Beginning the Journey of PCOS

This may be a little bit of TMI but honestly, I don't care as it's my blog and if you're reading it, you're making the decision to do so.

So for most of my life, I've been a bit.... irregular.  No big deal, it's normal. In the recent weeks I've actually learned HOW normal it is.  Like a 1 in 20 women normal.  Anyway, after a BUNCH of blood tests, I learned that I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). It's not quite as bad for me as for some people.  I have a lot less of the male hormone than a lot of PCOS women.  But I have enough which is causing my body to freak out a little bit.

I was lucky to meet an amazing group of women at Pacific Northwest Fertility who are going to help me along my journey to finally getting pregnant (and having the baby stick, rather than miscarry).  I've taken the first steps by getting into an exercise routine and losing 11lbs in the first month.  That's an amazing accomplishment for me.  I've been overweight for a long time.  Granted not SUPER overweight but enough that it was increasing my blood pressure and some of my numbers.  I then did some googling (WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER DO- I'm working hard to stop as it's causing me more anxiety and making me distrust my own physician's diagnoses) and learned about PCOS and how many overweight women develop something called Insulin Resistance which is pretty much prediabetes.  I decided that I don't want that to happen to me so I took it as a sign and jumped on the exercising bandwagon and began the 5K101. Just doing that three times a week combined with my usual day to day activities has gotten me to lose enough weight to drop my BP back to normal and regulate most of my numbers to put me back into the healthy range. I am still a little overweight but I overall feel great and I plan to continue exercising until I reach my goal weight.

Another thing that I think is rather unusual for me is my faith.   I grew up with really no education about religion or God.  I just learned what I could from friends and of course, the Internet.  I had a phase where I didn't believe in God, to where I believed in some sort of a power and now to where I am at this moment.  During all the testing and anxiety that I was feeling in the last few weeks, I found myself sitting on the bed rocking myself and crying because I was so scared of hearing bad news (due to googling everything which is why I say to STOP).  Finally, I just tried praying for I think the first time (aside from what they had us do in preschool and the superficial prayers). I don't know if that's what did it but I felt such a sense of relief and comfort.  I know I'm going to get knocked for saying these things but I feel better because I feel like I am going to be taken care of.  Not that Mike doesn't do a terrific job taking care of me but you know what I mean.  Sometimes, you just need that extra support and I feel like I have it.

The Right Thing

At lunch today, I was talking to Mike about how badly I feel for this homeless man who sleeps under the awning of the building behind ours. I have the want to leave him a jug of water and some food but I'm afraid of turning this business into a homeless haven by leaving it there.  Another thing is that if for whatever reason the guy DOESN'T sleep there, the food I leave will just be sitting there for the owners of the business to see the next day and then it might get the man in trouble for sleeping there.  They open around 10am so I could possibly get there before they open in the event that the man doesn't come by. I just feel so terrible when I see him come up late at night and I'm sure he can see into our apartments and see people eating and drinking and having themselves a good time without giving it another thought.  I don't want to go down there at night because I don't know this person and it might not be safe for me.  I definitely have to put that thought ahead of all others.

I know I shouldn't feel bad for what I have because we worked hard to get here.  At the same time though, no one knows why the homeless man is living the way that he is.  I know most of the shelters here are full to capacity leaving a lot of homeless people no other option but to sleep outside.  I have purchased copies of Real Change before and we have given our leftovers to homeless people before.  We have also given money on certain occasions.  I know we are helping in some ways by doing out part but I can't explain why I feel so empathetic towards this one man in particular. I haven't even seen him up close.  I have only seen him from my window either setting up camp under one of the covered parking spots or the awning of the building.

I know what I want to do but is it necessarily the right thing to do?

It's been a long time....

I really let this fall onto the backburner.  I never mean to but forcing myself into a schedule also never works. A good friend told me to write when I'm inspired and she was right.  I should write only when inspired because then you will get more fulfilling blog posts rather than half-assed boring drivel. However, because of the amount of time that has passed since my last update, this will probably be a little bit all over the place.  But those of you that truly know me, know that I'm already all over the place so why not have my blog post do the exact same thing? :)

So what has happened in the last few months? We have fully moved into our place, we have done a small bit of traveling to Florida to see a couple of great friends get hitched.  I even got to film the entire wedding and highlights of the reception. I do need to put that together.  Perhaps I will start that soon.

As much as I used to say I miss Florida, I decided that I don't miss Florida as much as I miss my family (and by family I also include the couple of friends that I consider to be my family). I occasionally miss my friends but I know that the distance definitely puts a damper on the connections I made and therefore, I seldom keep in touch with quite a few people.  I suppose after awhile of being the person people come to only when bored, it takes its toll and you just don't see them in the same light as you used to. There are those couple that I REALLY need to contact but that will have to wait until I get my phone back.  I'm still happy at where life has lead me thus far and I truly look forward to what my future will hold. It promises to be exciting!

Mike asked me the other day where I would like to live in the end and it surprised me when I said I want to live here. The only other state I would seriously consider is California because of family and friends living out there, and the people I enjoy watching on YouTube do lots of meet ups and go to events down there.  I think it would be fun.  Really though, I have a few other places I want to explore around Seattle but so far, from the places I've been, I really would love to settle down in Tumwater.  It's not only beautiful but from what I've researched, one of the more affordable places in Washington to live.  Maybe one day...

I miss my dad.  He moved to the Philippines a couple of weeks ago to retire.  Makes things really tough because now I know when I visit Florida, he won't be there. My dad and I get along so well and I hate the idea of going there and not seeing him.  As it is, it's pricey enough to travel to and from Florida but now to add a whole new location to the list? It's so overwhelming.  I know that Mike will do anything in his power to help me to see him. I'm grateful for Skype and its ability to let me physically see my father even if we aren't in the same country anymore.

Last thing I want to mention for right now is that I'm SUPER excited about going to Mt. Rainier for my birthday/anniversary August 3-5. We are staying at the Alta Crystal Resort in the honeymoon cabin which is simply amazing.  I cannot wait at all for this trip! July better fly on by!

Anyway, that is all for now.  Love you all.

Hot Lava and Zero Visibility

Today was an adventurous day-- so many dangerous obstacles! While apartment hunting we encountered the ferocious hot lava and survived! We fought our way through the fog and found ourselves no longer homeless!  Okay, so we did have a couple hurdles as we lost miserably to some terrible henchmen and an evil doctor... (Just kidding, it's only a board game).

Okay, okay, I know, we were never homeless.  However we now have two homes! At least until April 7th.  What do I mean? Well, the answer is simple.  We paid our deposits and got a brand new one year lease at a beautiful apartment in the wonderful South Lake Union at Rollin Street Flats. Yes, I know this is a little pricer BUT! We got a terrific moving in bonus! Not only do we get the first two weeks free, but we also got the one unit that in total (including parking and pets) winds up cheaper than our current apartment (which is wayyyy smaller) because renewing our lease will add $200 to our rent on top of the $220/month parking.  So yes, we are officially saying goodbye to Harbor Steps.

We have already put a few items into the new place.... we are going to slowly move our stuff by ourselves until we get the majority of our small stuff over there. Hopefully it won't take forever and a day to do so.

Where did the Space Needle go? Nobody knows....

There it is! (View from the terrace on our floor which is directly in front of you when you get off the elevators)

Hot Lava Survival Map

Kitchen!

Gas stove!

So excited about this place!

Awesome sink and European style cabinets.

Our leasing agent Nick, showing me how the A/C works. 

One angle of the bedroom

Closet view of bedroom

Awesome sink and vanity area!

This is the first apartment I've seen that comes with full sized front load washers and dryers! 

Big tub with a large shower head (that Mike will probably hit his head on.... darn tall people!:) )

Mike's man cave (aka the den)

It's Friday, Friday...

Hi! Yes, I know, I haven't posted in awhile.  I do apologize. I suppose it's something that I should have expected as I have never actually been able to keep up any journal or diary I ever had. The fact that I decided to post now is amazing in itself!

Quite a bit has happened since I was last on here.  I suppose I will start with last Saturday.  We all (and by we all I mean Casey, Jenn, Mike and myself) trekked out to Bothell for Brandon's birthday party.  Lots of fun was had by all! It was a pot luck style party so I brought over some mini cup cakes.  They were consumed really quickly so I was happy for that! After dinner, we played some Cards Against Humanity.  If you've played Apples to Apples, then you'll pick up on this because it's the exact same game play.  However, the topics on the cards are for horrible people.  Seriously... the tag line is "A Game for Horrible People." I definitely don't advise playing amongst children or anyone who is overly sheltered because they may get either offended or just not understand the game. We all enjoy it though!

Sunday we didn't do a whole lot.  Talked to Mike's parents on Google Hangout which is a lot like Skype only you can talk to multiple people at once.  We have a pretty nice time too.  We all get on our iPads and play games such as Ticket to Ride, Ascension, Carcassonne and Penny Arcade. We always enjoy our time on it and it kind of makes us feel like we are actually with the family when we can play games together virtually.

The week wasn't all too exciting.  Monday-Thursday was spent catching up on the TV shows I missed throughout the previous week.  I always enjoy catch up time as we don't have cable so I rely on the iPad apps for the channels. We are almost at a year now without cable and I can honestly say that I don't really miss it.  With the exception of a few shows that don't play online (and for those we just buy the season pass on Amazon and watch them as they air), I really haven't missed it much. The time I used to spend watching TV is now spent being more productive.  I either read, or take care of my apartment, catch up with friends etc.

So this brings us up to Friday.  Today, I made an appointment with Nick at Rollin Street Flats to look at the unit we are interested in.  With all that we need for it, the rent comes out to only $20 or so more than we pay at our current place, but for almost 200 square feet more.  Just thinking about the place makes me SOOOO excited to move! And I hate moving! But because we live so close to it, We will be doing it ourselves for the most part... Packing a few boxes, taking them over, unpacking them, bringing the boxes back and repeating until all the small stuff is moved.  Then, we will hire actual movers for the large pieces of furniture.  Lots of cool things in store for the future! I hope you're as ready for the ride as I am!

The Seattle Great Wheel lit up red for Heart Cancer awareness.

            

View of the Denny Way Hill and Seattle Times from Greg and Jill's apartment balcony.  We will more than likely share a similar view only way lower to the ground so you may only see a portion of the hill in fact.

Last Saturday afternoon we went to LunchBox Laboratory where Mike ordered this burger called The Burger of the Gods.  It was GIGANTIC! I ordered a sandwich called the Churken (Chicken and Turkey) which was not as big but definitely tasted EXCELLENT.

Some of the awesome decor at LunchBox Laboratory!

Caught MeMe being all inappropriate!!! Look at that look she's giving me!

If you follow me on Facebook, you probably saw this photo.  Rosie took over Mike's desk!

MeMe and I watched The Bachelor together!

Talk to you guys later!!! Enjoy your weekend! <3

Yay

THE HOUSE WAS SOLD TODAY! Enough said for this blog.

Decisions, Decisions

Mike and I's lease is coming up soon so we are contemplating between two new apartments. Rollin Street Flats and AMLI 535.

Rollin Street is definitely our top choice as it is very modern and up to date with gas ranges, European style kitchens, hardwood floors and best of all, central A/C and heating! The con to that is the price.  It's way more expensive than what we currently pay for our apartment.  Regardless of the cost, Mike and I are in love with the units we saw and have our hearts pretty well set on moving there. The only thing that could change our minds is if the unit we are looking at at AMLI meets and exceeds our expectations. The one there is a 2bed/2bath model at 923 sq. ft.  The Rollin Street Unit is also about the same square footage but with a den instead of a second bedroom.  However, AMLI does not have the hardwood floors nor does it have A/C.  However, the lay out is wonderful and the cost is significantly cheaper than what we pay currently.

So why such contemplation over a decision that should be clear as day? Well, because Mike and I are stubborn and again, have fallen in love with the pricer deal. We have appointments on Feb. 2, to look at the unit at AMLI (the UNION model) we are interested in.  If we like the walkthrough, we may end up going that route. Time will tell!

Short n Sweet!

One of the only downsides to not having a job and keeping a blog is that there isn't all that much to report on an average day.  Sometimes, I feel inspired and come up with a topic but others, like tonight, I just don't have the energy to even try.  Which is sad because I really didn't do all that much!

When Mike and I got back from Florida, we agreed to set up a menu for meals for the week so that I don't have to plan everything completely on my own.  I must say that I absolutely LOVE this plan because it allows us to both have a say in what is for dinner or lunch and the burden is not placed on one person (namely me because in the past, when I asked Mike what he wanted, the answer was usually, "I don't know"). So here we are at week three of keeping a menu and I can say with complete confidence that my culinary skills have been rocking lately! Not to mention that because we plan on Sundays, for the week, we have a lot more fresh options which limits the pre-packaged meals and makes for much healthier dinners. 

Today was one of the warmer days.  Warmed up to the mid 40s in fact.  I know that most of my audience is probably from Florida and right now, must think I'm nuts but hear me out! Temperature here is so much different from temperature there.  I will admit that 60 degrees in Florida feels way colder than 60 degrees here.  Why? Because Florida has more clear days and Seattle has more cloudy days.  I think the clouds create a barrier and therefore it stays rather comfortable even if the temperature is below 50.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't go out in shorts out here when it is 50 degrees out.   I wouldn't dare do that in Florida though! And yes, while Seattle is cloudy more and slightly drizzly, that's about the extent of the "rainy" weather.  People allow themselves to believe what the TV says about a certain place and that's it.  Nevermind the fact that the places in question have people living there that know what they are talking about when it comes to the climate. I can't tell you how many people in Florida still ask how the rain is and when I tell them we average less rain a year than Orlando does, they proceed to tell me how wrong I am.  I challenge any one of you to come out here for a year and see it for yourselves!

Good Move!

I don't often allow myself to read the news because it either scares or depresses me. However, lately, and by lately I mean since moving to Seattle, I check it more regularly. I think it's partially because I'm not 100% familiar with the area and eventually, I would like to leave the city and I sort of rely on the news to tell me what areas seem safe, entertaining and affordable. Of course, living in downtown, I'd say a large portion of the state is plenty affordable seeing as we pay nearly $2500 a month to live here in the middle of everything.

Anyway, the point of this post is that out of all of the downtown areas we looked at, I'm SOOOOO glad we chose (and continue to choose) places other than Belltown. For awhile, we were seriously considering it because it was close to Mike's office, had a lot of apartments, lots of restaurants and tons of entertainment but after reading the news, it's one of the areas of downtown that has constant crime issues.  Perhaps it's because it's filled with bars and clubs so the amount of drunk people wandering about is higher.  I honestly don't know but I'm happy we aren't staying there.  When we first moved, our temporary apartment was right in the center of Belltown.  It felt relatively safe in the beginning because we seldom ventured out. When our things arrived to our actual apartment, we walked from the temporary place to our current place to unpack but because we had so much to do, we opted to stay at the temporary place until we were able to set up our apartment to at least be livable. So that meant walking to the current apartment in the morning which was completely fine but then walking back at night which was when I started to feel uncomfortable.  We never had any problems but it was just a gut feeling I had.

You see, in downtown Seattle, there are a lot of homeless people.  Most of them are harmless and leave you entirely alone but you have those few that are just relentless.  Granted, we've seen our fair share in this part of downtown too that can be annoying but on average, we are just fine walking just about anywhere in the business district without being bothered too much.  But in Belltown, you have the homeless, and then the drunks.  Just this morning, I read about this. For no apparent reason, some guy was just shot.  Yes, there wasn't a full story to report so in time, we may find that there was a motive behind the shooting but as of right now, it appears that it was for no reason. One could argue that there is crime just about everywhere.  Yes, that is true.  But I sure as hell don't want to be living in that area just steps away from it all.  And while crimes do happen here too, the amount is so small that I feel safe if I walk to Target which is a couple blocks away at 9pm. Seattle as a whole is still one of the safer big cities but I think the crimes are beginning to add up and the reputation of being so safe is starting to get compromised.

Don't get me wrong though! I would still say that the downtown area is a fine place to live.  I just recommend picking places other than Belltown!

Uneventful Day of Chores

T-minus 2 days (or technically 1 day) until we close on the house! Yay!

Since today was MLK Day, we couldn't get too much information regarding the current status for closing as far as times and details like that.  As far as we know, everything is still set to take place on Wednesday so I am really glad for that.  Cannot wait until we are finally rid of it. While I miss Florida, I'm so ready to no longer have a financial tie to the place.

Today was just a regular week day for me.  Woke up, did some house chores, started on the laundry, cooked dinner and now I'm winding down for the night.  I did give Mike a hair cut today.  Cut it shorter since in April, he plans to shave his head completely bald.  Like, shiny bald! Not sure how it'll look but I know he wants to see what it will look like and since his hair appears to grow quickly, I think it'll be back to relatively normal length by the end of the year.  One can hope anyway! :)

Something I don't think I can ever get used to out here is the intense fog.  Like right now, I can barely see the Great Wheel which is giant and right in front of the apartment building.  It's THAT intense! According to the weather channel, we are experiencing something called "stagnant air" that will hopefully dissipate once rains return later in the week.  

I guess that's all for my update.  I'm thinking I may try to take photos daily and upload those to my blog, especially when nothing particularly interesting goes on.  That way, you aren't reading a boring recap of my day.

So with that, some photos from today! And yes, I'm aware that Mike seldom takes normal pictures :)

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to Olympia We Went!

I really need to make it a point to type a little something up while it still is the day I am posting about.  Definitely something I will work on!

Today was such a fun day.  Started with waking up, getting ready and then driving the hour south to Tumwater to spend time with our near and dear friends, Jacob and Suzanne.  It has been SO long since I had seen Suzanne.... about six months! It was great to see her and Jacob.  They're like an extended part of our family and I wouldn't have it any other way! If money allows in the future, I want to move closer to them and Tumwater is such a beautiful city.

After we got to their house, we loaded up in Jacob's car and drove the quick ten minutes or so to Olympia to have lunch at King Solomon's Reef.  I'd say the highlight of that little trip happened at a red light near the restaurant. A crazy lady was crossing the street and she flicked us off for no apparent reason.  Had we not all had looks of shock on our faces, I bet one of us would have pulled out a camera to snap of photo of psycho bitch.  Definitely a sign that you're in crazy, quirky Olympia!

Lunch was delicious.  I had what I consider to be the best veggie omelette I've ever eaten. We will definitely visit it again the next time we are in Olympia (which isn't too often as it is an hour away and traffic within Seattle can be a little crazy).

After we got back to their house, the boys went and played around writing music and such while Suzanne baked some amazing Oatmeal cookies.  The best thing about that part was our girl chat.  I love our talks.  She is one of the best listeners ever and offers great opinions and advice.  We tend to bounce a lot of our emotions and opinions off on each other since we both kind of understand what the other feels as we moved across the country for our spouses, In the end, we both walk away feeling great about what we talked about. Couldn't ask for a better person to share feelings and emotions with.

Jacob cooked us an amazing dinner; portobello mushroom steaks and a pasta alfredo.  Super delicious and a recipe I plan to replicate in the very near future.  I love new things and it was probably one of the most flavorful mushroom dishes I've ever eaten-- and the fact that Mike enjoyed it too makes it worth keeping around.

After dinner, we played this board game called Alhambra. I actually heard about it on this show on YouTube called TableTop with Wil Wheaton.  He has quite a few games on there that he records and puts up so people like us can see the gameplay and decide from that, whether or not we may be interested in a game.  It's so entertaining to watch and actually makes me want to expand our game library.

The drive home was pretty quick as it was pretty late on a Sunday so traffic wasn't much of a concern.  It got really foggy making visibility poor in some areas but we made it safe and sound.  Now, I'm pretty well unwound and ready for a nice and peaceful slumber.  Talk to you guys tomorrow!

Happy Holidays... oh.. whut?

I already have a feeling that I'm going to bad at this.  Mike had to remind me to post a new entry.  I almost passed as I am exhausted having only gotten a few hours of sleep last night.

Today was a nice day, minus having woken up to my obnoxious neighbor talking and singing at the top of his lungs.  I can honestly say that I really dislike of this person.  I often wonder if maybe the walls are thin and we might come off just as loud at times.  I'm not sure. We rarely hear our other neighbor and I don't feel like we are super loud unless one of us gets excited, but we can hear this idiot pretty much whenever he is at home and awake.  Oh well, we are only here for another full month before we begin moving into the new place (once we decide for certain where that is).

So anyways, where was I before I went off on that tangent.  Oh! I was talking about today.  We worked on a new Film Fight. This prompt was titled, "Open" and well, you will just have to wait and see what we decided to do.  I must say, I am very excited for this one.  I'm getting over my camera shyness and played a pretty fun character.  I used to not be as involved with these film fights but I am slowly getting out of my shell and really enjoying the challenges they come up with.  It's a good test of the imagination and the best of all is being able to do these with Mike.  We don't really have that much common ground when it comes to hobbies.... so the fact that I'm opening up to more of his interests helps us spend more time together.

Soon after that, we loaded ourselves up in the Light Rail and headed off to the Clink (Century Link) Stadium and to the WaMu Theater for Amazon's annual holiday party (which they put off until mid January I think because so many people take vacation around the actual holidays). This company really knows how to put together a fun event! The theme was Around the World and it was very true to its name from the food and decor, all the way down to the entertainment.  They also had karaoke, arcades, foosball, air hockey, billiards and a casino.  Again, such an amazing party! Finally, the best part of the entire night was the band. They had Imagine Dragons performing! They did such a magnificent job! I can't wait to see them again the next time they come to Seattle.  I thought it was awesome of them to perform a special concert just for Amazon employees and their guests.  So a special thank you to Amazon's party planners for hosting such a fun event!

Now we are back home and winding down for the night. Tomorrow will be another day and hopefully another blog! But for now, I will leave you with some photos from tonight!

New Beginning...

Hello World! I'm not typically one for putting my life into words.  In fact, I'm not very good at it.  I always have the want to be good at it but simply put, I'm lazy. Really, I have no excuse for it as I no longer work and spend my days in the confines of my apartment with my three cats.  I'm like the crazy cat lady only I am married and have somewhat of a social life.  Or well, I used to.

Back in April of 2012, my life changed (not necessarily a bad thing, despite how this may come off). My husband, Mike, got a job with Amazon.  This meant us relocating from my home state of Florida of 22 years, to Seattle, Washington.  While this was a scary and sad time for me, it was also really good as well.  It got us out of our comfort zone of being 20 minutes away from family.  Why is this a good thing? I feel like it forced me to grow up a little more.  Living in the same place for so long sheltered me I think.  I've seen and learned so much about myself over the course of this year. Yes, I miss my family, my friends and even my old job at times, but I can honestly say that I am happy we moved.

Currently, we live in the heart of the business district of Seattle.  In just a couple of months, we will be moving to a new area, still in the same general area, but (hopefully, still have a few other places we want to check out first) to a place I have truly fallen in love with and can actually see myself living there for awhile.  I love the building we currently live in but I honestly cannot stand the location.  While city life is fun at times, I'm definitely a suburban girl and prefer that style of living. However, I feel happy with the choice we made of moving closer to Mike's work and out of the extremely busy downtown area.

Seattle definitely isn't as gloomy as people think.  Yes, it rains a lot but it isn't your typical rain.  It's a type of rain that you can walk around in for hours and not get very wet.  It is a lot colder... colder than this Florida girl is used to but once I learned the magic of layering, I've been able to put together some terrific outfits and even bust out the scarf and boots! I just need to learn how to wear beanies and I will be set! That, and relearn how to walk in ice rather than having my butt sliding down the side of the road.

Living here has definitely been a culture shock but it's also been an eye opener.  Mike loves it here and I am trying my best to love it too.  It really is a beautiful city and I'm lucky to be able to call it home.