What Do You Wear on a Day Like Today?

I was seriously freaking out looking through my closet this morning! I wanted to look young and vital, but grown up enough... pretty, but not like I'm trying too hard... confident, but flexible... smart, but not know-it-all... 

So, what do you wear to meet the guy you hope will get you pregnant?  

I mean, I met my husband and future baby-daddy wearing a mall cop uniform (in case you didn't know me back then, nope, this was not a Halloween costume)... but, that particular outfit was replaced long ago with blouses and jeans :-)  

That's right... today was our first appointment with my new infertility specialist.  We really, really like him... he is casual and unassuming but very sharp, which is a trait combination I can work with in a doctor.  In fact, he reminds me a little bit of my beloved Dr. A... who unfortunately wouldn't move to SC with us.  We asked.  Anyway, I think I spotted a little bit of a glimmer of excitement to work with an infertile type 1 diabetic... I have a unique combination of symptoms and conditions that doesn't come up every single day!  

He ordered pretty standard blood work on both of us, since it has been over a year since we did all of that at the Ohio fertility center... and gave me a script for some Provera to hopefully entice my dear Aunt Flo... who, it seems, decided to stay up north when we moved. After the lab work comes back, we'll go from there!  We're both feeling pretty optimistic.

One of the (accidentally) cruelest things well-meaning fertiles tell us is that "this is all God's timing, His will."  And even though we truly believe that God loves us, wants the best for us, and has a plan for us... it HURTS to contemplate WHY His timing and plan are causing us pain.  Why would he give us this desire to be Godly parents, raising beautiful, Godly children... then make it so hard, or even impossible? 

As we prepared for this move, we began to realize something.  Moving is hard.  It is a lot of logistics, a lot of hard physical labor, and exhausting in every sense of the word.  And that was to move two able-bodied adults and a tiny dog... a baby would have made that SO much tougher, as would a wife who was nearing the end of a pregnancy, or just starting out on one.  So the idea of not having conceived yet being a blessing is actually starting to make a little more sense to us.  Not that it doesn't still stink, but... you know.  :-)  

Always,

Katie

The Big Move

Okay, so the details behind that crazy, last-minute surprise move:  

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that my husband is a high school teacher... and maybe mentioned that he is pursuing an Ed.D.  He has reached the stage in his doctorate where he has finished all of the coursework and passed the comprehensive exam, and "only" has the dissertation left to complete.  So, knowing that he is about a year from completing the degree, he began scoping out the higher education employment scene, just so he'd know what he'd be getting into in the next year or so.  

To his (and my) amazement, he found a position for which he was wonderfully qualified!  It's at Anderson University, in South Carolina.  Anderson is a private Christian school, looking to expand their education program, and they had a rare, mid-year job opening in their secondary education department. 

It would be really tough to describe all of the things that let us know just how God had his hands all over this situation.  We learned of the opening sometime in early-mid November, flew out to interview on Black Friday, accepted the job a few weeks later, moved most of our stuff over his Christmas break from school (one big Penske load, and we towed my car behind us.  AWESOME!), flew home, he taught the last few days of the high school semester (til a Friday), piled a few stray essentials in his car, drove down that Saturday, and he was in college faculty meetings on Monday.  

With barely enough time to catch our breath, he went from this: 

to this:

I am so proud of my professor!  And so glad that he found a job with encouraging, Christian colleagues and mentors and students who WANT to be there... in a beautiful, thriving Southern town.  And so proud of US for taking the leap of faith and being open to God's direction - even when it was really, really scary! We are so excited about our "new life" together!

Always,

Katie

InstaFriday

 I'm joining in (for the first time) on the InstaFriday linky party at Life Rearranged.  Here are a few of my cellphone pics of the week!

After seeing this little darling on Pinterest, I decided I needed another pet.  (This was an iPhone screenshot, so I'm totally counting it as a cell pic.)

I adore my Charley, but he just doesn't fit in a measuring cup anymore. 

 My hubby and I had a WONDERFUL date this past weekend - we went to one of our new Southern favorites (Cheddar's Casual Cafe) and saw Beauty and the Beast in 3D.  Am I a lucky girl or what?

And, even if he doesn't fit in a measuring cup anymore, my precious Charley was a wonderful nurse on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I had another big, big ovarian cyst rupture, so I spent the afternoon in bed... and the evening in the ER.  I had a few other symptoms that made us a little extra nervous.  But, everything checked out fine :-)  This is Charley sitting on my chest, having just cleaned my face!

Always, 

Katie

Guess What...

Yep!  

It came as a huge surprise to even us, but Ethan and Charley and I all packed up and moved over 500 miles away from most of our family and friends, his job, and the towns where we were each raised.  And we did this in the span of about two weeks!

Later, I will fill you in on some of the details of our move, as well as some of the highlights of our crazy life that y'all missed during my extended (not entirely intentional) blogcation.  But for now, I thought I'd share the change of address cards we sent (today, actually) to most of our Christmas card list... since we totally didn't make time for Christmas cards this year!!

Thanks to Pinterest, and long before we had any inkling that this move might be happening, I found this idea for handmade paint chip address cards.  I have a slight major addiction to paint chips, and a huge collection that I have stolen borrowed obtained from Lowe's and WalMart, so I thought to myself, "Hey. It could happen.  One day when we're in our nineties, we may leave our sweet little honeymoon home and move into an assisted living facility and want to let people know where to find us.  I'll pin it, just in case." 

Whelp.  We're not ninety yet, and it's not assisted living, but... I'm glad I pinned these!  (PS: Anybody else on Pinterest?  I'm SUCH an addict!  Follow me!)

I adapted her design a little bit.  Mostly:

• I used business card specialty paper that I happened to have laying around for the actual address card.
• I used a wide paint chip for the background, and a contrasting color for the little strip.  I love that hers is an illusion, but I liked the idea of a little more color and I didn't have to worry about how many chips of which colors I had.  
• I did not tape down the white address part... and I only taped down the ends of the skinny strips.  Which means that my business card sized address card will come out of the bigger card and can be easily tucked in someone's address book, basket, whatever. :-)

Stick around - I'll post details, apartment fun, some goals for our new life, and maybe a recipe or two that make us happy people... haha!  

Always,

Katie

It's the Little Things... in the midst of some big things

Between my Clomid and the extra estrogen I'm on, I have been having a hard time keeping a brave face.  I have been sick, throwing up or getting pretty close to it... not sleeping, or having nightmares when I do sleep.  I had another rough doctor's appointment this morning, too... found out that we may not even know the extend of my infertility problems, and am looking at the possibility of surgery in another couple of months if I'm still not pregnant.  So, this week's "Little Things" link-up was too timely to pass up!  

I made these yummy cookies the other day... I got the recipe from the lovely ladies at Our Best Bites, and had to make them the same evening.  I also got to take them to my in-laws' house for a bit of a pitch-in dinner, which is another smiley thing :-) They are so easy, and cute... and don't require any rolling or flour-sprinkling.  Which always results in a huge mess on every surface of our home!  I used orange candy melts from Wilton, melted them in my little melter pot, and dipped the bottom of the cookies in.  Added jussssst a tiny bit of something extra, so the plain sugar cookies were less plain. :-)

Our brand new iPhone 4S phones came this week!  Wheeeee!!  These puppies are quick and powerful.  I thought the 3GS was amazing... this model makes it look like a rotary phone!!!!

I've been really into wide, stretchy belts lately.  They've updated a couple of my sweaters, and give me an instant hourglass!  Makes me feel a little prettier on days when the hormones make me feel like an ogre.

Speaking of ogres... watch out.  This next photo is me with almost no makeup and no glasses, bedhead, and a tear-stained face and tear-swollen eyes.

Ethan took this picture of Charley letting me hold him and cuddle like a baby, as I recovered after my appointment today.  Aren't I a lucky girl? :-) These are just a few o the little things that have made me smile through tears this week... how 'bout you?

Always,

Katie

PS: Linking up to my cousin, Lindsay! 

Pin Cushion Cuteness!

I just made the niftiest little sewing accessories for my mom-in-law and myself!  Hobby Lobby's facebook page recently posted a link to a PDF containing several delightful crafts using canning jars, and I fell in love with a few of them.  This is the first one I tried, but I am SURE there will be more in the future :-)

We had some pretty tiny canning jars (I think officially jelly jars, maybe?) hanging around from the gifts we gave our fathers and grandfathers for Father's Day, so I used those.  (Have I shown that project yet? I ought to. Whoops.  Back on topic...)  I think they would probably work out better using larger jars, but I'm still kinda enamored with the ones I made!

Gather your materials, and if you have jars (like me!!) you should pretty much have everything laying around.  My FAVORITE kind of project!

• Jar(s)
• Fabric... can be pretty scrappy, you only need a bit.
• Glue gun and glue
• Poly-fill... just a small glob will do.

Cut a rough circle a little bit bigger than the flat piece of the lid.  (Anyone know what that's called?)  It doesn't have to be pretty, but make sure you have in the neighborhood of an inch, inch and a half extra fabric all the way around.

Put a sting of hot glue most of the way around the lid.  Unless you're sitting under your in-laws' ceiling fan, in which case this gets a little bit more complicated :-)  And be careful... I yelp a lot when I'm using hot glue.  Or an oven.  But, I digress...

Stick the fabric to the glue!  Yes, the fabric changed between shots.  Sometimes I get so excited about a project, I finish it up and forget to take pictures of the steps!  Bear in mind that the looser you leave the fabric, the more room you'll have for poly-fill, and the poofier your pin cushion will be!  It is kind of hard to remember not to pull it snug and smooth...

You're going to have a little opening, where you should be able to stick your finger between the fabric and the lid.

Yay!  Now stuff a  wad of poly-fill in.  It will hold a little bit more than you probably will expect... but pack it nice and tightly.  A firm cushion will hold pins and needles more securely.

Glue the little gap closed.  Stick the newly-cushy flat thing into the ring.

 Screw the lid on!  Easy as that! 

With a jar this tiny, I'm picturing it as the perfect container for cross-stitch Christmas ornaments.  I can cut my canvas, pop it in, pop in some skeins of embroidery floss and a pattern, have some pre-threaded needles in the cushion, and have my own kit ready to go when I wanna grab a project for a doctor's waiting room or car ride, or whatever!  With a bigger jar, you could store bobbins, spools, pins, chalks, bias tape, zippers, buttons... sky's the limit!  

This would make a darling gift for a sewing enthusiast, or especially a sewing rookie!  Never too early to start on Christmas gifts, you know... :-)

Always,

Katie

It's the Little Things: Road Trip Edition

We have had a weekend of driving, driving, driving.  And some panic, panic, panic.

Hubby got out of open house at school at 8pm on Thursday... I picked him up and we drove 8 hours to Lynchburg, VA for him to take a class.  He went to class for 4 hours yesterday, and 8 today.  So, the little things that have made me smile this week are the little (and not so little) blessings that have made our hectic, stressful weekend a little bit easier.

First... I made snickerdoodles.  A few for us for road food, and a few dozen for a friend I got to hang out with last night while Ethan was in class! So, this picture represents the yummy cookies, and the girl-time :-)

I had a "go bag" of toiletries ready a month ago... travel sizes of everything we were going to need, including a pill sorter of my meds, a vial of insulin and a bunch of pump supplies.  And I left it at home.  Our hotel had a few things on hand, and these little things were such a nice gesture.  I know we MORE than paid for them when we paid for the room, but it was still just... nice.  

Is there anything better at the end of a long car ride than a set of crisp, cool sheets waiting for you?

We also, after phone calls to insurance, CVS, and my doctor's office... and a panic at the pharmacy... managed to get some insulin.  But not just some insulin--a three-month supply.  It's way too early to refill, but the insurance overrode the rule... and we didn't have to pay an exorbitant amount for a single vial.  Since I don't have supplies to refill my pump, I'm letting it run the basal (I had plenty for that, just not to cover any food or highs), and taking all of my boluses by syringe.  Kicking it old skool, yo!

I had to check us out of the hotel while Ethan was still in class... so Charley and I are hanging around Lynchburg in our air-conditioned rental car.  This face always makes me smile :-)

And last, but not least... free Wi-Fi at McDonald's!  That's where I'm writing this--in the parking lot, with the puppy and a big cup of Diet Coke!  And it's a beautiful day (but HOT), and I get to pick up my darling husband in about an hour and a half!

Always,

Katie

Ridiculously Decadent Cupcakes

--or, "I'm not pregnant, so for a few days, I'm eating nothing but chocolate, SWAG bolusing, and blood sugar be danged."

I have been doing quite a bit of woe-is-me indulgent baking and eating this past week... I have a pinterest board of recipes that look sublime, so I baked up one little beauty that I knew would make my husband and me very happy.  I got the recipe from the amazing girls at Six Sister's Stuff.  They are incredible!  I really encourage you to check this blog out--they have a huge linky party every weekend that enables me in my crafty/baking addictions, plus their own posts are always fun!  And they really are six sisters--not like, sorority or sisters-in-Christ--and cute as coordinated buttons. 

Any way... without further ado, Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes.

I totally stole this picture from their blog--I was in too big a hurry to eat these, I forgot to take photos.  Bad, bad blogger.

These are a little bit more work than I usually like to put into my baking-on-a-whim desserts, and the ingredients are a tad expensive and not really standard on hand... at least not in my fridge!  But.  If you have any kind of occasion, or company coming over... these will make a HUGE splash! 

You can follow the link above for the recipe... I really have nothing to add to it, lol.  I followed it exactly.  I was amazed at how easy they were--even the ganache!  And they weren't THAT much work or that time-consuming, but they're not a half-hour batch of cookies, either.

I did have about half of the cream filling left over, and stuck it in the fridge.  I thought I might bake a chocolate bundt cake later, halve it and channel it, then fill the channel in with the rest of the filling.  Like a big, cakey, fabulous Oreo.  Or I may try my hand at a flakey pastry and fill those with it.  Ohhh the decadent possibilities!!!! 

Always,

Katie

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe... EVER

This year, I got to make my husband's birthday cake, which was pretty special... 

Okay, HE actually made the buttercream icing, because he recently learned how and is still tickled to do it.  So, I am MORE than happy to let him :-) 

I got the recipe here.  I figured, who better to tell me how to make something chocolate than Hershey themselves? It's your basic, no-frills chocolate cake, but... better.

I followed the direction for the three-layer cake, because I have 2 8-inch pans and 1 9-inch.  I figured, either way I was going to have to reserve some batter, dump a layer on a cooling rack, and bake twice anyway.  May as well be three layers :-)  I had Ethan make a double batch of buttercream icing, and spread it on niiiice and thick between all of the layers.  

Among my goofy little quirks (like, an irrational fear of leaving voicemail messages) is that I get all nervous when I have to cut cake.  I don't know why!  So, I used a bit of embroidery floss and pre-scored the top. Then, I decorated each "slice" with a little chocolate swirly thing.  I melted some chocolate chips in a plastic baggie and snipped a corner off... drizzled a funky design on some waxed paper, as well as the script words "Happy Birthday."  I popped 'em in the freezer for an hour, peeled 'em off, and stuck 'em on the cake.  It made a very elegant, but easy cake :-)

I do have one nifty little tip for melting chocolate in a baggie... I use a mug, and tilt all of the chips to one corner.  Then I stick that corner into the mug, leaving the rest of the baggie out, and microwave away.  Of course, that's also the same corner I snip. 

I showed this yesterday, but here's another look--I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself!!

Always,

Katie

Quiet, But Still Around

Sorry I've been so quiet for a while. (Ha!  Nobody's EVER accused me of THAT before!)  I've kept up on all of the blogs I follow, but haven't gotten around to posting myself.  Lots of stuff is going on, and I'll try to post in more detail about most of it later, but... here's a list...

• My husband had a birthday.  I made a cake.  This is a big deal, because cake bought at a certain grocery chain used to be the gold standard by which he and his family measured cake.  (And it WAS amazing--we even used their bakery for our wedding cake.)  But the recipes there have changed, and we've been shopping around for a new bakery.  I think I got the job ;-) 

• The lovely bride I made some jewelry and a bouquet for got married... and I have permission to share pictures!  
• I have been nauseated and exhausted for four days now.  Still too early to POAS, but... we're hopeful.  Funny... if I felt like this at any other stage of our lives, I'd have seen a doctor three days ago.
• I also started two new online graduate classes... one of which just might kick my butt.
• My bff gave me a super-cool jewelry project to work on... a little bit of modernization for a piece of her mother's that she has "adopted" recently :-) Here's a sneak peek at the "before"... you can't see all of the "afters" until Kate has!

• I have committed to having yummy home-cooked meals ready when my husband comes home from work (most of the time).  To that end, I have started freezing meals, and tried one fantastic easy recipe I'll share later.  And, yes, I'm doing pretty well so far.  Of course, it IS only the first full week of school, and I HAVE used Tuna Helper once.

• My  Grammie was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma... I'm a little scared, of course, but my Grammie is tough and has faith that she'll be okay.  With her determination, how can I be anything less than optimistic?  But we WOULD REALLY appreciate prayers for her... the treatment includes chemo, so she has a tough journey ahead. 
• I'm doing another wedding!  This one includes necklaces and earrings (or hair decorations for an un-ear-pierced girl) for a bride, a junior bridesmaid and FIVE bridesmaids!  I am SO excited... especially since the bride is someone I've been getting to know pretty well, and I'm beyond excited about the wedding, marriage, etc... not just my sparkly part. :-)  This will be the kind of family feel-good books are written about!  This is the bridesmaid dress--doesn't she have wonderful taste?

David's Bridal

• I do intend to finish the Proverbs 31 series... eventually.  It will definitely not be the next ten(ish) days or the next blog posts... but eventually. 
• I promised a giveaway when I discovered I'd written my 100th post... haven't forgotten, and it's gonna be cool... just been a bit preoccupied!

Always,

Katie