Go Shorty!

....It's ya birthday. Well not yours, mine. Or maybe yours too? Anyways, I"m off celebrating. Just kidding, I'm currently finishing up my work day (by noon) to enjoy an afternoon at the spa before volunteering and dinner with the hubbs. My birthday is technically in 48 hours, but who DOESN'T celebrate their entire birthday weekend? duh.

31 random thoughts for the Big 3-1!! 

31. I was 21 TEN years ago. Although I don't desire to be 21 again, 31 kind of freaks me out.

30. My 30th was my "Golden Birthday". I made a wish on this cake that will be the same wish for my 31st.

29. I'm very happy with exactly where this life has taken me so far. I can't complain a bit.

28. I went to a psychic when I was 17 at a fair with an ex boyfriend and she told me I'd get married at 28. She also told him he'd marry his ex girlfriend. She was right about both.

27. I'm SO THANKFUL I kept my 20's as 'me years'. I encourage all younger folk to follow the "20's are for you and 30's are for marriage/family". I believe that wholeheartedly.

26. I've had to cut some friends out of my life who weren't really good friends in the end. That doesn't mean that I don't miss them from time to time & that it still doesn't hurt. Sometimes I want to be the bigger person & fix things, but then I remember it takes two....

25. This is the year I met my husband.

24. The year I lived in Findlay {what single girl moves to Findlay by themselves you ask?}. But this was one of the best experiences. I really get to know myself. I still have very fond memories when I think back on this time in my life.

23. The year I moved to Texas to 'make it work' with my first love. Ha!! It's laughable now that I think about it. I'm glad I took the adventure, but seriously? So young, & timing is everything.

22. The year I got the best gift I've ever been given. My sweet fur-baby, Casanova!

21.  My 21st I celebrated at Ledo's and Hendocs on campus. My bf at the time told the bartender to start to make me fake shots (after I took like 4) because I had an exam the next morning & he was afraid I'd miss it. I was still carried home; after only 4 shots. The next morning I was bragging to everyone that I took like 12 and felt fine. HA! He let me brag for a week before telling me the truth.

20. Now that we're on the subject of college, I lived with some of the best gals this year. We all cheered together, lived together & somehow made it out alive and are still friends. A true miracle.

19. I don't have a 'favorite flower'. Is that weird? I like them all. Except red roses; too typical. Ok, so maybe my favorite are ones that are unique.

18. I absolutely LOVE volunteering at the NICU. I get to laser beam so much love to these nuggets in the short 3 hours I hold them every Friday. I look forward to it all week long.

17. I always think of Deanna Carter's "Strawberry Wine" song. God that album was good! "Seeeeeventennnnn. The GREEN on the vineeee" {dont play, you know you belted those parts too}

16. I still remember by 16th vividly!! My gf Jenni's family and I were on Spring Break {as most of my birthday's fell upon--awesome} and they made me a REAL margaritta!! O em gee! They probably didn't really, but I felt so cool drinking it thinking it was. Here's a pic from one of my birthday spring breaks-- think it was my 17th. Panama City baby!!

15. I was born on my Great Grandma's birthday and the day after my Dad's. My GG isn't with us any longer but I still miss her at our group cele every birthday and it's been over 10 years since she passed.

14. My hair has been platinum blonde to dark brown. I think the happy medium is my favorite color {and also hard to achieve}.

13. Ok. I'm starting to struggle here with these.

12.  I would have 0 memory if it weren't for photos. I can remember the smell of the room, perfume or cologne the person was wearing and exactly what we were up to if I'm my thought is prompted by a photo. I think that's why I love them & take so many of them. I have no recollection of things without a visual.

11. My besties mean the world to me. I cant imagine a life without my girlfriends.

10. When I was a little girl I wanted to be a 'grocery bagger'. High hopes! ....glad it worked out much better than that.

9. My idea of a perfect family looked like the mini's in our wedding party. I've always been open to wanting children of all races; but especially a little black boy. It doesn't get much cuter than Little D, our ring bearer. Black, white, Italian? Add a Asian fashionista & wrap them up in a big ol bow. K thanks God.

8. This list is about as random as my mind works. I don't focus on one topic for very long.

7. My favorite birthday cupcake is red velvet. But, I'm a sucker for anything brownie + ice cream. BJ's Pizooki's? Heaven in a dish.

6. My husbands birthday is the weekend after mine which makes for a great wrap up from March and lead into April!

5. What age is appropriate to start asking for Botox for your birthday?

4. If I could be anywhere for my birthday each year it would be like my wedding day; all of my favorite people in the same place.

3. My favorite birthday shot is a Lemon Drop!

2. Oh you're still reading this?

1. 31-- Lets do this!

SHE STOOD IN THE STORM, & WHEN THE WIND DID NOT BLOW HER AWAY, SHEADJUSTED HER SAILS. -Elizabeth Edwards

I haven't been able to really formulate the words for this blog since hearing of this news a few months back & I'm not sure that I have the words now. But, I'm going to try to get it out on paper because, well... because it just saddens me so. 

My SIL and her husband got married last October and were fortunate enough to get pregnant their first try, on their honeymoon. This post is not about me, but it's safe to say that after trying for over a year with no pregnancy, and my husband being the oldest, on the side where there is no grandchildren yet, the news that they were pregnant so quickly hit me like a ton of bricks. If we're being honest here, it was the first time in a long while that I really melted down. Don't get me wrong, we were BEYOND HAPPY for them and are so grateful that their journey to pregnancy didn't entail the hardships that ours has (or so we thought) but this blog is filled with honesty, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was envious of their ease to conceive and wished we could be sharing our pregnancy journey together as we joked about at her Bachelorette Party earlier that year. And then I immediately felt guilty for these natural feelings, especially so, only a few months later when we received the news.

Fast forward to January. I'm not familiar at which week in pregnancy that the u/s and monitoring begins, but very early on in her pregnancy they found out that the baby (girl, le sigh) has a congenital defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome as well as Trisomy 18. Usually, there are surgeries that can be performed in the first 3 years with HLHS, however paired with T18 their situation is inoperable. The life expectancy of their child, if it lives full term, is predicted to be less than a week. My heart breaks for them. She is a PICU nurse and he a PICU doctor, so they've seen first hand what this condition looks like as they've treated children with the same condition. They made the decision to carry the baby, deliver if it makes it full term, and bring her home to stay comfortable & be surrounded with love until God comes to take her home. 

I think of & dream of being pregnant and having a family often, and I know she does as well. She is #3 in a family of 5 and was ready to get their family started right away. I cannot even fathom what they are going through. Their first child, first grandchild, and this. 

Being engrossed in this TTC journey and hearing and sharing stories with others regularly about their own journey's to be parents (adoption, IVF, IUI,or not to have children at all). I am all to often mind blown by how strong we women are. Truthfully. We hear on the news about so many war stories from soldiers in Afghanistan and read books like 'The Lone Survivor' applauding brave men & women who fight for our country (and they are certainly worthy of this praise) and the hardships they go through mentally and physically, not to mention the post traumatic long term disabilities that happen once arriving home. But, I cant help but think that this is so similar to the day in and day out for so many women. Women who are fighting their own battles everyday. Battles to conceive children, carry them, finally to receive them via the lengthy adoption process or struggling with their own PTSD for the children they've lost or may never receive. So many emotional battles. I cant help but praise women everywhere. The army of women who carry these silent struggles every day, without any sort of recognition as soldiers, they should also be applauded. 

Even when the TTC journey ends in whatever realm that means, women will always carry these struggles in their own PTSD. So many women are struggling and nobody even knows. So, give a woman a hug today & a pat on the back and tell her she's handling life FANTASTICALLY. And if you also wouldn't mind, please keep my SIL, her husband & babygirl Lutmer in your prayers. Their due date is in June. Thank you for listening, for your prayers and for being so damn fantastic, and BRAVE.

xox,

Andi

St Lucia Spring Break

Well, I can't recommend this place more. We had a frickin blast! Beautiful green scenery and lush landscapes were on our list & that's exactly what we received!  The food was great, the drinks were cold and the sun was HOT. Nuff said. 

We didn't expect the travel to be as long as it was, so in hindsight we should have booked another day or two, but that's our only complaint. The nightlife was a little stiff {slash non existent} but we took full advantage of day drinking, which we prefer anyways. We can make a dance party wherever we go. Duh. 

My favorite day of vacation was the catamaran day trip we took. We stopped to snorkel & mud bath {hello silky skin, I wanted to bottle that mud} and we met a newly wed couple who were from Washington that were really sweet that we linked up with another day. I love my husband but even we run out of things to talk about after 4 consecutive days together and no tv or social media. 

We spent time at a fantastic resort overlooking the Pitons & had relaxing dinners and hammock filled evenings just being together. After basketball season it was just what the doctor ordered. 

Days with these views....

And evenings filled with these....

.... Made for a killer vaca. Spring Break St Lucia ✔️ Amazing ✔️Thankful ✔️ pissed to be back in Ohio ✔️✔️

Xo,

Andi 

Blizzard of 2008! 6 years ago today.....

I just wanted to take a hot minute to raise a toast to The Blizzard of 2008. On March 7, 2008 Ohioans everywhere were stuck for 48 hours with nowhere to go. Freeways were shut down, and I was luckily holed up with friends (old & new) at my apartment complex, not knowing then that one of them would be my husband. Below is a pic taken from that weekend. Clearly cars were not getting out of this blizz anytime soon. Also, it turns out it would be one to remember. 

The night the blizzard hit I was with my friend Claire at The Barn in Dublin. I remember I was in a hooded sweatshirt with no makeup on. I was a mere week away from meeting my then fiance to end our engagement and give the ring back. So, Claire drug me out of my apartment to go all honky tonk. We threw on our cozies {and the gigantic ring I barely wore} and walked down to the bar that was in our complex to toss back tequila shots, dance the stress away and get sloppy in prep for my big trip to California to end things in person with Matt. Boy, just typing that brings back flashbacks of how stressful that time in my life was. Deciding how I was going to end this engagement and all of the emotions that came along with that was really hard. But, the heart always knows best and things worked out exactly how they were supposed to in the end for both of us.

Anywho, so in walks B and his friend Ryan. Claire and Ryan used to date so she flagged them over and they saddled up with us at the bar. Immediately B and I began chatting about his family {his brother Trent and sister Paige and I basically grew up together, but B is 4 years older so he and I never met}. We had 100 people in common and that made for easy conversation. I remember flashing my ring & filling him in on Claire and my 'sendoff party celebration {so odd} we were having that night. He probably thought I was a lunatic. I remember the next day when we were all holed up at Clair's apartment {after the bar shut down and they encouraged people to find dwellers to stay with} just how comfortable I felt with him. I felt like I'd known him forever. 

Obviously, you all know how this story turned out. I went to Cali, ended the engagement, and months later got a call from Blair. Well, technically his friend Ryan called me from Claire's phone and Blair left a voice mail considering he didn't have my number. We met at Blair's and walked to The Rossi {where Blair was taking me on our first date} before abruptly leaving and heading to another restaurant when I told Blair that's where Matt proposed, ha!! Oh the irony. Of all the restaurants in Columbus he chose to take me there! The look on my face when I knew the last stop on the street was this restaurant said it all. 

I'm so lucky that I found my best friend & future husband that night. In hind sight it set the stage of 'openness' that we had then and have always had with one another. He accepts me for all that I am and we have a patience & understanding for each other that makes our marriage work. I truly love this man more and more every day. 

Happy 6 years since we met my love!! I'm so glad Mother Nature forced our worlds to collide on March 7, 2008 and that things worked out for us exactly as they were meant to. 

xoxo,

Andi

Snowpocolypse, 2014.

I think I speak for every Ohioan when I say, ' GO F YOURSELF WINTER'. sigh. It's been BRUTAL. I wake up in the morning and have to force myself from laying in bed kicking my legs & throwin middle fingers at the ceiling, aka Mother Nature. I mean, if I hear "snowpocalypse" on the nightly news as an indicator of the weeks ahead one.more.time I'm going to FLIPOUTTT!!! Clearly I need an outlet for this anger ;) 

I'm not sure it would make me as irate as I am if our new house was done. BUT, considering feet upon feet of snow is not the best building climate, our home is wayyyyy behind schedule. We were supposed to close end of Feb, then March and as we aren't even at the dry wall phase, they are predicting mid May. I don't think they know who they're dealin with here but , lets just say I am not the person they call anymore and B has become their main point of contact, ha!! Yesterday when we were snowed in and hibernating for yet another day, we decided we were both over this shiz and it was time to get outta dodge. I don't think we were in our right minds while booking our vacation that's in exactly 2 weeks, but we booked it. St. Lucia, lookout!!! Security is going to have to pull our wrinkly bodies out of the pools at 11pm because we are devouring every last drop of  vacation. Have I mentioned its been months since we've seen the sun? ok... I"ll stop now. 14 days and counting....thank you Jesus.

La Toc, the resort we are staying at. Hellooooo heaven!

What else? Hmmm.... Bad cold Valentines week. Work trip for training & board rooms the entire week to follow. Knocked out Breaking Bad while being holed up {highly recommended}, so that was a plus! Good times. I hope y'all have a fun vacation on the horizon too! And if not, there's PLENTY of room in our suitcases. 

Xoxo,

Andi