The In Vitro Journey: The Plan, Part II

Well I know it's been a while since I've updated.. I've been debating continuing to post here, thinking maybe something would happen down the road that I want to keep private.. But then I guess I just wouldn't write about it. At the same time, writing it down helps me to process this huge thing that's happening.. This huge process that is so much bigger than me. 
Anyways, these things take time. We've been actively moving forward with the requirements of the process, and are growing more and more excited as time passes. We have officially began our first round of IVF! Today we had an appointment to review the timeline and each part of the procedures in our future. We'll talk more about that later.. first let's back up a couple months.

We chose to participate in the Success Guarantee Program through San Diego Fertility Center. This program basically guarantees that you achieve a successful pregnancy or you will receive a (almost) full refund. We had to be approved for this program by meeting certain requirements such as BMI under 30 and normal blood work/health screening. We were accepted into the program on June 16th.


We wanted to get started right away but the timing had to be right with my cycle and the dates just didn't line up. We decided it was a perfect time to take a trip up to San Fransisco to meet the boyfriend's newborn nephew, Auden Emory. We took the 8 hour drive up and spent the weekend with his sister Susie and her husband Mike. It was a great little lesson into what life will be like after this IVF journey comes to an end.

Today at our appointment we watched a 25 minute video including detailed looks into each step of the process:

✓Testing

✓Planning

Hormone Therapy, 

Egg Retrieval, 

ICSI (Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection),

Embryo Watch/Growth 

Embryo Transfer,

Pregnancy Test.

Of course there are possible complications to all of the above, there are also all kinds of possible scenarios and statistics involved in making the best "next" decision. We will be in constant contact with the doctors and nurses from the clinic and will be instructed at every turn. 

Today, in hearing that this whole process is a cash deal for us since insurance will not cover it, the nurse who helped us was able to find some of the prescriptions I needed to order in her office and gave to us for free! Saved us around $2,000!! 

I will work on posting our calendar of dates in the next posting.. I know that right now it seems like it's taken forever to get here. But I think from now on, it will zoom by.

Crossing my fingers and toes for success, good health, and all around happiness. ✌ 

Click here to go to next IVF post

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at 

Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that 

we're eagerly anticipating.

I just LOVE Wednesdays! 
I go around to all the blogs and see what everyone is excited about. 
I've discovered some great books this way.

Anyways... this week my WoW is

Winter 

(The Lunar, Chronicles, #4)

Author: Marissa Meyer
Release Date: November 10th, 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-fi

OK so many things about this book is making me tingle with "feels"

That cover, is BEAUTIFUL, even the font! The little we know about Winter from reading Queen Levana's story. Oh, and it's 800 pages!!! November seems so far away! I can't wait!

Goodreads Summary:

Here is the stunning conclusion to the national bestselling Lunar Chronicles, inspired by Snow White.

When Princess Winter was thirteen, the rumor around the Lunar court was that her glamour would soon be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. In a fit of jealousy, Levana disfigured Winter. Four years later, Winter has sworn off the use of her glamour altogether. Despite her scars, Winter’s natural beauty, her grace, and her gentleness are winning admiration from the Lunar people that no amount of mind-control could achieve.

Winter despises her stepmother, but has never dreamed of standing up to her. That is, until she realizes that she may be the only one with the power to confront the queen. 

Can Cinder, Prince Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, Princess Winter, and the palace guard Jacin find their happily ever afters? Fans will LOVE this amazing conclusion to the series.

What book are you [not so] patiently waiting for??

~Life Update~

Hi friends,

It's been a while since I've updated this thing but I have a handful of good reasons so here goes...

1. We moved! Only 12 miles from our old house but a move is a move.. Stressful, tiring, and chaotic. Organizing, purging, and living out of boxes/suitcases has been my life for the past week. Our new house required lots of new stuff like a stove, microwave, dishwasher, ceiling fans, and furniture. We had fun (sort of) shopping for the best deals and the right stuff for us. David has been busy unpacking boxes and arranging things and cleaning up the mess as he goes. We're finally starting to settle in to the new house after a couple trips to target, the grocery store, and of course, amazon. We had a bit of a fiasco with the furniture delivery guys denting our fridge.. Oh, and the dishwasher isn't working either but Samsung is supposed to come check it out.
2. WORK IS CRAZY! No seriously.. I don't think I've been this busy @ work in 3 years. For those of you who don't know, I work in real estate. It's an all encompassing kind of job; a lifestyle. I think I have something like 16 files going on right now? That's a LOT to keep track of. Luckily I've been training David to be my assistant so that eventually he can take over my job and I can be out in the field more. It comes in handy when I have a "to-do" list of 25 things, I can give him a portion of it!
3. In the midst of moving, I got sick. Now, I tend to power through my sicknesses, take some emergen-c and keep some tissues at my desk and do what I need to do. (I like to save my sick days for those first day period cramps that make it impossible to get out of bed.) Anyways, I woke up with a 102 fever on moving day (of course!) and laid around and sweat it out all day. Doctor ordered 3 days of rest but of course with moving that wasn't possible. Now, I 'm going on day 7 and finally feeling better. Happy to have my lost voice back! It was quite embarrassing talking to clients at work with no voice.
4. I haven't been reading. Like at all! My nook's charger port is broken therefor, it doesn't work. I have been listing to The Girl on the Train Audiobook but it's really dragging on and on. The narrator is terrible and that makes it even more difficult to get through. I'm ready for it to come to an end and start Choosing You by Allie Everhart.
5. I'm getting ready to go on vacation! To Colorado, to the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater to see Gramatik! Super excited to get away from the normal hustle and bustle and enjoy a weekend with three friends I don't get to see because we all live in different cities. 

Okay so those are my reasons for not updating more often but I'll try to get back to it.. I've been cooking more which has been fun, you can check out my latest obsession, boxed meals HERE or check out my other recipes HERE. Let me know what you think!

Product Review/Recipe: "Hello Fresh"

I decided to try out this new box meal craze by signing up to receive a weekly box from Hello Fresh. (Tons of thanks RetailMeNot for the $40 dollar off coupon!) I opted for a box containing 3 meals for 2 people and selected my meals. They offer you 5 choices that change weekly and I picked my favorite 3. So far I've liked only 3 of the 5 choices but the ones I do pick look REALLY good!

At first I thought the price was a little ridiculous but if you do the math it comes out to $11.50 a meal which in itself isn't bad. But then when you actually get the products and lay it all out you can tell that you could easily go to the store and purchase these same ingredients for less than $11.50. Whatever though, I like that it comes all pre-packaged and measured out and has everything you need.

My first box was supposed to contain 3 meals that I chose, Rosemary Walnut Crusted Chicken with Mixed Greens Salad, Steak Sandwich with Watercress and Roasted Tomato, and Mushroom Quesadilla with Lemony Guacamole. Unfortunately one of my three meals was wrong. Instead they sent me Shrimp Risoto with Asparagus. No one in my house eats seafood so this shrimp meal was passed off to a friend. After complaining to Hello Fresh they credited my account for one meal to use on my next box.

Here are all the ingredients for the chicken meal and the finished product:

  

Here are all the ingredients for the steak meal and the finished product:

All in all I was VERY satisfied with the meals.. Everything was really good and I got to experience new things that I never would have tried before. I'm excited for my next box and will update you all then!

Book Review: Dirty Red (Love Me With Lies, #2) by Tarryn Fisher

Dirty Red by Tarryn Fisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Avg rating: 4.24
Genre: Romance, New Adult, Contemporary

Goodreads Summary:
Dear Opportunist,

You thought you could take him from me, but you lost. Now, that he's mine I'll do anything to keep him. Do you doubt me? I have everything that was supposed to be yours. In case you were wondering; he doesn't ever think about you anymore. I won't let him go....ever.

Dirty Red

Leah Smith finally has everything she has ever wanted. Except she doesn't. Her marriage feels more like a loan than a lifelong commitment, and the image she has worked so hard to build is fraying before her eyes. With a new role and a past full of secrets, Leah must decide how far she is willing to go to keep what she has stolen.

My Actual Rating: 4.8

Okay these characters are batshit crazy. But that's what makes them so good!!

Leah is a horrible, terrible person. She is a stuck up selfish biotch with major daddy issues. [By the way, daddy issues does not give ANYONE permission to act like this.] She was a terrible person who NEVER should have been a mother. The way she perfectly concocted and planned out her life was just despicable. However, I was intrigued by her and I couldn't wait to watch her fall on her face. I never felt bad for her, never felt sorry for her, she set herself up for this fall down and all I wanted was to watch her crash and burn.

The bomb that got dropped at the end literally left my mouth hanging open. I wonder though, how much of it is true and how much of it is just another stepping stone in her ultimate plan. I cannot wait to read Thief and get Caleb's side of the story!

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Book Review: Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3) by Maggie Stiefvate

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Avg rating: 3.92
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Werewolves

Goodreads Summary:
then.
When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their loved moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.
That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.
Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment--a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

My Actual Rating: 4.2

Okay I have to admit this is not a good book to listen to on audiobook. There are so many perspectives and if you're not paying close enough attention you won't be able to tell who's speaking. I always knew when it was Isabelle cause she has the same voice as Tris from Divergent.

Anyways, this wasn't really my favorite of the series but it was still good. I don't know what it is about this fantasy world but I love it so much. I feel like it's just there on the edge of realistic and fantasy so I don't get lost in the make believe. I have grown to really like the characters. They all have their own story yet have grown together in different ways. I'm so glad that they have each other and the right people fall for the right people. Isabelle and Cole are my favorite and I had a really bad feeling about Cole as we got closer to the end.

I kind of thought this was the last book of the series and I was looking forward to that closure but I feel that it was left open ended for the sole purpose of making a book 4. Either way, I am determined to see how it all wraps up so I will be reading on.

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Throwback/Book Thursday!

Pic from April 2010

Us 3 were inseparable! We put fruit in our champagne and 

used sippy cups when we ran out of glasses.

Good times.

1 year ago today I was reading:

A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard

My Rating: 5/5

This book was good in the worst possible way. The realness of it is really eye opening and the detailed reliving is heart breaking. This book is not for the week minded, read at your own risk!