0 {happy halloween}

Happy Halloween! I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in ourselves this Halloween. Tim and I didn't do ANY decorating, or dressing up or partying. All we have done is eat too much candy! WAY too much. We must be getting old - seriously, no party?

Anyways, going to bed last night I was getting butterflies over the excitement of our Dr. appointment today. I did some research about unsucessful attempts with Fermera and didn't seem to find much. Honestly, all I seem to find are success stories, which makes me wonder why it didn't work for us. Normally I go to the appointments with an idea of what Dr. Starks is going to say, but not today! I am so anxious to find out what our next step is. Hopefully we get some positive answers. Fingers Crossed!
Finally, to top off the exciting appointment, it's Monday night football with the Chiefs and we get to see all (like all 8) of the little rascals in the neighborhood dressed up. That truly is my favorite part of halloween.

For anyone who was TTC with Fermera and had no luck, what was your next step?



Had I decorated, I think I would have done something like this...

Love this. Thanks BHG for the cute ideas!

0 {golden girl}

"Golden Girl", 8" x 16" acrylic and metallic paint. $39

"Golden Girl", 8" x 16" acrylic and metallic paint. $39

"Golden Girl", 8" x 16" acrylic and metallic paint. $39

   

If you're interested, please contact me with a comment or through email. It is also available in custom sizes and colors. samantha.sullentrup@gmail.com

0 {fall home}

When we moved into our house, we found a set of vintage suitcases in the attic. Lucky find, eyh? I put one above the armoire and a few stacked on the floor. They were kind of my "inspiration" for the room. I went with the earth tones in them and also added some oranges. I really love how the space feels. Its fresh, natural, airy and a little rough.

0 {true luxury}

Tim goes on an annual pheasant (not to be confused with peasant) hunting trip with my brother and uncle in South Dakota. He always has a blast, but not because of the hunting, more because of the late night poker games and beer drinking. He is the first to admit that he has no idea how to acctually hit the moving bird. Either way, he always comes home with a nice amount pheasant tails for me to decorate with. Fortunately, everyone else is pretty good.

Thanks to Groupon, we are trying new restraunts and getting out a little more often. So, on Friday, we went to the fancy-schmancy restraunt Skies that overlooks the downtown skyline. Can you say, romance? ROMANCE! We got all dolled up and hit the town. It was a true date - candlelight and everything! So, with the great the food and the beautiful view...would you like to guess what the best part of the date was? It was when we got home, put our pj's on and cuddled up on the couch for a movie. Sometimes the most simple things are the true luxuries. It was the prefect way to end our week and say good-bye for a few days while Tim is gone proving his manhood with the boys.

The UFO looking thing above Tim's head is where we had dinner.

I know it's not as spectacular as NYC or Chicago, but I sure do love some Kansas City.

The floor is at a slow spin. It takes one and a half hours to go all the way around the restaurant.

0 {style saturday}

0 {initials}

I made these a few weeks ago. I love, love, love how they turned out. I can see our bed from the a few rooms in the house and I love the glimpse of the bold typography each time my eye catches them. My favorite part? The colors will work with each season's current pillows, although I think they look best with the oranges and greens in the Fall euro pillow's I made.

0 {there's a baby in my pocket}

I used to have "baby" dreams in college, and really, up until Tim and I started trying to have a baby.  Unfortunately, the baby dreams weren't good ones. I would dream over and over that I had a small baby that I would carry around in my pocket. Sometimes I would put it in a drawer or even forget it places. I would always wake up terrified. I would question my own maternal instincts wondering if it meant I wasn't going to be a good mother. After some research, I read that...

To dream of an extremely small baby, symbolizes your helplessness and your fears of letting others become aware of your vulnerabilities and incompetence. You may be afraid to ask for help and as a result tend to take matters into your own hands.

I can completely relate to that statement. Actually, it pins me pretty good. But, the weird thing is that I haven't had any of those dreams since we started trying to have a baby. All of my dreams have been so realistic. Like the kind you don't want to wake up in. Last night I dreamed that we had a little boy. Tim was home with me and the three of us made our perfect little family. People came over to meet our little one and we were eager to celebrate his arrival. When I woke up, I tried to make myself fall back asleep so that I could continue the adventure. I am tired of our family being a dream. I am ready for reality to hit. I am ready to be awake and in awe of our moments together. I am ready to be a mother.         

0 {girl's night}

These two beautiful ladies are my best friends. They got this crazy idea that I was stressed out about my baby-making issues. Crazy idea, I know. So, what did they do? They stole me away from Tim for the night and took me out on the town. We had a true girl's night.

As goofy as I thought it was, I couldn't help but know how sweet it was for the two of them to want me to leave my stresses at home and have a martini (or four) with them. And guess what? It worked! Any stress I had built up was smothered with bruschetta, olives, Bellini's, and laughter.

I love you, girls! And thanks so much for getting me out!!

0 {that boy}

Negative. Negative. Negative. Three in a row. I am not suprised by this last one. I kind of knew it was coming. I think my emotions are starting to get used to it because I don't feel overly down or depressed like I have for the last few cycles. Maybe it was the great weekend I had, maybe it's the changing season, maybe it's the fact that I have a whole cycle where I don't have to take any meds or get any shots (woo hoo!). I'm not sure. But, I feel really good. Better than I have in a while.

What I do know is that I am so very thankful to have Tim. I love our beautiful life we have together. We are a family. The two of us and the dog. If that's what it is for the next few years, I know I will still be the luckiest girl in the world. There's something about that boy. He just makes me happy.

0 {weekend}

This has been one of the most beautiful Fall's I can remember and I'm making sure that we are taking every opportunity to enjoy it. We packed up our sketchbooks and headed to the park for an uber-relaxing Saturday afternoon.

0 {baby shower}

The neighbors are having a baby! Since they are having the first baby of the 'hood, it was definitely an opportunity to celebrate. They haven't found out the sex of the baby, so when thinking of ways to decorate I decided to have a fall theme. The backyard setting of an 80 degree day with yellow leaves falling all around would have been enough, but I decided to add some natural wood and succulent plants to tie it all together. You'll notice there are a few paper silhouettes like the ones in the invitations, also. 

 

I was able to use that cute buffet for the sweets. I haven't quite finished it, but you can see that I'm making progress.

 

0 {strike two}

This actually happened a week or so ago, but as I reflect, I can't get over how strange it was. 

Imagine...I was sitting in the little sonogram room to have to have my eggs checked. The sonogram tech was lubing up the stick. I was legs open, ready to hear that I had a few large eggs ready to be fertilized (which I didn't). As soon as she begins checking me, she starts asking me about jewelry. I don't wear much jewelry. I wear a lot of scarves and belts, but when it comes to jewelry, I never wear much more than my wedding ring. She must have noticed, because she suggested I wear more. A little odd, I thought, seeing as it was obvious that my lack of jewelry was by choice. Anyways, she continued, with the stick in my vagina, to "sell" me a jewelry party at my home. I was as polite as could be, but in my mind I kept asking myself "What the..., is she serious right now? I've got a freshly lubed stick in my vagina and she's worried about how much jewelry I wear?"

Shamefully, I walked out with her card.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that no one in their right mind buys expensive jewelry with options like Forever 21 or H&M. Or, that the RE's office is not the place to market yourself.

Unfortunately, the sonogram tech was strike two.

0 {strike one}

Being the investigator that I am (mostly that talent is used to figure out what the heck our neighbors are doing to their hosue), I called the doc today to see if I could have a flu shot. I had signed up a for a free one from work, but wondered if I could get it while taking a steriod (since it's an immunosuppressant I wasn't sure if I would get sick). I did a google search to see if it was okay and found no negative answers, but I went ahead and called his office to double check. When the nurse called me back she informed me that Dr. Starks reccomends none of his patients get the flu shot - whether or not a steroid is involved. No biggie. Just as I had assumed.

The only thing...I began to wonder. What other reccomendations does Dr. Starks have? I never got any Do's and Don't while being his patient. If I hadn't called, I never would have known. I wonder how many of his patients weren't investigators and just went ahead and got the shot. I also wonder what other "rules" I have that I don't even know about. Should I be changing my diet? The amount of exercise I do? What else don't I know?

I hate to say it, but that's Strike one for Dr. Starks.

Have any of you been in a similar situation? Were there things you didn't know?

0 {weekend}

When Friday night comes, we are ready to relax. So this Friday, we headed out to the art district in town. On the first Friday of each month they open all of the galleries, close some streets, and invite the community to view art. It's not all local art - often times there are more famous artists that are showing. I will say, this Friday we saw some beautiful work by the artist Michael Allen Lowe. I'm not going to post any of his work for fear of copyright laws, but I would encourage you to visit his site. 

We also piddled around some cute shops. One of my favorite shops is Hammerpress. They make beautiful letter pressed stationary and posters. I have a collection of their greeting cards from Tim. They're the kind you want to rip off the front and frame.

 

 

0 {shower preview}

I started decorating for the baby shower last night. I can't wait to show you how it finally turned out! Here is just a sneak peek...

0 {ovulation cramps}

It's amazing that the exact same cramp feeling in my abdomen can get two completely different reactions. When it comes ovulation time, I feel the pull and twist of my ovaries doing their job and I automatically relax with the thought "Yes, everything is working just how it's supposed to." On the other hand, when that exact same cramping comes a few weeks later I tense up and feel defeated, knowing that my period is on it's way. I prefer the sooner rather than the latter.

0 {shower invitations}

I made these invitations for the neighbor's baby shower. I think they turned out pretty nice. After hand drawing each one, I went to Paper Source and picked up some decorative papers for the envelope liners and the back of each invitation. The reverse side of the acorn has their registry information.

It's a couple's shower and they aren't finding out the sex of the baby, so I thought I would go will a Fall theme. I'm really glad I did. Seeing as the party is next week, it won't be hard to decorate around the already perfect outdoor backdrop. I'll be sure to take pictures of this event.

0 {old-fashioned love makin'}

The way the HCG shot works is that once injected your body will ovulate within 18-36 hours. So, the day of the shot they tell you to go home and have sex that evening and the next evening. It all sounds fine until you are in a tent with your brother, sister, in-laws and a few friends about 20 feet away in their tents. And this didn't just happen once, it happened TWICE! Poor planning, obviously.

During our first cycle of the HCG shots Tim and I went on a nice mini-vacation to Weston. The thought of being outside with nature, under the stars making a little love sounds very romantic, but when it came down to making babies, we couldn't get past the uncomfortable situation of our "neighbors" hearing us.

The second cycle we had already planned to go to the lake with my family. We had two options; sleep in my parents cabin with paper thin walls and try to be sneaky or go camping and hope to at least have a moment of time to ourselves. We went with option B. To our disappointment, my brother, sister, their significant others, and two friends of ours all decided to go camping, too! On the same campsite. Within 10 feet of us. Awesome! Needless to say, that was not fun AT ALL.

As lame as it is, I am SO glad that this cycle we will be cuddled up in our own bed. Just us. No animals, no stars, no awkward noises outside of our tent - just old-fashioned in-your-bed love makin'.  That has to up our chances by like a billion, right?

0 {weekend}

We threw our Third Annual Chili Cook-Off this weekend. I love hosting parties. I love the challenge of perfecting each aspect - from the invitations, to the table setting, to the signature drink - it's what I live for.

So, when our chili cook-off came and went you can imagine how incredibly disappointed I was when I realized I hadn't snapped a single photo. I know, amateur move. All I have to show for this great event is an invitation. Urgh!