Time to Move On

Well, the doctor finally called, and told me my levels were all within normal range. She's mailing the results, so I'm anxious to see them. While this is great news, it's also extremely frustrating.

If it's not my organs, if it's not my hormones, then what in the world is it? I can't even count how many tests I've had (at least 50). I'm overweight, but my cholesterol is normal, triglycerides are normal, glucose is normal (so no diabetes). The only the abnormal was the thyroid, my Hashimoto's. But I've been getting treated for that. In fact, my recent tests included my thyroid, which are still normal since medication. My blood pressure is normal, blood sugar is normal, ANA (no Lupus) test came back normal, CBC came back normal (Complete Blood Count)...EVERYTHING freaking came back normal. Normally a woman at my weight would have at least SOMETHING wrong with them. But me? Nope. I'm healthy. Very healthy.

Gary just mentioned, however, it could be tied to psychological issues. I'm so convinced there's something wrong, my body acts like there's something wrong. I'm so convinced my body is sick, it acts sick. Does that make sense? I'm starting to believe he's right. But how do I fix this? Seriously, any ideas? Could it be possible my own mind is causing my infertility? What about my weight? I make everything from home. I hardly eat out, I avoid fast food, soda, coffee, tea, alcohol, and I eat pretty healthy. Could it really be it's all in my mind?

It looks like it's time to move on. Fertility treatment, adoption, etc. Guess it's time to go over our finances.

Anyway, that's the update.

Last Minute Trips, Getting Lost, and Light Shopping

When Gary came home from work yesterday, I mentioned having a date night. We've been setting money aside so we're able to have a date night at least once or twice per month. Gary lit up and was happy about this proposition, and suggested we head to Burbank, since he wanted to check out a couple of comic book stores. So, we drove there first.

The comic book store was wonderful, with rows and rows of nerdiness. However, they were out of what we were specifically looking for (a female gnome mini for my character). So we called around for a few more places, and didn't have much luck. However, one guy referred us to the Glendale Galleria.

So using my Google map app, I quickly got directions to where we were headed. However, I misread the first set of directions...which said go south on north Hollywood. I got the north and south mixed up, so I told him to head north. Whoops. We went maybe a few blocks in traffic before I realized my mistake. So, Gary decided to take the next left so he could flip around. So, he made the next left...right into the Bob Hope Airport. Megan, you probably know that we couldn't get out right away, lol. We had to make a complete circle, in a bit of traffic, around the airport before we could get back to the street. At this point, I was laughing my butt off because I thought it was hilarious. Gary, who was trying to be frustrated, eventually gave in and laughed as well, teasing me for being an airhead. So we finally made it back to the main road. We also passed by the Warner Brothers Studio, so I was able to wave hello to Megan's job.

We were back on the road, heading to Glendale (which was like 6 miles or so from where we started). Glendale had A LOT of shopping places and everything. Here I thought the Glendale Galleria would be some sort of mall that would be easily found. Oh boy! We traveled through streets of shops and other things, and ended up parking in an indoor parking structure. We walked around the streets and shops for a bit, thinking that this whole outdoor thing was the galleria. Finally we stopped at a hot dog place, and had hot dogs and fries for our dinner. The next corner we turned, there was a huge Inn-N-Out. Poor Gary, his favorite place. But he did admit the hot dog was good, and the people were super friendly. We also noticed a group of guys playing Magic the Gathering, and asked where the comic book stores were. They sadly informed us they were all closed by now...so we never got to explore the comic book stores. We did enjoy strolling around with each other, though. We even gave some fries to a guy who was sitting down against a wall with a friend. We were full, but didn't want to toss them. Haha. He was thrilled to receive them, though.

Finally we headed back to our car, and on the way out, passed by a huge mall which said, "Glendale Galleria". We couldn't help but laugh...it was an indoor mall, but for some reason we missed it. It was blinded by all the lights, buildings, and shops on the outside. Oh, well. At least we had fun. We got a little lost on the way out, but luckily my Google maps got us back to the freeway. We did have a nice time together, though, even if we didn't get what we were looking for. Burbank and Glendale are sure beautiful! A bit too city for me, but still nice.











(Of course it was flooded with people, which doesn't show in these pics. I stole these from a website, so they're not mine).

Our traveling adventures didn't end there, however. We did crash when we made it home, and it felt nice, too. Today, though, was another adventure.

We got up this morning, showered, had a little breakfast, then headed out once again. We stopped at our local Goodwill and Salvation Army, which we like to do, and browsed. Gary found a bookshelf which caught his attention, and bought it. He's been wanting his own bookshelf for his gaming books and other things, so he was determined to find one. It's cute.

After we came home and dropped off the bookshelf, we headed out again. This time we drove to Chatsworth/Northridge/Studio City/Canoga Park area, and checked out their local comic book stores, as well as thrift stores. We couldn't find anything we were looking for. However, a place in Canoga Park named Collector's Paradise, had lots of awesome things, none of which we were looking for exactly, were super friendly and looked up places we could go next. We were determined to find something. We then went next door and ate some delicious pizza at a cute place named D'Amore's Pizza. The customer service there was wonderful as well, so we left a tip :) .





Since we were unable to find what we were looking for here, we went back to the original place in Burbank. Here we were able to buy a few different minis. The store is named The Last Grenadier.

We then headed home, but stopped by Michael's first, where we bought paint so we could paint our minis. We cleared the dining room table, and painted away. Here they are (I am not that skilled...I painted the female, the one with the crossbow, Gary the other 2):





I didn't get my gnome, but Gary bought one online...so she's coming later :)

Anyway, dinner is ready. Time to eat with husband, then make a trip for ice cream to finish our wonderful weekend so far together. Bye!

PS- The second week of the D&D campaign was way better! I was able to come out of my shell thanks to the hilarious group (one speaks in a British accent, the other in a Russian...all faked of course, but funny and quite talented). Okay, bye!

I May Consider...

Naming my firstborn daughter after my doctor. She is amazing, really! I would be crushed if for any reason I lost her as a doctor.

I may not have to see an expensive specialist after all. The only reason I'd have to see one is if I'm going to get a procedure like IVF, or something of that nature.

As you know, I saw my GP (General Practitioner) today, to talk to her about my mood swings, and possibly get a referral to an Endocrinologist. She listened as I described my symptoms and sometimes depression, as well as my mood swings. She then told me, "I don't want to be one of those doctors who just gives you depression medication and sends you on your way. So what I'm going to do, is I'm going to test all of your hormones. Your thyroid, progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and prolactin (and etc if I missed any). Then, if you want, I'll start you on the Provera challenge to see how that works." She's even willing to prescribe me fertility medication, which would normally cost a fortune! I wanted to cry right there I was so happy. So, all in one visit, I had all my hormones tested. About time, huh?

Obviously results take time, so she said possibly by the end of the week...unless there's something pretty out of control, then she'll call me in. She said if it's all normal, we'll continue from there to check for any other possible imbalances. She said she feels it's probably hormones and not depression based on when and how my mood swings are. I was getting quite sick of being diagnosed with depression in the past! Besides, depression medication hates me. Really, it does.

So, there's the update with that. I'll let you know as soon as I get my hormone results in.

In other news, studying studying studying! Yeah, that's me. Gary's a big help as well. I have to memorize and know prefixes related to numbers, measurement, position, direction, color, and negatives. I also have to learn roots and suffixes in medical terms, related to common diagnostic and surgical procedures and pathological conditions. And then, to add to that, know medical terms related to body structure, organization of the body, body cavities, and body planes. Flash cards are amazing!

And in more updates and news, we are keeping this apartment for another year. We have no reason to move, anyway. Besides, if we sign another 12 month lease, we get $500 off our May rent. This money will be our Catalina money. So we're excited! We do love our place, and hate moving. It's nice being able to walk everywhere, too. And we can save money, too; not to mention giving Gary another year of experience at his job. Speaking of saving...

We finally switched banks. We were banking with Bank of America, but we had enough of their horrible customer service. Gary eventually wrote a negative review to the BBB (Better Business Bureau), to tell our story. We had an issue with bill pay; a few months later and at least ten customer service reps later, absolutely nothing has happened. They owe us money! So, we left. We decided to go with Lockheed Federal Credit Union, and opened up a checking and savings account yesterday. A lot of Gary's coworkers bank there, and they recommended it to us. His company is even a sponsor, so we get wonderful benefits. Plus, their customer service was amazing. What's even better, though, is they looked at Gary's credit card debts (that he had to use for books and stuff throughout school), and said, "We can cut those interest rates in half." And they did! All we had to do was bring in was proof of income and credit card statements, and bam, his interest rates are now in half. Yay!

Anyway, hubby is home from work...so time to go! Bye!

I Like New Stuff

Okay, so it wasn't really new, but it is to us!

We decided to do some local browsing and shopping yesterday, just for random things. We stopped at our local Salvation Army just to see what they had. We like going to thrift stores on the weekends, even pawn shops, just to browse and see what deals we could get. Well, because our Salvation Army was under new management, there was a 40% off sale. Add that with the fact it's a thrift store...and yeah. There were people in there grabbing what they could get. We did the same. We found a dining room set, chairs included, in pretty decent condition. We checked out the legs, bolts, etc. Everything was close to perfect condition. The regular price was $100, but with the sale, we calculated $60 for the set. So, we immediately purchased it, then brought it home. I love it! It's so pretty in here. It's not all fancy or anything, but the wood is in great condition, and so are the chairs. Gary says it looks like a table that would fit well in a log home. I agree. It's cute though. I have yet to decorate it, minus the candles and flowers, but Gary says he's going to see if he could do some refinishing (just for the little scratches in it)...possibly even repaint it. But I like the wood and the pattern. So we'll see.



I think it fits well in our apartment.

So, now we have a spare table if anybody's interested. One of the legs is weaker, so you might have to know a bit about repair to fix it. But besides that, it's not too bad. We're keeping the chairs though, lol. Right now I'm using it for my plants.



So yeah, that's our new little addition. Gary says in time he wants a new couch, too. I love our big, comfy, odd-patterned couch, so we'll see about that as well! What we do need, however, are wheels for our computer chair. One snapped off when Gary was on the computer, so we just need to buy replacement ones.

Okie dokie. Time for breakfast, then we outta get ready for church. I love Sundays! Especially on a beautiful Spring day. I'm looking forward to conference soon as well! Easter Sunday, and being able to stay home in my PJ's with Gary. So exciting!

Bye everyone!

PS- I haven't felt the blues in days! I've been nothing but happy. I believe it was the Visiting Teaching that did it. It felt amazing to be able to visit my sisters, and to learn more about the importance of scripture reading. This encouraged me to kick it up a notch, which I've done; and I've felt nothing but happiness and peace. Life is good!

Can You Identify This?

So, as I was sitting on the computer this morning, I heard Dexter do some serious meowing, following by something that had me running to the bathroom where Gary was showering, to explain to him why I shrieked. Later, I recorded this:




That was definitely exciting. I had been sitting on the computer, when *flutterflutterflutter* around my head caused me to shriek, jump up, and run to where Gary was for rescue. He just laughed at me. I'm not afraid of birds, but it was one of those "spider on the arm" moments, when you jump out of your skin and run back out of the way. Once I was able to laugh at myself, I went back into the living room to check up on him. Dexter, well, was quite the chattering thing. Lila was peeking around the corner, but unfortunately I had to take action and toss both cats into the bedroom.

It took maybe 10 minutes to get this bird back outside. Anyway, I did take pictures of him, and am now quite curious to see what kind of bird he is. I did some local bird searches, but didn't have much luck. I sent Quinn a pic, so we'll see what he says as well. But, here ya go:






Any ideas? Now, I can easily identify this next picture as somebody with tasty thoughts running through his head:




S0, that was that! Time to spend the rest of the day with hubby. Bye!

Blessings and Other Randoms

This is a new great reminder to see everyday. I love having pictures of family-related things around the place, so no matter what mood I'm in, I'm always reminded of how blessed I am.

Our nearest Walmart is doing a bit of rebuilding, so many items went on clearance. That's when I purchased this picture and decided to hang it up in our living room.

I really am truly blessed to have my family. Gary and I were chatting on the bed last night, and once again, the kitties jumped up and joined us. Gary said this time, "And our whole family is here". It was sweet. But cats included or not, I have a wonderful family. I have a family here with me everyday, family in the distance, and a family I grew up with. Yes, all of us kids were quite crazy. I was a mean teenager and constantly called my mom crazy...but looking back at the terrors we were, I don't blame her for her moments of driving up to the cabin to have an evening to herself. Regardless of how many names we called each other, how many times we've punched and kicked each other, or how many times we made each other cry, I love every single one of my siblings; and most definitely my parents. They did such a wonderful job raising us in the Gospel. Although there are idiot decisions being made by a bulk of them, the fact they grew up in the church will always be a constant reminder in the back of their minds; and whether they want to admit it or not, I know a part of them believes it's true. It takes a lot of sacrifice to change your life around and make it adjustable to a Christ-like lifestyle...so I pray everyday for those who lost their way that they may realize the change is extremely worth it in the end. I do know that we will all be together even after this life. What a great feeling to know we are sealed.

I've been finding it quite a challenge lately to cheer up from these blues and find peace. Many prayers and scripture reading have been taking place; and it always makes me feel better. Always. I know it's my hormones. I was actually informed as of recently that I may have elevated Prolactin levels. My doctor wants to run tests next Tuesday to check; then refer me to an Endocrinologist for more testings. Many many people with thyroid disease also have elevated Prolactin levels, which mess up the rest of your hormones (and yes, makes your Estrogen higher) and prevents ovulation from happening. I had never heard such a thing before, but I'm glad it was brought to my attention. In fact, that was supposed to be tested along with my thyroid testing. Whoopsie. If my levels are elevated, I may have to get an MRI to check for a Pituitary tumor, which would be located somewhat under my brain. 20% of people with elevated levels have this. I'm not too worried, regardless of my almost daily headaches. Don't worry, it's noncancerous and could easily be removed if it were the issue. So there, you got my health update.

New subject change again. I had been dreading going to my first D&D game. I read over the player's handbook, reread the rules many times, and had Gary give me demonstrations. I get nervous and extremely shy and anxious around people, so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't look like an airhead. But, it wasn't all that bad. In fact, it was quite fun. I was put on the spot more times than I would have liked, and I stumbled on my words and had to glance nervously around for help at times, but Gary said nobody really cared nor paid attention to my shy, panic moments. We just so happen to be in that particular group who "gets into it." We have two characters who speak in foreign accents, and one who isn't afraid to ask you direct, serious questions. It really did make me nervous, because I'm just way shy. Luckily the DM (Dungeon Master, the guy who tells the story and runs the game) is a nice guy who quickly noticed my noobiness (yes, that's a word), and made it very helpful. Gary was helpful, too. But hey...my decisions made quite a story in the end. See, I'm good. My brother on the other hand, was a level 14 Wizard (I'm a Cleric), who, well, wasn't so good. He was holding the team in a sort of prison. I discovered this, confronted him, and he blew me off. I went to my father, who is a very powerful wizard, but is also very involved in his work. He was too consumed in his book to really listen to me. So I told my brother I would find a way to let them out, regardless of his actions. At this point, he thew me in the prison with the rest of them. We ended up finding our way out...the team split up, and I was leading a member who requested to see my brother himself to my brother. I ended up changing my mind and telling him I didn't trust his actions, and led him in a different direction. At this point, the rest of the team found my father and confronted the behavior of his son, my brother. My father, angry, vanished quickly. At this point, we realize both my brother and my father are outside, throwing spells at each other. I panic, and run out there between them to stop them. My brother ends up throwing me quite far, knocking me down, then quickly takes down my father. Throughout the rest of the battle, I'm healing my father and other team members, while they attempt to take out my level 14 brother. See, I'm a level 2. The rest of the team is level 1 and 2. No match for this guy. However, Gary, an avenger, was able to pull my brother out of his power-square (he had created some sort of force that fed him his power). The DM rolled a 1, which is a fail role (the DM controls anybody who isn't one of us...so, my brother in this case). Everybody else got a free hit because he was pulled out of his power-square...and owned him. It was actually hilarious because he wasn't supposed to die. The DM just shook his head and couldn't believe we had actually killed him. Our wimpy levels took out a level 14 wizard. Because of this, we all gained 5,000 experience points, which leveled us up. I'm now a level 5, Gary a level 4. So, next week when we meet together, it will be revolved around leveling us up. It was great.

I'm sorry that was probably completely uninteresting and boring to a lot of you. But it was fun!

Anyway, time to have myself a wonderful Friday. It's just been so beautiful outside lately with these warmer temperatures. The trees around here are blossoming and it looks very gorgeous.  The patio door is pretty much opened from morning until bedtime now...making quite a happy orange cat (who is apparently called a ginger tabby, but I say orange anyway).

 I love blossoming trees.
And my little girl, who's been showing a lot of interest lately to the outside world.

She's so pretty.

 Well, that's it. Yay for Friday!

Preparing for Warmer Weather, and Geek Stuff

Ah, the warmer days are on their way. Patio door can be opened, Dexter can nap under the warm sun, and I can grow my new little garden.


Yes, Gary bought me my own little garden! I was very thrilled. I went off about how excited I am to someday grow my own garden; so he had an idea and bought me one. The first thing he bought me was a strawberry garden. I'm going to grow my own strawberries. It's a cute little indoor gardening kit, although I'm putting it outdoors on the patio. He also bought me bulb flowers: Scilla Peruviana. In case you don't know what they are, this is what they look like:

They come in different colors, but mine will be purple. So yay! Strawberries and pretty flowers. I also realized these specific flowers are major toxic. So when Dexter's outside, we'll have to keep an extra eye on him. He only sniffed when we first got them, but quickly lost interest; so no issues thusfar.


I am most definitely excited for Spring!


Remember how I mentioned Gary and I are trying to be smarter with money? We decided to kick that up a notch. I started making meal plans and menus for 4 weeks. Because of this, I spent half what I normally do in grocery costs. Our supermarkets here are always a bit more expensive, but I did what I could. I know, I could have gone the whole mile with coupon clipping and note-taking, etc. But that's okay; it's just the two of us, and we're taking baby steps. Besides, I think I did pretty well. I found online, a plan for spending $30 a week in groceries; and this was for a family of 6. We spent around that cost anyway, maybe a little more, because of prices here in our city. But that's still half of what we would normally spend. Planning is so much better! A lot of the purchases were done in staples (meaning meals that aren't pre-prepared). So last night, I made homemade hamburger calzones. Everything was made from home except, well, the beef...since we clearly don't own cows. Someday, though. I made my own chunky tomato sauce, beans, etc. They turned out pretty good;

 Not the best quality picture, but it'll do. Yum! I also made ham and cheddar biscuits for breakfast that morning.

Gary took a vacation day today, so it's good to have him here! He also took Friday off as well. So he's been enjoying his 4 day weekend. We went to Taft on Saturday so he could help his parents with their computer issues (and to visit them of course), then made our way to Bakersfield so he could fix my mom's computer. He was clearly exhausted by the time we got home. But I was more exhausted. I currently have Bronchitis, and it kicked into higher gear on Saturday. By the time we got home, I crashed on the couch. I felt like throwing up and had the chills and fever, but felt much better in the morning. My lungs are still mad at me, but it's an improvement. We went to Nursery on Sunday, and Gary helped out since Megan was out of town. Gary did really well with the kids. One kid was crying for the longest time, until Gary miraculously found a way to quiet him and get his attention on something. His crying triggered another kid's crying, but he quickly quieted down thanks to the help of someone from the primary presidency who stopped by to check on things. There were a lot of kids there, probably around 13.  But it went pretty smoothly, surprisingly.


Now, onto the geeky/nerdy sides of things. Gary wants to get back into role-playing. He became thrilled with the idea. This was triggered because a new comic book/gaming store opened up in our city. I think it's the only comic book store in our city. It's a great hangout spot for teenagers and even adults who like to play role-playing type games. So, Gary decided he wants to get back into D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). It took a few nudges on his part to get me to agree to participate. I wasn't really excited with the thought, but went along with it anyway. We went to the comic book place, and made our characters with the help of the DM (Dungeon Master). Once a week in the evening time, we're going to meet together with a group of people for a campaign. The DM decided to throw us in the current campaign since it was just recently developed. So, I'm a Gnome Cleric named Lilly; the daughter of a powerful wizard; and I'm good. Gary's a human avenger named Aiden, a young adult (18 years old), who is a fanatic about changing the world back to the way it was (since the world has been taken over by robots and other technology). I have a feeling I'm going to seriously suck when it comes to playing, but Gary's willing to help me study my character and other things so I don't look like a complete noob when we play. So, we'll definitely have to see how it goes, and hope I don't drool on myself.

Well, I believe that's all for now. Time to shower and spend the day with my lovely darling. Bye!

Testing and Other Things

 Okay, so you know how some schools offer learning testing, where you see if there's any sort of learning disability involved? I tried it out:

ADD..I scored high on this one. Apparently I suffer pretty badly from ADD. Not AD/HD, but just the regular ADD. Now, I already knew that one. I drive myself crazy with constant thoughts running through my head, and I have a horrible time focusing on things. I'm often forgetful as well. I find myself reading sentences over and over again, or I can read 2 pages of a book before realizing I'm reading, and have to go back and read it over again because I have no clue what happened. I also have a bit of a short fuse (as a lot of you know), blah blah blah. No surprise here. Guess I fit pretty well in Nursery then, right?


Disorientation: This means a shift of perception triggered by confusion or stress. This would make sense if I were still a child. But if I have had this, I've outgrown it. It's like living in an imaginary world and losing a sense of time and other things. Although I sometimes talk to myself while doing things, I'm definitely not playing in an imaginary world. Okay, sometimes. But not severely enough to run my life. Would this fit the description of me as a child? Definitely. The bell would ring for recess to be over, but while everyone was in class, I'd still be sitting on a swing, and I'd have to be called back to class via loudspeaker. I don't remember this at all, but my parents sure do. I'd be walking with my class to the computer lab, and next thing I knew, I was by myself and my class was already there. I'd have some sort of absent-minded seizure. One minute I'm in a crowd, next minute I'm standing alone, and I'd be highly confused and/or stressed. I did miss out on a lot of basic learning because I was never really...there. I still blank out at times, but never as severely as I did as a child. In fact, reading this section fits my childhood quite well. Heck, I was riding my bike as a kid, blanked out, and next thing I knew, I was in the street bleeding. I had never heard of Disorientation before until I read this. Makes sense...but not in my adulthood. Mum, was this ever mentioned by my doctors, or a possibility? Just curious. Did they even have an explanation for all my childhood problems? Lol. I had enough brain scans for them to find something, right? :)

Mild Dyslexia: I already knew this one. I'm a great reader, I'm great at writing, but sometimes I get very confused at the easiest statements or sentences, and have to have things explained to me on a slower level so I can understand. It's just a mild comprehension problem. In fact, I'd just call it slow learning, not really dyslexia. I've always been slow learner; and it can definitely be frustrating being married to a fast learner. Gary's extremely fast. I'm not so much. And I know it can be frustrating to him as well; he often times has to explain things to me over and over again until I get it.

That was pretty much it. As for coordination, reading and spelling, math and time management, I did fine. The self-esteem part could improve a bit, so I'll work on that.

But, I'm not going to have any sort of special teaching because of these scores. I want to learn like everybody else, and would rather not be treated specially. I wouldn't call it pride, it's just I believe I've overcome a lot of these obstacles, and if it means I have to work harder, then sobeit. Besides, I'm learning at my own pace, so no issues there.

Alright, time for stuff to do. Hope you enjoyed my pointless post for the day! Later peeps.

Random Things

 I'm pretty sure this post will be random; but most of my posts are anyway!

 I was hitting myself upside the head yesterday. I was freaking out the night before to Gary, upset about my lack of cycles. It's been the longest it has been; at one point I thought it was going to start, but that was a false alarm. So, here I was, thinking I was doomed. The next morning, a light bulb flicked on, and I thought, "You silly idiot!" I've been taking progesterone for over a month now...which is a good way to regulate your hormones. However, in order for your cycle to show up, progesterone levels need to drop. Oh how silly I was to forget this. I had all the symptoms and mood swings, but nothing...that's because I kept feeding my body the one hormone that delayed what I needed for so long. To regulate, most doctors say 21 days on, 7 days off. Think of it like birth control. Except, I didn't do the off part because I had totally forgotten. So there, I'm taking my 7 day break to allow my body to kick into a new cycle. I can feel the changes on this hormone. The mood swings were pretty bad, but that's because I was taking a bit too much to start out with. However, I noticed I've been sleeping extremely well in the night. I fall asleep within minutes, and feel marvelous the next morning. I've lost a little more weight (20lbs down now!), and I have more energy than before. So, this is good. Something's working.

Now, changing the subject. I'm enjoying school. I'm not attending the local community college...I'm enrolled, but not registered or anything. I instead am going to a private school. You'd think it would cost more, but that's not the case. It actually costs less, and they have a great method of payment, since we make too much to qualify for financial aid. The reason it costs less is because I'm enrolled in a program, not just registered for classes. Anyway, I had my first exam Tuesday morning, and got 100%. I was very proud of myself, considering me + testing = super horrible. It's not that I get testing nervous or anything, it's because I have a form of dyslexia. There are different kinds of dyslexia; I don't have the words reversed kind, but I have the comprehension kind. It's where I have to read a sentence or statement over and over again before I understand, because my mind jumbles it. This definitely hurts me during testing, especially multiple choice. I have learned to work with it, however.

Now onto jobs. I've been looking for a job for awhile now, with no luck. It's mostly to keep me busy so I can bring in extra income. However, it seems these days the only places I qualify to work, teenagers or young adults have a better chance. Or, I don't have enough education. This is the reason I'm going to school...so I can do something. Instead, in my spare time, I do online surveys. They don't pay much, but I have brought in a little over $100 in the past month. So, it's not too bad. Besides, it's fun and easy, and you can quickly cash out. It helps with the little things.

While I was doing some browsing the other day, I realized that most jobs in Gary's line of work are in Georgia. The software he develops is huge over there. I even felt a rush of excitement when I noticed this, especially the fact he qualified for a lot of those jobs. Our lease is up rather soon, and Gary will reach his 2 year mark with his job around the same time. Now, Gary loves his job and the people he works with, so he said if he could, he'd stay at this job. The problem is, it's just so expensive here. So expensive. At this rate, we don't think we'll ever be able to buy a house. Not until I've started working and keep working; which could be awhile from now. However, Georgia is very affordable. Humid, I know, but I guess it's the redneck Holsonbake gene in me that wants to live there. What I did notice, was the salary differences...and I became concerned that Gary is being way underpaid. Gary took this to his boss, who understood, but like most people, wants some facts. So, that's my job today. There's so many factors that would include Gary getting a raise...his coworkers being one of them. They'd have to get raises too. This is why I need to be certain I can find proof. I even looked up his job and what it pays with 5 years or more experience, and let's just say holy cow.

Anyway, that's that. We'll just have to see what happens in the near future.

Any other random thoughts I want to throw in here? I still have yet to visit that Japanese Garden. It's closed today, so maybe Gary and I will go tomorrow. What else? Oh, and of course I'm thrilled for my brother and sister-in-law, with a new Holsonbake baby on the way. We're crossing our fingers for a girl, but a boy would be wonderful as well! I mean, a Holsonbake girl? Is that even possible? I'm pretty sure I'm like the first and only born Holsonbake female.

Okay, time to catch up on my shows and cook up a nice breakfast. Later homefrys.

Welcome to March!

 Saturday, March 20th will be the official first day of Spring!

 You see, I never really realized February Blah's existed until my Grannie mentioned it. It was quite a blue month for me last month! It could also be hormone related, but still. Glad to see March is here and Spring will soon follow! I'm definitely excited about Spring! It's my 2nd favorite season. Well, might actually be my 1st. I love Fall, mostly because it's after the dreadfully hot days of summer (and growing up in Bakersfield, you NEED Fall to come). Winter is eh, it's usually just cold and I'm often depressed. But Spring is marvelous!

Speaking of Spring, I was talking to Gary about having my own garden someday. I just realized a new love and talent for me, which is gardening. I've never done it before, except through school projects and such. But when Gary bought me those roses, and Grannie brought those fresh flowers from her activity while here, I just loved tending to them. I loved smelling them and trimming them, etc. When Gary realized this, he mentioned buying outside plants to put on our deck; and I'm excited at the thought! When we buy our house, I want a garden! Maybe I have a green thumb and just don't know it yet?

Okay, so that leads me to the subject of a house. Our lease is up in a little less than 3 months. Gary has been chatting to co-workers about areas around here, and told me to start browsing for a house again. One of the places which kept popping up is Castaic. It's still close to his work, and it's way less city-like than Valencia. With Castaic, you can at least have a nice yard and a little land. You can get a house, not just a condo or townhouse. Of course, those options are always open, too. But I want a yard, my garden, and a dog!

So, I have of lately been browsing homes in that area. Fillmore was also a suggested option, since the 126 is a free-flowing highway. It's quite possible we may be buying a house rather soon. But we'll see!

The weekend went pretty well for us. On Saturday, we attended the temple. Boy, it was just amazing to be there. I found myself more emotional than usual, and Gary and I spent a good chunk of time together in the Celestial room after. I said many prayers, and he prayed with me often as well. It was a very spiritual and peaceful experience. I love how it always brings us closer together. Always. I learned to appreciate him even more for being such an incredible man, and we've had an extra dose of happiness since attending. It really does make things so much better. And like I mentioned earlier, I've been going through some serious blues and blahs. This was a trip definitely needed to snap me out of it, and know that Heavenly Father is there for us all. Life is good!

Quinny-poo showed up at about 2:30am Sunday morning, needing a place to crash. I found I had only slept minor hours that night...and in the morning, Quinn needed some help with finding a few things. So I found a Nursery sub (thanks Josh and Megan, for everything!! I owe you!), and we spent the day with Quinny-pie, helping him with a few things. Later in the afternoon, I introduced him to Sims, which kept him occupied until he left for LA to hang out with Andre around 4:30. So that was quite fun!

Anyway, I'm very very very blessed. Last night, I was husband-cuddling, and both kitties jumped onto the bed and joined us. I almost cried seeing this, and I just was overwhelmed with love. Okay, so the cats aren't children, but they are family, and they do love us both. And no, normally I don't get teary-eyed when cats join us on the bed...but this felt different. I know someday children will be in the mix, but right now, it just felt good to have everything and everyone all there at once. Things get so much better when we count our blessings.

Okay, so that's all for now. I'm going to go visit a nearby Japanese Garden soon...very beautiful! Just because. But I'll take lots of pictures because it's me! :)

PS- Yoga is a great way to help, too! My body often wonders what the heck I'm doing to it, but it feels great after a nice yoga workout!