Next Steps

On Monday Drewby and I had our follow-up visit with the dr. at the fertility clinic in Memphis.  He said both of our test results came back clean so there were no giant red flags or reasons why I am having trouble...I have lost just about 8 lbs since my last visit and he seemed very pleased with that and wanted me to keep losing some weight.  I also found out that I was non-immune to Rubella (sp?)...I have had my MMR shot so he thought it could be 1 of 2 things, either I just needed a booster OR I am resistant to the vaccine and that I would have to be VERY careful right now (and I guess forever...) so I got another MMR shot on Tuesday and I think the next time they draw my blood they will be able to see if that worked or not.  Anyways, back to the whole infertility thing...right now, I am still not starting my cycle on my own so he put me back on Progesterone and hopefully when I start the next cycle I will start clomid and take it for a few days!  Our hope and prayer is that this will work and by the time I go see him again early in September that I will be pregnant...we'll see!  Starting in August it will be a full year of TTC with no results...so hopefully this will work!  So here is to progesterone and clomid and losing (I hope 15 lbs) some more weight!
 

PCOS

I don't really know where to begin with this post...I have started, deleted, re-written, edited, deleted, and started over again and I am still not sure exactly where this will go, but I am determined to get it finished and posted! So last July Drew and I decided to officially start trying to start building our family...struggled with cycles after coming off BC and went back to my NP in November. She started me on 1 round of Progesterone...had a cycle in late November. Nothing came of that...including no more cycles. She sent me to one of the OB/GYN drs. in the practice, saw him once, more blood work and no answers. Referral to fertility specialist in Memphis-high testosterone levels along with results from ultrasound combined and he officially diagnosed me with PCOS...not an end all, be all, not a death sentence, not a "you'll never have kids" sentence-but it typically is a "this makes it harder for you to get pregnant and stay pregnant" sentence... Started on Metformin 1000mg a day and another round of Progesterone to start cycle...successful last month, but no pregnancy yet. Sonohysterogram done 4/15 and follow up visit for next month... PCOS is just going to make it a bit more difficult, but after research and long evenings on YouTube and the internet I know that there is hope and that I am still blessed!

 

Camp Agape

Camp Agape is... 

-loving 

-funny 

-entertaining 

-eye-opening 

-having faith like a child 

-special kids 

-a normal camp week 

-worth it

 -exhausting 

-exciting 

-my passion

-unconditional

-freedom

-having a heart for kids with disabilities

-a level playing field

-learning 

-sharing

-sharing the Love of God 

There is a week-long camp through Lakeshore Summer Camp and Retreat Center that I have been a part of for going on 3 summers now...granted I have spent years with Lakeshore, but this summer will be the 3rd summer where I am "deaning" the camp designed for young kids with special needs and I can't be more excited and thrilled about the week!!!

www.lakeshoreuma.com

https://www.facebook.com/CampAgapeLakeshore

A storm's a brewin'

This is the Tornado Watch for the area until 9:00 p.m. tonight! We got out at 1:30 instead of 2:45, all after school activities were canceled and the kids were WILD this afternoon. We are supposed to have Yada tonight, hopefully it will still happen but i'm not sure right now...Got the windows open at home, working on laundry, and working on grading some papers! Hope that everyone stays safe tonight!

I can see the light...

It's official-I can see the light at the end of this tunnel for my Master's Degree!! I started this journey in August of 2011 and Lord willing and the creek don't rise I will be done at the end of April with graduation on May 3rd!!! I have just 1 Praxis left that I will take on March 8th. I believe that I have the most difficult part of this class done with now with just smaller parts of the assignment left to complete. I have put so much effort into this degree and I just can't wait to be done with it!!! Hopefully God will open a door for me so that I can put it to good use (already heard about a potential within my building opportunity for next year)!

Down in the Dumps

Today has just been one of those days...My students, well about 75% of them, have just been horrible this week-absolutely horrible!  I have grown up wanting to be a teacher and wanting my own classroom-wanting to teach kids and this week I feel like I am literally just babysitting...After having some conversations with some other teachers on my hallway I know that I am NOT the only one with these feelings right now-some of the teachers I teach with have been teaching for years and they ALL say that this is by far the WORST group of kids (overall) NOW, we do have some GEMS in the rough bunch and I am beyond grateful and thankful for those students because without them I really am not sure if I would make it until May!  I write this really just wanting prayers, wanting help-wanting support!  I know that I have it from my fellow teachers and I couldn't be happier about that!! 

We have already made it past the "100th day of school" so we are officially on a downhill slide now!!  May-HURRY!

 

Today has been an intense day here in the Jackson-Madison County School System-first the weather today was apparently not ideal and this morning I was reading so many complaints from parents about it. Then I find out that a child is hit while walking to school by a car that was sliding on slick roads. Then I start seeing pictures and reports of wrecks and buses in ditches in the county. Whew! Lots to deal with...and then this afternoon this...

This is a picture from Liberty Tech High School here in Jackson...Apparently on top of everything else, a school shooting happened.  I have heard that only 1 student was shot and was shot in the leg with non-life-threatening injuries and the suspect was caught.  I can only hope and pray that this doesn't happen again.  I have heard stories and reports of the major gang activity that is running rampant in the city and hope that this wasn't related and won't happen again...

Lord, in your mercy...
 

2 Day Work Week

So apparently I am going to have a 2 day work week...We were out on Monday and Tuesday for extreme cold (it was in the single digits here...) and now today I woke up to get ready to only get a call at 6:00 saying we were closed due to icy roads! UGH! I am all for being safe and making the right decision for the majority of the students (and we have A LOT of bus riders in the county) and I am ALL FOR sleeping in this morning-BUT I am not looking forward to making up 2 days (so far...). Drew and I were planning a short trip to ATL for spring break for the days that he was off work and now I am expecting that to be messed up and I am not happy about it... So here is to spending another day at home...

The Gluten Free Plan...

So I have been having some issues over the past few months-nothing serious, nothing horrible but I was researching something else and came across the "idea" of gluten sensitivity or something like that and several of the symptoms are things that I have been experiencing over the last few months-sooo I am going to slowly start incorporating gluten-free aspects into my diet. Drew and I are trying to focus on getting healthy-he has started CrossFit and LOVES it-he has talked NONSTOP about it this afternoon, I love listening to him talk about how much it hurt and how sore he is but how much he is enjoying it! I have also been doing better (not great, but better) about working out myself! So, I am going to add a Gluten Free section to the right with resources and blogs that I find. *UPDATE: OK, it's official-we're going to try this...I've got a pinterest board and THAT makes everything official :)

Whew! I am exhausted! Today was our first day back-granted it was only a day of in service and no students but it was still a long day of sitting and talking and listening--I guess that's what our students feel like after a day full of classes! I did do a good thing this afternoon-I went to work out!!! Yay! Day 1 of being back at work and day 1 of working out! I am going to TRY and do MWF to work out, I want to find a 5K to run but have not been able to find one in Jackson (or Memphis) on a weekend that I don't have plans...This year I want to be very intentional in my actions regarding my health and my body-I was looking at some wedding pictures from just over 4 years ago and I can see how drastically my body has changed-I can see just how much damage I have done and how much weight I have gained and I don't like it at all-so I am going to try very hard to push myself to change it!! Here's to the rest of the school year and here's to me working on changing my body for the better!