Friday, November 16, 2012

Baby bump & move


Yesterday I had one of the most amazing things to happen thus far in the pregnancy, other than finding out we were expecting. It happened yesterday at work when I felt our little girl move for the first time!

There have been other times that I might have felt a little somethin'-somethin' but I wasn't sure it was anything other than just gas... ;) BUT I know I felt her yesterday while I was sitting at my desk at work. It was about 12 seconds of pure excitement for me! I didn't have to wait to see her on a television screen while having an ultrasound or listening for her heartbeat on a Doppler machine. I could feel her little feet or arms or something moving away inside me like I was her own little jungle gym. Paul and I have already gotten to see her a little crazy & jumping around. It was at our ultrasound to determine if she had Turner's or Down Syndrome...so you would think there would have been a more somber mood but all anyone could here outside the ultrasound room was Paul and I laughing as we watched our little gherkin jumping with her arms flailing about. I guess she was excited about her legs...lol. Paul said "I guess we've got a little soccer player on our hands". :)

Life with baby is totally coming alive in full force! Next step: find a way to share it with my Paulie in a similar way I get to experience her! He so desperately wants to feel her move.

The idea that he wants to be a part of it among other things is so exciting to feel. I guess when you're not expecting, you of course think about how a baby will change both you & your spouses life. BUT when you are pregnant you get to share in the miracle of your pregnancy with your spouse and I've been so wonderfully blessed to have an absolutely amazing man that has been there hand in hand through everything and dying to help & share in each wonderful moment together. I love seeing him rub and talk to 'the belly'. Soooo cute! He's the foreman at our house guiding our big cleanings and reorganization projects. I love it!

Here's a sneak peak at the nursery changes going on...
                                                                         ...many more changes to come!

...so at 5 & 1/2 months I finally feel like a fairy that's gotten her wings! I finally got a little baby bump & I'm really loving it! I finally feel like it's proof to the outside world that our little girl is in there...living it up! Quite literally! 

It's also caused the NEED for maternity pants. My belly has finally pushed its way out of my 'regular' pants. But ohhhh weeee, maternity pants are super comfy! I don't know if I'll ever go back to 'regular' again. ;) 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Halfway Point!!! Lemon to a banana...

I can't believe it but we've made it to the half-way point! We're at 20 weeks of the total 40 weeks that will be needed to 'cook' this little bun in the oven.  

At this point, our little baby girl weighs about 10½ ounces and is roughly 6½ inches long head-to-toe. Just in this trimester alone we've gone (relatively) from a lemon to a now banana. I love all the food references for sizes...cute way to identify with her. 

She is now starting to hear sounds, both from the inside the uterus and on the outside. She can't identify any noises yet, but in time she will soon recognize both Paul and my voice over anyone else’s. She can now be startled by loud or sudden noises (oops) and can hear my heartbeat as well as growling stomach.
...they say it's a good time for lullabies and bedtime stories although I'm still a little timid to read to my own stomach. ;) Paul loves touching the little belly and talking to it though so I don't think it'll be tough to get him to read a story or two. :)  

...I still can't believe that already at the half-way point she is pretty much a fully formed (all fingers, toes, ear bones, skin, genitals, etc.) baby...just iddy biddy! ...but she definitely still needs time to continue to grow, build immunities & have the rest of her little parts form completely inside her safe, warm home for now. Her heartbeat has dropped from a whopping 175 to a still incredibly fast 148 in our most recent doppler scan. My dear friend Misty lovingly refers to our little nugget as helicopter because of the quick heartbeat..lol. :)

...and even though my baby bump is still pretty unnoticeable, looking more like I had a large lunch that a sweet baby girl growing in there, I've already had my belly rubbed by several people. Although I thought I would be put off by the notion of people touching a very self-concious area, it was kind of sweet. It's a loving connection people want to make with me and the little one...and surprisingly not off-putting at all. Although if a stranger comes up to me in the grocery store and touches me I think I might just deck them ;)

Along with the the few extra pounds I've picked up from the pregnancy it's been a pretty smooth ride thus far. Really nothing to complain about with mild nausea which has dissipated in the 2nd trimester and some aversions to food, still no sausage or beans for me PLEASE! A special loving thank you is needed here for Paul who has cooked specific things I though I wanted to eat only to set them down in front of me after slaving away in the kitchen and having me push it away and say 'I can't eat that!' He's been such an amazingly sweet husband listening to every 'I don't feel good' with a sympathetic ear and going out of his way to make sure I'm happy and comfortable. I don't know what I'd do without him. 

I honestly think the hardest part so far has been 'the worry' which after talking with several moms is not something that is going away any time soon. Sounds like it just changes from 'are they developing properly' to 'are they breathing' to 'are they going to break their leg jumping over that' kind of worries. I guess that's why God makes us all little rebels as kids so we can appreciate our parents 1000% fold when we become parents ourselves. ...so in that sense I guess I deserve a little worry...ok a lot of worry! Turning on the gas as a 3-yr old every opportunity I got might come back to bite me ;)

It's been such an amazing experience to share with our friends and family who have been so supportive and excited for us. I think the best reaction we got had to be from Paul's sister Renee who screamed sooo loud over Skype when we told her she scared her own little one. Although our entire family each had very loving/amazing reactions to the news considering everyone thought we were waiting 5 or so years to even try. So much fun to announce it to everyone!

We're constantly getting ready in every facet in our house thinking about safety, the pups and how their lives will be different, getting oodles and oodles of things from friends and family. I have two full tubs of maternity clothes already and we have been lucky enough to get several things we would've had to pay for on our own including a fabulous breast pump, car seat with base, bassinet, boppy, changing pad, etc., etc. It's awesome to be a sister of 4 and the last one to be pregnant...lots of great advice and generosity galore! I love you Jami, Casi & Renee...best sisters a girl could ask for!

...the preparation even got kicked into high gear this last weekend when we picked up our gorgeous baby furniture...a beautiful set that will last us for several years to come! I'll be posting pictures soon once the room is painted and prepped and all the furniture is set up --- thanks to my wonderful hubby!

The beauty of pregnancy cannot be conveyed to you through words...it's really one of those things that you have to experience for yourself, from your husband being so overprotective/sweet/kind/understanding to all the love you feel yourself already taking on just with the idea of the little life inside you. It's been the most amazing thing I've ever experienced and I'm so grateful that it came at a time in our lives that it's an amazingly welcomed/wonderful addition. We are as ready as two people nervous about the adventure we are embarking on could be!!! I often get teary-eyed (yes from the hormonies) but also from the idea that life just seems soo perfect right now. The family we always knew we wanted is half-way home to us in the shape of a sweet innocent little baby girl...and while we are sooo impatient about the journey at times we are definitely living in the moment and relishing in this time! God is good!!!

We're still very excited for our 20-week ultrasound coming up, scheduled to count her fingers & toes and make SURE it's a little pinky and not a little baby bluey. ;) I'm also hoping to feel her moving around soon...I've heard it's an amazing once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. :)

For now that's all on baby...although I could write forever about the process thus far and how excited we are! More ultrasound and nursery pics to come :)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Isagenix Day 7: cleanse day over, 6.8lbs down & feeling GREAT!!!

Now on DAY 7 of the new Isagenix program we started. It feels SOOOO GOOD to finish our first cleanse day! Although, I definitely needed some motivation (shown here, if you're interested) but Paul & I both made it through helping to  motivate each other. It FEELS so good to get over the mental struggle & conquer & we didn't even cheat. NOT ONCE!

I WASN'T expecting these kind of results! Seriously! I'm down 6.8lbs overall BUT even more importantly that that, I feel sooo much better OVERALL, including energy, clarity & focus, no aches & pains & just how I feel about my body in general. It's amazing what your body can do if you give it the right nutrients, time and attention. :) I will say that Paul is feeling better and better too! He's down a little more than me, right at 7lbs. and says he feels like he has more energy and feels better in general too. He's also stopped taking his sleeping pill at night and is able to sleep just fine through the night. We are both so AMAZED at the progression of our health journey & excited to see what else we can accomplish.

So this morning we started back on our shake days with our IsaLean Pro Shakes. I had the chocolate one (which is sooo yummy and tastes like eating chocolate ice cream) so for me it was like treating myself after working hard through the cleanse day. So we'll have two shakes today with snacks, lots of water (I mean LOTS), and then we're going to have a nice dinner together (low-cal of course) but we're both looking forward to it.  

After just a week of trying the Isagenix I am already trying to figure out ways to incorporate this product into my diet long-term. I think we, as a society (myself included) spend so much time on certain useless things while, as one of our friends pointed out, some of us struggle with focusing on the 'right' things in life that our for our betterment overall. I personally think finances (see my Dave Ramsey blog if you're interested on what we are doing with our finances) & health are the two that UNFORTUNATELY take a backseat. So it feels great to feel like we are on a good track for both. Frees up more time to accomplish some of my other goals but that's for another blog ;) 

So a little about the program because I think it's important to share what works and doesn't work. Even though I've never been extremely overweight, weight has always been a struggle for me. I was muscular growing up but was always the heaviest of my sisters and closest friends. And anyone who's dealt with this kind of struggle knows that it weighs heavy on your heart dealing with those emotions day in and day out. So over the last couple of years I've been trying to find a balance, try everything from heavy exercising, eating very minimalistic, learning about good and bad foods, trying the wrong and right techniques. However, I never felt like I FINALLY found the perfect balance or the processes that work completely until Isagenix. 

The Isagenix team has put all of that effort into making the perfect formula and plan for helping keep everyone on track with the amount of nutrients as well as the right kind of nutrients in your diet. 

So here's a little more information from Isagenix about the program we're on, & no, I didn't write this myself ;)

30-Day Cleansing and Fat Burning System with IsaLean® Pro Shake (please see my website if you'd like more information)

 Losing Weight and Building Lean Muscle Never Tasted So Good!

Whether you’re looking for an option to shed stubborn pounds, eliminate visceral fat, improve muscle recovery or increase muscle growth, you have a powerful, effective option to amp up your results.

IsaLean Pro Shake is a supercharged meal replacement packed with nutrients and a mega dose of whey protein to assist with weight-loss and/or muscle-building goals, specifically geared towards athletes and physically active individuals. IsaLean Pro Shake is formulated with 35 grams of high-quality protein, healthy fats and energy-boosting carbohydrates along with a broad performance spectrum of vitamins and minerals.

IsaLean Pro is formulated to help:
  • Boost metabolism and overcome stubborn weight-loss plateaus while eliminating visceral fat
  • Stimulate superior muscle recovery and growth in athletes, those looking to gain muscle and physically active individuals
  • Assist with muscle retention and muscle tone to help you age gracefully
  • Maintain muscle, bone, and supports antioxidant status (glutathione)
Important Videos: One of the things that I've found incredibly informative are a few of the videos on toxicity in our society & how this product will help althetes.

PICTURES TO COME! =)

Monday, June 25, 2012

Live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later! ...that's what we're doing. :)

Just like you...I am a victim of our cruel society in which we WANT everything! And we want it right NOW!

HOWEVER, Paul & I are on our way, with millions of other Americans, to start breaking that trend! Having a car payment, student loans, credit cards and even a house payment doesn't have to be 'the way' we live! We can all break out of that awful cycle by having a plan. The best plan I (or rather he) has come up with is Dave Ramsey's plan. http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

So basically... 'The Plan' is...

Pay the minimums on all of your debt for everything BUT your lowest outstanding debt, paying the absolute MOST you can towards THAT debt each month.
...then once that debt is gone (pause for a YAY!), then roll all of your extra income into payments paying off your next lowest debt! (YES, it's really that simple!)

Now this plan involves a 'mental shift' to put it lightly! You have to go from living outside your means to living well beneath! You might hear some people call it the 'rice & beans' method. This is where you should NEVER seeing the inside of a restaurant (which is the only rule Paul & I break...for shame!), cutting out all of the unnecessary crap (Starbucks for me) being mindful of your budget, etc. Now I'm not going to lie this has been incredibly hard! When you want to buy that one thing that for you wasn't a big deal before you started this crazy plan...come on it's only $50 but now it is because it means halting your plans, shifting things around so that you can have that now. Is it worth it? Do you truly need it that bad? It's been tough to say no to Paul or myself when I want something....but hey that's what makes this a goal, why it's so important to look ahead at what we are gaining and it's also why not everyone can do it!
But for us...it means giving ourselves the best start our family can have! Savings for our future & our future family, no matter how big ;)

We have done soooo well after our wedding starting this Dave Ramsey plan...we have paid off my credit card (some left over stuff from our wedding), a small loan & we've almost paid off Paul's truck...all the while paying lots of medical bills (for me and my gallbladder issues), the random trip for family events, CPA tests & study materials, etc. We've done sooo well over the last few month and only have about a year to go before we can scream "we're debt FREE!!!!" on Dave's shows (everything but the house anyway). Every Friday people get to call in to share their story and scream "we're debt free". I can't wait for that day!

...it doesn't stop there though...we're only on Baby Step 2 (paying off debt). Here is some more information on the baby steps from Dave Ramsey - http://www.daveramsey.com/mobile/baby-steps/, but the basic idea is 1) save $1K 2) pay off everything but the house (huge accomplishment for most) 3) save 3-6 months worth of expenses 4) increase 401K contribution to 15% 5) save for kids colleges 6) pay off your house early & 7) build wealth and give!

It's basically a life-time committment to ensuring your future! Therefore it's the perfect plan for me...keeping your focus on both the details as well as your long-term goals! I love it! Love feeling like we are in control of our financial future :)
My sister & her husband are on it too...we're helping keep each other on track! Helps when the rest of the world thinks you're crazy I guess. So if this kind of plan would help you as well, I say 'go for it'! Life is too short to constantly be paying our hard earned money out in interest to every type of credit company out there. You DON'T HAVE TO always have a car note, credit cards, etc. to live! On another small note of accomplishment: we were able to knock down some of our normal monthly bills like cable, car insurance, etc. by asking our providers to work with us. Paul got $50/month knocked off of our cable/internet service. Now we are thinking of cutting the gym and just walking in the neighborhood & changing car insurance companies (potentially cutting hundreds of dollars off each 6 months). We're doing sooo well! I'm sooo proud of us!

A little more Dave Ramsey advice - "Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later!" ...that's what we're doing anyway. :)

You can download the calculator here to see how quickly you can be debt-free too!
http://www.vertex42.com/Calculators/debt-reduction-calculator.html

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Cupcakes! Again! ...this time it's Salted Caramel Mocha cupcakes!

Little bites of heaven in all different flavors and styles...the overly sweet & decadent doesn't have to be the only way to rock a cupcake! =)

Some of the best cupcakes I've ever made have been savory cupcakes including bacon maple cupcakes (which I will try my hand again at on Saturday for my sweet sister-in-law and family) and my newest creation, salted caramel mocha cupcakes with homemade caramel...which by the way is the sweetest, yummiest, gummiest, ooey gooeyness ever :) I saw one post recently about buffalo wing cupcakes. I think that may be a bad idea in reality, so I'm leaving that one alone for now. Dried hot wing with overly sweet icing underneath...ummm, I think I'll leave my wings at Buffalo Wild Wings for date night with the hubby for now. ;)

I fell in love with the Salted Caramel Mocha drink at Starbucks and decided to test my baking skills with these basic ingredients. How hard can it be, right??? ...So as I read the basic instructions of a recipe that I found online, I assumed like many other things in my past that making homemade caramel sauce was truly just as easy watching how they make it on TV. All you have to do is heat up a little sugar and a few seconds later you have some amazing sauce to drizzle over everything.

I quickly realized as I started cooking that this was going to be a LITTLE more complicated than originally thought. My sugar started burning so I took it off the heat and put it in a bowl...and it started hardening on EVERYTHING! My spatula, my bowl, my fingers were all hardening like super glue. So I dumped in heavy whipping cream which bubbled up and scared the heck out of me. So I figured there may just be just a little bit more to the story. So I did as my cooking-smart hubby does and youtube'd how to make caramel sauce and found this lady who apparently has her own cooking youtube.com thing going on. She's got tons of great posts with different recipes to try out. So fun: http://www.youtube.com/user/LauraVitalesKitchen. Her caramel sauce post was very helpful for timing and color techniques. Ok, so maybe Paul was right just this once ;)

All I could think while I was watching it though...is 1) that looks super easy, why couldn't I do that ;) & 2) Paul should do this, he'd be great!

So here goes...

Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes!!!

Caramel Recipe Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
3/4 heavy whipping cream (or 3/4 cup milk & 1/3 cup butter as I used for a substitute)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp butter 

Heat sugar and water over medium high heat until the sauce turns a nice deep amber color. Make sure you use a deep pan to avoid splashing caramel on your skin..ouch!

Once the caramel turns the nice amber color you want...as seen below...remove from heat and add the heavy whipping cream (or substitute). BE CAREFUL during this part. The heat of the caramel and the introduction of the cold liquid causes it to foam and bubble up...it's a little scary if you're not prepared for it. 

Return to heat and add the butter. Let the butter melt and continue to cook for a few minutes. Add salt if you want, although I held off on the salt and the vanilla from the original recipe because I was planning on garnishing the cupcakes with salt and didn't want too much of a good thing.



Additional cupcake ingredients:

Any basic chocolate cupcake recipe
Chocolate frosting
Vanilla frosting
Cold-pressed coffee
Kosher Salt

So the cupcakes weren't anything fancy this time, just a simple chocolate cake recipe with cold-pressed coffee instead of the regular water equivalent. Shhhh...I used duncan hines cake-mix for this one. I wanted the star of the cupcakes to be the caramel :)

After the cupcakes and caramel are cooled, you scoop out the center of the cupcake...using a round teaspoon measurer and replace the center with the gooey caramel sauce. Place the very top of the scooped out cupcake piece back on top of the cupcake to cover the caramel for frosting. 

I used some yummy chocolate & coffee flavored vanilla icing mixed together (piped out of a ziplock baggie of course).

Now for the FUN part...drizzling the cupcakes with MORE caramel sauce and sprinkling with kosher salt.  

Only a few minutes later, and every dish in the house used, you have this fabulous creation...I can't wait to share them with my work buddies =)  

I hope they like them!

I've realized slowly that my passion for creating yummy treats and/or designing something fun is really quite special to me. I'm always looking for a way to create something interesting and new. Paul and I are constantly thinking of different ways to add creativity and pisaz to our dinner parties, a true passion for both of us. It's a fairly new passion for me and something that I hope to continue to explore often! :)  


This one is a little bitter sweet since it's for a going-away-gesture for one of my good friends at work Joanna...she's going back to school and leaving us @ Universal :(




Thursday, April 26, 2012

Ziplining, mountain driving, surfing, & sunsets...oh my!

We finallllllllyyyy made it to our final hotel destination...through the potholes, streets only wide enough for 2 moped's & a fart, hundreds of people walking on the streets like sidewalks who expect you to dodge THEM go figure, bridges for 1, fog, rain, 90 degree turns with motorcycles flying around every corner, steep embankments which require down-shifting just to make it up the hill & more down-shifting not to fly down the side of the mountain at 60kph...and where you should really pay attention when the gps registers unpaved roads as potential detours to save time. Warning!!! Warning...it doesn't actually mean potential detour, it does means that it will invariably cause you an hour of lost time due to 20 minutes navigating up around potholes & boulders, 8 minutes deciding to keep going or turn around and 32 minutes back down to where you started from i.e. unpaved road. Ugg! However, our gps could accurately tell us where each speed bump & school zone was however, it could not warn us about the trechorous roads ahead that our little 'Betsy' could not handle. ...all part of the adventure though!

...and as I lay here happy that we made it in one piece and returned our little Betsy to her rightful owner....i.e. the people holding our credit card # for ransom ;) ...or at least until we bring her back I think about the last few days and what an adventure we've been on over the last few days.

Day 3
Mission: Don't pass out ziplining


Activities: ziplining - 8AM-10AM



By the end of the zip line tour I found myself hanging upside down at the end of it all gliding down the last zipline through the rainforest watching the small creek zoom by me and completely relaxed in the harness that seemed to be choking me into a panicked fear before then. But I definitely had a sense of accomplishment. I guess that's why it was ok for me to let go of the leather glove that was our only method of stopping from flying down those ziplines at mach 3 speed and just relax and 'let go'. However, it wasn't until that last zip line that I was finally able to let go completely. It took a few extra minutes of convincing myself that everything would be ok before I slid down the first zip line but it wasn't truly until platform #7 that I was really feeling the pressure. When I put my feet to the edge of the platform on #7 my body wouldn't go. The instructors kept telling me sit down and put your hand on the pully rope. I needed time. My breathing was panicked, my arms shaking. Fear came over me. I knew this moment would come when we set up all of our excursions. I knew my fear of heights would be tested. But my stubbornness and sense of adventure are what helped my feet finally lift off of the platform, putting all of my weight into the trust of that harness and started flying down the #7 zipline. I was terrified!!!! I shot down in record speed ~240 ft above the rainforest floor. I tried to look around and enjoy my beautiful surroundings as much as possible but I had a mission...to get to the end! Get to the end! Get to the end! I was a little shaken but nothing could have stopped me from that experience. I made it through the whole course (at my own speed not the speed the instructors were trying to convince me was ok) but it was a lot of fun! Paul did famously of course. His sense of adventure and fearlessness always impresses and pushes mine. At the highest  fastest zipline that I was freaking out on, he was trying to go as fast as possible before stopping. Sounds about right ;)

Part 2 of the day was to team back up with good ol' Betsy and make our way across to the coastline of Costa Rica! What a treck! At times we were sooo grateful to have the GPS we rented and at other times we were cursing at it in our car beacuse of the route it tried to take us on. We made it to our fabulously beatiful hotel just in time to schedule our surfing trip for the morning and to watch the AMAZING sunset from the ampitheater at the hotel. What a way to end the day!

Day 4
Mission: learn to surf

Activities: Surf lessons with  Costa Rican Surfing Champion surfer Gustavo 8AM-noon(ish)

Paul & I have both always wanted to learn to surf! Who knew it would be on our honeymoon in Costa Rica! We both learned really quickly with Gustavo, a championship surfer in his younger days, and a great instructor for us. Who would've known we would both get up on our first try! What a sense of accomplishment...quickly followed by a sense of agony. Sunscreen & salt water in your eyes do NOT mix! I struggled to get it out for the next several hours of the day. Paul on the other hand had his own battle, he dislocated his shoulder, twice, surfing! It popped back in luckily but it's still tender. Poor thing!

The other couple that went surfing with us had a few guys from the hotel follow them to get some pics so we're hoping that they follow through and send us some of the ones of us...fingers crossed. We did try to get some 'awkward' pics of each other practicing...all for everyone else's enjoyment though ;)


We spent the rest of the day looking for the best coffee 'deal' for everyone back in the states and eating MORE bueno ceviche! I think this makes 3 different versions from different restaurants we've tried! I think Paul and I could eat this for every meal if it wasn't so $$$! We've both been surprised by how expensive food is here! You can't eat a meal for less than $10-$13/per person here. It gets a little pricey when you add a couple of beers and a ceviche to your 'cena' (aka dinner). :) We've had some good food, although we've stuck to the typico food, but I've been extremely impressed with the drinks here. I think I've probably told Paul 'that's the best one 'X' I've ever had several times: everything from the tropical mixed drinks, iced tea, starbucks-like coffee, etc. Crazy-good! It's one of the best ways to experience other's culture to us...by just eating their food! Time for some more! Dinner-out!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Holy Moly Guacamole! Ceviche! & One heck of a good honeymoon beginning! :)

Day 0
Mission: Get There!

I had no idea what to expect going to a foreign country. It was my first time out of the U.S. of A. aside from Canada or Mexico. After going through customs and being picked up by our car rental guy we set out on the windy roads out of San Jose & were immediately enveloped in the deep lush rainforests of Costa Rica. The Costa Rican landscapes were absolutely beautiful as well as extremely scary! Windy, narrow roads with trucks & motorcycles coming around every bend at 50 kph. About 20 kilometers outside of San Jose where we landed we lovingly named our car 'Betsy'...our little '92 (ish) Nissan Sentra who seemed to need coaxing on the steepest of hills as Paul down-shifted to make it to the next obstacle! We were immediately immersed into a culture, a language and a way of life which is very different to our own little (BIG world of Houston, TX). This is definitely a land where everyone seems to be concerned about the wild life and preserving nature in its truest and purest of forms. Everything from our room sign saying to please 'conserve water if not using' to all of the tour guides and their true appreciation for the rainforest, waterfalls, etc. surrounding the Arenal Volcano. After helping Paul navigate the steep, twisty roads of the Costa Rican rainforest and making it to our quaint little room at the base of the Arenal volcano we both needed a drink.  We had finally made it to the hotel...it had been a long day of travel from Houston but we had made it...tired, together & in one piece. :)
Day 1
Mission: Take it all in/Immerse yourself in the Costa Rican culture

Activities: Observatory Lodge Morning Hike - 8:20AM - 11AM, Wild cat & monkey exhibit, hot springs & dinner @ The Springs Spa & Resort



What a perfect day to immerse yourself in the wild, beautiful landscape of Costa Rica. Learning about the wildlife, natural surroundings & how Costa Rica operates. We started by going on a morning hike at the observatory lodge, home to the seismograph which monitors the volcanic activity at the Arenal volcano. Despite it's inactivity for a few years now the volcano still emits gases which you can see for miles and miles on a constant basis. The hike took us deep into the lush rainforest that we had only driven through earlier and learned about the changes that have happened over the last 30 or so yrs which have shaped Costa Rica into what it is today. We had a very interactive hike including a trip down to a beautiful waterfall (Cataran), seeing a tiny little eyelash viper, 3-toed sloth & took away a much greater apprecation of the beatiful nature which surrounds us everywhere we go including the mini facial I got from the tour-guide with the mud from the rainforest floor (...of which he reminded us some of the spas in the area charge hundreds to use ;) )!

Part 2 of the day was equally as fun as we made our way over to a different resort a few hundred kilometers away for a jungle cat & monkey tour from animals who have been rescued by the resort and are awaiting a final home at a nearby santuary. We saw some osolots, puma's and a few monkeys that Paul had a hard time dragging me away from, although he was completely enthralled with taking pictures of these wild animals up close. They were mostly friendly about it (hence the picture of the osolot taking a swipe at Paul's face) >>>
...then to top it off we got to sit in the most awesome hot springs with an AMAZING view of the volcano and sip on heavenly tropical drinks & Costa Rican beer! This will be a visual and memory that will be stuck FOREVER in me! What a perfect way to spend our 6 month anniversary! =)




Day 2
Mission: Catch a few
Activities: Fishing with Captain Ron - 6AM - noon



We got up early and met captain Ron at the fishing dock, which is less like a dock and like a low lying rock area which boats can pull up to...old Betsy wasn't getting down that steep embankment so we parked at the top and walked down. We did some top water fishing, which I wasn't used to but Paul seemed to be pretty familiar with, knowing all the lures, how to skim them across the water and lots of fishing stories to boot. Captain Ron is an American who fell in love with Costa Rica when he first visited here and decided immediately to sell everything and move, speaks to the great power of the 'island life' that everyone seems to be so connected with here. All of the restaurants, hotels, and activities are all outside.Today was no different. Getting over the fishing area proved to be a more water-based activity than we had hoped and wound up completely soaked from the perpetual rain showers that Costa Rica is known for. We top-water fished for around an hour and a half, hopping from fishing hole to fishing hole but wound up with only a few screeches from me not knowing how to fish top-water and being more scared than anything when a few fish tried to bite. We switched over to troll fishing, which seemed much more promising fishing. We caught guapote (the coveted fish in this lake), talapia & machaca. However, teh final score of the Paul vs Kali fish-off 2012 was: Final score Kali: 10, Paul 8...hey what can I say, my maiden name is Fischer ;)


...our honeymoon thus far has been packed full of adventure and fun! We've gotten to taste some great food (called 'comida typico' or typical food which I find to be a hilarious description), re-learn spanish or what we thought we knew and try to fit in in such a different world than our own. It's been an awesome adventure so far although it would mean nothing to me if it wasn't spent with the most amazing man I have ever met and continue to fall in love with each day! Life is wonderful when you have someone who you adore so much and who you can hold hands with & travel through life together with. It also helps that I am feeling better than ever after my surgery and have been extremely lucky that everything has gone amazingly well in recovery!
We have so much left to do on our trip and are very much looking forward to it all! Just thought a quick update was in order since a bunch of you were so pivotal in making this dream-come-true a real story for us. :)
Pura Vida!!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Surgery note to family & friends

Hola everyone,

Hope everyone is having a relaxing sunday. We are trying to "live" it up on the couch, watching tv and just hanging out on my last day before surgery. Paul is making me dumplings for dinner for my last 'real' meal for a few days...yum!

Surgery is a scary notion but it's what MUST be done! I've been in so much pain the last few days and popping pain pills every 12 hours or so to be in a tolerable mood for Paulie.

It's a relatively simple surgery, as surgeries go, so I'll be in and out tomorrow morning.The surgery will be done laparoscopically (try to say that one 5 times fast) so they'll only have to make a few small incisions to cut that stinkin' gallbladder out. Recovery time is quick, about 2 days, and then (according to the doc) I'll be ready for anything a few weeks after that. Thank goodness because we are going to Costa Rica with or without that gallbladder. Lol. It seems that I'll have to change my diet up for a few weeks (possibly months) in order to let my body adjust to not having an additional 'filter' for my food. It seems I'll have the most trouble with digesting fatty foods, high sugar content items & alcohol. Shouldn't be too hard of a change. Just looking forward to no more pain!   

We'll be up and at the hospital at 5AM...yippee! So needless to say it'll be a long day for us here at the St. Pierre household so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.

Paul will let everyone know how I'm doing...it's a husband's job, right? ;)

Love Kali

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

FINALLY have an answer - PAIN???

While the last several months are supposed to be like heaven, right? Just got married and finally done with the stress of the wedding. Wrong!!! I've been so emotionally upset by my health issues and not quite sure where to turn at times other than my adoring husband, family & friends. At certain moments in our lives we all have to place trust in other people. Shouldn't be too hard when one of those people has gone to school to become a specialist in a certain field, right! Again...wrong! *at least not for me right now*

I don't know how many doctors appt's I've been to over the last 5 months, seen everyone from a GP, OB/GYN & 2 gastroenterologists all with the same EXACT frustrating freaking answer. 'Nothing is wrong with you,' while I mutter in the back of my head that 'believe me...something IS wrong with me.' You don't go from being an active, healthy individual who can eat, exercise, etc. with no issues to cringing in pain and waking up to spasms which feel like a metal rod going through your body for no reason. 5 months later...it all comes down to the same thing I've thought for months. Now while I have finally uncovered the source of my pain I realize how entirely frustration my situation has been. It's a bitter sweet moment as the end is near but the journey seems too long and frustrating to forget so quickly. 

Frankly I would like to punch the 1st gastroenterologist in the head right about now. After ordering an ultrasound to check for gallstones he wanted me to have a CT & endoscopy before ever talking to me about the results of any of them. Although the ultrasound came back negative I was so sure it was my gallbladder that I requested to have the doctor order another test (if such existed) to check my gallbladder functions. After a few phones calls and explanation of the amount of pain I was in the test was ordered. I had such a sense of surity that I would find out the results of such test and would be able to put the 2+ months of being unsure what was wrong with me behind me finally.

After calling and calling and leaving voice messages trying to find out the results of said test for a week I finally demanded that I speak with the doctor after getting the receptionist on the phone who told me that my test results were normal. Seriously the receptionist now has license to read medical reports? I had enough with this doctor's office and wanted to express my distention with their office protocol. The doctor gets on the phone, is short and rude to me cutting me off mid-sentence about 7 times, telling me that I should have done the tests in the order that he ordered them, I'm not the one with a medical background but he just ordered the test I requested. I finally asked him "do you care what I have to say?" The conversation on the phone was a dissemination of my frustration with not only him but the other GP & GYN doctors I had seen who dismissed my problem as 'unsolvable' because the one test they ran didn't come back with anything obvious. Ugg! So I told the gastroentrologist what I thought of him: he was rude, that I don't think the receptionist should be giving me my medical records result, that I didn't appreciate his office staff never returning the dozens of calls (through voicemail) and actual conversations, that he shouldn't treat me like my problems don't matter and that I would be going to a different doctor and would be requesting my test results from him. I was over the BS! (this all through tears in the parking lot of my office...fun day at work right???)

Within the one week that it was going to take to be seen by a family doctor who my husband and mother-in-law trust and loved I got to the point where going to the ER seemed like the only option I had. I couldn't take the pain anymore. The ER doc kicked me out of the ER telling me that they couldn't do anything for me there and referred me to a new gastro doctor (who saw me the same day...10 minutes before 5PM). Whoa! After 15 minutes of telling her my problem and expressing to her that YES! my pain is a constant 7 to 8 and has been she scheduled me for an endoscopy the next morning.

Now I have gastritis, can't eat or drink the things that I love and the pain still won't go away! Great!
...but on top of that she informed me that the rude gastro doctor did not order the correct type of test to test my gallbladder and therefore could not determine if that was the cause or not. Seriously!?! *hence me wanting to punch him in the face right now...as the realization that I would have to retake a $4300 test which may or may not be covered by insurance set upon me* I had no idea that while he was supposed to order me a test to test the functionality of my gallbladder, he did not in fact order the proper test to determine this. So the test results he gave me were 'correct' I guess although it did NOT test what it was supposed to on me. How am I NOT supposed to be upset???

After going back to my new wonderful doc who had all of my test results she let me know that everything came back negative...go figure right? Still in pain doc, I expressed!

... So a second HIDA scan (testing the gallbladder) later and 6 excrutiatingly long days of waiting for the reuslts I finally have the results back that my gallbladder is indeed bad and needs to come out! AHHHHH! This is what I've been saying for months! It's functioning at less than 1/3 of normal...no wonder it hurts!  

I'm so frustrated, overwhelmed and angry that because of the lack of 'caring' or in my words 'professionalism', 'diligence', 'due process', etc. I wouldn't have had to go through all of this and this issue could be behind me months ago. I don't know whether to let it go or scream "Don't go to these doctors...they're quacks" as loud as I can from a rooftop???

...Surgery to be scheduled. Thank god this nightmare is almost over...