Weekend Recap

I don't know if you guys remember, but I mentioned a few months ago that I was going to be on a committee to plan our 10 year class reunion.  Well, the three of us pulled it off this last weekend and it was a blast!  I couldn't have done it without the help of Lindsey and Abby, we are awesome planners and I can't wait to plan the next one with you ladies!

best reunion committee ever!

Friday was the LP (our high school is called La Salle-Peru High School, LP for short) homecoming game so we had everyone meet us at the stadium at 7pm.  It was f'ing freezing out.  I drank a bunch of hot chocolate and scarfed down some pizza and a hot dog (I know, real classy) in an attempt to stay warm.  It was a lot of fun, and a place where our classmates could bring their kids.  We had a pretty good turn out at the game and at the bar afterwards.  Not sure if every high school class does it this way, but 10, 30, 40, & 45 (and 20 had to be out there somewhere!) were all at the game and a couple of the classes ended up at the same bar we were at so it was packed!  I arranged for one of our classmates who plays acoustic sets around town come down to play for us so that was pretty fun, he played a bunch of stuff from our high school years.  We stayed out late and drank too much but it was fun catching up.

freezing at the game!

some of the girls from our class

Saturday afternoon I went to buy all of my appliances.  I bought them at a locally owned store where they are having a big 4 years 0% interest on appliances, furniture, and mattresses.  If you follow me on Instagram then you've already seen what else I ended up purchasing!  I got all of my GE Slate appliances, the fridge, double oven, dishwasher, microwave, GE front load washer and dryer, a sofa, love seat, coffee table, and set of nesting tables all for about $8500.  That's before we get some rebates back too on the GE appliances.  I am proud of myself for the deal I got us! Woohoo!

Saturday night was the big class reunion event.  We rented out a place so it would just be people from our class, we had a raffle, we served appetizers, we had a DJ, it was pretty simplistic, but I was really happy with the way it turned out.  We found out early in the summer when we started the initial planning that there was no money from the school to plan this reunion with so the three of us on the committee paid for it out of our own pockets.  We really went into this as novices who had no clue what we were doing but it really turned out awesome and we got a ton of compliments and thank you's for putting it together.  I was happy with the turn out on Saturday too.

our colors are red & green too, best colors ever!

these two <3

Once the reunion was over the majority of us went to a new bar that opened in town.  We were actually home by about 12:30 so it wasn't really late, but a couple shots of fireball and an x-bomb really did my stomach in and I felt horrible the next day.  Of course Joe made me feel guilty about wasting my day and not getting out of bed and coming to help out at the house so I got my ass outta bed around noon and painted windows for 3 hours in the cold.  It sucked, but he's right, if we aren't out there getting it done, no one will be!  On Saturday after getting home at 1:00am, getting up for work at 5:45am, working in the cold and rain all day, he actually went out to the house and worked until 6.  He is so dedicated and I love that he is really working hard to get this done.  I miss him at night because he's been working late & then goes directly from work out to the house and doesn't come home until 8 which is about my bed time.  I know it will all be worth it in the end though!

little toasty at this point!

garage doors are on!  siding comes in on Thursday!

Today I got my 2 week Lupron kit in the mail.  I start my injections next Tuesday the 14th.  I am so not focused on this cycle yet.  I actually forgot to take my pill on Friday, that's after my phone reminded me too.  Maybe it's a good thing that I'm more preoccupied this cycle.  In the past I thought it would be best if a cycle was all I focused on, now I'm thinking the opposite might be better?  I really don't know the answer.  At this point all I think is that the only thing that will determine our success is if the embryologist happens to pick a normal embryo, but without testing there is no way of knowing if it is normal or abnormal so we are taking another big chance.

Your attitude determines your direction

A friend sent me this a couple weeks ago and it couldn't be more accurate!  Not only for the infertility aspect of my life, but in all aspects where I might be struggling.  I've always been a believer in positive attitude=positive outcome.  I saw this first hand when a friend of my dove off the back of a boat into the Illinois River and broke his neck.  He was paralyzed and he put up such a fight and had such a great attitude about his recovery, he kicked ass and progressed amazingly.  We were only in our late teens when this happened and it was truly inspiring.  While recovering after our motorcycle accident, I thought of him often, and remembered that I needed to keep up my attitude as I spent 8 months in physical therapy. 

Having a positive attitude has just come naturally to me throughout infertility treatment, and I try to let my positivity shine through in my posts as much as I can.  I think I do a pretty good job of that because I get lots of comments about it and I feel as though my readers can really see how optimistic I try to be about the whole process.  It can certainly be a challenge at times, but I feel as though it is absolutely necessary in order to survive the heartache that undoubtedly accompanies infertility. 

If you didn't read the TTC Sisters interview with Dreaming of Dimples, then you should.  Something she mentioned I feel I am really starting to understand, and that’s that the more failure you have, the harder it will be to climb the proverbial emotional roller coaster of infertility back up to the high points.  Skepticism will start to take the place of conviction.  When you first start down the path you think there is no way that the first IUI won’t work, I mean, why wouldn't it?  Then you get that first BFN and you think, ok, maybe a second, and then you’re on to another one, or considering IVF and you can’t help but think that it might never work and that failure is the norm.  You expect your beta to be negative, and it’s really very sad.  This has undeniably been the biggest challenge for me so far.  I’m having a harder time than ever bouncing back, but being aware of the fact that I’m struggling is helping me to change my attitude.

I am pushing myself to feel confident and positive again.  I’m pushing myself to feel conviction rather than skepticism about this next transfer.  Hearing Dr. G’s confidence and the confidence from my support system is what helps push me even harder.  I am reminding myself of how badly we want this and picturing what it will be like to finally get a positive, how will I share the news with family, how will we react, what will I look like pregnant, what will our baby look like… all of the happy and positive things that I can possibly fathom in order to recharge my batteries and get my attitude where it needs to be.

Here's the plan for FET #3.  I've been on BCP since Sept 20th and will continue that until October 17th.  I start Lupron injections on Oct 14th which I'll continue to take for about 19 days. Lupron is what builds my lining for embryo implantation.  My baseline ultrasound is October 21st and my 3rd transfer will be Nov 11, or 11/11.  I'm really hoping that there might be some significance or maybe a little extra luck on that day for us!  My goal this time is to absolutely convince myself that it WILL WORK and try my hardest not to let negativity and skepticism come crawling in to discourage me.  I don't want to expect a negative, I want to expect a positive.  I've got 39 more days til our transfer, just enough time to get my attitude whipped into shape and be ready to see two pink lines!

The Wardrobe Resolution Recap & Financial Planning for the Future.

Well, 30 days of my spending freeze has passed!  Boy did it go by fast!  Of course there were a ton of temptations out there, but I did my best to avoid them as much as possible.  I unsubscribed on Facebook, Instagram, and email from all of the boutiques and different shops that I followed.  Any time I see a suggested post on Facebook that says “so & so likes XXXX Boutique” I select “I don’t want to see these posts” and unsubscribe from those too.  They make it practically impossible to not see that kind of stuff!  Now if I could just get all these fashion bloggers to quit blogging such cute outfits I would be set! ;-)

I did end up making one clothing purchase.  My cousin plays rugby for ISU & they had a fundraiser for their team.  The only thing that they sold were clothing items so I bought a plain, grey, crew neck sweatshirt that says ISU Rugby for $20.  I’m planning on continuing this resolution for another month and hopefully beyond!  I want to try to live by the motto "memories over materials" and I feel as though that will be a little bit of a challenge for me.  I like "things", like clothes, purses, shoes, etc. we all do, but with babies on the brain and a new home, I think that I need to shift my focus a bit. 

Our next big step is getting ourselves adjusted ahead of time to life with a house payment again.  One nice thing about my work is that we have a credit union that will take a payroll deduction out and put it in an account.  It’s always been an extra savings account for me, but now we are going to use it to make sure that we have the money for our house payment each month.  It’s nice because I don’t have to take the money out myself, I will just get the remainder of what’s left after the money comes out so there’s no way for me to not put in the allotted amount.  We are planning on starting this now so that we have a few payments ahead of time and so that we can adjust to the change.  Right now all we are paying is interest on the money that we've already drawn, but come January, we will be in full-fledged payments and we need to be ready. 

Financial planning really is the key and we all have budgets.  Joe’s job is not a straight 40 hours per week.  Sometimes it’s 8 hours a week, sometimes its 60 hours.  It makes budgeting a challenge, so we are trying to be as proactive as we can going forward.  If found this great Budget Binder from Thirty Handmade Days that I’m planning to use once we’re in the house & getting bills again.  This is also where the wardrobe resolution comes in for me.  It helps me avoid frivolous and impulsive spending on things that I just don’t need.  

Another thing we will need to learn to do is say “no” more often.   This past weekend, for instance, we spent $75 on dinner Saturday night which was fine, but then we ended up going out and spending another $50 on a cover charge at a bar, drinks, & ATM fees.  We ended up having to decline an invitation on Sunday to August Hill for an Ultimate Wine Taste & dinner because it would've been another $75+ day for us and we can’t and shouldn't be burning through money like that.  This will be the biggest challenge I think for us because right now, being childless especially, we have the time and we enjoy going out.  Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy our commitment free weekends too and bed at 8:00pm on a Friday, but life is busy sometimes, especially at our age, weddings, baby showers, milestone birthdays, vacations, weekend getaways, camping trips, etc.  It all adds up.

For someone like me (& Joe unfortunately) who spends impulsively, I’m ready for this challenge and ready for the adjustment.  We are also planning on a large garden for our own homegrown produce that can be canned and frozen and of all things, healthy!  I’d eventually like to have chickens of our own for eggs, and Joe wants to keep bees, all things that will help us live within our means, but will also be rewarding for us.  I'm sharing this so that I can better hold myself accountable to these changes that we are going to make, and I'm always open for suggestions too!