Blog Failure

I haven't really thought about blogging in awhile. Life has been flying by and with the little downtime I have, blogging just really doesn't make the cut. But I have resolved that I will be better at bringing you guys along on this crazy journey called life.

Jason and I are still in Eaton Rapids. He still works at Commonwealth in Jackson. In September, I took a new job that got me back to my engineering roots. I currently work for Adams Building Contractors where I am an engineering designer. We design and build grain facilities. For those of you who don't know what they are, check out our website: www.adamsbc.com

It's still just the 5 of us down here. Me, Jason, and the 3 dogs. With the lack of winter this year, they've enjoyed playing in the mud pit of a backyard we have. I look forward to winter every year. It's a time when we don't have to wipe puppy paws constantly and I can clean my carpet AND IT ACTUALLY STAYS CLEAN. But it looks like I'm not going to have an abundance of the white fluffy stuff this year.

Thought it's 5 for now, we're hoping to add to our family. And no, not with another dog. Jason and I have recently started another round of fertility treatments. This time we are going to be trying IUI (google it for the intricacies). It basically consists of me taking hormone shots for 5 days, and then taking a shot to help with ovulation. All the while I have to go in every few days and be monitored. It's difficult, and my moods are all over the place, but we're really hoping for a baby, soon.

Also, WE SOLD THE HOUSE IN PETOSKEY!! It's gone, we took a loss, BUT IT'S GONE. I didn't even get sad about it, which I thought I would.

There are so many possibilities for this coming year. You never know what direction life is going to take you, you can just hope that it's positive!

Saturday Mornings

As I sit here on this fine spring morning, listening to a Lady Gaga marathon (Jason picked it, should I be concerned about his manhood!?) I realize that life is looking up. Yes the housing market still sucks and there is currently no hope of selling our "up north vacation home", I have started a new job. We had just gotten back from Van Family Florida Fun Time (fun indeed, see picture above) and I got a phone call Monday morning offering me a job from a place I interviewed at back at the beginning of March. I really had no hope of getting the position because it was far out of my realm of Civil Engineering, but low and behold, they wanted me. I started right away and have just finished up my second week with SGASi (http://www.sgasi.com/). We are a stage production company that works for some really big clients including Disney, WWE, NFL, and pretty much every notable casino in Vegas. I an doing stage and seating design which means I am back in front of a computer doing AutoCAD and am not lugging 40lb cylinders of concrete all over Lansing. Thus, life is better.

Getting back in the swing of working full time has been difficult. The fact that Jason has been working 60hr weeks since we got back from vacation doesn't help either. I still have to do all the household things that I was doing before, plus work a 9 hour day. When I get home from work I have to find time to work out, tire out the Critter Crew, get dinner on the table and relax. So things are a bit crazy while I settle back in to work. I've done it before and I'll do it again.

With Easter this weekend we plan on taking it easy. I took the dogs each for their own runs this morning and persuaded Jason to make breakfast (score!). I still have 400 other things to do but Jason tries to remind me to slow down and take some time to my self. Finishing the front yard raking is on the agenda as well as laundry and bathroom cleaning. What's that saying? A woman's work is never done? So beyond true. It's Saturday Night at home Date Night for the Repkes'. Shut off the TV, open a bottle of wine, and bust out a board game. I'll relax then.

Happy Easter to all and may the Easter Bunny leave you lots of goodies and no rabbit turds!

Emotional Subject

As some of you may or may not know, Jason and I have been trying to start a family for over 2 years. Though I do still believe that God will let us have a baby when we are good and ready for it, the process doesn't get any less frustrating. In October of 2008 I was diagnosed with PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome). Though women with PCOS can have children, it can often become difficult. All my life I've battled with my weight, my acne, and my health in general. I'd been to doctors all over Michigan trying to discern what the problem could be. And in 2008, by chance, my Doctor finally figured it out. I was informed that I basically looked and had the profile of a woman with PCOS. Irregular cycles, being active but carrying a lot of weight around the middle, adult acne, etc. The clincher was when they drew blood to test my hormone levels and they were pretty much non-existent. My doctor but me on a medicine called Metformin that regulates insulin levels which in turn regulates hormone levels which in turn regulates cycles. She also wanted me to lose about 40lbs and at that point she would send me to a fertility specialist. This new medicine took some getting used. Just ask Jason, I couldn't control any of my emotions for the first couple months and looked basically acted like a crazy person. I medication worked and my cycles were soon on track. Weight was slowly coming off and we really hoped that soon we would have one on a way. Flash forward to October 2010. I've been on metformin for 2 years and still no baby. I moved to Lansing and that was the first time I went to see a fertility specialist. Dr. Leach confirmed my PCOS, deemed me healthy enough to carry a child, and had no reason not to believe that we could easily achieve this with the right medication. He started me on Clomid which is a drug that will stimulate ovulation. We did 3 cycles of it, and though I ovulated, Still no baby. Our hopes were so high during those 3 months. Every month we thought that would be it but then my cycle would start again and we'd be devastated. At this time I continued on my weight loss journey, went in for another consultation with Dr. Leech, and continued our prayers. Since I had last seen Dr. Leech in October I had lost about 20lbs. This is very encouraging for an overweight woman who is trying to get pregnant. And instead of going to the next step of medications and artificial insemination (SCARY complications might I add) we decided that I would continue to lose weight, and after 3 months, do another round of Clomid. And that is where we are right now. From the time I was diagnosed with PCOS in October of 2008 I have lost approximately 40lbs. And the majority of that has been in the last 3 months. Jason and I are still hopeful that we can become pregnant the old fashioned way and that one day God will bless us with a baby. I mean we have 3 dog babies, of course, but they're dependent on my for their entire lives, children eventually leave the nest! :) Well that's it. We're off to Florida on Wednesday to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday. Mark, Jaime, Jason and I are all flying down to spend some time with Mom and Dad at their new house in their old people's park. Those old folks won't know what hit them!

It's Been Awhile

Welcoming back blog readers! OR maybe I should say welcome back me since I seem to have been MIA from my blog for the last 6 months. It seems like just a year ago that I was talking about us finishing the remodel on our house in Petoskey and putting it up on the market. Well now I'm having Deja Vu. Since we just put that house BACK on the marked this week at $20,000 less. Jason and I want to get on with our lives! So we need all the help/prayers/finger crossing you can give us.

I moved to Eaton Rapids in September and set up our house down here. Jason's new company paid for our move so it was fairly painless. Trying to fit 2,200 sft of stuff into a maybe 1,100 sft house was a challenge. We're a little cramped and most of our things are in bins in the basement. I did get to have my piano come down. It had been sitting at Mom and Dad's since I left for college and this house actually has a place for it so I get to play once in a while.

I took a job with a company called PSI and I work in Construction Services. Basically I drive around mid-michigan and test construction materials and tell contractors what to do. I was laid off in December and have been waiting for Construction Season to start back up ever since. Meanwhile I continue to look for a job in the Civil Engineering industry but it's pretty dead right now.

In the meantime Jason and I have decided just to get on with our lives. Our old house not selling and me being laid off are really holding us back since we're broke most of the time. But we just can't wait for things to get better anymore. When Jason got laid off at GRP in December of 2009 our whole lives were put on hold and we stopped trying for the tings we wanted out of life and instead were just trying to survive. Well we survived. The war is not over yet, but we're going to be on the winning side.

I have even started to get back in shape. Which I think shocked the shit out of my loving mother since she's been eager for me to do that for some time. I've lost almost 30 lbs in the last 4+ months and feel great. I've started running again which I love. The dogs love it too since they're a little tubby (I'm talking to you BEAN) from the winter.

OK that's it for now. I've got things to do before Jason gets home from work in an hour. I make a promise to my readers to try and blog more often. I know I have like 5 readers, but hey, whatever!

The Repke Human Dog Clan

Well as many of you know, the lives of the Repke Human Dog Clan are CRAZY! With Jason living downstate and me still living up here. Luckily I have finally found a job and am now moving in with my hunny bear again! Which brings me to a whole new level of crazy. I got the call that the job was mine and immediately went into anal retentive packing/get organized mode. I had movers come in for quotes, I was packing boxes, throwing things away, and on top of that I had some crazy deadlines at work that I had to meet which force me to work 12 hr days for a week. With that all finally behind me I figured I was in the home stretch for the move which will happen next Thursday. All was going well until Apollo ran away Wednesday nite.

I called and called and called but he just seemed to be gone. I knocked on doors and drove the trails through the state land until it got dark. The general consensus is that he got all birdy in the yard and went hunting after it. Then he looked up and had no idea where he was. I put out an APB on him with all the local animal control officers and shelters. Left the light on outside over nite, but his favorite toy out there and generally didn't get a lot of sleep. I went to work the next day where I proceeded to make phone calls and had $50 dollars worth of fliers made up. My friends husband came out after work and we started handing out fliers. The first person I haded a flier to was about an 8 yr old boy playing in his front yard. He took one look at the picture and said "I just saw him running that way a few minutes ago". I was astonished. So off we went after him. Pulling in peoples driveways here and there. We were just about to make a turn on to a side road (hoping to get ahead of him) when I saw him napping in someones front yard with their 2 black labs. He's such a little shit. He probably had the time of his life for 24 hrs. Little did he know that people across the states of Michigan, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, hell, I'll go with the whole United States, were worried about him.

He is now home and safe and knows he was a bad boy so is pretty subdued. He's covered in burrs so I had to take him to the groomer today (which will cost me another $50) to get them cut out. Plus he lost his electronic collar somewhere in the woods which will be another $100 bucks. I'm SO HAPPY that he his home but I'd still like to wring his little neck to the hell he put me through and for the money he ended up costing me.

So there is a quick and dirty update people. The next one probably won't be until we get settled downstate. Happy Fall People!

I'm a Busy Lady

Lately I don't know if I'm coming or going. Jason and I have been trying to keep somewhat of a schedule (if you know my well, I thrive on schedules, plans, spreadsheets, lablemakers, etc) where we each travel every other weekend. But since I've been getting some job phone calls (FINALLY) I'm travelling a lot more. Sometimes in the middle of the week for interviews! But for the last 2 weeks I've been able to schedule them for Friday. This basically means that I work my rather plump behind off at work, often working (4) 12 hr days, Monday through Thursday so I can flex out on Friday (ie have the day off without taking a vacation day)then I drive down Thursday nite and spend the weekend, coming back Sunday only to do it all over again. I am literally living out of a clothes basket. And the dogs are becoming extremely well traveled. Apollo sleeps on his bed in the back of the Yukon and the girls lounge on the back seat. They can usually make it all the way down to Lansing with no potty breaks. But on the rare occasion that they have an issue, I get some really strange looks at the rest stops, trying to hold (3) 50 lb dogs with OCD on leashes. Yeah, I'm crazy. But hey, hopefully this is all worth it and I find a job soon, I miss my husband.

We'll hopefully be moving soon. Which is sad/exciting all in one. I love our house. I love Petoskey, and I love my current Job. But life took us on a different path. And to the Best Mom in the world: Yes we will still come to Alpena to visit as often as possible. Especially this summer so we can go out on the pontoon. Do not worry. I am still your closest child geographically and we will be there whenever we can. And you can come visit us and we'll take Dad's credit card and go to the Coach store! :)

So I leave you with a random cute dog picture, well because they are!
This is Momma Bean watching over her Babies Hannah (the horrible) and Copper (turtle):

Our Busy Exciting Life

Since I'm a total blog slacker as of late, I figured I better do a life update. Jason and I have been going back and forth on weekends to see each other. One weekend I go down, and the next weekend he goes up. A month or so ago I was down in Eaton Rapids for the weekend and we went to Marshall to walk around and go to the Dark Horse Brewery with the Morris family. We had lots of fun, some good food, and some good beer. And even Ms. Isla Mae enjoyed herself.



And yes for all those who are wondering. That is a Baby. In a Bar. And yes she can hold her liquor. Just kidding.

A few weekends after that was Jason's 30th birthday. I told him I wouldn't keep calling it his 30TH BIRTHDAY but I just can't help myself. It was planting time at Van Camp so naturally we had his birthday at there. All the guys were there to celebrate with us and so were my Gramma and Grampa D. Me and Gram hung out at camp with all the dogs and drank wine and cooked a killer prime rib dinner. It was topped off with presents and an amazing ice cream cake that Ma Van ordered from Neimans.



That's Jason getting a super expensive bottle of whiskey from a person who is the reigning title holder of "Best Wife in the World". And no. I will not mention any names.

The following weekend I was back down in Eaton Rapids for BREW DAY EXTRAVAGANZA which we had on the deck of our rental house. Once again the Morris family joined us and so did Cousin Kelsch and his dog Barret. Barret is one of Athena's babies. The boys brewed 20 gallons of beer. And 10 gallons of that was Birthday Beer. Which is Jason's specialty and generally the VanMassenhove Family's favorite.



Those are the boys thinking REALLY hard.



And that's Isla participating in her very first Brew Day with a little help from her dad, Eric.

Memorial Day weekend we spent in glorious Northern Michigan. And glorious it was. Highs in the 80's, sunny, slight breeze and warm. So we hit the Inland Water Way for Tom Buoys first trip of the year. Jason got her all ready to go Saturday and we were on the water by noon on Sunday.



This Wednesday, for the very first time ever, I took the girls (Apollo is down in Eaton Rapids with Jason) to Doggie Day Care. I honestly felt like a new mom dropping my babies off for the first day of preschool. And then I agonized during the day as to whether or not I should call and check up on them. I know, I need help. But according to the girls at Waggs n Purrs Athena and Copper were the hit ot the day care party. They played all day and got along great with the others dogs. And if the following picture means anything, they had a GREAT time.



We walked in the door, they had a little snack, crawled in their bed and promptly went to sleep! My 'poor' girls were exhausted!

This weekend I'm off to Eaton Rapids and then to Detroit on Saturday to go on a historic home tour with the Morris Family! Have a great one blog-land!