on the move

I took a quick break from loading the moving truck. Shhh, don't tell my hubby! We are officially home owners! Mom came down to help us pack up and move and we are getting moved over today. My break is over. I will keep you all posted.

welcome to my world

Here are just a few of the reasons I have been MIA for nearly two weeks:

1.) We close on our house on Thursday and we are taking care of last minute details and thinking about packing. Today I packed 3 boxes.
2.) I have attended two births in the last four days with minimal sleep. One birth I was at for 21 hours, the other I took over toward the end and was there for 4 hours.
3.) I have been going to Scott's basketball games when I can fit it in. Last night was a really good game with a great crown turnout.
4.) I have only had one day off since the 9th.

Life is getting busy. It is good, but just trying to stay sane. Scott's team is #1 in their conference and #10 in NAIA D1. The NAIA national tournament is the 18-23 of March. The head coach offered to pay for the plane tickets for Scott and I to fly together on that Tuesday the 17th since Scott can't leave Monday with the team because of his other job. We could ride back on the bus with the team after they are finished. The problem with that for me is that you just never know how long the games will be. If you win you keep playing. When Scott went to nationals in 2006, I told work I would be back in two days ( I had little faith since they were seeded 27th out of the 32 teams there)...it turned into six days and I kept having to call to make arrangements for work since they decided to go ahead and win the entire thing! If I anticipate being there from Tuesday to the next Tuesday, I will have to take off 10 of my 12 hours shifts for work, plus three days of massage appointments. What am I to do? I would love to go, hopefully I can work something out.

I am very excited for our move. I think my mom is coming down to help. That will be nice. I get lonely without my family here all the time. Heidi and her family are coming down in March. I haven't seen the baby since Thanksgiving. I am feeling truly deprived from seeing those kiddos and I miss them a lot. Scott misses them too. He loves Andrew....and Joely too, but he hasn't seen her since she was a couple weeks old.

I think that I am about to go to bed. It is only 9pm, but I need all the sleep I can get these days.

Thanks for sticking with me even though I haven't been keeping up.

Hugs!

the bargain queen

Yesterday, I got a book in the mail to add to my growing library of books on pregnancy and childbirth. I had ordered it online for 1 cent...yes folks, 1 cent. It was $16.95 at the book store, so I think I got a deal! The book is called Getting Pregnant: What You Need to Know Right Now. I find it very interesting that many couples who have trouble conceiving are not fully aware of how fertility really works. Even if they don't have difficulty, the whole process is still amazing and truly a miracle when you stop to think about it. The science of it all is so fascinating to me. So, I am studying up on it.

Right now I am just working with pregnancy and childbirth. Once I finish my degree, I would love to help couples in their journey to promote fertility, conceive naturally, and prepare holistically with eating right and living well. I am on chapter three of my new book (written by an M.D. by the way) and I have had to toss a few things out that I don't particularly agree with. Sometimes these books can freak you out more than anything. Especially me, I guess, since I am considered "high risk" by the medical community for another ectopic pregnancy having already experienced one. And that one, apparently, was not brought on by anything in particular. Although, it is amazing the growth that occurs in an experience like that.

I just finished reading another book called Supernatural Childbirth by Jackie Mize. "They" told her (the author) she would never have children and she has four. My constant prayer is that I will be able to conceive and be pregnant with no complications. I am not going to buy into the whole "high risk" hype. I'll just keep praying, just keep praying.

Thanks for reading the stories of my life that is consumed with pregnancy, childbirth and babies!!! I love it!

Speaking of getting my degree, back to reading The Wellness Workbook! Almost done which means halfway through this class. Whew....

Everyone have a fabulous week.

P.S. We got a home phone in December. It started ringing pretty much right as the technician stepped out the door from hooking it up. Thanks to the National Do Not Call List, my phone hasn't rang in days! I highly recommend getting your name on it if you have a home phone.

another days work

This week was busy. Obviously, since I didn't post all week. A lady at work had to take some time off due to an illness so I have stepped up to fill in for her. It hasn't been too busy since there is only one baby due at the adoption agency. April is anticipated to be busy with six babies due. I took the girls to the rodeo this week. It was fun once the girls got over the smell. Seven pregnant girls and the first smell of the rodeo don't exactly mix well, but they got over it. I have to admit it does get pretty nauseating. One of my massage clients rides a horse in the rodeo grand entry. I got a picture of all of them, but it was a bit far to see exactly which one she was. I think she is the fourth one from the left with the longer dark hair. She and her husband are two of my favorite clients. She has been riding in the grand entry for 15 years and hasn't missed a ride. There are 36 rides each year during the rodeo that lasts about a month long here in Fort Worth.


Today was the first Saturday in a long time that Scott and I have been able to relax. We slept in and did a few things around the house. Mostly we just laid around and talked about our new house. We have different ideas about room arrangement. We'll see in three weeks when we move in who won. :) I have been thinking about packing, but an not confident enough to start just yet.

Scott is coaching tonight. I went to the first half of the game, but came home with a headache. There was just too much noise. I got a biofeedback treatment earlier today and sometimes I get a detox headache. So, now I am just laying in bed in the peace and quiet. I hope they win!

Yesterday I had another client have her baby. Click here for more details. In the days leading up to a birth, I can completely stress myself out. I think "I have no idea what I am doing" and "how in the world am I going to help her when I haven't done this myself"...you know, all the things you can say to talk yourself out of being cool and confident. The truth is, you cannot ever plan on what to do or say in a birth ahead of time. Every birth is vastly different. The mother's needs and wants are so different. There are times that I sit in front of her and think "ok, Hannah, what can I say or do right this very minute?" She is uncomfortable and not sure what she wants and is looking to me for support and answers and sometimes I just don't have that at that very moment. Sometimes the tools in my bag aren't enough. She just needs my voice and my encouragement. I think that being a doula is the most amazing "job" (if you can even call it that) ever though. Being able to be with a woman in the most intense and amazing experience of her life is incredible. There are so many highs and lows during natural labor and birth. I have learned not to take anything personally. When the baby is born and I tear up every time. I know it has been hard for her and all I can think right then is "she did it, she really did it."

My headache is getting out of control so I am going to get under the covers into the darkenss now.

Hugs ya'll!

I have posted a few pictures of our new house. We went over today to do a walk though and measure some things. Closing is less than a month away and we are just praying the financing will fall into place. Enjoy the pics!

This is a front view of the house from standing in the street.

This is a backyard view.

This is the tiny and unappealing (at the moment) back patio. The French doors lead into the kitchen/dining area.

A close up view of the RED front door.

A view of the front entry.
The garage doors seem to be in very good condition. They are probably fairly new.

Although the windows are not very energy efficient, they open and that is good. I like the red shutters and the blinds are nice as well.

This is the view looking right in from the front door.

In this photo, I am standing in the walkway into the kitchen shown in the above picture.

The red front door is just to the left, adjacent to this opening to the hallway. The stairway leading to the upstairs is to the right of the opening.

This is a view of the kitchen. It doesn't have a lot of counter top space, but I am hopeful for an island.

Another view of the kitchen.

In this picture I am standing in the kitchen area looking into the dining room and den though the opening.

This vanity in the hall bathroom is new as well.

This is a picture of the hall shower. It has newer fixtures and the tile is nice too.

A view of the bathroom looking in from the hallway.

One of the bedrooms. All three bedrooms (including the master) are 10'6" x 13". It'll do.

A picture looking out into the hallway of the bedroom in the picture above.

This is the master bedroom looking into the closet. It has an odd bifold door as the main door as you can see in the left.

This is a photo of the master bathroom.

And another. It has a shower, but no tub.

Upstairs, this is one of two bonus rooms! Lots of room in this space.
This room measures 12' x 31'!

Another view of the larger bonus room.

This room is also upstairs. It is on the other side. I can use this as a massage room. It would be a nice bedroom, but it has no closet.

This is a view from the other side of the room. The small door leads to the attic.

What a fun house huh!? Now come and visit!

an excuse to be lazy

Dinner is in the oven, so I am taking a minute to catch up.

Our offer on the house was accepted on Monday. After completing a bit more paperwork yesterday, we are in waiting again. Apparently a lot goes on behind the scenes when you buy a house...who knew!?

Last night we went to bed listening to the freezing rain coming down. I was pretty sure that meant school was canceled for today. In that case, my day today was going to be slow instead of the full schedule I was supposed to have. Scott set his alarm for 5:00am as usual. I told him to let me know in the morning if I schools were canceled. If so, I was staying in bed the whole day. Sure enough, schools were canceled. I was lazy until about 11:00 this morning. I got up and made us some brunch. I did have one client that decided to brave the weather and come for her appointment this afternoon. By noon the ice was melting away anyway. But, I didn't get out of the house today. I worked for quite a while on a blog for my other site. Much to my dismay, the Internet shut down on me just as I was finishing up on the post and I had to start all over. Oh, well...it wasn't like I was going to be doing anything else.

I have a client due tomorrow. I know she is so ready for the baby to come. I have my bag packed and am just waiting on her call. My client that had her baby last week is doing well. I went out to her house last weekend to help her with breastfeeding. The baby wasn't getting a proper latch. She was grateful for the new latch and out of her pain thank goodness.

Other than all of that, we are staying very busy. Scott is in full fledged basketball season and is having a couple of games each week. Thankfully, I stay busy enough to not miss him too much while he is at games and keeping busy with that. And, thankfully his personal training at the gym has picked up quite a bit since the new year. He is averaging about 10-14 clients a day. I am so proud of how hard he is working. He has also been working on a ladies bathroom at her home. He put new drywall up, wired an outlet, hung a light, and sanded all the trim and cabinets. He was glad to be finished with that project this week.

Well, I gotta go fix some green beans to go along with the rest of our dinner. Stay warm and cozy everyone. Thanks for stopping by!

a hope and a prayer

Two posts in one day! I am catching up due to my lack of time to post the past week. No, actually I am seriously procrastinating on my studying. One more post and I gotta hit the books!

Scott and I decided to get back up on our horse and get back into the housing search. The Texas MLS (multi list service) has been a good friend of mine since we moved back to Texas. I get on and poke around at it every once in a while to see what houses there are in our price range.

I found a house that I drove by one Saturday while Scott was working. I decided to take a peak around the property and check it out. The outside was nice, needs a bit of TLC, but has a good sized yard in back. Brick and roof looked good. No apparent serious foundation issues. Peeking in the windows I could tell there was new paint, carpet, and tile...also good. When Scott and I went back to look together, there happened to be an unlocked door in the back. (No worries, it was vacant.) Despite the large sign that was taped to the front window "Trespassers will be prosecuted", we decided to go inside. It was a cute little house with lots of little surprises. Lots of storage and an really nice upstairs that has two bonus rooms. The bedrooms are a bit small, but workable. A couple of days passed and we decided to go back over. There was also a house two doors down for sale. It is a bit higher in price, but looked nice. While we were there, we once again got into the house we had previously walked through to check it out for a second time. We called the realtor to get the scoop on both houses. The higher priced one had serious foundation issues, so we crossed it off the list.

The other house that we liked and had been in (we didn't tell the realtor that though) is a foreclosure. It didn't have any disclosures, nor would it upon purchase. We knew it needed a new air conditioning unit because the current one was obviously disassembled and parts were taken. A couple of days later I saw they had lowered the price of the house by $10,000. In our price range that is a huge chunk. So we decided to have the realtor take us to see it. We took a level to check the foundation and got a serious eye on it for anything that could possibly need done to it that would be too costly. Other than the air conditioner, everything looked really good. Our realtor said she had never seen a foreclosure in such good condition. Scott and I decided to move forward and make an offer on it. It had been on the market nearly 5 months with no previous offers.After talking with Dad and getting his advise we came up with an offer we felt good about. Yesterday when Scott and I went in to sign the papers, we found out that we were in competition with another buyer and there would be two offers on it. Go figure..... After being in her office for nearly four hours yesterday we came upon an offer that we feel comfortable with. Now we sit and wait and pray and hope to hear good news. All offers are due at noon today so I am guessing we won't hear anything until Monday. It is going to be a long weekend. We are trying not to get too emotionally involved with it. I can't handle another house "tragedy". Scott and I feel good about our offer and now it is in God's hands. Although it would be a wonderful starter home for us, we have to be willing to accept otherwise. If we get it, it will have been an awesome deal. After seeing comparative homes in the neighborhood, we think that with a little elbow grease we can start building equity almost immediately.

I will keep you all updated.