General Update (No, I couldn't think of a better title)

So here is my attempt as I have some time between the laundry and making *home made coffee ice cream to update y'all on what has been going on around the Crow's Nest. JJ got some work for a couple weeks which was great but that ran out so he is back at the hall again. Hopefully he will get more permanent work soon, I really have no idea when that will be. I have been cutting back on things in the budget and learning how to do stuff for free or cheap like making sunflower seed butter at home instead of paying $5 for a 12 oz. jar in the store or trimming my own hair and adding layers by watching videos online. I will soon experiment with making my own laundry detergent and cutting JJ's hair (I am more scared about cutting his hair than my own). I have also been finding yummy paleo and grain free vegetarian recipes online and everything has come out good so far. So I have been pretty domestic lately which I have always loved and it is a fun challenge to live healthy on a budget!

I do have one dilemma and it sounds so superficial but I need new clothes. I have been losing weight and have gone down two sizes in the last 6 months. I haven't even been trying, I know I know cry me a river, but I do need to get back into working out. I have not done a good workout since before my surgery, it has been so hot around here that I have still been sweating it off but my muscle is fading. Anyway back to the clothes situation, a lot of my clothes are baggy now and the ones that aren't I just use over and over or they are for the colder weather. My mom told me I looked sloppy the other day as I told her my jeans were too big. She said that they didn't look too big and then I lifted my shirt so she could see that my backside was what was holding up my jeans and that I had a few inches gap between my belly and the jeans. I didn't ask her to buy me jeans as she had bought me some bras earlier that day. I am getting rid of a good amount of clothes from a couple of years ago where I was about 2-3 sizes bigger. I was holding onto some of them as "just in case I get pregnant clothes" but I really feel it is time for me to let them go.

So you are probably thinking, Kat just go to a thrift store and get some clothes on the cheap. Well here is the thing I don't mind buying clothes from a thrift shop as long as I wash them thoroughly, JJ on the other hand thinks its gross and does not want me to buy used clothes. Plus it is hard to find any clothes let alone at a thrift shop for a petite pear shaped gal. I really don't think I can justify spending any money outside the budget especially for clothes. Maybe I will just take JJ to the thrift shop and show him that it is not gross.

We will be teaching RCIA this year to one student who is a friend of a friend and she has an amazing story of why she wants to become Catholic. She was in the Army and visited the Vatican and she had a desire to become Catholic. She was not baptized or raised in any religion though her family is buddhist. I am so excited to teach her about the Faith and grow in my faith as well! We met with her a couple time and she is so solid as a person and really wants to be baptized, please keep her in your prayers! So I will be co-teaching w/  JJ on Sundays, volunteering at the convent when they need me, leading the support group and doing CrMS all of the other time. Oh yeah and babysitting my goddaughter Monday mornings! This is going to be a fun year :) 

As far as TTC goes we go back and forth a lot on this issue. I stopped charting the cycle we went to Alabama and it.was.glorious. the only thing was that I didn't know when to take progesterone so I didn't. I had a false pregnancy test when I thought I was late and AF came later that day. This cycle we decided to do the fem.a.ra and AF should be coming by the end of the week, hopefully she doesn't and stays far far away. If she does come we are taking another cycle off from meds. and then we will do clo.mid the cycle after that. Then after that we just don't know, we have said we will stop treatment but I don't know if that is forever or for a little while, God will let us know. We are just taking things cycle by cycle and seeing how we feel. I have discovered that stopping medical treatment is sort of like a weening process. There is so much pressure to keep going especially because we had the surgery, they recommend you try very strictly for 12-18 months after your surgery because the ovaries are more sensitive to the meds. To be quite honest we don't want to do too much meds. in the first place because we are uncomfortable with them. We really are just trying to give it to God and not try and control the situation. I really just want to do God's will!

I will end with a prayer request for a good friend of mine she and her DH are pregnant with their 1st baby. Her Dr. said that her HCG levels dropped a bit so naturally this new mom is scared. I know that you all are some of the strongest prayer warriors I know so please pray! I urged her to rest so I will be taking her dinner tomorrow night so that she doesn't have to cook or lift a finger. Please pray for her peace of mind and for the baby that it may be healthy and strong!

           






*So I have tried this recipe making it exactly how she does it except substituting 1/4 cup maple syrup instead of regular sugar. It cam out a little icy from the coffee added. So instead I warmed one of the cans of coconut milk in a small saucepan on the stove. Once it was warm I dumped in 1 &1/2 tablespoons of coffee grounds and let that steep for about 10-15 min. I strained it and combined it with the other can of coconut milk and rest of the ingredients. Then I let that mixture chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before putting it in the ice cream maker. She also has instructions on how to make it w/out an ice cream maker. I also got to make it with decaf coffee since I am sensitive to caffeine :)