Ugh.....I never know what to blog about!

Well, nothing very interesting has happened as of lately. Just work and such. Gettin' ready for Thanksgiving on Thursday. I'm glad that it's just gonna be Matt and me this year! Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the past 2 years of Thanksgiving here in Texas that we've spent with friends, but this is our first Thanksgiving where we are cooking just for us. We are establishing our family traditions as Mr. and Mrs. Matt Reed. I get to test out my turkey-making skills and green bean casserole skills.....you get the picture! Here's a taste of what we're making:

Reed Thanksgiving Menu

Turkey with Williams Sonoma Smokehouse Turkey Rub
Pepperidge Farm Stuffing
Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Campbell's Green Bean Casserole
Salad w/ Homemade Ranch Dressing
Rolls
Two Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

I will be sure to post pictures of what we make.....I am very excited!!!

I have also decided that I am going to be waking up early on Black Friday to do some Christmas/Anniversary shopping! I am waking my butt up at 5:00 in the am!!! And for all y'all that read this you know that I am traditionally not an early riser, but I have set it in my mind that I'm going to do it! No excuses!!! Ha! I have also set it in my mind that it is going to be a madhouse anywhere I go and to be very relaxed about it. I have a personal space issue and am not very keen on crowds, but God will be with me and He will get me through the rush hour of holiday shoppers! Ya hear me God? I need You on Friday!!! Well, I need You every day, but You know what I mean!!

Anyway, that's my blog for today....there will be more to come very soon. Hopefully I get to it before 2010! Hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving!!!

I am on a bloggin' roll!!!!

Two blogs in one day??? Whoah, who am I? Ha ha ha!!! Well, this one's a small blog*. I just wanted to post some of the upcoming events in my life that I am very excited about today.....

10/27/09- Going to Austin to see the SYTYCD tour show!!! I cannot wait!!



11/4/09- Happy birthday to me! I'm gonna be 29 today....one more year in my twenties, here we go!! Come on thirties!!! Check with me next year this time to see if I'm still excited.



11/6-11/7/09- The Goldstein's (Kevin, Megan, Kellen and Kayla) are coming down to my neck of the Texas woods!!! We are gonna go venture down to the River Walk and get some yummy tex-mex....I'm so excited to have "family" in Texas! Now if we could just speed up the whole moving up to Dallas thing....hmmmm.....



11/26/09- Who isn't excited about Thanksgiving? Matt is gonna be on-call this time, but it'll be ok. The holiday pay is always a good thing! Plus, we get to cook together for one another and no one else this time! I'm already planning the menu...ha!!!



12/16/09- Matt and I celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe that we've almost been married that long! Time flies when you're in love and having fun! Also, my mom arrives in Texas for a long, long Christmas visit. I have no idea why the 'rents don't just move here?!



12/24/09- Christmas Eve my Dad arrives here in Texas for his yearly visit to our great state!



12/25/09- Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Jesus! I wonder what movie we'll see this year???



12/26/09- The fam heads up to Dallas for my parent's first time up there and to visit the Goldstein's! I love Dallas!



12/27/09- Mom, Megan and I are going to see, drumroll please.................................. The Radio City Rockettes on tour in Grand Prairie!!!! Oh! This is gonna be one of the biggest highlights of 2009 for me!



12/31/09- Last day of this year.....it might still only be October, but I'm ready to close the book on the chapter of my life in 2009. Bring on 2010!! I'm ready now! :)

What are you excited about for the remainder of this year???


*This blog was a lot longer than I thought it would be....sorry for all the illustrations, but it was fun!

Some Things to Ponder

My best friend and sister in law, April, sends me a lot of fun emails. Some are pictures of dogs and cats dressed in halloween costumes and others are for pondering. I really enjoyed reading this one this morning. I hope that it inspires you today :)

Oh, and here are some pics of April and me....Heather (and Ad) are in there too!













Written By Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 50 in August, so here is the column once more:"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5.. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry..
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25.No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business..
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd
grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Random update....

I had acupuncture yesterday!!!! More to come later!!!! Going to see Jason Mraz in concert tonight....yes, you can be jealous!!!!! Peace out y'all!!!!! :)

9/11

Not sure if all y'all in blog-land will be blogging about 9/11/01 today, but I felt like it.

This morning I turned the TV on to see if anyone was reporting on the tragedy that happened eight years ago today. Eight years! I can' t believe it's been that long! It really seems like it happened last year. So, I turned on the tv and the Today Show wasn't talking about it and neither was Good Morning America....go figure, I had to go to the Fox News Channel to see anything about it. They had special tributes and moments of silence and everything you would expect to see today. When I was flipping through the channels and looking at what was going on it was almost as if no one was remembering what happened. Not that we should be dwelling on the past, but I think that today is a day to always remember. It was said the day that this tragedy took place that it was another "Day that will live in infamy".....it certainly will be the day of infamy for my generation. It is really like our "Pearl Harbor" for those of us old enough to remember what happened on this day eight years ago.

I will never forget......
I was working at AT&T Wireless at the time. 9/11/01 was the year anniversary of my employment there. I worked the 2-11 shift and was sleeping when the first plane hit..... My mom has always been an early riser and when she woke up she turned on the tv and it was all over the stations. I remember her coming into my room bawling her eyes out and saying "Sarah, someone has bombed the world trade center in New York". At first I didn't know what she was talking about, all I wanted to do was sleep, but I woke up and walked into my parents bedroom. My dad was sitting on the edge of the bed and my mom was curled up on her side of the bed still crying. I was in a groggy state of shock. It was like watching a movie because it didn't seem real at all! We just sat there with eyes wide open. There were tears and gasps as we watched footage of the second plane hitting the other tower....to this day when I watch it happen I just cannot believe it actually happened. I got up and called my ex-boyfriend (boyfriend at the time) and I think he was already watching it too at his parents house. As the day went on and the news of the other crashes arose I called into my supervisor at work to see if we were to come in to work. He said that we were, so I got ready and went in. Our call center was right down the street from the CA National Guard headquarters and there was a blockade set up. I had to show them my work ID so I could get into the parking lot at work.....I felt like our nation had become a war zone even though those incidents were thousands of miles away. We went into the building, went upstairs into the call center area and it was completely silent (if you've ever worked customer service you know that's an odd thing because there is always talking going on). We went over to our work area and our "team" was standing around our sup. He explained to us that we had an option to stay and work for triple pay or go home to be with our families. It just didn't feel right to be working, so I opted to go home and spend the rest of the evening with my family. As the day dwindled down we all were back at home eyes still glued to the tv and the smoke billowing over Manhattan. I felt violated and numb at the same time.

It has been eight years and other things have happened on this day over those years. I lost a friend, Brian, on 9/11, but a few years after the towers came down. He was on a church boating trip, he slipped and fell into the propeller of the boat. He was such an amazing man of God and I will always remember Brian and his amazing family!

I feel that this day needs to become a national holiday of rememberance. Not just for those who perished in the attack or while helping, but to remember all tragedies. I feel one day it might become just that, but while we wait for that day we can all still remember and pray. We can pray for the families that are still grieving their loved ones, we can pray for our nation, we can pray for our President and our congress men and women. We can pray for our troops that are still being deployed to protect our great nation and other nations from those that would want to cause harm. We just need to pray and to never forget what happened on this day eight years ago in New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon.

"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

SJR

Acupuncture Consultation, Congee and Piranhas???

This past week went by quickly and slowly.....kinda weird? Yes, but it really did.

Last Monday Matt and I went to visit The Texas Center for Reproductive Acupuncture (www.texasfertilityacupuncture.com) for our consultation with Kirsten Karchmer, who is co-founder of this place and a board certified reproductive acupuncturist. I admit that while we were driving to the appointment I was a little scared. First of all, they make you fill out this 5 page health history questionnaire which comes in very handy when Kirsten makes her "diagnosis" and prescribes her plan for you. Secondly, I was scared because I had so many questions "What if she can't help me?", "Am I really infertile?", "Are we doing the right thing, is this what God is leading us to do?".....you know, stuff like that! But we entered the doors and walked down the hallway of the fertility clinic that her practice is in. Funnily we were led down the hall paved with a sperm walk/swim way. LOL!!! That sight totally put me at ease.

We were welcomed by Kirsten and proceeded on into her room and sat down. Can I say that I am so glad that Matt was there even though he was groggy and probably not that excited to be there? I really am thankful for him, he puts up with a lot! (I mean a lot!) She took my paperwork, examined it for a bit and began to half ask questions and the other half tell me what was going wrong with me. It's like she's seen me before because she knew what she would see on my following pages just by glancing at my PMS symptoms and menstrual cycle information. (sorry if this is TMI, but I am an honest and open person, deal with it) She asked me so many other things and it went by so quickly that I can't remember all of them, but the next step came....my homework! She started off by giving me a "Basal Body Temperature for Dummies" run-down...my mom had told me sooo many times that I needed to track it, she even went as far as to buy me not only one, but two different digital basal thermometers! (that I haven't used since this week, sorry mom) Anyway, she told me to start tracking it daily and the path that she wanted my cycle/temperature to be at the end of 3 months. She told me that mine, based on my current health and cycle, would be pretty erratic, but it would eventually smooth out over time. After that she told me about eating for my cycle to promote this proper blood flow and to make for healthier blood. Apparently in chinese medicine, blood and it's flow is everything to maintain ideal health and wellness. My blood flow is not as good as it should be based on my symptoms. So she then prescribed "congee" for me to eat for breakfast every day!

Congee consists of one cup of organic brown rice, water and 6-7 dried apricots left in the crock pot to stew overnight on low heat. Random? Yup! It is a body/blood warming sort of oatmeal type food that I am to enjoy with a little cinnamon and granola if I'd like.....adding those things makes all the difference in the world, lemme tell ya! So, I started eating that this week instead of my usual Fage Greek Yogurt and Kashi cereal bar in the morning.

That was basically it. I needed to eat "congee" and take/track my BBT every morning and then set a follow-up appointment so she could see my progress.

Well, my progress is this......yes, my BBT is very, very, very erratic and I am still "cold" than average people in the morning (avg 97.4 in the past week). I have been enjoying my congee and eating A LOT HEALTHIER!!!! I'm talkin' I don't eat out for lunch, I stick with whole grains and organic foods, and I can still enjoy foods that I normally eat! I've never really been a junk-food-junkie and eating like this isn't that hard to do. Hooray! But basically what we're trying to do is get my cycle to become 28 days every time, where I ovulate precisely on day 14, where I have a beautiful tidal wave-like BBT chart and a period without the following: cramps, clots, pms, etc. (need I say more? you ladies know what I'm talkin' about) Did I leave anything out? I might have, but I'm trying to remember everything, ok???

I am going to be starting yoga classes this week and returning to ballet a week from tomorrow because they had a holiday....I can't wait! Yoga will increase blood flow and promote a stress-less lifestyle, so looking forward to that as well! I am enjoying being at home with Matt every night rather than seeing him for maybe a half hour before I headed off to teach dance in the evenings. Being a wife is what I'm meant to do....being a mother is the next step! We are on our way to a healthier life and then potentially a healthy, robust newborn! (and two silly dachshunds!)

Anyway, back to Kirsten, I made my follow-up appointment for a week from Labor Day (tomorrow) so I can proudly show her my odd looking (but predictable to her) BBT chart with Congee dripping off my chin! Ha! Oh ya! She also gave me a bottle of "Floradix" which is an iron supplement....google it, it's quite the stuff! After this appointment she will probably prescribe an acupuncture action plan. She did want me to get the HSG test which will have to wait until I start my period (unless I'm pregnant) just so we make sure that I'm not blocking any eggs from getting to where they need to be. The Dr. that she shares a practice with is Dr. Arredondo, reproductive endocrinologist....he came highly recommended, BUT they don't take my stupid insurance!!!!!! If I want to be seen with this guy it's either $325 for the initial consultation or I have to wait until January when our insurance changes to Blue Cross Blue Shield (which they DO take). Meh! I've waited this long, what's another 3 months, right?

Well, I am very hopeful that this is the right path for us! I know that God is at work and He is always directing our steps to what He wants for us and our family. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for us next!

Oh ya, the piranhas? Ya, we were watching Animal Planet's show "River Monsters" and that was the episode that was on while I was blogging it out on the 'puter.

G'night y'all!

SJR

Any takers???

What would be a good caption for this photo??? All I can say is, LOL!!!!