Elder Victor Miller- Update-

My mother in law got this sweet email from a lady in Mesa. and attached these cute pictures. We miss him tons and he seriously looks like Wes, dont you think?

"Corrine, I just cut your amazing missionaries hair today! He is such a great boy! I asked him when his birthday was so I could make him a cake and he told me it was the 12th. So I invited him to dinner this Monday. I'm going to do take out at Costa Vida and a cake. What's his favorite? Texas sheet cake or what would be his favorite from home? He is so humble and so willing to serve and help who ever is in need. You have raised a great missionary!"
Kathy :)

Mission: Baby Miller

Wes and I had our first consultation with the RE, Dr. Hammoud at the University of Utah. I was so nervous all day long. I just had all the questions in my head, and they escaped me when I got there. He gave us a plan of action and, immediately, they took my blood. I hate needles and I am pretty certain the tech was thinking "OMG what a wuss!"

The best part of the meeting was with the M.A. just asking us questions like do we smoke, drink, how often we exercise..etc. Wes lied on his little answer sheet, the packet we get a month before the visit, and put NO and then when she asked him he said " I do drink, in fact I was drunk when I was filling out the paperwork" Haha!

The plan of action is to test my ovarian reserves and my thyroid, get my sonogram done and wes his semen analysis, all to be done the same week!  From there, assuming things are a go, we go on Clomid and push some extra eggies out. Im trying so hard not to get my hopes up to high and thinking that all that is needed to do the trick is the Clomid...but i hope so!

The U already had my blood results in the next day...to my relief- a good egg reserve and no thyroid problem.

A handful of friends knew we had this appointment coming up and asked me how it was, how I was doing, and offered me their ear. It made my day, and made me feel like I didnt have to struggle through this alone. Some of the girls are farther along in the treatment process, or a little more aggressive, and some of the girls just reached with genuine concern. Love them all!

My sonogram was quite the experience. When I got there initially and took a Midol about 20 minutes before hand, the MA let me know what to expect..speculum, dye, catheter in the uterus. But as soon as the fluid  starting going in, the pain was unbearable.

 The Dr said its apparent I have a sensitive uterus..uhm you think?

 Luckily, the clinic was so patient with me and let me finish the procedure...2.5 hours later. Again, such a wuss..but they had to sedate me with a cocktail of valium and lortab, they were even considering putting me to sleep but the drugs were the agreed method- i only had to go under once with anesthesia, and I was sick for days- I didn't want to miss any more work than I had to.

After 2 valium and 2 Lortab- I still felt the pain...and of course, being the boob I am, I was just crying - almost the whole time. My Mother in Law was such a big help, came and picked me up and took me to the pharmacy for antibiotics ( for an infection, cause i guess i bled quite a bit during the exam) and even bought me an eclair-cause thats what always makes me feel better , and Wes took the day off to tend to me since we weren't sure what my side effects would be with all the drugs. Cassie came over later that night and brought me ice cream and we had girl talk. Im so lucky to have such great support.

Now we just wait on Wes' swimmers test...the advice we got was he should bring headphones and bring other material..because all they had was Victoria's Secret catalogs. Hehe!

Last spring I started a private blog to help me get through this and document all my feelings...if you don't know how long we have been trying, its all here :
http://ourmillerbaby.blogspot.com/2012/04/emotions-of-it-all.html

How to feed a Family- Life Lesson #4,586

 Have you heard about this family of 6 where the Mother became a gestational carrier for her Sister-in-Laws babies? Yeah Babies with an S...- triplets!  No? Hmm...Well this story is true and its pretty amazing!
 _____

As most offices, during the Holidays, employees do some sort of gift exchange for one another. This year we did a white elephant. I ended up with something Star Wars that only Wes would appreciate. My gift I gave to the cause was a box of UNO cards and gloves, new gloves! not old gloves- what kind of person do you think I am?

 I also got this last minute idea to make these reindeer, for those who showed up the Friday before Christmas eve ,also seen on that thing called Pinterest.

For my Boss, though, I really wanted to go a little more above and beyond. He has been one of my better bosses, that's for sure. He also belongs to the ( wait for the big word) aforementioned family, and maybe he mentioned something about the lack of home cooked dinners as of late. This family is busy just being a family of 6- school aged children, a pre-schooler and a pre-toddler PLUS church callings and work. Oh wait- lets add, again, the Mother is carrying her sister in law's triplets. If there was a LOY (Lady of the Year) Award in Hollywood, it would definitely go to Jamie.

I knew I wanted to make more than just one meal for them, so I called  for reinforcements- Wesley's Mom! You know she is amazing! Plus she needed something to do and look forward to during the week, since Scott left for his 20 day work schedule in Elko. She always gets a little bummed as soon as he leaves, so cooking lifts her spirits, as well as service projects.

On my meal plan- Chicken Potpie with a Cheddar Crust and Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies with Mini Rolos, a twist on the Mini Reeses Cookies I did a few months ago.

The first thing I did was get their baking dish from them. I figured it would save some time and money on buying  those disposable aluminum pans, or from baking in my own dish and inconveniencing the family with having to clean it and return it. Jamie was smart, and gave me one with a lid!

 

Grocery shopping I went. I bought enough to make a double batch too, one for them and one for me and Wes. Although, I never got around to making ours. The prep and cook time for one was long enough. Plus I will probably tweak our batch to a more 'family of two' size and freeze the rest. But that's for a later blog post.

I was abnormally excited to use my pots, mixing bowls ,and fancy spoons for this.

First step, separate the meat from the bones on the rotisserie chicken. I love this recipe because you enhance your chicken broth by boiling the bones and skin in low sodium chicken broth, deepening that yummy roasted chicken flavor for the pot pie.

I took it a step further with the chicken broth and added the tips and end of my celery stalk and the tips and ends of my carrots, plus two sprigs of thyme. YUM!

I am just playing FOOD-tographer here, don't mind me...

 

Another thing I like about this recipe is that its mainly done all in one pot, so I took my recent Christmas present- a lovely dutch oven pot, and just threw all the veg into it as I chopped them. The thought I had at this moment in time -   "I'm a genius"

To get to this process took about an hour..no joke..and during my chopping sesh, I realized I forgot to buy cream! I made Wes go get some, of course, and  he decided to go to the 7-11 where all they had was a pint of half and half...so it goes, i used half and half instead of cream.

The recipe says to transfer the mix to the baking dish...my method, again, pure genius. Wes  and I ate the left over bits of pot pie mix in that pot...this recipe won't disappoint, I swear!

 

I can't tell you how fussy this cheddar crust was... I couldn't get the dough to come together for the life of me, I  finally added another 1/4 cup of ice water and it came together at the last minute. This is a process of baking in which scares me- making crust from scratch. But I think it will bake fine,and surely taste amazing- it has cheese in it!

 

The Final Product!

 

It just needs to be brushed with cream and a few slits cut into it and into the oven it goes! Since this was a delivery, I left it unbaked and sent it along with the instructions on how to. 

 On to the Cookies...

I guess I ended up buying chocolate fudge cake mix instead of just chocolate. It ended up darker and , really, fudgier.

 

I baked this for exactly 8 minutes...the caramel in the rolos oozed out and got a little hard, it wasn't quite what I expected, but still delicious...kinda like a bittersweet chocolate flavor with that hint of caramel.

 

If you didn't know, this was my birthday present from Wes. Let me tell you- its so convenient in my tiny kitchen! It cleaned up my crumbs, fallen vegetable pieces, flour, salt, and pieces of chicken. 

The night we had time to deliver our goodies, SNOWMAGGEDDON arrived.
 This picture may be a little dramatic, but driving in this storm- the feelings this picture brings on, they are real!

The storm, at the time of night we were going, really looked like this.

 

 We finally made it to their house! The 3 older kids were already in bed, and this little one was up in her cute penguin PJ's. They are both listening to Corinne talk about what she brought for them. They are in for a treat! Corinne made a pork sirloin roast with a side of veggies and potatoes, pre-made chicken quesadillas and lemon crackle cookies

The cookies were discovered by the little one...and there she goes!

This was a great mini service project we did, and I felt like it will give this family a little relief for the next couple weeks. Plus, they just needed, and deserved it. I printed out reheating instructions for each of the dishes we provided them.  I'm thinking we might do one more like this for them at the end of the month before Jamie starts to take it easy and allows her body to get a little rest and prepare for the delivery of these three little miracles.


Update-

I baked a half size for me and Wes and it was delicious! My crust was really good,  so much so that my inner self did back flips.  And Wes said it was the best pot pie he's ever had! awe!

By 30, you should have ...

I came across this on my world wide web browsing and , if you are approaching 30, or have had the exciting welcome into the ‘CLUB’..this is a good self assessment and a good time to reflect on all that you have overcome and experienced in your 20’s. I would love to see everyone else's own comments on these topics regarding your own experiences and opinions. Please copy and paste and send me your blog!


By 30, you should have ...
1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you’ve come.
Well, this girl is a Mrs now, Love him and couldn’t imagine life with out him. But we’ve all had that one person in your past that just literally broke your heart and one that you said 'good riddance'- both of these relationships just helped make your next one better.

2. A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family.
 
I ended up donating it to the salvation army when Wes and I resided in Taylorsville. It was a refurbished antique chair and ottoman..biggest regret ever! But I do have a an awesome bakers rack that was given to me by my best friend from the wedding. I know its going to follow me around till I am 90.

3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour.
Yes I do! I don’t buy a lot of expensive pieces, but I have been shopping for the right ones I think, even if they are from Wet Seal, Target or Forever 21.

4. A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying.
Uhm, a suitcase and an umbrella- I will put that on the next Christmas list.

5. A youth you’re content to move beyond.
Finally, it hit me. Naturally aging and then trying to catch up mentally was a hard thing for me. Now at 32 I feel like I just really turned 30. My body though, is 32- definitely 32.

6. A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age.
OH the stories!!

7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age -- and some money set aside to help fund it.
Wes is working on that money thing for me hehe.

8. An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account -- all of which nobody has access to but you.
Yes- all the above.

9. A résumé that is not even the slightest bit padded.
I did update mine, however I was told it wasn’t streamlined enough..which completely offended me.

10. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry.
This is where I feel I am the luckiest.

11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.
Not black one, but yes on lace. I had a set of tools way before I was married! I am the handy one in our relationship.


12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.
I bought a super expensive pair of jeans…and even though they fit me only every other year, they always get compliments and make me feel awesome…

13. The belief that you deserve it.
I held this belief in my late 20’s. I feel it brings a certain confidence and gets you through the tough times. People will eventually realize what you deserve, good or bad, depending on how you present yourself and how you set your expectations.

14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30.
Working ON IT! I go through phases, but nothing consistent. 

15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship, and all those other facets of life that do get better.
Yes…it only can go up from here. My job now is such a good place, my marriage is amazing, im finally getting a handle on my finances, and continuing my education and starting a family is on the docket.

By 30, you should know ...
1. How to fall in love without losing yourself. 
 I  find it amazing that my husband allows me to be my goofy pre married self- some men are insecure with that and want control. Not mine- and that is why I will keep him.

2. How you feel about having kids.
I think everyone knows this by now about me.

3. How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.
 I’ve kept my relationships with all three of these scenarios, for the most part.

4. When to try harder and when to walk away.  
Depending on the situation- I think some things are worth working harder for. 

5. How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next.
Got that down!

6. The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town.
I had to ask Wes on the secretary of state- Hilary Clinton. My great grandmothers not so much- my side never talked about names, my mom was an orphan too. The best tailor was my dad. I miss him.

7. How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.
It is liberating, and every girl needs this experience. You learn so much about what you want out of life. Having a doggy helps too, gives you something to take care of and look forward to after work. 

8. Where to go -- be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat -- when your soul needs soothing.
Im not going to lie…my recliner, with a glass of red wine and a brownie. Talk about showing your age!

9. That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents.
SO TRUE! Ugh you can’t even imagine the A-HA moment I had when I realized all of these. Im short, my hips are a 38  and my mom will always be my mom. 

10. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it’s over.
AMEN

11. What you would and wouldn’t do for money or love.
I think the 20’s is the time to get these experiences for sure. I found out a lot about my limitations and how money and love can ruin your relationships, mold you into a person you are not, and hurt everyone around you.

12. That nobody gets away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or not flossing for very long.
HA HA! 

13. Who you can trust, who you can’t, and why you shouldn’t take it personally.
Still learning as I meet new people. 

14. Not to apologize for something that isn’t your fault.
Just leave this bolded and pass it on to everyone I know.

15. Why they say life begins at 30.
It really does, even when I turned 30 I felt a new enlightenment and definitely found my boundaries. Now a couple days into 32- I am excited to see what all life has to offer!

List excerpted from Glamour's "Thirty Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know By The Time She's 30."