Lazy Saturday Night

Well, I took some pictures but I can't seem to get them onto my computer. I didn't take much but since I never post any pictures I was excited to show you what we did today. I guess I'll have to explain it!

So this afternoon we were sitting out on our back patio enjoying the day and Tom went to one of our shrubs and pulled it out. Well it looked like it was kind of dead but not for sure so we pulled it out and re-planted it up by the edge of the trees in the backyard, so we'll have to see if it lives. So since we had an empty open spot we decided to go to Lowe's, we got a $10 gift card from our Realtor from when we sold and bought our house, it was like a 2 year present, so we decided to go look out there. We found a new bush/plant, I can't remember the name of it right now and if I guess I'll totally mess it up so tomorrow I'll look and let you know, but it will have lavender blooming flowers, hopefully it will grow good. We also decided to plant an herb garden, we bought a planter along with Thyme, Rosemary, Cilantro and a couple other things, again I can't remember. Maybe it's the wine I drank tonight along with the few beers. LOL

Tom and I made an awesome dinner tonight thanks to one of Steph's favorite blogs, Pioneer Woman, it was Shimp Linguine in a foil pack, or something like that, but Tom and I both loved it and we'll definitely make it again. We invited Tom and Linda but they had a wedding to go to and my mom and dad had a dinner at the Moose lodge, so we ate by ourselves, I swear we could have fed about 12 with this meal.  The only thing that was really missing was some garlic bread or bread sticks, but Tom did come up with some bread sticks, we had some homemade ones from the other day that we heated up and they were pretty good. After dinner Tom got a fire going and him and I sat out there enjoying a fire for a couple of hours, it was so peaceful and the night turned out to be beautiful.

We just got inside and now it's time to relax.

Well, Tom got the pictures to load. LOL

 Here is our new bush, it's kind of hard to see.

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Here's our herb garden, we can't wait to see how it does. The recipe tonight called for parsley and we had to buy some, hopefully we wont have to do buy any again for a while.

Here's Patches relaxing. We took her for a walk this afternoon and she's pooped.

 

And here I'm messing with the camera, Tom's not being very friendly. 

Easter Weekend

I can't believe Easter is over already and it's the end of April, where did time go?? And where is the warm April sunshine. Well, today it's shining, for now anyways. It's supposed to start raining here again tonight. I'm so glad we didn't get any rain yesterday because you know if it rains on Easter Sunday then it rains for the next 7 Sunday's, so we should be good to go for next few Sundays!

We had a wonderful weekend, Tom was off Friday so he didn't have to go in to work Thursday night, so he and I went out for supper, we went to Salsa's, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. We each had a margarita and I had a chicken quesadilla and Tom had a burrito, it was huge! We left there and headed up to mom and dad's because she was having problems with her DVR. Before I go any further into this, I have to tell you, mom and dad invited us up for supper Wednesday night, she called and asked us on Tuesday, I must have really been into whatever I was watching on TV, probably General Hospital or DWTS, but Wednesday night I got home from work and I was asking Tom what we should have for supper. We had left over beef from our roast so we made Saucy Pepper Steak, yummy, it was so good. We got all done eating and the kitchen clean all before 5:30 and about 10 minutes after that, I get a call from Dad, "Where are you guys at?" OMG we completely forgot about supper. I about died, dad said mom was not too happy and you all know we don't like to piss mom off. LOL Tom and I were just cracking up, Dad thought I was joking but I told him we ate. So after I hung up the phone, Tom and I were thinking, boy we're not going to live this one down, plus it was one of my favorite meals, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, my mouth is watering now, so we decided we better go up and make it right. Plus they needed there DVD player fixed this time. It's always something that needs to be fixed. So we got up there, thank God we went, because mom was very upset. We ended up grabbing a plate and had a 2nd meal for the night. We didn't eat a whole lot of our meal, so it worked out OK. and it was very good!

Friday I got off work at 2:00 it was so exciting because no one thought we would get out of work early so it was a nice surprise. Another reason I love MGH! I went home and did a little cleaning then headed down to Jazzercise at 4:30. I taught class that night for my friend, Linda. It was a good class, I didn't expect too many people but I had 16 peeps! Brandon was supposed to have a baseball game, but it started raining and lightning so his game was canceled. Tom and I ended up going to Houlihan's for dinner, we both had fish taco's, they were delicious! Since it was raining, we decided to go home and just relax at home.

Saturday morning, I got up to go to Ballet Body at Jazzercise, it's a specialty class and I decided to try it since I had to be at the center for a meeting, I'm still feeling it today, it was a good class. We're losing an instructor :( so we all had to meet to figure out who's going to take Cat's classes. She's moving back to Texas, she came from there, I think Austin, her husband was promoted to IBM here in DBQ and I guess he's being promoted again but has to move back to Austin. She was really good we're going to miss her.

Saturday night, mom and dad invited us up for supper along with Tom's mom and dad. She had steak and hashbrowns. Wow, all I feel like I'm talking about today is food! Well I guess that's what our life involves, food and more food. LOL

Sunday morning, we got up and made some cinnamon bread that mom gave us and made our green beans, we were in charge of the green bean casseroles, we had to make 2 of them, it worked out good. We went to Tom's uncle Danny's house for lunch and then to my aunt Nikki's, both placed has lots of food and good company, it was a beautiful day so once we got home so Tom could take a nap before work, I took Brandon to his friend Casey's house and I headed home to go for a walk. I went for about an hour walk and it felt so good. By the time I got home, got my IPod all ready for Jazzercise this morning, made coffee for Tom and packed our lunches, it was 9:30 and I was ready for bed!

This Wednesday is our big day, we both have the day off, we meet with the IVF specialist so I'll have to blog about everything that's going to to on. I'm a little nervous but very excited too.

Happy Anniversary!

These are the flowers that Tom surprised me with this year on our Anniversary. They are so beautiful. The 18th was our 2 year anniversary, what a wonderful day and the best 2 years of my life. I have never been happier than when I'm with Tom. He has brought joy to my life. I love his kids and his family. There is never a dull moment around the Hillebrand resident's.

Brandon turned 14 and Micayla is turning 18 in a couple of weeks, holy cow! Brandon is trying to get his drivers permit, but he has yet to pass the test, he just keeps going back, I have a feeling he's going to pass it the next time. Micayla just got done with her Senior Prom and she's on the road to graduate in May. She growing up to be a beautiful young woman and we're so proud of her.

The next journey in our life is to have a baby. We've tried 3 IUI's which didn't take and now starting next week we are going through the process of IVF - Invitro Fertilization. I didn't want it to come to this but if we want a child then this is what we have to do. I'm excited to get the process going, I know there is going to be a lot of testing and drugs and all that but it will all be worth it in the end.

Tom and I bought a new camper yesterday, we're so excited to start camping. We have a permanent site at Whitetail Bluff and we can't wait for the weather to warm up and our camper to come in, we're hoping the 28th and we'll be camping that weekend.We will have plenty of room in the new camper for a new addition to the family.

Micayla's Senior Prom

Saturday was the day for Micayla's Senior Prom, she looked absolutely beautiful. We went to the Diamond Jo to take a few pictures then they were off. Her and Doug went with another couple, her friend Megan and her boyfriend, they all looked so beautiful. Here are some pictures:

Rainy Friday

It's just that kind of day! It started raining here this afternoon, it's cold and windy and all I want to do is cuddle on my couch with a warm blanket and my hubby, that would make this day so much better.

It was a good week up until yesterday afternoon, I got my period :( I had a good feeling about this last procedure but it didn't work, so now I'm trying to psych myself up for IVF. Tom and I go for a consultation on Wednesday the 27th of April, it's in Davenport and it supposed to take up to 2 1/2 hours, so I had to take the day off, thank God McGraw-Hill has "special" days, they're letting me take a Family/Emergency day, I have 3 to use, otherwise I would have had to use one of my 4 vacation days I have left. Tom is going to see if he can take off as well. Our appt. is at 10:00 in the morning. I'm definitely ready to see what the next step is. But I hate the waiting around, it drives me crazy!

We will be meeting with the IVF specialist for a complete consultation, then we meet with the financial adviser, this should be fun, then they said I have to do a sonogram. I guess they need a picture of my uterus, but I thought they already did this, but whatever they need to do, I guess I'll just go with it.

So this morning, my Mother-In-Law asked if I seen GMA today, there was a couple who had 2 sets of twins, AT THE SAME TIME. OMG, I had to watch it, it was the neatest thing, I even started to cry. This couple went through IVF and they implanted 2 embryos and both of them split and she carried for 34 weeks. They had 2 boys and 2 girls, all identical. Check it out, here's the website. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ Scroll down until you see "2 sets of twins for North Carolina couple" it's an amazing story.

I know everything will work out but sometimes it makes me wonder, and I know it will all be worth it in the long run, but right now it's tough and it's getting tougher. I always said I wouldn't let it bother me, but it's hard. and I need to stop talking about it because I'm starting to tear up again. I think it's just the hormones! LOL

So on to better and brighter things. Micayla goes to her Senior prom this weekend, we're so proud of her and we can't wait to see her in her beautiful dress. I think we're going out the the Arboretum to take some pictures so I will have to post them this weekend. Pray for a decent day and no rain, it's not looking the best but just no rain.

Brandon is supposed to play in his first baseball game of the year Sunday afternoon but I don't know if that's going to happen, it might be too wet out, but we'll see.

Oh and I almost forgot, we bought a new camper. We love it! Well, we don't have it yet, we had to order it, hopefully we'll have it by the 1st weekend in May. Then you know where we'll be every weekend, can't wait.

Beautiful Weekend

The words can't describe how gorgeous this weekend was. Right now I'm sitting her on my couch with the windows wide open and a beautiful breeze blowing in, ahhh. And all I can say is it's about time!

So this past week was a long was, which I figured it would, this week too. I'm waiting for you know what and it's hard to wait. I feel like I'm always waiting. I'm, of course, hoping what I'm waiting for doesn't come but I still want Thursday to get here so if "it" doesn't come then I get to take a pregnancy test. My Sister-in-law says I should take one this week but I don't know, I feel like I'll jinx myself, so I'll probably just wait. Please keep saying some prayers.

Friday night, Me, Tom and Brandon took a drive up to Whitetail to check out our new spot, we can't wait to start camping again, we'll our spot is all ready for us whenever we're ready. We ate up at the restaurant at the Campgrounds, I had the bluegill dinner and it was so good! On our way home we decided to stop at Midwest Motor Sports and look at new campers, and guess what? We found one we love! It has everything we want so Tom's going to call tomorrow and see if they can order us one ASAP because we really don't want to wait but it's worth waiting for. I guess we shouldn't have waiting so long to look but we knew this would happen, we look and fall in love. LOL

Saturday morning was my first 5K walk, someday I want to run, but for now walking we did. Me, Kristi and my friend Linda. The race started at Clarke College, the weather was pretty nice so we walked outside, we walked 3.2 miles in 1 hour, not too bad, it was a good walk, after the walk I came home and did some cleaning around the house then took Brandon to baseball practice. While he was there Tom and I went grocery shopping then back to pick him up. We came home put all the groceries away and headed back to Midwest Motor Sports with Tom and Linda, however they were closed so they didn't get to look at the camper, maybe tomorrow.

That night we had Tom and Linda up for supper, we had BBQ chicken on the weber, OMG it was awesome. We had roasted red potatoes and asparagus to go along with it, yummy! It was so nice outside we got to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful night. Here's a few pics.

Sunday morning, we got up and went to town on the garage, it was filthy. Other then cleaning the garage, we put the rest of the patio furniture out and sat and relaxed, it got up to near 80 degrees today. Mom, Dad and Grandma all stopped over on there way out to Andy and Bill's and had a drink with us.

I made Stephanie's Chicken Spaghetti tonight and OMG it was too die for. The kids even liked it..it will be definitely a keeper, I think I put too much liquid in before I baked it but it was still very good. Thanks Steph!

I have recipes for dinner all week, we got all the ingredients for them all so we're not wondering what we're going to do for supper. Chicken Spaghetti was supposed to be Monday night but decided to make it tonight. Tom's just getting up for work and I'm ready to hit the hay, it's been a great weekend and I'm ready for the week.

Weekend getaway

We were kindly asked to join Chris, Kristi and the boys to Wisconsin Dell's this weekend! We were thrilled since we didn't have any plans, so we decided to head up with them. They got a 3 bedroom suite at the Wilderness Hotel and Waterpark. It was amazing, I think this room could hold up to 13 people. I sure wish I would have brought my camera, but that's one thing that we forgot. Oh well, no pictures of the weekend but I can say it was a very nice weekend. We got to the Dell's about 4:00, Chris and Kristi had just got checked into the room and we met them there, they were all eating sandwiches that Kristi had made up before they left. And wow, they ate! I don't know how they do it with 6 boys, I think I say that all the time. After they finished eating, we all got dressed and heading to one of the 3 waterparks. They were already at one of them since they all arrived around noon, so they got a head start. We first went to the Klondike Kavern, where they had a lazy river, a hot tub that goes outside, and Alec's favorite, plus a couple of water slides and the Hurricane. This is a big toilet bowl kind of ride. We had to wait about a 1/2 hour but it was well worth it. After that we headed to The Wild Waterdome, here they had a huge wave pool and a couple slides as well. The waves were super fun and gave my arms a workout trying to hang on to the tubes and not drowning. It was fun. After about 3 1/2 hours between the 2 parks, we decided to head back to the room and order pizza. We all showered and the pizza was here before we knew it. Pizza Pub is where we got the pizza from. Chris highly recommended it, he knows his pizza. We were all in bed by 11:00, other than the boys I"m sure, but we didn't hear a thing.

Sunday morning we got up and got everything packed and ready to go, we had to be checked out of the room by 11:00 but we could still enjoy the water parks as long as we wanted. We again went to the same parks, everything is so spread out and it was packed, we decided to leave about 1:00. We were starving! Tom, Brandon and myself stopped and ate at Culver's, it was delicious. We got home about 4:15 or so, Tom headed to bed and I headed to Grandma's, it was her 88th birthday!

The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend, it was warmer in DBQ than up at the Dell's, I had to take my jacket off it was that warm, I think it was 78 degrees on the thermometer in my car. But with the warm weather brings storms and we got nailed last night. About 8:00, Tom was in the shower and I was packing our lunches and getting this situated for the week and trying to watch the CMA's and all of a sudden hail hit us, golf ball size hail. I thought our skylights were going to crack it was that loud. Here's a few pics of the hail.

This is out our front door on the porch

and this is out the back, looks like it snowed, huh?

It was crazy, thank God our vehicles were in the garage. Micayla was on her way home from Davenport and I don't think they got any hail out that way. The electricity went out all around us but we never lost power.

Well, it's going to be a good week, I have a feeling, I don't know why but I just have that feeling.

Oh and I so wish I had a camera this morning at Jazzercise. My Mother cracks me up! Last night at Grandma's she told me that she bought a new Jazzercise outfit and that she's going to wear it tomorrow, so she comes to class this morning, in a pair of Capri's and a shirt, nothing out of the ordinary or anything, then all of a sudden right as I'm turning on my music and turn my mic on, she comes out from the back of the center with a pink and white headband, like a sweat band. I about lost it, it was so funny. I swear she looked like a Jane Fonda wanna be. Everyone was laughing! She's definitely a hoot!  She wore it the whole time too. Like she sweats so much! LOL