ACL= Pure Awesomeness!

The Eagles in all their magnificence!

All 80,000 people at the festival. It was crowded, but fun!

Last weekend was the annual ACL (Austin City Limits) Festival. This equals 3 days of music (70 bands!) in Zilker Park, and I got to go to Sunday's festivities with my dad and brother. The Eagles were playing and if you know anything about my dad you know that he loves him some Texas Longhorn football and he loves him some Eagles. I grew up watching The Eagles Live in Concert: Hell Freezes Over DVD over and over again(although when we were younger it was a VHS :)). So we spent the day lazying around eating good food and listening to great music and then it was time! Time for some Eagles! It was an amazing concert. They are so good live and I've never seen my dad happier. It was great having my dad here for the weekend. I watched a lot more sports than I ever would, but it was nice just spending time with him.

Moving On!

This last month we did our last and final fertility treatment and much like it's predecessors it was a big, fat, epic fail. We are letting go of this part of our lives for awhile and are going to search out some other paths to travel down for now. Heath finishing school, me doing more school, going on some vacations and hopefully forgetting about the word Infertility and the pain it has caused in our life. We can no longer plan our lives around: when this treatment will work, when I am pregnant, when we have a baby, etc. Although we are moving, living, doing- infertility has put our lives at a stagnant standstill and we are ready to move forward with new plans. Being parents was such a big part of the dreams we had for our future and now that we've had one road block after another we are coming to terms with the fact that it probably won't happen for a very long time. We just cannot afford the price tag of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and I am not in the right state of mind to accept adoption yet. It is Plan B to me, and I would never want a little one to grow up thinking "My mommy couldn't have children so she adopted me". I feel bitter that there are all these women giving up their babies because they don't want them, can't afford them, can't care for them- and I would give anything to have a baby of my own and just can't. Simply just can't. I think I will have a long road of acceptance coming up. I am angry, bitter, jealous, sad, and heartbroken, and those feelings don't go away overnight (although I wish they did). I guess the biggest thing I am bitter about is that 4 years ago I gave up my dreams of what I really wanted to do in school and changed to the degree I have now so I could work from home and still be a stay at home mom. Now each day I work from home is like salt in my barren womb. Right now I am planning on extending my Associate's Degree into a BS in Health Information Management, but I am also thinking of the possibility of choosing a degree I really want to do. Maybe this is an opportunity to fulfill other dreams we have like : school, traveling, etc. One day this will all make sense..

Our little graduate!

The teacher had little graduation caps! Awesomeness!

It was quite a feat trying to get that hat to stay on her head.

Sophie graduated from her beginner obedience class last Wednesday. The guests of honor were Uncle Mattie and big "sister" Ally. She did a great job and as any biased "parent" would say.....I think she was the best :) She was younger than all the other dogs because they didn't get enough people for the puppy class so she got put into the next level with older dogs. She did great.....we didn't. She learned a lot but we didn't practice as much as we should have. We will take what we have learned and move forward and hopefully she'll be a well trained canine citizen! Congrats Sophie Jane, we are proud!

Hotel Breinholt was also booked this weekend. Mom and Dad brought Meme (dad's mom) to visit and to celebrate my dad's birthday. It was good seeing her and as always, we had a great time. Gram and Gramps bought Sophie a new kennel (to match Ally's) for graduation. She LOVES it and in fact hasn't left it so far today....and the door is open :)

Looking forward to a fun weekend with Ben, Mer, and the girls! Can't wait!

Catching Up!

We've had lots of fun things going on but I just haven't had time to post anything....

After Joey and Kira cam for the 4th, we had some other friends stop by as they were traveling to San Antonio. Forest and Jenny stayed with us from Thursday through Sunday. The best part of people coming into town (besides seeing them, of course) is all the fun things we get to see/do that we probably wouldn't do on our own. For instance, we've lived here for a year and have never been to the Capital- even though it is right by campus. So we got to do that- it was really amazing- beautiful land and architecture. Also they went to a couple museums on campus while I was working Friday. All in all a good time.

Then mom came to visit us for a couple days before her and dad left for their Alaskan cruise. It was nice to see her and the grand-puppies always love a visit from their Gram :)

After that it was Mattie's birthday, so what to we do? What any almost 30 year olds do, head to Chuck E. Cheese's of course! It's a tradition now- Davy comes from Fort Worth and we all head out to the local CEC and try and not look like child predators :) We had a blast as usual. Mattie won the skee ball jackpot a grand 19 times. It was insane. There was an audience surrounding him . Pure awesomeness. The best part is the end of night when we pool all our tickets together and see what we've made and then everyone gives us their slips to give to our nieces. So really it is like charity work :)

Then, this last weekend, we went home to Keller to watch the house while mom and dad were in Alaska. It was also Bennie boo's birthday. Ben and Mer brought the girls over Saturday morning to swim. After that we pretty much did nothing. I must say it was one of our most boring weekends home. Parents weren't home and everyone else was busy. Plus the main reason we came home was to mow the lawn, and we woke up Saturday morning to the neighbors finishing the lawn. Talk about good neighbors. They are LDS and super nice. But that left us pretty much with a wasted trip except for the small amounts of time we got to see Heath's family.

Other fun things coming up are: Sophie's Graduation and Heath starting school again!

A very merry Un-4th of July

I tried to upload the video (which was way good), but it was taking too long, so you get this lame picture :)

I just figured everyone was naming their recent posts something to do with the 4th of July so I went in a different direction. Like other holidays, this one is over taken by picnics at the lake, extended weekends, and unimportant things that have nothing to do with the purpose of the day. And we did it all. Haha, just kidding. I did however spend the day thinking about my grandfathers (and the many others) who have served/are serving for our country and given us these wonderful lives- you know the one's where we can take a long weekend, go to the lake, and shoot fireworks. On the other hand, we did have our friends Joey and Kira come visit and had a great weekend with them. Friday we headed out to Cooper's for some good ol' BBQ. Then we started our typical weekend of staying up entirely too late playing Mario Bros. Saturday we tested out the famous Round Rock donuts with their incredible 14 inch donut. Joey and Kira bought one and between the 4 of us we didn't finish it (much of that was due to the fact that it was chocolate glazed and it was WAY too much chocolate-if there is such a thing). Then we continued our spree of eating at Pluckers with Matt. 5 delicious lemon pepper wings later and we were all full. Sunday we laid low until around 9 when we headed out to Georgetown for a fireworks show- you know, the true meaning of the holiday :) We had a great weekend and thank J&K for making the trek from Houston once again. Hopefully we'll get to visit you guys soon!

Joey and Kira at the fireworks show.

Us at the show..

This weekend we have friends from our old Trophy Club Ward coming to visit: Forest and Jenny. Yep, you read that right. They're like peas and carrots :) They don't get that ever I'm sure....just like I never get "Yo Adrienne!!!!". Yeah, that never happens. Anywho, they're heading in tomorrow to keep Austin weird- a little saying we have here.

It's been a crazy whirlwind of a Summer but we're enjoying it.

Clever Title Here

Just like I don't have a good name for this post I don't really have much to write about, but thought it was time for an update. Last weekend my parents came to visit for Father's Day weekend. We were going to go home but I got a little sick and they decided to come visit instead. We went to Lockhart to eat at Smitty's BBQ. It was pretty good. Another one of the many great places around Austin that have been featured on food/travel channels. After that we headed out to the Alamo Drafthouse (it's like The Movie Tavern in Fort Worth) to see Toy Story 3. We al agreed that it was an awesome movie. Pretty unbelievable for a trilogy- they usually get worse but I think they are getting better! After that we headed home and hung out. Last week I sold my phone so I could buy a new one. Somehow I was already eligible for an upgrade which just happened to be the same time that Apple/AT&T released the new iPhone. I said if I could sell my old phone for the same price as the new one then I would do it. I ended up selling it for 25 dollars more than the cost of the new one with taxes included. I profited! So my new one is due to be delivered today and Heath is anxiously waiting by the door for it :). This weekend we're going home so we can FINALLY go see our friend's new baby boy Koen. I didn't want to risk getting him sick last weekend. Congratulations Wes and Brindee! Can't wait to see him! It's also my mom's birthday on Sunday so we'll be celebrating that too. It's been a busy summer so far and we've loved it! Keep the fun coming!

Sea World- Fun for all ages!

Enough with the depressing talk. Let's talk fun! We've had the pleasure of going to Sea World twice so far this year. We bought one of those Fun Cards where you pay the same price as a one day admission but you get to come back all year.

The first time we got to go we went with Ben, Mer, and the girls. We went both Friday and Saturday and had a blast. It was so nice to see the faces on the girls at the shows. There is nothing like bringing joy into a child's life because it brings joy into yours! We also got to stay at this awesome resort hotel thanks to Ben and Mer's friends. It was an amazing, relaxing time and we wish we could do it again.

Hanging in the hotel with our Sea World treasures.

Waiting for the Shamu show to start.

Everyone after the Shamu show. We sat in the Splash Zone but hardly got wet.

Thanks for a great trip Ben and Mer! We had a blast!

The second time we went was two days ago. My aunt called us last month and asked if we would help her out with taking her grandson's to Sea World. Being the fun lovers we are, we said yes! So we spent the night at my cousin's house Wednesday, got up early Thursday and headed out to San Antonio, then came back that night after we had worn the kids out. Boys are a lot harder than girls. Holy smokes. Carter has Down Syndrome so you have do a lot more for him than other 6 year olds, but he's a great kid and LOVES Heath so they always have a great time. He loves shows, animals, and acrobats so he was in heaven being at Sea World. Carter loved the Beluga/Dolphin show so much that he just sat there when the show ended and signed more and said "more show!"

Zane, Aunt Sis, Me, Carter, and Heath outside the entrance of Sea World.

Another great trip! Thanks for inviting us Aunt Sis!

So hopefully we'll have more fun trips to S.W. this year and many more summer fun adventures!

Why not me? *Addendum

*ADDENDUM TO MY PREVIOUS POST*
Okay, obvioulsy I am a little angry right now. A lot of this has been building up the past three years. Month after month of negative pregnancy tests will do that to a person. I'm not going to lie, I really do think/have thought/feel/have felt all of the below things and more- wrong or right. I need to write about two things. One being of a time shortly after joining the church. I joined when I was 17. During that time I took ridacule from friends, family, and sometimes strangers. I dealt with my Baptist friends who thought I was going to hell. I dealt with my parents kicking me out of the house because they didn't understand. I dealt with my grandma giving my parents anti-mormon literature so that they could know the "truth". For the past 10 years I have struggled with the need to fit in with my family and friends that were now so clearly different than me and also trying to live the life I knew I wanted. I knew what I believed and I knew why I wanted to be baptized, but trying to be another person after being someone else for 17 years can be a difficult thing. I stumbled many times, but always got right back up and kept moving forward. That was a very hard time in my life. I was being hurt for doing something good- going to church. I was changing my life for the better, but met opposition in every direction. It was a very painful time, but also a time in my life that changed me for the better. I made it through and thought to myself, surely this is as bad as it gets. Surely I will reap the benefits of standing strong for what I believe. Hince the bitterness as the time came for me to weather yet another one of life's trials- infertility. I feel like I am going to be fighting these battles all of my life while others seem to have things handed to them. It feels like nothing comes easy to me and I am becoming resentful of how strong the Lord believes me to be. The hardest part is being a member of this great church that teaches of families and how they are your greatest treasure. When you can't obtain it, you feel broken. You feel like a failure as a wife, a member of the church, a daughter/daughter-in-law, and a daughter of our Heavenly Father. I know I cannot let this trial define who I am or where I am going. I know I cannot let it extinguish my testimony or love for the church. I just don't know to get out of this place, to come to terms with this, to overcome these feelings.
The other thing I wanted to say was that I am aware of the many blessings I have daily. I do not want to short change all the good I have in my life. A very loving husband, a wonderful house I can call home, two loyal dogs, great family and friends. It just seems that when something like this takes over your life you forget about the simply great things you do have. I know I have a lot and I am very lucky. And on the other hand, I realize that there are many more people out there that are struggling with far more than I am.
I also realize that this is not the end of the road. That there are many options out there for us to expand our family. I'm just simply a girl who wishes she could do it the "normal" way, and needed an outlet to vent these feelings I've been having. I think the world in general does not talk about infertility enough and so as a woman going through it you feel alone and strange. You feel like you have no one to relate to, but I have found many greats friends along this journey and thank them for all the support they've given me.

Why not me?

As most of you loyal readers (all 3 of you :)) know, we've been struggling with infertility issues for about three years now. It has overwhelmed my life in so many ways. It is starting to define who I am and I hate it. Oh there goes Adrienne- She has infertility- feel sorry for her. It's a disease that is pretty much sucking the life out of me. The worst part is that it is a silent disease that no one sees and that no one can cure. So I live each day mourning my childhood dreams of becoming a mother, raising a family, and doing what most people consider the best job on earth. I watch others as they interact with children, or as mothers hold their infants, and I look at what seems like every person around me walk around with a pregnant belly, and I think- Why not me? Why not me, the person who waited until she was married to have sex, the person that did what the Lord asked and got sealed in the Temple, the person who has tried to do what is right. You feel like you are doing these things in your life: going to church, paying tithing, saying your prayers, attending the Temple, reading your scriptures, following the Word of Wisdom- and they are hard sometimes, but you do them, and you feel that somehow you will get rewarded- that it will pay off. Then you wake up one day and you realize what a fool you've been. Because the 16 year old in the back seat of that car just got what you want. The unwed mother of 3 just got what you want-again, that girl smoking and drinking has what you want, and even the very best of people have what you want- and deserve it. So why not me? I've spent the last three years wondering what I am doing wrong, am I not good enough, am I being punished, is our timing wrong, does the Lord not care and has forgotten me. Does the Lord not care- how sad is that? This has been the most painful time of my life. I have questioned who I am, what I believe, and why I believe it, and I am coming up short on answers and feeling a lot of apathy towards life right now. Slowly coming to the realization that I will have to pay $15,000-$30,000 to experience what others get for free is a bitter battle with your spiritual side. On top of that, we don't have that kind of money. Not to mention that the procedures take everything beautiful and wonderful out of the experience. Doctors probing and poking and implanting. We've done three procedures so far and nothing has come from it. Just false hope, broken hearts, and empty bank accounts. I am spiritually flat lined and unable to comprehend what God wants me to learn from this pain right now. I've heard it all: You are so young, it will happen. Give it time. Be patient. It will happen in the Lord's time. Go on vacation. Just relax. Don't think about it. God is teaching you something. Some are just meant to adopt, maybe that's you. This is how Satan tries to get us. If I hear another tried and cliche saying about trying to have baby- I am going to scream! I especially don't want to hear it from the mother of 8 sitting next to me telling me she understands what I am going through and to hang in there. No you don't and I don't need your sympathy. I don't know if I'll ever become a mother, by miracle or adoption or whatever, but if that day comes I hope I can look back on this bitter, angry, painful time and see what I was supposed to learn, because all I can say right now is SCREW THIS BABY MAKING STUFF, IT SUCKS!

Bitter Yuck! And other Fun Tales.

Both her and Ally love to lay on their toys for a good nap.

This toy is the best. She will get inside of it and walk around. So funny. At this point, she had played so much that she just passed out in it. So much entertainment!

Well, it's been a couple weeks since we've gotten little Sophie and things are going pretty good. Ally has really taken to her and they pretty much exhaust each other playing all day. Exactly what we were hoping for! We're still working on the housebreaking thing (and hoping our carpet survives it!). Sophie goes in for her second set of shots this Friday and then hopefully we can take her on walks and other things.

So she has been chewing on my baseboards-A LOT. We decided to go to the pet store and get some of that chew deterrent spray. We picked out one called Bitter Yuck. Sounds yummy right? So this is how it's supposed to work. You spray it on whatever you don't want them to chew, they put their mouth on it and get a taste, then they are so disgusted by the bitterly yucky taste that they no longer chew on your things. Let's just say it did nothing. In fact, she started licking it off right after I sprayed and wasn't even phased. So fast forward to later in the night. I brushed my fingertip on my lip. What do I taste? The most horrible thing I've ever had on my tongue. It tasted like sucking on a bare aspirin. IT WAS GROSS. I drank water. Nothing. I ate all sorts of things. Nothing. I felt like I was going to throw up so I just went to bed. I woke up with the same nasty taste. Let's just say I've been trained to not lick my finger and Sophie stills chews on everything. How backwards is this? It was pretty funny though.

Also exciting was that last week Kami, Chapan, and Ron came to visit. We had such a wonderful time just visiting with them. It was our first time to really get to know Chapan since the wedding so that was nice. They didn't really want to do much- I'm guessing Ben and Mer wore them out- so we mostly hung around and watched movies/TV. We also checked out Lance Armstrong's bike shop, Mellow Johnny's. It was pretty cool. We ate at the usual places- Hut's and Trudy's, and again just hung out and played Wii and watched a lot of The Office. You guys promised me you weren't bored, so I hope you had as much fun as we did. So glad you made the extra drive to come see us! Love you!

Meet Sophie Jane!

Sophie Chillaxin in her new bed.

Ally and Sophie not knowing what to think of each other.

We finally got that second dog we've been talking about. She is a 7 week old salt and pepper Miniature Schnauzer. She has a natural tail and ears-breeders usually crop them, but it's purely cosmetic and tortuous, so we are glad she is al natural. I just felt really horrible that Ally was just laying around the house all day when she could be playing with a friend. So a while back we decided on getting a second dog, but let the idea go when we found out we were moving to Austin. Now that we've settled in and Ally was back to her I'll stare at you while you work because I'm bored routine I started thinking about it again. And alas, a new puppy. The sad part is, Ally isn't too thrilled, at least not yet. When I first got Ally, my parents had another schnauzer that we'd had since childhood. They became the best of friends and then Missy passed away. I thought she had been missing that companionship so we got the puppy. I think she likes her and all- they are just at different stages. Ally wants to play with Sophie and so she comes barreling at her and Sophie just freezes in terror because of this huge thing coming at her. It's been pretty funny. All in all though, I think they will become the best of friends- only time will tell. Total guilt trip last night was when Ally wouldn't get on the bed and sleep with us :( I guess I didn't factor in the jealousy thing. Oops. Well wish us luck as we head down this new road of adventure!

Hotel Breinholt Booked Again!

This weekend we had the pleasure of having our friends Joey and Kira visit from Houston. They came in Friday and stayed until Tuesday night. We ate at lots of yummy places, played lots of Mario Bros Wii, and just had fun hanging out. We had so much fun with you guys. Thanks for making the short journey to spend part of your Spring Break with us!

Heath also has Spring break off so we are just trying to get some stuff off our to-do list this week. That's pretty much it right now.

Visitors at Hotel Breinholt!

We had a great weekend with Heath's family. Thursday night Mom, Dad, and Ron drove in from Ben and Mer's and we took them to Trudy's to eat. On Friday we headed down to campus so they could see where Heath spends his days (and to visit the world's largest collection of things burnt orange- The Co-Op). After that we ate a place called The Mellow Mushroom which was one of Ron's favorite places from his mission- and there was one in Austin! Pretty cool for him. Next we took Ron to the Apple store so Heath could talk his ear off about all things Mac. Then we started our trek to find a movie theater that played The Blind Side which ended in an even crazier attempt to find one that played Avatar in 3D. We ended up watching Avatar, and it was pretty good. I think the visual effects were amazing, but I wouldn't say it was the best movie I've ever seen. Saturday Ben, Mer, and the girls came into town. We sat off to eat at this place that Ben has been dying to try- The Salt Lick. It was pretty good BBQ, but I'm not sure it lived up to its hype for everyone. Then we did a little shopping at the Round Rock Outlets- Mer and I love that place! After that we went home and hung out. Sunday started off with me getting to church early so I could talk to one of the bishop's counselors. Guess who got a calling? Primary, here I come! Then we just spent the rest of Sunday eating and hanging out. That night, after the girls went to bed, we had an exciting game of Super Mario Brothers Wii. It was great. I think we played one level a bazillion times. Monday morning we said our goodbyes and our house has been too quiet ever since. We miss you guys! Thanks for a great long weekend. We had a blast!

Best Sydney quote of the weekend: "I just want you and Xhaxhi to be my parents". Hehe, made our day. Poor Syd, she thinks we'd be cool parents. Little does she know.... :)

Best Malla quote of the weekend: Anytime she would walk around the house and say in her sweet little voice "Xhaaaxxhi" "Haaallllaa"

BEST WEEKEND EVER. Welcome home Ron! Thanks for everything Mom and Dad! We're so glad we got to see ya'll!

In your opinion....

Okay, so we've filed our taxes now and thanks to Uncle Sam it looks like we might be able to get that dining table after all (Yay for the whole new homebuyer credit thing). But, I have a problem. There are like three that we like. So why not throw it to the bloggers for a little help. Which of these tables do you like and why....


I realize that they are all similar but at the same time they are very different. I'm leaving the details out so as to not form any sort of bias. So, let me know what you think and thanks for the help!

Why DOESN'T money grow on trees?

Because if it did, I'd buy this little beauty....

Another great Costco find! But alas, we've exhausted our spending funds after the whole buying a house thing. Who would have thought? But if this ended up on my door step, I wouldn't mind. ;) It would be nice to have more then two people able to sit at the table- you know, without pulling up the desk chair.

Things are going good here. We had my parents stay this last weekend in Hotel Breinholt. We all went to the UT basketball game (we lost), and then drowned our sorrows in the greatest mexican food ever at Trudy's celebrating Lindsey's birthday (Matt's friend from high school). All in all, a great weekend.

Also, we are looking forward to Mom, Dad, and Ron coming down from Utah in March! It's been two years since we've seen the Ron dude and Kami's wedding (in October) since we've seen Mom and Dad. We look forward to our visits!

Hope everyone's New Year is going well. Love ya!

Our New House

We finally closed on our house January 15, 2010. The house buying process was pretty easy peezy until we got to closing and then the bank selling the house became pretty greedy and we had a long 2 week fight with them. NEVER deal with Chase bank. They are horrible. But all in all, it wasn't that bad, and we are very happy with our new home. Now to the good part... pictures! Blogger makes it kind of hard to organize so they might be out of order. (Captions are underneath the pictures).

The front at night. I will get a better picture later.

Welcome to our home!

Our New Address!

Our front window before being frosted.

Front window after being frosted. Yay for privacy!

The powder room at the front entry.

This is our bedroom.

More of our bedroom and new furniture.

Our new dresser.

Our bathroom.

Our closet.

Under the stair storage. IT IS AWESOME.

The dining room with our tiny table. Looks like we need to save up for a new grown up table.

The right side of the kitchen with our new appliances (A Christmas present from my parents- We don't normally get gifts like this but they took Mattie to California for the National Championship game and they don't like doing for one without doing for the other, so Thanks to my families obsession with UT football (and their love of course ;)) we have new, beautiful appliances.) We LOVE them. They really finished off the house.

The left side of the kitchen. Our stove/range was damaged when it was delivered so we are waiting on a new one.

A view of the whole kitchen.

Another view of our Living Room. Our bedroom is the door to right of the front entry.

View of Living Room from Dining Room. Complete with lazy dog.

View of Living Room from entry way. It is long and narrow so we had to get creative with the couches. Notice our lazy dog sleeping on the couch again. :)

TV area in Living Room.

The guest bathroom upstairs.

Another view of the guest bathroom.

The larger extra bedroom (AKA The grandparent's room- hint, hint- come visit!)

Another view of the larger extra bedroom.

My home office in the loft area.

Another view of my home office/loft.

The smaller extra bedroom/ Heath's Office. (AKA The Longhorn room)

Heath's study area in the smaller extra bedroom.

New front door hardware.

Old door knobs. I am not a fan of gold so these had to go.

Our new beautiful bronzed oil door knobs installed by my very own handy man Heath.

Old Sliding Door Handles

New Sliding door handles

The jungle up front that we need to tame.

My new nemesis- the common weed. I will kill them all!

Ally loves her new backyard! And we love not having to take her out on a leash!

So there you have it. We love our new home and have enjoyed getting settled and making it our own. The best part- Not having to move for like 5+ years and not having to live in an apartment! We feel truly blessed right now, especially as so many others struggle over in Haiti to survive after that tragic earthquake. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected in any way by this sad event.

If you haven't already, please head to one of these sites and donate for the recovery and rebuilding of Haiti. Every dollar helps. We did the really simple text option and it will just add our donation onto our cell phone bill.

www.helphaitinow.org

www.redcross.org

www.clintonbushhaitifund.org