New Table

Posted on November 8, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

So we haven’t had a dinning room table since we moved in. Basically we didn’t want to have to buy one for the few times that we need one, and it would make our dinning room feel quite a bit smaller. But when we put our house on the market, we decided we needed to put a table in the dinning room so it would be staged correctly, because selling a home is all about staging these days. My brother and sister in law had an old small kitchen table that they were using anymore and it was just taking up space in their garage so we stole it. They let us take it and we painted it a rich chocolate brown color…It was a pine color. It has white 4×4 tiles in the center of the table and that wouldn’t really work for a dinning room table and we didn’t want to paint the tiles, so I just got a table cloth and viola, here is what you get:

Its nice and it works, just looks kinda funny because its soo small in the room. So I thought of a way to fix the problem. It’s basically 2 2’x6′ pine planks that we put together and has a frame of 2″x3″s that helps hold it to the old table. I just lays right on top of the existing table top and doesn’t wobble around at all becase the frame fits right around the circumference of the table.

I don’t like using saws or big power tools so I had Jonathan help me build the table and then I stained it and put a few coats of polyurethane on it. Here is the end project:

There you have it, our dinning room table for under $100. Well, almost…we still need to get some chairs or benches. There are 4 chairs but only 3 are usable…one of them is broken and you can’t sit in it. But other than that, I love it!

Mmmmm….

Posted on October 29, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

Candy corn…a yummy treat that you only get once a year. Candy corn reminds me of all things fall; the leaves changing, the cooler air, and little kids dressed up in halloween costumes. But do you know the history of candy corn, yes it has to do with actual corn.

It was first created in the 1880s by George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company, the three colors of candy corn are meant to symbolize actual corn. Each piece is approximately the size of a whole kernel of corn, as if it fell off a ripe or dried ear of corn. Candy corn is made primarily from sugar, corn syrup and honey. Working by hand, the original manufacturers first combined sugar, corn syrup and water and cooked them into a slurry. Fondant was added for texture, and marshmallows provided a soft bite. The final mixture was then heated and poured into shaped molds. Three passes were required during the pouring process, one for each colored section. Few changes have been made to the process or recipe, with machines now performing the tasks formerly done by people.

As you can see, its really healthy for you as well! I mean, what’s not to love, it’s got sugar, corn syrup and honey!! Have you tried the carmel apple candy corn? It’s simply amazing, a sweet carmely (is that word) taste of candy apples…MMmmmmm I need to go find some of those now! Happy fall ya’ll!

I’m getting old

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

Ok, I’m getting old! I’ve never really been one to go to concerts or like them. I just don’t enjoy standing the whole time and especially 2 inches away from the person next to me. Jonathan and I went to the needtobreathe concert at the House of Blues Thursday night with Tim and Kara and lets just say we left before the main act. By the time two other musicians played we had been standing like 3 hours and were ready to go. I can’t stand for more than about 30 minutes without being in quite a bit of pain from my back so 3 hours is asking A LOT of me. Our legs were tired and sore and my back was killing me so we left. But before we left we got to listen to a guy named Matthew Mayfield and then a girl from Canada named Serena Ryder. They were both pretty good, I like the style of Serena Ryder, kinda folk-popish. Over all we had a good night, other than coming to the realization I’m old.

Baby update

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

No, I’m not pregnant! We have been doing infertility treatment for a while now and nothing has really worked. Basically I just don’t respond to the medications. This is our last month of just medications, next month we will probably start IUI treatments. I’m not going to go into what all that entails, but it’s the step in between fertility drugs and IVF. We decided that we are not going to do IVF simply because it’s too expensive. We can’t justify spending $30,000 on a chance that we’ll get pregnant, when we can spend that much and adopt several kids (I’m not saying we’ll adopt several kids, I’m just using it as an example). IUI, which we are going to try isn’t cheap but it doesn’t even come close to the cost of IVF. We are doing treatments for a little while longer, but in the mean time we are getting the foster to adopt process started.

We have decided to do a foster to adoption with CPS. Basically we would get a child that is in CPS custody and foster them for a while and then adopt them. You have to foster a child in your home for 6 months before you can legally adopt them. We started filling out the adoption application this weekend and our orientation is next week. The first week of november we start our foster parent classes and then after that (mid December) we’ll complete a home study (wherever we’re living at the time- hopefully not here) and then we’ll be certified to accept a child. There are a million and 1 papers to fill out, get notarized and send in. Plus inspections by the fire department, health department and all other kinds of stuff we’ll have to do but it will all be worth it in the end.

Now for the most common statement I have heard since telling people we were starting the adoption process…drum roll please……..”Now that you’re doing this, you’ll get pregnant”. To be honest, this statement never really bothered me until now…now everytime I hear it I cringe and take offense. I’m sorry but if it hasn’t happened in almost 2 years, why would it happen now!! Statistics show that a whopping 5% of couples who stop trying to get pregnant and adopt get pregnant after they adopt…the same as people who simply stop treatment for infertility. I’m not saying it won’t happen, I’m just saying there is a very slim chance that it will. And, the next most common statement or question I get since telling people we are adopting is…”what will you do if you get pregnant?” What do you mean, what will I do?? We’ll be thrilled! I for one, am not going to just sit around and wait 5 years for us to get pregnant. If we adopt and then get pregnant–GREAT, we’ll just have 2 babies. On the other hand, if we get pregnant while we are going through the classes and beginning of the process, we may put it off for a while, but we’ll cross that bridge when/if we get to it. We will adopt though, just maybe not in the next 6 months.

As thrilled as I am about the possibility of adoption and bringing a baby into our home – at the same time, I’m also sad, angry, disappointed and a part of me feels like I’d be giving up on the possibility of us having our own biological child. But I can only handle the emotional roller coaster we call our lives right now for so long. The tolls the treatments are taking on me physically are getting a little too much to handle as well.

Stay tuned for updates on the whole adoption process – I promise I’ll keep you updated.

Our Battle

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

I say our battle because I’m not the only one going through this, I’m not the only one whose not able to have a baby. Jonathan has to go through the disappointment just as much as I do. I received this email from a friend tonight and feel like it pretty much sums up how I feel and what I’m going through. As I read through this I just sat there thinking, “ya, that’s right, that’s me…”. Here ya go, you can read it for yourself:

“Couples experiencing infertility often receive well-meaning but extremely insensitive “advice.” We can all list the most popular ones: “Just relax and you’ll get pregnant,” or “adopt and you’ll get pregnant,” of the most painful from those who think they’ve got the goods on God’s plan, “Maybe God never meant for you to have children.” The sheer audacity of making a statement like that never fails to amaze me.

These same people would never walk up to someone seeking treatment for cancer and say, “Maybe God never meant for you to live.” However, because I am infertile, I’m supposed to get on with my life. It’s hard to understand that people cannot see infertility for what it is, a disease for which I have to seek treatment. What if Jonas Salk had said to the parents of polio victims, “Maybe God meant for thousands of our children to be cripples, live in an iron lung or die.” What if he’d never tried to find a cure? Who could think for one minute that that was God’s plan?

What do I think God meant when he gave me infertility?

I think he meant for my husband and I to grow closer, become stronger, love deeper. I think God meant for us to find the fortitude within ourselves to get up every time infertility knocks us down. I think God meant for our medical community to discover medicines, invent medical equipment, create procedures and protocols. I think God meant for us to find a cure for infertility.

No, God never meant for me not to have children. That’s not my destiny; that’s just a fork in the road I’m on. I’ve been placed on the road less traveled, and like it or not, I’m a better person for it. Clearly, God meant for me to develop more compassion, deeper courage, and greater inner strength on this journey to resolution, and I haven’t let him down.

Frankly, if the truth be known, I think God has singled me out for a special treatment. I think God meant for me to build a thirst for a child so strong and so deep that when that baby is finally placed in my arms, it will be the longest, coolest, most refreshing drink I’ve ever known.

While I would never choose infertility, I cannot deny that a fertile woman could never know the joy that awaits me. Yes, one way or another, I will have a baby of my own. And the next time someone wants to offer me unsolicited advice I’ll say, “Don’t tell me what God meant when he handed me infertility. I already know.”

One day God will give us the gift of a child, it may not come all wrapped up with a nice shiny bow on it, but it will be a gift from God. And, I for one will say that there was no way I was not meant to be a mom. We will have a family one day, whether it’s biologically or through adoption.

Each November Brian, our pastor at Encounter, does a series that talks about storms. One year it was titled “storm chasers” and another was called “chase the lion”, it’s where he sits down with couples/individuals and talks to them about a “storm” they have gone through. These “storms” as we call it could be dealing with grief from losing a loved one, or a spouse who had an affair and they worked through it and recommitted their life to one another. Well, this is our storm and how we handle it will be our testimony to others. This topic always reminds me of the Casting Crowns song, “Praise You In The Storm”. As we sang it on Sunday, it has a whole new meaning now! I love this song:

Praise you in this storm

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it’s still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
“I’m with you”
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can’t find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

House For Sale

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

2 years ago we bought our first home:

We spent time painting rooms, doing landscaping, and all kinds of other stuff:

But in the end, it’s time to move on.

We finally did it, we put our house on the market today…It’s for sale! I love our house, I really do. I don’t love the location of it. It’s not that I don’t like Red Oak and the area, it’s fine, just not for me. Both Jonathan and I work in downtown Dallas and both of our families are about 45 – 50 minutes away. For most people, that’s plenty close….for me, it’s too far. I want to be able to call up my sister-in-law and in 15 minutes we are meeting for lunch or going shopping or whatever. We spend so many weekends in Dallas and do a lot in the Dallas area after work that I feel like we live in Dallas but sleep in Red Oak. Here has been my dilema…Jonathan would prefer to stay here or even further out than we are. I haven’t really pushed the issue of moving before now because I didn’t want to take Jonathan away from the area that he wants to live. He is a part of a Wednesday morning mens group with our church and if we moved he wouldn’t be able to keep going to that…and I didn’t want to be the reason for that. So the dilema comes in when I have to decide, do I stay in a place that I don’t like, an area that I don’t have but a few friends, and always wanting to be closer to my family. Or, do I try to talk him into moving and ultimately pull him away from his friends and church that he loves. So after a lot of thinking and going back and forth it comes down to the fact that I was so unhappy I had to talk him into moving but at the same time feel guilty about it because I know he doesn’t really want to move and I’m taking him away from friends. (It’s not like we are never going to see them again, we won’t be moving that far)

One day, somehow, we are going to have a family and I want to be close to our family when that happens. Another factor in our decision is that we weren’t sure we would get what we needed/wanted for our house. We don’t know what will happen with the housing market in the future….if we wait, will it get better or worse? After talking to a few realtors and seeing what other houses are going for, we decided to go for it. So for the next few months or longer (hopefully not that long) we will be living in a house that is neat and tidy and ready for potential buyers to view it at any moment! Anyone wanna buy a house?!

Debt pay off

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

A year ago or so Jonathan and I wrote a post about paying off our debt and trying to get it all paid off. Our biggest debt we had were my medical bills from the heart surgeries and MRI/CT’s from when I broke my back. But, today I paid my LAST payment and we now have NO MORE medical bills to pay off!!!!!!! WAHOO It’s only taken me 4 years but I have finally paid them all off. We have paid off more than half if not 3/4 of our debt in the last year!

Bahama’s

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

Jonathan and I had a great time on our cruise to the Bahama’s last week. I wasn’t ready to get back to the real world this week at all! I never know which one is worse, the week before or after a vacation.

We met Jonathan’s sister and brother in law and our parents Monday morning and headed to the airport to fly to Florida. Our ship left from Port Canaveral, Florida and we headed to the Bahamas. The first day we stopped at CocoCay, an island near the Bahamas, and went to the beach all day.

We had a good time just relaxing by the ocean. The next day we were in Nassau and went snorkeling that morning and then had a tour of part of paradise island.

After snorkeling we headed back to the ship to change and eat some lunch with the padres. Then we all headed to Atlantis and walked around. It was a pretty cool hotel but not sure if I’d pay $200+ a night to stay there though.

After Atlantis we walked to the Straw Market which is basically a big flea market. Later that night Jonathan and I decided to climb the rock wall. It was a lot of fun. I thought I would feel the motion of the boat while climbing up the wall but I never did.

Overall we had a great time but we are done with beach vacations for a while. We hope to go to Scotland/England for our next vacation!!

Evian Roller Babies

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

Early CF detection

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Laurie Blundell

By the end of the year it will be mandatory in all 50 states to do a screening for cystic fibrosis on all newborns. Honestly I’m glad they are doing this…it means earlier detection and that means better health for these kiddos. Having worked with many CF patients, I know how early detection helps prolong their life. I have become attached to quite a few kids with CF over the last 6 years and have also lost quite a few kids with CF over the last 6 years. This is a big step in world of medicine. Some could argue that early detection won’t help…and on some levels I agree, We don’t really treat CF kids until they start to manifest symptoms. In reality we don’t even diagnose babies with CF until they manifest symptoms. But early detection means we can follow these babies and make sure we are on top of their care and catch symptoms earlier and that in turn prolongs their lifespan.

Here is the news release:

Cystic Fibrosis Screening Legislated for All Newborns by 2010
Martha Kerr

July 9, 2009 (Bethesda, Maryland) â€” The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) announced this week that mandatory screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) in all newborns will be in effect in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the end of this year.

Connecticut will begin mandatory CF screening October 1, 2009, and Texas will begin screening in December. These are the last 2 states to pass such legislation.

“Newborn screening for CF was adopted nationwide at a rapid pace,” according to a statement prepared by the CFF to announce the enactment of mandatory screening. The first states adopted mandatory screening only 4 years ago, in 2005.

“We congratulate Texas and Connecticut for joining a nationwide effort to ensure that every child born with [CF] gets the best possible start in life,” said Robert J. Beall, PhD, president and chief executive officer of CFF. “Newborn screening is critically important for this disease because early diagnosis is tied to better health. We extend our thanks to every volunteer and advocate who fought to establish screening programs across the country.”

“When the [CFF] was created in 1955, few children lived to attend elementary school,” the CFF said in its announcement. “Today the median age of survival for a person with CF is more than 37 years, a result of dramatic improvements in research and care during the past half century.”