Nesting

I spent my days off last weekend reorganizing my kitchen.

Most everything I asked for, for Christmas, were appliances, but we didn't have any space for them!  So, a few boxes full of DI stuff and some rearranging and I have a brand new kitchen.  It is wonderful. It makes me want to cook.  It does not make me want to grocery shop.  I hate grocery shopping.

This weekend, so far, we've put together the new crib and changer that we purchased, and I've been painting a nasty old dresser that we got from Lance's parents' house.  This thing is at least 30 years old.  I bet it has lead paint on it.

I'm not really worried. Should I be?  I'm painting over it.  This is my inspiration:

I like how each drawer is a different color.

The dresser I'm working on is short and has two columns of four drawers.  It is currently a chipped and faded white-ish color.  Well, I shouldn't say currently, because I've started painting already.  But it was a chipped and faded white-ish color.  Now I have two pale-yellow drawers, two pale-green drawers, two pale-orange drawers, and two tan drawers.  It looks pretty cute so far!  The handles and the rest of the dresser will be dark brown.

I'll post pictures... if I ever upload them off my camera.  I'm lazy about that.

Classes

I just signed up for a couple of classes at the Provo hospital.

I'm starting to get super nervous for delivery.  I hate not knowing what to expect.  I don't know what kind of pain I'll be in.  I don't know how I'll handle it.  I just don't know!  Hopefully these classes help me out a bit. 

I signed up for a four week Lamaze course, since I'm semi-planning on going natural.  I haven't completely decided yet, but if I do decide to go natural, I think it'd be best if I was prepared with some relaxation and breathinging techniques, right?

I have nothing against epidurals and drugs.  I just figure that women have given birth without them for thousands of years, so I should be able to as well.  However, if the pain is too much, I'll get one. No big deal.

The needle size does scare me a bit.

I also signed up for a breastfeeding class.  Several people I know have struggled to breastfeed, and it is something that I would really like to succeed at, so I'm going to learn all I can about it.

Last night, Lance was talking to my belly (or I guess you could say he was talking to Lily), and he told her we were ready for her if she wanted to come early.  It made me laugh.  I just said, "Not too early!  We don't want a 3 lb baby!"

It's starting to get exciting, and scary.

How Am I Doing?

I'm 28 weeks along as of yesterday!


My 20lb weight gain goal was crap.

Last time I checked I was at 30lbs gained, and that was probably two weeks ago.  I'm trying to not let it bother me, especially since Lily has at least 4 more pounds to gain.

I got down to my last two pairs of jeans that still fit...  so I buckled down and bought maternity.  They are too big.  I need a belt.  I don't have any belts that fit.  So, while I am more comfortable, now I have to worry about falling out of my pants, rather than not being able to breathe. 

I just can't win.

I'm also starting to worry about shirts.  I'm still fitting in to a couple of non-maternity shirts that I have, and I have just a few maternity shirts.  I have asked Santa for maternity clothes.

It's hard to go from having tons of clothes, to wearing pretty much the same stuff over and over again.

It also sucks for laundry, because I actually have to do it more than once every 8 weeks.  This is a necessary change since I'll have to wash Lily's clothes every day.

But, all those things aside and I am a super happy camper!  Lily is getting stronger and stronger.  She's extremely active. I feel her kicks, bumps and flips several times a day, every day.  I wonder if this means nap time will be difficult...

Lily's room is a disaster.  I have no motivation to get it ready.  However, I did purchase a super cute shelf from Robert's that I am going to paint all pretty for her room.  Too bad her room is full of crap right now.

My Trip

Here's a rundown of everything I did with my family.

When I got off the plane, I started looking for the bag claim.  The Raleigh airport is tiny.  I swear I walked off the plane, turned the corner, and I was by the bag claim.  Also, I heard "Jenn!" behind me, from a familiar voice.  It was Elise!  I walked back towards them and smiled and tried not to get emotional.

I have this fear of being accused of being an emotional pregnant woman.  I probably shouldn't care.  Also, I'm not overly emotional.  I think any reasonable person would cry when they saw their family after missing them so much.

Then we waited for my bag....

After we left the airport, we went to pick up my dad from work and we went to this great restaurant called Red Hot and Blue.  It was delicious.  Jessica and I shared an order of the 10 wings appetizer.  We felt that was plenty of food.  Jessica about died from her excitement about their mustard sauce.

Friday the girls got up extremely early in the morning to go to school.  It was really only 6am, and I wasn't tired at that time anyway, so I got up as well.  Emilee stayed home from school.  My mom, Emilee and I went shopping for stuff for the candies we were going to make, and the items needed so I could make them a pomegranate roast. I felt like we shopped all day.  We went to Kroger, and then to Wallgreens.  Then we went to lunch with Dad at Steak 'N Shake.  Boy oh boy was it delicious.  I don't know if it was really all that good, or if I was just starving, but it was good, and the prices were great!

Oh and Dad told the story of how he gave himself a frostbite using ice, salt, and stupidity.  He is neat, and I almost peed my pants.

After lunch we went to the most amazing dollar store I've ever been in.  They had everything!  Several things, I wanted to purchase, but didn't have room in my bag to bring them home on the plane.

Finally we went back home, and then we started making candy.  Making candy is exhausting.

We made these retarded cookies.  They were a great idea, we just failed.  Basically it's a sugar cookie.  You cut the center out of the sugar cookie and put some sort of clearish candy in there.  We used Jolly Ranchers.  The Jolly Ranchers melt and it makes a stained glass effect in the cookie.

I have photo evidence of our failure.  However, they sure did taste good!

We also made peanut butter balls, almond joys, caramel, toffee, truffles... I think that's it.  Elise is the best candy maker.

Friday night I went to a creche.  There were tons of nativity scenes displayed, as well as a live nativity scene.  There were also lots of musical performances.  Emilee's school choir was singing.  They were wonderful!

Saturday morning, Emilee had another choir concert.  Which we missed, and I was very upset about it.  Poor Emilee.  She pretends that it's OK, but really it's not.  She should probably let people know when it hurts, and stop letting people walk all over her.

Saturday afternoon, we dipped the candies we made into chocolate, and I got really grumpy.  So I took a nap.  Then we went to the creche again, because my mom was performing with one group, and then both my parents were performing in another group.

Sunday I went to church.  This was a great experience, which I will have to write details about another time.

I made my family dinner on Sunday, and I believe they all liked it.  There were no leftovers.  Then we watched TV, and I fell asleep on the couch.

Monday all three girls stayed home from school.  We went to breakfast at Bojangles and we got some Boberry bisuits.  They were delicious!

We went home and finished up the last of our chocolate dipping, and went to lunch with dad at Cookout. 

Did you know that a barbecue means that you are having pulled pork with barbeque sauce, and a cookout means you are having hot dogs and hamburgers?  If you invite people to a "barbecue" at your house and you fail to have pulled pork, they will kill you. 

Anyway, Cookout is just a drive through.  So we got our food and took it to a pond thingy, where we ate it and told duck jokes, or goose jokes or other random jokes.  It was a good time.  And Emilee embarrassed herself.  She was telling a joke about how different people stand when they take photos.

An American tourist stands like this.  *pose*
A photography student stands like this. *pose*
An Asian stands like this. *pose*

And an Asian was getting into his car right behind her.  She was so embarrassed.  It was great.

Then I had to say goodbye to my dad.  This was hard because I don't know when I'll see him again.  I think it will be over a year, and this makes me sad.

Then my mom and sisters dropped me off at the airport.  Again, I tried to not cry.  I love my sisters.  I miss them.

No issues through security this time. :-)

Fun at the Airport

I went to visit my family this past weekend.  It was wonderful.

Early Thursday AM, before the sun came up, I got up and showered.  I packed the few remaining items I needed, kissed my babies (my dogs) goodbye, and Lance drove me to the airport.  I was nervous and excited.  I love to fly, however, I've never flown alone.  And I usually grasp Lance's hand tightly as we take off.  It's the most fun and most scary part to me.  It seems like that's the time when things can go wrong and you'll come crashing back down.  I tried not to think about that though.  Lance helped me take my bags to check them, and then we walked towards the security line.

Then I cried.  And I didn't stop crying until the end of my first flight when we were about to land in Phoenix.

However, before I even got on the flight it was quite an adventure.  I had to do the body scan thing.  Hope they enjoyed my prego body!  And of course it flagged something, so I had to be patted down as well.  And while I was being patted down, someone held up my backpack, asking whose it was.  Then they said they had to search it.  I'm sorry.  I'm pregnant.  I have stuffed my carry on with snacks and items to keep me entertained.  At least they're doing their job.  Even pregos can be dangerous.

Anyway, still crying, I boarded my flight.  I could hear people around me thinking, "crazy pregnant woman, afraid to fly."

No... just never flown without my best friend and true love.  And I don't really like spending days away from him.  I missed him as soon as we separated at the air port.

I gathered myself together, took a deep breath, and left my tears on that plane.  I was ready and excited to see my mom, dad and sister who I haven't seen since August.

My second flight was a long one.  Phoenix to Raleigh.  It's 4.5 - 5 hours.  That's not fun for a 6.5 month pregnant lady whose legs cramp up and has to go potty a lot.  I decided on a isle seat, so I could get up as I needed.  I sat next to two very nice older ladies.  One was from Raleigh, the other from Phoenix.  The one from Phoenix was visiting her sister.  She was very nice.

Then, we were descending.  I could see the jagged shapes of the blocks in Raleigh.  TONS of pine trees.  It was very green.

And then we landed, and I rushed off the plane as fast as I could go.

I Am An Idiot

It's true.

When I bought the ingredients for my brine, I waited to buy oranges.  When I bought oranges, I really bought grapefruit.

Who does that?

I made the brine using the grapefruit peel anyway.  Hopefully it doesn't really matter.

But really, who buys grapefruit instead of oranges?  How the heck didn't I notice that what I was buying was PINK and not ORANGE?  Holy cow!

Turkey goes in the brine tonight.  Wish me luck!

In other news, I am grateful that I live in a time where I can drive to the store and buy groceries.  Anything I want is pretty much accessible.  I don't have to trade with neighbors, or plant things myself.  How spoiled are we?

More Thank Yous

Hi!

I put our turkey in the fridge on Friday morning and it's still really frozen.  I'm starting to get nervous.....  However, I am thankful for refrigerators.

I bought a brining bag, because they are humongous and can fit a 22lb turkey, plus two gallons if liquid in them.  Best creation ever!  I'm thankful for brining bags.

I took my marketing research test on Saturday.  I hope I passed.  I'm thankful my company gave me the opportunity to continue my education.

Lance is home sick today.  Part of me is secretly hoping he did the dishes.  But when I was home sick last week, did I do the dishes?  Alas, I did not.  So I won't be sad if the house is as messy as I left it this morning.

Did you know that I will be seeing my long lost family in 9 days?  I'm so excited. (I'm thankful for airplanes.)

I have this desire to publicly brag about my awesome brother-in-law, Jeff Morrey.  However, I can't say why.  It's a secret, for now.  But let's just say that he is so awesome and he made me 100 times more excited for Christmas!

Does that catch me up on thank-yous?

Mo Tab

I am thankful for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

I have a Christmas Pandora station I've been listening to lately, and it has some popular songs by popular artists as well as instrumental and Mo Tab songs on there...

The Mo Tab songs are the best. For one, the songs they sing represent the true meaning of Christmas, rather than getting presents, or missing someone they love, etc.  It's nice to not hear about Santa in a song once in a while.

Santa Baby = the most annoying Christmas song. Ever.

Another reason I like Mo Tab Christmas songs the best is because of the spirit they bring when you listen to them.  I like the Mo Tab version of O Holy Night better than Celine Dion's version, or Josh Groban's version, or any other version.  I've wondered why this is for a while, and I think I've figured it out today.

Each member in Mo Tab has a testimony of each song they are singing, and you can feel it through the way they sing.  It's as if they are perfect vessels for the spirit to send its message through.  They are not just trying to sound good.  They are not singing for money.  They are singing because they love the Lord, they love music, and they love to share the gospel with others.  Most importantly, what they are singing is true.

And I love them.  I'm thankful there are some Christmas songs out there that aren't focusing on presents, Santa, and kissing under the mistletoe.

Relief Society

Finding something each day to be thankful for is not difficult.

Blogging every day is difficult.  I don't spend much time on the computer at home, except to look up recipes.

Anyway, yesterday was a good day.  Work was pretty slow, so I got to study for this big test I need to take for my marketing course.  I'm not quite done with my reading assignment, but I started taking practice quizzes anyway.  I was getting solid 80%-90% scores, so I feel pretty good about taking the test this week.

After work, I dropped Lance off at his second job and then I went straight to relief society.

Relief society?  Yep!  This is the second time I have gone since I've been in the ward...  My ward does a great job about notifying me about activities and making me feel welcome, I'm just so dang shy!  I'm in Primary, so I don't know very many of the sisters, so I don't go to the activities.  This week I realized I'm not going to know any of the sisters unless I start going to activities.  So I'm going to try to do better about that. 

Last night I sat a table between two sisters who I recognized, but I don't really know.  One sister's daughter, Kyla, was in my Primary class last year.  (I just love that name, Kyla.  As a side note, I wanted Lily's name to be Kyla Lily, (like a play on the name of the calla lily flowers) but Lance didn't agree with it....)  My visiting teacher, Amy, was at the same table, just a couple sisters away, so I didn't feel totally like a fish out of water.  The food was good, and I talked a little bit to some ladies.  I made a little craft and then went home.

I feel really good about going to this activity.  There are always new sisters in the ward, so I'm sure there are plenty of sisters who don't know each other, and we're all sort of in the same boat.  We just have to take the initiative to get to know each other.  I'm thankful for the relief society.

After relief society I went home to get my girls.  I had thawed out my frozen cinnamon rolls in the fridge, so I put them on the counter to raise for a bit.  They didn't really raise.  Ok, they didn't raise at all.  So freezing this particular cinnamon roll dough was not a good idea.  However, after baking them and drenching them in a cream cheese-butter-milk-vanilla-powdered sugar mixture, they were excellent.

Later that night, after watching Dancing with the Stars, I loaded the girls into the car and went to Walmart.  The dogs stayed in the car.  I bought all of my Thanksgiving items.  Well, almost all.  I still need a stock pot that can hold over 2 gallons of liquid (my lovely sister in law will be letting me borrow hers), 4 oranges (I thought they'd go bad if I bought them this early), and a turkey bag.  Walmart was out of turkey bags, however they were stocking the shelves, so maybe if I go back tonight they will have some.

Thanks to two of my awesome cousins and their success stories, I have found the confidence to just brine a regular ol' turkey from Walmart!  I bought a 22lb Butterball.  It was heavy.  Not sure I should have lifted it...  I will be brining it, however,  I will be decreasing the amount of salt in the brine recipe I'll be using, just to be careful.  I'm borrowing the stock pot to cook the brine in, and the turkey bag is to soak the turkey in the brine.  I'm super excited!  I want to start cooking the turkey now.  Maybe I'll go buy an 8lb turkey and practice!  :-)

After Walmart it was almost 11pm, and I drove to the mall to pick up Lance.  He was tired.  I was tired.  Before now I've made sure I got 8 hours of sleep each night.  But getting home at 11:30pm, and having to get up at 7am means that is not possible.  Remarkably, I feel fine!  Practice for when I'm getting 2 hours of sleep each night, no?

Friends

I've been having a bit of stress trying to figure out how to cook a turkey.

The inner chef in me wants to go all Food Network and brine a turkey and roast it all fancy-like.  I've been doing research on turkeys, and you really shouldn't brine a regular ol' turkey from the grocery store because they are injected with a solution that already includes salt.

Brining is where you soak your meat in a salty solution (that also includes other flavorings, and usually sugar) to break up the connective tissues (or something like that) in your meat, allowing it to be juicier and have more flavor once it is cooked.  This isn't just a theory.  I brine chicken and pork ANY TIME I cook it and the difference is obvious.

Anyhow, soaking an already salted turkey in a salt solution will result in what?  An incredibly salty turkey.

So I toyed with the idea of taking a plain ol' frozen turkey from the grocery store, and thawing it, then brining it, but decreasing the salt in my brine by half.  But that still makes me nervous because it is entirely experimental, and I don't want to serve a nasty salt lick to 15 people.

Another idea I had was to take a plain ol' frozen turkey from the grocery store, and thaw it in the sink, in water, hoping that osmosis would remove some of the salty solution from the plain ol' turkey.  Using this method, I thought I might re-fill the sink with fresh water every 6 hours or so, to get as much salt out of the turkey as possible.  And then brine it, but still decreasing my salt by half.

I'm still uncomfortable with the idea.

With the help of some friends, I have discovered where I can purchase a turkey that has not been injected with junk.  However, for the turkey I want it is $85.  I would pay that in a heart beat, if I could guarantee that I wouldn't mess up the turkey.  Either way, Lance is uncomfortable paying that much.

So here I am, back at square one, wanting a super moist, super flavorful, gourmet turkey, but not  a decision on what turkey to buy or how to cook it.

I've gotten some great tips from Tearsa, a co-worker of mine, that I might end up using if I can't find a cheaper non-injected turkey.

Some other friends on Facebook have given me good ideas of where to purchase turkeys, but I am still looking into price on those.

I found a great turkey at Whole Foods for around $50, but the closest location is in Cottonwood Heights.

I think Lance is getting frustrated and doesn't understand why I just won't cook a plain ol' turkey from the grocery store.  I'm not sure I understand why I don't want to either.  It's not that I'm too good.  It's not that they aren't good enough.  I guess I just want to try something different.  I like experimenting with techniques and flavors with food and I want Thanksgiving to be a wonderfully amazing dinner.  Maybe no one else that I am eating with really cares.

Either way, I'm thankful for all the friends who have been patient with my questions and who have given me tips and advice.  And if you're reading this, and have more tips and advice, please do share!

Other things I am making for Thanksgiving are:

• Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce
• Candied Yams (I don't have a recipe... basically yams or sweet potatoes, lots of butter, lots of brown sugar, cinnamon, and toasted marshmallows on top)
• Butterbeer

I feel it's a sin that I'm not making gravy out of the turkey drippings...or adding turkey drippings to the stuffing, but Lance's sister, Laura, wanted to make the gravy (she's also doing the potatoes), and Nicole wanted to make the stuffing.

Family and Cinnamon Rolls

Last night Lance got to feel baby Lily kick or punch or whatever she was doing.  It was pretty consistent for a while, and my whole tummy was moving, so I think she may have had the hiccups.  Anyway, I was glad we got to share that.  Let's say that I am thankful we got to share that, and count it as yesterday's thankfullness!

Yesterday was a pretty good day.  Lance had to work at the Disney Store from 11am to 7:30pm.  So we got the girls (our dogs) in the car and dropped him off.  Then I came home and lounged around playing on the computer.  My dad was online on Skype so I got to talk to him, and my mom, and my sisters.  It was nice.  Then I decided that I was going to take some of the wonderful cinnamon rolls I made over to Eric's house so they could help me eat them.  That was fun too.  I hadn't seen Mabel in a while.  It seems like she's learned something new every time I see her!  She now can clap (has been clapping since before her first birthday), say "touch down!" and throw her hands in the air, blow kisses, say "kitty, kitty, kitty, " say "tickle, tickle tickle," she knows the word "bubbles", and when you ask her what the cat says, she says "OW, OW, OW" meaning "meow, meow, meow."  She's been saying "Hi!" for a really long time too.  That was her first word.  So stinking cute!

I let Mabel play with my phone and after she had it for a while, she handed it back to me.  Then I handed it back to her, and she handed it back to me.  I didn't understand what was going on until Katie said, "She wants you to turn it on for her."  That made me laugh!  I said, "No, Mabel.  You can't make your phone calls on my phone, sorry."  She got bored of the passing back and forth game.  I guess cell phones aren't fun if they aren't lighting up!

My dad was still on Skype, so we chatted with my family more while I was at Eric and Katie's.  It makes me feel like I pretty much got to spend the whole day with my family.  I'm thankful for that.

Let's talk about these cinnamon rolls, shall we?  I had a craving for cinnamon rolls, and decided that I would just make some.  I had no idea how much effort you have to put into cinnamon rolls.  I started at 7pm on Friday night.  I browsed some recipes from some of my favorite cooks (Pioneer Woman, cooks on the Food Network, etc.) and decided to do a combination of Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls, and Alton Brown's cinnamon rolls.  However, neither one of their icings appealed to me, so I made up my own.  I made an awesome decision.  The only change I'll make for next time is to double the brown sugar/cinnamon/butter filling!  I cut the dough recipe in half, because I just wanted one pan of cinnamon rolls, but it still ended up making two pans full.  So, I have a pan of uncooked cinnamon rolls in my freezer for when I go visiting teaching this week.  Awesome.  I had a finished pan of overly-frosted cinnamon rolls at about 11pm on Friday.  And they were wonderful.  And I woke up 10 pounds heavier.   I'm thankful that I can blame my weight gain on Lily.  :-D

Frozen Lunches

Yeup, that's what I'm thankful for today.

My favorite brand would have to be Healthy Choice.  Stouffer's is pretty good too.

Yesterday, I tried the new pumpkin ravioli from Health Choice, it was super good!  Today I'm having one with broccoli and beef in it.

These frozen lunches help me to save money by being cheaper than eating out for lunch.  You can buy them for about $2-$3 a piece, when eating out is at least $5 a person most places.  I know when I actually make enough dinner for leftovers it's even cheaper than the $2 frozen meal... but I don't always make dinner.  So. Yeah.

My absolute favorite frozen lunch is the Red Pepper Alfredo from Healthy Choice.  It is comparable to Pizza Pie Cafe's red pepper pasta sauce, which I love.

Lance

You know how people say they love their spouse more now than they did the day they married them?

I never understood it.  How can you love someone more?  Shouldn't you already love them a lot if you're going to marry them?  What happens to make you able to love them more?

I can tell you that I love Lance more now than I did at the beginning of this year.  I'm not sure how it happened.  I think life throws trials, sadness, hardships and other things at you, and when you stick together and work together at helping each other you grow together, and that helps you fall more in love with each other. 

Just noticing how he's changed with the news of becoming a father has made me love him more.  He was always been a great guy, but now he's more patient, more caring, more loving, and more kind to me than he ever has been.

We went to Planet Play last week for a little fun.  He kicked my bum at mini-golf, and I kicked his at mini-bowling.  :)  It was fun to get out and play, just the two of us.  Usually when we go places like that, we always include other people.  It was different for it to be just the two of us, but I really enjoyed it.

Obviously, I am thankful for Lance.  I am thankful for his forgiving heart, and patience with me.  I am thankful for his work ethic and how hard he works to support us.  I am thankful for his friendship.  He understands me more than I understand myself.  I am thankful that he never gets upset when I say I don't feel like making dinner, or doing laundry, or doing the dishes.  I am thankful that he will pitch in and do those things.  I am also thankful that he has the same addiction as I do to eating out. I'm thankful that we can compromise about anything.  I'm thankful for his kind, loving parents, who raised him to respect others. He is the perfect balance of his shy, quiet mom, who mostly keeps her opinions to herself, and his outspoken, talkative, friendly father who loves to make sure everyone else is happy.

I don't really like to brag, but, I have an awesome marriage.  :-)

Hymns

Yesterday was awful.  I had the worst headache ever and it wouldn't go away.  Tylenol didn't help, sleep didn't help, drinking lots of water didn't help, getting a bit of caffeine didn't help.

I have decided that it was a stress headache.

I stayed home from work and called my mommy.  We talked for a while, then I tried to take a nap.  I couldn't stop thinking about work and some issues I had the previous day, so I called my sister Emilee.  We talked for a while, then she passed the phone to Jessica and we talked for a while.  It was so nice to hear their voices.

Then I called Lance to see how he was doing.  He had a busy day at work.

Then once again I tried to take a nap.  I had to sing a few hymns to get myself to not think about work.  Then baby Lily decided it was flipping time, which was pretty relaxing.  I could just sit there and enjoy her company without saying a word.

Three hours later, I woke up.  Sill with a headache. But the nap was nice.

Anyway, I couldn't bear to look at a computer screen yesterday, so I didn't share something for which I am thankful.  (Do you like how sometimes I use proper puncuation and grammar, and sometimes I do not?  I prefer to blog how I would speak, and therefore, don't care about the proper use of things for the most part...) 

I'm thankful for hymns.  I'm thankful for those talented people who wrote the tunes for the hymns and the talented people who wrote the words for hymns, and the talented people who perform hymns.  Hymns are beautiful, and help to clear my mind better than anything else.

I remember being in Primary when we lived in Santaquin and we learned that one song that was about humming your favorite hymn.  I don't remember all the words, but I remember it talking about any time you feel down or scared or sad "...Just hum your favorite hymn.  Sing out with vigor and vim, and you will find it clears your mind. Hum your favorite hymn."  Ever since then, I've hummed my favorite hymn many, many times.  It always works.  Always.

Maybe later today I will think of something else to share that I am thankful for.

Credit

I'm thankful for credit.

Credit is a double edged sword.  Without it, I wouldn't have a house, a car, and we probably would have gone hungry back in 2009 when Lance lost his job.  However, it's tricky to not go too far with it.

I remember, the night before Lance lost his former job we were trying to decide if we should go to New York City or not.  No, we didn't have the money... but the flight price was almost too good to turn down!  Almost.  We decided against it.  The next day our lives were turned upside down.

Before that time, we used credit a lot more than we should have.  We had good income, so we knew we could always pay all of our bills.  After that time, we've learned to have the money for things that we want, before we purchase them.  If the money isn't there, we don't go on the trip, or we don't purchase the item.  We racked up a lot of debt while Lance was out of a job, and slowly we've been climbing out of it.

Last week we paid off one of our credit cards!  It's a great feeling, however, then you remember how many other credit cards you have.

Lance got a second job at the Disney store, mostly for fun and for the discount, but the little extra money will help us to continue to pay down our debts while still being able to afford Christmas presents.  His first official night was last night, 6pm to 10pm.  We only have one car, so this means I have to stay up later than I'd like to go pick him up.  But I'm happy to do it.  If he's willing to work on his feet for 12 hours in a day, I can do with one fewer hour of sleep.

I am thankful for our unwise choices in the past that have taught us to be wiser with our time and money.

Patience

I'm thankful for patience.  Unfortunately, I don't have any.

But thank you to those who are patient with my lack of patience.  Like Lance.  He deals with my outbursts of, "YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!" by saying, "I'm sorry. I am listening to you. I'm just trying to have fun."

On a side note: Pregnant women should NOT be in charge of training people.

Make that, *I* shouldn't be in charge of training people.  I am so sick of it (wouldn't you be if you had to train new people over and over and over again) that if my current trainee doesn't remember something after I've told them (only once), I get incredibly annoyed.  I'm sorry, take notes.  You did?  Great. Follow them!  You missed that?  Well, maybe you should take better notes.  And ask questions.

I'm more understanding if you ask a question, rather than say you've checked something and it's completely wrong.


Oh yeah, patience.  *sigh*

I'll be patient with Lily, about most things, I think...right?

Mom

I'm thankful that my mom cooked dinner practically every night while I was growing up.  She taught me how to cook and clean and take care of a home.

I'm thankful that she inspired me to cook.  I love to cook.  I love finding new recipes to try and new techniques to use.

Here is a dinner that I'll be making this week: Braised Chicken With Tomatillos and Jalapenos.  I'll probably serve it with a cilantro-lime rice.

Also something I want to try to make soon: Chocolate Ricotta Pudding

There is something about the fall and winter that brings out the inner chef in me and I get more adventurous than normal.  I have hundreds of recipes in my "to try" folder on my computer, but in the fall I always tend to add more and more...  I'm super excited for the day I'll be able to stay at home and make amazing dinners every day.

PS: I'm horrible at updating my recipe blog.  But maybe when I stay at home I'll update it more often.  The thing is, I want to include pictures but I always forget to take pictures when I cook, so maybe I should just forget about the picture idea and just start posting more recipes.  Also, my photography skill is a 1 on a scale of 1 to 100. :)

DataWise

I am thankful for my job at DataWise.  When I started working there in August of 2006, I had no idea that I was starting a job with some of the most caring employers I have ever known.

Yeah the work is sometimes hard and stressful, and the hours can be long, but at the end the year they make it all worthwhile.  They remind you how valuable you are to the company and boost your morale for another year.

2012 will be a big year for them.  I have mixed feelings about choosing this time to have a child.  It means that I won't be able to participate as much as I have in years' past.  I am sure, however, that what I do accomplish for them, they will be very appreciative.

Thank you, DataWise.

Emilee

I am thankful for my sister, Emilee.  She is a great example to me of a true disciple of Christ.  She  has missionary experiences at school.  She makes good friends and does her best to choose the right.  She sings like an angel and doesn't hide her talents.

She is a bit of a drama queen... but weren't we all at 15?

I can't wait to see her in 3 weeks and 6 days.

Bentley and Layla

I'm thankful for my two doggies.  I love them so much!  I love how excited and happy they are when we get home from work.  I love how happy and excited they are when we tell them they get to put on their collars and go for a ride in the car.  I love how snuggly they are when they're tired.  I love how they listen to me, and look at me, and tilt their heads to the side when they recognize words I say.  I love how they don't go potty (or number two) in the house.  They're such good girls.

Last week we had a little scare with Bentley.  I got out of bed, let them outside for a bit, then started getting ready for work.  5 minutes later, Lance comes down holding a limp Bentley in his arms.  She wasn't breathing very well, her ears were down, and she looked so sad and so scared.

We immediately went to the vet.  He said she had an upper respiratory infection that could turn into the dog flu.  Who knew dogs could get the flu?  He gave us some medicine, and we went on our way.  She did get better, and I was relieved that it wasn't life threatening.

A few days later, the vet called to see how Bentley was doing.  So thoughtful!

Not Coming Back

Deep down I thought maybe my family would. 

Their home has sold, so if they do come back, it won't be to the same happy home.

It's not necessarily the house that I'm so attached to.  It's the memories that happened in that house.  It was a house that any neighborhood kids/teenagers were welcome to come to any time.  The food was practically free-flowing to anyone.  We often had extra people over for dinner.  Lance first kissed me out by the mailbox.  I fell in the ditch that used to be just south of the house.  My family spent hours and weeks and months working on the back yard.  My dad cut down the nasty tress that were back there, busting up his mouth.  Dad used to spend hours in the yard, he turned that back yard from weeds to nice grass, using grass seed, not sod.  He and my brothers built the deck, the deck hosted many parties.  Dad would practice playing the flugelhorn in the music room.  Eric and Jared would have band practice up in the bonus room.

It was house where a family I am proud to be a member of lived.

Maybe the hardest part is that not only is the house gone, but my loved ones who lived inside the house are also gone.  I can't go see them any time I want at their new house.  I can't see how their new house is becoming a home.  I can't make new memories with them.

Growing up is hard.  Growing apart is harder.

I'm Thankful!

A thank you a day keeps the sadness away, right?

Since I'm a day behind, today I will share two things I am thankful for.

Yesterday, I had a wonderful visit to my doctor.  I am thankful that Lily is healthy and growing... even though I don't appreciate that causing me to grow as well. :-)

Today I am thankful for my drive to and from work each day with my wonderful husband.  It's an extra 1.5 to 2 hours I get to spend with him, that in previous years I never got to spend with him.

What Else is New?

Braxton Hicks.  They started last week.  Sometimes they hurt.  Not like menstrual cramps, but like when I got my IUD in.  I get a couple every afternoon.  Most of the time they're just tight and uncomfortable.

My lower back hurts like heck, usually in the morning.  Luckily it goes away once I get up and moving.

Lily really kicked me last night.  I guess, I'm not sure what part of her hit me, so it may not have been a kick.  But it bumped really hard, and stayed there for a second, then moved away.  Then she did it again.  What the heck are you doing in there, kid?

Halloween Cruise and Shopping

I went on a little cruise down the Provo river with Lance, Katie, Eric and Mabel this weekend.  It was cute.  It's more for kids than anything, but I enjoyed it!  You get on a boat with about 20 other people, and you have a pirate captain who tells you a story, and sings a song.  Then another pirate takes over the boat and tells jokes and gives you candy.  The river is lined with Halloween lights and carved pumpkins, so they reflect off the water.  It was really pretty.

Saturday we went to the Park City outlets to get me some clothing.  I got two undershirts (since my undershirts and tank tops no longer fit), three tops and a dress.  I'm glad I got some clothes that don't make me feel like a cow.

Seriously.

I may not be huge, but I think anyone can agree that when you are gaining weight, no matter what size you were and what size you have become, it's depressing, and shopping sucks, and you feel like no matter what you wear you look like crap.  All I can think about is, when will this baby get here, and, when can I start Insanity again? I'm ready to have my normal tummy back again.

I'm only halfway done and I've gained 8 lbs.  I'm not sure if that's good or bad.  I think you gain more in your 2nd half than your 1st half of pregnancy.  My goal is to keep it under 20.  I don't think it's going to happen. The worst has yet to come.

I really do have body image issues.

My 20 week ultra sound is tomorrow!  Here's to hoping Lily has all of her fingers and toes, and everything is normal.  But if it turns out to be Liam and not Lily, that's OK too.  We haven't bought any gender-specific items yet.

Want to hear a strange (at least, I think it's strange) story?  My favorite color is pink.  I do not want to dress Lily in pink very much.  I want her to wear purple and green and brown.   The nursery will be green and brown.

The end.

Halloween Festivities

Did you know that I cannot recall a time where I had my own pumpkin to carve any way I wanted?

This year, I challenged that (does anyone else get annoyed at those Olay commercials?).

Lance and I wanted to carve pumpkins!  We were going to do it this weekend, but Lance's sister, Laura, invited us to her place for dinner last Sunday and said that they would be carving pumpkins as well that day.  So, we went to Walmart and I picked out my first, very own pumpkin!

Then I decided that I lack in creativity, extremely, and that I am OCD when it comes to organization and perfection.  Therefore, I decided to use a template, instead of free-hand carving it.  So we bought a book of templates, that included some fancy tools to help make detailed carving a bit easier.

I chose this template:

I like how it turned out.  I am not at all a pro... obviously, since it was my first time, but I am pleased!

I have pictures... I just need to get them off Lance's phone.

Unfortunately, a few days after carving, the pumpkins started getting all bendy and soggy on the thinner parts.  So now my moon's mouth and eye is all bent in.  Oh well!

Rough Week

I've started about 3 blog posts and ended up deleting them all because I just go off on how horrible everything is going right now.

So, instead I'll just say that I'm still here.  I'm exhausted, stressed out, depressed, and I no longer wake up wanting to go to work.  This is the first time in my life where I'd rather stay home and clean all day.

Maybe a new budget is in order so I don't have to work anymore.


In other news, my best friend got married!!  Yay Sierra!  It was beautiful.  She was beautiful.  I had to give a toast and that was really scary.  I think what I said was OK (from what I can remember... I was so nervous, words just kinda came out!), but I wish I had said more nice things about Sierra.  I wish I had gotten across how much I really do love her.


And now for a story...

Three years ago I loved shopping.  I would buy new clothes every week.  After Lance lost his job, I kicked that habit in the butt.  And now?  I hate shopping.  I love having new clothes, but I hate going to the mall, trying clothes on, justifying the cost, etc. So I'm still squeezing into my regular clothes.  Some fit... sorta.  My pants are all getting too tight and it's not really comfortable.  I need new under-clothing as well.  I just don't want to go shopping.  Besides, it's no fun when you don't have someone to go with.  ...As if Lance wants to hang out around maternity clothes.

I bet he would if I asked. I just don't want to go, so I don't want to ask.

Adventures of a Prego Lady

Lance's company is really three companies in one.

One of them, is a jewelry company.  They have some pretty cute stuff.  Last week, Lori, one of the nice ladies that is in charge of bCharmed, gave me two pairs of earrings that they don't have in their catalogue yet.  They are so cute!  Seriously, the cutest earrings I own.  They are also sterling silver.  I was so happy I almost cried!

Well, Sierra's wedding is on Saturday, and I wanted to get some new jewelry to wear.  I decided that maybe I should use my discount at bCharmed to get a nice necklace.  I picked a nice pearl necklace with a pretty flower on it.  I already have a matching pair of earrings and some bracelets.  When Lance went to pay for it, Lori gave it to him for free.

Lance told me and I cried.  Then we laughed at me crying.  It was such a kind thing for Lori to do.  The necklace retails for $35.  I was so happy!


Last night Lance and I went grocery shopping.  Do you know what I found?  Well, Lance saw them first...  We found pomegranates!  I was so happy that I started crying right there.  Lance laughed.  Then I laughed.  Then we walked closer and saw that they were almost $4 a piece.

Are you kidding me?  Maybe I've never paid attention to the price before.  I thought they were usually 2 for $5.  Either way, $4 a piece is a lot when you want to purchase 10.  So I started crying again, out of sadness.  Then Lance laughed, then I laughed.  Then Lance told me to buy some anyway because he knew I'd been wanting them for months.  So we bought 2.

This is the first week I've been emotional.  Guess it hit me later than I thought it would.


Oh yeah, we watched Lion King, and I cried in the first 5 minutes.  It was so intense having all those animals bow to baby Simba.  I had to stop watching.  That movie is too much for me.

I think I would have cried even if I weren't pregnant.  That movie is sad.

In other news, Lily moves around a lot in the evenings.  I'll feel a bump on one side, then another on the other side, then up high and then down low.  Really strange.  I described it the other day as dancing, but really, what the heck she doing in there?  Right now it's light little flutters that are almost ignorable, but pretty interesting.

Pretty Sure

...that those aren't gas bubbles.  I think baby Lily is dancing around in my tummy tonight.

Rant

I am going to explode if I don't get a pomegranate soon.  They should have been in stores a month ago.  Not sure how much longer I can handle this..........  Aggggh!

What?!

I found out yesterday that I am having a baby girl.

Awwww.

We have a few pictures of her, include one of her bum and legs.  She already has fat rolls on her legs.  It's dang cute!

This was the third ultrasound. I've had one at each appointment.  It's been nice.  I like seeing the baby and making sure it is alive, y'know?  I worry.

Also, I really like my doctor.  She is so nice and helpful.  I suppose all doctors are.

I told Dr. Jones about all the headaches I've been having (one a day!), and how I never used to get headaches in the past unless it was caffeiene withdrawal, but that I had quit caffeine back in January.  She told me that I could either take Tylenol or drink a Dr. Pepper each day (I told her Dr. Pepper was my favorite). 

Me: I don't want to get addicted again!  And I try not to take pills if I can.  I've only taken Tylenol twice this whole pregnancy.
Dr Jones: "Well, don't make yourself suffer!  I think you'd be OK with 1 or even 2 cans of soda each day."

Then we talked about Sunkist and how that has caffeine, and that maybe I should drink that.  She's just a cute doctor.

Anyway, my official ultrasound is October 24th.  That will be the one where they look at the baby from head to toe and make sure everything is developing.  And perhaps they will tell me that it is a boy and not a girl.

It's not that I don't want a girl.  I'm happy either way!  I just really felt like it was a boy.  Guess my intuition is whack.

I also had the feeling I'd have twins.  (Or maybe that was just me wanting twins.....)

But anyway, it's time to prepare for Lily!  I'm clueless.  I also don't really feel like doing anything.  It's still not real to me.  And I hate organizing.  Oh and my scrapbook room is full of crap.

We did purchase two large packages of diapers, and I did start my registry about a month ago.  That's about as much as I feel up to.  I think I'd rather wait until January to start really doing things.  Any objections?

Success...Question Mark?

I have planned the menu for bunco!

Goodness, cooking for 12 is not an easy task.

They can choose between Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup and Chili.

I'll have garlic toast.

I'll have a (boring) salad.

And we'll have some really easy coconut cookies for dessert.

Recipes will be on my food blog after the party... and after I make sure they turn out.

I like to experiment.

Uhh, now I need to figure out prizes.

I usually don't procrastinate this long, but it's been a dramatic month.  Leave me alone.

Ok, I'm Ready to Wake Up Now!

I have the ability to control my dreams.  I can't choose what to dream about, but I can change the dream if it isn't going my way.

For example, I used to have this recurring nightmare as a child where this crazy guy would come to my house.  We would lock all of our doors and hide as if we weren't home.  And he would climb on the dog house and wait for us.

Nothing really bad happened in the dream, it was just a scary dream.

After having the dream a couple of times, I was able to change it or wake myself up when I could tell it was starting.

I've done this with many dreams in the past, whether they are recurring or not.  If a dream takes a turn that I don't like, I can wake myself up, or change it.

Well, life, right now, feels like a dream.  And I'm ready to wake up or change it.

Tomorrow my parents will be back in Pleasant Grove.  And I will frolic with my sisters in their giant back yard.  We will sit around the table and play Life Twists and Turns or Imaginiff.  Then I will cook some sort of experimental dessert.  Then Dad will ask us to watch a movie with him.

Lance's dad will be back as well, and we will go to Olive Garden and talk about whatever we feel like talking about.

My baby will just already be here because it's taking too long.

I think this is the first dream I have no control over.  I don't like it.

Starting to Feel Pregnant

At least, what I think pregnant feels like....

I have constant pressure in my lower abdomen.  Sometimes it hurts, like cramps.

I get a lot of headaches.  Before quitting caffeine, the only time I had headaches was when I had caffeine withdrawal, now it's practically daily.  But it's never bad enough to have to take Tylenol.

I'm always hungry.  It used to be, if I had Cafe Rio for lunch I wouldn't need to eat for the rest of the day.  Now if I have Cafe Rio for lunch I still need to eat again about 4 hours later.  Also, I can't work through my lunch break, I can't think clearly without food.

I get dizzy if I stand up too fast.

My nose is always stuffy.

My eyes ache as if I haven't slept in days.

It hurts when my dogs step on my stomach.

On a scale of 1 to 10, my patience used to be a 4, now it's a zero.  Luckily Lance is already perfect so he doesn't get yelled at very much (if ever).

I still have 25 weeks to go.  I bet it only gets worse.

Food

Sometimes I stop feeling sorry for myself.

On those brief occasions I think about:

My favoritest fruit in the world!

And guess what?  They're soon to be in season!  Yippy-ky-yi-ay!  Donations gladly accepted.

I'm hosting Bunco next Thursday.  No clue what to cook for dinner.  Haven't been in the mood to cook.  I'm thinking I want Lasagna.  I want to try to recreate the amazing lasagna I made a couple of weeks ago.  I also want to have a salad that will taste like Olive Garden's.  But then again I also want my "regular" salad.  Which is mixed greens, some sort of fruit (apples, grapes, pears, possibly pomegranate?!), crasins, and a touch of cheese (such as freshly shaved parmesan), served with a vinaigrette of some sort. I also want garlic-cheese toast.  I'm thinking about making peach crisp for dessert, but it doesn't really match the Italian theme, and thinking about eating those things together kind of makes my stomach flop (It could be a pregnant thing).  I need to think of an Italian-ish dessert, or else plain ole ice cream it will be!

Fat

That's how I feel.

My stomach is starting to stick out.

Any time I eat something, it increases by four inches.  Not even exaggerating.

I threw up last week.  I thought it was because I had a bite of a cold leftover burger, and because I was working hard making delicious snacks for a tailgate party.  However, today while doing my hair I started to get light headed and dizzy, just like when I threw up.

So I went and laid down for a minute and I realized that when I threw up last week I had just finished styling my hair, and I haven't styled my hair since then.  So apparently, I get lightheaded and dizzy when I style my hair (because my arms are up?) which causes me to become nauseous.  Very strange.  I'll take it though.  If that's the only time I'm sick I'm fine with it.

Why?

One question I don't know will ever be answered; Why?

Why, after waiting four years to have a child, did my family have to leave?

Why, while I'm pregnant and shortly after my family left, did my father-in-law have to pass away?

Why?

What am I to learn from this?  That I'm supposed to be alone?  That I'm supposed to be sad?  That when things start to be OK something worse happens?

WHY?!?!

We went to dinner with Lance's parents Wednesday night.  Thursday afternoon he was gone.  Why?  Nothing was out of the norm. Why Thursday?  What made that day special?  Why was that the "right time"?




Dad was so excited to meet our baby.  He loved babies.

Dad always listened to whatever I had to say.  He made me feel like I was one of his own.

He gave me my best friend, who I know will be a great husband and father like he was.




I can't help but be angry, sad, confused and bitter.

I Remember

If you've posted a fake pregnancy announcement due to the latest "breast cancer awareness", I don't hate you.  However, I find it inconsiderate.

Think about those who are pregnant.  Those who cannot get pregnant.  Those who have miscarried.

Pregnancy announcements are not a joke.

It's also as unrelated to breast cancer as cheese toast.

Besides, OCTOBER is breast cancer awareness month.  Why not start a trend for 9/11 remembrance?  Something like... posting where you were when you heard the news that changed America forever.

I was 13, getting ready for another day of 8th grade.  I was listening to the radio, The Morning Zoo. I didn't understand.

When I got to school, my homeroom teacher had the news on, as did every other teacher in the school for the rest of the day.

I got the opportunity to go to New York 11 months after.  There were large holes in the ground where the towers once stood.  Roads were still shut down all around.  The Subway was still out of commission.  Steele from one of the corners of one of the towers had been left in place, formed into a cross.  Trinity church had thousands and thousands of photos of missing people.

I will not forget.

Had to Laugh

I'm eating my lunch right now.  It's delicious homemade lasagna that I kind of made up myself.  I'm really sad that I didn't pay attention to everything I put in here because it's the best lasagna I've ever had!  (Sorry mom.)

Anyway, I had to giggle as I walked past the other offices with a plate full of pickles as my side vegetable for the day.

So cliche.  Right?

I promise it's not a pregnancy craving. I simply like pickles and I always have.  This isn't the first time I've kept a jar of pickles in the work fridge, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Thank You!

Lance is amazing.  Really.  I always knew I married a great guy, but he's seriously stepped it up since we've been pregnant.

He used to complain about driving too much and hated our drive to and from work, including the traffic and road construction.  When we found out I was pregnant, he decided he'd do all the driving because it's too stressful on me.  I told him it wasn't a problem but he insisted on driving to and from work every day.  (That's how I can read so many chapters of the Book of Mormon each day... I'm not driving at all!)

Dishes. I hate doing dishes.  I think Lance hates it too, but he doesn't complain about it.  A few times he's done it without me asking him to, and the sink was extremely full too.

Laundry.  Another task I loathe.  I don't mind separating the loads, but after that I hate it.  Lance has been all of our laundry the past few months.  He's been doing a great job too.  Hang dry clothing are being hung dry. Whites are being bleached.  It's been awesome.

Yesterday he took the day off of work an I came home to a clean kitchen, a clean bedroom, and a clean bathroom.  I was super impressed.

I feel so lazy.  I do cook, and I do dishes sometimes... and I've been cleaning too.  But he's doing awesome.

We took off all of our handles on our kitchen cupboard and drawers and I painted them all so they'd look nicer.  They're now bronze and red.  Very hot.  He installed all of them when I finished painting them.

My house is getting nicer each day.

Bittersweet

That's the one word that can describe my weekend.

Layla needed to get some shots, so we made plans to go up to the Humane Society with her and Bentley.  After thinking about it, I thought maybe we should take our cat, Abby, up there as well to get her shots.  Abby hasn't had shots since before she was my cat.  So um... 9 years?  Yeah, she's kind of the neglected child.  My thinking was that we should get her shots done, get her groomed and then list her for free on KSL.

Yes, we are done with our cat.  She doesn't like us, which causes us to not like her.

Lance did some research and decided he would rather leave her at the Humane Society for them to find her some new parents.  That was cheaper.  It was a sadder option, since we have no idea what will happen to her, but I think we did the right thing.  I hope she will get someone who doesn't have dogs and someone who doesn't care if her hair is all over their house, or if she pees on the carpet, or if she won't let you pet her, or if the only time you see her is when she's out of food and she's pretending to like you so she can get more.

I'm sad she's gone, but not because we don't have her anymore.  I'm sad because I hope she's OK.  I hope they don't put her down.  I feel guilty.  Lance says there is a 95% adoption rate on cats, so that makes me feel a little better.

I did have a dream last night that my family was giving up Jessica for adoption.  I woke up confused and sad and wondered why Jessica?  Why anyone?  Then I figured it was probably my worries about Abby making me dream weird things.

Later on Saturday, we went to the Melting Pot with Katie and Eric to celebrate Katie's birthday.  This was my second time going.  My first time my company picked all the options, which were delicious, but it was nice to get to choose our own this time.

Way too much food.

We did a four course dinner.  So Eric and Katie chose a cheese for dipping, and we chose a cheese for dipping.  We thought that would be cool since we could try more cheeses that way.  Which, it was cool, however, I was full by the end of it.  I ate my salad afterwards anyway, thinking it would be nice and refreshing, which it was.  Then we had a break while they got our broth for our meat course ready.

The meats were good, but really, dessert is where the party is at.  Again we got two different chocolate sauces.  We tried the Yin and Yang and the S'mores.  Both were delicious.  I have to say I liked the Yin and Yang the best.  It comes out looking like this:

Pretty cool!  The S'mores they light on fire (using Bacardi 51, I asked...).  And that's cool too!  It was a delicious dinner.  Too expensive to say I'll be back soon.  However, I will be back.

Sunday we celebrated Lance's sister Nicole's birthday.  We went to Adventure and Learning park by Lone Peak high school and spent the afternoon there with Lance's family.  It was nice, except for the bees.  And the heat. And we ran out of non-caffeinated drinks, so I was dang thirsty!  But it was still nice.  It was nice not thinking, "I should visit my parents since we're so close."  But then it was sad, because I wanted to visit my parents and I couldn't.

Bittersweet all around.

A Heart Full of Love

It would be a shame to not share how greatful I am to my Heavenly Father for these past few months.

Back in February, Lance and I decided that we want to start a family.  Well, we already were a family, but a bigger family, you know, with children.  We felt really good about the decision, but we wanted to have one last big vacation with just the two of us, so that's when we planned our Disney World vacation.

After we got home from Disney World I looked for a new doctor.  I really wanted a female, someone who could empathize with me, someone who has been there before and knows exactly what I'm going through.  I did not want a man who only knows what other women have told him.  I called around and found out that Dr. Alicia Jones was accepting new patients.  I immediately made an appointment, for May 17th.

I had to go to the doctor before trying for a baby because I was using an IUD as my form of birth control, and I wasn't about to take it out on my own.  Also, I heard it's good to get a physical and all that fun stuff before you get pregnant.  So all that fun stuff happened May 17th. 

It seemed immediate, the blessings we received just for trying to start a family.  I received a raise in June, and Lance received a very large raise in July (17%).

July 9th I took a pregnancy test and it was positive.  I was 5 weeks along.

Life does throw trials at you.  At the beginning of August, my family decided to move across the country to North Carolina, which they did, August 15.  It was really hard for me to accept because I wanted them there for my pregnancy.  I wanted them there to help take care of the baby next summer so I could go back to work.  I never really realized how much I had planned for them to constantly be in the picture though this whole journey.

Last week, Lance received a job offer from a very good company.  It would have been a pay cut, but he would get health benefits.  To me that seemed like the answer to all of my worries.  I could just stay home, or only work part time and not have to worry because his job would provide health benefits, whereas right now mine provides them and his does not.

When Lance told his current boss about the offer, he did NOT want Lance to leave.  And offered him another 14% raise.  How can you pass that up?  That's 33% in raises for Lance, just this year.  We thought about it, and decided we couldn't turn it down. 

I spoke to my bosses about possibilities of keeping health coverage while only working part time, and I feel comfortable with my options.  I'm hoping after the baby comes they'll let me work from home 100%, while keeping my current duties.  For those of you who speak DataWise, this means I do not want to go back to being a coder.  I enjoy all of my responsibilities (besides checking... still finding a replacement for that one) too much to let them go.  I don't think Dana and Donni want me to let them go anyway.  Dana said he valued me as an employee and he'd rather have me part time than not at all.

I still have 6 months to sort everything out, but I at least feel at peace with where we are at.  I'm due March 11, 2012.  But I think I will have the baby on St. Patrick's day.  :-)

On a side note, I'm 98% certain I'm having a boy.  His name will be Liam.  Still working on a middle name.  If I'm wrong and it is a girl, she'll be Lily.

I have not been sick at all, whatsoever.  No nausea, never thrown up.  I was extremely tired for the first 10 weeks, but that finally went away.  I have gained 4 pounds.  I get lightheaded if I don't eat every three hours.  I crave vegetables, fruit, and french fries.  I have an aversion to Miracle Whip, which makes me really sad since I used to like it better than Mayo.  My clothes are getting tighter and I've had to put away some of my clothes that were purchased to be fairly tight.  Lately I've been craving Dr. Pepper, but when offered it doesn't tempt me.  It's quite strange.  It sounds good, but then I smell it and realize it won't taste as good as it did when I was addicted, and it's not worth falling off the wagon and getting addicted again.  I haven't had any since January! 

At my last appointment we got to see the baby and its little flicker of a heart beat.  My next appointment is September 1st, and we're hoping to hear the heartbeat.  Because I've had so few symptoms I worry that baby isn't growing.  We'll see.

It's Hard

For me, when missionaries are about to come home, I have these ideas that they'll want to hang out and talk for hours and catch up on everything from the last two years and tell tons of missionary stories.

This has not been true in 2/2 cases.  They are quiet, don't have a lot to say or just don't know what to say.  They're not easy to talk to.  The person who comes home is not the same person who left.  It's hard. 

I never saw Eric when he came home.  The night he came home he told us a few missionary stories.  That was the last night he spent at home.  He moved out and then I don't remember seeing him again until he introduced Katie to us.  Thank goodness for Katie.  She helped Eric adjust and move on in life.  She's an amazing person and we are lucky to have her in our family.

Jared has been home for two days, but I still miss my little brother.  I miss the little boy who I used to jump on the trampoline with.  I miss the person who used to make up dances in living room with me and perform them for our parents.  I miss the person who was never embarrassed to hug me in the hallways at school. I miss the person who would call me, just because he was near my house and wanted to stop by.  I miss the silly voices he used to make.  I miss his humor.

Yes, my brother came home.  But he's not the same.  And it's hard.  I'm sure it's hard for him too.  He had a lot of people to miss.  I just had one.

So many things are changing right now that it's overwhelming.  The only way I know how to cope is to try to put into words how I'm feeling, and to cry while doing it.

You'll Find Yours

It's not OK.

I'm independent and I don't need my family.  Until now. 

At this time in my life when I need them the most, that's when they're leaving?  It's a joke that isn't very funny.

Poor Emilee.  She's not doing so well either.  I know how she feels.  We moved when I was 12, almost 13.  I felt like my world was being torn apart.  I felt like I would never be happy again.

I went from having a close group of 12 friends to 0.  I had no friends.  I was often alone.  I cried a lot. I used to eat lunch in the girls' bathroom to avoid asking random people if I could sit with them, or to avoid sitting at a random table and being stared at.  I couldn't find my way around school and I had to ask people for help.

Eventually I met Jeehie Sung.  A cute, tiny Korean girl who was always smiling and happy.  She sat next to me in French class.  She introduced me to a group of people who were pretty nice.  I got invited to a birthday party and I didn't want to go.  My mom made me. I cried, I threw a tantrum, I didn't have a real birthday present.  I went. And I had my real first conversaion with Sierra.

Sierra is the only friend I kept out of this group of new friends.  We just get eachother.  We just had this... connection (for lack of a better word) the first time we had a conversation.  It was as if we were always friends.

So, Emilee.... what I'm saying is... moving is hard, extremely hard.  It's sad.  It's scary.  It feels like your whole world is being torn apart.  But eventually you'll find your Sierra.

In other news, Jared comes home in 22.5 hours. I am so excited!

The Right Way

...four days later and I am now in Mosiah.  I'm pretty pleased with how I'm sticking to reading scriptures every day, and how much I read each day.

I moved out of my parents house last night.  It sounds funny but I had a closet there that was still full of my stuff.  I threw most of it away, but I took some of it.

My parents are selling and giving away everything in their house.  That really depresses me.  They have a lot of nice stuff.  It seems like such a waste!  Maybe it was a waste to purchase the items in the first place.  Basically, they are all going to be out of the house and on the road in 12 days.  Mon petit frer gets home in 8 days.  That means he has 4 days with his family until they're outta here.  It's all happening so fast.  I wish I were going with them.  I love the east coast.  I love the south.  I love the southeast coast.  I want to have a southern accent.  I want chicken and waffles and grits.  Mostly I want my family.

Lance and I are planning to have Thanksgiving in North Carolina (or New Jersey, depending on where my family will be) and Christmas in Utah.  I'm super excited because they'll be having Thanksgiving with Leslie and Al and Kyala and Analise and Daniel!  Leslie is my dad's sister.  She used to live in Arizona and we had Thanksgiving with her every year, but now she lives in New Jersey along with the other people I mentioned.  It will be awesome.

Jared might move in with Lance and me.  That will be fun.  It will probably motivate us to keep our house cleaner.

Life has many twists and turns, ups and downs.  But as long as you follow Christ, you'll know you're going the right way.

Look Forward With Faith

I'm two chapters away from being done with 2 Nephi.  Pretty exciting stuff!

Still boycotting Facebook.  Well, sort of.  I got on and looked at some status updates, then un-friended a couple of people who were especially annoying with their updates.

"Where are all the cute girls at?"  Pah-lease.

My family might be moving to North Carolina.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  It's not really reality for me at this point.  My dad got a great job offer from a company in Raleigh that would be more than what he and my mom make right now, combined.  Also, the cost of living in Raleigh is 3% lower than Salt Lake.  So the math adds up.

My dad went to his current company and told them about his offer and asked for more money to stay here.  They being the wonderful company that they are, said something to the effect of, "We don't think it will work out for you in North Carolina, so when you come back you can have your job back."  No more money.  Nothing.  My dad said he'd give them his final decision on Monday.

I guess it's good to know they might take him back if it really doesn't work out.  But would you want to come back?  I guess this is a lesson in pride.  Do you stick it out in Utah where your family is?  Do you really need more money?  Do you want to move across the country?  Will this be better for your family?

 I can tell you it won't be better for me.  Except around the holidays, maybe.  Every holiday is a struggle for Lance and me because we have to argue about whose family to spend most of the day with.  If my family moves, I guess Lance's family will get us for every holiday besides one per year, probably Thanksgiving or Christmas.  It's my family's turn for Christmas this year... but I'm afraid that since it's not a big election year for my company, my bonus won't be as large as it is during the even-numbered years, therefore, plane tickets and presents might be hard to purchase.  It's sad to think about.  No one wants to be without their family around the holidays.

My parents don't really call me much.  They don't really come over to my house much either.  If they move, will I ever talk to them?  Will they ever come to Utah for visits?  I'm not very optimistic about it.  But maybe the distance will make them realize it more.  Maybe when I don't randomly drop by during the week, they'll realize that they do miss me.

If this is the right thing for them, then I suppose it will all work out for the better.

Do what is right, be faithful and fearless.  God will protect you.

Facebook Rant

I finally finished 1 Nephi last week.  I'm proud of myself.  I read in the car to and from work, so I get in about 4-5 chapters each day.  Then on the weekends I fail.  But, I'm sticking to it better than I ever have in my life.

I noticed that several times Nephi states that he only writes things of importance.  I wonder if that was hard for him.  I wonder if he ever wanted to complain about something.

I also wish people would post to Facebook things of importance.  Can you imagine how awesome that would be?  No more people trying to be the first to post about a story.  No more people posting multiple times per day. No more stupid posts!

Can you tell I'm sick of Facebook?  I am.  I'm over it.  I'm going on strike.

Old and Boring

That's me.

I got another spray tan today.  Beaches' Mystic Tan is by one get one free, so 2 for $24 right now.  Good price!  The trick to the Mystic is... to listen to the employees at the salon.  They know what they're talking about, usually.  I have really fair skin.  Fair, freckly, skin.  How do I not look orange?  Skip the bronzer.  Also, if you have a sunless tanning lotion from last year, you should throw it away instead of use it.  Old lotions are more likely to turn you orange.  It also helps to do a gradual tan.  If you're fair you don't want to pick the darkest color.

Anyway, that's enough of that.

My girls are sitting next to me.  I love them.  They are so sweet. They make me so happy.

Oh!  Big changes at work.  Carrie quit.  Who is Carrie?  She was referred to by Dana as the day time manager, but I never really thought of her as that.  Nothing against her, but Dana is the owner of the company, he called the shots, she didn't really manage anything.  When she did try to manage me, it upset me because I was already doing or about to do what she would tell me.  Maybe I'm too prideful, but, seriously it bugged me.  So what does her quitting mean for me?  Nothing.  Ok, so not really nothing.  Donni offered me Carrie's position.  Really all that would entail that I'm not currently doing is going to work at 6am and leaving at 3pm.  That doesn't work for me because Lance and I still have just one car, so our work schedules need to match.  Lance can't leave work before 5:15 usually, so even if I did come in at 6am, I'd stay until 5:30pm.  I'm not a big fan of long shifts.  I'll stick to my four 9-hour shifts and one 4-hour shift.

Before Carrie quit, I had my review at work.  The bosses gave me options on what direction to take in the company.  I could have chosen: A: Admin Assistant direction.  B: Data Processing direction. C: Checking Manager position.  Previously, I had been doing all three, and when they sent me the form to fill out for the review I told them my concerns about how much work I was doing and how much stress it was causing.  I chose options A and B.  Goodbye checking management.  Good riddance too.  I'm SO over it.  It got to the point where I would get frustrated seeing an edit I had previously pointed out to someone.  I have completely lost my patience for it.  I feel/felt like, "I have to be perfect, so why the freak can't anyone else?!?!"  Just like that.

Since Carrie quit, that threw a wrench in that process.  Now instead of just having to hire a checker, they need to figure out if we can cover Carrie's spot with the number of people we have, or if we need a person to cover her.  However, we need a new checker either way.  It's getting to be too much on my own.  I still curse Rachel for quitting.  That stinker.

Anyway, that's work.  That's all I do.  I'm old and boring.

But Thursday...  maybe I won't be old and boring.  :-D

Oh, Hello

I got a spray tan today.  That was fun.  I like being tan. My friend, Vhanessa is doing full body spray tans for $20 during her grand opening. If you want one, let me know and I'll get you her info!

Tomorrow my family is having a barbecue, and I'm making the burgers.  Usually we use the frozen kinds, but I wanted to try something different.  I hope they taste good.  I also want to attempt to make Carol's (Lance's mom's) potato salad.  It is the best salad ever!!!  The potato to pickle to egg to dressing ratio is absolutely perfect every single time.  She is amazing.  I'd also like to make deviled eggs.  Those are just things you have to have at barbecues.

On Sunday the lesson is about missionary work.  The lesson suggests writing to a missionary.  I think Jared would enjoy some pictures and notes from random 4-to-5 year old strangers, don't you?  I'm debating on including a picture of the class.  Might be fun.

Oh Boy!

It's done.

Tickets - purchased.

Hotel - reserved.

Now I just have to wait.  *twiddles thumbs*

Lance's Draft

Lance wrote this draft over a year ago, and for some reason never posted it.  I think he thought it was dumb or something.  Well I like it!  And I like reading his point of view on things. :)

• It sucks being late to a Jazz game, because you miss the lights being shut off and you also miss the opportunity to see someone mess up the National Anthem. Well that is all besides the point, but we were late and we just got off the escalator and about to go to our portal when a guy stopped us that worked for the Arena, and he asked us if we wanted to go sit in the lower bowl. We could never turn down something like that so we headed down there in amazement. It was one of our best times ever at a Jazz game...

• For the longest time our Nephew's wanted to sleep over. It was in the summertime and we were constantly busy so we couldn't have them sleep over for a while, until one time Jenn said OK, you guys can sleep over on such and such date. I don't remember all the details but the date she gave was about a month away...Well it came time for them to sleep over and we decided to have our tent put up in the backyard and we all sleep out there. Boy do those boys like to wiggle when they are sleeping. But we all had a good time.

• We were on a vacation with Jenn's family up in Yellowstone and the first night we were there we could feel something moving underneath our tent. We didn't think much of it, and the next couple of nights we could feel something but couldn't really figure it out. Well when we were leaving I was packing up camp and it came time for me to roll up our tent and while I moved it there was a little furry mouse that had been under our tent the whole time. I guess he just wanted to stay warm...but I bet he was hungry after that...

• We were down in Vegas and we were at the Wax Museum and I told Jenn to stand by a statue of 2Pac, well I will let you see for yourself, but I don't think she realized that she was having her picture taken...So is my cutie!

Well I know there are plenty other memories we have out there. But these were some of the ones I liked a lot and I don't want to forget anytime soon. I hope you enjoy...

Love It!

Search keywords that bring up my blog:

kyle korver girlfriend

LOL. I'll take it! 

I've met the guy a couple of times, but I was too scared to talk, or even look at him.  He has this intenseness about him...

So there you have it.  I'm the married, Mormon, girlfriend of a guy I've never spoken to.  Love it!

Today in the Scriptures

I've once again started to read the Book of Mormon.

I have not ever finished it on my own.  This is something I am not proud of, but I know that it's never too late to start.

Today I'm on 1 Nephi 5.  I read about Sariah complaining to her husband, Lehi.  She was pretty much nagging him, and even mocked him a little bit.  I also read about how Lehi reacted.

Verse 6: And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah.

Sariah said some not-so-nice things to Lehi and instead of arguing back or proving his point he comforted her.  I need to be more like this.  When someone comes at me in a mean way, I shouldn't respond in the same way.  I should respond calmly, with kindness.

If you know me, I've never responded to rude people in a kind way.  If someone does something or says something that upsets me, my face gets red and hot, and my head spins (or at least, it feels like it's spinning) and I spout out some angry retort that is usually belittling to the other person.

I need to be more like Lehi.

OCD

I organized my photos on Photobucket, so it broke all of the links to them on my blog.  So today, I decided to go update the pictures on the posts.  Well...  didn't know it was going to move the date and time of the post!  I hate it when things are out of order.    OCD, I know, but it really, really, really bothers me!!

Vacation Day 6: Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure

And now....  the whole purpose of our trip in the first place...

The day we visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

*So excited!*

Yes, I am a Harry Potter nerd.  I love the Harry Potter books.  I love the story.  I love the excitement.  I love the adventure.  I love everything about it.  I cry when I read the book and again when I see the movies.  I grew up with Harry.  I started reading these books when I was 11, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were 11.  I'm kind of sad that it's almost over.  I don't want it to be over.

Ok, enough of that.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is just a section inside of Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure.  If you have ever been to DisneyLand or Magic Kingdom, they are separated into sections: Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, etc.  It's like that.  So it's not very big, and since it's new, it's extremely crowded.  Therefore, we took our time getting over to that section of the park.

So I lied.  The entire park was crowded.  Blegh.

The first area we went to was Dr. Suess.  It was cute, had lots of kid rides.  We rode a couple.  One was very spinny. Spin spin, spinny, spin spin.  And yes, it made me sick, for most of the day.

The other was a train ride, which was cute.  Kind of scary, considering that I'm afraid of heights, and if you put your foot out of the cart it won't touch anything.  The track was thinner than the train.

Then we went to an incredibly cheesy show called The Adventures of Sindbad.  It was so cheesy that you could lick the cheese off the stage.

But, it had fireworks and explosions and splashes of water, so it wasn't too bad.

We did some other stuff, but y'know, I'll just get to the good stuff.

Harry Potter!!

Walking into Hogsmeade.

Hogsmeade wasn't that crowded in the movies.



Platform 9 3/4.  The conductor is talking to that little girl.

Filled with candy.  Expensive candy!

The Three Broomsticks.  This is where we had lunch.  And....

Butterbeer.

My friend Sierra and her family have a Harry Potter party every year.  At this party they make Butterbeer.  Their Butterbeer is better than the Butterbeer at Universal Studios.  This tasted like plain cream soda, but they put a butterscotch "cream" on top.  It's good!  Don't get me wrong.  It is very good.  I think I had four.  Just, Sierra's is better.

We took a lot of pictures of the line of the Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey ride, but a lot are super dark and it's hard to tell what you're looking at.  But this ride is super cool!  You go inside the castle, through the greenhouse, into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where Harry, Ron and Hermione appear from underneath the invisibility cloak and talk to you, past some talking and moving portraits, through Dumbledore's office, where Dumbledoor talks to you, past more talking portraits and then past the sorting hat where finally you get on the ride.

So here two pictures that DID turn out, somewhat:

The Phoenix outside of Dumbledore's office

The sorting hat



The line is entertaining, but the ride is awesome.  It is a motion simulation ride.  So, you're strapped in really well, and Hermione does a spell that makes you fly.  You go up and out the chimney, and you meet Harry and you follow him through the Hogwarts grounds.  It's really fun!  Then a dragon chases you, but you get away.  Then you're in a Quidditch match for a bit.  If you get motion sickness easily it's probably not for you.

Lance and I only waited in the long line once.  It is a must do, just to see all of the cool stuff.  The other four times we went on the ride we did single rider.  20 minute wait or 5 minute wait?  I dunno, tough call.

There are two other Harry Potter rides.  One is Flight of the Hippogriff.  It's a children's roller coaster.  Pretty tame.  The other ride is the Dragon Challenge.  Now that's a sweet ride.

Two rollercoasters go at the same time.  It's designed to make you feel like you are going to collide with the other roller coaster.  Riding in the front is a must do.  I loved it, especially at this part:

You see the other coaster coming straight at you, and then you do a back flip away from it.  Totally sweet!

Oh yeah, and in the line for the Dragon Challenge is Hagrid's Hut, and the flying car.



The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was awesome.  Definitely worth it.

The rest of Islands of Adventure was really fun. 

This is a ride similar to Splash Mountain, except, I like this ride better.  I got SOAKED!

Instead of falling down a slope, it SHOOTS you down the slope.

The Hulk

The Hulk is a fun ride, but again super spinny.  You know how most roller coasters slowly take you up to the peak, then drop you and let the thrills begin?  Well, the Hulk decided to switch it up.  It starts taking you up slowly, then outta nowhere it rocket launches you, before you even reach the peak at the beginning!  Way surprising.  I enjoyed it very much.

It was a great day, and I hope I have the opportunity to go again some day.