Get ready to read...

We just got back from our first camping trip of the year. The new camper worked wonderfully, keeping us and the puppies warm in 32 degree nighttime temps! We had a bit of rain Friday night but yesterday and today were nice and in the low 60's. It was so nice to get away for a weekend... no phones, no sirens, no clock, no interruptions of any kind. I took a boatload of pictures, most of them when we trekked up to the snow-line (granted, this wasn't too far from camp!) and laughed at Karma trying to walk in snow deeper than she is tall! Unfortunately, when I finally noticed my camera telling me it had "insufficient internal memory", I realized I had left our memory card in the converter drive at home. Fat lot of good that did us! Sorry, no pics.

While we were away, we filled out our application for adoption. It will be in tomorrow's post! Now, we're on a waiting list for the next session of pre-adoption training and workshops, which should begin sometime in late July/early August.

Thanks to all who left comments on my first post. It's nice to know people are actually interested and reading this! I do have to say that I want to focus on so much more than just Gil's and my personal IF struggle and our continuing journey in this blog but I also realize that IF is a huge part of our lives so it may take up more space here than I can say at this point. I used to hate having this cross of IF to bear... I still do; I'm scared that the hate will never go away. I wondered "why me", shook my fist at God, threw my temper tantrums more than once... me, who never wanted anything more than to be a wife and a mother. I could've cared less about a career but God led me down a different path and now I have a successful career and enjoy what I do (for the most part) and I have been blessed with the most wonderful, loving husband any girl could ask for. It is the wonderful blessings I have been given in him, my family, and my friends that have allowed me to deal with the pain of PCOS and IF. I'm trying to figure out the reason that I have been given this heavy cross to bear, out of everyone I know... I only know one or two people with IF and those only since I've been diagnosed... and I know a lot of people so that percentage is extremely low. In my quest to find support, I am astonished that the only support group I could find is online. There is no support here, no resources at all for those struggling with infertility unless you wish to proceed with IVF, which is something that Gil and I don't believe in pursuing; even then, you'd have to go to Denver or Seattle. Some of the friends that I've already shared our struggle with have said that they've never known anyone other than me with IF. Maybe it's my place to put some education out there... just to make people more aware that it is a disease, not a choice; it's heartbreaking, not something to be placated with words or advice from those who've never experienced it. It's the loss of a dream that dies not just once, but over and over again. I know no one has ever purposefully wanted to hurt me with automatic responses and advice they've given, but it has happened. If you've made it this far in this post and are still reading, thank you, and I highly encourage you to click on the infertility links to the left. There is some great information and advice there written for the purpose of educating the friends and family of those suffering from IF. I'm not requesting this just for myself but I ask that you realize that IF is, unfortunately, pretty common and you never know if you could be talking with someone who might be suffering from it. I thank all of you for being there for me through our struggles, from the diagnosis of PCOS to IF. I realize my life is so much more than this disease; I'm thankful for that life and I wouldn't be who I am without this nasty disease. I've come to accept that. Hopefully, it'll make dealing with it a bit easier.