Sorry for skipping a couple of days, but as you can see from the title of today's blog, hubby and I have been experiencing some car issues.
Mom... In Training
Monday, August 5, 2013
BEDA #4
I'm at work this morning, 5 minutes late but who's counting. I kind of wish I'd taken the day off. There's really nothing for me to do here today. I'm contracted to do a particular type of testing and they schedule me to be here at the hospital every Monday. Well today I'm here and though there are patients that need testing, there is no doctor here to sign off on the tests. Therefore, I can't test today. So I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs. This is getting really old. I mean sure some people would say "I'd love to get paid to sit around and do nothing", and I do enjoy it.... to an extent. But I'm that type of person who needs to stay busy and feel like I've earned my pay. I kind of feel like when I'm here and not testing, everyone in my department notices. But it's out of my hands, it's up to the hospital to hire more doctors in my specialty. Plus the days drag on and on when I'm not testing. I haven't even been here an hour and I'm bored out of my mind... and I've got 7 more hours of this bullsh*t left today.
On days that I'm not testing, I try to take advantage of learning new skills, so I try and shadow other techs to learn about other testing. Most of the techs here in this department are pretty cool and willing to help train you. Plus there are students that come in a couple times a week from the local college, so the techs are used to it. Today the students are here and I understand they have 1st priority. However there is one tech here without a student and when I ask if I can work with her today, she gives every excuse under the sun to keep me away. I understand "No" the first time, don't keep rubbing it in. So I'm stuck here in my "room" (which is basically a storage closet) trying to keep busy... which right now means writing this blog. I pulled out a couple if books so that I can try to study today, but I have a short attention span so we'll see how long that lasts.
This is starting to get real old, and I dunno how much longer I can do this. I've given myself 6 more months to see if things change. If not, I'm ready to turn in my resignation letter.
Mood: frustrated
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Last Night BEDA #3
so last night was quite a night. we went to Dave and Buster's to meet up friends for bowling. somehow my Fung shway was way off and I sucked at both games we played. I kept throwing gutter balls, and my arm, hand and wrist were getting sorer the longer we played. I knew something was off, but couldn't quite figure it out. hubby on the other hand brought his A-game as usual. he was the top scorer of the night. of course he's competitive so he wasn't shy about it either. then after bowling, we sat for a quick dinner. hubby and I split a dinner plate and had an appetizer. we also drank throughout the night. probably not good for calorie counting but I didn't care, I was gonna enjoy the night. afterwards we walked next door to a local club. they were running a Facebook promotion, where you got free cover before 11pm. then as we were waiting in line to get in, we saw that they were promoting the UFC fight with $3 drinks until 10pm. hubby and I were super excited! It turns out they were hosting the UFC fights in one of their rooms. what a pleasant surprise to both hubby and I. we went to the room and soon a couple of friends joined us. though they aren't into UFC as much as we are, they sat with us through a couple of fights. they were able to grab some of the $3 drink specials, but by the time hubby got to the bar, the drink special was gone. hubby and I watched the fights till the end, then we made our way to the karaoke room where are our friends were waiting for us. we were enjoying singing along and listening to different songs. my friend even put an a song for us all to sing. but we waited through six songs and they still hadn't called us so we left to go dancing. By now the dance rooms were starting to get packed, but we were able to enjoy the rest of the night dancing it up, and boy did we dance. we were sweating and having a great time. I forgot how much fun that club was. plus it didn't hurt that I had a few drinks... maybe to many, lol. we stayed till the club closed, and afterwards I remember telling hubby that I was craving Jack in the Box tacos. he stopped by to buy some on our way home, but I was falling asleep in the car. by the time we got home, I had just enough energy to walk through the door, and kick off my heels. I did a face plant on the bed and was out like a lightbulb. I didn't even get undressed or take off my jewelry and lashes. I must've woken up in the middle of the morning, slipped out of my clothes, pulled off my lashes and jewelry and crashed out again. when I woke up early afternoon, I was a bit confused as to how I got home. my phone was dead and my mouth was parched. I got up to grab some water and let the dogs out for the morning. yeah, needless to say I was drunk last night. but still we had lots of fun.
I didn't think I had a hangover this morning, but I did feel in a lazy mood and didn't get much cleaning done. I mainly just dusted off the coffee tables and TV stand. we were supposed to go grocery shopping, but that didn't happen either. then I fell asleep for a late nap, and when I woke up I realized it was already night time. so now I'm hungry for dinner I'm wide awake, and I'm scheduled to go to work in the morning. what am I to do?
Saturday, August 3, 2013
A Night with Friends BEDA #2
So exited for tonight's activities! We have couples date night planned. There will be a big group of us hanging out to go out to eat, bowling, and end the night dancing. It's been awhile since we've gone bowling or to a club to go dancing.
I didn't get much cleaning done today. But I did get a chance to dust off our coffee table, throw out a bunch of old magazines, and go through and shred a bunch of mail and old documents that were cluttering our dining room table. Still lots to get done, but I'm hoping to make more leeway tomorrow.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Glad to Be Back! BEDA #1
Wow! It's been a while since my last post. Over two months. This is gonna be a long update. But that's a good thing since I'm thinking of doing BEDA this year. BEDA stands for Blog Every Day in August. I got the idea from fellow YouTubers who do VEDA, and since I stopped posting videos, I decided why not do BEDA instead? I'm a day late, but I think tonight's blog entry will make up for yesterday as well. So here goes...
We've had quite a change in pace over the past 2 months here at home. Though there has been a couple of obstacles to get around, most of the change has been for the better. We are now well acquainted with our foreign exchange students. We've been in communication with them regularly over the last month and a half and it's so exciting learning more and more about them. They are both happily anticipating their visit here with us and already we've made huge plans in traveling and showing them what we like. The list that I mentioned in my past blog has gotten even longer in length. There's over 100 things that I've listed that I can't wait to show them. Granted we probably won't be able to do all of it, but I'm hoping we can do most of it. The girls will be coming in a few weeks, and though we are not quite ready for them yet (still working on getting them registered for school... still need to do some major cleaning around the house), we are almost there. I keep procrastinating and putting off the cleaning for the weekends, but those "cleaning weekends" never seem to hash out. We've always got something else better to do... lol. Anyways, that's about the only thing I'm worried about. Keeping my fingers crossed that we can make some progress on the cleaning this weekend, even though we've already got plans for the evening.
So just to share a little more information about our girls. G, as you recall, is from Thailand. She's the one we've been in contact with the longest (and probably the most "like" us). She's kind of shy and timid, but she's super cute. She's this tiny little thing, probably not even 5 foot tall, and under 100 lbs. So cute, you just want to put her in your pocket. She's still working on getting better at English, and she's a bit nervous about being able to communicate well with us and her fellow peers. She's still attending school in Thailand and actually just completed her midterm exams. She's also really involved in her cultural exchange organization that she participates in outside of school. Unlike the U.S., in Thailand, school is strictly for educational subject classes like math, reading, history, government, language studies, etc. Any sports or clubs that students wish to participate in, they have to do on their own time away from school. G likes being in her cultural exchange program. Already, she has spent a summer in New Zealand as a member of the organization. They also recently had their annual prom, in which they got to celebrate and spend one more evening with their friends of the organization, before packing up and jetting off to their respective countries for the foreign exchange program. G tells me that she has 3 more friends coming to the U.S., though none set for Texas. She is super excited about coming here to Texas, as she has seen lots of pictures of the landscape, seen it portrayed in movies, and read about all the wonderful things to do while here in our city. One of things she tells me she's most excited about is going horseback riding. She's been once before in New Zealand and she really enjoyed it. She's also excited to meet new friends, though she admits she's a little shy and quiet at first. She's kind of glad M will also be staying with us, as it gives her an opportunity to make a friend before school starts. She's also looking forward to getting involved with school sports, primarily swimming and perhaps cheerleading. She wants to take Spanish class so that she can learn the language. It's something she's been interested in for a while. She enjoys the same music as me (in regards to American pop music) and said she's eager to learn how to dance. I told her I like dancing all kinds of music, so she's excited for me to teach her a few things. I told her I would like to learn how to cook Thai food and she eagerly offered to teach me. Though she doesn't cook very much at home in Thailand, she has picked up a few things from her mother. She's very eager to learn and experience as much as she can here with us and every time we email each other, she gives me a countdown as to when she arrives.
M is our other student. She is from Germany. She's very different from G, though I think that will only give them more to talk about when they are together. She's a little more versed in travel and new experiences. She loves the study of language and is also pretty fluent in Spanish. She tells me she also has plans to learn French and Madarin Chinese. Wow, how motivated she is! She is also very involved in tennis in her homeland. She competes in regular tournaments and hoping she can continue the sport while staying here with us. We found out the high school does have a tennis team so hopefully she will be able to participate in that. She also has an interest in cheerleading. She seems a little more social and outspoken, though we've only communicated via email. She spent the summer in Spain and actually just got back home this week. Plus her birthday was a couple of days ago, so it's one thing after another and she seems to stay pretty busy. Though we haven't had as much communication with her as we have with G, she does respond pretty thoroughly in her emails. Her English writing is very good. She also seems to enjoy the same kind of music as I do (we have some of the same favorite music artists). She tells me she is looking forward to learning about the American culture. She wants to be involved in foreign languages when she grows up, so she is hoping to also master the English language while staying here. She tells me she's not much of a cook, but does enjoy her German food so she's eager to try the local German restaurant that I mentioned earlier. She's not into spicy food much so I don't know how she'll handle Mexican and Thai food. We shall see. I told her about our local German festival and Oktoberfest and she says she's super excited to check it out. One of things she tells me she's most excited about is going shopping. What teenage girl isn't? She tells me that she's heard that name brands (especially her favorites, Hollister and Ambercrombie) are pretty affordable here in the states, while in Germany it's really expensive. She doesn't seem to be nervous at all about coming here to the U.S. I asked her if she has ever traveled here and she said a couple of times to Ohio, where she has some distant relatives. As much as she has traveled and studied Spanish, maybe I can learn a thing or two from her.
So those are our 2 students. M just turned 17 and G is 16 and a half. I'm still not sure what grades they'll be in since we still need to get them registered. But like I said earlier, we already have so much planned for them. I wanted to do something big for either the winter holiday break or spring break and since hubby is pretty much guaranteed mandatory overtime during December, I figured we could hold off until the spring break holiday. So what I've started working on is planning a trip to Disney World! I asked the girls first whether their parents would allow them to travel to Florida and whether they'd be able to afford their expenses for the trip. They both discussed it with their family and happily agreed upon the trip. They are both very excited to get to experience Disney since they haven't ever visited any of the theme parks around the world. But of course what kid wouldn't be excited?! Hubby and I are excited ourselves as we've never experienced it either. So that is the big thing we have planned in March. Another thing that hubby and I are planning is a Welcome to America party for the girls. Just something to introduce them to other kids and some of our family and close friends. We are trying to keep it as small as possible, but hubby and I love to throw parties, especially one that has music and barbeque. And finally, and this came up just recently, we decided to invite them to UFC #166 when it comes to our city in October. We weren't sure if they'd want to go, especially having never seen it and the tickets being so expensive. But running it by their parents, they were ready to jump in for the experience. So happy to say, we bought 4 tickets for the upcoming fights and can't wait to share our love of the sport with them.
And now moving on to less interesting news... As far as a TTC update, there's really nothing to report on. It's on the back burner and not a priority in our life right now (something I thought I'd never hear myself say). I don't want to say I've given up on it, but I've pretty much come to the realization that I'm not going to be a mom unless we adopt or until I can get pregnant. And the getting pregnant thing won't be happening anytime soon. We've both basically have an understanding that unless we have some serious medical intervention (i.e. IVF) that it won't be happening naturally. It's the reality of the situation and right now I'm ok with that. I can't say that I won't ever try other means again, but my body is so screwed up right now, that mother nature has pretty much crossed me off her list. Yeah it sucks, but hey... shit happens. And when I say screwed up I mean not only that I haven't had my period in almost 5 months (today is CD 141), but I've put on a few more pounds, and I haven't seen a doctor since we last tried with HCG in January. And no, I'm not pregnant. I take a HPT every first of the month to make sure I don't wind up on that show "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant". Yesterday's test, just as expected came out with a BFN. No surprise there... and it didn't even phase me.
As for the weight thing, yes I know, I know. I can't believe I gained weight either. I was a little depressed as the whole TTC came to a startling halt. That probably contributed to it. But mainly I blame it on letting go. Since letting go of the whole TTC journey, I kinda was like "F- it!" Before I was trying to lose the weight for babymaking, but since that's not gonna happen I decided to enjoy life. Now that I have steady work and the paychecks are coming in regularly, hubby and I have been taking advantage and enjoying going to eat out. We've both actually started to gain weight. And then because I started working so much, I was skipping the gym. And then I get home and I'm super tired and just want to lounge around the house. It's a never ending cycle and I do want to get back on track especially with the girls coming. I hate to validate the stereotype of fat and lazy Americans. (I did some research on culture shock and one of the common first impressions from foreign exchange students are that Americans are fat and lazy.... boooooo) Plus my girls seem really energetic and active and I want to be able to keep up with them. I hope they will be able to motivate me. Maybe I can get them on a student/child membership at the gym. We'll see.
Finally, I just wanted to mention that this is the year for baby showers. I told my mom the other day that I'm at that stage in life where everyone my age is getting pregnant. It's kind of weird, kind of eerie, but I'm so thankful that I've put my TTC days behind me, because this year would suck royally had I still been TTC and not pregnant by now. I finally re-activated my FB account, primarily to keep in touch with the girls (imagine life without social networking, how would we ever be in touch? I mean who writes letters nowadays?... lol... that's sarcasm) and now that I'm back online and in full force, there are friends and family members announcing pregnancies and births left and right! I'm thankful I have a job to afford all these gifts I'm buying. I swear like every month I find out someone new is pregnant. Happy for them, of course, but reminds me more and more that I'm not the one announcing it. Not saying that in a bad way, just that these were some of the people asking me 3 years ago "So when are you gonna have kids?" I guess time flies when you're having fun.
Well that's about all I gotta say for today. Tomorrow is another day and I gotta think about what I want to write about. So see you then.
We've had quite a change in pace over the past 2 months here at home. Though there has been a couple of obstacles to get around, most of the change has been for the better. We are now well acquainted with our foreign exchange students. We've been in communication with them regularly over the last month and a half and it's so exciting learning more and more about them. They are both happily anticipating their visit here with us and already we've made huge plans in traveling and showing them what we like. The list that I mentioned in my past blog has gotten even longer in length. There's over 100 things that I've listed that I can't wait to show them. Granted we probably won't be able to do all of it, but I'm hoping we can do most of it. The girls will be coming in a few weeks, and though we are not quite ready for them yet (still working on getting them registered for school... still need to do some major cleaning around the house), we are almost there. I keep procrastinating and putting off the cleaning for the weekends, but those "cleaning weekends" never seem to hash out. We've always got something else better to do... lol. Anyways, that's about the only thing I'm worried about. Keeping my fingers crossed that we can make some progress on the cleaning this weekend, even though we've already got plans for the evening.
So just to share a little more information about our girls. G, as you recall, is from Thailand. She's the one we've been in contact with the longest (and probably the most "like" us). She's kind of shy and timid, but she's super cute. She's this tiny little thing, probably not even 5 foot tall, and under 100 lbs. So cute, you just want to put her in your pocket. She's still working on getting better at English, and she's a bit nervous about being able to communicate well with us and her fellow peers. She's still attending school in Thailand and actually just completed her midterm exams. She's also really involved in her cultural exchange organization that she participates in outside of school. Unlike the U.S., in Thailand, school is strictly for educational subject classes like math, reading, history, government, language studies, etc. Any sports or clubs that students wish to participate in, they have to do on their own time away from school. G likes being in her cultural exchange program. Already, she has spent a summer in New Zealand as a member of the organization. They also recently had their annual prom, in which they got to celebrate and spend one more evening with their friends of the organization, before packing up and jetting off to their respective countries for the foreign exchange program. G tells me that she has 3 more friends coming to the U.S., though none set for Texas. She is super excited about coming here to Texas, as she has seen lots of pictures of the landscape, seen it portrayed in movies, and read about all the wonderful things to do while here in our city. One of things she tells me she's most excited about is going horseback riding. She's been once before in New Zealand and she really enjoyed it. She's also excited to meet new friends, though she admits she's a little shy and quiet at first. She's kind of glad M will also be staying with us, as it gives her an opportunity to make a friend before school starts. She's also looking forward to getting involved with school sports, primarily swimming and perhaps cheerleading. She wants to take Spanish class so that she can learn the language. It's something she's been interested in for a while. She enjoys the same music as me (in regards to American pop music) and said she's eager to learn how to dance. I told her I like dancing all kinds of music, so she's excited for me to teach her a few things. I told her I would like to learn how to cook Thai food and she eagerly offered to teach me. Though she doesn't cook very much at home in Thailand, she has picked up a few things from her mother. She's very eager to learn and experience as much as she can here with us and every time we email each other, she gives me a countdown as to when she arrives.
M is our other student. She is from Germany. She's very different from G, though I think that will only give them more to talk about when they are together. She's a little more versed in travel and new experiences. She loves the study of language and is also pretty fluent in Spanish. She tells me she also has plans to learn French and Madarin Chinese. Wow, how motivated she is! She is also very involved in tennis in her homeland. She competes in regular tournaments and hoping she can continue the sport while staying here with us. We found out the high school does have a tennis team so hopefully she will be able to participate in that. She also has an interest in cheerleading. She seems a little more social and outspoken, though we've only communicated via email. She spent the summer in Spain and actually just got back home this week. Plus her birthday was a couple of days ago, so it's one thing after another and she seems to stay pretty busy. Though we haven't had as much communication with her as we have with G, she does respond pretty thoroughly in her emails. Her English writing is very good. She also seems to enjoy the same kind of music as I do (we have some of the same favorite music artists). She tells me she is looking forward to learning about the American culture. She wants to be involved in foreign languages when she grows up, so she is hoping to also master the English language while staying here. She tells me she's not much of a cook, but does enjoy her German food so she's eager to try the local German restaurant that I mentioned earlier. She's not into spicy food much so I don't know how she'll handle Mexican and Thai food. We shall see. I told her about our local German festival and Oktoberfest and she says she's super excited to check it out. One of things she tells me she's most excited about is going shopping. What teenage girl isn't? She tells me that she's heard that name brands (especially her favorites, Hollister and Ambercrombie) are pretty affordable here in the states, while in Germany it's really expensive. She doesn't seem to be nervous at all about coming here to the U.S. I asked her if she has ever traveled here and she said a couple of times to Ohio, where she has some distant relatives. As much as she has traveled and studied Spanish, maybe I can learn a thing or two from her.
So those are our 2 students. M just turned 17 and G is 16 and a half. I'm still not sure what grades they'll be in since we still need to get them registered. But like I said earlier, we already have so much planned for them. I wanted to do something big for either the winter holiday break or spring break and since hubby is pretty much guaranteed mandatory overtime during December, I figured we could hold off until the spring break holiday. So what I've started working on is planning a trip to Disney World! I asked the girls first whether their parents would allow them to travel to Florida and whether they'd be able to afford their expenses for the trip. They both discussed it with their family and happily agreed upon the trip. They are both very excited to get to experience Disney since they haven't ever visited any of the theme parks around the world. But of course what kid wouldn't be excited?! Hubby and I are excited ourselves as we've never experienced it either. So that is the big thing we have planned in March. Another thing that hubby and I are planning is a Welcome to America party for the girls. Just something to introduce them to other kids and some of our family and close friends. We are trying to keep it as small as possible, but hubby and I love to throw parties, especially one that has music and barbeque. And finally, and this came up just recently, we decided to invite them to UFC #166 when it comes to our city in October. We weren't sure if they'd want to go, especially having never seen it and the tickets being so expensive. But running it by their parents, they were ready to jump in for the experience. So happy to say, we bought 4 tickets for the upcoming fights and can't wait to share our love of the sport with them.
And now moving on to less interesting news... As far as a TTC update, there's really nothing to report on. It's on the back burner and not a priority in our life right now (something I thought I'd never hear myself say). I don't want to say I've given up on it, but I've pretty much come to the realization that I'm not going to be a mom unless we adopt or until I can get pregnant. And the getting pregnant thing won't be happening anytime soon. We've both basically have an understanding that unless we have some serious medical intervention (i.e. IVF) that it won't be happening naturally. It's the reality of the situation and right now I'm ok with that. I can't say that I won't ever try other means again, but my body is so screwed up right now, that mother nature has pretty much crossed me off her list. Yeah it sucks, but hey... shit happens. And when I say screwed up I mean not only that I haven't had my period in almost 5 months (today is CD 141), but I've put on a few more pounds, and I haven't seen a doctor since we last tried with HCG in January. And no, I'm not pregnant. I take a HPT every first of the month to make sure I don't wind up on that show "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant". Yesterday's test, just as expected came out with a BFN. No surprise there... and it didn't even phase me.
As for the weight thing, yes I know, I know. I can't believe I gained weight either. I was a little depressed as the whole TTC came to a startling halt. That probably contributed to it. But mainly I blame it on letting go. Since letting go of the whole TTC journey, I kinda was like "F- it!" Before I was trying to lose the weight for babymaking, but since that's not gonna happen I decided to enjoy life. Now that I have steady work and the paychecks are coming in regularly, hubby and I have been taking advantage and enjoying going to eat out. We've both actually started to gain weight. And then because I started working so much, I was skipping the gym. And then I get home and I'm super tired and just want to lounge around the house. It's a never ending cycle and I do want to get back on track especially with the girls coming. I hate to validate the stereotype of fat and lazy Americans. (I did some research on culture shock and one of the common first impressions from foreign exchange students are that Americans are fat and lazy.... boooooo) Plus my girls seem really energetic and active and I want to be able to keep up with them. I hope they will be able to motivate me. Maybe I can get them on a student/child membership at the gym. We'll see.
Finally, I just wanted to mention that this is the year for baby showers. I told my mom the other day that I'm at that stage in life where everyone my age is getting pregnant. It's kind of weird, kind of eerie, but I'm so thankful that I've put my TTC days behind me, because this year would suck royally had I still been TTC and not pregnant by now. I finally re-activated my FB account, primarily to keep in touch with the girls (imagine life without social networking, how would we ever be in touch? I mean who writes letters nowadays?... lol... that's sarcasm) and now that I'm back online and in full force, there are friends and family members announcing pregnancies and births left and right! I'm thankful I have a job to afford all these gifts I'm buying. I swear like every month I find out someone new is pregnant. Happy for them, of course, but reminds me more and more that I'm not the one announcing it. Not saying that in a bad way, just that these were some of the people asking me 3 years ago "So when are you gonna have kids?" I guess time flies when you're having fun.
Well that's about all I gotta say for today. Tomorrow is another day and I gotta think about what I want to write about. So see you then.
Friday, May 24, 2013
So Exited!
Last night I got to meet G for the first time via Skype. We were both kind of shy at first because this is all so new to the both of us. G as you recall is the girl from Thailand. She is so cute and I can't wait for her visit. We've communicated a little through email a couple of days ago, and her English in writing is very good. However, speaking to one another was a bit of a challenge. She admits she writes better in English than she can speak, but I encouraged her to keep working on it. Right now, it may be a little frustrating, but I believe when she is living here with us, it will gradually become easier for her.
We video chatted for two hours. Thailand is ahead of us by 12 hours. It was 10:00 in the evening for me and she had just woken up for the day a couple of hours prior to our chat. How amazing that she was already living in Friday and I was still living in Thursday. She had the day off from school today so that is why we were able to chat last night. Otherwise, we would only be able to chat in her evening, my morning. DH was able to make an appearance towards the end of our conversation. He gets home around midnight and she had to get going to eat lunch.
So after our conversation we are sooo super excited for her visit. She even offered to call us mom and dad. That lifted my spirits and was a pleasant surprise.
Next step is getting in touch with S who lives in Germany. She is supposed to initiate contact so we are waiting on her.
In July and beginning of August, we will start school registration process. I can't wait!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
New Changes
It's the weekend and hubby is at work doing some mandatory overtime. I'm in the midst of cleaning the house and jamming to some music. I was catching up on a friend's blog and decided to do a new post myself. It's been almost a month since my last post.
So first things first. I decided to change the title of my blog. Though this will still chronicle our life through TTC, right now I'm more focused on blogging about our journey as host parents. Our TTC-ing is on "hold" for now. And I use the term hold loosely. Meaning we are not actively trying yet not preventing any miracle that should so happen. Today is CD 67 and still no signs of AF. I took a HPT on Mother's Day for shits and giggles to see if maybe I was lucky enough to see a BFP, but kept my hopes at bay. Slight disappointment at seeing the BFN, but nothing major. No overwhelming sense of hopelessness like other times in the past. I know those feelings are still in the pit of my soul, but hoping our new journey will keep my mind off those feelings for a bit. In fact, the only reason I knew those feelings were still there, was because when catching up on my YouTubers' videos and seeing so many new pregnancies I just broke down and had a cry fest. So unexpected and I surprised even myself. So yes, the desire still runs very deep in me. Needless to say, I'll probably be staying off YouTube for a while. I still haven't activated my FB yet. I will admit, however, that I have a time or two snuck off with DH's phone to check on certain friends' status updates with his FB app. Hahaha. Just don't tell him ;) I'm invited to two baby showers next month, one being my BFFs and I'm kind of nervous to see how I will react. I've been pushing thoughts of babies out of my mind for a while. We'll see...
Now we are getting ready to be host parents. And we are SUPER EXCITED!!! I can't even begin to explain how much I/we have been looking forward to this. I need this and I think we will be good at it. Earlier this year we applied to host an international student. A good friend of mine posted on FB that one of her community church members was looking for new host parents for the upcoming school year. I jumped at the opportunity. Not only had I considered it myself when I was younger, but last year when one of my training instructors at work would share stories of her student, I knew it would be something I would be interested in doing if it ever came up. And lo and behold I see that post. I eagerly replied and got the information for applying, but I still needed to discuss it with DH. After our discussion, it was pretty easy for him to jump on board. He knew we had the room, the finances, and the desire to be host parents. I guess my desire was a little stronger because I wanted to host TWO students... lol! Call me crazy, but I think it's the right thing to do. I've always wanted a big family. I can imagine how nervous one student coming from a different country and living by themselves in a stranger's home can be. Homesickness is prevalent among the students and I hope by having someone their age and with the same understanding, it will help ease their minds a little; help them settle in a little more comfortably. Originally I wanted a sibling group, but the organization we are going through only allows double hosting of students from different countries.
We were on top of everything and got our paperwork done as soon as possible. Any communication we had with our Area Rep, we were prompt to reply. In fact she even commented that she wish all host parents were as quick and thorough as we were. They did background checks on us, interviews, and home visits. We passed with flying colors. Then they sent us a couple of student profiles for us to choose from; someone that could blend well with our family. Since it's just the two of us, we were pretty open minded. I knew this could be a learning experience for both us and the students and I wanted someone completely different from our own culture, yet someone who had the same interests as us. We ended up choosing one girl from Germany and one girl from Thailand. They will be sharing the same room, so we had to choose the same gender and close in age. S is from Germany. She is 15 years old. And G is from Thailand. She is 16. Two of my nieces are 13 and 14 years old, and we spend a lot of time with them, so we kind of know what to expect. Plus they will be able to befriend them and help them adapt. We did some serious redecorating and moving around furniture to accommodate them. We turned our guest room into a double occupancy bedroom for the girls.
We also were debating whether to give them each their own room since we have a three bedroom house. But instead decided to convert the "would be nursery" into a home office/study and mini gym since that's where we have stored the elliptical. Here is the before.
Some things are mismatched, but we are trying to be economical. It serves its purpose so no biggie.
I've been updating a list I started since we first applied. It's a list of all the things we can show them or take them to while they are here. And it's slowing getting longer and longer. I hope to give them the best experience possible. We even scouted out our favorite Thai and German restaurants. I hope they are as good and as true to the girls' own countries. Eating here ourselves, we realized how DIFFERENT each country's cuisine is. Thai food is HOT and SPICY. German food is a lot more subtle (I hate to use the word bland) so I wonder what are the girls' thoughts. I hope to learn as much from them as they from us.
It's so fun using the word "girls". As in "When the girls are here..." and "I think the girls would like this..." We've been telling our friends and family about them. They all know that our lives will pretty much change after the summer. Instead of just the two of us coming, there will be four of us. Reservation for four please.
There was a time where we weren't sure whether we would even get one girl. The school's paperwork was lagging behind and they even lost one girl's paperwork in the shuffle. We had to get our local school's permission before the girls could attend. And the organization would only allow students to attend their host parents' local school. I was afraid if the school dropped the ball or refused to sign off on them, we would lose both girls. On top of that, we were getting updates from corporate office that our school had passed the deadline. It was touch and go... but we were staying hopeful. I actually just got word yesterday that both girls were approved and we were able to move forward with the process. They had us fill out the application online again since the deadline had passed and we had to re-apply. It was a small frustration, but with big rewards. Our next step is to start communication with the girls. Get to know each other a little before they come here. We are just waiting on word form corporate. The school registration is in August and we will need to get them registered. S is going to be a junior and G is going to be a senior. I wonder what that's going to be like. Prom and graduation? Hmmmm....
So two teenage girls... Can you believe it? I told DH that hormones will be crazy around here in the coming year. He will need to buckle up. Three women are a lot to handle. Wait till we are dealing with teenage rants and drama on top of PMS and menstrual cycles. OMG what have we gotten ourselves into? LOL. We shall see... Cheers to new changes.
So first things first. I decided to change the title of my blog. Though this will still chronicle our life through TTC, right now I'm more focused on blogging about our journey as host parents. Our TTC-ing is on "hold" for now. And I use the term hold loosely. Meaning we are not actively trying yet not preventing any miracle that should so happen. Today is CD 67 and still no signs of AF. I took a HPT on Mother's Day for shits and giggles to see if maybe I was lucky enough to see a BFP, but kept my hopes at bay. Slight disappointment at seeing the BFN, but nothing major. No overwhelming sense of hopelessness like other times in the past. I know those feelings are still in the pit of my soul, but hoping our new journey will keep my mind off those feelings for a bit. In fact, the only reason I knew those feelings were still there, was because when catching up on my YouTubers' videos and seeing so many new pregnancies I just broke down and had a cry fest. So unexpected and I surprised even myself. So yes, the desire still runs very deep in me. Needless to say, I'll probably be staying off YouTube for a while. I still haven't activated my FB yet. I will admit, however, that I have a time or two snuck off with DH's phone to check on certain friends' status updates with his FB app. Hahaha. Just don't tell him ;) I'm invited to two baby showers next month, one being my BFFs and I'm kind of nervous to see how I will react. I've been pushing thoughts of babies out of my mind for a while. We'll see...
Now we are getting ready to be host parents. And we are SUPER EXCITED!!! I can't even begin to explain how much I/we have been looking forward to this. I need this and I think we will be good at it. Earlier this year we applied to host an international student. A good friend of mine posted on FB that one of her community church members was looking for new host parents for the upcoming school year. I jumped at the opportunity. Not only had I considered it myself when I was younger, but last year when one of my training instructors at work would share stories of her student, I knew it would be something I would be interested in doing if it ever came up. And lo and behold I see that post. I eagerly replied and got the information for applying, but I still needed to discuss it with DH. After our discussion, it was pretty easy for him to jump on board. He knew we had the room, the finances, and the desire to be host parents. I guess my desire was a little stronger because I wanted to host TWO students... lol! Call me crazy, but I think it's the right thing to do. I've always wanted a big family. I can imagine how nervous one student coming from a different country and living by themselves in a stranger's home can be. Homesickness is prevalent among the students and I hope by having someone their age and with the same understanding, it will help ease their minds a little; help them settle in a little more comfortably. Originally I wanted a sibling group, but the organization we are going through only allows double hosting of students from different countries.
We were on top of everything and got our paperwork done as soon as possible. Any communication we had with our Area Rep, we were prompt to reply. In fact she even commented that she wish all host parents were as quick and thorough as we were. They did background checks on us, interviews, and home visits. We passed with flying colors. Then they sent us a couple of student profiles for us to choose from; someone that could blend well with our family. Since it's just the two of us, we were pretty open minded. I knew this could be a learning experience for both us and the students and I wanted someone completely different from our own culture, yet someone who had the same interests as us. We ended up choosing one girl from Germany and one girl from Thailand. They will be sharing the same room, so we had to choose the same gender and close in age. S is from Germany. She is 15 years old. And G is from Thailand. She is 16. Two of my nieces are 13 and 14 years old, and we spend a lot of time with them, so we kind of know what to expect. Plus they will be able to befriend them and help them adapt. We did some serious redecorating and moving around furniture to accommodate them. We turned our guest room into a double occupancy bedroom for the girls.
This is the guest bedroom from one angle.
And the same angle but now switched out for two twin beds and put in the nursery rocker. Maybe they can use it in the meantime.
Guest bedroom from a different angle.
Same angle. Switched out old tube TV for new flat screen with DVD. Extra storage space that was supposed to be for the nursery.
We also were debating whether to give them each their own room since we have a three bedroom house. But instead decided to convert the "would be nursery" into a home office/study and mini gym since that's where we have stored the elliptical. Here is the before.
And after. We finished painting the room and put in two desks. Desktop computer is from guest room. But I hope they bring their own laptop, since it is sooo slow. We barely even use it.
Some things are mismatched, but we are trying to be economical. It serves its purpose so no biggie.
I've been updating a list I started since we first applied. It's a list of all the things we can show them or take them to while they are here. And it's slowing getting longer and longer. I hope to give them the best experience possible. We even scouted out our favorite Thai and German restaurants. I hope they are as good and as true to the girls' own countries. Eating here ourselves, we realized how DIFFERENT each country's cuisine is. Thai food is HOT and SPICY. German food is a lot more subtle (I hate to use the word bland) so I wonder what are the girls' thoughts. I hope to learn as much from them as they from us.
It's so fun using the word "girls". As in "When the girls are here..." and "I think the girls would like this..." We've been telling our friends and family about them. They all know that our lives will pretty much change after the summer. Instead of just the two of us coming, there will be four of us. Reservation for four please.
There was a time where we weren't sure whether we would even get one girl. The school's paperwork was lagging behind and they even lost one girl's paperwork in the shuffle. We had to get our local school's permission before the girls could attend. And the organization would only allow students to attend their host parents' local school. I was afraid if the school dropped the ball or refused to sign off on them, we would lose both girls. On top of that, we were getting updates from corporate office that our school had passed the deadline. It was touch and go... but we were staying hopeful. I actually just got word yesterday that both girls were approved and we were able to move forward with the process. They had us fill out the application online again since the deadline had passed and we had to re-apply. It was a small frustration, but with big rewards. Our next step is to start communication with the girls. Get to know each other a little before they come here. We are just waiting on word form corporate. The school registration is in August and we will need to get them registered. S is going to be a junior and G is going to be a senior. I wonder what that's going to be like. Prom and graduation? Hmmmm....
So two teenage girls... Can you believe it? I told DH that hormones will be crazy around here in the coming year. He will need to buckle up. Three women are a lot to handle. Wait till we are dealing with teenage rants and drama on top of PMS and menstrual cycles. OMG what have we gotten ourselves into? LOL. We shall see... Cheers to new changes.
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