Vacation Pics......

The beach when we first got to Destin about 5 pm after a storm earlier in the day.

Getting ready to go eat dinner on the beach our first night there at the Back Porch. We ate lunch there several times. It was great and right on the beach and you can go in bare foot in your swim suit. They had some of the best seafood gumbo I have ever had.

Walking down the beach the first day we found this sand castle.

Sunset stroll on the beach after dinner the first night.

The beautiful water of Destin. I still can't believe this is the Gulf of Mexico! The water is crystal clear and gorgeous!

The guy we rented the chairs and umbrella from took this pic. I can't believe I am actually posting a pic of me in a swim suit.

Yes we did cheesy writing in the sand on the beach.

Waiting for dinner at Dewey's in the garden. It was beautiful and the food......seriously they have the best crab cakes I have ever had in my life. If you are ever in Destin, you must go there.

I made us stop for front back and side pics since it had been a while since we did them.

Chris said since the water is too cold to snorkel he has to at least put them on! Crazy man and boy did we laugh after seeing the picture!

The guy next to the table and the drill is Michael aka Nick Nolte. He was the guy we rented our umbrella and chairs from everyday. He was so nice and gave us great recommendations on places to eat and things to see. Everywhere he recommended we go he said to tell them Nick Nolte sent you and they will treat you well. He was super nice!

Enjoying the sun!

If you go to Destin you must go to McGuire's!

We had the best ribs I have ever had in my entire life and yes I got them in FL not TX! Seriously if you are there they are the best ever! We got so much we split the plate and still had half of it left over.

We sat outside on the 2nd story deck and watched the sunset over the bay! Absolutely beautiful!

The waiter was nice enough to take a pic of us!

Inside there are dollar bills all over the walls and the ceiling. You put your name and the date on a dollar bill and they give you staples to hang them up. Really neat inside.

inside the gift shop.....too bad we can't drink anymore. You can get some amazing wine and beer!

Before we left for home in front of the hotel. These were beautiful snap dragons everywhere.

On the beach on the edge of town as we headed home to Texas after the best vacation ever. We could have stayed forever!

Can you believe I am 1 today???

Wow its been a long long time and lots has happened. So sorry for the delay but we have had more computer trouble and both computers have been down. We finally have one back so I feel like I am connected again!

So can you believe I am 1 today??? No really I am 1 today! Today is my 1st Re-Birthday or the 1st Anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery! I can't believe it has been a whole year. We went out to dinner tonight and had a wonderful seafood meal. We brought half of it home but it was fabulous none the less. So one year ago today right now I had just finished walking for the first time and I was in lots of pain, but here I am a year later and I can honestly say it was all worth it! I feel amazing and I have so much more energy than I have had in years. A few days of pain and even the horrible protein drinks and the pureed food were all very much worth it. So my official stats one year later is I weigh in at 176 lbs and I have lost a total of 129 lbs so far! My goal weight is 140 lbs so I still have 36 lbs to go but I know I can do it. The rate at which I am losing weight has definitely gone down, but I have the tools and the knowledge and the will power to get the last of it off. That includes upping the exercise which I have been slacking on since I have gone back to work. I also need to intensify my work outs to include machines and weights and not just walking and bike riding.

Last week we had our 1 year appts. Everything went fabulous and Dr. Davis was amazed at us and couldn't stop smiling at us. He told us to keep up the good work and asked lots of questions to all we answered NO because we don't have any problems anymore! How amazing is that? So with that he said, here's your paperwork for labs (yes 12 more vials of blood and I was not happy) then he said do you have any questions for me? With that we said only one, am I released now to try to get pregnant again? With that he looked at us both smiled real big and said, now don't tell me you haven't been trying already because I know better than that. So I said, OK so that's true but obviously it didn't work so that means the weight loss didn't fix the infertility so do I have your permission now to go back to the Fertility Dr? He said yes absolutely.....just call me once you are pregnant and I will work with your Dr to make sure you and the baby are healthy. So with that we left with huge smiles on our faces and headed to have our blood work done. We got our blood results back and those weren't perfect. Chris's vitamin D is low and my vitamin D is low and my iron is very low. So he said no problem we can fix that. So we are taking additional vitamin D and I am doubling the amount of iron I take on a daily basis. Then is 6 months he wants to do more blood work and make sure everything is better. Other than that everything went perfect and we don't have to see him again for a year unless we have a problem or I get pregnant.

So with that we were very happy and the next day I called Dr. Dunn to get an appointment. He is the fertility specialist that our friends A & B use and several of their friends. So our next big appt is on 6/16! So we will have more to come on the baby front in the next month or so. Our plan is to start IVF between July and Sept at the latest. We will see what we find out on the 16th. So please say a prayer for us.

As for our friends A & B, if you haven't checked their blog, they have had complications but so far she is still pregnant and baby Cullen is growing. As long as her body cooperates Cullen will be born via c-section in two weeks. Please keep them all in your prayers.

Let's see so much has happened.....On May 3rd I started my new job! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I was so scared to start over but now that I have, I couldn't be more happy. I had lunch with a friend from Talent Tree last Friday because I get off at noon on Friday's now (how awesome is that?) and we have known each other for 12 years and she said she doesn't think she has ever seen me look better than I do and be happier than I am! That made me feel even better. We really are so happy right now because it feels like some of our biggest dreams are coming true.

Also we again participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies this year and it was an absolute success. We beat our goal and we walked the 5 miles without breaking a real sweat. We laughed because we remembered last year at the walk when we hit 2 miles we looked at each other and said, oh my gosh how are we going to make it another 3 miles. But we were determined and we made it. Then this year, here we are both over 100 lbs less than last year healthier and happier and when we got to mile 2 it felt like we had just started. When we finished the 5 miles we both looked at each other and said wow that was nothing I could go another 5 miles! My how a year can change you!

I know I owe you guys some pics so I will do my best to get some posted tomorrow. Until then, God Bless each and every one of you and we can't thank you enough for all of your support over this last year.

Lots going on in our world......

Over the last few weeks we have had lots going on in our world. Its a good thing I have been unemployed to get everything done. Lets see where do I start? It started about a month ago when my husband's parents finally decided that they can no longer take care of themselves and their house and they are ready to move into a senior community. So I spent a week going to about 10 different places getting all the details, touring and talking to people. (this is something we have been encouraging them to do for several years but we knew it had to be in their time.....) That Friday we took them to tour 3 different places that were in their price range and that I thought they would like and that was close to where we live. Thankfully they fell in love with one place and we officially have them on the waiting list and have put a deposit down. This now means we have to get their house ready to put up for sell asap. So we have spent lots of time working at their house and this weekend we will be having a huge garage sale. The more they can get rid of now the less I have to pack and move with them. In the midst of all of this going on, I had two companies that were seriously considering me. One was a position that was something of a dream job for me. The other had the perfect location. So about 3 weeks ago I was told it was down to me and one other person for both of these jobs but it was going to take some time before an offer was made because both places had people on vacation who needed to sign off on the offer. So Chris convinced me if we had any hope of having a vacation this year we should take one right now and since he had so many free hotel nights all we had to pay for was gas to get there and food and lets be honest we don't eat enough anymore to amount to anything. So we planned it and booked it on Wed and left for Destin, FL on Easter Sunday. We had the BEST vacation we have ever had since we have been together. It was the most relaxing and enjoyable vacation I have ever had. We were seriously beach bums. We would get up everyday go down to the lobby and have our free breakfast around 9am and we were laying on the beach by 10:30am. We would then walk to the restaurant on the beach and eat lunch then back to lay in the lounge chairs some more. We took lots of walks down the beach and around 5:30 every afternoon we headed back to the hotel which was just across the street from the beach to shower and go have dinner. And just like old married people we were in bed by 10-10:30 every night! I know we were boring but hey that was exactly what we needed and now that we are home working our buts off to get his parents house ready to sell I am so glad I did nothing at all for a week. That brings us to last week which was lots of work at his parents house and oh did I mention I got the job offer on Friday! Yep I got the "DREAM" job offer and boy was it an outstanding offer. In fact it was such a great offer that I didn't even have to think about it, the recruiter asked if he could give a verbal OK and I said yes absolutely! So as of yesterday I officially signed my offer letter and tomorrow I have to go pee in a cup to make sure I am not on drugs. Once that is complete, I am set to start my new job on Monday 5/3/2010! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. When this whole layoff started back in Aug 2009 I couldn't even imagine working anywhere other that the Tree. I remember feeling lost and extremely sad. It's funny how you just get so accustomed to being somewhere that anything that puts a wrinkle in that makes you feel so unsure of things. And now here I am so excited wondering what I was scared of. For those of you who know me well, you know that I have a hard time with huge major life changes especially those that are NOT planned but I can honestly say that I couldn't be more excited about these changes now. I am nervous about starting over but I am so looking forward to doing something new at a new company that has so many new opportunities ahead for me. God is GREAT for sure! He has truly answered our prayers and I am beyond grateful. I wanted to thank each and every one of you who have prayed for my job hunt, as always God answers our prayers and helps us the realize that there is always good out there you just have to be patient. I promise to post pics of our fabulous vacation very soon. Also just a reminder that we will be walking in the March for Babies on Sunday in memory of Bennett David and in honor of Ellie Grace and soon to be Cullen. If you can make a small donation, please click the link at the top of my blog.

Until next time.....Blessings to each and every one of you!

March for Babies

We are only a week away from the March of Dimes, March for Babies and we are a little over $100 away from our goal. I know that times are very tough right now, but if you can spare even $1 or $5 it would greatly help all the little babies in the world and their mothers. If you can spare even a small amount please click on the link at the top of the blog and make a donation on-line via credit card. Thanks in advance for your generosity......it is greatly appreciated.

A lot has been going on lately and I have tons to update, but for now, I will leave you with......prayers are being answered and God is wonderful. I promise to elaborate more very soon!

Until next time - God Bless each and everyone of you!