'Miracle May'?

Photo from my cousin Jenn's wedding this past weekend, here in Vegas of all places (she lives in Idaho)! 

A couple things about this photo:

1.  This is my aunt Mary - she is my goddaughter's grandma (yes, grandma!) and she's b e a u t i f u l both inside and out.  I loved having her here from Minnesota for the weekend's festivities.

2.  Now I realize that I look stupidly happy, but I am!  I think this kind of reflects how I've been feeling.  Stupidly happy.

I promised that I would give an update on the baby-making plans.  Here it goes: 

- I've been on the pill for the past 10 months in order to keep my endometriosis from spreading like wildfire, however, making pregnancy impossible.  I kind of explained it all here.

- It has been the plan all year to go back this summer, to the land where the soil is fertile and pray that it rubs off on me . . . aka use my dad's resources in Illinois and do in vitro fertilization at cost.

- I left one final test for completion - close to the time where we leave (a little over a month away).  The sonohysterogram is done in order to detect whether or not there are any abnormal growths on the uterus.  Boring stuff, but it'd be nice to have things good to go for June.

And so, the sonohysterogram was scheduled for today.  I said "was" because I was supposed to get it, however, due to 'active bleeding' (tmi - I'm sorry but it only makes sense to give such details) I'm getting off the pill to get my cycle under control and then proceed with a sonohysterogram that is not at risk of any false positives.  Do I still have you or have I lost you yet?!

No birth control = 1 in 1,000 chance that I can get pregnant this next month - according to Dr. D

Pretty sad odds, but I am praying for a miracle.  'Miracle May', perhaps?  Otherwise, I'll remain, stupidly happy.

Service Auction Social

Last Fall, I was called to be in the Relief Society Activities Committee/Service Representative for the Ward.  Which is basically awesome, because I get to help plan the social events.  If you know me . . . I love me some social time!  At the beginning of the year, we mapped out what activities we would be doing throughout the year and who would be officiating based on their duties.  Since I am the "Service Representative" for the Ward, I wanted to do something really fun that stirred up excitement over service.  Let's be honest, sometimes service projects are the last thing on our list of 'to-dos'.  So, thanks to my trusty sources (Pinterest), I found an awesome blogpost on throwing a 'Service Auction' and by golly! . . . it looked amazingly FUN!  Blog post found here.  I tweaked some things to accommodate our ward/budget/time-frame, but this was a fabulous source.

Our set up . . . we had a sign-in table, future acts of service/baked goods/handmade goodies table with bidding bags behind the items, and a survey-on-clipboards table.  Our auction was a "silent auction". . . with our time-frame we figured that this was the best option.  Oh, and I should mention the fabulous girls on our committee . . . oh! I could not have done it without our RS women!!

This activity really allowed for us to see the talents and energies of the women in our Ward.  I'm still in awe.  There was much laughter and a whole lot of friendly competition!  Michelle's (remember Michelle?!) 'made-to-order Bouchon cake' was a hot ticket item as well as the gluten-free brownies I brought for all of our gluten-intolerant women . . . one of our sister missionaries included.  Kinda fun watching them battle it out.  I scored some wonderful homemade bath salts and scrubs as well as some much-needed dog-walking for Bear.

We threw in a birthday cake for the treat, because March is the Relief Society's official birthday month.  Happy 171st Birthday, Relief Society . . . you've come a long way after all these years!

Such a great activity and so much fun! If they keep me in there, we'll do it again . . . hopefully bigger next time!

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Remember how I said that one of my goals for the year was to do more service?  So far, feeling pretty good on this one although, there is always room for more growth.  I said it during my closing words at the activity, but I cannot even express the joy felt when doing something for others.  It's helped me grow as an individual and has been a huge blessing in my life.

Lapse in Time

This evening's text from 'L'Autre Steph' (French for "the other Stephanie - my mom's nickname for my best friend): 

"Why aren't you blogging anymore?"

Ugh, Yes. True. Sorry.

Which excuse did you want?  1. I've been busy with Relief Society activities.  2. My family came into town for Spring Break 2013 . . . holla! or  3. I have been blogging, just not on this blog per se - ElderHoldenNorway.blogspot.com is as up-to-date as possible . . . give me at least some credit there, puh-lease!  Speaking of, I freaking miss that kid . . . like a lot, but being his 'Blog Administrator', I kinda feel like he is not so far away.

However, I do, solemnly swear, that I will update you all on what we've been up to in these parts.  You can look forward to:

-The Relief Society Activity that I planned and executed successfully, with the help of some super ladies!

-Spring Break 2013 with the fam dam (uh, literally!)

-Home Improvements

-My somewhat green thumb - exciting stuff, I tell you!

-Our 'Baby Making' Plans - get your minds outta the gutter . . . it's strictly lab work.  Ha!

In the meantime, here are a couple pictures for you all to enjoy, because that's what blogs are really all about.  Am I right, or am I right?!

Spring Break 2012 - Me, Christopher, and Shane at Spring Mountain Ranch up Red Rock Canyon.  Geez, I miss that Pooker!

Spring Break 2013 - (L-R) Shane, my mom, Me, Steven, my dad at The Hoover Dam