Is there sugar in syrup?

After years of being told he looks like Will Ferrell, I finally convinced Trey to dress up as Buddy the Elf. He's never embraced his celeb look alike status, but this year I practically forced it on him. And since I'm fat with child, I thought being Santa with a natural big belly would fit perfectly.
Our doctor/friend let Trey borrow this nice, velvet costume, while mine was of the homemade sort. Not quite as fancy, but it got the job done.
Jenna and her little family were perfectly coordinated. Cash's costume even had pads in the shirt and pants.
Ash and her two kids were jockeys, while Cam had absolutely no coordination with them and was a rocker of some sort.
I didn't get pictures of the other two families but we did take a group shot. We had a great time partying as much as we know how when Monday Night Football is on simultaneously.
In all honesty, I don't love Halloween and I hate the pressure of dressing up. I prefer to leave my house and turn the lights off to avoid trick-or-treaters. The kids are cute and all, but when the truckloads of teenagers show up, it's not so cute anymore. This annual party with my family, however, is actually something I look forward to since we can all make fun of each other and look ridiculous without actually going in public. Tomorrow night, however, Trey and I will be in public in our costumes and you better believe we are for sure not dressing like this. It'll be much more toned down.

The Relaxi Taxi

Recently, Trey's lease on his car ended and we decided to be a little more thrifty so instead of getting him a new car, he downgraded to my Xterra and I downgraded to one of the summer work vans! Minivans aren't necessarily considered cool, but they're probably even less cool when you don't even have kids to put in them. Here's what I'm cruising in these days...
It may not be cool, but it sure is hard to deny the convenience of a minivan. I can only imagine how nice it will be when the baby comes. If you're jealous that I get to drive this car around the town, just let me know because we have another one just like it (a white version) parked side-by-side in the garage that we will sell you! I know, it's tempting.

Last Vacation Before the Baby

My parents did something pretty awesome and took 5 of their 6 children (with spouses) on a cruise to the Caribbean last week. We had a great time and I definitely added some pounds to my 26 week pregnant bod. We ate ALL the time. Here's a shot of the group one night at dinner, minus my parents, who were nice enough to babysit the 6 grandkids that came on the cruise at the other table.
Of all the places I've been in the Caribbean, Jamaica is one of my favorites, only because of those waterfalls you see in the back of the picture below. It's about a 2 hour hike up them and so much fun. Other than that, Jamaica is dirty. So dirty.
This was our last port in Cozumel Mexico. My poor ankles turned to cankles after walking around so much through all the shops and on the beach, but luckily they went away a few days later.
These were the waitresses we had through the whole week. Ezgi on the right, Devvy on the left. They are the reason I look fat here. They just kept bringing out more food!
These boys are all smiling now, but maybe I shoulda taken another picture when their luck was running out.
This baby will be here before we know it and this trip was a great last one to have before she gets here. Thanks again mom and dad for hookin' us all up!

Furniture Refinishing Class

My sister Ashley is amazing when it comes to finding old, outdated furniture in the classifieds or at thrift stores and then bringing it home and refinishing it to make it look completely awesome. She's going to be teaching a class in about a month to help other people learn how to do this. She makes some pretty good money when she buys an old dresser for $25 and then turns around and sells it for $250. Not bad, huh? She's helped me finish an old cradle and I'm already trying to think of new things I can do.

You can check out her blog and see the info on the class and some of the pieces she has refinished or just read her info on it below:

Ok, it's official, the date will be Saturday, October 16th, 10:00am-12:00pm at my home for the small price of $35 :) . Please let me know if you're planning on coming as soon as possible. You can either leave me a comment on my blog, facebook, or call, text, or email me (ashleytreu@gmail.com) if you have any questions. I'll be going over pretty much everything you need to know to start refinishing furniture- or whatever it is that you want to refinish! It will be a hands-on class so you'll learn and get a feel for what you're doing and I'll teach you tricks and tips I've learned the hard way :) . Hopefully that date works for any of you who are interested, if not, hopefully this will be the first class of many! Thanks!

It's a Girl!

I totally forgot to blog about this but we found out last Wednesday that we are having a girl. We found out a little early so there is definitely still a margin of error but the doctor said he was 100% sure so we're taking his word for it. Trey was absolutely shocked. I think he had the deer-in-the-headlights look for about 2 hours following our appointment...he thought for sure it was a boy.

People told me I'd go crazy buying things once we found out what we were having, but for some reason I have no desire. I have not purchased one single baby thing. I would rather give someone I trust my credit card and tell them to get everything I need for the baby and then decorate a nursery. Any takers?

Multiples or Singleton?

Once upon a time we did In Vitro and transferred 3 embryos. Oh wait, I already told you that long drawn out story. Well, after we got pregnant, they told us that around 7 weeks we could find out how many embryos had actually implanted. We could be having triplets for all we knew. We moved out to New Jersey when I was just about 4 1/2 weeks along so I got online and found some random doctor under my insurance list to go to. I made the appointment for an ultrasound on the day I would be exactly 7 weeks. When I was about 6 weeks and 5 days, Trey decided he didn't want to wait the extra two days so I called our doctor to see if we could come in that day. I called over and over and every time got a machine saying they were closed. It was a Tuesday so I didn't really believe the machine. Being impatient as we are, we drove over to the doctor's office to call their bluff. They were, indeed, closed. Dangit.

So we drove back to our apartment and I got online to check the insurance list for more potential doctors. I called the first one but they said we couldn't come in until the next day because our insurance would have to be verified. Click. I called the next one and the receptionist said we could come in right away, no insurance needed, just pay upfront. You know if you can get in to see a doctor that day they probably aren't your best option, but we were too anxious to care.

We pulled up to the South Jersey Women's Center and went through the first set of doors. Weird, we had to be buzzed in through the next set. Oh well, the place smells gross and not at all doctor-like but I go up to the front window and pay for the ultrasound. The receptionist hands me a cup to pee in. "Is there a cabinet to put it in once I'm done?" "No, just walk it back out and give it to me, " she says. Gross. Lucky for me there's no one else in the waiting room. Nobody wants to see someone else holding a cup of fresh, warm pee. I do my thing, hand her the cup, and sit down, waiting to be called back.

As Trey and I are sitting in the waiting room, we're looking around and noticing this isn't a normal doctor's office. There are posters all over with Obama's face on them, promoting change. There are pro-abortion decals on the receptionist's window and "free to choose" stickers all over the place. Have I been sheltered living in Utah for 8 years? Is this a normal doctor's office?

The nurse calls my name and we both get up to walk back together. The nurse stops Trey and says, "Sorry sir, you're not allowed back here." Oh okay, maybe they'll come get him when they're ready? She takes me to another empty waiting room and I start texting Trey..."What is this crazy place? I am alone back here, go ask the receptionist if you can come back..."

Meanwhile, Trey has made conversation with a random man in the waiting room, asking him questions like, "So is that your wife back there? Are you guys finding out what you're having?" Normal questions potential dads might ask each other in a normal waiting room. He gets my text and goes up to the front desk.

He asks the lady, "Don't I get to be back there with my wife?"
"No sir, I'm sorry."
"But in the movies, the guy is standing next to his wife and they get to see their baby on the screen for the first time together, right? So why can't I go back"
"Sir, due to the nature of what we do here, we have to respect the privacy of the women back there and so that's why men are not allowed back."
Trey notices the decals on the window and sees a piece of paper taped to the wall which is in memory of some doctor who was murdered, who was still doing 3rd trimester abortions.
"Wait," Trey says, "Is this an abortion place?" loud enough for the 4-5 people in the waiting room to hear him.
"Yes sir."
Oh dear, Trey takes his seat.

I've now been called back to my room and am completely second guessing this whole thing. I have the darkest, sickest feeling in my gut. I don't remember a smile on any of the faces I'd seen. The doctor and nurse come in, completely expressionless. The doctor is rude; he can't understand why I wouldn't be using my IVF dr. for this ultrasound. Clearly sir, the insurance list didn't make a side note to tell me what this place really was. Can you just do the ultrasound and let me go? So he does the ultrasound. I have to ask him how many are in there and he just says, "One. You're about 6-7 weeks. Good luck." And out they both go. Wow, I think I dressed in 15 seconds and was out just as quickly as they were.

I walked out to Trey and held up one finger to him. We both smiled and got the H-E-double hockey sticks outta there.

So creepy. Glad I'm still pregnant.

In Vitro Part 3

After our first attempt at in vitro had failed, we decided we didn't want to waste any time before trying again. Every year, we move away for the summer for Trey's job so we really only had 2-3 months before we'd be leaving again. We spoke with the nurse and got things underway to be in the April grouping for the next round of IVF.

I felt extremely nervous from the beginning. I second guessed my gut feelings and intuition. With the first IVF cycle, I felt good throughout the whole thing. I felt like I was pregnant. My own intuition had failed me. This second time around, I wanted to really know if it was the right thing to do so we wouldn't be throwing away so much money again. I had more negative feelings this time, but I know it was coming from a more pessimistic version of myself, the bitter side of me that didn't think we would ever get pregnant. If it was up to me, we probably would've waited a while to try again. I felt like we were spending so much money and my stupid body was just going to fail me again. I relied completely on Trey to make this decision and without hesitation, he said the money didn't matter and we would try again and it would work.

As much as I didn't love the shots before, I was actually anxious to start them and get things going. I documented so much of the first IVF with pictures and whatnot, but the second time I did nothing. I didn't want to jinx it or have memories of it not working. My biggest fear this time around was actually a new shot I'd have to be taking everyday in my upper butt and the needle was much bigger than my usual half inchers. This would be a thicker, longer needle and if I did get pregnant, I'd have to continue it for 9 weeks into my pregnancy. Yikes.

Things were much better from the beginning and to make this story shorter, I'm going to jump ahead. When the retrieval was all said and done, we went in for the embryo transfer. This time, our doctor's lab was complete so we only had to drive 10 minutes instead of all the way to Boise. They brought us back and showed us what we had to work with...4 healthy embryos this time! Though there was a risk of multiples, I felt good about implanting 3 and nobody was going to change my mind about that. So they put in 3 and we froze the 4th and went home to rest for a few days.

Luckily for me, my mom was in town and made it so I never had to move a muscle. She cooked for us and cleaned when she got bored. It was wonderful. But she also had to wait out the 10 days with us. I hate that wait. By the first night, I had cramps already. Of course, I cried. This was a bad sign last time around and I was sure it was menstrual cramps this time too. Trey calmed me down and tried to help me stay positive. Every day I tried to notice symptoms, but it was so hard because I was on so many different drugs that had so many side effects, I didn't have a clue what was going on with my body. If I ever felt any bit of hope, I never told Trey because I didn't want him to get his hopes up. Around day 6, I remember sitting on my bed at night and telling Trey that I didn't think it had worked, I didn't think I was pregnant. I still, to this day, don't know if he was just faking it for my sake or if he really believed it, but he told me that night that he thought I was pregnant and I needed to stay positive. I didn't believe him so I dropped the conversation.

The next few days I was more exhausted than I had ever felt in my life. I took naps during the day and was in bed by 10:00...not my style at all. My mom and Trey would give each other suspicious looks as if they knew I was pregnant and I would just roll my eyes. Blame it on the drugs, don't get your hopes up, I'd tell myself. On day 8, I went in for a blood test and then had to return again on day 10 for another. I went in by myself both times and on the 10th day, the nurses were very giddy with me. They asked how I was feeling and asked if I'd taken a pregnancy test yet. I told them no way, I did that last time and it had backfired. I wasn't about to do it again. After nurse Brenda took my blood, she kept asking me all these questions. So I finally said, "Do you know something?" and she said smiling, "Maybe..." I said, "Does that mean the first test was positive?" She smiled and told me that yes it was. I said, "So unless something crazy happens, this second test will be positive too?" And again, she told me yes. I couldn't believe it. I drove to my sister's right after and didn't tell anyone. I was skeptical and wanted to hear the official phone call later that day before revealing anything. I did, however, call Trey and let him know. He was with the contractor working on one of our rental properties, so that guy was officially the first one to find out we were pregnant. How special!

Once again, the doctor's office took forever to call us with the results. Trey ended up calling them and asked Brenda if they had any news for us. She told him to hold on and came back a few minutes later. I have the whole conversation recorded because this time, I knew it was going to be good news. When she got back on the phone, she said, "Well...I have really good news for you. Yes, yes you are. It is definitely positive." On the recording, you then hear Trey screaming and laughing really loud. She went on to tell us some numbers and how great everything looked because those numbers were so high. We thanked her and hung up the phone. I think I remember Trey high-fiving me, kissing me, and hugging me. I can't believe I didn't cry at this point. But I sure did once we started making the phone calls. I called my mom first, who was over at my sister Jenna's house. I guess Jenna had a bunch of her in-laws over so when I told my mom the news, everyone over there started crying too. Called Ashley...cried again. And on and on with all the phone calls.

The road was long and definitely hard, but we are so happy now and closer as a couple than we ever would have been had we gotten pregnant right away. Trey has been the rock in our marriage by always staying positive and never once making me feel like I was to blame for the infertility. It was hard on both of us, but he was able to see the bigger picture and knew that we would get pregnant someday. I love him and I am sure glad he was right.

In Vitro Part 2

I was scheduled to start my shots December 31st. I remember that day because my baby sister gave birth to her son that afternoon. This time around, I was cleared to begin. Have you ever had a needle in your hand and been told to stab yourself in the stomach with it? How bout 4 times a day? That was a little nerve racking for me. Some women have their husbands do it but I didn't want to have to plan my 4 shots a day around Trey's schedule. After a few days of shots in the stomach, I had to switch to my thighs because my stomach was so sore. After my thighs got sore, I'd switch back to my stomach. It was only 2 weeks though, I knew I could handle it. Here's what I was working with...



After about a week and a half had gone by, we had an appointment for an ultrasound to see how the drugs had affected my ovaries. The drugs were follicle stimulating hormones, designed to produce as many eggs as they could muster up for that one cycle. With a normal woman on a normal cycle without drugs, you'd produce one a month. This is the appointment where you get excited because you get to see how many eggs you'll get to work with.

The nurse was the one who did my ultrasound, but after about 3 minutes with us she left the room. Probably not a good sign, I thought. She came back and told us that she had called the doctor to come over and check for himself because she wasn't seeing much activity in there. Our doctor showed up about 10 minutes later and confirmed that we only had one egg to do this upcoming in vitro with. He explained how slim the odds were with just one...not only does that one egg have a 60% chance of fertilizing but then it's got just a 50% chance of surviving the 3 day development and then after that a 33% chance of implanting and getting pregnant. Or in other words, it would take a major miracle for this to work. Trey and I were praying for that miracle and did not want to give up on that one little egg so we decided to continue forward.

For the actual egg retrieval and embryo transfer, we had to travel to Boise because our doctor's lab was not complete in Utah. Day 1 was the egg retrieval, where they put me out for half an hour, removed the egg and sent us on our way to wait it out for 24 hours to see if the egg fertilized. We tried to stay busy while we waited so we wouldn't stress and drive ourselves crazy. That, however, is hard to do in Boise, ID. The following day, we waited all morning for a call and never got one. We continued to wait until 3:00 when we just got too impatient and Trey decided to call them. They didn't answer so we actually drove over to the doctor's office to find out for ourselves. I made Trey go in to get the news because I didn't want to get bad news in front of anyone. I waited in the car for about 10 minutes and then looked up as Trey came running out of the office shooting his arms up and down in the air. It had worked! That one egg made it through the 60% and fertilized. Now we just had 2 more days to kill, waiting to see if it could survive and be a good embryo.

Two days of boredom later, we went back to the doctor for the embryo transfer. They hadn't told us if our embryo made it and I was so nervous. A nurse came out to the waiting room and gave me a Valium to take. That was my answer...they wouldn't give me this drug unless we were going through with the transfer. They brought us back and showed us a picture of our embryo that was the best it could have been. All these miracles were happening right before us and I could not believe that this was really going on. Luckily for us, my parents drove down from Washington the night before to hang out with us so they got to be in the room during the transfer. We all joked that not many grandparents are in the room when their grandchildren are conceived.

After the transfer, I had to take it easy for a few days so we drove back to Utah immediately. We then had the long wait of 10 days to find out if we were pregnant or not. I had read all about pregnancy symptoms, trying to know my body before those 10 days, which was probably a mistake looking back. Every time I felt anything different, I would think, oh man this is it, I've got to be pregnant. Trey and I both felt that so many miracles had happened to get us this far that it just wouldn't make sense if we weren't pregnant. On day 8, I decided to take a pregnancy test to confirm my feelings. It came out negative and I was devastated, but still had hope since it was a little early. We went to church a few hours later and I remember this moment so vividly. We were singing a hymn and in the song the line read, "For courage to accept Thy will..." After that I broke down. I had just had my own confirmation that I was not pregnant. I knew it. We left church soon after because I could not stop crying and did not want others to see me like that.

Two days later, we waited around all morning for the phone call to tell us whether or not we were pregnant. Even though I didn't think I was, I still had a tiny ounce of hope that I was wrong. All of our friends and family knew we were getting the news this day so they were also anxious to hear. After 1:30pm, we got impatient and Trey called in to get the results. They told him they would call between 2-3. So we waited a little while longer and then my phone rang. I handed it to Trey to answer. I didn't want to be the one to get the bad news. Trey answered and the woman explained she was calling from the doctor's office to give us our results. I remember her saying "Unfortunately, your blood tests were negative. I'm sorry." Trey held it together to talk to her a bit, but I was already sobbing next to him and as soon as he hung up, he joined me.

We cried together for maybe 30 minutes and then decided we should probably let our friends and family know. I think we both sent out mass text messages because neither one of us felt like talking about it. That was a very hard day for both of us. We were back to square one and didn't understand why it was so hard for us when so many others got pregnant so easily. We spent the afternoon together, crying off and on and then went to Taco Bell for some comfort food. I remember holding back tears while I sat and ate. I also remember seeing the word "fart" etched in pencil on the table we were eating at. And that put a smile on my face and I knew we were going to be okay. Look close in the pink stripe and you'll see it too.



Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 3.

In Vitro Part 1

I must admit, I am a very impatient person. After 3 months of trying to get pregnant, I called up my doctor to see if he thought something was wrong or had any suggestions. We tried every trick in the book and were still unsuccessful. We started doing some testing after 5 months and everything came back normal. We tried artificial insemination. We tried fertility drugs. Still nothing. "Keep trying. Sometimes it just takes some people longer than others." I heard this statement all the time. "It will happen when it's supposed to happen." That one, too.

After Trey and I spent about 18 months trying to get pregnant on our own, I finally went to see a doctor I'd been referred to. I had two separate blood tests throughout the month and after the results came back, they scheduled me to come in again. I could tell as soon as the doctor walked in that something wasn't right. She sat down right next to me and showed me some of my results, which I didn't fully understand. When I asked her to explain, she basically told me that I might be 25 on the outside, but my ovaries were like a 45-50yr old woman's who is nearing menopause. Awesome. Then she said, "The only chance you have of getting pregnant is through in vitro." I took the news bravely and drove home to where my mom, sister and friend were waiting. I walked through the door and they asked me how it went. I said, "Not good," and instantly, the tears started to fall. I guess it took the drive home from the doctor for things to really sink in...life wasn't going to be as I'd always planned. Is it ever? I really had no idea what in vitro (IVF) entailed, but if it could get me pregnant, I was up for it.

The doctor referred me to a fertility specialist, who I made an appointment with immediately. Without doing any testing, he scheduled us for the next cycle of IVF. Two months of preparation went by and the day I was supposed to start my shots came. I went in to get an ultrasound to make sure everything was good to go first, which they should have done from the beginning. They found two large cysts on my ovaries. In other words, in vitro cancelled. I held my composure until I got in the car, but started crying as soon as I shut my door. Why do I always go to these appointments alone?? I drove home completely discouraged. I had already calculated my due date based off this IVF working and now it wasn't even going to happen.

Two weeks later, I had another ultrasound by the fertility specialist's partner where he confirmed that I most likely had endometriosis at its worst stage and would need surgery to remove it. He made me feel better by letting me know that 60% of women who are trying for a baby get pregnant on their own after this surgery. Leave it to me to be the 40% that doesn't. We tried on our own for 7 months, though halfway through that time I was pretty positive the endometriosis was back already.

When the 7 months was up, we took a referral from my good friend, Shea and went to meet that doctor. What a difference between this guy and the other! If you ever need a fertility specialist referral, I can definitely tell you who to go to and who to stay away from. This time around, they scheduled me for an ultrasound right away and of course, found endometrial cysts on the ol' ovaries again. They weren't as large as the time that called for surgery so I was put on a very high dose of birth control to combat them. In a month, we would reevaluate and figure out when we could try another stab at IVF.

After the month was up, cysts were still present but much smaller so the doctor felt much better about that. He told me that the endometriosis had most likely depleted much of my egg supply so we might not get as many embryos as a normal couple but we would sure try our best for the most that we could get. In Vitro was scheduled for January 13, 2010 in Boise, ID.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part 2.

Evidence I'm not in Utah anymore...

Whenever we move away for the summers, it's usually to a big city and near the hood (which I don't think exists in Utah). I was thinking this morning about all the many differences that we get to experience whenever we move.

You know you moved east of Utah when...

1. You're sitting in sacrament and you hear a cell phone ringing and the woman answers it and loudly tells her caller, "You know I'm in church. Don't call me when I'm in church." This has happened twice now.

2. You're waiting at a stoplight and if you don't already start moving before the light turns green you get honked at immediately. In Utah, everyone is a bad driver so the person behind you probably doesn't notice the light changed either because they are too busy texting.

3. You can eat at Panera Bread whenever you want. And I do. Chipotle Chicken Sandwich if you ever get the chance.

4. There are more than a handful of minorities. In fact, sometimes I'm the minority.

5. You accidentally schedule your first ultrasound at an abortion clinic. More details to come on this one.

6. You count down the days until you are back in Utah.

7. You're getting in your car in the middle of Brooklyn and some guy wants to know if you're really from Utah. He's never met anyone in his life from there. I think he's the one that needs to get out more, but somehow the Utahn becomes the alien.

8. Costco doesn't even offer the Polish Sausage Dog. You have to get a plain old hot dog, which is still delicious, but pales in comparison.

9. Squirt does not exist. Just lots of Mellow Yellow in its place.

10. Everyone has a dog. In Utah, everyone has kids.

Hello Teeny Embryos

After 3 years of trying, 1 surgery, 2 rounds of In Vitro and 16 weeks of daily shots and other fun drugs, we are FINALLY pregnant. It was definitely a long road to get here, but now that it's here all the rough stuff doesn't seem so rough...it was all worth it. And lucky enough for us, we'll probably have to do In Vitro each time we want to have another child so it's nice to know that it can be done. I'll probably do a post all on it's own to describe my experience with the In Vitro process. It really is a miracle how it all works.

Not many parents get to see their baby at this stage in it's life, but when you're lucky enough to be the proud parents of that little 8-celled blastocyst, it's the most beautiful thing in the world. This picture right here is just an example of what we have stuck on our fridge back in Utah. Isn't it cute?


We are so grateful for all the love and support we have received from family, friends and even complete strangers. I heard of so many people I didn't even know who were praying for us and who cried when they found out we were pregnant. I am amazed at how many people pretty much wanted this just as much as we did. Thank you everyone for being there for us when it was hard and for sharing in our excitement now.

We are 12 weeks along now and due January 14, 2011. So far I feel like I've been pretty lucky with the pregnancy symptoms. I like to think I deserve it after all the other stuff I've had to go through. However, with the glimpses I have seen of the sickness, I think I prefer the daily shots in the bum.

Covered in poop, literally

A few years ago we bought a rental property that got completely abused by the renters who were living in it. After they left, large amounts of cockroaches and their poo were discovered, along with mildew, mold and all kinds of other damages. I wouldn't step foot in that place so I never got the luxury of seeing the disgusting mess but Trey took a few pictures of some in-between fixes. We basically had the whole place gutted and it now looks like a brand new house on the inside. Here's a before picture of the outside...
And here's an after picture after ripping out those ugly trees...
Here's an in-between shot of busting out the gross shower...
And after...
I wish Trey would've taken a picture sooner but this is the kitchen minus the cockroach poop cupboards and mildew floors...
And after...
This was not planned to be a fixer upper house but thanks to the crappy renters and the other 4 families living in there with them it turned into one. Some people.

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

I don't know where my mom got this recipe but it's my latest favorite and it's so easy to make.

1 1/2 TBS olive oil
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 c. plain yogurt
3/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 rotisserie chicken
2 c. cooked white rice
1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves (which I hate and don't add, still great without)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion & cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 mins. Sprinkle with the curry powder & cook, stirring for 1 min. Add the yogurt & cream & simmer gently for 3 mins. Stir in the salt, pepper & tomatoes. Remove from heat. Slice or shread chicken, discarding skin & bones. Divide the rice & chicken among individual bowls, spoon the sauce over the top & sprinkle with cilantro. (I just added the chicken to the sauce, makes no difference I'm sure).

Hope you like it as much as I do!

The Latest

We moved out to Cherry Hill, NJ about a week and a half ago. The selling area is technically Philadelphia but when I came out here 2 months ago I could not find anything worth living in over there so we're just across the river, about 10-15 minutes from downtown Philly. I think our apartment is my favorite of all the other summers, which makes it a much smoother transition. I just can't wait for the pool to open...it is huge! We live right across the street from a big mall. It looks nice, but I haven't found one minute of spare time to go there yet. I do all the office work out here, usually from about 11-2pm, then I babysit a cute little 2 year old from about 3-8pm so I stay fairly busy. It's been great though so far.

We got hooked up with a 2 bedroom apartment this year, which could only mean Pinnacle wants people to come visit us. Of all my 5 summers moving, my family has only come to visit when we lived in San Diego...go figure. I think they just used us for room and board, which I'm fine with, but I guess we haven't lived anywhere that compares to Southern California. If only they'd come to visit me and not the area :) Manhattan is only about an hour and a half away if that is more enticing for you fools.

Pros and Cons

Trey has already left for the summer in Philadelphia and I don't leave until May 5th, which means lots of alone time spent with Walter.

I was thinking that there are some upsides to having your husband out of town. For example, I can stay up as late as I want. If it were up to Trey, we'd be in bed by 10:30 at the latest. When I'm in charge, it's never before midnight.

Next, I never have to worry about the toilet seat position. It's always right where I want it...down.

I also don't have to feel guilty about eating cereal for dinner. I cook for one reason only...Trey. If it weren't for him, I'd spend a max of 5 minutes in the kitchen preparing either my cereal or my ham sandwich.

And lastly, a nice little bonus with having Trey out of town is that I get to drive his car while he's gone. I know I drive it faster than he does. Sometimes I tell him he doesn't deserve to drive the car he does because he doesn't take advantage of what it can do and therefore, we should switch cars. I have yet to win that argument.

There are also some major downsides to having your husband out of town and being alone in a big house. One came about the other night as I tried to open a new bottle of Odwalla juice. That lid was not budging and it's doesn't help that I am the biggest wuss when it comes to opening lids. Where was Trey when I needed him?

Whenever Trey leaves, Walter takes it upon himself to become the man of the house. He never barks at night when he hears outside noises while Trey is home, but the second he leaves, Walter gets ultra protective. The 6lb dog is not protecting anything and I miss the real man of the house.

One reason I stay up late when Trey is gone is to watch all my scary shows. The only problem with this is that I'm terrified by the time I need to go to sleep. This happens on a regular basis and you'd think I'd be smart enough to stop, but I'm not. If Trey were here, I would not be scared. Oh well.

In sadder news, I am iPhoneless until next Monday. I feel lost.

Rough Week

Last week my friend Becca and I flew to Philadelphia to find our apartments for the summer, which was going just fine until about 4 hours before our flight left on the last day there. We were stopped at a stoplight and a Gospel Choir tour bus from Michigan was in front of us and just decided to back up, right into my little micromachine of a rental car. Not cool. We had to wait around with the bus driver and police officer for over an hour while he wrote up the police report and then another hour and a half waiting to be towed. We got to the airport with just enough time to spare and luckily got dropped off at the wrong terminal so we had to run about 1/4 mile with our heavy bags. That was easily the most exercise I've gotten in quite a while. Here's a picture of the damage to the rental. I really wish I would've gotten a picture of the beautiful bus driver named Norma wearing a Detroit Tigers jersey with a permed mullet, long nose hairs and a beard to go with it, smoking cigarette after cigarette while we waited. I miss her already.
We got home Thursday night at 12:30am (so technically Friday morning) and I had to leave for Vegas about 12 hours later to meet up with Trey. That night BYU lost their game so we drove home the next day and hit the worst snow storm I've ever been in. Unfortunately, we were in the worst car possible and eventually our tires wouldn't even grip anymore. Guys tried to push us, but finally gave up when a cop showed up and called a tow truck. We waited for over two hours in our car off to the side of the freeway for the truck to come. When he finally showed up, he told us he had to go pull someone out of a ditch real quick but would be back shortly. An hour later, he came to our rescue, but couldn't pick up our car because he already had one. So he dropped us off at our hotel (which is a miracle in itself because all hotels were booked and they opened up a church for people to sleep at) and told us he'd go get our car and bring it to the hotel. After waiting two more hours in the hotel room (which had no hot water) our car arrived. We eventually made it home safely the next day. When we waited in the car for the tow, all we had to eat for dinner was donuts, cheetos and red bull...so heathly. Here's Trey having the time of his life...
The details of these stories could go on forever but I summarized big time. I'm very glad last week is over and don't want to go on vacation for a long time now. I could, however, use a spa treatment pronto.

Avatar on Ice

I know the Olympics are over, but did anyone else think the girl (Meryl Davis) from the USA team looked like an Avatar on Ice?

Pawned off

I am uninspired by last night's ridiculous episode and I have more important things to do, like pack for Arizona and run a basketball league tonight. Plus, all that comes to mind when I recall the episode is Jake dancing on the streets of St. Lucia with Gia. Took me back to some strange Mexican Middle School moves. If you want to be entertained by someone else's commentary (which is scarily my identical thoughts), read this.

I can't wait for this season to be over.

Jake your tears are fake

Who else was extremely disappointed with last night's episode? For me, it was lacking in the drama that The Bachelor is typically used to so they ended up focusing all their air time on Ali's weeping and wailing. Once upon a time I liked Ali. Now I hate her. The end. In the beginning, Ali was in my top 2. I thought I had good judgment, but after watching her last night I have lost all credibility. I used to think she was pretty. Now all I see is bean teeth, a witch nose, and messy ponytails. Poor girl lost respect that took her weeks to earn in less than 5 minutes. I feel like she came to Jake with her ultimatum hoping he would beg her to stay. Why are the producers allowing this Ed/Jillian repeat? Been there, done that. But please, Ali, do not come back like Ed did.

First home date...Gia. Is her brother a Jersey Shore guido or what? And her poor mother with that intuition that is going to prove to be dead wrong next Monday. Sorry mama Gia but you're a bit off just like your Taro cards. Who else thinks Gia and Ellen Pompeo could be sisters of a different ethnicity? It's that creepy joker mouth. My final observation of Gia...save the cheesy lines with Jake for a 1990's Meg Ryan movie...ie: "Ever been kissed on a stoop?...No...Should we change that?" or "Is it okay to fall?" Sure, if I can kick you while you're down there.

Tenley is easily my pick for Jake and I'd be surprised if anybody disagrees with me. There really isn't much competition at this point. They are both just so nice. Tenley would make a better Relief Society President than I ever would, I'm pretty sure of that. If only we could just erase that awkward dance she choreographed for Jake.

Vienna Vienna Vienna. What can I say about you? Maybe that I think you're a tranny. Or that your hair extensions look ridiculous. Or that you would not have made it past the first rose ceremony if I was the bachelor. Or that you put out more than any other girl, which might be the reason you're still here. In short, I don't like you. I didn't like Jillian either though and Jake was in love with her.

As much as I love the Bachelor, I'm almost ready for this season to be over so we can start a new one. If Michelle was still here, I might be more into it. She was great, wasn't she?

Talk to Me

I went back and read a few of my old Bachelor blogs and it made me feel kinda sad (and a little pathetic) that I'm not doing it this time around. Cause you know I'm watching. Are you? How do you feel? Hating Vienna yet? Do tell.