ms. wooten & magnum p.i. walk into a bar

here we are, all decked out for halloween 2008. no hannah montanas or disney princesses here. good guess ladies. i almost thought i'd have to construct a leotard from scratch. but lucky me, i walk into the children's section at walmart and found one. it was made for a 12-16 year-old but looked like it would fit me. and indeed it does. i took the sleeves off of the leotard, cut up a cosby sweater i found at the thrift store and used the sleeves for legwarmers, cut up another thrift store sweatshirt for the flashdance look, made a scrunchie, found some big earrings at a vintage store and presto... a jazzercise princess was born.

tonight was our dry run. i applied the loud make-up and did up the hair. yep, my bangs are a wall of hair thanks to a lot of hairspray. and yes, those are my own jelly bracelets. i'm definitely a product of the 80's. who is ms. wooten? she was my home economics teacher senior year. she had big hair and loved to jazzercise, so here my homage to her.

aaron is, of course, magnum. another 80's icon. most of his costume we found at the thrift store. the only modification i made was to shorten the shorts. i wanted to go shorter, but he refused. we had a hard time finding a mustache and a brown wig. he ended up wearing one of our black elvis wigs that we trimmed to fit and we found a gray mustache we colored brown with a sharpie. he went out and bought boat shoes and i'm sure he'll never wear them again. i think we did pretty good for last minute costumes. wishing everyone a happy halloween!!

she's a maniac

i got my halloween costume yesterday. yep, the whole thing just came together at the last minute. and guess where i got most of it: in the children's department at walmart. i can pull off a 12-16 year old outfit like no other. i don't know if that's funny or just plain sad!

we are all on drugs

or at least i will be. we have decided to start sooner rather than later. so the past few weeks i've been receiving my medication through the mail. i had to set up delivery times to receive some of the meds and when i talked to the pharmacy they started ranting of this drug and that. what?!? how many drugs are you sending me?!? when my nurse told me what the doctor's protocol for me was going to be, she had only circled 5 meds on the sheet she gave me. so imagine my shock when about ten more were added to the initial five. most are antibiotics, pain meds and valium for retrieval day. i'm already taking a multi-vitamin, folic acid and i just started taking baby aspirin daily. next week i start birth control pills. i know, how ironic? this is basically how it works. you suppress, stimulate, trigger and maintain. i'll explain more as i come to each step. and guess what, i still have more meds coming the week after next. oh joy!

are you ready for some football?

quick weekend recap. friday aaron got home a little early and we were able to make the 5 o'clock showing of "choke" at the dragonfly theater. boone's first brew and view. we've been meaning to check it out but there really hasn't been a movie we've both wanted to see til now. this might be the way we do movies on the big screen. we were very impressed with the setup. you can eat and drink full meals in the actual theater. there are about 10 rows of chairs and tables and the front row is lined with couches. we ate dinner while we watched, pretty neat.

as far as the movie goes, very sexually graphic. i'm a big fan of chuck palahniuk novels and had read this one a while ago. i kinda forgot what it was about, but it all came flooding back as i watched. i'd say the movie is a pretty close representation of the book. so if you like the book, you'll probably like the movie.

saturday we headed over to watch a little app state football. rarely do i go. but since jerome was out of town, i caved and went with. i actually had a good time despite the 40 degree temps. here you can see josef the mountaineer riding in on his hog. we were just waiting for that head to come flying off. surprisingly, it didn't.

aaron doesn't mind explaining the game to me which he pretty much did the whole time. it was a good game to watch, app. state beat furman 26-14. i probably won't be going to any more games this year. the weather plays a huge factor in if i'll attend. i just really don't like it enough to endure the cold, snow, rain, etc. the next game is friday night, halloween. aaron and jerome plan on dressing up for it. now we're scrambling to find costumes. i've got an idea...now to make it happen...hmmm.

yesterday we did a little geocaching and started to attack the basement storage mess.

and as you can see, aaron did bring home a copy of the als walk team.

from the basement

yep, i am updating from the depths of the basement. inspector came this morning and gave it his stamp of approval. we are officially done! well at least with the building part, the decorating...that's another story.

our sectional is finally a sectional again. doorways, windows and a fireplace made it impossible to fit upstairs. now we've crafted a home to house it. my advice, don't ever get a sectional unless you know you're going to live in the house forever!

we'll probably spend most of the weekend moving stuff from upstairs to downstairs. i got the guys to move the bulky items down before they left yesterday. there's also a room filled with junk covered in drywall/cement dust that needs to be addressed.

i just christened the new toilet. everything is a go!

zebras, dots and lots o' pink

although it seems like i haven't been up to much, (in dire need of a shop update) i do have custom jobs i'm working on. case in point: a nice care package for miss katie. when i was in illinois a few weeks ago, katie and i picked out fabrics to make baby blankets for her new nieces. we wanted retro, rocker chic and i think we nailed it with both.

this was a first for me. these are the largest blankets i've made thus far. katie wanted them to be large enough you can set a baby on, but small enough to tote around. they're about 32" square. it's the first time i've sewn on satin binding. which was not an easy task. mitering the corners proved to be quite difficult for me. i'm sure with more practice, i'll get the hang of it. of course with the left over fabric, i made matching 12" tag blankets, burp cloths and pacifier clips. i also made a couple of ribbon hair clips. yes, there are three new projects here i tried my hand at.

there's the blankets. then the burp cloths which are made from cloth diapers. they were a pretty simple to make. pretty much sew a band of 5" fabric down the middle of the diaper. i might try giving the next batch some ribbon accent. but these turned out super cute without.

when in illinois, i also picked up some alligator clips at hobby lobby. the quality wasn't the best, i'll look at sally's beauty supply for better ones. but they served great for practice purposes. i'll probably feature the clips in another post later after i've made a few more. super easy to make once i found the right glue.

i'm off to start on some other custom jobs and to mail everything off to katie.

where the worms are so woolly

another jam-packed weekend for the westphals.

saturday we headed over to winston-salem for the als walk. we were quite surprised at how large the crowd was, easily twice as large as the walk in springfield. what was really great. thursday afternoon we found out we'd have a group of office staff walking with us. they even had t-shirts made for the event. it was great having so much support for such a worthy cause. we were both touched that everyone drove and hour and half both ways to walk. thanks everyone we truly appreciate it!!

unfortunately, i wasn't able to get any photos. we decided to bring the dogs along and i had a hard time corralling them and taking photos. i think someone did take a group photo, so hopefully i can get my hands on it sometime in the near future.

yesterday, we headed over to banner elk for the 31st annual woolly worm festival. it was a kinda cheesy event but apparently a must see/do in the area. it was a gorgeous day, so we didn't mind and actually enjoyed ourselves. (see photo above) we caught a few woolly worm races, drank some lemon shake-ups and listened to some bluegrass.

tomorrow i'm hoping to get some geocaching in. geocaching? what's that? yeah, it's been way too long since we've done any. yesterday i was hoping to get a few in while we were at the festival. unfortunately, i forgot the gps when heading out the door. i've got some new ones programmed in and if weather is permitting we'll get them done tomorrow. i wonder if there's any in jamaica. hmmmmm.

what's in between your toes?

our new carpet! i can't believe how different the space looks. the carpet should be finished tomorrow. a few more stairs need to be covered. then another coat of paint, finish off the baseboards and install all the bathroom goodies. yay! here's this week's progress shots.

i also want to thank everyone for their kind words and support! it means a lot to both of us. we'll keep you posted as we progress. thanks again!!

logic vs. emotion

we had a productive appointment yesterday. pretty much got all our ducks in order and are ready to march forward. there are, however, a few questions that need to be answered before we start. first off: when do we start? aaron (logic) wants to start after the holidays, me (emotion) wants to start asap. (l) we've already waited this long, why not wait another two months and get past the hustle and bustle of the holidays? (e) we've already waited this long, another two months will technically mean another four months, there's never going to be a "good time," and i'm so ready to get this started.

question 2: how many embryos do we transfer? when we initially started, the dr. stated they usually don't transfer more than two. so all this time i've had the mindset of two being our number. well yesterday, the dr. suggested transferring one. one? i suppose after getting our test results the dr. is pretty optimistic one will work for us and we don't have to risk putting two in. (l) it makes sense. why initiate a higher risk pregnancy from the get go if you don't have to? (e) i understand there are more complications involved when having twins and i'm willing to do everything in my power to minimize those risks. and yes, i'm fine with doing double the work than if we had a singleton. to me, twins would be a double bonus. one transfer, two babies. pretty much a win, win situation as far as i'm concerned. we both agree that two is what we ultimately want. if we can speed up the process, why not do it?

these are the things we are currently "discussing." although i have a feeling emotion will outweigh logic in the end. we may reach some type of compromise. we'll see.

so what exactly does IVF involve? LOTS OF SHOTS! about three weeks worth. some twice a day. i really don't have a fear of needles. (see tattoos) but using said needles to pump myself full of hormones is a little daunting. just a tad. and brace yourselves for the emotional roller coaster that will be pulling out of this station soon. feel sorry for aaron. unlike the bumper of the internet, he'll being feeling my wrath full-force. hopefully, for his sake, it will be minimal.

i have been scouring the internet for information. med sites, forums and a few blogs. i have found a site that i absolutely love. monica's been documenting their whole IVF process. including videos (which i find extremely helpful), question and answer posts and just her rants and raves in general about baby makin. she's awesome and inspiring. most of her views are quite similar to mine. posts of note: baby dust and don't let infertility ruin your life. having an upbeat attitude seems to be very rare in this community. so i'm glad i found her.

in other news, carpet is being laid in the basement as i type. pics either tonight or tomorrow. woo-hoo!

fall is finally here

we've had a busy, busy october. and it doesn't look like it's gonna slow down, at least not for a little while. last weekend we headed back to illinois to help celebrate mark's 60th birthday. a quick lowdown on where we were and who we were with.

saturday we stayed with the caraways. we visited a local pumpkin/apple farm with the kids, had a great steak dinner jason grilled up and then autumn and i proceeded to kick the boys butts in a game of trivial pursuit. we rule at 90's trivia.

sunday we headed over to jim and joyce's new abode for mark's surprise party. all of the boys were able to make it and even jay flew in from california to help celebrate. we got to see lots of family we hadn't seen in a long time, especially on aaron's mom's side. it was so great seeing everyone and meeting some new friends. matt and kristin announced that baby number two is on it's way! congrats!!

sunday evening we headed back to murphysboro to check out nate and katie's new home. it's super cute and so them! congrats to you guys! we did a little shopping monday for katie's new nieces and then headed home tuesday.

this past weekend has been packed full of activity as well. friday we went out with jill, jerome, todd and michelle for a belated birthday dinner for aaron. saturday we headed up to tweetsie railroad to check out the ghost train and all the other halloween festivities they had going on. the weather was perfect and we had a spooktacular time. today we headed up to sugar mountain for their make-shift octoberfest. rode up the chair lift for the second time this year. we laughed at how we've ridden it more without snow than with. it had gorgeous views and the leaves are in full color now. a definite plus in the high country.

here's the flickr set with all the photos we've taken so far. next week we head to winston-salem for the als walk.

gotta go. brian just texted me to play mariokart. man, i haven't played in forever.

an unconventional road

rarely do i post anything of significance. maybe i need to rephrase that. the intention of this blog was/is to be a light-hearted update on our day-to-day happenings. to keep family and friends informed of our coming and goings, life here in north carolina, and to showcase my latest creations. that being said.

you spend your whole life trying not to get pregnant and when you're finally ready...nothing. yes, infertility has popped it's ugly head into our lives. months of nothing happening has slowly turned into two years. in june we decided to get tested. four months and many, many tests later our problems are pretty much confirmed. not to go into much detail, we'll be needing medical assistance, i.e. IVF.

it's a definite blow to ones psyche. no matter how strong a person you are, you're never really prepared to hear it's not going to happen, at least not naturally. especially when you KNOW you are meant to be a parent. both of us are staying positive as well as optimistic. i think it's the only way to get through this otherwise.

we have an appointment in charlotte on tuesday to discuss our treatment plan. all our tests will be evaluated and we'll find out when we can get the ball rolling, so to speak.

this post was supposed to be so much longer, i've been contemplating sharing this since we found out. it honestly doesn't bother me to talk about it. i just had to make sure aaron was on board and he gave me the go-ahead last week. no need to walk on eggshells around us. we're tough cookies and we'll get through this, hopefully with a baby or two in the end! thanks everyone for all your love and support! we love you all!

turnaround

we just got back from illinois and i have to turnaround and head off the mountain for a dr.'s appt. tomorrow morning. fun. i have to be there by 8:15 which means i have to leave here by 6:45. i have no clue where i'm going. please, mapquest, don't fail me!

gym socks

our hotel smells like a musty old gym sock lying underneath a pile jock straps worn after a scrimmage in the 100 degree heat. yeah, it's that bad.

knock, knock

progress! it's finally looking like a living area. paint has been applied and the doors were installed today. and no, it's not carolina blue. jason, who did most of the framing, came over yesterday and i asked if he liked the colors.

"i like the green but not the blue."

"what? why?"

"i'm a duke fan."

i kept the colors light (vast sky in the tv room, atmospheric in the bathroom and dancing green in the guest room), since it is a basement and i didn't want it to feel like a dungeon. we both agreed to add color and not a beige or brown. these are the colors we both liked. if he had his way, we'd be drowning in a sea of cardinal red, which i promptly nixed. i contemplated doing wallpaper. which he nixed. (having it professionally done, of course). i'm thinking about doing tone on tone blue along the long wall and perhaps an accent wall somewhere. so many ideas!

junk yard dog

one of the construction guys, woody, left an empty can of beenie weenies on the ground which bosco promptly found and took off with. i ran after him along with woody and marley. when marley approached bosco, he let out a low growl which was very uncharacteristic. i did manage to grab the can but for some reason the dogs started tearing into each other. i attempted to step between them to no avail. woody, "should i help?" please. he picks up bosco and marley is somehow still attached. who's grabbing onto who, i can't even tell.

i check both dogs over. bosco has a small puncture wound on his neck and marley has a gash on her forehead. it definitely looks worse in person. the scars from her last altercation have recently healed and left little bald spots. now she can add to her collection.

aaron has started to affectionately call her "his little jyd." jyd? junk yard dog.