NEW LIA SOPHIA CATALOG!!!!!!!

I'm so freaking excited about the new lia sophia fall/winter catalog!! I just got an email that the new catalog is done and ready! WOW...that's all I can say about it! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new style the company chose and I think it's going to sell wonderfully! Consider booking a show...seriously, you will not regret it! Who doesn't want FREE jewelry just for having a show?? Contact me today!!!

Preview the new catalog at my website. Visit www.liasophia.com/leslimiller then click on the tab "Our Jewelry"...it is the Fall/Winter 08 catalog. You will want everything!!!!!

Adrian's Wedding

This past weekend I watched one of my best friends get married! What a wonderful celebration it was...Erik and I really enjoyed ourselves and got to catch up with old high school friends. Adrian got married at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg and that was my first visit there. Beautiful staircase when you first walk in and this is where Adrian and Jason said their vows. Everything was quite lovely and I hope Adrian and Jason are enjoying their honeymoon in Montana!

There were a few people there that knew I was pregnant and were coming up to me asking how the baby was...its so sad to say "Oh I had a miscarriage 2 weeks ago". Then to see the look on their face like they committed a crime or something. It doesn't take long after that for them to feel awkward and walk away. Why do people do that??? Yes, I can understand that it is awkward for the person who asked about it but that doesn't mean that you need to walk away and ignore me. That is the last thing I need...people ignoring me and not being a friend.

Our Hockey Obsession

Erik is having a friend over tonight to watch the NHL draft and it just reminded me about how much I miss hockey season already and it's only been over for 2 weeks now. As many of you know, Erik and I are HUGE hockey fans and I mean HUGE...ok, well Erik is slightly more obsessed! Anyway, we were just talking about the Hershey Bears season the other day and how excited we are for it to start already!! I was planning on missing the games on 2nd half of the bears season with being pregnant but now I will most likely get to go to all the games! Although I am very sad to not have a baby around Christmas...I am excited to see all the games. Erik and I have been to many hockey games in our life together...Bears games, Flyers games, Devils games, Capitals games...not to mention all of Erik's ice and roller hockey games. We love it though and wouldn't trade it for anything else! We enjoy this time together and all of the wonderful people we met along the way! Below are some pictures from our hockey life and trips.

One of our trips to a New Jersey Devils/LA Kings game (in NJ)...we sat right along the glass behind the goalie!!!!

Erik's favorite ALL time player...Martin Brodeur! We got a great view of him right behind the glass!

Me with Marty Wilde...he no longer plays for the Bears but he is so HOT!

Me with Graham Mink...the nicest hockey player I EVER met! I hope he comes back to the Bears this upcoming season!

Erik with Tomas Fleishman...he plays for the Washington Capitals now. Nice guy!

Erik and I in Canada. We took a bus trip with the Bears Booster Club for 3 days in Canada. Fun trip!

And I can't forget our trip to Binghamton, NY with Jen and Brad. The boys loved the good ole "Pump n Pantry"...good times!

Ah yes, we had some time to kill so we spent some time in the dollar store in Binghamton. This is some nice quality carpet here. They have a pair of scissors sitting there for you to cut your own length! NICE!

Me, Erik and Brad posing for a picture before the game (Jen is taking the picture).

Impatience

I've always been an impatient person and one of my "new years resolutions" was to slow down some and try and relax...not be so impatient about everything! If you asked me about a year ago if I wanted to have a baby, I would have said "Oh I am no where NEAR ready for kids anytime soon" but something switched for me at this past Christmas and I wanted to be a mother!!!! I thought to myself going into this that I wanted to relax and be PATIENT about trying to get pregnant and just let nature take its course. Well it only took 3 cycles (4 months) for us to get pregnant but I started getting impatient from week 2...lol! Once we got the positive pregnancy test on April 22nd, I was ecstatic! I was SOOOOO excited to become a mother and immediately started looking at baby stuff and making plans for a nursery. Unfortunately about 6 weeks later I lose the baby and all my excitement just got flushed away in a second. I'm terrified to start trying again but I'm starting to get that impatient feeling again and all I want is to be pregnant!!!! So many people I know are pregnant or already have kids and it makes me want one even more. I'm TRYING to be patient and wait until after summer to try again but I don't know if I will make it that long. I really want to wait until all of our vacations are over with so I am close to my doctors if anything would happen...so that is why I want to wait until Fall to start again. But the impatient part of me is driving me insane! Well...anyway I will make it somehow...just one day at a time!

My Baby Boy...for Now!

I wanted to take a moment to talk about my baby boy...Del! He is my little 5lb. yorkie that just means the world to me. He's never mad at me and is always happy to see me. Whenever I am feeling down, he knows it and is right there with me to help make me feel better. With my recent miscarriage I was a mess emotionally but that didn't stop Del from being by my side every second of the way. As soon as I would sit down or lay down he is jumping up and down to be with me...I really couldn't ask for a better friend. He sleeps with me every night...curled up in a ball right up against me. He gives me kisses because he is happy to be with me. He "helps" me clean, he even comes in the bathroom with me when I gotta go...lol! I could go on and on about my little boy but I just wanted to express how much I love him and how important he is in my life. I love you Del!!!

My Garden

Welcome to my garden!

With all the events going on in the past couple weeks, I found gardening to be a nice theraputic activity! I must say that this house is A LOT of work and Erik and I spend a lot of our weekends maintaining it both inside and out...but LOVE the house nontheless! My MIL had a pretty well established garden when we moved in but I did make some changes...mostly moved plants/flowers around, moved the stepping stones (MIL had them all along the perimeter), got rid of some that I didn't care for, and planted some of my own. I still need to get some hanging baskets and flowers for my one front garden but I would say that I'm just about done with everything. Let me know what you think!!!!

Front of the house (obviously)

One of the front beds (this bed needs color and I plan on adding some annuals here)

This is the other front bed

Walkway to the front door (all those bushy green plants will bloom this really tall purple flower...I can't wait)

Back garden (behind garage)

Main back garden

Another view of the back garden (behind garage)

Back garden (next to deck)

Main back garden

Main back garden

Main back garden

Back garden (behind garage)

Main back garden

One of my planters on the deck

Aren't these gorgeous?!?

My MIL's prize winning Hydrandea (it's just now starting to bloom)

Fun Meetings

On Sunday I hosted our monthly lia sophia meeting at my house. What a wonderful morning. I can't express enough how awesome these ladies are and how much FUN we have. Yes we are getting together for a meeting to discuss "business" but it's more like a social event. Talking about jewelry and fun rallys coming up along with FREE merchandise is hardly "work". My manager is so sweet too...she even gave me this really cool business card holder along with a key clip..oh yeah and a lovely coconut candle just for having the meeting at my house. We are planning this fun Bingo event in July that is a blast to attend. Keep Sunday July 27th open if you want a chance to win lots and lots of prizes, jewelry, gift baskets, etc. It's sure to be a great time. Details will be sent soon so stay tuned.



Now that I am not pregnant anymore and not spending every waking hour at the doctors or at the hospital, I can concentrate back on my lia sophia business. Summer is the best time to host a show because we offer the BEST specials of the year then and pool/deck parties are very popular. Consider hosting a show...I PROMISE you won't be sorry. My last hostess recieved $150 in FREE jewelry along with other incrediable specials. She was able to get 8 pieces of jewelry for $30! You can't beat that! Email or call me if interested! Thanks!

Interesting Weekend!!

Well my body decided that it didn't want to wait to have the D&C procedure...almost made it but not quite. I started to bleed at work on Thursday afternoon and decided to go home to deal with this horrible experience. Of course Erik was working late that day (only day all week that he was away) so I was left at home alone dealing with all this. Luckily my mom came over right after work to bring me dinner and to stay with me until Erik came home. At this point, I was ready to go to bed, hoping my body can wait just a little longer (I didn't pass the proper "stuff" yet...sorry TMI). Off to bed we go...

At about 1am I wake up to HORRIBLE intense cramping and back pains. Wow, were they intense! I normally have painful periods and handle pain VERY well but this was a whole new story. I continue with this pain for about another hour or 2 and Erik decides that its time to go to the ER. I was reluctant at first but thought I better be safe than sorry. I was laying on the floor screaming in pain at this point. We get up, get dressed, put Del away and off to the ER we go.

We get to the ER around 3:30am and were taken back right away...thats a plus! They have me change into a gown and start up an IV right away. The nurse takes all my vitals and info and tells me to wait for the doctor. We wait...and wait...and wait some more. About 2 hours later (yes I said TWO hours later) the doctor finally comes in. During those 2 hours, I was in the most intense pain of my entire life. I was bawling my eyes out in pain and Erik felt so helpless...he was great though, holding my hand and telling me everything would be over soon. At one point I decided to go to the bathroom and low and behold I passed everything right then and there...I could tell that by what came out...trust me! I come back to the room and tell Erik that I think I passed everything and my pain really subsided a lot! So the doctor comes in and asks my pain level on a scale of 1-10. I told him that if he was in about an hour ago I would have said 500 but now its more like a 2 or 3. He tells me to stay put and he was going to call my OB doctor to see what they want to do. About 2 minutes later a nurse comes in to take 8 viles of blood...yes EIGHT! Don't forget that I have been losing A TON of blood plus I haven't eaten in a long time since I was fasting for the surgery. Surprisingly I did VERY well with it and didn't feel sick at all. After that another lady comes in to do an EKG...why? I have no idea! Then another lady comes in to take my blood pressure laying down, sitting up and standing up. She then wheels me up to the next floor for an ultrasound. I sit in the hall for about 30 minutes having to pee SOOOOO bad. The u/s tech comes out and wheels me in. Time for an internal u/s...and again, don't forget I'm bleeding very badly at this point...wonderful! Very painful and uncomfortable experience. That is over so they wheel me back up to the ER. We wait...wait...and wait some more than my OB doctor comes in and I must say that she was very compassionate and nice about everything. What a change from my earlier experiences with the practice! She tells me that the u/s showed that I passed about 90% of everything. At this point it is 10am on Friday and my D&C was scheduled for 11am. She gave me the option to wait and have the D&C done at 11 or have her do a pelvic exam to try and remove it. I just wanted to go home so I told her to do the pelvic exam. Another lovely experience and VERY painful. I was so relieved when I heard her say "Oh I see it...lets remove it so you can go home!" YAY! She removes it and I never saw such a creeped out look on Erik's face. Poor guy has seen what its like to be a woman and explains that he's glad to be a man...lol! Anyway, I go and get cleaned up and come back thinking I can go home but not yet! Nurse says, don't forget you need a Rhogam shot because you are RH negative. Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Yes, I tested RH negative back at my first OB visit weeks earlier. Meaning that I would need Rhogam shots throughout the pregnancy and once I give birth (or in this case, miscarry). This is needed because if the baby's blood would mix with my blood it could cause major problems for me. So about 2 minutes later this guy comes in to take 2 more viles of blood...fun fun! Is there any blood left...seriously? This was needed to get the proper Rhogam shot. We wait some more and about 30 minutes later the nurse comes back with the shot and my discharge papers. She says "turn over...this shot needs to be in the butt!" Awesome...why not? I've already been poked, jabbed, and stuck...why not in the butt too? I'm a pro at this since I was getting progesterone shots in the butt all the time in the earlier weeks. That was done and she gives me my discharge papers and sends us on our way. YAY! I must say that overall the care I got at Holy Spirit was very good. The doctors, nurses, techs, etc were all very nice. The waiting was a pain but that is to be expected in an ER. I was so glad to be leaving (it was 12pm on Friday when we left by the way). We stopped at Arby's drive thru on the way home (I was STARVING). I was so happy to see my house and my bed. I crawled into bed right after I ate my lunch and slept for a couple hours since I didn't sleep a wink that night.

I'm sooooooo glad that this is all over, well the physical part. Emotionally will take some more time. I told Erik that I was not ready to try again for quite awhile (at least not until Fall) because I am terrified to go through all this again...he understood completely. It's been an emotional roller coaster these past 8 weeks. From finding out that we were pregnant, to getting in a car accident with a tractor trailor, to finding out things weren't going well with the pregnancy, to finding out that we lost the baby, to miscarrying on my own, to the ER visit...I am ready for a vacation!

Thank you to all my friends and family for the wonderful support! All the cards, flowers, emails, phone calls and visits are so appreciated. I love you all!!! I am so blessed to have such great people in my life. A very special thank you to my husband Erik for his unbelievable support through it all. He has been wonderful. I love you honey! I can't forget my little Del...he has been my buddy through everything...always by my side!!! Thanks again everyone...you are all the best!!!

The Waiting Game

Ugh...just when I was having a pretty good day yesterday, today is different. Last evening I noticed some spotting and figured that my body is starting to miscarry on its own. Why can't it hold off until Friday so I can get this D&C done?!? It still might but my symptoms are getting worse by the hour...the cramps are getting very uncomfortable and the back pain is intense. I can't stand this waiting game anymore!!! If my body is going to do it on its own...do it already will ya?!?!?! I'm so upset with my OB's office for making me suffer through this waiting game! First it was the waiting game on getting an ultrasound when they knew something was up and now they want me to wait over a week to get this D&C done...what torture! It's so unbelievably hard to concentrate on work right now, especially since I am in pain! I'm running to the bathroom every 30 minutes to see if something is going on and I'm so nervous right now that I can't eat anything. I just want to go home and crawl in bed and stay there for the next oh 2 or 3 MONTHS! I like to consider myself a great friend and person to everyone I come in contact with...I try so hard to make everyone so happy and go out of my way for all my friends (some appreciate it and some don't). It's just SOOOOO unfair that this had to happen. I know that there are lots of other women out there that have it MUCH MUCH worse than me so I feel guilty even feeling this way. This whole thing has given me a whole new outlook on life thats for sure.

What a depressing post today...I'm sorry! I just needed to get it off my chest. I'm so ready for a vacation. Our first one this summer is coming up in July and we are going to Oklahoma to visit the inlaws...should be interesting and fun too! The August vacation is the one I'm REALLY looking forward to...a week in the Outer Banks, NC! A friend of ours is getting married on the beach...how fun is that? I CAN'T WAIT!

Good Day

I feel pretty good today! I'm extremely tired from staying up late to watch the Pens/Red Wings hockey game last night but overall I am feeling good today! Although what is going on with me is depressing and very sad, I just can't sit around and dwell on it...there is nothing I can do about it so why be sad? I mean of course I have bad moments...who wouldn't? but I'm just thankful for the things that are wonderful in my life like my husband, my friends, my family, my house and my health. I'm just looking forward to moving on and I have a good attitude about getting pregnant again in the future.

Today I'm looking forward to my pedicure after work! I haven't had one since last summer so I am in desperate need of one. My wonderful husband is spending his entire day off mulching today and I'm excited to see how lovely my gardens will look when I get home. We also have a salesmen coming out tonight to give us an estimate on replacing our deck (the wood is warped real bad and the paint is all chipped off). I'm looking to redesign it some so I'm looking forward to what he comes up with. The weather is so perfect today too and it reminds me of our honeymoon in Aruba...picture perfect weather! What a wonderful vacation and hope to visit there again soon.

Below are some fun pics from our Honeymoon to Aruba nearly 3 years ago!

Bad Things Happen to Good People

I will admit, I was always the person who thinks "Oh that will never happen to me!" but after the last couple weeks...I have completely changed my tune! About two weeks ago I got a very upsetting phone call that put me in an emotional whirlwind for the Memorial Day weekend. The statement "You are at an extreme high risk for a miscarriage" just crushed all my excitement about being a mother around Christmas. I couldn't believe I was being told this news and I immediately started bawling...there was nothing else I could do. I was told my progestrone levels were still dropping and that I needed progesterone daily along with the biweekly butt shots I was already receiving. I waited all weekend long to schedule a follow up ultrasound to make sure things were still progressing. Thursday May 29th I FINALLY get in for an ultrasound. As soon as it started I KNEW that the news was going to be bad. I couldn't see the heartbeat anymore and she said it was only measuring 6 weeks 3 days when I should have been about 8 weeks. As Erik was holding my hand, my heart just sunk and the tears started to stream down my face. The ultrasound tech told us to wait in the room and the radiologist would call us on the phone in the examining room (so personal isn't it?) with the results. We already knew it was going to be bad so we waited about 10 minutes and the phone started ringing (I was afraid to answer it and it took a good 4 rings for me to finally pick up)...I pick it up and a lady says, "Hi Lesli (in a chipper voice) this is ______ (I can't remember her name), I'm just letting you know that you are experiencing a loss...please call your OB's office to schedule a follow up visit for tomorrow" That was it and Erik and I packed up our things and walked out. Erik has been great though, he keeps me laughing and has been doing everything for me (which he normally does anyway) so it hasn't been so bad.

Friday comes...Erik and I go to the doctors office to listen to the doctor tell us about what happened and what we need to do next. We decided to have a D&C procedure done (a surgical procedure to remove everything) which is scheduled for Friday June 6th at 10:30am. I was hoping for something much earlier but I'll take what I can get I guess. So this will be another long week of waiting. I just want to get this over with so I can move on.

So no more Christmas baby for Erik and I! We had so many plans for the holidays that have now been thrown away. Why do bad things happen to good people? I will never understand an answer to that question....

Blog Change

When I started this blog, I was planning on talking about my life as a lia sophia jewelry rep and give fashion advice, recap home shows, etc...but I decided to change it more for my everyday life because I find it very therapeutic to write (or type) out your thoughts, feelings and emotions. Stay tuned for more on the life of Lesli and Erik (oh and Del too)...along with my lia sophia adventures!