crazy like whoa

While I'm sitting here watching my beloved Dawgs not playing so hot (hotly?)...let me share a few things.

First, a phone conversation that occurred last night between Matt and his uncle.

Matt: Hey, Uncle Danny! Do you want to come over and watch the game with us tomorrow?
Uncle Danny:Yeah! Hey...what kind of TV do yall have?
Matt: Um.... (here's a visual so you can see what Matt is thinking)



...our TV is you know...about32 inches, 700 pounds...the stuff mid-1990s dreams were made of, basically.
Uncle Danny: Oh...well, see, I just bought myself a new 52 inch flat-screen the other day, so I need to get rid of my 40-inch. How about I just bring it over when I come?
Matt: Yep, yep, I think that will work...

So...we got a new TV! As you may have guessed, we're not exactly the most technology-obsessed people...which is why we've never cared enough to spend money on a less-archaic TV. But who are we to turn down one for free?!?!
We got it set up just in time to watch the game. And now that I look at this picture, I notice that the TV isn't quite centered on the stand. I'll fix it, I promise!

Now for my next crazy story. Only actually it's not really crazy at all. I just wanted you guys to feel excited and hopeful and keep reading. Sorry if I got your hopes up too high.

Anyways.

This morning I faced a wardrobe crisis that probably a lot of other college football fans faced as well-- how can I dress today to both show support for my team AND be in the Halloween spirit?! I know, it was quite a daunting task...but I must say that in a stroke of sheer genius (and yes, I just initially spelled that phrase "shear genius" because I love that show on Bravo!!) I rose to the occasion and managed to put together the PERFECT outfit!

Perfect, right?? Red and dark gray shows support for the Dawgs, while the pirate seems to say "Happy Halloween to you!"...right? I was pretty proud of myself. Proud enough that I made Matt take a really lame picture of me posing all by myself...which felt just as lame as it looks. We tried to de-lame-ify the situation by getting Lola to pose with me. Here's how that went:
I was holding the treat hoping to trick her into staying still. Instead I tricked her into jumping all over me. Oh well. It's probably just that she was so in awe of my multi-tasking outfit she didn't know what to do with herself.

So other than dressing myself and hooking up a new TV...it's been a rather relaxing and semi-productive day. I'm looking forward to trick-or-treaters coming by tonight, watching more football, and working on getting our Christmas card designed! And finalizing our costumes for Costume Bowling tomorrow night...which means more pictures are to come, for sure!

Happy pre-Halloween!!

filing a complaint

Remember awhile back (okay, YIKES, it was over a year ago) when I wrote some rather complain-y blogs about Comcast and the terrible customer service I was receiving? And then remember how that random guy Mark Casem, whose job is apparently to troll the interwebz looking for people whining about Comcast, left a comment offering to help me with my problem? Well, trust me, I never took him up on it. I just left Comcast for DirecTV and haven't regretted it a minute since. But I've been whining about some stuff in my brain lately and I figured...why not write about it here, just in case someone who can do something about it happens by? So this is me taking official action and Filing a Few Complaints.

First of all...
Dear Any Giant Official Corporation in Any Way Affiliated with Dealing with Anything Related to my Recent Car Accident:
Please stop contacting me. Please stop sending me long confusing letters in the mail and please stop requesting me to send you stuff that I have no idea what you're talking about. I can't even write a legible SENTENCE here (and I am slightly grammar-snobby) because I am SO confused. Seriously. Just stop. I realize that everyone wants money from someone and while 3 companies have claimed they'll cover my medical bills, for some reason some company is still convinced they have not been paid and someone wants me to mail someone else some medical coding information so that it can be filed properly and PLEASE JUST STOP THE MADNESS. The only correspondence I would like to receive in the future is a check. A big fat one, made out to me. Because you know what? I got ran over by a truck. And don't you think for one minute I've let anyone forget about that. Mattie...I can't walk the dog...I got RAN OVER BY A TRUCK!!...and I need a milkshake....cause I got RAN OVER BY A TRUCK!!! OK, sorry, I digressed. But seriously. Just stop.
Love,
Erika

Secondly...
Dear Clomid:
First of all, thanks for all you do. I mean, not that you've personally paid off for me, but in general, I think you've been very helpful for couples struggling to conceive. And really, I don't want to be petty here, because I'll admit-- I've been pretty impressed with the lack of side effects. Lots of fertility meds are pretty brutal, so I appreciate that you aren't so much. But seriously-- is it COMPLETELY necessary that I break out like a 16 year old?? I mean, really?!?! Because trust me-- I remember the Acne Battle really well. I mean, I've been fighting it for like...the last 15 years...and only in like the past year have I even come close to winning. But you are really setting me back. It's disgusting and I don't appreciate it. I already feel like I'm a failure as a woman, not being able to bear children and all. Do I have to look like a failure too?
Thanks and I look forward to eating you again in the morning,
Erika

And lastly...
Dear Treadmill at the Gym:
You know, I'm all about keeping things real. But do we have to keep it that real? It's just that it's depressing when I work my butt off for half an hour and you have the nerve to tell me I only burned 250 calories. Um...there's no possible way. I mean, I consume more calories than that before I even eat breakfast each day. So do you really think I'm going to believe that all my hard work only results in burning a measly 250 calories?? I think not. I know you're lying. Just the way I know I'm lying about my weight on it, too. (Hey, you never know who's peeking over your shoulder to see you type in those numbers!) So that's how I've convinced myself that since I'm slightly underestimating my weight...perhaps you are slightly underestimating my calorie-burning. It's just a thought. So I see your 250 and I translate that to about 900. Just so you know.

Thanks,
Erika

new things

First of all-- wow. Thank yall so much for your outpouring of love and support on my last post. You really don't know how much all the comments, emails, and texts mean to me. I'm not gonna lie-- I read back through them all daily. Sometimes I find that when I completely lack strength and hope and prayer myself...just to know that other people still have those things can bring me back to having it myself. Does that make any sense? So thank you.

And for the record...I most certainly do not consider it "creepy" to blog-stalk. :) I consider it being a silent friend...haha. But it is really fun when you come out of the closet, so thanks for making my day by letting me know who you are!! You guys encourage me to come out on some of the (MANY) blogs I stalk daily...look what a beautiful kum-by-ya circle we have made! Haha.

Alright, so. The rest of my week got better, just as I'd hoped. Not better like "surprise!! turns out I AM pregnant!"...but you know, just a regular amount of better. We spent several fun evenings with family and friends, which just makes everything feel better. AND!!!! (Here's where "new things" comes in)....

Remember this??

The china cabinet we bought back in June and planned to re-finish? Well, friends, it's been a long and slow process. Although, come to think of it, it didn't have to be. It wasn't really that much work...it's just we like to take 3-week breaks in between doing any work. So whatever. BUT. Once the weather got cold (remember, "cold" means like...60), Matt wanted to re-claim his spot in the garage, so that encouraged him to finish the cabinet so it could move out of his way. And this week-- this is what we have!!

Isn't it pretty?? It took about a thousand coats of stain because it kept looking too RED. We wanted to darkest stain possible (but not black), going for an espresso color...but it was more like..magenta. And side note: this was not even cheap stain! For once we bought the best-quality of something! Anyway, a thousand coats later it was a much more suitable shade, although still a little on the red side. We moved it into our dining room on Tuesday, which has led to the dilemma of a lifetime: How on earth to arrange the furniture in there so it doesn't look weird. Feel free to come over and offer an opinion. Now, you will notice that it's only the bottom half of the china cabinet. We haven't even touched the hutch yet, and may not get around to it til spring. That's okay though. The bottom part (can we call it a buffet? or what?) gives us plenty of MUCH-needed storage space (hello, kitchen with no pantry) and a nice top to decorate...so when we do the hutch, that will be nice, but it'll probably be awhile. We can fit both cars AND the hutch in the garage at once, so it's not really a priority, ha.

OK, next fun topic: Pictures!! Last Sunday, Matt and I had a little photo shoot at a park with our friend Diana. You may remember that a few blogs ago I mentioned we were trying to find a picture suitable for our Christmas card. I actually had TWO people (who are REAL photographers) volunteer to take our pictures!! So we met with Diana on Sunday and had a blast. (And we'll probably take Kristina up on her offer, too, at Thanksgiving!) I'll confess something: I LOVE having my picture taken. Call me vain, but I think it is so much fun. Maybe in my next life I will be a supermodel.

I've only seen a tiny sampling of the photos yet, but here are a few of my favorites (that probably WON'T be The Christmas Card...you will have to hold your breath for that one!):



Anyway, we had a lot of fun. If you are ever looking for a model for your photo shoot, please feel free to contact me. As you can see, I'm very professional.

And finally, another new thing: The Couch-to-5k program. I have decided to set a goal for myself, which is to be able to run a 5k. Don't get me wrong-- I've participated in 3 or 4 5ks over the last few years. But "participate" does not equal "run"! So since I've been working out for almost a year, I figure I can probably start trying to see if it's paid off. I have high hopes that I will be able to do this program, since I'm not exactly a couch potato...I DO work out regularly. I just don't run. (Unless you count the elliptical as running). This program takes 8 weeks, so that means I should be able to do the 5k by my birthday!! I am excited. I like having a goal, and I think this one is manageable. Except that I will probably eventually have to run outside, which I do not like. I like air conditioning and TVs and people watching. And seeing how many calories I've burned. I'm sort-of a princess when it comes to working out, I guess.

Well, enough of this Saturday has been spent in front of the computer. Time to enjoy the weather and the TV and do my first 5k-training workout!! Wish me luck, I think it involves running for like 30 consecutive seconds...

not this time

And...I'm out. Out of the "maybe I'll get pregnant this month!!!!" game. Again.

And again.

And again.

I feel like a broken record.

Emphasis on broken.

Also emphasis on record. As in...have I set some kind of world record for REALLYREALLY wanting to get pregnant and perpetually failing?

I know I haven't (yet). People do this for YEARS AND YEARS. Way more than my current (almost) two years. So...isn't that incredibly NOT encouraging?? I could still be doing this two years from now? Ha, right. We all know I won't be doing this two years from now. By then I will have just up and kidnapped a baby while shopping at Target and will be serving cold hard time in a penitentiary somewhere.

So...I don't really know what to say. I've been avoiding writing this blog because I feel like as long as I don't write it...maybe there's still hope, maybe it's not really true, maybe I'll wake up and my life will be totally different. Maybe we won't be broken and maybe our doctors will think there's some hope for us and maybe God will feel like being nice to us.

Well, a girl can dream.

I don't know what we're going to do this cycle. I am totally burned out on infertility treatments. I'm sick of it. And since our doctors told us last month that they really don't think there's any hope for us short of IVF...and so far they've been right...it just doesn't make me feel like spending a lot of time and emotional energy and money on another probably-pointless cycle of drugs and IUIs.

I don't know if not doing treatments will be any easier, emotionally, though. You know? It's like...will I feel better by not doing everything possible to get pregnant? I don't know. Sure, I hate going to the doctor so often for check ups and shots and ultrasounds and IUIs and whatever else, especially when I feel like (and my feelings have been completely correct up to this point) I'm throwing our hard-earned (and quickly fading) money away...but at least I feel like I'm doing something. If we take the no-assisted- reproductive- technology route this month, we have about a 100% chance of not getting pregnant again. We'd be banking on a miracle. And lately, to me, it just hasn't seemed like God's feeling too generous with the miracles.

If you need some inspiration and spiritual uplifting and optimism...I'm not your girl today. Try back next week. Sorry.

So...advice, thoughts, comments, prayers, cold hard cash...all of these I will gladly accept. Oh, and if you have a cute baby lying around that you'd like to get rid of...I promise I will be a good mommy. Call me.

a disturbing tale and a conversation

In that order.

This afternoon, after I got home from work, I (in this order): changed into my workout clothes, walked Lola, and played with her in the backyard for a few minutes. As I walked back inside, Matt- who just arrived home- was walking behind me.

Hey, what's on your leg?

Nothi---oh, wait. Covering the lower third of my yoga pants leg was something mushy and yellowish brown and runny and smelling distinctly of dog food.

Dog barf.

Awesome.

So like any good citizen, rather than changing clothes, which would have required having another pair of clean workout pants to change into...I dabbed the vomit off with a paper towel and headed to the gym.

Dear Fellow Gym Patrons: Please ignore the strange odor emanating from my elliptical. It's just that I'm probably the laziest person you've ever met and I'm sorry you have to suffer as a result. Love, me.


And now that I have you wondering why you're even friends with me...I will remind you. A story from school today.

The scene: It's breakfast. The table has been chatting about upcoming Halloween costume plans. Not surprisingly, this mostly consists of comic-book-superheroes and Disney Princess characters. The little boy next to me thoughtfully looks to engage me in the conversation...

Him: Mrs. B, what are you going to be for Halloween?

Me: Oh! Ummm....[scrambling, cause I have no idea here]...I think maybe a princess.

Him: Yeah! You could be a princess. Or....a queen!! You can be a queen, Mrs. B!!

Me: [flattered]...Yeah!! I definitely might be a queen. Great idea.

Him: ...OR...you could be Batman!

Me: Wow!! I could be Batman??!

Him: [pondering]....well...you could be Batman's girlfriend.

crafty dreams

I used to loathe craftiness. I'm just not very artistic. I can't draw a stick person to save my life. It was easier to just develop a deep hatred for all things crafty than to admit that I just wasn't good at something. In college, I professed (and truly believed) that Michael's and Hobby Lobby were my idea of hell. I was very anti-crafty.

But in the past few years, I must admit I've felt a change coming over me. Maybe it was planning a wedding. I remember after we got engaged, I had this sudden burning desire to make a scrapbook. A scrapbook! Me, of all people! I mean, scrapbooks involve frou-frou paper, glue, and like...paint pens. And stickers. Oh Lord, not stickers. I barely knew what was coming over me as I threw all that stuff in my cart at Target (still too scared to enter Michael's). Man I loved making that scrapbook...for about 5 pages. (PS- Haven't made another one since)

In the years since, I've dabbled in the crafts. I messed around with Matt's paints once when he had them out. (It looked like a 3-year-old did it and I definitely hung it on the wall) I bought a beautiful set of markers. I bought a needle and some thread, thinking I could learn to sew. I used my old scrapbooking stuff to make personalized Mother's Day Cards this year-- that was actually a hit.

I have crafty aspirations. They don't usually come to fruition.

[Side note: I just looked back at the blog post I linked to in the above paragraph-- I gave almost the EXACT SAME explanation of my crafting history in that post-- am I consistent or WHAT?! And no, I'm not going to delete everything I just wrote. Those are my WORDS, man! From my heart!]

Anyway. I do love decorating. It's different from crafting, but sometimes the lines can get blurry. On Sunday, it suddenly occurred to me that I should create some new artwork for the house. After a bit of trial and error, I decided to cut (okay, get Matt to cut) a big square off of this old piece of wood we pulled off the china cabinet we're renovating. Then I snipped off a couple of random branches of leaves from some trees weeds in the back woods. Then I grabbed this random can of spray paint one of my co-workers gave me Friday as she cleaned out her office ("hey, do you want this spray paint?" "umm....suuure...???"). About fifty thousand thumbtacks later (because EVERY SINGLE LEAF had to be tacked down in multiple places or else it would fly up and get spray paint underneath it), I had my masterpiece:

It's random and really imperfect (we'll call it "rustic"), but I like it! The wood grain shows through the paint and the edges are all really rough (since the only saw we had was a hand saw) but I actually think it looks pretty cool...and best of all, it was completely free. Of course, I have no way to actually hang it...I'll have to wait for another wave of craftiness to wash over me and help me devise a plan for that. But I can guarantee you the plan will involve dental floss and duct tape, my main home renovation Big Guns.

Anyway, on my lunch break today I found myself drooling over some of the crafty ideas on this webpage... most especially these absolutely FABULOUS pumpkins!

Which are practically to DIE for, if you ask me. And guess what-- that ribbony stuff isn't even RIBBON-- it's this completely magical TAPE that someone brilliant invented and I obviously need. I spent the rest of my lunch break drooling over all the varieties that the tape comes in and picturing how I'd use each one and rehearsing the speech I will give to Mattie wherein I convince him that $40 tape is actually a necessity worth budgeting for.

I'll let you know how that goes.

In the event it doesn't go so well, may I just take this opportunity to remind you all that my birthday is right around the corner? Just FYI.

10-10-10

I know, not a very original title. But seriously-- how often do you get to write 10-10-10?? I submit to you...not very often. In fact, the ONE TIME I had a chance to (physically) write it today, while writing a check, I messed up and thought it was the 11th. So...here I'm trying to make up for my earlier shortcomings.

Plus, as luck would have it, I'm stuck waiting another hour for Amazing Race to actually start. It seems to always get pushed back since football lasts longer than they think it will, and then they still feel the need to air 60 Minutes...although...seriously, is anyone watching that show?? I'm thinking not.

So this is me killing time. And writing 10-10-10.

This just in: I was sitting in the guest room/office to write this blog. Matt was watching some sport and I am sportsed-out. But then I heard the familiar sounds of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and I said "Mattie, what are you watching??" He answered "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" like that was totally normal. So I came in here to join him. I don't know why he's watching it, but I will not question it. It's obviously an improvement over sports!

Anyway...so I was checking out my Google Analytics today. I think it's time to share some of the fun and funny discoveries.

First of all...let me introduce some of you guys to the idea of a "bookmark." It will save you some time. I get that you may not want to actually "follow" me or something, or maybe you don't know how, but...it is pretty funny that you actually Google "erkia b**** athens vineyard". Ok, but you do type out my last name. And you do misspell my first name. EVERY TIME!!! ALMOST EVERY DAY! It's hilarious. So, let's just be friends, okay? You obviously know me. Ditto to the people who come here every day by Googling "mattyerika" and "mattyerika blogspot". I mean...by the time you typed all that, you may as well have just typed the dot com and been done with it!

Okay, now let's just move on to the funny ones. How about...

* "erika body paint contest winner/atlanta". Yup, that's obviously me.
*"how to make a baby." Well...it was the title of a recent post...but I'm afraid whoever came here looking for that probably didn't find what they were looking for.
*"i need to find a new way to waste my life." Um...really? Who Googles stuff like that?! I hope spending 10 minutes here was a sufficient waste of their time.
*"something beautiful i could say to my daughter" Now that's just sweet. I bet it was a lonely man in his 40s or something who has a strained relationship with his teen or 20-something daughter. But that's just my guess.

How's this for cool: Since August 1, I've had visitors from 21 countries!!! That's awesome, especially since I probably couldn't even name 21 countries. ::long pause:: OK, maybe I could. But still. I think it's cool. And I still wonder...if you read this blog in another country...is it still in English? I'm always confused about stuff like that.

Well, I think I've wasted sufficient time regaling yall with riveting stories of Google Analytics. Time to take a shower and then maybe Amazing Race will finally be on! And then bed...because unlike some lucky people (aka my husband)...I actually don't get to celebrate Columbus Day tomorrow. I have to work. BOO!

PS. If any of you are feeling like you want to de-lurk yourselves (that means, tell me who you are and that you read)...feel free! I promise I really do not judge you for your Google-ing ways. I do it too. Frequently.

three??!

Haha, tricked you. You thought I was referring to babies or something, didn't ya?? You must think I have a one track mind.

Maybe I do.

But tonight I'm talking about recipes.

I used three new recipes this week-- what what! I'm not sure what came over me. I haven't felt like cooking in months. And then all of a sudden...three times in a week??On Tuesday night I made Party Chicken. It was the "Apron Simple Meal" recipe that came in the weekly Publix ad thing. I looked at it and lo and behold, I already had every single ingredient the recipe called for. One point for couponing!!! Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I did not actually have the can of cream of chicken. I had, for some reason, cream of celery. But I was planning to just use that because seriously...whatevs. But then my neighbor walked over and we were chatting and I happened to ask if she had a spare can of cream of chicken and she did so whatever, I used the real thing. Anyway, the Party Chicken was delicious.On Thursday night I made Southwestern Bean Chowder. This recipe I'd flagged a few months ago in a Taste of Home magazine, but I just now got around to buying the stuff to make it. Also, I wanted to wait until it wasn't 389291 degrees outside...for some reason, I don't really enjoy soup in that kind of weather. Maybe it's just me. Anyway, this chowder turned out really good and it wasn't too hard either. And the leftovers are plentiful and delicious. So, A+ for this one.

Finally, this evening I made a Pecan Sweet Potato Salad. It's from the same Taste of Home magazine as the bean chowder, but for some reason I can't find the recipe or a picture of it online, so you won't be able to see how it seduced me into making it. I haven't actually eaten it yet (other than a few taste-tests) because it needed to chill overnight. It's basically a potato salad, only using sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. I'm pretty excited to eat it up tomorrow. Hopefully it will distract me from the less-than-stellar football.

So anyway...just wanted to brag about all my Susie Homemaker skillz this week. If you have any good recipes, I think you should share...I need some good ideas!

Also, I must confess that the Homemaker Skillz aren't permeating the rest of my life. I may have cooked actual food this week, but I literally fear for my life when I get in our shower. I swear that thing hasn't been cleaned in months. I always mean to clean it...but then I forget about it. Until the next time I take a shower. Oops. Truly, there are few things I loathe more than scrubbing the shower.

Anyway. Time to wrap this party up so I can get some sleep so I can get up and eat sweet potato salad! Yay for weekend!

how to make a baby

It used to seem so simple, right?? Haha. Little did you know. I've heard (through the infertility grapevine) that there are actually a ton of children's books now that cover all the "alternate" ways that babies are made. You know...explaining how mommy and daddy adopted you as an embryo, or how you grew in someone else's tummy. I can't wait to see which of those books I get to pick out for my kid. I hope it's super awkward. Ha!

Anyway. In case you hadn't figured it out, here's my Monthly Infertility Recap. Feel free to not read if you don't want to know some nitty-gritty details. (The reason I want to write everything down here is not only so that I can keep straight what I did and when, but because I find it extremely helpful to look at other girls' blogs (about infertility) and see what protocols they follow)

In summary: today was my IUI. It went much better than last time!

This month I did the 50mg Clomid on days 5-9. As I already mentioned, I didn't notice many side effects, which is apparently fine. I had a follicle study ultrasound on Monday. It was AWESOME! It was my first ultrasound and I can truly say it did not disappoint. Even though there wasn't a cute baby to be looking at...it was exciting enough to see all my little follicles growing and getting ready to release eggs upon ovulation! Anyway, in case you're not all in the know about follicles and how they turn into babies (haha)...follicles grow at a rate of about 2mm per day. They need to be 20mm in order to release an egg. Once you ovulate, the follicle releases the egg. Normally your body grows several follicles every month, but only one will grow big enough to release an egg upon ovulation. The others are re-absorbed. Clomid stimulates you so that you make more follicles and hopefully get more eggs. So on Monday, I had one follicle that was 24mm (so, already ready), one that was 18, one 17, and then several in the 13ish range. So they basically consider that two, potentially three eggs that will be released, just depending on how much those other follicles grew before I ovulated. Oh, and the follicles were on both sides, which is extra good. My endometrium was the perfect thickness and everything else looked normal (I had 1 cyst, which is pretty normal).My doctors said this study looked great, my body did exactly what it was supposed to, and they felt very encouraged that it would help us out a lot this round if I have extra eggs.

Tuesday I went for a HCG trigger shot (in the booty, ow!). Even though I ovulate on my own, they wanted to trigger me so that they'd know exactly when I'd ovulate so they can time the IUI better. Also, since my follicles looked so good, they wanted to go ahead and have me ovulate so we can catch them in their prime. You don't want them getting too big, apparently that's not as good as catching them in the 20mm range.

So today we did the IUI at 9am. You may recall that last month we were only able to get one sperm. And that they weren't even able to get past my cervix. So basically, it sucked!

Today they were able to see FIVE viable sperm (WAHOOOOO!!!!) AND the doctor was able to work with my punk-ass cervix and get it to submit to her tools! Meaning, they were able to successfully complete the IUI WITH a much better sperm-wash!!! Um, can I get a halleluia?! I was so excited. Also I was in so much pain, but that is completely beside the point. Every time I'm there and they're getting all up in my business and causing me pain, I try to remind myself that this is nothing compared to childbirth...and that is the goal...so man up, Erika!!

So anyway. It looks like the whole cycle went as good as it could have. I'm just laying here praying that at least one of those 5 spermies is a good enough swimmer to find one of my (maybe THREE??) eggs...and THEN...there could be a baby! Or...three! Um, but probably just one. :)

with a bang

I would have to say that October has started off with a bang. First of all, the weather is delicious. It's hard to believe we went straight from tank tops to scarves and boots in a week flat...but I'm definitely enjoying the scarves and boots. And I always look forward to the month or so of cheaper power bills...you know, when the weather is kind enough that you can go without AC or running the heat...well, that just makes the budget smile. And our budget needs all the smiles it can get, trust me.

We went to Augusta last weekend and had such a good time. My dad and mom each had a goal to accomplish with us for the weekend. It's been my dad's mission to get me to watch Avatar with him...since apparently Matt and I are the only humans left on earth who hadn't seen Avatar. Sorry, we don't get out much. Anyway, approximately 15 minutes after we arrived in Augusta, we were all plopped down in the living room settling in for the long haul. I don't watch many movies these days...they're just too long. My attention span is about 44 minutes long (the amount of actual "show" there is in a one-hour TV show)...so movies just do me in. And Avatar is like 4 hours long or something. Ummm..recipe for disaster. Or sleep. Either way. Anyway, I managed to stay awake for almost the whole thing (fell asleep for about 30 minutes 2/3 of the way through) and I thought it was great. So...glad I could join the rest of the culture, even if it is a year late.

With Mom, it was all about the Wedding Preparation. And first and foremost was Shopping. Mom needed her Mother of the Bride dress, I needed my Maid of Honor dress, Mom needed jewelry, shoes, and everything else...so we were at the mall on Saturday BEFORE IT OPENED. Well, it was technically open...for mall walkers. And us. So, yeah.

Anyway, we were highly successful, finding everything we wanted and needed very quickly. I actually got a GREAT deal on my dress (the 4 bridesmaids are just wearing long black dresses...whatever we like and whatever "makes you feel fabulous" were the directives from the bride). I was NOT excited about purchasing a full-length black dress...something about it just screams boring to my head...but I actually found one I really really liked (it's tiered/ ruffled...all the way down...and sparkly...and Calvin Klein...and probably mis-sized, because the size is so small it practically made me giddy to see the tag, but it DEFINITELY sealed the deal!) and I got an AWESOME deal on it! We're talking: originally $250, marked down multiple times to be $75, which is what I thought it would be...but when I checked out, found out it was 40% off of THAT, making it...practically free. Basically. So that was thrilling and meant that I had money left over to go a little nutty at Forever 21...let's just say I have all the accessories my heart has ever desired now. Well, not all. But my birthday is just around the corner...

Once we got home we (and by "we" I mean I) got the invitations addressed and ready to mail. That was the other goal for the weekend. And we watched some crappy football. That was the low point, for sure.

So the weekend was a great success. Sunday morning we had time for a few pictures...I'm trying to get a good one so I can get our Christmas cards made! But I don't think any of these are going to be it...but they're still not bad.




Me and my mama. And my new necklace.

Sunday afternoon we celebrated the birthday of my favorite one-year-old. Please note the sparkly headband and earrings. Hudson likes sparkly things. So do I. Thanks, Forever 21!



And that brings us to this week, which could actually be called Week of the Doctor's Office. I feel like I've been living there. Actually, since this post is already getting long, I think I may just make it a separate post.

With that said...Happy October!