowhere (remember I’m normally not much of a crier) – the tears just started flowing and I couldn’t stop them! I tried to hide it – but my mom asked me afterwards if I was crying during the song, so I guess I didn’t hide it too well. I think the tears first started because I know there won’t be too many Sunday services left on Washington Street– but then I think I started thinking about our baby quest – so that probably made it harder to stop crying. As random as it was – I guess it was a good release. That afternoon I took my friend, EW, to the airport to catch her flight home. That night we had a cookout at my sister’s house with my parents. I hope all of the fathers out there had a great Father’s Day – you can continue to enjoy the title of “Best Dad” until we have kids when my hubby will have to take the title from you. ;)
Troy Member/Guest: Last weekend my husband played in a Member/Guest golf tournament with his brother in his hometown. He actually headed out on Thursday and I joined him on Friday. When I got in on Friday, I got a very warm welcome from the family in his parent’s driveway. It had been a long day at work, so it was just what I needed. We played outside for a little and then took our nephews & niece (Jack, Chloe, & Henry) home to their house. Chloe was excited to show me their “Just Dance” game on the wii. It's a dancing game where you just have to imitate the figure on the screen – they had all sorts of songs. I enjoyed it and even worked up a little sweat playing the game. They kept talking about doing the “Jump” song and I was happily surprised to find out that it was Jump by Kriss Kross. They let me pick out a song – so I picked out “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5 – shockingly, they hadn’t done that song before. I think I beat them on that song. It was a fun game though – good times!
Saturday was a jam-packed day full of lots of fun! I went and helped my mother-in-law and her dad sell homemade maple syrup at the local farmer’s market. I also did a little shopping in the adorable town square with our best man’s mom, Kimmy B, that stopped by to pick-up some syrup. Then I took Chloe & Henry to the Dolphin pool for a couple of hours. The pool had this very cool “Aquaclimb” thing in the deep end – basically a climbing wall that comes out of the pool. I tried 4 times to make it to the top – but failed miserably each time. I guess I need more P90X! After that we went to Henry’s baseball game – his team put up quite a battle but ended up losing 21 – 15. After the game, Chloe and I swung by Bath & Body Works to pick up a few things with some coupons and gift cards that we had. That night there was a dinner at the country club to conclude the Member/Guest tournament – it was nice to see some family friends there. The oddest part was the girl dressed as a mermaid that was laying on a platform behind the sushi appetizers and I have a picture to prove it! My hubby and his brother didn’t end up winning – but they had fun. My father-in-law plays with my hubby’s other brother – so it’s nice for the 4 of them to do that together. I think it’s a great tradition that they started a few years back.
Sunday morning we stopped by Granny’s house to visit with her before heading home. She had just gotten home from church and CVS! Granny was telling us all sorts of stories from her recent class reunion. Her memory is truly amazing - especially for a 95 year old! It was nice to catch up with her and just spend some time with her. In past years she has normally come down to the lake with us – but she’s been slowing down a little bit this past year, so she decided to pass on it. We will miss having her around – but we understand. We’ll have to give her a call a few times throughout the weekend. When we got back into town – I had a full agenda for the rest of my day. I had to use a groupon at this local pottery place before it expired. I ended up painting a cute little cat bowl for our cat, Luna. I hope she likes it. My friend, Elphie, came to paint with me – she painted a really sweet looking picture frame. That night we met up with some other girls for a little Sunday girls night in honor of our friend, Biz, who is moving to Nashville in July. We all want to get as much QT with her as possible so the evening consisted of dinner, movie, and ice cream! There were some that joined us for just dinner, one that joined for dinner & ice cream, and my sister that joined for just ice cream – but Elphie, Biz, and I partook in all 3 activities for the night. We saw “Soul Surfer” – the movie about Bethany Hamilton that lost her arm to a shark. I thought it was a really good movie and highly recommend it. I felt like I could relate to her questioning God for having such a horrible thing happen to her. I still have faith that God had a plan for us – but sometimes I do question and wonder why we have had to go through so much pain already. (I also love Carrie Underwood – so it was good to see her in the movie.) I got teary-eyed a couple times during the movie... man, I was so weepy in June! ;)
Work has suddenly gotten really busy all of a sudden! Just a few projects that have kinda popped up in terms of urgency and size. But it’s good because the work days are just flying by! I’ve been trying to keep up with P90X as I can, but it’s been rough with everything we have going on. Our weeknights have been busy with aerobics, golf league (for my hubby), and softball. This past week, Biz hosted a moving sale party at her house – she had pizza and had a bunch of stuff for everyone to go through. I ended up finding lots of good stuff – thanks, Biz! We’re going to miss you!!!
After a busy week, I’m looking forward to a fun-filled holiday weekend! Right now, we’re at Burr Oak State Park with my husband’s side of the family. (I actually started this blog entry in the car while my husband was driving us down this afternoon – and now I’m finishing it up before going to bed.) This is our 3rd annual lake trip – something they started back up that they used to do when my husband was younger. I’m so glad we started the tradition back up again. We all rent cabins (4 cabins for the 16 of us) and then hang out during the day (swimming, boating, hiking, playing cornhole, etc…) and then grill out at night. In addition to a lake, Burr Oak also has a sand volleyball pit, tennis courts, basketball courts, and an indoor swimming pool. Tons of stuff for everyone to do. It’s a fun weekend and we look forward to it every year! We will be here until Sunday – when we’ll be heading up to Pittsburgh to continue the 4th of July weekend celebration with my side of the family.
Next Wednesday we have our follow-up appointment with Dr. Williams. I don't think that appointment will change our plans to take a break from all of the treatments- but who knows. We'll see what he has to say! It will be good to see him. Our fresh IVF cycle was pretty perfect on paper – sometimes I still can't believe it didn't work. And even though the FET has a lower success rate - I still thought that it was going to work. (Celine Dion went through IVF 5 times before it worked.... yikes! I think I have one more IVF in me - but I don't think we could make it to 5.) We’ll just have to take it day-by-day!
One of my co-workers is doing a thing where he finds an inspirational quote of the day and writes it down on his big calendar. So for the month of July, I think I’m going to post an inspirational quote each day to the blog. I already have a few from his calendar that I’d like to share. Tonight I’d like to share a good verse that was mentioned in “Soul Surfer.”
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”