I love old movies! You know, the ones with Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Gene Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, etc. The list goes on and on! Although I have not seen a lot of them, my "to watch" list is never ending. I just love the style back then...the clothes, the acting, etc.
Anyway, I recently received an email from my Aunt Lisa (she is the forwarding queen), which normally I would ignore, but I decided to take a glance at it and take this 10 question quiz which would let me know what movie star I am. As I'm sure you already guessed (based on the title of the post), I am...
GRACE KELLY!!!
She is absolutely the most BEAUTIFUL woman!!! I mean, look at her! I'm pretty sure she's universally appealing (at least as looks go). She's near PERFECTION! I just love her.
So this is what is says about Grace Kelly and why I am apparently "LIKE" her...
[You are a lover. Romance, flowers, and wine (canada dry for me though) are all you need to enjoy yourself. You are serious about all commitments and are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday, and never forget a Birthday. Don't let your passion for romance get confused with the real thing.]
So this Christmas Joel and I made the 15 hour drive down to TEXAS with Grams & Papou Shapardanis. It was SUPER FUN to say the least! This was our first Christmas since we've been married that we spent it with my family, the crazy SERIA gang. We missed Joel's parents (especially since they had very few visitors for christmas this year) but loved having my ENTIRE FAMILY there!
10 adults + a 4 bedroom house = NEVER A DULL MOMENT!
(plus my oldest sis, Karissa & her precious son, Roran (who I am obsessed with) were at the house the majority of the time)
Anyway, we didn't do anything super exciting but it was still fantastic being home...and in warmer weather! We went to the Dallas, TX temple and I wore a short sleeve dress without a coat... how amazing is that? I was in heaven!!!
Seria Christmas 2010 Activities:
-watched movies nightly
-had a Seria girls night while the boys played basketball at the stake center (we watched all 3 Twilight movies b/c Karissa had never really seen them). Oh one night we also watched all of North & South... yea we were up pretty late but Mr. Thornton transfixed all of us.
-played Wii Fit constantly...we brought it all the way from Ohio & got everyone addicted (my dad just bought one for my mom for her b-day)
-went to the temple...my grandparents work super hard at doing our genealogy so we all went & it was so special to be there together
-threw a Seria Shindig for old time sake (our house was the "party house" during high school. everyone always came over to hang out. it was so fun seeing so many of my friends for the short time we were in town)
-SHOPPED TILL WE DROPPED...the ladies of course
-played games+more games, but mostly the "name game"
-SERIA CHRISTMAS EVE PROGRAM 2010 (i always put together a program on christmas eve. everyone participates by sharing a talent, mom recites the Night Before Christmas, dad reads the story of the birth of Christ, grandparents share traditions they grew up doing at christmas in Greece & Germany)
-SERIA FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT...b/c who knows when the next time we'll all be home at the same time
-FHE w/ the Blacker family (we played "minute to win it" games...Kenna was the champion for sure)
-New Year's Eve Fondue Party w/ the family & my cousin Sasha's family... we adopted that from the Skousen gang
-Visit w/ the Kraus family (joel's sis, Liana+her hubby, Collin+2 adorable nieces, Lilly & Lucy)
-DANCE PARTIES w/ little Roran multiple times a day (roran absolutely loves dancing. unfortunately none of my videos were good enough to post)
-my sis, Amanda & I constantly fighting over RORAN PHILIP!!! this is a never-ending thing b/c we're OBSESSED w/ that child!!!
Derek & Joel
singing Away in a Manger in Spanish @ the Seria Christmas Eve Program
Joel got ice skates...he's super happy!
Joel & I opening presents Christmas morning/afternoon
Morgan, me, Kenna & Joel at FHE
Jared (bro-in-law), Joel, Dave (my good friend) & Derek: my adorable baby brother
at the Seria Shindig
RORAN PHILIP
he started this scowl thing which I'm pretty sure he got from his daddy
I seriously spent like 15 to 20 minutes saying this to Roran. Needless to say my throat was a bit sore afterwards.
But he's a silly kid and a little entertainer/ mimicker. We had fun!
Anyway...we had a blast over Christmas with my family. A lot of memories were made and I'm glad I got to share some of them with you. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!
So I've been working really hard on my post about the christmas holidays, so I have it saved for you to view...hopefully by tomorrow. But I have three videos I really want on there b/c they're that worth it, so I have to wait for them to upload on Vimeo. Anyone know why it's taking so stinkin' long???
Anyway, just wanted to let you know we are alive & well... and that quite a few posts are to come VERY SHORTLY!!!
And we are ECSTATIC about it!!! It has been Joel's #1 choice since he decided to apply to dental school. We received the good news Monday, January 3rd in the morning while we were having a family breakfast before the rest of the holiday visitors went back to Utah. It was hilarious b/c we were talking with David & Emily (joel's cousin & his wife) just seconds before he received the call about how Joel could be accepted any day that week. It was serendipitous!
So come September 21st of this year Joel will start dental school. His white coat ceremony is a few
days before which will officially make him a BUCKEYE!
He has mixed emotions about it due to the fact he, along with every family member on mom skousen's side, has always been a Michigan fan. I told him that he'll have to shift his allegiance to OSU but he 100% disagrees. I'm okay with him still liking Michigan but when OSU & Michigan play he cannot wear blue... he must wear scarlet & gray b/c I fully plan on it. Anyway, we agree to disagree for now. But we are super happy and feel blessed that Joel is able to further his education.
To celebrate Joel's acceptance mom & dad skousen took us to Montgomery Inn for dinner. It was delicious! I had never been but I've heard about numerous times so I'm glad I finally got to go. Joel and I shared the ribs b/c I guess that's one of their specialties...and I enjoyed it! Our waitress even put bibs on us...key word "she" put them on us! I thought it was funny.
notice how we're wearing scarlet to represent OSU?
So people have been treating to buy me a SNUGGIE for years now. I have protested of course. Yes I am constantly cold (i am like my mother) but come on...a snuggie? The name alone renders it to mockery. So due to the stupid name I am refused to own one. I mean everyone tried to buy me one: my hubby, co-workers, friends, parentals.
Due to my euphoria of Joel being accepted to Ohio State, while at bed, bath & beyond I said something which I thought I never would, "Joel, I will let you buy me a SNUGGIE if you buy this one..."
I know...but the snuggie and I were meant to be and now we're best buds! I love my snuggie!!! But there are some flaws to my new BFF therefore, I have thought of a new & improved snuggie which Joel thinks we should market as the CUDDLY!
As you can see we're already proud to be BUCKEYES and plan on making all our immediate family members get Ohio State paraphernalia. Beware family...especially you little Roran!
So our apartment complex cancelled our free internet...NOT HAPPY! But we'll be gone in two weeks, so we're just opting to go without for the remainder of the time. Right now I'm in the apartment lounge for a bit, but I hate coming here, so I will do updates when we're in Ohio... or if I desperately need a break from packing and decide to head to the campus library for a bit to visit Joel and blog. Not likely though!
I HATE MOVING!!! However, we are excited to move to Ohio and be near Joel's family and take advantage of Joel's parents never-ending hospitality. Moving/ packing stresses me out and I'm lacking the required motivation to get going on this packing business. Therefore, I will not have much spare time to post. But I do have LOTS to blog about!!! So PLEASE stay tuned! To come...
Joel's Graduation
North Carolina Trip (with the Seria family...my fam if you didn't know that was my maiden name)
Random stuff I must make note of for memory sake
It's really pathetic how out of touch with the world I feel when I do not have access to the internet. How sad it that? I know...extremely sad! But you know you'd be lost without it too. Enjoy your internet b/c we miss ours greatly!
I just wanted to apologize for my last post! My dad informed me that I shared WAY TOO MUCH information and that I'm not a pessimistic person so I shouldn't write posts which portray me in such a light. True...it was an over share and a bit depressing. However, I was NOT meaning it to sound pessimistic! I was frustrated and wanted to vent...SUE ME!
P.S. - I love you popsy! You're the best! Thanks for keeping me in line!
I also wanted to thank everyone for their kind words or encouragement, reminders to always have faith and that things WILLwork out in the end! I have such amazing family and friends and I'm truly grateful for all of you. And if any of you are going through something similar to this and want to talk...I am always here for you! It's not an easy thing to face alone, which is why Joel and I decided to share our trial with you guys. Having family and friends there for you makes it seem less tiresome. And it doesn't matter how many times I hear your kind words of encouragement...they're helpful each and every time.
Oh, I had my doctor's appointment this afternoon. That was equally frustrating! Due to the fact that I started my per-per they couldn't check to see if I had a miscarriage. So I guess I'll never know if we were in fact prego. That saddens me b/c I think I'd have renewed faith, knowing that we could in fact get pregnant! My appointment was just for a consult and I was only in there talking to him for 10 - 15 minutes. Guess how much that's going to cost us? 110 DOLLARS!!! Yep, that's right...you read correctly! This is mostly why I'm frustrated. Having the parents I do, I immediately shared my thoughts that $110 for maybe a 15 minute visit is ridiculous and I didn't want to pay it! Alas, I lost the fight! I didn't have hopes that I'd be victorious, but it's still a hard blow to my ego and wallet.
I shouldn't have even gone to the appointment b/c I called early this week to talk to a nurse to see if I should come in and I talked to my friend, Sadie (who's a L&D Nurse) and they told me exactly the same thing, if not MORE than my doctor. It was a fruitless appointment to say the least. But he advised us to keep "trying"...hello... of course we're going to keep trying...WE WANT A BABY!!! Also that Joel should see an Urologist and that if in a few months we're still not successful for me to get an ultrasound to see if my tubes are blocked or if I have ovarian cysts. CAN'T WE DO THAT NOW??? Then, if nothing is wrong we should consider doing the IUI (intrauterine insemination).
Personally, I'm planning on skipping some of that b/c Joel and I cannot afford to see an Urologist b/c they tend to be pricy in the things they do. Second, as soon as we get the money to do an IUI, We're doing it!!! We don't want to go in debt for procedures. And during all this, Joel and I WILLbe filling out adoption papers. We've discussed it thoroughly after this past week's experience and we want to start the process as soon as we move to Ohio and get settled a bit. So probably after our trip to Texas in September. Yay! We're excited to be taking our own actions to get a baby, whichever method that may be.
So we're excited to see what the future brings! P.S.- Joel and I are very happy and love each other even more through this experience! I don't want people to think that just b/c of this difficult thing we're facing we don't realize the good things in life that we have, like each other. Just in case anyone was wondering!
Roran Philip Delozier(my nephew)
Since this post is about babies, or that lack thereof, I decided to post this adorable picture of my nephew from my Texas trip this past March, for your enjoyment!
Disclaimer: This may be slightly depressing and TMI for some of you…read at your own risk of being sad and disturbed!!!
So Joel and I have been trying to get pregnant now for almost 21 months now (pretty much since we’ve been married). Well, this month we were almost POSITIVE we were pregnant! I had some symptoms, I had slight cramping (which my doctor said is normal if you’re prego) and most importantly…my PERIOD was LATE!!! That never ever happens to me. It’s always 29 days after my last one and always the same consistency.
It’s predictable and dependable, if you will, and that’s the way I like it. Now I don’t like having my period b/c it’s also extremely painful for me. I have a special prescription from my doctor for the horrible cramps I get. It literally feels like a hundred (or more) knives are being repeatedly stabbed into my lower back! But this month, there was NO PAIN! So that added to my list of reasons why I thought this month was the month when Joel and I would finally get that happy and blessed news we’ve been hoping and praying for multiple times a day! It makes me want to stay in the fetal position for the entire 6 days I’m on my per-per.
Alas…my body SUCKS!!! It apparently thought it’d be super hilarious to get my hopes up and play a mean trick on me! Joel and I didn’t want to get to excited about it b/c I wanted to wait until the week I would’ve had my period to pass before we’d take a HPT to confirm the happy news we were sure we’d receive. If I have to go through this I would really appreciate not having cruel jokes played on me. I’d much rather prefer feeling the bitter blow of disappointment every 29 days that is my period’s arrival.
Riddle me this…period being days late (remember I said it is always on time), BBT raised for 12 consecutive days (they say if it’s raised for 18 or more days you’re prego), light spotting a day before the expected period and continued for 3 days, boobs enlarged, slight cramping, extremely exhausted, PEE A LOT, I constantly have an appetite, and I just had a “good” feeling…wouldn’t you think you’re pregnant too? I’m just so confused and sadder than normal b/c Joel and I both were so certain June had been a “successful” month! Also normally right before my period, I just have a feeling that I’m not pregnant and although it’s disappointing, I kind of already knew so it’s slightly softens the blow!
So today at work I run to the bathroom b/c I just feel a “flow”, which isn’t a good sign for us. And I have a flow! Not like my normal periods b/c it’s usually a raging rapid, but still, it is not spotting or implantation bleeding (I research a lot)! This also made it sadder to me b/c I didn’t have Joel there with me. I was all by myself in an old stinky bathroom on the BYU-I campus. I cried of course b/c going through all this has made me way more emotional than normal (even though I was always a good crier). We obviously won’t be taking a HPT since Aunt Flow decided to visit me. P.S. - June was my last month on Clomid so I’m depressed that that didn’t work for us. We were on it for 6 months for goodness sake!
On a positive note: I do have an appointment with my doctor this Friday so I plan on asking him what the heck is up and why my body stopped following its normal trend.
Anyway, sorry for the depressing post but I needed to vent to someone besides my sweet husband who doesn’t know what to say to me at times like this. I know he’s pretty bummed about it too! Plus, I haven’t updated in a while on how the baby making was coming, so I thought I’d let you know.
Side note: I was laid off and won’t have a job after July 30th. So if anyone wants to play in the day during our last month here (August), let me know. I tell you this b/c this means no more doctors’ appointments for Joel and me to help with the baby making. We’re on our own now!
Positive note: We are saving to do an IUI (intrauterine insemination). So if we’re not pregnant by the time we’re able to save money for that, then we’ll go ahead with the IUI. We’re also planning on filling out adoption papers in October (we’ll have been trying for 2 years by then). So keep your eyes and ears open for anyone who’s prego and considering adoption. They say the best way to have a child placed with you is through WORD OF MOUTH!!!
Congrats to the Faanunu’s who recently had a little girl placed with them! She’s beautiful! We loved talking to them about their adoption experience. They’re great parents already!
