Life Change 2 - The not so good Change :(

So as some of you may already know I was laid off from my position (job) last Friday the 8th of November.  It was a very sad day for me for many reasons. First of all I have never been "let go" before and it was a huge blow! Secondly, I know how hard I worked for the company, the long hours I put in, the weekends and evenings I worked and answered phone calls/emails to take care of problems and put out fires without being paid extra to do so. I felt I was a hard worker and team player. Thirdly, I was not able to pack up my stuff or say bye to anyone I was just walked out. Honestly I feel hurt and betrayed by the company :( This is how they repay their hard-working dedicated employees.

So now I am 3 months pregnant and unemployed. It is crazy how things work out sometimes. I always tell people when anything like this happens "remember that everything happens for a reason," "God has a plan and a purpose and everything will work out how it is supposed to". As soon as I remembered my own advice everything has gotten a little easier for me.

But once again I am pregnant and unemployed so now I will struggle with the applying/hiring process. I have been informed by many people that I do not and should not tell any employer looking to hire me that I am pregnant... but that is so not me! I am open and honest and I hate being deceitful or misleading. So at this point I don't think I will tell anyone in the initial interview process, but if they are looking to hire me I will disclose the information at that time. I would just hate not to tell them and then have an unpleasant working environment because of it. So this is my plan... we will see how well it works for me.

Additionally with my old company I had signed up for short term disability, so that I could get paid while off on maternity leave. Now even if I am able to find a job... I may not qualify for short term disability because they will see "pregnancy" as a pre-existing condition. Also, I probably will not meet any company standards to qualify for maternity to leave or for them to still have a job for me when I return to work. These are just some of the things that I think of/worry about now. I have traded the stress from work to the stress of unemployment and pregnant.

Once again I do believe that everything happens for a reason and in God's timing. Even though it seems like horrible timing to Byron and I God always has perfect timing and will work everything out.
Luckily Byron has a good job that will help us to make it through this time. So we give it all to God and pray for HIS WILL in the outcome of this new situation.

In the mean time I am just going to keep looking for employment and let God work out the rest. So if you know of anyone hiring in the Katy area please let me know!

Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers!
Trusting God!
Autumn

So many changes! Good change announcement first!

Good day friends!

As it seems to be lately it has been a little while since my last post... but I have lots of life updates. First and most exciting... Byron and I will be adding to our family In May 2014 with a baby Ewald. We are both very excited. For those of you who don't know we have been trying for a long time (almost 3 years for a baby) and will now be blessed with one in May. We couldn't be happier!

Our Family Announcement Photo taken a week ago by a good friend/great Photographer Rachel Fontenot. (Thank you for your patience handling crazy dogs and working so hard to get this finished for us!)

We started going to the doctor in January to start testing and try to figure out why we were not getting pregnant. The doctor started us on a Clomid (a medicine that causes you to produce more eggs when you ovulate and give you higher chance of having an egg fertilized). After a month of so of that not being successful she did a small little test to make sure my tubes were open.... they were When we still didn't get pregnant Byron was tested to make sure everything was good on his side... it was. So after several test and the doctor calling it "unexplained infertility"she was getting ready to send us to a more advanced fertility specialist in June. I told her I wanted to rule "EVERYTHING" out before we moved to the next stage. At this point the only thing we had not officially ruled out was Endometriosis (a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus causing pelvic pain.) The doctor had initially ruled it out in January not thinking it could be that. But with Endometriosis the only way to know for sure rather or not you do have it is to have a procedure where they literally go in and look (surgery). So in June after we had tried everything else I told the doctor that I still wasn't sure that it wasn't Endometriosis (since I have always had really bad periods) and she agreed to go ahead and do the surgery to rule it out.
So two weeks later (the end of June) I went in for surgery in search of Endometriosis. It was found! After I woke up from anaesthesia I was informed that I did indeed have Endometriosis and in my particular case it wasn't bad per say.. but it was in front of my fallopian tubes (not officially blocking them but still in front of them). Byron and I were excited.... we finally had an answer to why we weren't pregnant yet and it was a huge relief. After the  procedure the doctor informed us that she had full confidence that we should be able to get pregnant now that the Endometriosis was removed. The first month we were able to try after the procedure we got pregnant!! Whoo hoo! Praise God!

It has been a crazy journey for Byron and I wanting and waiting. In this time we have seen several of our friends getting pregnant and were so excited for them. But Byron started wondering what was wrong with us and why we weren't pregnant yet when everyone else was. I would tell him because God will give us a child when he knows we are ready and that his time is always perfect timing. And it was. Byron and I have both always wanted to be parents and great parents at that. I think that is one of the things that attracted us to each other is knowing the other would be a great parent! But we also wanted to bring a child into a healthy home; and let's just say over the past three years our relationship has drastically improved and gotten better (not that it was horrible to begin with.. but is now more where we want it to be to bring a child into the world and our family).

So ironically we could have found out about my Endometriosis in January when I first started going to  the doctor and mentioned it to her. But, there is a reason it was ruled out initially and we didn't find out till 6 months later. Over that 6 months God but several lessons in front of us all around "to be a good parent you have to be a good spouse first". So that became our focus. Not just getting pregnant but to be a good spouse. Over that 6 months I would say we have both become an even better spouse. So God's timing is/was perfect. I think if we would have gotten pregnant 3 years ago when we started trying we would still have been good parents... but would we have been the kind of parents we wanted to be and the family we wanted to be... I think not. That is why I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and in God's timing!
We are so thankful for his timing and his blessings on our life! Byron and I have both been truly blessed in so many ways! This baby is just one more!

Talk to you soon with another new change!
Autumn

Our Halloween Costume ("the bun maker" with a "bun in the oven"). We announced to our Bible study class at 10 Weeks.

Just checking in....

So once again it's been a really long time since I have posted on here. Again I'm really sorry about that. So I will just cut to the chase. Work has been incredibly crazy ever since I got my new job in February. There's been a lot of changes, a lot of good changes. But it has just been crazy busy.
Recently at work I got a promotion where I am now leading a new team and helping to developthe process of how that is was going to look and run. The part of my job that I had now become my full time job with a team of people to help me ( what one person for now more to come). This is been adding in a little bit of extra stress. :-)
Byron and I have also startef demolition and remodeling of the house. Byron actually started demoltion a couple months ago when he decided to go ahead and start ripping up the carpet in the living room .  We decided a while back that we had to get rid of our carpet and white tile. Living in a house with 4 dogs is not a good idea with carpet and white tile. Especially when your chichuachua likes to pee in the house and one of your other dogs likes to mark his territory.
When at home Depot a while back we found this one Tile we really liked. It is a hand-scraped wood looking tile and we are planning to put that throughout the whole house (Or at least Im planning that Byron still wants to put a different style in the wet areas). So we will see who wins (probanly Byron) :).

So 2 weeks ago he rented a jack hammer and started busting up the tile. For those of you who don't know tile demoltion creates a lot of dust and makes a really big mess. Also if you don't know make sure your AC is off and your windows are open. Otherwise your AC unit could freeze up and you could not have AC for a little while.
Since the tile demolition the house has been impossible to clean. We Dust and vacuum almost constantly and we're still having trouble getting rid of it all. We've also changed the AC vent filter like 3 times. Since we started the tile demolition I have been fighting a Sinus infection :-( and my allergies have really been acting up and It is hard to get them under control.
Do you like to say I am ready for this process to be over. But it's a two step process really getting half of the house installed at a time. But I'm getting closer to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel :-) So wish me luck luck.

Below are some pictures of our house in choas.

Update and life check-in

4/3/2013

Update and life check-in.

Do you remember in my last blog I informed you that there have been a lot of changes in my life and that I would soon share with you what they were? Well, I am finally finding/ making the time to do that.

So four weeks ago last Friday Friday… I got back from lunch and saw that my boss/owner of the company had scheduled at 1:00 meeting. So I thought nothing of it and headed to his office at 1:00. He then begins to inform us that he had just got back from a lunch meeting where he sold the company. At, first I thought he was joking… because he does joke a lot. But, he continued to tell us that at 1:30 that two VP”s from the company that bought us will be here to interview us for our jobs and then they will decide who they would take back with them to their company as new employees.

Luckily.... I made the cut. It has been quite a change and a transition. The work environment is quite different but I am way excited for this new opportunity.

6/20/2013
Another quick update.
I am very sad that it has taken me so long to get a post together... but as you saw above i have a new job. I am loving my new job but it is at a whole different pace than my previous company. I work long days and don't always get a lunch; and we when i get home i am too tired/lazy to think about updating this blog :( But my plan is to change that and start updating more often.
Till next time! :)
Autumn

Week 3 Workouts and a Recipe

So I am back in the gym! Monday we were not totally feeling up to going to the gym during lunch; (mainly I didn't feel like it) so we walked a couple laps by our office. We did 2.42 Miles in 40 minutes and I burned 222 calories. That is definitely better than nothing!! :) Yesterday we went to the gym (my first time in several days… slacker)

As you probably already know we are trying to get pregnant... so I have to be careful with my workouts. There are certain weeks where I am only allowed to do low intensity workouts... and this is one of those weeks. Therefore, there was no racquetball or running this week. So instead I am walking on the treadmill… but I am trying to keep a fast pace and change the incline levels to still give myself a good workout. I am still doing the elliptical and rowing as those are low intensity (pretty much means I am not bouncing around). Tuesday I did 16 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical and 5 minutes of rowing. For a total of 30 minutes of cardio and 222 calories burned. Then for calisthenics we did our usual routine of sit-ups/ crunches, light weights for arms, lunges, planks (I hate planks and lunges) and we did a different abs exercise. We did the one where person one lays on their back. Then person two stands over them with their feet on each side of person one’s head. Person one holds on to person two’s ankles and lifts their legs straight in the air (knees straight and toes pointed). Person two then pushes person ones feet away and person one can’t let their feet touch the ground and has to bring them back up for person two to push down again. (I know very confusing… but I couldn’t find a picture online to help me explain it). Whoa!! This one really works… I so feel it today every time I move! L and J

Wednesday workout was a little shorter than usual because we wanted to pick up lunch (or breakfast for lunch) from Egg and I. Tuesday I did 11 minutes on the treadmill doing my power/incline walking, 10 minutes on the elliptical and I was unable to do any rowing (people were on the machines and then ran out of time). For a total of 21 minutes of cardio and173 calories burned.

My eating has been much better this week… but I was starving this morning (which I probably why I was craving Eggs Benedict from Egg and I for lunch). Yesterday for lunch I made an impromptu salad with a homemade citrus dressing!! It was umm umm good!! I will post the recipe soon. I also cooked dinner last night and plan to again tonight. I have learned that I have to cook to be able to keep my calories in check. It is almost impossible with going out to eat. Even salads have like crazy calories.


For dinner tonight I am planning to make Thai Green Curry Coconut Shrimp with Snap Peas and Carrots. Click here for the recipe inspiration.

 

This recipe is really quick and easy.

As for me and all recipes I do not always follow directions exactly.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp Coconut oil
• 6 small scallions, whites and greens separated, chopped
• 2-4 tbsp Thai green curry paste (or more to taste) ( I use a 1/4tsp because it fits in the jar and I do like around 6 heaping scoops)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or two heaping teaspoons of minced garlic from the jar)
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (from 1 1/4 lbs unpeeled) (I buy the frozen that is peeled and diveined).
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 3 tsp Thai fish sauce
• 3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• Tasty Bite Garlic Brown Rice (Of csourse you can use whate ver but this to m adds the most flavor)
• salt to taste (I don't add it becasue i don't feel it is needed) 
• fresh snap peas (at least one small bag 8oz)
• shredded carrots 1/4 -1/2 cup (your preference)

Picture 1: I use frozen Shrimp. So I take the frozen shrimp out of the freezer and but it im a strainer and run Hot water over it for a couple minutes to defrost it. Picture 2: Basil le

 Picture of the scallions. Then a picture of them seperated white/green.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat coconut oil on medium-high flame. Add scallion whites and green curry paste; sauté one minute.
Add shrimp and garlic, season with salt and cook about 2-3 minutes.

Add coconut milk, fish sauce and mix well; simmer about 2-3 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through.
Remove from heat, mix in scallion greens and basil. Serve over rice.

 

 

Unforntuately this did not get finished and posted when I wanted. ther has been a lot going on in life right now. I will update you all in my next post. When I have time to write/finish it. This is from the week of Februarey 4-8. Everything changed on the 8th. Story to come for those of you who do not already know it.

Weightloss journey round up for week 1 and 2

So here I am... Checking in and giving an update to the weight loss journey. There have definitely been ups and downs in this journey so far. I am at the early part of week three out of however many it takes to reach my goal. But today I am here to give an account of the past two weeks! There were days that I was spot on and I give myself a BIG pat on the back for those!! but... then... there are those days that I catapulted myself of we weight loss train!! :(

So what have I learned so far? That no matter how many times I fail or mess up doesn't mean I have to keep it that way. I just keep trying to pull myself back on track.

My "week" is Sunday - Saturday. My official weigh-in day is Sunday morning.
Below you will see a brief summary of my food and exercise.

WEEK ONE:

Food

1. Sunday, January 20: I did track any calories this day.

2. Monday, January 21: I was over my calories by 536

3. Tuesday, January 22: I was over my 1200 calorie limit but still under my 1426 allotted (extra calories given for working out)

4. Wednesday, January 23:I was over by 412 calories

5. Thursday, January 24: I was under my 1200 calories by 59

6. Friday, January 25: I was under my 1200 by 7

7. Saturday, January 26: I was over by 181 calories

Exercise

1. Sunday, January 20: I did not exercise this day.

2. Monday, January 21: I did not exercise this day.

3. Tuesday, January 22: Burned 226 Calories doing 25 minutes of Cardio (Treadmill, Elliptical, Stationary Bike)

4. Wednesday, January 23: I did not exercise this day.

5. Thursday, January 24: Burned 286 Calories doing 25 minutes of Cardio (Racquetball)

6. Friday, January 25: Burned 191 Calories doing 18 minutes of Cardio (Racquetball)

7. Saturday, January 26: I did not exercise this day.

___________________________________

END OF WEEK WEIGH IN: 2.5 LBS LOST J

WEEK TWO:

1. Sunday, January 27: I was under my 1200 calories by 48

2. Monday, January 28: I was at 1247 calories… but still under my 1474 allocated calories (extra calories given for working out)

3. Tuesday, January 29: I was at 1267 calories... but still under my 1487 allocated calories (extra calories given for working out)

4. Wednesday, January 30: I was over by 428 calories

5. Thursday, January 31: I was over by 370 calories

6. Friday, February 1: I was over by 271 calories

7. Saturday, February 2: I was over by 283 calories

Exercise

1. Sunday, January 27: Burned 362 Calories doing 81 minutes of Cardio (off road biking with frequent breaks).

2. Monday, January 28: Burned 274 Calories doing 34 minutes of Cardio (Treadmill–running/walking, Elliptical, rowing machine)

3. Tuesday, January 29: Burned 287 Calories doing 33 minutes of Cardio (Treadmill –running, Racquetball, rowing machine and step aerobics)

4. Wednesday, January 30: I did not exercise this day.

5. Thursday, January 31: I did not exercise this day.

6. Friday, February 1: I did not exercise this day.

7. Saturday, February 2: I did not exercise this day.

___________________________________

END OF WEEK WEIGH IN: 2 LBS LOST J

So as you can see there were several days that i did not work out at all and several days i was over my calories. But I think I owe my success to the days I was really good. I also think these first few pounds are the easy ones. I feel it will only get harder from here!! :(

So what have I learned so far?

That no matter how many times I fail or mess up doesn't mean I have to keep it that way. I just keep trying to pull myself back on track.

 

Do you have any tips or words of wisdom to help keep me on track?

The day of the "bike ride"

Sunday was a good day! We woke up on time. My BFF and husband arrived at my house on time. We almost left on time. We arrived to church just a few minutes late... but we went to the bookstore to get some much needed coffee and then went to walk in the sanctuary only to find out that we were unable too. They had started the communion and we had to stand outside the doors and wait. When the doors opened there was like a mass entrance. We found our seats and got one song of worship in before the sermon started. After the service we went to bible study and then to potbelly for lunch. It was yummy. I did pretty good and got they TKY with all the fixins for right about 500. I wanted something with a few extra calories for lunch this day because I knew we had a long bike ride coming up.

After we finished eating we came back to my house to change and load the bikes (thank you to my friend who let us borrow a bike for the BFF to ride). I got my Camelbak filled with water and then went outside to help with the bike loading. We begin to put air in the tires and it begins to sprinkle. So we hurry up and get the bikes loaded and start our drive to the park. We decided that a few sprinkles wouldn't be too bad... plus when we looked in the distance at the sky where we planned to ride... we still saw sun. So I called everyone who was planning to meet up with us for the ride to make sure they were still ok riding with the possibility of rain. Everyone was on board and we all figured if it rained it would be short and lite rain.

So when I asked my BFF the day before if she wanted to bikes on Sunday through the park, she asked me if it was a good place to take pics? I said it was. I told her we were going to be riding some on the side walk and do some off road/trail riding... but that we could still stop for pictures. I found out later, that in her mind she thought it would be like a leisure bike stroll through the park. Opps! ;) Well at least we stopped a decent amount... right?

Well the bike ride started off pretty well except something was going on with my bike... the gears just didn't seem right... it didn't matter what gear I put it in it felt like I was having to give way to much effort for very little movement. So after one of the times we stopped one of my guy friends offered to ride my bike and let me ride his (I think it is because he was tired of waiting on me and hearing me complain about something being wrong with my bike). He also offered my BF his gel seat cover because she was complaining of her bum hurting. So I was riding his bike and it was a lot better ride then mine was except now the seat is minus the gel seat cover and now my bum area is hurting too. But, I don’t “really” complain because it is still a better ride then if I was riding my bike. At one of the next stops my guy friend was no longer riding my bike, his wife was and he made sure to inform me that she is having no problems with it and informed me my bike was fine. A stop or two later I noticed that couple was getting way behind and the husband said he was waiting on the wife. So I got to thinking that it was probably because she was riding my bike and having the same issues I was… so I figured at the next stop I would offer to ride my bike again (the reason I waited to the next stop… is because I thought of this while we were riding). So at the next stop, I offered… but the husband decided that he would actually ride it this time.Then his wife informs me that there is indeed something wrong with the gears and it is not riding like it is supposed to. So by this time we have gone like 5 miles and already a mile in to our four mile ride back to the cars… and it starts to rain… not a light sprinkle… a full on rain!!!

So we got to ride the next four miles back to our cars in the rain. Fun, fun! It wasn't too cold (the rain or the temperature outside), so that helped. It is a good thing that I have ok sight without my glasses... because I could no longer see through them and they don't have their own wipers. We did stop under a bridge for like 60 secs to let everyone catch up. But we didn't stay there long because 1.) We didn't think the rain would be over anytime soon and 2.) We were already soaked so what does a getting wet matter now. I could feel the water running down my legs to soak my shoes. Now I must be honest... I think I actually enjoyed riding in the rain!! It was kin of cool!! :)

After the ride we went back to my housee showered and made dinner to take over to one of my friends house. My BF went to school for graphic design and was recently married. She was/is looking for a way to work for herself at home. The wife of the couple we planned to do dinner with has a similar background to the BF and is currently working from home. So I decided it would be a good idea to get the great minds togther and have my work from home friend share her wisdom and know how of a statring/running a work from home business. While listening to all of the information that was bestowed on us... I decided I would like to start my own work from home business. I have since come up with an idea or two that I think could possibly work. So we will see what happens. :)

After dinner we come back to my house and just hang out a little bit (the BFF is due to fly out the next day). The BF loves photography... so she took several pictures of... the puppies. The pictures are shared below. :)



Aggie



Me and the BFF



Little Lola Sticking out her tongue



Baby Drake Handsome like normal!

Heidi and Jason with Lola, Chance and Drakers!



Byron and Chance Pants