finding the light

Its a Christmas Miracle....
(click here for my weird "miracle"...)

Magnus got his cone of shame off and his stitches are out.
I think this whole near death experience really opened his eyes.
He has found the light!

As the sunlight moves across the floor....

So does Magnus...
He literally follows the light all throughout the day.

He's so spiritual like that,
What a good boy.

1000.00 dollars later....

Just like the ziplock bag says...
This is Magnus' rock.

Because of that rock my dog looks like Little Bo Peep.

Oh Magnus.
Where to begin....
I will first start off by saying that I officially LOVE our dog.
It took me 2 months to say it out loud but its true
I LOVE him.
Now with that being said
DANG IT DOG!
The other day we were playing in the back yard having a fun ol' time.
Within 20 minutes he was extra cuddly and tired.
Within an hour of that the throwing up began.
ALL DAY!!!!
He wasn't eating or drinking.
Just puking.
So sad...So smelly.
He was miserable.
Just before closing I decided I better go see the vet.
They checked him for all sorts of things and did some Xrays.
With the Xray we found the problem...
THE ROCK!
The freakin dog ate a rock.
The vet sent us home with an anti vomiting shot
and in hopes he would pass the rock by morning.
No, not even close!
They did a follow up Xray to see if the rock had even moved over night.
again, not even close.
So surgery it was.
He came home hours after and cried all night...not fun.
He's back at the vet today for follow up evaluations and fluids and pain killers.
He will come home again tonight!
We have laughed at people who spend money for surgeries on animals...
We are eating our words.
1000.00 dollars later.
Gulp.
I hugged Romney and said
"Thanks for paying to save our dog"
"you're welcome"
Like he did me the favor....
Yeah right, Romney is in love too.

Travel bug....

It is that time of year again......you know, travel bug time.
We booked our next trip a few months ago as a "heart healing" method.
It's a good method I tell ya.
When our IVF cycle failed we said...
"okay where are we off to next"
and so....
DRUM ROLL PLEASE...........

I R E L A N D ! !

Top of the mornin to ya!
Spring can not come fast enough!!!

Stash-tober

I am so grateful October is over!
It was STASH-tober at the Fire Department.
One whole month of no shaving.
Yes it was embarrassing when the stranger at the store said
"oh is that your husband with the MUSTACHE?"
(gulp...with a half smile)
"yes he's my husband."

On November 1st that thing came off and I could finally kiss my honey again.

I felt extra sorry for the single guys who were tryin to meet some ladies with that!
Actually its hilarious.

two weeks of puppy...

Oh this dog!

Where to begin with my love/hate relationship with Magnus...
Magnus is part of my "just be" regiment. (click here for regiment)

Now with a new puppy comes some PROS and some CONS.
We have talked about a dog for about a year but we still were not prepared for puppyhood...

Pros and Cons:
pro: he sits on command
con: he likes to chew
pro: he is learning to lay down on command
con: he eats his poop
pro: he lays on his bed and lets you pet him all night
con: he doesnt sleep in
pro: he runs like a bunny
con: we cant be gone too long..gotta get home to let him go potty.
pro: His ears flop everywhere
PRO: we can still lift him when he refuses to go in his crate
con: he farts
pro: he pees where we want him to pee (95% of the time)
con: we have a Petco membership card
Pro: he has the softest white patch on his chest
con: we shop in the Pet isle now...gulp
Pro: he's lazy and sleeps a lot
con: he thinks he's a lapdog....um NO!
Pro: he has beautiful eyes
con: when he is wired- HE IS WIRED
pro: he doesnt cry at night
con: he thinks every towel is a rag toy
Pro: We hang out with a puppy all day
con: He slops water on my wood floors after he drinks... CRINGE
con:I get NOTHING done!
pro: My mind is completely occupied...

OH Magnus!!

Our new little friend.
Notice I said friend and NOT baby.
I promise we wont be the annoying dog owners that think our dog is a baby.
We wont be calling our parents "grandparents" etc...
I Promise.
He is a dog and we know that.
He is a lot of work though.
I swear all we do all day everyday is PUPPY.
I can not wait for him to get all his shots so he can get out more.
We all need some space around here.

new arrival....

Introducing our Great Dane: MAGNUS

and he's ADORABLE!

The Amazing Race!

We had a few fellow Amazing Race family lovers over for FHE the other night.
We really did get a lesson in before the chaos.
Post lesson was the DRAFT!
That's right, you heard it right!!!
OUR FIRST AMAZING RACE DRAFT!

Everyone pretty much liked their first pick....
The second pick???? Not so much
Some got lucky some did not!

(Thanks Scott for being our Vanna White)

These are the teams!!

Williamsons: Nick and Vicki (tattoos)
Thomas and Jill (cute dating )

Ellsworths: Brooke and Claire (watermelon in face girls)
Chad and Stephanie (tinkerbell and jerk)

Beaulieus: Connor and Jonathan (singers)
Nat and Kat (doctors)

Bagleys: Katie and Rachel (volleyball girls)
Gary and Mallory (beauty pageant girl)

Who are you voting for???

Renzo the Police Dog

(sorry for the small picture)

This is my brother Derek.
He is a police officer.
My brother is a giant.
He is 6 foot 6 inches.
With that height comes a giant personality.
He can make anyone laugh. He is so funny and can make any situation fun.
With a giant personality comes a giant heart too. And his giant heart aches today.
My brothers K-9 police dog, his partner, his buddy died last week.
Renzo became suddenly ill with the major heat wave we had here in Southern California.
Renzo was a good police dog!
He had 15 bites and $50K in drugs seized.
Renzo protected my brother and has saved his life more than once.
Renzo loved my brother and loved his family.
Renzo had one more year to work in the field before he would have to retire, but he didn't quite make it.
My brother loved Renzo, and his giant heart is having a hard time getting over this one.
And I don't blame him, it was his dog, partner and friend.
Derek I love you,
and I'm sorry I never would pet Renzo...I was just too scared.

click here to see a video Dereks friend made for him.

fall

Fall is here! Fall is here!
Though our air conditioner is on, it's still that time of year!!!

Now can we please talk about how fantastically ugly my Halloween lamp is?
Awesome find!
Awesome clearance!
Awesome hubby who had to fix thee awesome clearanced find!
HaPpY FaLL!

party

It isn't a successful family gathering if
a window doesn't break.

...So I pretty much think our gathering was a success...

cleaning

I have been doing a little cleaning

and a little organizing of the closet

and of the face.

My face: OUT OF CONTROL!
Every IVF cycle I break out bad!
BAD.
So it was time that I got back on my high school regiment...Clinique.
What do you use?
And do you swear by it?
...cause I'm loving Clinique...
I am sorry that I ever left you.

some people are just sweet.

Remember my friend Christy?
You know, she sent me the MAGIC ONESIE.
Well she is at it again.
She made me a little button for my fertility blog.
Around of Applause for Christy!!!
Thanks girl.
So now on my side bar you will find a button
with a big ol' face of mine which will link you
to our journey!

NEW BLOG

I have started another blog!
If I knew how to make a cute button to click on I would, but I can't.
So click on the link, and join me on the ride I took this summer.


http://findingfollicles.blogspot.com

Chicago

Greetings from the Windy City!!
Chicago is the COOLEST city...especially in the summer.
Having a sister who lives there allows to us to visit every season BUT summer wins every time!

We played on Navy Pier

We rode on the Ferris wheel

This was my FIRST time on a Ferris wheel!
I totally handled it like a pro.

It was also our FIRST time eating at
FOGO DE CHAO....

We rode bikes EVERYWHERE this trip!!
It was so fun to go pick up pizza on our bikes,

and ride through the city

and over the bridge to the zoo.

We went back to Navy Pier!
But this time it was so everyone could ride bikes, not ferris wheels.
These girls LOVED it!

We peddled to "taste of Chicago" and ate Chicagos' finest and drank lots of WATER.

and with all that biking we headed home to wash up

what a week!

Infertile fun friend

This is my friend Taylor.
We met when I was 10.
She moved away when I was 13.
Thanks to the blogging world we reconnected a few years ago.
I looked at her blog and wondered if she was infertile too.
I mean she is Mormon, married for 6 years, and has 2 dogs.
That screams INFERTILE.
I didn't dare ask her over the blog,
so I waited until we were friends on facebook to ask privately.
Low and behold:
ENDOMETRIOSIS!
She has scar tissue surrounding the outer part of her tubes.

We have seen each other a couple of times since our pen pal-ing over facebook
and things have not changed.
No awkward pauses or weird conversations, we're still the same. And dang it...
We're still FUN!

Taylor and her husband Darren came down and stayed with us for a couple of days. One late morning we woke up and all randomly agreed to go to Magic Mountain on a whim.

Romney talked me in to going to the scariest rides. All of which I kept my eyes closed breathing in my nose and out my mouth as calm as I could....YELLING
" I DONT LIKE THIS I DONT LIKE THIS I DONT LIKE THIS"
Oh the things I do for LOVE...

Taylor is so mysterious.....just like her tubes.
At least she is consistent.

The boys navigated us through the park.
There were a couple of rides us girls sat out on.
No thanks guys you go ahead...we'll be in the bathroom puking!

However, we LOVED the ride GOLIATH.
Favorite of the day for sure!!!

Taylor and I never had to worry about the "no expectant mothers" rule on these fun rides.
But one day we're going to be mothers, some how, some way!
and we're still going to be
FUN!
***Lets cheer Taylor on, she had to surgically remove a tube from her last IVF cycle. That darn embryo nuzzled into her tube not her uterus....stubborn little thing***

a little face lift...

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Were gettin there! slowly but surely...but were gettin there!

Berlin, Germany

When we started planning this trip Berlin, Germany was not high on my list. I just didn't have interest in going! Little did I know it would be my highlight. We learned so much and were able to experience a little history. I CANNOT even fathom what happened here just a few short years ago!

We fell in love with this Cathedral and this plaza. The dome is the prettiest I have ever seen. We stood admiring this beautiful building and just years ago stood thousands of NAZIS hailing to HITLER in this exact spot.

Berlin is a very new city because it was bombed and destroyed during WWII. However there are still old buildings like the cathedral that survived. If they survived their statues have missing limbs, and black charcoal is all over it.

We loved the old Berlin but also loved the new too! Like sitting here enjoying our Currywurst while listening to locals cheer on Germany during the World Cup!

**********

We were able to see Check Point Charlie

Go through the American Sector


See and touch the Berlin Wall.

We got kicked off the train(apparently our tickets were no good) in the middle of no where. So we waited on the one and only plat form for another train. But we did finally make it to the tiny town we were looking for...

This is what we were trying to get to!

RAVENSBURCK:

WOMENS and CHILDRENS CONCENTRATION CAMP.

It took us 20 minutes to walk from the train stop to the camp. Our walk was gorgeous, green and peaceful. The town was charming and the cobblestone was perfect.

We kept saying over and over how beautiful it was.

Even the outside of the camp was beautiful.

But just behind that building was horror! Pictures can not show what we witnessed and can not feel what we felt.

The bunkers are no longer there but you can still see the imprints in the gravel from all of them.

The shops were still in tact.

These shops were where the women reported to work everyday!

The prison cell.

Yes. You are seeing that correctly. This is where the women/children were burned.

I tried to imagine what these women/mothers were like. I tried to imagine what they were thinking about before they were led to the gas chamber and then burned here. They did nothing wrong yet were treated in the most horrible way.

It was very hard to picture the horrific scene when the surroundings were so gorgeous.

It was hard to believe that something so inhumane took place there! But it did. And it was all done for nothing! Millions of people lost there lives in Holocaust and my heart aches for every single one of them!

My heart was touched here at Ravensburck and I am thankful for the humbling experience.

This world travel was a great one and I am grateful to of had the opportunity to see more of the world!