HybridizationingsMix-ins, Notions, and Plugins of our Lives

Last weekend we took a fun, spontaneous trip to St. Louis to visit the growing Katzoff family. It was the perfect weekend, because we wanted to get away, see friends, and relax. We got to see baby Lotus, and Taj is a growing little man with SOOOOO much energy. And of course it was so fantastic to see Ben & Denae. We wish they lived closer to us, or we lived closer to them, whatever, just closer.

We ate really good BBQ, saw the St. Louis Arch, ate sushi, drove to Bloomington, IL, (the most coolest place on the planet!) went to the City Museum, and just plain old hung out.

The City Museum was sooo cool! If you are every anywhere near the St. Louis area you should plan on going. Made from an old shoe factory, it is unlike anything you have ever seen.

Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike.

Go here for more information and pictures. But here are some other pictures:

Here are some pictures that I got online that were taken during the daytime.

I finished a few things these last couple weeks. I thought I would share.

It means prosperity, which is symbolized in the plum. It is pronounced “thai”. I gave it as a house warming gift to Michael’s mom.

And this is a layout I’ve been meaning to do since November. I had a great time at the movies and couldn’t resist the excitement of the theme.

I started another cross-stitch. It is a kit I got in Washington DC of Mt. Vernon. It seems pretty easy, and I should have that done soon. I also started up (again) on the Galindo Family History project. I like that feeling of being reved up for something. I just hope it sticks and I can get something done this time. Family History is a little daunting when you get started. And so this time, since most of the software and tools are in place I can focus on the research, which I really enjoy.

A few weeks ago I had my first acupuncture experience. I did some reseach before hand and read some reviews but they were pretty diverse (some said it hurt, others said they didn’t feel any pain) so I walked into it with a pretty open mind. I found an acupuncturist that specializes in fertility which is what I was going for. There have been a lot of studies done that show benefits for infertility. So we thought, “sure, why not try it. We’ve tried almost everything else.” On that note, we also went to our first couples counseling session. Someone suggested it to help relieve some stress and Michael was surprisingly interested in it. And we actually know the guy from our old ward so it was kind of like talking to a friend, just more focused.
Back to the acupuncture… it was really cool! There was only a few times that I felt slight discomfort from the needle she was putting in at the time, and after asking her to reposition it I didn’t feel a thing. Michael went with me for support, but also because I wanted him to take pictures so that I could see what it looked like. He said it looked a lot worse than what I just described above. So, other than it being a really cool experience, the jury is still out on what benefits it gave. I know that like any therapy you have to go back several times and do your best to support the “medicine”, which I have been. I took her advise and am increasing my fruits and vegetables (I even got the green foods powder to mix my juice, and it is freakin’ NASTY”) and eating better breakfasts and less sugar. I got a pedometer and am working up to the suggested 15,000 steps per day (but I’m totally lame, I only got 6,800 today). So I will go back to her soon for another acupuncture session and see how it goes after that. Like I told our counselor when he asked me what I wanted from these sessions, “I want to get pregnant. And if I get pregnant then we will know that it worked.” A lot of pressure on them all, but hey, I’ve had the pressure on me long enough, I’m ready to off load it.
(Oh, and side note: not being pregnant isn’t any easier when EVERYONE you know is pregnant or just had a baby. I love you all, but seriously you must all be trying to put a bullet in my brains. The most recent upset was Christy’s super sweet Bella. Congratulations Christy, Brock, and big brother Tyler. But more about the population boom in a later post. I’m going to bed.)

The anticipation is agonizing! The movie starts in an hour and the girls are getting so crazy. This has been so great to get together with friends. We went to Cheesecake Factory and I had the Awesome 30th Anniversary cheesecake and I had to make Courtney eat half because it was so rich. I will of course write more later but, hey I have an hour to kill.