A General Practictioner, a gynecologist, and an encrinologist walk into a bar...

WARNING:  The most interesting part of this entry is the title.


Honestly, for being only 31 (Which I say through gritted teeth.), I certainly see a lot of doctors.  This is due largely impart (Pun intended.) to my husky stature and partially impart to my gene pool.  In the past some have called me a hypochondriac, which I'm not (Well perhaps a little.), I just like to know what is going on with my body at all times even if this means medically diagnosing myself via www.webmd.com or if I am really on a mission, googling it.
I see a general practitioner for check-ups and common colds.  I see my gynecologist to make sure my feminine mound (Ha,  total romance novel term.) and internal female parts are functioning properly (Which apparently they aren't.).  Lastly, I see my endocrinologist for my thyroid, sugar levels, and most recently fertility issues.  My GP referred me to an endocrinologist, my endocrinologist referred me to my gynecologist, then my gynecologist referred me back to my endo. You follow?  Don't worry me neither.  (I think that they like seeing me pay co-pays.)  So here are my latest findings, well not mine seeing as I am a teacher, not a medical professional, despite believing otherwise.
Apparently I have PCOS and have for the past year (Um, thanks for never telling me, former endocrinologist Dr. B.).  If you are not sure what that is, here is the definition according to my good friend WebMD, "It can cause problems with your periods and make it difficult to get pregnant. PCOS may also cause unwanted changes in the way you look. If it is not treated, over time it can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease."  Awesome right...NOT.
The current plan, and doctor recommendation, (Please note that my doctor can be described as looking like an Indian version of Doogie Howser, M.D.) is to start taking 850 mg of Metformin, three times per day.  Pretty much a pill at each meal.  This will aid in norming out my cycles, keeping my sugar low and hopefully making me ovulate.  I am glad though that I am getting all this straightened out now, as opposed to after the wedding.  Hopefully everything will be ready to go come July.  Oh it should be noted that I have to go back to the endocrinologist in June, at that time he will check my A1c, my TSH, my progesterone, my BBT charts, and my ovulation. 
PCOS and Paranoia.
XO.
Terra

Happy New Year...it's 2011!

Resolutions.  Ugh.  I can't say I have ever kept ANY that I have EVER made.  I mean I try, and typically go strong for a few months, but for some reason they always fade away.  I thought that this year, by putting it out there for my followers (all 14 of you) and for whomever else across the globe comes across this little ditty, perhaps then I will be more faithful.  So here they are, in all their glory, my 2011 New Year's Resolutions.

1. Walk my dog for 100 minutes per week.  I chose a minute denomination because I think it is just more feasible.  If I feel like doing it all in one day (which by the way would NEVER happen, due to my  shear lack of endurance), then so be it, if I want to walk   14.285714 (that is the actual number) minutes 7 times per week then fine.  More than likely I will probably walk 20-30 minutes a few times per week.  I like this resolution because it will not only make for a healthier, happier Baby Reese, but it will also aid in making me healthier and happier.  
2. Get healthier.  This is generic I know.  But I don't want to fail at this, therefore I am going to keep it basic.  This will include being more active, whether it means going to the gym or parking further away from a destination.  It will also include making better food choices, lowering my A1c level, losing weight, getting off unnecessary medication, and drinking less alcohol (GASP, not that I am a drunk, but drinking less is going to be a BIG challenge).  
3. Be MORE intimate with my future hubs (FH).  To be clear there isn't a lack of intimacy between us.  My FH is extremely affectionate and we have no problems in this department.  This particular resolution is partially due to a recent reading of Cosmopolitan and the desire for MORE.  Being 70 pounds heavier, and at my biggest 112 pounds heavier than when we met, I don't always feel sexy.  This is a self-inflicted feeling, my FH does everything in his power to make me feel confident and sexy. Being a big girl intimacy is exhausting, but it is time to suck it up and use it as an opportunity to burn calories, have fun, and get it on.  As we inch closer and closer to our wedding day, I want to make sure we are connected not only emotionally and mentally, but physically too.  I think the aforementioned (See number 1 and 2) resolutions will aid in making this goal possible.  It will also help in the baby making process that we can hopefully start July 23, 2011.  This is probably TMI, but it is a resolution of mine, and is one of many reasons I don't want my beloved family members following this.  Bless their hearts they would have a stroke.  Ha!   
4. Do something NEW each month.  This can be anything from trying a new food to going to a new place.  It can be done independently (Which is unlikely considering I am always with someone.), with the FH, or with my girlfriends.  I think this will be exciting and will force me to be more adventurous, in addition it will certainly provide fodder to blog about.

2011 and Resolutions.

Xo.

Terra

The Story of Us...Part I

That's him with the blue circle around him.

TEN years ago, sometime in late January, (I have no idea of the exact date, as my future hubs INSISTS that anniversaries are NOT celebrated until you are officially married.  I think he just didn't want to have to remember ANOTHER date.)  My FH and I started dating.  Let's be honest, it was college, so to be fair, it was more like hooking up.  Anyways from past to present, this is our story.
My FH and I both attended Shippensburg University.  However, it wasn't until my junior year that he and I became a we.  He was a football player, (SUPER HOT) and he lived in the same hall as another guy that I was psedo-dating, ok, well hooking up with, geesh I really wasn't a whore, it was college.  Anyways, my FH was friends with some of my friends from high school and actually came to Harrisburg to visit (not me) his freshman year.  I remember seeing him at my high school alma mater's football game.  I never ran into him back in Shippensburg much after this sighting, later finding out that he had a little too much fun his freshman year and had to take a break at home to get himself together (Ha!  Some people just can't handle college life.)
As luck would find it, we were reunited half-way through my junior year.  I lived in a little pink house (It was pale pink and had white trim, and was SUPER adorbs.) on Washington Street with 4 roommates.  Right around finals time and just before winter break one of my roommates received SEVERAL phone calls from some guy (my future hubs) with an ANNOYING southern twang.  I happened to be on the receiving end of ALL OF THEM, and that southern stalker (again my future hubs) was driving me crazy.
The day that my FH and I met was a crap day for me.  I was borrowing my parents car (A white Ford Tempo, that my sisters and I called the Ford tampon.) and I had gotten a flat tire.  I was upstairs whining to my dad on the phone about the flat.  I was wearing a gray sweatskirt (That's not a typo, it was a sweatskirt.  TACKY, I know.), a long-sleeved red t-shirt, and a gray stocking cap.  I came down the stairs and sitting on our couch was a big, broad, guy.  He was wearing swish pants (Ha!  I mean he did play football, so they were his warm-ups???) and a long-sleeved navy blue t-shirt.  He immediately caught my eye, however I went on boo-hooing to my dad.  The FH must have been listening to my convo because when I got off he told me how to check and see if the tire was losing air or if it had a hole.  (It was the soap and water trick.)

My future hubs was GREAT at football, he started every game

For whatever reason, as soon as he left, I told my roommate (one of the four) that he was going to be my future boyfriend.  I think she tried to get info on him and what not, but I began my stalking once I got home for Christmas break.  Now, as I mentioned before, our relationship began nearly a decade ago.  This was pre-facebook and the hottest technology trend was AIM.  Luckily because my FH played football I was able to stalk him via the internet. Where I could find his picture, height, weight, where he went to high school, and other football statistics on the Ship football website.  Due to my limited resources I think I did pretty well finding info (stalking) about him.
Where we began and limited stalking.
XO.
Terra

The Story of Us...Part Deux

My roommates and I liked to have a good time.  Party girls, yet classy and responsible, usually; never mind that our drink of choice was Natural Light.  Anyways we opted to throw a kegger, of Natural Light of course, and invite our closest friends, (And anyone else who stumbled in.) on that list was my FH.  (He brought a wing-man, Bryan, who he still has a bromance with to this day).  I don't remember how it all started.  I know I drank a little too much because I was nervous, I even remember what I had on, yoke front jeans from the Gap and a pink striped sweater from American Eagle.  (Because my I don't want it to ruin my future political career, yeah right, or embarrass my future children I will abstain from all the details.)
Enter our first official date.  It was Valentine's Day (Cliche' I know.).  Even when I was single Valentine's Day was always, and continues to be one of my favorite holidays.  I love the romance, the glitter, the drama of it all.  However when you are in the beginning stages of a relationship it can be a little awkward.  I remember making my FH heart-shaped sugar cookies, and I had to use the lid of a mini-box of chocolate to cut out the cookies.  I iced them, and sprinkled them with sparkle-ly sugars, they were so cute; and not only did my FH LOVE them, but so did his roommate.  We went on a double date to Lone Star (As in the restaurant chain that USED to allow you to throw your peanut shells on the ground, kind of country joint, perhaps this was foreshadowing.), and started dating officially there after.
It wasn't until 6 months later that my FH finally said, I love you.  I had known it for a LONG time, but there wasn't a chance in hell that I was saying it first.  WAY TOO SCARY.  I was visiting him at his parents house in Virginia (I was still living in Pennsylvania with my parents.) and we were going fishing (Fishing is completely acceptable, just as long as the fish or worms NEVER touch me.).  It was a beautiful day, we were on a boat in the middle of a lake all day, and I thought for sure he would have said I love you then, as it was picturesque.  But in true FH fashion he waited, but only until that evening, and it was perfect.  There were several football games, cookouts, Nickey's outings (The best bar in Shippensburg, where went went at LEAST every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday once we turned 21.), visits to PA, visits to VA, laughter, tears, dates, road trips and on and on and on. 
My FH was my college sweetheart and I was his and I love him more and more each year.
Hugs and Kisses.
XO.
Terra

The Story of Us...Part III

The Inlet where my FH worked in Va Beach.

After we graduated we moved to Virginia Beach.  I was a waitress at Lonestar (Hence the foreshadowing.) and the future hubs worked on a fishing boat in Rudee Inlet.  It was the most carefree that either of us ever were.  We always had money, we lived among the sand and surf, we financially independent of our parents, and we were playing house.
Alas this could only last a summer, as I went to school for teaching and school started after Labor Day.  I got a job in Richmond teaching first grade.  I was hired August 16th, and we moved there about a week later.  We lived there for five years.  The first year we lived with another couple.  They were busy planning their wedding, which was hard on our relationship because while I was very happy for them, I wanted to be a bride too.  (My FH was indifferent, but I am certain my nagging for the bling, bling was exhausting.)  They got married, bought a house, (I wanted that too, enter anxiety and bitterness.) got a dog, and my FH and I kept on "just" dating.  More and more friends began getting engaged and married and more and more people kept questioning why we weren't.  This caused some strain, but we kept moving forward.  In hindsight, I think it was a true measure of our love for one another because I don't know many women who would have stuck around and waited so long for the ring, and I certainly don't know many men who would put up with a woman CONSTANTLY wanting what was next.
I LOVED Richmond.  The FH was okay with Richmond.  I LOVED my job.  The FH was busy trying to learn the different facets of his current profession.  I knew it was only a matter of time until we moved away from this city I had grown to love and settle down in his hometown so he could start working in the family business.  I was nervous to make the move to a small town, but I knew that we had a bright future ahead of us so away he went.  (Yes, just him.  He moved back first for business reasons in November and I had to finish out my teaching contract.  We saw each other on the weekends and I made the move to join him immediately after summer school left out.)

Our First Home. 

We bought a house, I got a job, he was finally settled in his profession, we got a dog (Our sweet angel Baby Reese.), we fell more in love, I started graduate school, we continued dating, and then June 26, 2010 he asked me to marry him and I can't wait to see what our will be in the next chapter in The Story of Us.
Wedding Bells and Cheers to the future.
XO.
Terra

Why, oh, why I gained weight this week...

A photo montage explanation...

 I sat on the couch from Wednesday until Sunday, moving only to eat, run a few errands, and go to the bathroom. 

 My friend Kitty and I thought were were in college again and consumed as much beer as frat boys do between the two of us.

 To "cure my hangover" we ate at the Olive Garden, I am certain I ate at LEAST two bread sticks.

 Usually I am a HUGE water drinker, consequently my pee is always crystal clear and odorless, during this lack of drinking water time, my pee was lemon yellow and it smelled like pee.

I watched show after show, hour after hour, of anything and everything that television had to offer.  Lots of Lifetime Original Movies and Halmark Channel specials.

We didn't have ONE snow day, but we had TWO snow days, TWO days in a row, which led to a SUPER LONG and LAZY weekend.  And thus the 0.4 pound weight GAIN.
Ugh.
Fat and Lazy, but trying to reform.
XO.
Terra
P.S. The 270s didn't take me captive, granted I weighed NAKED, but I will not be a prisoner to those bastards again.

Bling, bling, I got the ring: Our proposal story...

The comments under June 26th

My future husband (FH? kept my engagement ring in a shoe in his closet (Duh...of course we have separate closets.) nearly a month and a half before he proposed.  (I know, WTF, I could have NEVER kept a secret that long.)  This was because we had a friend whose 2 week stay turned into a 2 month stay and because My FH waited nearly a decade (FOR REALZ, in January of 2011, it will be TEN YEARS.) to propose he wanted the proposal to be just right, which is how the ring ended up in his (Size 14) shoe (And you know what they say about big feet...HA!).  So we planned a trip to my parent’s house in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania a weekend in mid-June 2010.  The FH's original plan consisted of stopping in Shippensburg, where we both went to college and popping the question in front of the little pink house (It was really little and pink and had white trim and white shutters.) where I lived when we started dating.  However his plans were foiled when I invited my friend, and our houseguest, to travel home with us.  Needless to say it worked out because it gave him the opportunity to officially ask my dad to marry me.  (He didn't catch the memo that this is sort of like engagement code with dad's and daughters.)

Convo. with Mama that am.

Another week or two went by and our friend finally moved out, but this time school was out and my graduate school projects and papers began consuming my daily life.  I was constantly with my friend Kitty (Meow!) doing schoolwork or just hanging out;  my poor FH couldn’t get me by myself.  After several attempts to take me to lunch or take me to dinner (Good restaurants too!), and me ALWAYS bringing along a friend, he gave up and made the choice to propose one Saturday morning (I am NOT a morning person, so this was GREAT planning on his part).  He decided that at that hour of the day there would be no way that anyone else would be around and he was right!

My FH got up early that Saturday morning, around six.  Anyone who knows me knows I can sleep through a hurricane, therefore my slumber was uninterrupted.  However, for some reason that morning I slept lighter than usual.  At 7:03 I heard my FH’s knees cracking as he walked up the stairs and he shut our bedroom door.  I thought it was odd because our room gets SUPER hot (I loathe being hot, absolutely loathe it.) if you shut the door.  Nevertheless I fell back asleep, but not for long.  I re-awoke at 7:08 to banging around in the kitchen.  (I literally thought he was purposely throwing pots and pans to get me out of bed.)  I sent him a text message, as he was downstairs and I didn’t want to scream, to ask what he was doing.  He replied that he was cleaning and letting me sleep in.  (Yeah right, HIDEOUS liar.)  I didn’t buy it; so I texted him again and asked if he was making breakfast.  (Which is something he has done a few times in the past.)  This time I got no response.  So I decided to get up.  Just as I got to the top of the steps my FH came running around the corner and was all flustered.  (At this point, I could barely contain myself, I swear I knew, not sure how, but I swear.)  He instructed that I stay upstairs and "GO BACK TO BED!"  I could barely hide my ear-to-ear grin, but I did what he asked and went back into our room.

I couldn’t decide if I should get up and shave my legs, brush my teeth, wash my face, or put on make-up.  I didn’t want him to think I was on to him so I opted to stay in bed and try to read (Pretend read, I can't even tell you the book that was in my hand.) to no avail.  Nearly an eternity (More like 20 minutes.) passed and I heard his knees (Blew out BOTH knees during football once we started dating...yikes.) cracking as he came up the stairs with our dog (Baby Reese) following closely behind.  At this point I was lying at the foot of the bed, tangled up in the sheets, messy bun of hair (Similar to a Sumo-wrestlers style.) on top of my head, morning breath and all and in walks my FH.  He is carrying a cafeteria style tray (That funky brown color) holding his home-cooked breakfast in bed, complete with a fanned out strawberry garnish.  There were two Gerbera daisies (Which was the first bouquet of flowers he had ever given me.) at the top of the tray and I scoured the plate for the ring and it wasn’t there.  (What was there was about a pound of bacon, LITERALLY a cup of syrup, orange juice, and a stack of pancakes.)  While I was looking for the bling, my FH was getting down on his knee and said, “there is one thing missing from this ,” and he reached in his pocket and pulled out a box.  He handed the box to me and said, “I love you and I am sorry that this probably isn’t the grand proposal you had hoped for, but it was the best I could do, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?”  And I said yes!  (Scratch that, I said "Are you f*cking kidding me?  Are you serious? Omg.")
Bling, bling and my ring, ring.
XO.
Terra

One of my Gerbera daisies and my bling