Well look what we did!!!  That’s right, a little Baby D will be joining our crazy, chaotic world in December and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

I’ll be honest, this wasn’t exactly a planned pregnancy – it’s what I like to refer to as the greatest surprise of all time.  John Michael and I had been talking about having a baby for a few months.  We knew we were ready.  But, in just a few short weeks we’ll be going through a major move back to Atlanta (can I get an Amen??), and well, we just thought that once we got back in Atlanta and we were both settled into new jobs (he being on a new project and I still needed to find one), then we’d start trying.

But, I know all too well that when I make a plan God takes one look at it and laughs.  He’s got a good sense of humor like that.  So, here we are – a few months ahead of schedule.

You wanna hear how we found out?  Oh good, okay.

John Michael had always told me that he wanted to be there any time I took a pregnancy test so when I had a sneaking suspicion that I was pregnant, we took one of those ‘early detection’ test about a week early and it came back negative.

A week later, while I was grocery shopping, I picked up another pregnancy test on a whim.  And, though the packaging suggested testing first thing in the morning, JM and I both wanted to just see what would happen…

Well, we got two lines – PREGNANT!  But, the second line was very faint.  Too faint for John Michael to fully believe it.  So, I chugged some water and took another one.  Same thing.  As I’m getting more excited John Michael was getting more confused.  So, at 10:30 at night we went to WalMart to get a digital test as opposed to the lines.  JM calls it the ‘dummy proof’ test.  The entire time I’m chugging water (another thing the package clearly tells you not to do…), I retake and we got a… NOT PREGNANT.

At this point, we’ve gotten two positives and one negative.  Somehow though, John Michael is completely convinced I’m not pregnant.  We agree to wake up early the next morning and retest as the directions suggest.

The next morning, on a Monday before work, JM is putting on his deodorant as I hover over the test waiting.  And then…

Yep.  We were both shocked.  Actually, that’s an understatement.  I don’t even think there are words for our state of being.  I just laughed hysterically and JM just stared at the test… for a really, really long time.

We then had to pull ourselves together, get dressed and go about our day as if everything was the same as it was before.  But, that morning there was spark that lit up in me and has continued to glow since – the first glimmer of motherhood is something that is so precious, so sacred.  What an amazing God we have.

I’ll try to blog a bit more regularly since I know our family and friends want to know what’s going on.  Great, great things are happening for us and I want you all to be to be along for the ride!

Yesterday wasn’t nearly as awful as Monday.  Though I did get hungry during the afternoon.  My solution was to eat plain spinach leaves (yuck!) and grapes.  After about an hour of stuffing my face with both of those I felt full but definitely not satisfied.  I guess that’s more of a mind over matter thing because I wasn’t hungry but I just wanted to eat a burger.  But I resisted the urge to stop at McDonald’s and headed to my Mary Kay Unit Meeting instead. 

While at my MK meeting, they celebrated February birthdays with a big ‘ol chocolate chip cookie cake!  Ugh, it pained me not to eat it but I was very proud of myself for staying strong.  I rushed home and made a juice (1 plum, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 orange, 1 kiwi, 3 handfuls of blueberries).  It was absolutely delicious and satisfying so I went to bed happy.  And I woke up this morning and BAM – 2 lbs loss for the 2nd day in a row! 

To be clear, I want you to know I’m eating ALL DAY LONG.  In fact, I try to never let myself get hungry because that’s when I’ll most likely slip up.  So, I’m by no means depriving myself food — I’m just depriving myself of all the junk.  And really that’s what my body is craving – the junk.  Because when I really stop to ask myself if I’m hungry or if I’m just wanting junk food, most of the time I’m just wanting junk food and I’m sick of eating grapes.  If anything, this little experience has taught me how to differentiate between true hunger and the urge for instant gratification. 

That being said, I can’t stinkin’ wait to have meat and potatoes on Friday night when my parents get here! 

Total weight loss: -4.5lbs!

Yesterday morning went fine.  I had my juice when I woke up and then around 10ish I had an apple.  But then I was still hungry so I had an orange.  That pretty much held me over through lunch and then around 1pm I started getting hungry again AND I was so tired!  So, that’s when I made my first exemption rule for this diet that I still stand by — I’m including coffee!  I drink one big cup of coffee every morning.  I love it.  I need it.  And yesterday was awful without it.  So, yesterday afternoon I broke down and made myself a cup of coffee and ate 1/2 a cucumber.  So, by the time I left work I really had only strayed a little bit.  Tiny, really.  Just a coffee… a 4 baked lays… and 2 cinnamon disk.  But that’s it! 

But, I headed home and started to feel guilty because it was John Michael and I’s first Valentine’s Day being married.  And here I was only allowing myself to eat raw fruits and veggies.  And then I felt like I was being very selfish… and I was hungry… so we went out and got SUSHI!   Oddly, I got full REALLY fast.  Usually I can scarf down 2 rolls and a salad easily not last night!  I had a salad (all contents were inside my diet parameters – besides the ginger dressing) and JM and I split 3 rolls.  But I could barely eat one roll collectively after my salad.  It was very strange.  Now, I would love to say I feel guilty about breaking my diet on Day 1 but I don’t.  Because it was Valentine’s and I love my husband and I love sushi and Valentine’s is the day of love. 

So, I derailed last night a bit – okay, a lot – but, I woke up and I had still lost 2.5 lbs!   So, I’m back in full force today (adding coffee to the diet list) and we’ll see how it goes.  Life is all about little adjustments, right?

All stocked up for the week

There are several reasons I’ve decided to do a cleanse/detox treatment.  First, for my ‘digestive health’.  I didn’t start this blog to be modest, so it means to get me regular – a healthy pooping schedule, if you will.  But ‘digestive health’ sounds so much better so I’ll stick with that phrase.  I’ve never had great ‘digestive health’ so I’m hoping a complete detox of my system will help jump-start a better ‘digestive health’ regimen. 

Secondly, John Michael and I recently visited Atlanta and one of our dear  friends had just gotten a juicer.  He showed us some of the crazy fruits and veggies you can juice so naturally we felt we had to go purchase one.  So, we did.  The great thing about juicing is that your body doesn’t have to work to break down the food.  Though it’s all raw fruits and vegetables, your body still has to work to separate the nutrients from the waste.  With a juicer, that process is done for your body so your body gets the immediate benefits. 

Thirdly, and probably the largest contributor for why I’m doing the cleanse, swimsuit season is right around the corner.  And, with our move back to Atlanta, I see many summer days at the pool and lake in my future.  And the thing about Atlanta is apparently no one eats because girls are typically a size 0.  I have high expectations that after 5 days on The Cleanse I’ll be looking like a Victoria’s Secret model.  Right?  RIGHT?!?!

The diet is quite simple – raw fruits and vegetables only but as much as I want to eat.  I think this is kind of like going vegan though honestly I only know vegan as a buzz word so I’m not sure if that is correct or not.  I’ve also heard Oprah’s staff did the vegan thing last week but I haven’t had a chance to see the episode yet.  I basically made up this cleanse by reading some off-the-wall website about juicing.  However, it did give me much more flexibility that some of the other cleanses I had read about and I have access to all the food this would require – other cleanses require really weird, specialty ingredients that I’m not sure I can get here in southwest VA.   

My plan is to detox for 5 days.  Well, more like 4.5 because my parents are coming in town on Friday and I will have a celebratory steak Friday night.  But, I started this morning and so far I’m not nearly as hungry or tired as I thought I would be.  My juice this morning consisted of 1 plum, 2 carrots, 1 Japanese pear, 1 apple, 3 handfuls of blueberries, 2 kiwis and an orange.  Now I’m snacking on an apple.  For lunch I plan to have some spinach with an apple, orange, some watermelon and half a cucumber. 

I’m not brave enough to put out to the Interland my weight.  I’ve decided instead to just keep track and let you know how much I’ve gained or loss this week.  So, today I’m at zero.  I’ll post it in the bottom of my entry each day so I can keep track.  I think that’s all for now – I’ll be blogging every day this week so I can keep a journal-ish log.

Weight Today:  -0- lbs lost/gained

Our first snow of the season back in November

With winter, comes my inability to drive in snowy/icy conditions.  I just can’t do it.  I just freeze in terror with the thought of losing control and sliding down one of the hills by our house.  So, I go a maximum of 20mph with the hazards on and repeat “I don’t care.  I just don’t care.  I don’t care.” at the lines of cars and trucks behind me honking their horns. 

Current weather conditions in our backyard

So, today I’ve risked my life driving home from work.  Took a huge sigh of relief as I pulled into my garage.  Only to come inside the house and discover… we’re out of toilet paper.  Seriously?!?! 

I'd guestimate that's a solid 4-5 inches on our railing right now (excuse the quality they are taken with my bberry)

I’m now sitting in my living debating the importance of toilet paper in my life.  I have  found one roll from our guest bathroom with approximately 25 squares of paper left.  I think I will ration that and see how far that gets me… 

I should mention that my DSD (designated snow driver), John Michael, is stuck in Arizona where he went to watch Auburn win the national title.  But, due to the weather, is unable to leave Arizona and get me some toilet paper. 

Ugh… have I mentioned how much I hate winter?

Mostly because sometime this year – not exactly sure when – but at some point this year we’ll be moving back to Atlanta!  I’ve enjoyed our time in southwest Virginia but I hate to admit that I’ve never really been able to make it feel like home.  Even with a new marketing job which makes me feel a bit more like myself, I still haven’t fully embraced our life here. 

Also, with our triumphant return to Atlanta, I’ll get to finally decorate our first home.  We are renting our space up here so I haven’t done the fun things like paint colors, etc.  Plus, our bed here is King and in Atlanta it will be a Queen so I can’t get our bedroom decor yet either.  I’m just stinkin’ excited about creating our first home together. 

Also, in 2011 we’ll talk about starting our family.  It hasn’t been a focus for us because all the unknowns about JM’s next job and our moving date back to Atlanta.  We can’t even plan a vacation right now, much less when we should bring a child into our lives.  So, we both opted to just hold out on the conversation entirely until we get back to Atlanta.  But, I’m excited that we’ll begin talking about it this year. 

Speaking of babies, in just a few months I’ll be welcoming my new neice to the world!!!  Kate is due in April and I cannot wait to slap a tutu on that baby girl and kiss her fat little cheeks.  In other big life moments for this year, two of my best girlfriends are getting hitched.  Those weddings will be in California and the other in Orlando (which is already causing logistical nightmares since we don’t know where we’ll be living and therefore can’t buy flights yet…).  Along with two other very good friends wedding in Dublin, GA and Key West, Fl.  As always, we’ll be living out of a suitcase for wedding season. 

There are a million other reasons I’m looking forward to 2011.  The Florida/Auburn game will be huge for us.  My new job once I get back to Atlanta (which could also be a huge stressor to find a new job and all but I’m looking on the bright side).  Spending one last spring in Virginia where it truly is beautiful to be outdoors in the mountains that time of year.  And a variety of other trips JM and I have planned. 

Yep, 2011 is going to be pretty incredible.

Well, I’ve been back and forth on whether I can pull off such a color. I’m a little bit on the ivory skin tone side (Ivory 1 according to Mary Kay) so I’m not sure a fair-skinned lady can do red. But, not knowing something has never stopped me before so I’ve been experimenting with red lipstick.

To date, I’ve worn it three times. Once while on a date with John Michael. And he being the darling, doting husband he is has never told me I look bad in anything so he says he loves it. But, that’s not exactly an unbiased opinion (though, I love hearing it).

The second time was last week while I was in Florida for the holidays. I wore it while I was doing a Mary Kay party with my mom, sister and grandma. Now those ladies have never held back their opinions; I think it’s a family trait. The only feedback I got when I mentioned red lipstick was from my grandmother who said “red lipstick is for hookers”. I don’t think she realized I was wearing it… at least I hope she didn’t.

At this point the scoreboard is even. One point in favor, one point against. Well, today I decided I’d pull out all the stops. I’m feeling sassy and it’s the last day of work in this decade so I said to myself, “Self, why not?” I got dressed this morning in a black and white flannel shirt complimented by a black belt at the waist, skinny dark jeans, ankle black boots and my red lipstick. But, why stop there? I mean, if I’m running the risk of looking like a hooker or like a hottie I should at least give it my all, right? So, I threw on a leather biker jacket just for good measure.

Now, I should note that I’m still living in a small town in Virginia. Fashion isn’t exactly a top priority around these parts. So, I can’t say I was too surprised when I walked into the office and went to the coffee pot and everyone stopped mid-conversation to look at my bleeding lips. No one said anything but their faces said it all. I look like a hooker. At work. On the last day of the decade. So much for being sassy.

Not a bad looker, ifIdosaysomyself.  Any doubts?  How about you take a second look?

Yummy.

That’s right.  I got myself a man.  And a good one at that.  He cleans (like, a lot).  He entertains.  He builds things.  He makes me laugh.  What more could a girl want? 

So, you want to see some pictures from the big day?  Okay, okay, twist my arm to talk about our wedding a bit more.  Some of my favorites…

Sweet nothings

You may now kiss the bride

Here comes the bride

Bliss

Where did that plant come from?

Charlie, one of our groomsmen, was deployed to Iraq during our wedding but he certainly wasn't forgotten.

The best group of woman to have by my side... and to have as bridesmaids, too.

The cutest nephew in the entire world. And that's no exaggeration. He really, truly is. I've done a survey.

My planner, for example?  It HAS to be the AT-A-GLANCE monthly planner with NO LINES (very important).  I do not like the weekly planners because some weeks I’ll be really good about writing down my weekly to-dos but then others I’ll have written them else where.  And then, I’ll look back at my planner and feel like a failure.  No one wants to be a failure when looking back at their life in their planner. 

As far as writing my to-do list, I ONLY use a Mead, Five Star – three subject, college ruled notebook.  The only thing that may change here on occasion is color.  Right now, mine is green because I felt pink was too immature with my new job.  Ugh.

When navigating into the writing utensil world, look out!  I am even more specific.  In my Five Star notebook, I only use Pilot, Precise V5 in a multitude of colors.  But in my planner?  Only a Papermate, Clear Point mechanical pencil with a roll-up easer.  But then, there every day writing… notecards, meeting notes, etc.  For all other task, it’s a Pilot, Dr. Grip (in both ballpoint and gel). 

So, I may be high maintenance but at least it helps my productivity!  Not too many girls can say that about their shoes or purses.

(…and the crowd goes wild…)

That’s right.  I’ve traded in my pre-school class for a computer and an internet connection.  thanktheLord  Although, I still really do miss the kiddos.  Probably should start talking to John Michael about filling that void….

I’m Director of Marketing at a small agency in my small town.  Which, really that means I feel on top of the world.  My last agency was HUGE and though I got HUGE opportunities there, I also got lost most of the time in the day-to-day work.  I feel a bit like a fish-out-of-water in my new role but I think I’m on the right path to success here.  And, it’s helped to give me some of my identity back since leaving Atlanta. 

Last time I was blogging I was having a tough time adjusting to the new life in the country.  And though I still think I stick out like a sore thumb here in my three-inch heels and talking 100mph, its really starting to feel like home.