How To Have Disturbing Dreams

Lately, I've been remembering my dreams more than I normally would. When you're pregnant, you often wake up during the middle of the night to use the restroom, find a comfortable position, or hit the dog for stepping on (and scratching) your already tender boob. And they say that when you wake up from a dream, you're more likely to remember said dream. As all my dreams usually are, the ones of late have been influenced by tv, friends, work, and recent conversations. However, these are more vivid and scarier than I can remember.

Here's an example: SyFy is currently running it's 31 Days of Halloween where lots and lots of scary or supposedly scary films are shown. One of my favorites is Wrong Turn. So, when I saw there was a Wrong Turn 2 and 3, I instantly set the DVR for them to record. As I expected, both were absolutely terrible, but for some reason, I love that junk! Bad acting, gore, awful story lines, it's all awesome! The only downside was I found myself running through the woods, half naked, being chased by deformed creature-people in the middle of the night. It was not so much fun waking up to this and a missing Alex at 2:20 in the morning. I was happy that I still had 3 1/2 hours to sleep, but would have been even happier if I could have fallen asleep right away and not have dreamed about these incestuous creature-people. Vampires would have been better. I mean, at least we know they aren't real, right?! 

Another example: one of my close friends and going through a rough patch and I haven't spoken to her in quite a bit. I have no idea what she's going through, so my mind has started to create stories as to what's going on. I have had FOUR separate dreams about her. Knowing this friend, the stories are so extreme and things that she would never, ever, ever, ever do! I mean, an affair, murder, tax evasion (must have been a work-induced thought) and an unwanted pregnancy.

So, what's the moral of the story? Don't make this the most exciting part of my day or consume my every thought. I mean, I refuse to cut out those movies or stop worrying about my friends, but I need to focus my non-work thoughts elsewhere. Any suggestions on where that should be?

Happy Dreaming!

--Am

How To Get Preggo

Most of our friends and family know that Alex and I would like to have a family someday. You may also know that we've been hoping to make that a reality sometime this year. It seems that most people I know who are pregnant or recently pregnant got pregnant very easily. A couple of them by mistake. So I thought and assumed (BIG mistake) that it would happen right away. Wrong! (as most of my assumptions usually are.) We tried for three months and no luck, just lots of sad times when Red emerged from her slumber.

Our next step was to try the ovulation sticks. Hopefully, this would pinpoint a good time for us to get it on and make a baby. We tried this for two months. Geez, I never thought I'd be peeing on so many sticks! With that method, we weren't having any luck. So, we decide to make an appointment with my ob/gyn to see if she had any suggestions. I knew it was probably too soon and she would want us to wait, but I wanted to be reassured that everything was ok with us. I always jump to the worst conclusion and think that I have something totally abnormal about me. Our appt was on Thursday, June 30th. I would hate to say it was a waste of time, but it was! She told us we were fine and that we just needed to keep trying. SUCK!

Well, the Friday after our appt (7/1) I decided it would be fun to take a pregnancy test (not sure why, but the mood struck me). I was due to start anytime between Saturday and Monday, but we had some of the early detection tests (First Response), so thought I'd give it a whirl. Well, two lines emerged. I'd never seen one with two lines, so I had to run it by Alex to see what he thought. Looked like pregnant to me. Alex went out later and got another pack of three tests. I proceeded to take one each morning on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. All came back positive! And finally on Wednesday (7/6), I took a digital test to confirm. Well, PREGNANT was the answer! Talk about a range of emotions, but THRILLED was the overwhelming response. We are so excited for this journey we are embarking on and how it will forever change our lives!!

And I promise that this will not be the entire focus for the blog. Of course, there will be stories that arise from it, but hopefully, there are other things in my life that are exciting enough to write about! :)

Happy Pregnant Me!
--Am

How To Celebrate 29 Years of Life

On August 10th, I turned 29. One year left before I'm 30! I really don't feel old and I don't have a problem getting old. I think because I've always looked so young, I am always excited to get older. That may sound a little weird and maybe it is, but that's me! Plus, birthdays are awesome. I mean, what other day is all about you. Did I mention that I'm a little selfish? I love celebrating me! :)

So here's what the day had in store for me. I arrive at work to dino puppets and my very own Ambersaurus cake! What makes this cake even more special was that it was the first box cake that Claire Norton has ever made. For those of you that don't know her, she is Heartland's resident baker, sewer, and all things homemade! Not that I wouldn't have loved a made-from-scratch-cake, but the fact that it was something that she doesn't normally do made it special. And on top of all of that, Regan (Claire's husband) helped make it. You guys are awesome!

ambersaurus

We proceeded to lunch at the Tamale Place where I had the best pork tamale I have ever tried. For those of you that have never been there, it's worth a venture to the westside of Indy. Absolutely delicious! Plus you get a ton of food for a decent price. I headed home around normal time and arrived to a beautiful bouquet of crazy daisies and a sweet card from my hubby. What a guy!!

 crazy daisies and card

 vibrant colors

 i just love daisies

I didn't have much time at home before it was time to head off to dinner at Oceanaire. I almost always choose this restaurant for my birthday dinner because I love seafood, how the menu has Happy Birthday Amber at the top, and baked Alaska. If you've never been, make sure you go on a special occasion and tell them when booking the reservation what you are celebrating. It made my day even more special! 

menu--look at how special I am :)

Happy Birthday Celebrating!

--Am

How To Twitter...or Is It Tweet?

Two months ago, I broke down and joined the Twitter using the name @AmberCharkov. Not even a week after that, I had jumped on the HootSuite. I was very apprehensive to join because I just didn't understand it and didn't think I needed another form of communication. I mean, I had Facebook. Wasn't that enough? I had no idea what I was missing out on!

One Allison Ackmann (@AllisonAckmann) (a friend and coworker) has been saying I needed to get on it. It started at subtle hints and ended with her going to get the entire office on Twitter if it was the last thing she'd do. So, one slow week at work, I took the last half hour of the day to get myself signed up on the Twitter. The first weekend I had Twitter, I was obsessed! I had to read every update that came across my screen. If I missed any, I would go back and read them to catch myself up. This was fairly easy, as I wasn't following many people. OCD much? YES! It's just like the blogs I follow. Right now, I follow enough that I could catch up on a week's worth of missed blogs during a Saturday. So, I become a little tentative to add many new blogs. I feel like if I don't see everything, I'm going to miss out on something. Geez, what did I do before I didn't join this blogging and tweeting world? However, with the twitter world, I've realized that I'm not going to be able see everything and that half the stuff out there isn't that important. I can let pieces of twitter information slide.

I did realize that it's a great way to communicate and to get your voice out there. You can post anything from what you ate for breakfast to an article on abortion. It can be as laid-back or as serious as you want it to be. I started by mostly replying to treats or re-tweeting (RT) what others wrote. This made it easier to get into the swing of things and took off some of the pressure. The hashtag (#) was something of a mystery to me, but it's really quite simple to use. You use it when you have a certain topic you're talking about or something you want to get across. A good example would be: Nothing will ever be as good as Veronica Mars. #KristenBell #VeronicaMars #ilovetv. See?! I also find you get more followers by following more people. It helps make connections and get your name out there.

I opted for the HootSuite because it was easier to re-tweet than using the original platform. I can't compare it to other platforms because I have no experience with them, but it works well for me. I like that I can see people who have mentioned me, re-tweeted me, sent me a message, and my tweets in addition to the tweets of my followers. I would definitely recommend it!


All in all it's a great tool for information and can be a good way to stay up-to-date. Of course, you should only follow those people that you want. And if someone turns out to be annoying (ie tweeting a shit-ton), then you unfollow them. It's impersonal enough that no one's feelings get hurt. However, here are some of my fave tweeters: @ClairBrsoman, @AllisonAckmann, @BellaTrella26, @NicoleWTHR, @David_Boreanaz, @RIPorSOL, @MS_Living, @threadless, @HeartlandTMP, @TheMommyologist, @TheChrisAngel, @WestCoastTacos

Don't forget to start following me--@AmberCharkov!

Happy Following!
--Am

How To Knock on Wood

Ever since Al and I got our second dog, Dodger, we decided we needed a fence. We were able to train Daisie from running away, but not Dodger. He loves people and other dogs, so if he sees one, he's a goner. We got him May of 2010 (or was it June?). And then when we got Diego (January 2011), we really decided we needed a fence. We hated tying them up, and it made me quite nervous waiting to see if Dodger was going to bolt. So, we sent in the proposal for a fence to our HOA and got started on the fence. Of course we called 811 (call before you dig) to make sure we wouldn't be hitting anything, and we waited the standard 30 days for the HOA to approve.

Al thought it would take a day to put in the posts and another day to put up the braces and the panels. Boy was he mistaken! The one-man auger rented from Home Depot did not do the trick. He spent forever on one post before he called in some reinforcements (our neighbor, Bruce). With his help, they were able to put up seven posts (of 32) in a span of 4 hours. Our ground is a rocky, clay substance that made it difficult to tap into. Al was beat. You could see the look of frustration on his face. He thought about renting a two-man auger, but found something better. Through the help of my dad, his buddy had someone come to the house with a bobcat and a much needed post-hole-digging attachment. WOOHOO!! The posts were dug and set in concrete in less than a day thanks to Steve and my dad (and of course the HARD work of my wonderful man).

On the weekend following, we ventured the cabin for some fun, but came home to a task that had to start as soon as we go home (which was 9:00 pm). At 10:00 pm on Saturday, Al began assembling the gate. Circular saw a-going and everything. I thought we would have had a violation of noise ordinance filed against us, but nothing yet! On Sunday, we were thankful enough to have friends over to help with the fence (and teach me the inner workings of my sewing machine). With the help of Regan, Al got one side of the fence completed. Not the whole thing like he was hoping, but it was all braced and 1/3 completed. Over the next couple of days, he was able to get the remaining sides up and we've been enjoying it ever since!!  

 dodger enjoying the fence

 al standing against his creation

 view from the outside

 my soon-to-be food producer 

 

tiki torch - first time used in 3 years

 thank you card and gift for Steve

I want to give a BIG shout out to my wonderful husband for all of his work on this. Not only did I get a sturdy fence, but I also got a snazzy garden spot! Thanks babe...you're the best!!

Happy Fencing!

--Am

How To Rock & Remember

On Memorial Day weekend, I headed up to Michigan City, Indiana for a weekend getaway. Note I said IN because I first thought it was in Michigan. Anyway, I headed up there with one of my good friends, Sarah, to meet our college crew. Back in the day, there were eight of us that bonded our sophomore year at Manchester: Alyssa, Nicole, Mary, Carey, Sarah, Jaymie, Hannah, and me. Mind you, I had met almost everyone freshman year, but didn't really KNOW any of them. Boy, was I in for it! :)

This trip was our first get together in a long, long time. Of course we've seen each other throughout the years at weddings and whatnot, but haven't had a visit like this since we were in school. Unfortunately, Jaymie and Hannah couldn't join, but we did have some husbands there to make up for it.

We rented a three story cottage, of which we had access to the two lower levels. We didn't do much over the weekend but reminisce, drink and play games. It was a rainy Saturday so there wasn't much else to do. However, I'm not sure it would have mattered if the weather were better. We're comfortable just chillin' and chattin'. On Monday or Sunday, we went to the packed beach for some sun. On a day that it wasn't so sunny, we strolled the beach and I started collecting rocks that I could use to create something to remember this trip by. I found all sorts of shapes and colors, even one that looked like the Virgin  Mary holding baby Jesus! Here's what I came up with:

sandcastle (not of my own doing, although i kinda wish i would have)

 the various rocks - the long one in the middle left is the virgin mary

more spread out in the oyster dish

 bunched together in the aqua dish

Which one do you like better? I'm thinking I like the more contained one, but can't decide. Either way, I have something to help me remember some of the best times EVER! I love my girls!

Happy remembering!
--Am

How To Etch Glass

A little over two months ago, I bought everything you would need to etch glass. It's not much really, just glass, contact paper, stencils, exact-o-knife, and Armor etching cream. All these materials sat upstairs until I finally decided what I could do with them. I originally got the idea from one of my sister's coworkers, Megan. She etched a beautiful name plate for my nephew and sent me the skinny on glass etching. Like most everything in my life, I got real excited and decided to hurry up and wait. So, here we are, two months later, and I found a reason to etch.

My fabulous friend and coworker (yes, I have friends at work!), Claire, is turning 30. To celebrate her birth, she's throwing a little shindig. I didn't want to show up empty handed and bringing only a bottle of wine felt like the easy way out. Good thing my bag of glass etching goodies contained two circle pieces of glass that would make perfect coasters!The stencils I had picked out would also fit her personality. Since she's very organic and earthy, I went with fern-like shapes. Now, it's time to get started. Here's what to do: 

1. Clean the glass with soap and water. Dry it with a clean cloth.
2. Apply contact paper on the glass. Make sure there are no bubbles.
3. Using your stencil, trace the design onto the covered glass. 
4. Take the exact-o-knife and cut around the tracing.
5. Peel off the contact paper that was cut-out. 
6. Thickly apply Armor etching cream with a paint brush and wait five minutes. 
7. Wash off cream with water and peel off contact paper.
8. Spray glass with glass cleaner and wipe clean. And there you go! 

 stenciled on

 stencils

 etching cream applied

 the finished product

It's not the most fancy gift, but it was fun to make and very easy to do. I'm sure Claire will appreciate it! 

Happy Etching!
--Am