No wonder the general public's perception is so skewed!

Have you seen "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" Well we watched it tonight. And overall, it was a good movie. A good romantic comedy! Anyway, so at the beginning of the movie, the couple is seperated. Into the movie you find out that they struggled with infertility. They briefly discuss the pain of it, the meds, the doctors, the scheduled sex, ect. They also talk about adoption. She wanted to, but he was scared. They're discussing this while they're still seperated. Long story short, they reconcile. And at the end, it shows them getting off a plane a carrying a baby girl from China! Yay! They showed how awesome adoption was! BUT! And here's the kicker! Not only is she carrying the Chinese baby girl, she is pregnant. Of course she is! Because hello! Everybody knows that when you adopt you end up pregnant! Ugh. It just put such a bad taste in my mouth. No damn wonder people have such a skewed vision! All the know is what they're told. And they're being told that once you relax, quit thinking about, and/or adopt, pregnancy happens! Ta-da! Amazing right?! ::throws hands in the air:: Whatever!

On a happier note, my best friend, Sabrina, will be here tomorrow! Her husband was supposed to be the one coming out here this week to house hunt, but last minute, they traded places. Now, her and baby Jessa are coming! And I could not be more thrilled! Looks like i'm going to have a busy week house hunting with her! I am, afterall, her stand-in husband! We aren't Platonic Life Partners for nothing!

Still waiting to hear from the agency. Hopefully it will be this week! I'm anxious to start the homestudy process! You know, so that I can get knocked up! ;)

Hope everyone had a fab weekend! And here's to your Monday not sucking! Do what I'm going to do, go get some Starbucks! Mmm! Yes please!

Another day, another deal!

I have another great deal to share with you! E.L.F. Cosmetics! I got 13 items for only $17.45! How great is that? Most of their basic make-up is only $1! They also have a professional line, that is a little better quality, and that stuff is only $3-5! I don't know about you, but I buy cheap make-up. Loreal, Maybelline, and Cover Girl are for me! I know they say that it's just so awful for your skin, but it's always worked just fine for me! The only time I've really splurged on make-up is when I bought Bare Minerals a couple of years ago. And while it was great, I couldn't justify the price to keep on buying it. It wasn't THAT great! Haha! So if you're like me, and you don't mind the cheap stuff, check them out! www.eyeslipsface.com/elf I also found this website! www.retailmenot.com They have a ton of coupons! Both online codes and printable. Seriously, who doesn't love a great deal?! I used a code there for the make-up and got 50% off the first $15, which was practically my whole order! If it hadn't been for the $7 shipping, I would have made out even better. But seriously, I can't complain about it!

Anyway, I can't wait to get my order in and try out all of these fun products! Worse case scenario, I don't like something, I wasted a buck! I'm definitely not a make-up snob, so I can't see that happening!

I hope everyone is having a great day! Kyle is currently smoking a pork shoulder, and it smells delicious! Can't wait for dinner! Love me some BBQ!

Oh and www.egyptianpeddler.com is where I got the great deal on my bedding!

How do you do the hyper links? I tried, but I guess I got the HTML wrong.

Help help help!

Still haven't heard back from the agency. But through delivery confirmation, I know they just received our registration paperwork on Monday. Hopefully we'll hear back before the week is over! They say they contact you immediately! We'll see! Depending on when they call, and how when they can set up an appointment, depends on if we'll go be able to actually to the agency. We chose one that is 5 hours away. We don't have to go in person, but we would like to. Is your agency close by? Have you tried to do it with an agency that you weren't able to go to often? Advice anyone?

And another thing I want some advice on. How did you go about writing your adoption profile? Did you write a seperate "Dear.Birthmother" letter? Or did you kind of add it into your profile? How big was your profile? Was it more like a scrapbook, or just a letter and a few photos? I know our agency will have some guidelines to help narrow it down, but I would still like some "been there, done that" opinions. Please help! Any advice is much appreciated! And that goes for advice on any part of the homestudy process! I am anticipating that we will be starting it very soon!!!

And starting now, I will be responding to your comments in the comment section. So you may want to click the box to notify you of following comments. Don't worry, it won't blow up your inbox. Unfortunately, I don't get that many comments! LoL ::hint hint::

Oh! And I bought a new bedset today! For a 7 piece king size bedset, I only paid $90! No shipping, no tax, and 10% off! Can't beat it! And it's pretty cute! Can't wait to get it!

Randomness.

After a very long labor, my best's baby girl was finally born yesterday morning at 10:23a.m. I am so very happy for her and her new little family! But it was also bittersweet for me. Another friend having another baby. Story of my life. How the hell do you not get used to this by now? Hearing her talk about the labor made me a little sad. Although I know that I will get to be a mommy some day (hopefully soon!), I don't know if I will ever get to experience pregnancy, labor, and delivery. And while we are so excited to adopt, I would be lying if I said that it doesn't make me a little sad that I may never get that. All I really want is that feeling of finally being a Mom. I cannot imagine what an amazing feeling that is to have. One day...

My baby fever has kicked into high gear again. Remember when you first started trying to get pregnant, and you were so optimistic and naive that it wouldn't be much longer? And you were constantly looking at baby stuff, wanting to buy it all? That's where I'm at again! I haven't been like that for a long time. I have never been the girl who bought stuff the entire time we were trying. If I ever did buy something, I would hold onto for a little while, then usually end up giving it to the next pregnant person I knew. But lately, I just have such an urge to buy baby stuff! Luckily though, I either ignore, or purchase baby stuff for someone I know, like my bests' kids, or my nephews.

I love looking around my house and seeing my photography all over! It makes me smile! I know that I am nowhere near a pro, but taking pictures makes me happy. And then seeing my results when I get, what I consider to be, a great shot, I love to frame it and hang it in my house! And I can't wait to incorporate some of my photography into our future nursery!

I have a huge stye on my right top eyelid! And it HURTS! I get them fairly often. But generally, they're smaller and not too obvious. Not this one! Even with eye make-up, you can still kind of see it. Not cute!

Anyway, I guess I've filled you all with enough random for one night! I'm going to try and pry Kyle off of his game and drag im to bed. Good night, Love Muffins!

Yay for new babies!

My best friend, Erin, is in labor right now! And luckily, our other best friend, Sabrina, has been keeping me in the loop! Thank goodness for Blackberry Messenger! After a loooooooong labor and slow progress, she is finally at 10cm! She is getting ready to start pushing, and Little Miss Kendall will be here in no time! I'm so happy for her! But I am so sad that I'm not able to be there for her! This is her first, and she is going to be such a great Mommy! I can't wait to make a trip to go see them!

In other news, I officially got the nanny job for the twins! Their Mom emailed me yesterday letting me know that she would be calling me sometime this week to make a verbal job offer. I'm so excited! Things seem to really be coming together for us! I hope this trend continues!

Oh! Our new place! Here are a few pictures!






Well my dears, it is a beautiful day here in upstate New York! I am off to take advantage of it! Happy Weekend, Friends!

Step one: Done! It's in the mail!

That is our registration packet right before getting mailed off! I know it's not a huge deal, but for us, it kind of is! This was the first step, of the so very many to come, in the adoption process! Hopefully in the next few days, we'll hear from the agency, and then they can send us our home study stuff!
Unfortunately, the agency we chose is 5 hours from where we live! But, it's okay! Because we can do it all through the mail. And we do plan on making at least one trip to the agency. Plus, they are only 25 miles from N.iagra F.alls! Weekend get-away, anyone?
But we are so super excited to finally get to start this process! We made the decision to adopt back in November. But then we had to sit idle while we waited for this whole moving process to be done. And now, it's done! Next step, please!

Today was a great day, all around! We mailed off our packet, I got two free drinks from Starbucks(it's nice having a friend who is a barista there! :D), Kyle and I went and explored Albany, AND I got a call from my old boss! I thought she just wanted to catch up. But even better! She told me that she got a call from one of the ladies that interviewed me this past week. In two days, I had two interviews for nanny jobs! They were both great, but the second one was the one I really wanted. It's for 4-month old twin girls! A total dream come true for me! I have ALWAYS had a fascination with multiples. And I have always desperately wanted twins! Anyway, their mom called my old boss today, inquiring about me. And then she told her that she was pretty sure that she was going to be offering me the position in the next week! YAY! The other woman that interviewed me told me that she really liked me and that I was at the top of her list too! That makes me feel really good about myself! I don't have kids of my own yet, but you can guarantee that I take excellent care of others' children! I'm like Mary Poppins, only more bad ass! ;)

Home Sweet Home.

We finally have one again! And it is such a great feeling!
We have now been in New York for a week and three days. We got into our current place a week ago today. Originally we were going to buy a house. That didn't quite work out, so then we were going to rent one. But after some thinking, we decided that it would be a smart move to do a townhouse again. Even though we said that we wouldn't, after totally not loving the one in WA. BUT, we found some brand new ones. They are built so much nicer than the other ones. We can't hear our neighbors through the walls, we have more room in this one, and it's just all around nicer! AND our rent is over $3,000 less than our Basic Housing Allowance (BAH is what the Navy gives us to pay for housing, for those that aren't familiar)! And a big chunk of that will be going into our adoption fund! And clearly, that is what is most familiar! Speaking of that, I will be mailing in our registration packet either today or tomorrow!!! What comes next? Will they contact me or just start sending me the homestudy stuff? I'm so new to all of this, but so incredibly excited! I've been driving Kyle nuts talking baby stuff! Haha! I finally feel like it's okay! I can't wait to set up a nursery! And we finally have a girl's named picked out too! We've had our boy's name for years, but were never able to pick a girl's name. I know it seems silly to some, but to me, it was kind of a big deal!
Here's hoping to a quick and seamless homestudy!

Other than that, one of my best friends and her family will be moved out here by mid-June! I'm so excited that I will have her out here for me whenever we get placed! I've been there to help her with all of her kids. And she is such a great mother, I can't wait to have her here for me!

Well, I'm out of here for now, but you should be seeing my face around here on a regular basis again! Hooray! I know you're excited!
I've missed you all!

I'm still alive!

As can be imagined, we have been incredibly busy the last couple of weeks! We drove over 2,600 miles in 4 days! After three hard days of driving, we stopped in Abilene, TX to see my brother and his wife. We stayed a few nights with them, then on to Arkansas. We have been on the go since we got here! My parents, grandparents, and his Mom and step-dad live within 10 minutes of each other. And then the rest of his family lives about an hour away. I am so tired! LoL

I think we'll be leaving here on Wednesday, the 24th. But that isn't set in stone. Our anniversary is the 23rd, and we will have been married for 6 years! Wow! Where does the time go?! And the 27th is our 8 year anniversary of being together! Gosh, I still love that man to the moon and back! I am lucky to have him!

We are so incredibly close to being in New York! And you all know what that means! We finally get to officially start the adoption process!!!! AHHH! I am so thrilled! We have been waiting for this since November when we made the decision to adopt! YAY!!!

Once again, I'm so sorry that I have been a horrible bloggy friend! I am slowly, but surely, getting caught up on the past few weeks of blogs! I follow a lot of really great blogs, so it is definitely taking some time!

I've been taking a ton of pictures, in true Tiffany style! I've gotten to visit with my Grandma several times, which has been bittersweet. I love her so much, but it's so hard to see her like this. She has Alzheimer's, and has a very short term memory. But I will post more about that later. I am just very grateful to have the chance to spend time with her! We are so much alike in so many ways! Tonight, some old friends that I graduated with are coming over to hang out. Should be a good time! Several of them have babies that I have never met!

Well, dearests, I need to go. I'm going to become a regular around here again before too long! Just give me time! Hope everyone is doing well!!!

I am finally back!!!

Oh my goodness I haven't been on in forever! The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy! And this next one isn't going to be any better!!! Moving is such a hassle! Ugh.

Here's a quick recap of the last couple of weeks:

*Last weekend we had our Going-Away-Party. It was such a great time! We had so many friends show up! And I may or may not have cried in the bathroom on several occasions. LoL

* As of last Monday, I was done with my nanny job and Kyle was officially detached from the USS Abraham Lincoln! He will hopefully never have to go out to sea again! As a going away present, my boss and her sons got me a diamond tennis bracelet! It was really sweet, and really pretty!

* Kyle decided that he wasn't crazy about driving my current car ('02 Mercury Mountaineer) across country. It's been giving us issues the last couple of months. He started toying with the idea of trading in now, and started doing his research for our next car

* We bought a car! On Wednesday, we purchased a 2006 Nissan Murano. It's dark gray, fully loaded, and I LOVE it! And it is a much more reliable ride than my other car! LoL

* Erin's baby shower was on Saturday. It all came together really well, and she got a lot of great stuff! As I've said before, I hate baby showers, but for my best friend, I was happy to do it!

* I hadn't read any blogs at all until a few days ago, and it took me several days to get all caught up! Sorry for the lack of comments! I will be better about it eventually! And by eventually, I mean after we get moved!

* I am down 16 pounds. I haven't been very good about going to the gym lately. But I am glad that I am at least now gaining back what I've lost.

* I have already started saying good-byes. And it sucks!!! I have cried more than a little! One of my hardest ones will be on Tuesday when I take Erin to the airport. And then other hardest one will be next Sunday, when I say bye to Brina. But, all good-byes suck! And I am not a fan! Another tough one was saying good-bye to my friend Kalli. Her and I became great friends when I started nannying for her son. He was 10 weeks old when I started. And when he was 18 months, she switched jobs and had to let me go. But we have remained close ever since! That little boy is now 4 years old! We had dinner with them on Thursday. And as a going away present she got me the most perfect gift! It is a custom neck strap for my DSLR camera! I can't wait to get it and start using it!


I know I had a lot more to talk about, but my brain is mush right now. The movers will be here on Wednesday to pack, and Thursday to load up all possessions. The cleaners come on Saturday, and we had over our keys on Sunday. Then first thing Monday morning, we're gone! There is so much to do and so little time to do it in. And in between all of that, I am trying to spend as much time with my friends, as possible!

Please forgive me for being a terrible blogger for the past couple of weeks, and the next month-ish. I will eventually get back to blogging on a regular schedule. But in the meantime, I am reading when I can, and still always thinking happy thoughts for all of you that are going through everything that you are right now!

And now, I leave you with a "few" pictures!

Week 5 Weight Loss

Okay, so I lied! I didn't make it back yesterday to update! Oops! But for the record, I am down just under 14 pounds!!! I think it may have been over that, but I am bloated. Yah, that was my lovely Valentine's Day gift. Thanks for stopping in, Flo!

I was going to update earlier today, after I got home from running errands. But then on of my bests called and asked if I would come get her kids for a few hours. She is so sick and felt terrible! So of course I went and got them! She texted after she woke up a few hours late, and still felt like crap. So I told her to just go back to bed, and that the kids could spend the night with me! So all afternoon and evening, I have had Alexis(almost 6), Trenton(3), and Jessa(almost 3 months)! Luckily, they are usually pretty good kids! Poor Jessa is catching what Brina has though, and she was pretty fussy. But currently, all 3 are sleeping! Well, of course as I typed that, I think Jessa may be waking up! LoL I can't tell just yet, she is such a noisy sleeper! Hehe!

Kyle will be home in about 12 hours, hopefully! YAY! Can't wait!

The days are going by entirely too quickly! Everytime I think about having to say my good-byes, I start to cry! Slow down, February!!!

Anyway, I better get to bed. I have a feeling the kiddos will be up early! I hope everyone had a great weekend, and a lovely Valentine's Day! I got to spend it with the 3 kids that I love the most! They are definitely the closest thing to having my own! I have been around since before Trent and Jessa was born, and Lexi was not even two! And I got to be there for Jessa's birth! It's been great being such a big part of their lives!

Time for a change.

My blog needs a facelift. And maybe a new title? But I'm not sure what just yet...I really liked by title before. But now, we aren't really on the IF train. We've jumped off! Now, we're focusing on adoption. So do you think I need to rename my blog? Hmm...I don't know. But either way, at least now I have a fresh new look! And look how happy my blog looks now! :)

Kyle comes home on Monday! And the next few weeks are going to be crazy busy! So much to do and so little time to do it!

We have our going away party on Saturday! I'm really excited about it, but also dreading it. I HATE good-byes!! And then, one of my friends reminded me today that we've already had to say good-bye once, and that the second time is going to suck even worse! I've known my two best friends for over 4 years. We all met at our last duty station in Charleston. And then, Kyle and I moved out here. Next came Brina and her family just a few months after that. And finally, Erin and her husband came shortly after that! I love having them here, and it has been so great! And now, I am super bummed to be leaving them behind. This is definitely one of the hardest aspects of the military lifestyle. That and never seeing your husband! LoL

Since posting my latest photo project just a few days ago, I have had 5 more requests from friends wanting to buy one for themselves!!! That makes me so happy! I am by no means a professional, but just knowing that people would pay money for photos that I take makes me feel really good about myself! :D

Well my dears, it is late. And I am baby-sitting a friend's baby all day tomorrow, while they are moving. But I promise I will make time for my weekly weight loss report though!

Photo Project!

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a friend of mine. She was showing me pictures of her son's nursery. She was saying that the walls still needed something on them, so I volunteered to do some pictures for her! She then asked me if I had ever done the letter photography, pictures of things that look like letters. I hadn't ever tried, but told her I would give it a whirl! Anyway, here is the outcome! For my first try, I'm pretty pleased! They will be printed seperately, not all together. But I wanted to show them next to each other. And his nursery is painted brown, with primary color accents.

I already have in a request from someone else for one for them! And I totally will be putting one in my someday nursery! I have always said I wanted to incorporate my photography in somehow! This is a good start!

What do you think?

Opinions?

Because I just can't help myself, I've been looking at ideas for our future nursery! It's never too early to start planning, right? We already have the furniture. Last year, a friend of mine sold it to me for an incredible deal! I have been going back and forth over when we will set it all up once we move. I don't know if it's something I want to do right away, or if it's something that I will want to wait until we have been matched, to do. But either way, it never hurts to look! I have found some incredibly cute nurseries out there!!! Unfortunately, most of them are probably way out of my budget and my creative zone! Haha! But I found this two sets from Target, and they are way stinking cute!!! They are both very different, but so adorable! I know for sure that we will do an neutral nursery, whenever it is that we decide. Because you just never know, and I would really hate to do a gender specific one, and then things fall through. I'm not huge into themes either. I like color palettes more. Plus you can do so much with a color theme, than a specific theme.

Anyway, this is the crib we have. I believe in person, the color looks a little lighter. I'm usually a darker finish girl, but beggers can't be choosers right




And here are the two sets that I have found so far that I really love! Which one do you like better? I like the way they both look in the color of crib shown, but like I said, I have to work with what I got!

Week Four Weight Loss...and lots of other random tidbits!

I had my doctor's appointment yesterday. It was my one month of weight loss check-up. And I have lost 11 pounds this month! My doctor was very proud of me! She said that I am doing terrific!! That was great to hear! She also told me that the average woman only loses 2-4 pounds a month! That's almost slightly discouraging! But thankfully, she is going to let me do one more month on the meds. After that, I'm hoping that I will still be able to do it on my own! But I guess we'll see! For now, I'm just enjoying my tremendous success! I know that I have still got a long way to go, and that 11 pounds is a very tiny dent, but you've got to start somewhere though, right??

I had a friend ask me on Facebook if I was losing the weight because it would increase my chance of pregnancy. I told her that ship has sailed! Last year, while Kyle was gone on deployment for 7 months, I lost 25 pounds! A part of me really thought that maybe once he got home, I would immediately get pregnant! I mean, that is what they say right?! (Just one of the so many other comments that random people tell you that will help you get pregnant!) But of course, it didn't happen. For a long time, I really thought it might be my weight stopping me. But then, 1.)I've seen many other girls much bigger than me get pregnant and 2.) I was quite a bit lighter when we started almost 3.5 years ago! But anyway, back to the original part of paragraph. I told her that I wasn't doing it to get pregnant. I was doing it for me. I want to be healthy. I want Kyle to have a healthy wife! I want our future children to have a healthy Mommy! Of course, I'm also doing it for vanity's sake. I don't want our adoption profile to get passed over because of my size! We have so much to offer a child! And if someone can't get past the first picture they see, then they will never know. And that is not okay!

Moving on to another tidbit (I probably should have bulleted this post! Haha!). We didn't get the house! ::sad face:: Our realtor called on Wednesday night and said that the sellers chose the other offer because it required less concessions on their part, up front. Which I think was pretty dumb of them. I guarantee the other offer was for the listed price, maybe a little less even! But they probably offered to pay closing costs. For our offer, we gave them the best that we could do. We offered enough to cover closing costs, plus almost $2g more than listed price! The only downfall to our offer was that upfront, they would have to come up with closing costs. But after it was done, they would have gotten it back, and then some! Oh well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be! Though they did tell us that if something fell through, we would be the first ones called. I'm not holding my breath though! So I guess for now, we probably won't buy. Kyle didn't find anything else out there that he loved. Originally we thought that we would find a short term rental and keep looking. But then I reminded him that if we do that, we're going to have to postpone finishing up the home study so that we don't have to pay more to update it, if we were to move part way through. And since clearly, that is the most important thing, it looks like we'll just have to find a long term rental. And I'm okay with that. Owning a house isn't that important to us, but becoming parents definitely is!

And last but not least, before this blog becomes a novel (which I have a terrible habit of doing! I can't help it! I'm a talker! Just imagine if you know me in person! LoL). Kyle is currently out to sea. But this should be his very last time EVER!!! That makes me so happy! We should finish out our time on shore duty in New York, and then good-bye Navy life! He'll be home in less than two weeks. And then it is definitely crunch time! We are moving in just over a month! And I am getting overwhelmed just thinking about it! But holding on to the excitement of starting the adoption process keeps me going! I cannot wait!!! I have quite a few adoptive moms/moms-in-waiting blogs in my blogroll. And they are all at different stages in the process. And just reading them gets me so excited! I hope we have as great of an experience as some of them have! It's a scary thing to start, and I'm terrified of what could go wrong, but without risks, there are no rewards!

And on that note, I am out of here! I have a photo shoot this afternoon, and that always puts me in a good mood! I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend! I'll leave you with a fantastic song, that is one of my inspirational go-to-songs!

Week Three Weight Loss

I should have posted this yesterday, but just never got around to it. So at the end of my third week, I am down 9 pounds! Yay! I'm glad that the weight is still coming off! I keep thinking that one day soon it's just going to stop and I'm going to plateau and/or gain it all back. I have a follow up appointment on Friday, with my doctor. Hopefully she's as pleased with my progress as I am!

Kyle's trip to New York went well. And, he found us the perfect house! But of course, there is always a snag. Someone else had already put in an offer, and their offer had been accepted. But wait, it's not over just yet! Their offer hasn't been made official. Meaning, they haven't sent it to their lawyer to make it a legal contract. Once we heard that, we jumped to action! Kyle called the company that we're doing our mortgage through, and then Kyle, mortgage guy, and our realtor started crunching numbers and figuring out what the absolute best offer we could give them was. He got home late Friday night, and first thing Saturday morning, we submitted our offer! We should know either way, by Wednesday. I really love this house! And the wait is killing me! Luckily, it's only a few more days, at most! Here is a link to the online posting.



Kyle leaves again tomorrow. He'll be gone for another two weeks. But, this will be his last time to go out to sea before we move! And hopefully, his last time out to sea ever!! YAY!!! Gosh, I'm not going to know what to do once I get to see him everyday! Haha!

Anyway, I need to get off here. He needs some laundry done. And we're going to have a late lunch/early dinner with some friends. These three guys are so sweet! They're all in a relationship together. They are all three so different but work so well together! I just love them! Definitely going to miss them for sure! I'm so worried that I won't be able to find any new gay friends when we move! It's very small town there! But hopefully, it won't be too bad!

Okay, I'm going for real this time! I'll keep you updated on the house situation!!! Fingers crossed, everyone!

How about a wah burger and some french cries!

I am so tired! I had to wake up way early this morning to take Kyle to the airport. Blah. And then, when I dropped him off, I totally cried! I am such a wiener! He's only gone for four days! And, he's gone all of the time, usually for much longer than only four days. And I never cry then! The only time I have cried was when he left for deployment. But that was for 7 months! Not 2-3 months! So it was totally legit! Needless to say, I was a little surprised by myself when I started weeping. I think what got me this time was that when he goes out to sea, I know that he's going to work, and he has to go. But this time, it's not work. And plus, I really really wanted to be able to go! But because my hours at my job as a nanny have been cut way back recently, it just wasn't happening.

But he made it safely to his destination! I talked to him just a bit ago and he was getting ready to go to bed. He's meeting with our realtor in the morning, and will probably be doing some mega house hunting for the next two days! They have so many on the list to see!!! Hopefully he finds us something great! I told him that he better take a ton of pictures of each house! We'll see how well he follows through with that one! He's so used to me taking a billion pictures of everything, he sometimes forgets that I'm not there documenting things for us! Haha!

This girl is done for the night! Tiffy, out!

Week Two Weight Loss

So compared to last week, this week was a fail! I only lost one pound! Even though I know that is still good, and last week was unusal, I was a tad disappointed. BUT, 6 pounds in two weeks is still really good! And, I can even tell just a teeny tiny difference in my "love handles"! LoL I don't think anyone else can, but I can and that's what matters! I'm a big girl, but lucky for me, I carry my weight pretty well! My mid section, AKA spare tire, is exactly that! My giant love handles drive me nuts! But, like I keep saying, I'm workin' on it!

When Kyle is home, it definitely makes it harder to eat better! For instance, right now, he is in the kitchen cooking bacon. What is wrong with that man?! LoL Luckily, I have already eaten a banana and two cups of coffee so I'm not hungry. Damn the man, trying to bring me down! Hehe!

Today, we're going to take the ferry over to Bremerton. It's supposed to be sunny this afternoon, which should make for a beautiful ride! It takes about an hour, and I think we'll walk on, instead of taking the car, so hopefully it won't be cold and rainy! But this is Seattle, so you never can tell! But if it's nice, I will definitely have my camera in tow!

Anyway, I have added links to my Twitter and Facebook over on the side bar. Please feel free to add me!! I would love to get to my readers a little more!

I love him.

Kyle is finally back at home! Even though he was only gone for 3 weeks, it felt like forever this time! The funny thing is that for us, 3 weeks is nothing! Most people are like, "only 3 weeks? Seriously? I can't stand to be away from my husband for more than a day! I don't know how you do it!" I love that people think that I do it voluntarily! Haha! Yah, not so much! Anyway, he's back at home, and we've both had the week off together! It's been really nice! I've even been dragging him to the gym with me! He leaves again on Tuesday for four days. He's flying to New York to go check out some houses. I really wish I was going, but we just couldn't afford to both go. Boo hiss! Luckily, he knows what he's doing, he knows what I like and dislike, and he's very good with stuff like that. We're hoping he'll find something that he can bring home to show/tell me about, and if we love it, we can put in an offer, and be closed/closing on it by the time we get out there at the end of March! Wishful thinking though, I'm sure!

This week has been one of those "all about babies" weeks! Three pregnancy announcements, four gender announcements, one birth, and lots of my planning, on my part, for my best friend's baby shower next month. See?! I told you! I'm handling it pretty well. It is what it is. And after 3.5 years, I definitely cope a lot differently. Cope! Haha! Get it? Get it?! (Hint: My last name is Cope! LoL) Easily amused, what can I say?

Well this lady is tired! And I've got to wake up bright and early to go get my sweat on! I'll be back on Saturday for my weekly weight loss update!

Week One Weight Loss

Today is the end of my first week of working out and eating less. And I am down 4 pounds!! I was so excited! That is an excellent start! Here's hoping to that trend keeping up! My current short term goal is to be down 15-20 pounds when we start our cross country trip at the beginning of March. That might be overly optimistic, but you've got to have goals, right?


On that trip, we're going to stop in Texas to see my brother and his newly pregnant wife(can you sense the excitement? LoL) Then from there, we'll go up to Arkansas, where we will spend about a week with our families. My parents, grandparents, and his Mom and Step-Dad live in the same town, and the rest of his family lives about an hour from there. When we leave AR, we'll stop for an over night stop in VIrginia to see his brother, his brother's wife, and their litte boy. And then from there, we'll finish out our trip to our new home in upstate New York! Gosh, I'm exhausted just thinking about the driving! And since we have two cars, and the Navy doesn't pay to ship one within the country, we both have to drive seperately! Boo! IT will be super lonely! When we came out here from South Carolina, Kyle had a different, smaller car that we were able to tow with my SUV. But his current car is bigger. But maybe, just maybe we can sell mine before we leave! That would be great! We'll see though! I'm not holding my breath!

Anyway, this girl needs to get her butt up and do something! Going to have dinner and drinks with the girls at a piano bar tonight! And then Kyle comes home on Monday! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

Suck.

This sucks. I am so stressed out lately, and I hate it! I never let things stress me out. But between everything we've got going on, our money situation is not looking optimal. I don't know how or if things are going to work out. If it's between buying a house or adopting, clearly the answer is adoption. But I don't even know if we even get to choose one at this point. We aren't quite sure how things are going to go. This past year, we were not super great with our finances, and we're paying for that now. But seriously, who anticipates having to go "buy" a baby for $20,000+! Not me! That's for damn sure. And I'm sure that most people don't generally move across country, buy a house, and start the adoption process, all with a few months time!

It just sucks because, as always, things aren't going our way. If you have known us for very long, you know that Kyle and I have a history of major things in life failing big time. I don't get it. It just doesn't make sense. We are the good people that bad things happen to. The one main thing that has worked out for us is our marriage! Thank God for that, because we don't have much else! That's for damn sure!

We aren't going to give up. We're going to keep trying, and hopefully succeed. I know right now, I'm extra emotional(Good Morning, Flo!). And I know that in a few days, I'll be much more level headed. I'm just so frustrated and sad right now! Ugh! I'm all cried out for this evening. Time for bed.

But real quick before I go, to all of my girls that are getting ready to adopt or that have recently adopted, how did you do it? Financial wise? Loans? Savings? Grants? Family help? Any advice is greatly appreciated it! And if you don't feel comfortable leaving it on the comment section, you can email me at tiff_nichole03@hotmail.com

Ugh.

I'm so annoyed! My doctor's office called me this morning to let me know that when they tried to put through my referral to a nutrionist, it was denied. Apparently Tricare doesn't cover that. WTF?! Really? I don't get that. But they do cover a very large percentage of weight loss surgery! So they won't let me see a nutrionist to get help, but they'll fork over $10 grand for the surgery?? That is so ridiculous to me! A lot of people complain about Tricare (for those that aren't familiar, it is the military's health insurance). But I usually don't have any issues, except when it comes to referrals. Back when I first tried to get a referral to a fertility doctor, it was kind of a pain. And then, when I tried to get a referral to the military treatment facility that is about an hour and half south of me (they do IVF there for way less than a civilian fertility clinic), they wouldn't give it to me because it was "too far away". Ugh. I guess I'll have to figure something else out now...which scares me because I really don't think I can do this on my own! Guess we'll find out!

In other news, I think I'm getting a cold, or a sinus infection. Either way, no fun! I'm stuffy/runny, my sinuses hurt, and I've got a cough. Great. Thanks wonky weather!

I'm definitely looking forward to going out for drinks with a few of my favorite ladies tonight! And then this weekend, a friend is coming back in town and we're going to a piano bar! Always a good time! Kyle will finally be home next week! Hooray! It's only been 2 weeks, but I miss him!

Oh! And today I had my first work-out with the new meds, and it was great! I was able to get in a good work-out, and felt fantastic afterwards! I have discovered a few unpleasant side effects though. I have been getting a headache in the evening, somewhat insomniatic, and my mouth/food tastes like arm pit! Though I don't know if that is a terrible thing! Makes you not want to eat if it tastes terrible! Hahaha!

Heifer needs some help!

And by heifer, I mean me! LoL I have struggled with my weight for years. Back in high school, I was skinny, and hot!! Haha! And now, I'm the big girl. And I hate it! Last year, while Kyle was deployed, I busted my ass at the gym! For 7 months! And for all of my hard work, I only lost 25 pounds and was down not even two pants sizes! And that is frustrating! Yes, they say "that's the healthy way" "you'll keep it off losing it slowly" blah blah blah. But I call bullshit! I have gained it all back! And its barely been over a year. My weight never plateaus, it's constantly going up. I finally decided to seek some help. I called and set up an appointment with my doctor. She is going to get me a referral to a nutrionist. And she also prescribed me some meds to help me get started. They will help curb my appetite. Combined with diet and exercise, I should hopefully see some results! She only gave me a month's supply. When they are gone she wants me to come back in and see how it's going. From there, she may let me do one more month of the pills. But probably no longer than that. They are meant for short term use. I started taking them yesterday, and I can say that I am a fan! I've felt great! I haven't been hungry, but I am making sure to still eat. But since I'm not hungry, I'm making much smarter food choices. Well, mostly anyways. LoL I'm hoping that once I can get in to see a nutritionist, they'll help me get on the right path to eating better! I'm going to try to put my all into this! I have got to do something! And especially with us adopting this year, that is great motivation! I don't want to be the "fat mom"! And right now, I would be.

Well, that's all I've got for now! I will try to keep you guys posted on my progress! Wish me luck!

I can't sleep tonight. For the past two nights I've just been really weepy. I don't know what my deal is. Okay, I lied. I totally know what my deal is. Damn PMS. I'm a big baby anyways, but when I'm PMSing, it's on overdrive! Throw in the stress of moving across country, trying to find a house, adoption, trying to figure out how we're going to pay for it all, and I'm a hot mess!

Part of me wants to flash forward 3 months so that all of this is over! I want to have a house, and have all of our adoption paperwork submitted. But then, part of me isn't ready to go yet. Moving means leaving behind my friends, leaving behind the life that I've known for the last three years, leaving behind familiarity. I have incredible friends! And I know that I will never make any that I will become closer to. Several of the friends I have here will be life long friends. And I'm going to be so sad to leave them behind!

I'm just overwhelmed. I know that in a couple of weeks, I'll be leveled out and more apt to deal. But for the next week, I'm having a freak out moment.

It's late and I need to go to bed. This post didn't really have anything of substance it it. But like I say, I blog how I think.
Tiffy out.

Boo hiss!

I have finally found an agency that I really liked! Well, a second one that I really liked. The first one isn't currently taking new families. I finally got to talk to the guy on the phone this morning. He had told me in an email that it wouldn't be a problem that I'm not in New York yet. But apparently we weren't on the same page. He said it would be better to wait to start the homestudy paperwork until we were actually there. But I can go ahead and fill out the registration paperwork as soon as I receive it in the mail later this week. Bummer. I thought for sure we could get a lot of it out of the way! But since it's mostly time sensitive stuff, he said it would be pointless to do it now. Oh well, luckily we'll be out there soon! I'm just anxious to get it done! For the time being, I will just make sure I get all of the things together that we will need (birth certificates, marriage liscense, W2s, pet shot records, ect.).

I guess I better go get ready for work. I'm finally going back to my normal schedule today. It's about time!

Smile.

We finally got orders!! Peace out Pacific Northwest! Hello New York! Kyle has to report no later than April 20th. Add in our travel time and house hunting time, we'll probably be leaving here around March 10th. That's only two months away! Holy crap! So much to do and so little time to do it!

I think that if it weren't for getting the adoption process started once we move, I wouldn't be very willing to leave yet! But that alone makes me want to leave next week! I cannot wait! Speaking of adoption, a good friend of mine who is also going through adoption, her baby boy was born today!! She got to be in the room with birth mom during labor and delivery. I'm so excited for them!! They have to wait 5 days to sign consent papers, and then they can return to their home state with their new baby! I cried when she texted me to tell me that he had arrived! Not only because I'm so happy for them to finally be parents, but also because it hits close to home! I can't wait for that to be us! Congratulations to them!!

I have so much to say but can't really form it into blog form right now. I blame too much coffee! Haha! Hopefully I'll be able to pull it together and post again soon.

For now, I leave you with this video. I love the lyrics of this song. It's so very hopeful and optimistic. I definitely have to think of our infertility issues when I hear it. I've always been a very optimistic person. Always trying to find the upside. This song applies perfectly! And because I'm such a nerd, I LOVED the Glee cover of it! I don't know about y'all, but I loved that show! Anyways, I hope you all have a great week!