Follower of the Month - Michelle's Path

This month's Follower of the Month is Michelle from Michelle's Path.

Michelle is an Air Force Wife and a very proud adoptive mom to Kayla. She leaves the sweetest comments on my blog and I'm happy to be getting to know her via bloggyville.

Everyone, please allow me to introduce you to Michelle:

1.What's your name?

Michelle Alessi

2.Tell us a little bit about you.

I am a 25 year old wife of an active duty Air Force E-6 currently deployed to Afghanistan, and proud adoptive mother to Kayla, my 10 month bundle of dreams of come true.

I met my husband when I was 15 and he was just 18. We parted ways when he joined the Air Force. Right before I graduated high school Nick asked me to marry him and my response was, "Of course." We were married 5 months later, after his first deployment to Kuwait. After being married for only 10 months we decided to start a family not knowing what was about to come our way. YEARS of failure, heartbreak, surgeries, near depression on many occasions for both Nick and I, a million injections, 9 Intra-uterine inseminations with donor sperm, 1 IVF, 2 miscarriages, 3 more deployments and much much more....we finally adopted our miracle baby Kayla Nicole at birth. And she is worth every second of the pain we went through. The Air Force now has us living on the tiny tropical island of Guam in the middle of the pacific ocean, and in the middle of seriously...nowhere.

3.When did you start blogging and why?

I started blogged on October of 2006. To begin with I did it to document our journey to us becoming pregnant. So I and our child could look back on it. Little did I know in the years ahead it would be bring me so many friends, lots of love and support and also become my 'therapy'.

4.Tell us a bit about your blog.

My blog consists of my every day life. My life as an Air Force wife and adoptive mother. It has my thoughts and feelings about just about everything except our birth mother. I choose to keep her identity and her life just that...HERS. I hope it brings strength to people that have been or are going through things that I have endured. I hope it lets people see that good things come. Dreams do happen. Life isn't ALL a down hill ride.

5.Has blogging changed you or your outlook on life at all?

YES, yes and yes. For one of many reasons: I look at so many things now in a better light by getting to know families that are not the same as mine. For example..I have many same sex couple friends that have babies and have tried as hard as Nick and I to get them. It makes me wish that everyone who has hate or ignorance in their hearts, could read and get to know my friends and know that they are normal people who eat, breathe, work, and love just as I do.

6.Link us to 1 - 3 of your favorite posts from your own blog

• Kayla's birth
• Kayla's official adoption day
• My letter to Aunt Deb after she passed away

7.Link us to 1 - 3 of your favorite fellow bloggers

Oh how it is so hard to choose only 3 of my favorite bloggers!

• Tammy's Journey who no matter what has been a great friend and stuck by me through everything from TTC, losing my 2 angel babies, Kayla's adoption...no matter what she was going through at the time. She is so very selfless.
• Mrs. R from The R House who is THE best adoption advocate that I know of and who provides countless information and support for adoption. Not to mention her 2 handsome adopted boys and their fabulous birth mothers. Oh man....only 3...this is so hard! I guess it would have to be...
• Meg's blog All About Austin Her and her partner Kris went through so much to get their little handsome edible Austin here into the world. It was wonderful to watch their dreams unfold and fall into reality. Their little Austin was born just weeks after Kayla so it is fun to watch them grow together through blogs.

8.How did you find my blog and why do you follow me?

Ok, I'm a total blonde sometimes. I dont know remember how I found your blog. I'm sure it was through someone else's blog. I follow you because I wish so much that I could physically be a friend to you and not just a friend through a blog. Somedays I just want to go knock on your door and give you a hug and let you know that there are people that care about you. It just breaks my heart to see that someone as yourself going through what God has given to you and for no apparent reason. Even though I do believe EVERYTHING happens for a reason. We just don't know it right away.

9.What, if anything, have you gained from reading from my blog?

To take everyday seriously, and love and cherish each moment. That you could lose anyone at anytime and what I have is so very precious. Thank you Ter for reminding me of that each and every time I read your blog.

10. Tell me the truth, you're going to brag to all your bloggy friends that you were my follower of the month, aren't you? ;)

HECK YEAH!

Friday Fragments: Going MIA for a while again!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!

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My laptop crashed and I do not trust the desktop to not crash, so I'll be MIA for a while til that gets fixed. Besides I'm sick.

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My blood pressure went crazy high earlier this week for no apparent reason. I've got my meds readjusted and hopefully that does the trick.

Then, I ended up with a lovely cold. Man, I hate being sick.

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Tomorrow, July's Follower of the Month will be featured. Would you like to be the follower of the month for August?? Email me!

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I got this Honest Scrap Award from Ali at The Blessed Country Mom. To accept this award I must list 10 honest things about myself.

1. I have an addiction to Coca Cola and Cheese. Not together necessarily.

2. I have a long time fantasy of being a runner.

3. I only have one eye tooth.

4. I choke whenever I laugh. My husband says I'm allergic to fun.

5.

(ok I never finished this before my laptop crashed.... so I'll finish it another time, if I don't forget)

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I'm now on Season 4 !

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I went to my first ever Pampered Chef party. It was kinda fun!

The Pampered Chef consultant showed us how to make California Club Pizza. It was so good!

I bought this and this. I was tempted to buy a whole lot more! I can't wait for it to arrive. You can bet I'm going to make my own California Club Pizza!

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Friday Funny:


(click to enlarge)

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Disappearing Blog List?

Anyone else using blogger missing their blog list today?

edit: it's back now. yay! :)

Movie Review: The Bucket List

The Bucket List - starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

Two complete opposite men find themselves in the same hospital room fighting for their lives. An unlikely friendship develops between the two after they are each told they have not much time left to live.

They develop a list of things they want to do before they 'kick the bucket' aptly named "The Bucket List".

When they leave the hospital, they decide to go on a trip around the world in attempt to cross the items off their list.

This movie was full of both humorous and touching scenes. I found myself both laughing-out-loud and being moved by this movie. It causes one to think of their own mortality and the list of things they wish to do before they die.

No one can do it quite like Nicholson and Freeman. I certainly recommend this movie to all.

(note: review originally written in March 2009)

*sigh*

Don't know what to say so here's my post from one year ago today. It says pretty much what I would say anyway if I wrote a new post today.

And so begins the worst month of the year.

The One In Which I Risked My Life

So, I risked my life to go see my littlest brother graduate from high school. I say 'risk my life' because I drove a nearly 3 hour trip on my own despite my tendency to get very sleepy while driving. Somehow, I managed to make it there without falling asleep! Emma came along for the ride and did wonderfully. She loves car rides! We stopped a couple times along the way, and one of those times was to visit a friend at her family's farm. But we did make it finally! It was my first time driving the entire distance by myself. Go, me!

We spent a few extra days there so I could visit some of my family and friends who still live there and even made an additional 45 minute drive (one way) to go see my mother-in-law. Yikes! I guess there's no excuse for me not going anywhere now (although, I did almost nod off on the way back from that measly 45 minute drive!)

Anyway! Just to make myself feel old, take a look at these photos! The first one is my littlest brother and myself on MY high school graduation day and the second one is us on HIS high school graduation day.



Isn't that sad? He got taller and I only got wider.

But yeah, pretty proud of the little-not-so-little guy.

Honestly, there isn't much to say about the trip, but it was nice to see some people I haven't seen for a while. I met two of my friend's babies who have been born since I've seen them last. I also met an online friend who quite coincidentally went to school with my husband and to further the coincidence, her mother now lives across the hall from my mother-in-law. I also paid an insane amount of money to get the negatives and proofs from the photographer who did my wedding photos. We had hoped to go swimming at the lake when we went to see my Mother-in-Law but Mother Nature decided to cool off and send down some rain that day. Boo! I was looking forward to finding out if Emma is a swimmer or not. If she is, she sure didn't get it from me, although, I do a mean doggie paddle!

I'm glad I went, but I was even more glad to get home despite the fact those darn cleaning fairies never came to clean my house while I was gone.

Missing In Action

Well, some of you noticed I haven't been around lately. Thank you to those who sent messages of concern. I made a last minute decision to drive out to see my littlest brother graduate from high school, and only planned to stay overnight but ended up staying a few more days to get in a few visits. Will post a longer post later, right now I'm tired from all the driving.

Why I'll Be Ms. Cranky Pants For The Rest Of The Year

May 6, 2005
The Day My Dreams Came True

June 3, 2005
The Day I Fell In Love

June 15, 2005
The Day I Landed In The Hospital

July 14, 2005
The Day Her Fate Was Sealed

July 22, 2005
The Day She Flew Away

July 23, 2005
The Day Her Heartbeat Was Silent

July 24, 2005
The Day I Was Induced

July 25, 2005
The Day We Said Hello ... And Goodbye

July 26, 2003
The Day We Got Married (post not written yet)

October 30, 2005
The Day She Was Due

November 27, 2008
The Day He Left Me Too

Friday Fragments - Overload of Cuteness!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!

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First and foremost, I would like to congratulate two of my friends (this one and this one) on the births of their baby girls this past week!

(I get to meet one of the babies today!)

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I've noticed there are a few new followers on my list...welcome! I hope you will find my blog worth coming back again. I look forward to getting to know you, but of course you might have to introduce yourselves! :)

If you are one of my regular followers, and I'm not one of yours, please let me know. It's no fun being followed if I'm not following you too!

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Friday Funny:

This is either really funny or an overload of cuteness! Either way, it brought a smile to my face!




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Vickie photo tagged me. The rule was to go to your 1st folder in your photos and then pick the 10th photo. I decided to change it up a little. I went to my 2006 file (the year I got my digital camera) and the first file there was my 2006favorites. The 10th photo in that file was this one:



I had put it in my favorites because I learned how to make the B&W with color directly on my camera and was pretty proud of myself. Of course, I haven't done that since! The bear was my first Mother's Day gift from my daughter/her daddy. *sigh*

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Have you seen the show "I Survived A Japanese Game Show" ? I watched it last summer and it was so funny. It's on again now! Unfortunately at the same time as "So You Think You Can Dance" but that's what VCR's are for! (yes, I'm old school!)

Here's a clip of a commercial for "I Survived A Japanese Game Show" advertising this season's premiere which was on Wednesday. If you haven't watched the show, you should. It will have you LOL-ing!



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I did it ! I did it! (What did I do? Read Here to find out!) Yes, I know it's hardly anything to be excited about about but it's a big step for me. I also did this!

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I forgot to keep track of how many walks and gym time this week. I think 2 times at the gym and 3 times walk.

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Have a great weekend everyone!

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Book Review: An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination - by Elizabeth McCracken

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken is a memoir of the author's pregnancy with her son, Pudding, and the months following his stillbirth, during which she becomes pregnant again with her subsequent pregnancy.

I received this book as part of a 'book circle" amongst some SHARE moms in which the book is passed along to another SHARE mommy after it's been read. (If you are a member of SHARE, see the boards for more detail.)

The inside cover describes this book as "a story of true love and unfathomable sadness. It is a story of courageous recovery and bittersweet moments, of steadfast memories and deep affection. it is a story of the importance of friendship. It is the story of happiness, and of hope."

Reviews from others who have read the book lead me to believe the book was laced with humor as well as the sadness. It led me to believe that there was love and hope in this book. I anticipated reading this and was so excited when it finally arrived in my mailbox.

Unfortunately, the book did not strike me as being quite as described by the reviews I have read. Perhaps this is because I have lost my chance to have another pregnancy. Perhaps it is because I lack the kind of humor that is needed to "get into" this book. I was a bit disappointed, to say the least, especially after I had been so anxious to read this book in the first place.

Not everyone else will feel the same about this book as I do. As I mentioned earlier, many seem to quite enjoy this author's writings. I hope the next mommy to get this book will enjoy it more than I.

(note: review written in Feb. '09)