Girl's Weekend in Houston

It was such a fun and exciting weekend this weekend! My oldest and dearest friend turned the big 29. Friday night a group of us met at Pappadeaux for a nice celebratory dinner. It was a nice date night, and I was excited that Todd got to come with me for a change. The food was delicious...we hadn't been there in almost a year, and of the course the company and conversation were wonderful.

The girl's and I left early Saturday morning to embark on part 2 of the celebration. We went to Houston and spent some time shopping on Harwin street and took a trip to the Galleria. Later in the afternoon, we checked into our hotel, the JW Marriott, which was conveniently located right across the street from the Galleria. Hillary and I have stayed there a few times. We had a nice big room with super comfy beds. We relaxed a while before we made our way to the Houston Pavillions. We had 8:00 reservations for Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. We thought it might be something fun and interesting to do, plus Hillary loves that kind of stuff so we decided to try it. We got there a little bit early and got a personal tour of the bar and the House of Blues next door by the very nice manager Dexter. He also took the photo of us above, gave us the best seats in the house, and stopped by to see how we were doing several times. Talk about good service!

We had a fun time at the piano bar, but after about 10:00 p.m., the piano players as well as the drunken crowd were getting a little wild and crazy. The noise was getting to me, so we decided to make our exit. We went downstairs to Guadalajara Del Centro which was absolutely delicious! A definite new favorite place. The whole area looked really nice. We will have to visit it again sometime when we go back to Houston.

The next morning, we got up pretty early and headed out for another day of shopping. We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and even stopped off at the famous Crave Cupcakes for a Sunday afternoon treat-Yum! My favorite new discovery was the newly opened Charming Charlie's in the Galleria. It is a huge accessories store that has EVERYTHING and it is sorted by color. It is a girly girl heaven.

We had a great time, great food, great shopping, and great bonding. I can't wait for our next trip. I think we are going to Canton Trade days for my birthday...another new adventure!

Baby Fever

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."

I haven't updated in a while, but I have found myself to be sitting here alone on a Thursday night while Todd is working and rejoicing that yet another friend has announced her pregnancy. While I am rejoicing, I also find myself a little sad and wistful thinking why couldn't it be me. Lately I have been really struggling with the overwhelming desire to be a mother and absolute impatience and at times despair waiting for it to happen.
Most of you that follow me know that last February, after what seemed like years of planning, Todd and I were so excited to learn that we were expecting. The idea of being first time parents was so wonderful that we starting picking out names and nursery furniture almost immediately. We felt that finally we would begin this wonderful family and were so sure that having a baby would be one of the most amazing adventures of our entire lives.
About 8 weeks in I had my first ultrasound and the results were not good. After 3 weeks of being in limbo, many ultrasounds and dr. appointments later, and not knowing whether the pregnancy was viable, we found out that we would not be having a baby anymore. After the shock and devastation wore off, as well as the pain and discomfort of surgery, there was still the burning desire to be a mother.
So, here I am and what feels like months later still desperately wanting to become pregnant and experience motherhood. I am trying to relax and enjoy the journey knowing that in God's perfect timing, I feel sure that we will have the baby that we are so longing for. But, it is hard to not feel discouraged as one after another people all around you are being blessed with beautiful healthy babies.
I am hoping being able to blog about this may help sort out these feelings, and I ask for everyone's prayers for a healthy happy pregnancy when the time is right.