Hope, silly silly hope

So what was I saying last week? I think that I told A that I didn't have any hope anymore. Such a lie. Not that I knew it was going to be a lie, but alas (haha) it was. I have been spotting since last Thursday or so. Normal for me, but such a light light amount. Technically, according to my cycle before IVF, I should have started my period yesterday. I spotted, but no period. Today, same thing. But tonight we went shopping after work I noticed a lot more spotting in my liner. So we will see. I am sure it's going to happen soon. So now I am just waiting and wondering and......hoping that it doesn't. But....know it will.

Onto more cheerful topics. I am looking forward to tomorrow night. We are going out downtown for pizza with our friend H and whoever else shows up. Hopefully we will go out for some drinks later and just chill for a bit. It's nice.
This Saturday we are going to trick our friend J into going out for her birthday party. We want to go to a local sushi place. They have these grills that, if you have a larger group of people, you can sit around and they will stir fry veggies, make fried rice, and other stuff on, right in front of you. It's fun and really good food. We, H and I, asked her today if she wanted to go out for dinner and a movie on Saturday night, as a trick. She said yes. So hopefully we can do dinner as a group and then hang out after, she wants to go see The. Han.gover. It should turn out nice, I hope. I will update how it goes afterwards.

So that's about it for now........smooches!

Oh, one more new thing, I stole a recipe from Mrs.Babbsy's food blog, for Cheesy Buffalo Ranch Dip. We made it for dinner tonight. I cut it in half for just the two of us, but it was really pretty good. I would probably use more hot sauce next time because we like stuff spicy. I should have taken a picture because I did say I was going to do recipes in here for people. Anyway, here is the recipe:
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Ingredients:
2 (14.5 oz) cans of chicken breast
2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese
1 cup Ranch 1/2 cup of hot sauce (I used Frank's)
1 cup of shredded mild cheddar
Preheat oven to 350.First mix the cream cheese until it's smooth and creamy. Then add the hot sauce and ranch, and mix until well blended. Add chicken one can at a time. Add cheese and mix. Cook for 20-30 (you will see it bubble on the sides)
So yummy! Enjoy if you try it!

MI here I come!

So I did it. I talked to my boss today and she gave me the go-ahead to go "home" next week and visit my parents and some friends. I am beyond excited. We haven't been home since August. The only bummer is that A can't come w/me. Otherwise I am super excited and so are my parents. Flight prices went up, but A said to go ahead and do it anyway.

Speaking of money, A started working on our taxes tonight. We are NOT excited. It looks like we are going to owe money for the first time ever. It sucks. Hopefully he can get it figured out to at least drop the amount we owe. Sucks, sucks, sucks. Gotta spend a TON of money on IVF and I was hoping to at least cover the meds w/our return, but it looks like we have to do OOP (out of pocket) AND pay extra in taxes. Blah.

Oh and I have a good recipe that I wanted to share. I forgot to take a pic of it last night, but it turned out so yummy! Here it is:

Pork Chops in Mushroom Gravy
(I made this for two, but you could adjust for more)
2 thick cut boneless pork chops
1 small onion
1 can of mushrooms (or fresh)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Olive oil
White wine
Milk
Spices: Garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, basil

Saute onions and mushrooms in olive oil until beginning to turn brown
While doing this season your pork w/salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and basil
Remove onions and mushrooms
Place small pat of butter in hot pan. Once melted place pork in pan to brown
While pork is browning, combine cream of mushroom soup, milk, and white wine (I eyeballed these, I am guessing around 1/4 c. each) and stir until combined
Add in mushrooms and onions. Season w/pepper, basil, garlic, and onion powder
Remove browned pork chops
Deglaze pan w/small amount of wine
Add soup mixture and pork chops
Cover and cook for 30-35 minutes on low to md-low heat (160 degree internal temp for pork)
During cooking I spooned the "gravy" over the meat to help it cook and keep it moist

I served it w/mashed potatoes (w/gravy on top) and green beans. It was so good. The wine gave the gravy a light yet rich flavor and the pork was so tender and moist.
I will definitely be making this again soon. If you try it I hope you enjoy it!

Busy weekend

Happy Thanksgiving and all that jazz. It's a little late, but I am writing!

Although we were away from family for Thanksgiving again, we had a nice one. A and I made a turkey, stuffing, mashed potates and gravy, corn, sweet potatoes, etc, etc. It was really good. We ate around 4:30 then relaxed and watched The Incredibles. Pretty good movie, I hadn't seen it before.

On Friday I (unfortunately) had to go into work for a bit to do Payroll and such. Then A and I relaxed for a bit and then went shoppingat Kohl's and Michaels. We have most of our Christmas shopping done for our families, just have to pack it up and ship it. So happy about that!

On Saturday we started decorating the house inside and then went out to dinner and had a beer at a local bar. Today we finished the tree and decorated the outside. Went to Target and got a price adjustment on one of ours gifts and then ran to Walmart to exchange something that didn't work and got some pop and water, which we needed.

Here are some pics of our place w/Christmas decor. :-)

As for the infertility, as I mentioned in the last post, we will continue to try on our own (which we have, with me mentally coaching us on) and proceed further in Feb when we are done with the holidays and our cruise. I am sure the time will go faster than I expect or so I hope.

I just thought of something, I should have taken a pic of my turkey and my pie for this. Oh well, maybe next time.