Weight Loss

So, a couple years back, I joined weight watchers. I lost a bunch of weight, and have managed to keep MOST of it off. BUT a lot of the pants i was wearing at the height of my weight loss I can barely squeeze myself into now and have hit a major plateau. I've been the same now for about a year. Soooo I am starting back up on weight watchers and thought if I made my weight loss somewhat public, I might be more willing to challenge myself. My sister-in-law Lynsie has become quite the runner and has really made me want to start also. (This might be far fetched, but I think it'd be fun to do a race of some sort SOMEDAY, when I'm more in shape). I made Norm buy me an elliptical so I'm gonna start exercising and being more healthy! If anyone wants to be a weight loss "buddy" please let me know!

Turners Syndrome

So I have been thinking about my diagnosis of Turners recently. When I was first diagnosed, it didn't really have an affect on me. I have never really felt like I was behind my friends or anything, so when the dr called to give my mom the diagnosis and she told me what they said, I asked, "am I gonna die?" (yes, I really did ask that). She just laughed said no, explained that I would later on have problems having kids and it was pretty much left at that. Well I had to see a geneticist after that to get on growth hormones. After about two + years of seeing this guy, we finally decided it would be best to just see my regular dr since there wasn't much more he could do for me and I was gonna be heading off to college. On my last visit (I was probably about 18 and a senior in high school) was when it really hit me that I would never have my own kids. My genetist asked what I would say to a man when I found someone to marry. I told him that I would explain I would probably not be able to get pregnant. Well, he interrupted me and said "no, you need to tell them you will never get pregnant". A little harsh for an 18 year old who wasn't even thinking about marriage or kids just yet. I burst into tears right there in his office and didn't stop crying for about a day. (I was slightly overdramatic I know). My poor family didn't have any idea of what to do to make me feel better. They took me to Chilis to eat dinner before we left Oklahoma City and when we got back to Woodward that night, made me go to a movie with them. Yet I still cried through the whole thing. The next day my mom basically told me that I couldn't sit and feel sorry for myself that I could always have children through the miracle of adoption, etc. So after that I felt a little better. I think I was just so afraid of finding someone who would care that I couldn't have children of my own. Or that I would be resented later on. Well, a few weeks later Norm told me he was adopted and that was when I knew I would be ok! I am so grateful though that I don't have many of the problems associated with Turners. I have a very mild form of it. If you wanna learn more you can go to www.turnsyndrome.org.

My dad

So this Wednesday, the 20th marks two years since my dads death. I must say I miss him a lot! My sister and I didn't speak at his funeral but there are things about my dad that will always stand out to me. He was a man who loved his wife. I could give him attitude any time of the day and he probably would have ignored me, but give my mom attitude and I got in so much trouble from him. I especially remember one christmas when I was in middle school that we really didn't have any money, but I desperately wanted these expensive shoes. Well one night my dad looked at me and said, "I promise those shoes will be there Christmas morning", and they were! I will never forget his sacrifies that he made for our family. I am so grateful to know that I will see him again some day! Here is link that I thought fitting LDS.org - Youth Chapter Detail - Death, Physical

Baby Update

Well, theres really not to much to say on this front except that our profile is published and we are just waiting for that call!! If you are interesed in seeing our profile check it out www.itsaboutlove.org and just do a search for Megan and Norm (anyone out there know how to do the one work link thing??)

Busy Busy

Well we are still alive, I promise! I am still so new to this blogging thing, and sometimes have a hard time knowing what to put. But the last few months have been pretty busy for us. I finished my practicum in the middle of August and went back to my old job. I then started classes full time at the end of August, so between school full time and work full time, its been pretty crazy. And it seems that we have something going every weekend. The weekend school started, Norms aunt, uncle and cousin and her husband and two kids came for a visit. It was soo much fun. We took them to Remington Park on Friday and then spent Saturday at the bombing memorial. Then a few weeks ago, my brother Nathan flew in to Oklahoma to surprise my mom and I picked him up and we went home to Woodward and spend a few days. It was wonderful to see everyone. Everyone came to see me this weekend (except Tairah, missed you!!) and we went shopping and just hung out. I love my family!!

Lately

What we've been up to lately-
-I started my practicum for my MSW degree a few weeks back. I work with FamilyStart at the OU Children Hospital and like it so far. (It is really really sad though to see all those sick children. I don't know if I wanna be at kids hospital forever)
-Norm just got a job at Academy. He is still hopeful to get into law enforcement when the economy gets a little better.
-We just celebrated five years of marriage! (another post about that to soon come)
-On the adoption front, well....its going at a snails pace. Apparently the lady who was supposed to mail off our background checks changed jobs before she got them sent off and forgot about them. Which means for us, another 4-6 weeks of waiting for those to clear. *sigh*. LDS family services is currently looking to contract out with a social worker to do our homestudy since they are very short handed, so we're waiting on that too right now. Lots and lots of waiting. But I am keeping faithful that all things will fall into place and happen when they need to! Night all

Grandpa Hollingsworth

Norms grandfather Howard Hollingsworth passed away a few weeks ago, so they headed to Las Vegas for the funeral. (I had to stay behind because I started my practicum and couldn't get away). He was an awesome man with lots of spunk. Any time I'd ask him how he was, he would always say, "ugly, mean and nasty". He was pretty funny too. He will be missed! But we are so grateful for the knowledge of eternal families and that we will see him again! (sorry for blurry pic, this snapshot at our wedding is the only one I could find of him.)

Memorial Day

So we have been super busy it seems lately. Over memorial day, we went to Woodward to be with my family. Sadly no pics to post. I always forget my camera. Norm bought me a nice one about two years ago and gets irritated cause I'm always forgetting it. Anyways, we went to my house and spent time with the nephews. It was a blast as usual. We got to do tons of swimming and had a bbq at my aunt petras. On Monday before we left town, we stopped at my dads graveside. My mom and aunts had it decorated for the holiday, and it was beautiful. I sure miss that guy.

Cruisin

So in January we went with Norms family on a 7-day cruise. It was so much fun! We stopped in Costa Maya, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Cozumel. It really was such a fun trip. Our good friends the Castillos went with us. I hope that we can go again next year when I graduate! Heres just a few pics and highlights of our trip. There are tons more, but I didn't feel like putting them all on here, plus I don't know how to make it look all organized. Probably the best thing about the trip was the parasailing. I LOVED it, I sooo wanna go again. Thanks Norm and Jo for an awesome trip!!!! We love you!

My New Life

Nie

So like I said, I am new to this blogging thing, but check out this video (I think I accidently put it on a new post) She is awesome, hope I can become the amazing woman she is! Night all

Frustrations

So the past month or so, I have been super stressed with school and such that I kind of put working on our adoption papers off a bit. Well school finally ended and Norm and I FINALLY got our "dear birthparent" letter written and sent in to LDS family services. (We're STILL waiting on our background checks to come in!) Lisa, the very nice and patient woman who I talk to ALL the time at LDS family services said they would call as soon as everyone in the office finished reading the letter (the letters are read by all the employees before they are posted). Well its been a week and no call. We still have to schedule our homestudy AND one more set of interviews. So yesterday morning, I woke up feeling very down. I honestly woke up and just started crying thinking how slow this is all going and how much I want a baby of our own. There are days where I just ache to hold my own child. Yesterday was one of those days. However, I came across a blog of an old friend of mine that I'd lost contact with. Apparently she and her husband are trying to have a baby too. They've been trying for two years. I realized that although sometimes when all my friends are having kids and becoming moms, and it seems as though I am soo far behind everyone, I am not alone. I also realized that Heavenly Father never leaves any of His children comfort less and that in His time I will have my precious baby. I just hope it is sooner than later! LOL

Christmas 2009

Norm and I spent Christmas with the Smith clan! Nathan and Lynsie and their kiddos came down, and as always we had such a fun time with them. Here are just a few pics of all the kids. It's always a crazy house when we all get together, but we had so much fun

Thanksgiving

for Thanksgiving this year, we got to go to Las Vegas for Norm's grandmas 80th birthday party. It was so much fun. Sadly, my stupid memory card messed up during the trip, so I don't have any pictures. But we got to spend lots of time with all of the Las Vegas Hollingsworth's, most importantly see Grandma and Grandpa H. The day after thanksgiving, Norms cousin Abbie was baptised so we went to that and then went and did Black Friday shopping whoo hoo!! That night we went out to the strip and walked around for a few hours (lots of crazies out late at night by the way). But Vegas lit up at night is beautiful! It was a fast trip, but very fun.

First Post

Wow, this is kinda exciting. I'm finally a blogger. We'll see how well this goes...the main purpose of this blog is so that potential birth parents can see what we are like and what our lives are like. I think I'll do a few posts and catch everyone up on what we've been up to these last few months