In Search of Children

So Lisa and I have a pretty good life. We really can't complain about too much, we could, but it would mostly just be complaining to each other. We both really want kids, and after several years of "trying" it is still just the Chris and Lisa show in our house. Don't get me wrong, we have a lot of fun together and enjoy our freedom to be able to pick up and leave for the weekend whenever we want or do any number of things on the spur of the moment. Things that would be much more difficult with kids. So we finally broke down and went to fertility specialists at the end of last year and it worked out so that the doctor that Lisa went to is male, and my doctor is female. Of course. And it turns out that we both have fertility "issues" that needed to be addressed. Because of our "issues" our doctors told us that basically we would never conceive on our own. At least the odds were so slim, it would be better to put money on the Lander Jr. High School 7th grade B team winning the next Super Bowl than on us producing offspring by more traditional methods. Not good. Without going into too much detail, we have since gone through a number of different procedures that haven't worked, and we don't have too many options left for us to conceive. All of this has been hard on us and quite emotionally draining at times. One of the things that has helped as we've gone through this process is that we've at least been able to laugh about it and make fun of the situation, especially Lisa making fun of me. It seems that I'm easy to make fun of, whoever would have thought of that?

So, having gone through what we have, and getting ready to go through even more, there is one question that keeps coming to mind...

... are they really worth it?

Ode to Lisa

Lest it be thought that I was complaining about my wife in any way, shape or form in the last couple of posts (and so that I don't sleep on the couch), I just wanted to throw this in. I love my wife. I wouldn't be where I am today if not for her. She has pushed me to not only be better, but to do better, and do so much quicker than I would have done on my own. She is very driven, which drives me. Without her desire to always be moving forward and her encouragement to me as I tried to do so, I know that a lot of the great things that have happened to us in the last four years simply would not have taken place. She is the best thing in my life, and she makes each day an adventure. And finally, after all of the nice, gushy things that I just said (and honestly meant) about my wife, she is drop dead gorgeous!

Callings and other random thoughts...

Right now, much of my life revolves around my job, my wife, and our callings in the church. Lisa and I were floating along quite peacefully, or so I thought, a few years ago in our church service, both of us serving with the youth in our ward. Life was good. I got to play with the young men every so often and feel as if I were magnifying my calling, and it was fun. Then (and I do blame this on Lisa) Lisa decided that we weren't doing enough, that we should be doing more, that we were just floating along and could be "stretched". I don't necessarily disagree with that thought, but I was enjoying the small little bit that I was doing. This is one of those stories with the moral saying you get what you ask for, because not long after that, I was called to serve as a counselor in a young single adult branch, last thing that I expected, and changing the fabric of my Sundays and many other days quite a bit (see the previous post). This made Lisa quite happy and she looked forward to being able to serve with the sisters in the branch and getting to know them. She thought that we needed to do more, and here was our opportunity for us to do more (with the we and us part of the relationship really being me). I forgot to mention that this story is also a good example of irony, because less than a week after receiving this calling and Lisa feeling content that we were on our way to more service and not floating along, we were called back to the stake president's office where Lisa was called as the stake young women's president. Oh how I wish that I had a camera to have been able to capture the look of pure shock/horror on her face! Little did she realize that while this calling was being extended to her, it was also in a way a punishment/opportunity for repentance for me. I can count on one finger the number of stake youth activities that I went to as a youth, and if memory serves me correctly, I went with my younger brother, we showed up for five minutes and then went to the movie theatre to watch a movie. I would have rather cut off my ankle with celery than go to a stake youth activity when I was a youth. I have now gone to more than I am able to count on my two hands, thanks to being my wife's lifetime counselor to anything that she is doing. It's just kind of funny how life happens. Five years ago, I never would have guessed that I am where I am now, doing what I'm doing. For example, a few weeks ago, I got to go on the young women's high adventure that we did in Letchworth state park. We went hiking, rafting, and did a ropes course. I would have to say however that the most interesting time of the trip was spent around the campfire. Never having had the chance to go on a campout with a group of girls before, I was not quite prepared as to what to expect. Well, all I can say is that it was once again reaffirmed to me that girls are different than boys. Boys don't sit around the campfire singing songs and giggling while talking about the opposite sex, and boys don't sit and braid each other's hair as something fun to do to pass the time. Girls do. Man it scares me to think about having girls. Alright, enough of this rambling post for right now.

An Evolution of Sundays

I had a little bit of free time this Sunday (with emphasis added on the words little and this) and thought a little about how my Sundays have progressed or digressed in the last few years, depending on how you look at it. When Lisa and I first moved to Rochester, we enjoyed church that started at 9am. It was fabulous, getting home early in the day, eating lunch, and then taking a short little nap of about 2 hours or so. That, thought I, was how one was supposed to properly enjoy a sabbath day. It truly was a day of rest, and oh how I looked forward to those days. Now because of church callings, Sundays quite often end up being one of my busiest days of the week. No complaints on my part, but it isn't quite the same day of rest as it was before. I still end up rested, but it's definitely not a physical rest, so in trying to look on the bright side of things, we'll call it a spiritual rest.

The Pack is Back!

So it has been almost two years since my last post, I apologize, mostly to myself, because I think that I'm the only person who really reads this or looks at it besides my wife, and she knows everything that has been going on in my life. In the off chance that there is anyone else out there that is reading any of this, I'll give you an updated account on what has happened the last two years. After graduation in June of 2007, I accepted a job at Xerox and so we became real New Yorkers. We embarked on a three week tour of Italy in June and early July of that year, before I started work, and it was an AMAZING trip. We saw so much and had so much fun. I think the best part of the trip was that Lisa loved everything and was incredibly excited about it all.

Lisa took a job as a parent educator with a local non-profit group in November of 2007 and has loved working with families in the area. Jumping forward just a little bit, we bought our first house this last May and love it! We both work a lot and spend a lot of time in our church callings, but we also have a lot of fun together. That is all.