My first 2019 review got longer than anticipated, so I divided the year in half. Be sure to check out the first half of 2019 in this post.
Both summaries include links to my Instagram posts (where I’ve remained active) for further details, when they’re available. A few items, especially in part one, also include links to blog posts. All links below are to my own material.
Now, without further ado, let’s get to the summary! This post starts with July 2019:
Continue reading
April 2019 was the last time I was consistent on my blog, and a lot has happened since then. I got burned out and overwhelmed, so I needed to take a break from blogging. My life has continued to burn me out and overwhelm me, but from a blogging perspective I’m feeling more like myself again!
To help catch everyone up on life’s happenings, I wanted to do a summary of 2019. No matter how “quick” I try to make these, they always end up long. This post will be January through June, and part two will be up next week. These summaries will include links to my Instagram posts (where I’ve remained active) for further details, when they’re available. A few items, especially earlier in 2019, will also include links to blog posts. All links in this article are to my own material.
Continue reading
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Valentine’s Day has developed a bad reputation nowadays, likely due to how commercialized it has gotten and that it’s marketed purely as a romantic holiday. However, it doesn’t have to be either of those. As I talked about in this post, Valentine’s Day in my family was always celebrated as a day to be thankful for everyone you love in your life. Sure, it sucked being at school surrounded by couples “in love” (or pretending to be) when I was single, but when I got home we’d celebrate as a family!
Today’s post is going to be a quick how-to guide for how to celebrate Valentine’s Day with anyone and make it special! None of these ideas require you to spend a lot of money. In fact, with some creativity, these ideas can be completely free!
Continue reading
Ten years ago, on December 15th in 2008, this handsome man and I went on our first date. I’d already fallen for him pretty hard by then, but school had been pretty busy so we were both distracted until the semester ended. The semester ended, he did “ski camp” (the ski team went to one of the local resorts for a few days), and then came home and showered. Once he got out of the shower, he asked me to go see a movie, and on the way to the movie he asked me to be his girlfriend and we officially started dating.
I’ve always hated the phrases “online friends” and “friends in real life.” Sure, back when the internet was first getting popular for social uses, all your internet friends were “friends in real life,” and it felt necessary to differentiate between people you enjoyed talking to (usually anonymously) in chat rooms or on forums versus people you knew and socialized with offline. But, that’s not how the internet works anymore.
I know several people who met their now-spouses (or serious significant others) online, and many of us with disabilities find that a majority of our social lives take place online. Via this blog and my associated Instagram account, I’ve met some amazing people and have greatly expanded my world. My sister went on a foreign exchange program while doing her bachelor’s degree and made friends from all over the world, and I used to be jealous of that. However, I’ve realized that I have close friendships with people from all over the world, as well. Granted, a majority of the people I’m close to are from the USA, but I have good friends in other countries even though chatting with them is more difficult due to time zones. When I think about it, my sister is probably the only person I know “in real life” that has friends that are more spread out than I do.
Continue reading
Twenty-eight years and nine months without a broken bone. But, I can no longer say that “I’ve never broken a bone.”
What happened? Well, if you’re following my Instagram, you have a vague idea of what’s been going on. But, I’ll tell the whole story here.
The week before Thanksgiving week, Thanksgiving week, and the first weekend of December were extremely busy. (USA’s Thanksgiving was November 22, 2018.) And that’s when the entire story starts.
You will rarely, if ever, hear me say “they’re my best friend.” Instead, you’ll hear “they’re one of my best friends,” or similar. Why? There are several reasons, and I’m afraid this post is going to be very long, so buckle up!
My menstrual cycle came on September 12th. I just sighed, and put in my menstrual cup. No underwear was ruined, even though it started while I was sleeping. Why? When the spotting started, I started wearing pads. I always spot for at least a few days before my period starts. “Now that’s not optimistic” may be what you’re thinking. And, you’re right.
Yes, I’ve heard of “implantation bleeding.” I’ve also read that many of us spot before our periods start, so that the only way to tell the difference is if you end up with no menstrual cycle and a positive pregnancy test after the bleeding. Trust me, I Googled the heck out of it when I first started trying to conceive.
The cycle that started on the 12th of September will be our 17th cycle since we started trying to conceive. Seventeen negatives. Seventeen negatives without any explanations. And I’m starting to go numb to the entire process. I need to.
Since we’ve been struggling to get pregnant for over a year now, we had some testing done. I did mention it a little in this post: Being One in Eight is Heartbreaking.
Image: Fertility Answers
Dan had a semen analysis done, and I had an HSG. A semen analysis is what you would expect, they have you bring in a semen sample, then analyze it. An HSG is an invasive test to check for any blockages in my system. They insert a tube through my cervix, then push a dye through so that it fills my uterus and spills out of my Fallopian tubes into my abdominal cavity. Blockages or an oddly shaped uterus can both be detected using this test.
Quotations are the lyrics for “The Good Parts” by Andy Grammer.
I’m sorry if I seem impatient
I’m not a fan of pleasantries
See, I get bored with the weather and what’s in the news
The topics we all hide beneath
Small talk is not a strong suite of mine. It makes me awkward. I don’t like to talk about the news at all, because I don’t watch it (it’s always so dang negative). The weather is the weather, and boring to talk about – I also love pretty much all weather to some degree, while most people want to complain about it. Continue reading
Finding Life's Silver Sun 