Sweet 16

The official anniversary of Scott & Stace just came around... 16 years. Yup, you read that correctly- 16 years! That's half of Scott's life and more than half of mine. February 7, 1999 was the start of it all... 16 years of US, Scott & Stace, #TeamRicci. 

How did I get so lucky??! Not everyone finds their soul mate in the 10th grade. I'm constantly reminded of how lucky and blessed we are to have found each other and to have created a ridiculously strong bond based on friendship and love. In honor of our 16 year date-iversary, here are some cute highlights from Friday and a slew of pics from our photoshoot in November with my friend Lindsay. 

Friday was February 6, so even though it wasn't our dating anniversary, it's the date that started it all. We were sophomores in high school and had been friends at this point in 1999. We were both on the JV basketball teams and had back-to-back basketball practices for our teams, so we always made small talk in classes and before/after practices. The upcoming winter formal on 2/6/99 was definitely a good excuse to be a little flirty and we didn't go together but hung out at the dance for most of the night and danced together at 11:11. The next night, Scott called to ask me out, and the rest is history. 

16 years of friendship and love. I'm extremely thankful, blessed, and lucky to be able to say that. I love you so much, Scoot. We've been through a lot in 16 years and have learned so much along the way~ about ourselves, each other, and us as a team. I love you to the moon and back and I constantly thank my lucky stars for you. You are my strength, my sanity, my voice of reason, my other half, the yin to my yang, and the peanut butter to my jelly. I love you so much and can't wait to see what the next adventure brings us. Here's to hoping 2015 is our year to pregnancy and parenthood... and here's to a lifetime of many more anniversaries and milestones! 

So, not expecting anything until Saturday (if anything at all, honestly), I was surprised when I got a call during lunch Friday that there was a delivery for me in the office...flowers and a super cute note! :) Later, keeping up our Friday night date night ritual (new thing for us as of the last few months- and I love it), we celebrated at one of our fav local restaurants. 

Back in November, we did a photoshoot with my friend Lindsay. She lives in Texas but was home for the holidays and I've been wanting pics with her. We're lucky that 2 of our close friends are photographers (Manny, you're next! When it's finally nice in the spring, please do one of us too! I love you both & you're both so incredibly talented with cameras in hand). It's important to note that Scott often hates pictures. He usually needs some liquid encouragement to not care how many pics I take, so the fact that he agreed to this was a happy shocker. It's also important to note that he only agreed because Lindsay brought her daughter along (she'll be 2 in a few months). Scott being the Baby Whisperer, he needed a happy distraction and only agreed if her daughter came along so that he could hang out with a tot in between pics. It worked and Sky was smitten with Scott almost instantly. It could have been the fact that it was a cold, windy day, and he's a warm teddy bear... but I'll go with the Baby Whisperer theory. Whatever it was, Scott was happy, and that makes for some cute pics! There are a whole bunch in this post but I wanted a place to share them all, so here we go. :) 

Scott & Stace (#TeamRicci) Photoshoot~ November 2014, Bear Mountain State Park, NY

And now, the mastermind behind the lens... a close friend of mine, Lindsay Lamy. Anyone in the Killeen, TX area, or here in the Hudson Valley (she has family here and will do local shoots when in the area), check out her work on her site. I don't think our shoot is on there, but it's here so that's what counts. She's got a web site of her own and a Facebook site... Check her out, she's on the rise! 

http://lamylensphotography.webs.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LamyLensPhotography

Team Ricci Halftime Show

Today's theme/inspiration is the Super Bowl 2015 Halftime show. 

I originally had this idea last week, just before watching the Super Bowl, and almost posted that day, but I got caught up in enjoying the day off with Scott. It was the first time we've been able to have the whole day off together and watch the entire show live in many many years. I was all hyped up to watch the game (I mean the halftime show, hehe).... typically the Super Bowl is the ONLY football game I will be caught watching all year, other than the occasional Gators game for college ball. Mostly I was excited that Katy Perry was headlining the halftime show because I am def a fan of her & her music. 

Thinking about the halftime show got me thinking about our current break from fertility treatments. It's kind of like Scott & I are in our own halftime show- the Super Bowl of Infertility halftime show. 2014 was 4 rounds of IUI with a balance of ups and downs, highs and lows, stress and calm. Let's call it the first half of our game. The Baby Games, the Fertility Games, The Super Bowl of Infertility, whatever you wanna call it. The first half of the game was mostly upsets. We became the underdog that a lot of people are cheering for. This is our first time making it to the championship game and we came out a little rusty for the first half, having a little too much confidence. 

Now, here we are at halftime; and even though we've taken a long halftime, I like to think of it as a long pause. I recently realized it's been a full 6 months since we've been to the fertility clinic or done a single thing to think about all that comes with fertility treatments. It's been a NICE break... actually that's an understatement. It's been a wonderful break for a lot of reasons. It's given us a time to focus on us, as a couple and on ourselves individually. It's been nice scheduling gym time into my weeks rather than Dr appts. It's been a time to reflect on the first half of our game to evaluate what worked and what didn't so we can come out strong in the second half, whenever that may be. 

In honor of Katy Perry and her amazing performance at the Super Bowl, here are some of my fav quotes/pics related to her...

I plan to take the 2nd half (Round 2 of fertility treatments) by the reins and dominate... #TeamRicci WILL come out on top!

Love these lyrics :)

Some motivation/inspiration.

The hurricane is gone... time to go chase our rainbow soon. 

Just because the Super Bowl is over and that became the inspiration for this post, it doesn't mean that we are starting up just yet. I'm not exactly sure when we will be, but it's coming. And when it does, I want to be ready. I want to hit the ground running, take the ball into our possession, run for the end zone without looking back, do a victory dance, and come home with a WIN.  

I know it won't be a piece of cake, but going in with a positive mindset will sure help. I've been making progress at the gym and have been consistently going to 2-4 classes a week (the ridiculous winter we've been having has made it difficult at times with the snow). I feel stronger, I'm seeing muscle definition again, I'm more energetic, regaining confidence again, and just overall feeling healthier. One thing I love about all of the gym classes I go to (yoga, yogalates, Zumba, intervals/circuit, etc) is that music is a big part of them all. Music pumps me up, inspires me, motivates me, and pushes me. It puts me in an instantly great mood and makes me want to push harder. It gives me confidence that I can and will beat this soon. It makes me not fear the needles and meds. It makes me believe I can do it with ease. It makes me want to overcome and defeat the little bit of doubt that still peeks its head out occasionally. It makes me feel powerful, strong, and positive. Music makes it all better. 

I used to use music as my motivation for injections last time. One of us would pick an upbeat song that would get me in the zone and able to do the shots. It totally worked. This time around I intend to do the same thing, but throw music in as just an everyday ritual and maybe even more-so during treatments. Recently, Scott & I had a mini dance party where we just played fun music and danced around the living room like the goofballs we are. It was so much fun. (Picture the short dance parties on Grey's Anatomy that Meredith & Christina used to have.) I told Scott that when we do start up again, we should throw in moments like this because I will most likely need it and it just instantly picks me up. 

Music, exercise, healthy eating, occasional meditation... those are my necessary ingredients for the second half of our game. I'm sure there are a few others but these are all things that are not only good for me but also things I enjoy and make me feel good. They keep me centered and balanced. Being on fertility meds can be a crazy ride, but staying balanced, positive, and calm might not make me feel as though I'm not myself. 

My trainer at the gym already knows all about my journey and where I'm at. I did a session with her in December but have been working with her for almost a year because she teaches the intervals/circuit class. Since I've been working harder over the last 2 months, she keeps saying she's seen a difference in me, like a transformation. I'm more focused, I have good form, and have been doing really well. I plan to keep it up at the gym (and she'll be laying on the guilt if I don't!) when we do decide to start back up, and hope it only helps the situation. The Drs haven't said I can't workout, so hopefully it'll only fuel me more. It'll keep me in shape physically and keep my mindset balanced when feeling not myself on diff meds. No idea if they'll have me on the same meds or different, so if I can keep workouts consistent, I might not feel like my routine is being shifted too much. 

Ok now I'm just blabbing, so gonna end it here. :) You get the point! 1st half was rough, we're reevaluating and training for the 2nd half to come out stronger than before and play my heart out to bring home a win for Team Ricci. 

Thanks for cheering us on from the sidelines and bleachers. We sure feel the love from many places & appreciate it all so much! 

XOXO,
Stace