Winter in the Country...

So many pretty photos this year of all the snow we have had! The most snow MD has seen in over 100 years and it's only the middle of February..oh and it's snowing right now! I just wanted to post some of what it looks like here for winter in the country...enjoy!!

Ski Trip to Wisp Resort

Here it goes...

About 45 inches of snow (it's still snowing right now)...two days without water...10 days without Internet connection...home from work for almost two weeks...AND LOTS of photos now to upload on here!

I will start with the ski trip and work my way to today..

So here's is the Ski Trip. Tim and I were planning this trip for the past month, looking at all the resorts we could get a good deal at still not take more then two days off of work. After careful review we were headed to Wisp Resort in Deep Creek Lake, MD. I had never been there but I have heard really great things about it so we thought what the heck, let's give it a try. We woke up bright and early on Thursday morning and left the house around 4:10am..made it to Cumberland where we picked up our vouchers for 60% off lift tickets for the day, got some breakfast and kept trucking. $45.00 and then $36.00 for rentals (for Tim) but with the voucher you can get at participating McDonald's, the lift ticket for myself was $21.00 and for Tim with rentals was $36.00. Skiing is an expensive sport and these were great prices, which was one of the main reasons why we picked Wisp!! We expected it to take us longer than it did, but it didn't and we were the very first car in the parking lot.

We drove around a little and looked around, took some pictures, got ready and we were on the slopes right when they opened at 9:00am.

I had finally convinced Tim to take a lesson..he has been so against it but when I was little my parents always stuck my sister and I in private lessons and it really taught us how to ski the right way, so I really wanted Tim to learn the proper techniques too but he just wasn't having it. But finally I convinced him. We paid for a group lesson and since it was a Thursday I figured there might not be anyone else and boy was I right...we paid $35.00 for a group lesson and got a private lesson, which would have cost $85.00! Woohh whhhoo, another great deal!

Tim learned so much from his lesson and really listened to the instructor to learn the proper techniques and all and he improved so, so, so much!! I was so proud of him!! He completely was hooked on lessons and said he would take one every time if I thought he needed it! We both actually found what the instructor said interesting...the ski's are really changing and even the way I learned when I was little is now not the way I should be skiing...old habits are hard to change, so it might be me needing more lessons in the future!

Some of you know that I have had very, I mean VERY bad luck with my ski boots since forever and had them professionally re-done twice now and nothing seems to work! My feet go numb instantly after the first run and it just plainly sucks! I paid good money for them (well technically I guess my parent's did) but I want to try to work on them to get them right but I am not having any luck! We will see what I am gong to do, I still haven't decided if I want to go ahead and get new ones or not..but since we are already planning to go to Steamboat next year for a week, I think I will be going to lots of ski sales this spring!

So anyway, we had a great day of skiing! There was no one around all day! Sometimes we would stop and just listen...it was so quiet! I loved it! We then decided to stop around 4:00pm and go to the pool/hot tub, which was a great decision!

It was followed by a GREAT dinner at the Wisp restaurant, DC's. We got Cesar salads, crab cakes with crab imperial sauce (me), chicken wellington (Tim) and two great deserts. Great waitress and great atmosphere!!

We headed back to the room and opened up our blinds and found an AWESOME view! We were on the 2nd floor, which was actually level with the slope and we were at the bottom of a very large double-black-diamond so watching people ski down the slope was so amusing! Tim and I laughed so hard at all the wipe-outs. People kept waving to us sitting there watching them...we just laughed and waved back! We watched people all night and it was just great...better then any movie!!

Another great thing about this resort was the Bath and Body Works products that they give out! Who does this? Ahh, I loved it though!

On another note, my sister had been really sick for over a week...in and out of the hospital, and Thursday night she was back at the hospital which really put a damper on our evening. We were so worried about her because we knew the tests that she was going to have to have this time around, mostly a spinal tap. My parents and Christine were there all night long and my sister was SO brave! She did so good but they still didn't find out what was wrong with her. They thought for sure that she had meningitis but it wasn't, then they said she most likely had Hepatitis A because her liver enzymes were so high but then said no. Her mono test came back and was positive so as of right now it was mono but I don't believe that because she didn't have any of the symptoms. She is much better now and really turned the corner after 2.5 weeks with a high fever. I am so happy that she is feeling better but it really made us worry that night and early Friday morning.

We knew that the BIG snow storm was approaching and we were very worried about that too, especially since Christine was at the hospital. We had already paid for skiing through our hotel accommodations so we really didn't want to leave early, since we were planning on skiing all day. We got up around 6:00am so we could get an update on Christine and see if we could get a snow-check but no such luck. Since we got such a great deal on the room ($118.00) with lift tickets for all day Friday, they couldn't really reimburse us, which honestly was ok with us. We just wanted to ski!!!! We went to breakfast and by the time we came back to the room, the snow had already started...at 7:30am! By 9am...the blizzard was going strong. Tim really started to freak out and thought we should leave, since we had a lot of mountains to go over and I was well, less supportive of that idea. I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE! Even though I knew it was the right thing to do and the smart decision..it still sucked!! We had planned this ski trip, took two days off and then we barely got 8 hours of skiing...that was just not ok with me!

But we did the right thing and I pouted to the car while people ventured to the slopes! Ugh, I was not happy and continued to pout over the snow covered mountainous roads. We stopped at Park N Dine....a little food dive in Hancock, MD that has great fried chicken and homemade vegetable soup and got it all to go! That was the only thing that was going to make me a little bit happy. We made it home by 1pm and the snow was really setting in!

Here's to the next post...SNOW...SNOW...SNOW....

M I A . . . .

I know, I know...where have I been...let me tell you...

Away at Wisp Resort to ski (that was cut short due to the impending 30 inches of snow that came)...stuck in the house since Friday with No Internet, NO water, the power flickering constantly and a very cranky husband that had to shovel 30 inches of snow at our house and then go to my parent's house and do the same! Ugh...today I cam into work for a few hours and I the first thing on my agenda was to update the blog! LOL, priorities I tell ya! Today through tomorrow we are supposed to get another, YES, another 15-24 inches of snow!! I cannot believe this, really, it is so amazing! Maryland has NEVER seen this much snow since like the mid-1800's!! I love it but with roofs caving in and the extensive power outages...this new storm is bringing very high winds and more intense blizzard conditions...it's not going to be good!

I will post pictures of the snow and our trip when my internet is back up. For now this is all I got! Wish us luck!!

Cats Like Broccoli???

Since when did cats like broccoli?? Yesterday night, Tim and I were eating dinner and we turned around and apparently Tobie felt left out and decided to help himself to some broccoli that we had left in a bowl on the counter!

He is crazy cat. I had to grab my NEW camera and start snapping photos!

He would "paw" it around..

Here he is acting like he wants nothing to do with it...but really just wants to attack it!

And now..."No Charlie, it's MY broccoli!!"

Jumping on it and attacking it...Oh Tobie!

He is such a sweet boy...who loves broccoli! I hope our "real" children like green veggies as much as our fur-kids!

Date Night

Tonight is Date Night...

Even though I woke up this morning feeling fine, I began sneezing the minute I walked out of the front door and have not stopped! My eyes are watering, my nose is running and I am sneezing like crazy! Not fair since I felt completely fine a few hours ago. I can tell it is getting worse too, the pressure in the front of my head is building. Lovely...a sinus infection.

But tonight is date night and it must go on. Tonight we have planned an errand type of date night...but to be honest, those are the best kind because they leave me with a feeling of accomplishment.

First on the agenda is stopping by Ann Taylor LOFT. I have a coupon that expires tomorrow and I must engage its use! Hopefully Tim will not complain much as I have already told him that we are going here.

Second will be Target...dog and cat food and cat liter, along with some personal products.

Third, Kohl's..I have a gift card and a coupon and I want to get a new front door mat and rug for the foyer.

Fourth...and what I am looking forward to the most is going to Best Buy to get a new camera!! I am so excited! We are looking at the Nikon d3000 or d5000. I CANNOT wait to get it and go to town with it!

And then dinner...at our favorite Italian place in Frederick...Il Forno...which if I have my camera I will be taking my first pictures here during dinner, which I am sure will annoy Tim so much! :)

Then I think we will go over to Under The Sun to see if they have any ski stuff on sale yet! We are SOOOO looking forward to our ski trip next week/weekend, so we'll go over there and browse around see if there's just anything we must have.

Should be a fun night, any time spent with my husband, just the two of us is always a fun time. I always look forward to our date nights.

Wedding Gallery Canvas Wrap Finally Here!

I just wanted to share with everyone that we finally received our beautiful gallery canvas wrap our of favorite wedding photo! We haven't decided where to put it yet so thus the reason it is on top of the mantle right now. We are going to order a few others in a smaller size from our engagement shoot too but I just wanted to share this with everyone since we love it so much.

30 Day Shred....Can we make it?

Well here I am again...trying to force myself into exercising, when really all I want to do when I get home is curl up on the couch with Tim and our babies, but I have somehow convinced myself that exercising will help our fertility. I mean...it can't hurt right?! I might as well try anything and everything I can think of.

I have always been a thin person (sorry...probably just genetics) and luckily Tim has been too. We joke that our children are going to be "jolly green-giants" because we are so tall and skinny. However, since I have met Tim, he has continuously gained weight. I tell myself this is because of my good cooking but really it's more of his shear laziness. Not to say that he doesn't work hard at plenty of things and really who am I to talk, because he would say I am the Queen of Naps, but Tim gaining 50 pounds in 2 years is unacceptable! I have lost almost 20 pounds in the past 10 months after the wedding, and have always eaten healthy but Tim loves mac and cheese and therefore is tummy isn't quite the way it was when we first met! So that brings us to where we are...

Each night we have a date with Jillian Micheals.

Some of you might know her from Biggest Loser...she is the in-your-face, let-me-scream-a-little-louder, make-you-cry trainer that gets 500 pound people in shape quick! Biggest Loser is such a good motivating show, I'm in no way anywhere near the shape the people on the show are in, but if they can do it, so can I!! My friend, Kristin, first introduced me to one of Jillian's DVD's called 'The 30 Day Shred' and I was hooked! It has 3 levels of intensity and works cardio, abs and strenght for about 26.55 minutes! Yes, I stare at the DVD timer as it's going, so I know exactly when it's over! I like that she really motivates you throughout the video, saying things like, "I have 400 pound people that can do jumping jacks..so can you"...I'm like YES I CAN!! But Tim tried it with me once and he couldn't make it passed 6 minutes...he kept saying, "slow down Jillian"!...it was so funny! But this time, I begged and begged Tim to do it with me for 30 days straight and so far so good! He does cheat a little and doesn't put as much effort into it at times as I do, but he's getting his blood pumping and that's what matters!

Currently, today is day 4...we have a long way to go!

Romantic Weekend at our cabin!

This past weekend Tim and I ventured up to our cabin in Berkley Springs, WV. We both had a plan for the weekend: Tim was to cut as much firewood as he possibly could to pack in the car to bring home to our house made of straw and to pack the rest on the porch of the cabin for the wood stove and I was going to read by the fire all weekend. We both succeeded! It was such a nice weekend, just the two of us...well, and the pooch! Audrey had so much fun running in the snowy woods and helping her daddy look for squirrels to shoot. While the two of them were outside, it gave me a chance to clean up and organize around the house. We are so blessed that my dad built such a lovely place for our family! The memories that we have shared in the past and continue to share there are so close to my heart. I never want to leave!

E. coli And Other Bacteria Found In Soda Fountain Drinks | WUSA9.com | Washington, DC |

This is really interesting...however, what don't we use or consume that could sometime potentially harm us? Still interesting...what do you think?




E. coli And Other Bacteria Found In Soda Fountain Drinks WUSA9.com Washington, DC

My life while trying to conceive!

Infertility may be the most difficult time of not only a womans's life but her partner's also, in every way, spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically and mentally. Here are just a few things Tim and I cam up with last night when I was on a rampage of a pissed off nature!

What Nobody Told You About Trying to Conceive...

That unprotected sex doesn't necessarily lead to pregnancy.

That your sex life would start to resemble a science experiment.

That you would see your OBGYN/RE more often than your husband at O time.

That the longer you TTC, the more PG women spring up around you.

That when you see a 15 yer old in the mall with her infant, you want to secretly take her out and steal her baby because you know that you could do a much better job raising that baby then she could ever do! And how could God give her a baby and not me???

That deep down inside, I can be a very jealous person.

That I would know more about the female reproductive system and menstrual cycle than most of the doctors I go to.

That living your life in 2 week increments would be the norm!!!!

That you never knew how much you wanted to see those 2 pink lines......until only one shows up every month!

That simply relaxing will NOT get you pregnant and you HATE when people tell you this!

That you have no control over some of the goals you set...no matter how hard you pray!

That wishing really hard for something doesn't make it happen, and staring at your chart doesn't make it change!

That one day my husband would know so much about how my uterus functions and what it looks like from the inside (thanks HSGs).

That a pregnancy doesn't always equal a baby.

That miscarriage is so common and way more common than people think.

That my friends' pregnancies would start to make me sad instead of happy, bringing out a person that I don't like to be.

That I wasted ALOT of money on Birth control pills for WAY too long!!

That I would EVER be willing to stick a little yellow pill up my hoo-haa (progesterone pill...done vaginally), or that I'd EVER be willing to stab myself in the stomach or @ss every day in the hopes that it will help get me PG.

That it wouldn't happen the first time you didn't use birth control like we were led to believe in school.

That you wouldn't know how important a baby was to you until it took so long and you realized what you were willing to go through to make it happen.

That my husband is the most wonderful and caring man and way more patient then me!

That it is insensitive to ask people when they are having a baby!

That women who do get pregnant are so very blessed!

That I would be happy to see abundant cervial fluid and tell my husband about it.

That other people's "good news" of pregnancy makes me sad and when they tell me they have good news, I hope that they just saved a bunch of money on car insurance by switching to Geico.

That medicine and procedures are not a sure way to get pregnant but it is a sure way to lose money fast.

That had I bought stock in Clearblue Easy I'd have my house in Aruba by now.

That docs should prescribe Zoloft with Clomid!!!!!!!

That having flo show up makes you cry, no matter where you are.

That it does not get easier, each cycle is harder than the last.

Feeling like you wish your life away in 2 week increments.

That I wouldn't want to hold or see someone's baby because it just hurts way too much.

That a group of "strangers" who I will probably never meet, have now become my "best friends" when it comes to ttc.

That infertility is more common than you think.

That one day all of this will make us stronger.

That there is sometimes darkness (infertility) before the light (a baby).

That no one I know (besides God) would have any understanding as to how I feel.

That my temper and patience are much shorter than I ever thought.

That my faith in God would be tested heavily.

That I would make so many new, wonderful friends who totally get how I feel because we all suffer from the same affliction of infertility.

That I am very bitter towards unmarried accidental pgcys, and slightly bitter towards married accidental pgcys.

That there is nothing to aid conception in the water at work, despite what some may say.

That I'd be glad to know that I have endometriosis - because at least I know what's wrong with me.

That I could spend so much time and money on figuring out what my body is doing (or not doing).

That I would have to rely on doctors to give me the final say-so on what I can or can't do (on a med/procedure break forced by my RE against my wishes).

That foreplay would consist of my husband asking "How's your cervix today" or asking my Nurse if it's "the week yet".

That one person/couple could be "cursed" with so many different fertility problems.

That I should have become a gyno-which I think at this point I know more then some.

That some people just say the wrong things.

That a simple blood test costs $648! And they make you get 3-5 a cylce!!!

That sex would ever become a chore!

That I would resent someone who has been trying less time than me telling me "I know how you feel..."

That my husband would be overly concerned that our BD positions were the most effective ones!

That when my husband and I are babysitting our friend's children, all we think about is when this will be our life for real!

That I would become NUMB to the wonderful world around me that I already have.

That I would become addicted to POAS and not sleep at night because I couldn't wait to POAS in the morning!

That I would be so sad, and ashamed.

That I would be sick of explaining what endometriosis was to those who have no clue!

That your friendships with your real life girlfriends would suffer because they got pregnant after being off the pill for 3 weeks.

That this would be, by far, one of the hardest things you will ever have to go through.

That you HAVE to have sex even though you don't feel like it, but because your FM says high or peak.

That people would pity you and feel sorry for you.

That I would be going to a psychic to find out if there was a baby in my future!

That I would dream about taking my temperature and be disappointed if I woke up at 3am and it wasn't time yet.

That I would stop fantasizing about having a baby because it stopped making me happy.

That I would hear well-meaning questions like: "Have you thought of taking your temperature?"

That I would watch a Baby Story every day... only to cry every day.

That it puts this much strain on a marriage.

That I would cringe at getting free packs of diapers, coupons and cans of formula in the mail...asking God, why this again? Really?!

That I spent years trying not to get pregnant, and praying for my period.

That I would have to listen to people complain about their children as if they were burdens while a child is the one thing in the world I want the most. Also, they sound as if they are trying to talk me out of having kids, like it is the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to me.

That I would yell at commercials on the TV (that "having a baby changes everything" one really gets to me. I can't watch it without snapping "So does not having one.")

That your body has its own mind.

That you would cry your eyeballs out b/c AF showed.

That you would be jealous when everyone around you get pg including your mentally-ill 17 year old client who can't even put clothes on a doll!

That the broken heart you feel each month that is equal to a lot of pain.

That you feel useless as a female.

That you feel that your body has betrayed you by not delivering a regular cycle, the right about of the required "hormones" or doing what it should now how to do.

That you feel stupid and naive for thinking a pregnancy would occur "when it was supposed to".

That answering questions (and usually lying) about pregnancy or family plans would hurt so bad.

That not being able to get work done all day because your reading "early pregancy symptoms" after you just O'd last night...on the same websites that you scan every month hoping you might feel something you didn't before.

That you think about a baby more times than your husband thinks about sex.