My Weekend

So, over the weekend the Hubby, Mother in Law and my Brother in Law's went on a trip to San Antonio and Austin.  My Brother in Law, Matt passed his Bar Exam to become a Lawyer, just what the world needs more of!!  His swearing in was in Austin on Monday, but we wanted to make his day special by a weekend road trip to San Antonio on Saturday and Austin on Sunday.  It was a lot of fun!  We talked about all kind of crazy stuff!!  One thing I love about my Mother in Law is she is REAL!!!  You can talk about anything with her and she totally gets it!!  We actually have a lot of fun together and I like talking to her.  She did have a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that her son was FINALLY getting married at 40!  She was used to not really "sharing" him with anyone for SO very long!!  I thought it was a little odd that the week before we got married and the day after my Bachelorette Party, she text me some really odd stuff, but I told her I understood as Jason was her only connection to her Husband that died when Jason was only six months old!  It makes me sad and I know it had to be a complete shock to her.  I still don't think to this day she is totally over the loss of her Husband.  I hate that Jason never got the chance to have his Father in his life and wish that he could have had that.  Jason and I are in the same boat on that one!! 

Anyways, we stopped at the outlet in San Marcos and I was in HEAVEN!!!!  I LOVED it and could still be there if we didn't have other things to do.  That place is HUGE and had most of my favorite stores!!!  I did some retail therapy for sure!!!  We went onto San Antonio from there and went to dinner.  Our stay in San Antonio was not much at all.  After dinner we just went to the Riverwalk for a drink then straight to bed.  We woke up early to drive to Austin, but stopped for brunch at a place called, Feast.  It was AWESOME!!  Right up my alley.  That place would do great here in Dallas for sure!! 

We drove through Jason's college campus so he could reminiscence his college days at Texas State which was known in his days as Southwest.  We went to some of his favorite places to eat and his place he lived while there.  I think he loved it!!

When we got to Austin, we all just kind of rested before dinner.  We went to Kenichi and had all kinds of sushi.  It was heaven!!!  Some CRAZY things went on at that place with a private party.  It was at this time I finally got the phrase, KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD!!!  But, for me, I realized it should be KEEP AUSTIN, F'ED UP!!!!  OMG!!!  That place is CRAZY!!!!!  It is also kind od dirty and it made me love Dallas even more!!!!  After dinner, we went to Chuggin' Monkey which is a bar by former two time Bachelor, Brad Womack.  He got engaged to my girl crush, Emily Maynard and I was SO hoping I would see him, but I didn't of course.  But, it was fun at his bar!! 

On Monday morning it was time for Matt's swearing in, but it seemed to be more about the Judge's on stage that were there than it was about all the Lawyer's that just passed one of the hardest test EVER!!!  I guess that is politicians for you right there!!  Once that was over, it was time to get back to Dallas and I was super happy to be home and in the land of the normal!!! 

On the Baby front, we are moving along and I am hopeful for a successful outcome but no longer am I excited as I once was.  I know that is just horrible to say and I feel bad saying it, but I just think it is best to not get my hopes up.  I was on such a high the last go around and was SO let down when it failed.  My heart still hurts for the loss as I am surrounded by people I know that just seem to get pregnant in no time and I still hope for my chance to be a Mommy!!  The Christmas season is getting hard for me because I think of all the wonderful traditions I want to do with my own kids one day and just pray for the chance to make it a reality. 

Getting some things off my chest......

It has been a really rough time for me in my own mind.  I pretty much don't express the feelings I have to anyone because, well.....NO ONE in my family or the people closest to me get how I feel with everything.  I know Jason gets it to a degree, but he is a guy, so they just let stuff roll off them.  I on the other hand, can't do it!! 

My Sister is pregnant right now and that is probably the hardest thing for me to deal with.  Of course, she is very insensitive to my feelings because she doesn't know how I really feel.  If I hear from her one more time, that I should just be glad I can't get pregnant, I may lose it!!!  Does she REALLY not get how horrible that is to say to someone in my position????  Granted, pregnancy doesn't seem to be glamorous by any means, BUT I would give anything to be able to know what being pregnant with my child is like.  I also know that there are perks to not being pregnant and yes, I know I love those reasons, BUT I would give all that up to be pregnant. 

I have really began to see how insensitive people can be.  Someone even sent me a link to an article about what not to say to Adoptive Parents because I should be able to relate.  REALLY????  Why would I be able to relate since I don't have an Adopted Child at this point and having a Surrogate is not even the same thing.....I understand that people are not educated on this stuff that is my life, but for me, I wish people would just BUTT OUT, SHUT UP and JUST GO ABOUT THEIR LIFE leaving mine alone!!  It is just easy for people that have been pregnant and had children to really even have a clue what it is like to be in my shoes and I wish they would just realize that before opening their big mouths!!  I know I am probably a bit over sensitive to anything about babies and children, BUT I think I am entitled to be or maybe that is just the selfishness in me.  Either way, it is how I feel and I can't change how I feel!!

At this point, I pretty much dread any interaction with people because I am ALWAYS asked about it.  Right now, I am just to a point that I am not very hopeful with all that has happened, so I just don't like to even talk about it! I know that people are just curious, but I would rather they just let me bring it up if I wish.  Oh, if we all lived in a perfect world!!!  I know this is not going to happen, but a girl can dream!!!   At this point, I just really feel like I will NEVER get to be a Mommy!!  I know that is drastic to say that, but nothing has really gone well with this process.  The only good thing that has come out of it thus far is our Surrogate, "B"!!  I am REALLY, REALLY THANKFUL for her!!!  She has been great and pretty much gets me!!  I think she knows that the devastation of the eggs was really hard on me and she has been very understanding of my feelings!

Ok, I think I have gotten most of the thoughts in my head off my chest.  I think I feel better all ready!!!  HA!!!  So, onto the purpose of this blog, the hopefully soon to be Baby!!!

So, we have the new egg donor and she is REALLY cute.  Granted, I don't know her, but I know what she looks like and no, I am not letting ANYONE see what she looks like either!!  (Note to people: If and when there is a Baby, DO NOT EVEN THINK OF SAYING THE BABY MUST LOOK LIKE THE EGG DONOR!!!!  Just keep your thoughts to yourself or do what everyone in the world does and talk about it without me knowing you are!!) 

We are now in the place to move forward with the egg donor.  She passed all her "testing" and is ready to proceed.  I was told by the IVF Clinic that she is on birth control pills right now.  This is the beginning stages of the protocol for her at this point.  "B" went in last week or the week before for a sonogram to check her "stuff" out and all was good with her, just as I knew it would be.  We will found out soon what the protocol will be for the egg donor and "B" soon as this transfer will be a fresh one.  That means, the donor and "B" will be "synced" so that the eggs are retrieved fresh and not frozen at the same time as "B" is ready for the transfer.  The waiting game is on for the day of transfer, so we all need to say a little prayer that all goes well and WORKS!!!! 

Onto the home front, we are closing on our lot at the end of the month, then the demo will begin!!  I can't wait to see how it all goes down.  It is going to be so weird to see the lot without the house that is there right now.  I will be spending ALL my free time at the lot with contractors just watching them to make sure they are doing what they should be doing!  I think it is going to be fun and a REALLY good distraction on the waiting game of what better be Baby R!!!  Plus, I need to make sure my house is on schedule to be done in a REASONABLE amount of time and not a year from now!!  Oh boy, this will be interesting!!  Good thing I am a planner and pretty much have every detail of the house chosen and just ready to be ordered, paid for and shipped out!  Can't wait to see how it all comes together.  My creative mind is spinning!!! 

Speaking of house stuff, I have been spending my moments of free time, decorating.  I want to be an Interior Decorator  when I grow up.  I guess I should enroll in art classes since I can't draw to save my own life!!  But anyways, I went to Canton the past two months and had the best time!!!  It was the perfect thing to take my mind off of the devastation of the prior months with the Baby stuff.  I bought some awesome pillow for my couch to soften up the harsh look of leather and concrete flooring in this house.  It was the perfect thing!  Plus, if you know me well enough, you know I LOVE everything animal print!!  So, of course, the living room needed a little!!  And I got this really cool floral arrangement from the sweetest Lady ever!!  I knew it would be perfect on the coffee table in  this house.  Although, this is the same coffee table I keep telling the Hubby I am selling before we move to the new house.  It is just TOO big for my liking, plus I want more of a round ottoman look for the new house.  I also decorated for fall, so I guess I better post my picture of that since this will be coming down in the next few days to decorate for Christmas!!  So excited about that!! 

I absolutely love the pumpkins on the fireplace.  I got those at Canton too.  It is sad that I have to put them away until next year, but they will look brand new in the new house!! 

 

Shocked and defeated Part II

So, I will start with the Birthday party for Billy.  I was feeling sad the whole way there and really just wanted to cry, but I did not want to do that to Billy.  So, I put my big girl pants on and made the most of the night.  When we got there, it wasn't too long and Erin, Billy's wife and my Bridesmaid from the wedding, said she had heard I had a lot of things going on or actually not going on now.  Right when she said that, I just wanted to run off and burst into to tears, but I kept my big girl pants and just told her that things were getting set back and I was going to tell her about it, but I just couldn't right then.  I know she did not know that I was upset or she would not have said anything and I really wanted to talk to her about it, but there were other people there and I really wanted the day to be about Billy and not my drama.  So, the night progressed and I kind of told her what was going on and Billy asked about it too, but they didn't get the dets.  It was close to 11pm and people were starting to leave but Jason wanted to watch the rest of whatever game was on.  So, it was just Linda, Joe, Sharon and Matt and they all kind of knew something was wrong, I felt.  So, sat down and decided to tell them everything.  I was so proud of myself because I didn't cry one time!  Now it is all out there and what I really love most is that I told them on my time and didn't get bombarded with questions about the Baby stuff and the night was actually about Billy and his Birthday and my sadness was not the topic of dinner conversation with the entire table! 

I know everyone is excited about the possibility of a Baby, but in the same token, this is an exhausting, overwhelming process and sometimes I just want to have normal conversations that don't revolve around the Baby stuff.  It felt good to have them know everything though and not wonder if anything was happening.  At this point, the next time we will really know anything it will be to transfer with the third egg donor. 

So, about the Doctor visit.  First of all, there is a sign on the door that says something along the lines of no kids allowed. Well, this is the second time I broke that rule by bringing Lily.  Opps!!!!  Anyways, we went in the Dr. Le's office and he started by saying how sorry he was and that they don't know what happened and are really sad and sorry as well.  He said he wanted to do whatever it takes to make the situation right and will oversee our process himself from this point forward.  He feels we were not given a chance to even have a successful result with his Clinic.  So, in a nutshell, they are really sorry and trying to do the right thing, I feel. 

Now, we will just wait for the egg donor to get her tests with the Clinic and move forward.  Dr. Le is thinking we might be able to transfer mid November to the beginning of December if everything is good with the egg donor.  So, that is not delaying us too long.  I have to believe that everything happens for a reason and these "hurdles" have all been to get us the Baby that is meant for us to have from God.  I am praying this is the last of the "hurdles" and we will be Mommy and Daddy this time next year. 

Shocked and defeated

This is hopefully going to be the saddest post I will have to do....It has taken me a few days to even figure out what to say and how to start.  I am still VERY sad by the turn of events, but more than anything I am in COMPLETE SHOCK.  This was the last thing I expected to happen.  Heck, I was more concerned with having enough eggs left in the event the transfer failed.  Never in my thoughts was the possibility that not even one of our eggs would not have survived.  Yes, you read that correctly, all of our eggs died while going through the thaw. 

It all started on Tuesday when I met with the Doctor to go over our plan for the transfer.  He was concerned as well as I, about the lack of eggs.  The egg donor only produced six eggs for us to use.  This was our second attempt at an egg donor as the first one did not meet the qualifications to become an egg donor with the IVF clinic due to her lack of egg follicles.  So, the second egg donor was a successful donor, so I figured we would be all good with her.  The Doctor said most egg donors give at least 12 eggs, typically.  So, our little six eggs was very bothersome as to what would happen if we needed to do a second transfer or the possibility of siblings.  The Doctor said we should plan on only two eggs and to not get our hopes up that there would be more than two survive the thaw.  We were at a little disadvantage since we did not get to freeze the eggs as embryos since we had the issue with Jason and his surgery.  So, the plan was to have Jason's specimen at the clinic on Wednesday morning around 8am and the eggs would be thawed.  Our Surrogate, "B" would start her meds in preparation for the transfer that was scheduled for the following Monday.  That would mean the embryos would be five days old. 

So, Wednesday morning arrived and Jason did what he was supposed to do.  The Clinic called me shortly after he left and said that would need to do  Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) which they had told me earlier in the process that it may need to be done.  It really actually seems better in mind anyways, so I was totally fine with it.  "B" started her meds and we were all preparing for the transfer.  "B" and I were planning a spa day for Sunday before the transfer to help her relax and have some girl time.  She was making arrangements for her kids to stay with friends on Monday as well.  I had gone to the Arboretum for the day with My Sister and Lily and really pretty much on excited about Monday and the possibility of being a Mommy, FINALLY!!!!  Well, I got home and received a call from the IVF clinic around 4pm or so as to the progress of the thaw and Jennifer, the Embryologist said, "I just wanted to let you know that none of the eggs made it through the thaw."  She said that she did not know what happened and that nothing like that has ever happened at their clinic before.  I sat on the other end of the phone and said, "oh, ok, is that all."  I got off the phone and just sat on the couch in disbelief for a few minutes and just absorbed what I had been told.  I was CRUSHED and just started crying and crying.  I just could not help it.  To me, I felt like I had just been told that six of my babies died.   I know probably sounds crazy to a lot of you, but that is how I felt and still do to this day!  I have only talked about it with a few people and plan to leave it that way.  I FINALLY got in touch with Jason who was a little shocked too, but he was more concerned with the financial end of things and the clinic.  That is a Man for you, right there, but when he got home, he was VERY SWEET ABOUT it all and tried really hard not to focus on the money factor of this tragedy!!  At this point, I am going to keep a lot of the things going on with all things baby in our life, very quiet right and have things on a need to know basis until we are smooth sailing with a Baby!!  People may not like it, but that is how it is going to be.  I can't take telling people sad things about this Baby stuff anymore.  It is hard enough to be asked on a regular basis since we got married, when we are having kids.  People really get on my nerves!!!

Well, Thursday came and I was still EXTREMELY sad!!!  I got myself out of bed and cried some more.  I had a Dentist appointment that I had to go to and it was really the last thing I wanted to do.  But, I did it and I am here to tell you, that Dentist has the last of me after the way he acted that day.  Last time I checked, I was the patient and paying you for your services, so I think you should not be a Cocky F*CKER especially on this day!!!  Anyways, the Doctor office had called me and told me how upset they all were and they would like me to come in for an meeting with the Doctor to discuss our next plan.  They also told me they had an egg donor that they thought would be perfect for me and we could discuss that as well.  I REALLY did not want to go into that clinic at all because I was just so upset at them!  But, I decided I have to keep going and said ok.  I recruited my Sister to go with me as to not bother Jason while he had work to do.  So, after the Dentist I went to my Sister's and we went to the mall to run some of her errands and grab some lunch.  Lily loves to ride the carousel at the mall and wanted me to go with her, so this is a picture of us.  Excuse the way I look, as I had not one bit of makeup on!  I am going to have a part II of this post with the conversation with the Doctor as I have to get ready for a Birthday party of my Brother In Law.  This is going to be hard as I just know someone is going to ask how the baby stuff is going and may just cry some more.........Oh BOY!!!

Lily and LuLu at Stonebriar.  She made me smile when all I really wanted to do was cry this day!!  Thank God for Lily!!!  I LOVE HER!!!

 

 

Time to Pray......

Well, things are moving right along in the Baby World.  We went to the follow up appointment on Friday to see if "B" was ready for the transfer and to make sure her meds were working.  She had text me earlier in the week to let me know that she thought she had ovulated.  I really didn't put much thought into it since I really figured it was due to the meds that made her think that.  She called the IVF Clinic and the nurse called me right away to let me know she had called with her concerns.  She too said she really felt it was due to the meds and no other patient had ever ovulated on their meds, so I was certain that it was the side effects of the meds.  Sure enough, that was in the case when she was examined by the Doctor and the blood results indicated as well.  So......HERE WE GO!!!!!

This week is going to be pretty interesting!  I am meeting with the IVF Doctor to put a plan of action in place for the eggs since we are limited to the amount we have to work with.  I am PRAYING we only have to go one round with the two eggs that we will use at transfer.  Hopefully, the unused eggs can be re-frozen for the 2nd Journey!  I am REALLY, REALLY hopeful that we will be successful the first go and will be a Mommy come July 2014!!!  I am just certain that is going to be the case!!!  I feel the first set of good news came on Friday when B was good to go with the transfer being this month and she will get pregnant too!!! 

The initial visit with our IVF clinic was a while back, but our Doctor said that if we for sure did not want to have twins, we should only put in one egg.  Jason was VERY against this since he feels that two eggs increases our chances of success on the first try, so I am going to give in and go with two eggs for Jason.  I am going to trust that what is meant to be will be!  The thought of twins freaks me out as my life will be forever changed!!!  I mean, one changes it a lot, but two at one time, oh my!!!  I really don't care if I have one baby or two too be honest, I just want be a Mommy of a Baby or two by July!  I will take whatever God thinks I can handle, I want to be a Mommy!!!  That isn't asking too much, right??? 

Call me Veggie Queen and Mommy Wanna-B!!!

Well, I decided now is as good as any to go vegetarian.  I am NOT that big on meat anyways.  Chicken grosses me out on a regular basis.  Bite into a piece of fat and I could just puke!!!  So, even though my Husband is a smoking meat FREAK, I just can't do it anymore!!  He thinks his meat is way to good for me to REALLY stop cold turkey, BUT that is more of the challenge!  I will say that he can smoke a mean brisket, but I am just not that into meat enough to really care!  I am more concerned about his feelings more than anything.  He ALWAYS makes me try it, SO I asked him if he would be ok with me not eating meat anymore and he said he would be fine with it.  I am skeptical of this, but we shall see!!  I actually gave up meat a few years ago and I never felt better!!  I am not even sure why I stopped.  I will be a little sad to never have a cheeseburger from the best place ever, Maple and Motor, but my health is WAY more important.  I have been pinning tons of vegetarian recipes on my favorite website, Pinterest.  Between, spin class, boxing and Insanity workouts, I have NO excuse for not getting skinny and toned!!!  This is a picture of my inspiration body the first time I went to Vegas with who would be my future Hubby!! 

I REALLY want to live a healthier lifestyle and be SKINNY!!!!  I want to ROCK A BATHING SUIT YEAR ROUND!!!  I know it sounds vain, BUT I want to look good while half naked!  It makes me feel GREAT!!!  Turning 35 in February is hitting me hard as I can tell such a difference in my body over the last couple of months plus the fact that I am trapped in an old person's body as my Doctor tells me, due to menopause.  Lucky me!!! 

When I met the Hubby, I was the skinniest I have even been in my whole life and it is my goal to get back there ASAP!!!  I have about 10-15 pounds to lose and I am VERY dedicated to getting there by January.  I truly believe giving up meat is going to get me there while taking my Advocare!!  

On another note, I am SO getting excited about the possibility of Baby!  I found a due date calculator and if all goes well this month, I could be a Mommy by July 15th, 2014.  WHOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  It makes me teary eyed just typing this!  My dream could be reality in less than a year.  I want this more than anything EVER including being skinny!!!  Let's all pray hard for my dream to be reality!!! 

HOLY SH*T!!!!

Lots of things have been happening since my last post.  LOTS OF STUFF!!!!  In fact, I don't even know where to begin!!  Well......let's talk about the MOST important thing first!! 

BABY......
The contract with the Surrogate has been signed, sealed and delivered!  :-)  HA!
After some hiccups along the way with the Egg retrieval and the Husband, we had to freeze the eggs as little old eggs instead of embryos.  So, we might be in a sticky situation as the eggs are not always as viable as just eggs, but we had no other option.  The IVF Clinic kind of dropped the ball and I had to kind of go off on them in a nice way.  They literally called me the DAY they needed the Husband to come up there for his part and he had surgery and was on meds, so that wasn't going to happen.  I told the Clinic they need to give me a little more notice than the DAY OF, RIGHT THIS SECOND to come up to the Clinic.  I think they got the message loud and clear and things have gone WONDERFUL ever since.  I really LOVE the Nurse and Doctors at the IVF Clinic too! 

The Surrogate will be referred to as "B" in my postings.  And NO....It is not what you are thinking.  Her first name starts with a "B".  So.....B went to the IVF Clinic when she finally started her cycle on Friday, October 5th.  The Doctor said things looked great with her and I was SO very happy to hear this.  They told her she would start the IVF meds the next day for a possible transfer date of October 25th or 27th.  Yes......you heard that correctly.  We could be transferring THIS MONTH.  I think "B" was in complete shock as she had been kind of upset thinking she was delaying us from transfer for a couple months since her cycle was delayed, BUT that was not the case at all!!!  They scheduled her follow up appointment to look at her uterus and do a mock transfer for Tuesday, October 8th.  I had to take a cashier's check for the transfer to the IVF Clinic before the 11th, so it was perfect timing for me to go to the appointment with her!  All was well with her uterus and the transfer and we will find out at the next appointment if we will in fact be transferring on the 25th or 27th.  The eggs will be thawed on October 22nd and we will find out how many "survived" the freezing.  Let's PRAY they all make it!!  I am looking forward to the 18th to find out the dates!  After the appointment, "B" and I grabbed some lunch at Mi Cocina and caught up on our personal lives.  It was a great lunch!

Onto the next update of life.  That thing called Marriage.  It was been a little over six months since we got married and things have seriously been non stop ever since, but in a bit of an exciting way.  Sometimes a little CRAZY though!!  I need a vacation from life!!  Our wedding was featured on a blog from the place that I purchased the wraps My Girls and me wore while getting ready for the wedding.  Check it out at http://ivorysparrow.com/blog/.  I LOVE it!  So exciting they wanted to use my wedding. 

And, the last and probably the most hectic thing going on in my life right now is our house.......If you know we, you know I HATE MOVING and I don't like being controlled by anyone!!  If life isn't busy enough with the Baby stuff, we have added to the stress by building a house.  I MUST BE INSANE!!!  It isn't so much building a house as it is dealing with Jason's family that is going to do me in!!!!  I am a person that HAS to be in control and really like having some thing remain private.  That is not something that is easily done in my Family.  It isn't like I am saying it is a bad thing, but it is just not something that I am used to AT ALL and quite frankly, it really isn't normal especially when my Husband tells me to talk to Joe in regards to EVERYTHING!  I feel like I am married to Joe instead of Jason in a lot of ways!!  Don't get me wrong, I really LOVE Joe and RESPECT him more than just about anyone in my life right now.  He is truly one of the most generous men I know.  He actually reminds me SO much of my Grandpa H that is makes me sad sometimes because it makes me miss him SO much more.  On the other hand, Joe can really make me SO MAD too!!!  My Grandpa NEVER made me mad though, so that is a difference FOR SURE!!!  Joe is Jason's "Stepdad" and pretty much "raised" Jason to a degree as a teenager.  Jason has a lot of respect for Joe and his "Stepmom" Linda for both taking him on as a teenager.  He needed both of them and for that, I am more than GRATEFUL to both of them.  They are both VERY good people for what they have done for Jason's Mom and her kids.  We have to have Joe as the "Builder" to cut cost, but I also don't want to get on anyone's bad side and I am kind of over the top with the fact that I know what I want and would rather do things my way so I only have myself to blame for messing up than getting mad at someone else.  I guess I will just blame Joe for everything that goes wrong though!  HA!!  I think I could get used to that idea!

I have some issues with the house I live in now (which is normal since I did not have anything to do with it), not because it is wrong, just simply because it is a personal preference and everyone has things they do and do not like.  There are MANY things that I LOVE about the house I live in now especially the style, but there are just things I don't like about it too.  For one thing, I LOVE natural light and high ceilings, none of which I currently have.  It is like a dungeon in this place, BUT that is because Jason liked dark and he was single when it was built, so it was built for his tastes as it should have been.  Now, I am in the picture and changing things to suit my tastes.  I am a person that KNOWS EXACTLY what I want in the house and what makes me crazy.  I will be working close with Joe in all aspects of the building of the house and make sure things get done in a TIMELY manner and not drag on plus, Joe needs someone to keep him on track!  HA!!!  I am the perfect person for that!! 

I pretty much have everything I want picked out and have looked on a lot of websites for things that people don't think about when building their own house.  I have gotten tons of ideas from the different websites.  The architect is working on the floor plan I want right now and will be done in about two weeks, then we will meet again to go over the outside look of the house and where I want the windows and doors to go.  I have that pretty much figured out too.  I can't wait for tall ceiling, LOTS of windows resulting in natural light and open space.  Also, having a master bedroom on the ground floor is going to be AWESOME!!  My closet is the other thing I can't wait for!  It is going to be a room in itself.  I want my closet to be my sanctuary when I need ME time!  I hope over time, it will look like a celebrities closet.  HA!!!  It will also have a built in vanity it in along with a big window for putting on makeup in natural light.  Just thinking about my closet makes me happy right now!!  I can't wait!!  I am sure Jason is going to hate all the natural light!! 

Ok, I think I have gone on long enough about my CRAZY life, so until next time.......