A Blogging Tip - Who Are You?

I've been meeting a lot of new bloggers lately (hello to you!) so I just wanted to give you a quick tip that will be very helpful.

Some of you may not have all your Blogger.com settings updated so when you comment on blogs, your comment will come from the generic address we know as noreply-comment@blogger.com. When this happens, the person who received the comment can't reply and respond back.

There is an EASY fix! I posted the secret awhile ago and I want to pass it on again. Go here to follow the instructions and fix it.

Happy Friday!

Delicious Spinach & Artichoke Pasta

We LOVE anything spinach & artichoke so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it!

Adapted from GetHealthyCheap.com

Ingredients:
• 12 oz. whole wheat egg noodles
• 2 - 6 oz. jars of artichoke hearts (drain but save 2 tablespoons of the oil)
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup white wine
• 10 oz. package of frozen spinach, thawed & drained
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 oz. ricotta
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, chop sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke into smaller pieces.

In a large pan, cook artichoke, sun-dried tomatoes and the leftover oil from the artichoke jar. Stir occasionally and cook for about 3 minutes.

Add garlic and salt & pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add white wine and cook until evaporated.

Add spinach and drained pasta once it's cooked. Spinach should be cooked until wilted or about 3-4 minutes.

Pour mixture in a large bowl and toss with ricotta and parmesan cheese.

SO good! Enjoy!

National Infertility Awareness Week

I don't usually get too serious on here, but this is a topic that is now very important to me. Some of you have followed my experiences of infertility, miscarriage, and now pregnancy. I'm just trying to get the word out so I'm participating in the Infertility Myth Blog Challenge.
MYTH: Just relax and you'll get pregnant.

BUSTED!: Really? That's all it takes? Thanks for the advice! Argghh, this one is the worst! It's not hard to figure out that most women with a fertility issue have some kind of medical problem...whether it's been diagnosed or not. In my case, it was that I wasn't having a period or ovulating. We never figured out the cause of this, but that's an obvious reason why I wouldn't be able to conceive. Infertility might cause a little stress in your life, but it sure isn't the reason you're not able to get pregnant.

MYTH: You're too skinny.

BUSTED!: I'm not a doctor, but I'm going to try to bust this one...or at least give my take on it since I got this one a lot. Don't health care providers tell all adults that they need to get an hour of exercise 5 times a week or something similar? So if I was doing that regularly, doesn't that make me healthier? I was born with a thin body and I worked hard to keep up my flat abs and tiny muscles in my arms. I also regularly ate 3 meals a day plus 2-3 snacks, so it's not like I'm starving myself. Just because I might look skinny doesn't mean I'm unhealthy. Making a judgement like this is the same thing as assuming I have an eating disorder because I'm thin. While the weight thing might be the case for a small percentage of women, don't assume I'm part of that.
After going struggling with this process for over a year, I have learned a lot about myself and others. The stress, sadness, and pressure is something no one will understand except for another woman who experienced the same thing. People around you will tell you things that are rude, inconsiderate, and false as I mentioned above. Though it might be hard, you can't let it bother you. You need to be proactive for yourself and get treatment with a doctor you love. (And if you're in the Chicago area, I can recommend one that I love.) If you feel alone in this process, get some help from others who have been through the same thing at a support group, or try individual therapy. My support group was one of the things that really helped me during my worst times.

I never, ever thought I was going to be one of those girls that needed fertility treatment, never thought I would have a miscarriage, and then never thought it would take THAT long to get pregnant. But it happens to a lot more females than you would think. Once you get people talking, it's a lot more common than I ever thought. This topic should NOT be taboo and needs to be more publicized. Get the word out there and bust those myths!

Go here to learn more about infertility and here to read more about National Infertility Awareness Week.

If you'd like to participate, submit up your blog post here.

P.S. If anyone wants to vent privately or ask questions, I'd be happy to chat. Send me an email at kermiefrg@aol.com

Hall Light Makeover

I've mentioned before that our house is still stuck in the 70's in the rooms we haven't renovated yet. There's also all those little details like door knobs, light switches, sconces, etc that have to be updated. We had enough of our nasty brass hall lights and one of them even cracked when we tried to change a bulb. Seriously, aren't these things nasty?

So we bought 6 new lights for our front hallway, second floor hallways, and master closet. It took me a long time to find something that I really liked. For once, this project went pretty smoothly and we were done in just a couple hours! I'm so happy to have these updated!

Go here to see where I'm linking up today