A Message from Shelby...

HAPPY RODEO SEASON!!

LET THE GOOD TIMES BEGIN!!

Round 1 & 2 starts this weekend at Cook Off.... then I'll see Janet Jackson (LOL) and Zac Brown Band! I'm holding out hope to see Keith Urban too.... Yehaw everyone!!

E for Effort

First off, let me say that I am SOOOO relaxed. I just had my hour long massage that Josh got me for my birthday and it was AMAZING. I have such a hard time relaxing it seems, and this was just what the doctor ordered. Thank you so much Josh!!


Now that that's out of the way...let's discuss Valentines....


So, each year we take turns planning Valentine's Day. It's not a big gift day for us, more like an activity or dinner. Last year I planned a couple's painting day at Painting with a Twist. We could bring our own food and wine, it was fun! Look, Josh was pretty good at painting! The year before that, Josh planned a trip to Messina Hof Winery.


So this year, Josh surprised me with tickets to Houston's Natural Science Museum. The event was called "Love Bugs" for Valentine's Day. The flyer said something along the lines of "all-inclusive romantic evening with appetizers, cocktails and music." $60 a couple, including drinks, food, museum tour...that's what we read anyways!

We get there and peep around to see a couple bartenders set up with beer and wine and such... with pricing for each. Hmm..?? Ok, fine, alcohol isn't included AND you have to pay cash. If you know Josh, you know this was like cutting him with a knife, not only does he have to scratch his plan to drink for free all night, he also has to pay an ATM fee to pull cash, Josh HATES those fees with a passion. I kept smiling and saying it's ok, and we agreed 'Oh well.'




So they open the doors at 7pm, we walk into the main area and the loudest salsa band EVER is playing music, right under the skeleton of a life size Tyranasaurus Rex, no lie. We laughed but went straight for the appetizers, it was 7 after all...we usually have already eaten by then, like 2 hours before then. Haha.

Band/T-Rex

BEHOLD. OUR APPETIZERS on the "ROMANTIC VALENTINES NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM"



Yes, you are seeing that right, it's BallPark HotDogs, relish, ketchup and a pot of queso!! Josh and I are beyond words. Our romantic night out, where Josh actually wore slacks and a button up without complaint, we were to eat hotdogs and cold buns, nasty bag chips and Velveta. FAIL FAIL FAIL.


We ended up getting 2 beers each, eating the heck out of some hotdogs and having a pretty good time/laugh about it. How in the WORLD would you have gathered that from the flyer. Josh felt so bad but it was SO funny and obviously not his fault. We even ran into a friend from college who politely said "the hot dogs threw me for a loop too." He was pissed, but he didn't want to show it to his date.


Lesson: Never ASSume anything, like all-inclusive means you don't have to pay anything more. Don't assume that. And, that 'appetizers' means crackers/cheese, fruit or finger sandwiches. Nope. Hot dogs. Not even pigs in a blanket, full fledged hot dogs from Minute Maid Park probably.


I love Josh so much for thinking of this even if it didn't go to plan! We did get up close and personal to some pretty butterflies in the rainforest garden. I'll leave you with some pics!

The Number Twelve

There are lots of interesting things about the number twelve. Twelve days of Christmas, The 12 Disciples of Christ, the 12 zodiac signs (or did that change?). For me, it's been a dozen months of heartache.

I never thought I would be entering the 12 month of trying for something that comes really easy to a lot of people I know. Twelve months of high hopes and then dreams crushed. Twelve months of strain and growth in my relationship with Josh. It's SO hard to put into words...I'm really having a hard to explaining everything so this is kind of my stream of conscienceness post.

I realize there are couples that have stuggled to concieve a lot longer than us. I also realize that HEY it could happen this month! But most of my optimism has left the building. I have some really great friends who know exactly what I'm going through, and I seriously would have jumped off the deep end without them. When you're ready, you're ready, you know??

So as of now, he's checked out and I have charted, had blood work, HSG tests (ow.), ultrasounds and scans and been on fertility drugs.All NO FUN. I hate it. It was supposed to be fun and exciting and not so scientific and stressful. Taking your temp every morning for a year?? Ugh. All I think about is "what the heck is wrong with me??"

Thanks for listening to my rant and pity party. Luckily, my friend found a prayer and support group at her church and I'll start going to that to help with the saddness. I am so blessed to have great friends who care about me and are rooting for us! One day I'll look back at this post and say, "It was all worth it!"