Valentine's Day

Confession: I've always hated Valentine's Day. Ok, not always but from the age of 16ish on I dreaded the holiday. I have to admit that I am horrible at getting gifts! Horrible. I think I know someone and then as soon as I have to do something planned and special, I have no idea what to do. So, I didn't hate Valentine's day because I was always single but because I always had to figure out something to do for a boy. Girls are supposed to be the romantic ones with creative ideas and boys are supposed to be the insensitive ones. And, I know Valentine's Day is more about guys showing their affection but I always felt like I should do something. And, at the age of 16, what says "I like you" but that's not too mushy or dumb? Even in college, I had no idea what to do for guys I dated. Anyway, I'm just glad I married the man I did and that I know him as well as I do and that he is totally happy with me getting him brown licorice and handwriting a card. Because honestly, between him and I, I'm not the romantic one. At least, not the planned romantic one. :) Our Valentines Day consisted of me feeling sick and him sleeping. Although, he was sweet enough to wake up early and take me to a late dinner at Carinos where I could get salad(another blessed food) and some tortelloni. Thankfully, my love of italian food hasn't totally gone away during pregnancy. I thought it was sweet of him to get up early because he'd only slept a couple hours sunday night before work, then went to school the next day, then slept only 4 hrs. before going to dinner with me. And, he had work again that night and had school the next day so really he just went sleep deprived from Sunday-Tuesday afternoon. We also did a mini celebration on saturday since we knew there wouldn't be a lot of time on Monday. I'm not going to be all mushy on here because it's not really my style(as if I had one) but, I just have to say I'm glad I married the man I did and that I am soo totally comfortable around him and I know that no matter what dumb little gift idea I come up with, he'll be totally thrilled. And then he, of course, always thinks of something cute to do to make me feel special-not only on Valentine's Day but on any day of any old week.

On a non-valentine note: we just found out a few days ago that my dad has a tumor in his bladder. Yesterday they did surgery and removed part of the tumor(some was impossible to get) and took samples of tissues around it to see how aggressive the cancer is. He will mostly likely have more surgery next week to hopefully get more out. Or, if the cancer is super aggressive, to maybe have his whole bladder removed. I don't know. We find out more today...hopefully. Honestly, my dad is an amazing man. He's always been a rock in the family and in the church. Between my mom and my dad, I've had two great examples. I think the two of them have been thru more trials in their lives then most and because of their attitudes, the trials have always made us stronger as a family. And, they've been great examples to me of what love is. So, as I'm typing this, my mom is living at the hospital doing anything she can for my dad because she loves him so much and my dad is being incredibly strong because he knows that things always work out how they should. He never doubts or wavers from that knowledge. I know trials are hard, but it's always a blessing to see just how deep my parent's love for each other goes as they try to support each other thru things.

Dear Morning Sickness,

I knew your absence was too good to last. Time to go stock my fridge with fruit again...

Next time, I'm going to adopt.

It's a miracle!

Finally! My last post was all about me feeling sorry for myself but I can happily say a miracle happened. The morning sickness just went away! A couple days ago I was feeling crappy, thinking there was no way I could put up with feeling the same way for the next 5ish months and then all of the sudden that night, it went away. Weird, but I am soo glad. My lack of food was getting to me and I found myself crying all the time over nothing and then suddenly, I was as happy as could be. I hope it stays this way. I also have some more good news. We found out we're having a boy! I have to be honest...I've been hoping for a girl ever since Jon and I got married. I always thought my first baby would be a girl and I was super set on that until Christmas. Up until Christmas, it didn't even cross my mind that we would be having anything but a girl since that's what I wanted so badly, but...things never happen how we plan. I think the Lord knew I needed a little time to change my mind set so I was pretty much hit on the head in December that my little girl dream wasn't going to happen. So, when we saw the ultrasound today, I wasn't the least bit surprised when the doctor said it was a boy. And honestly, I couldn't have been happier as we watched our little boy rub his eyes and scratch his head on the ultrasound. I'm just happy that the baby seems perfectly healthy and will join us sometime in the middle of July.

Update

I believe fruit is one of the greatest things ever created. Without it, I think I would starve to death, as well as my baby. If anyone knows the cure to morning sickness, please tell me. I've already tried saltines, peppermint, B6, Unisom, sour patch kids, not taking prenatals, taking prenatals and ginger. I think my next move is acupuncture. Not really because I really hate needles with a passion and while it's nice to lose 25 pounds(a goal I wanted to accomplish last summer), I don't think it's preferable while pregnant. So, at the moment I can say I've never been more grateful for oranges, grapefruit, bananas and strawberries than I am right now. But, just like everything else, I know their moment will pass and I'll have to find a new food my stomach can handle. If anyone can tell me where to get fresh cherries, I'll love you. This weekend was an ultimate high with my normal amount of nausea, plus a sore throat, the flu, stuffy nose, puking, you name it. I just have to say I'm super grateful I married the man I did. He ran to the store to get juice since that's all I really could stomache, made tea, gave me massages, scratched my back, watched Psych with me...you name it. All while he was sick with a cold. I think I'll call him Superman from now on.

On the upside, Jon is doing great in his classes. He's still working 36ish hours a week while going to school full time but the classes are timed better and 1/2 of them are online so he's actually getting an ok amount of sleep. This means his full brain capacity is working in class and once again, he's a math and computer whiz trying to explain concepts to me that I know I will never comprehend. I try to look like I know what's he's talking about when he's throwing out words like array, vector, limits, etc. but really nothing is even slightly connecting in my brain. I'm just glad he's smart and I can just practice my music or something. Hopefully our kids will have a chance.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everybody! I haven't updated the blog for awhile but I have an excuse. I've been unbelievable tired lately and haven't really done much of anything. I feel like a slacker in every aspect of my life from work to doing the laundry and dishes. Honestly, even the thought of making grilled cheese sandwiches wears me out and makes me want to puke. I know, lovely image right? Well, here's the reason why...




Yes. We're getting...another puppy! Just kidding. Dumb joke. Anyway, I know you can't really read that strip but it confirms that there is a little person inside of me.That little baby has felt like a parasite for the last 12 weeks and I feel bad that I haven't been more thoroughly enjoying the pregnancy process. We've seen the heart beat which is a step up from the last couple times and we're praying everything works out. I feel horrible, which I didn't before, so I'm taking that as a good sign although I'm hoping that will go away soon. I guess the good side of feeling sick 24/7 is that you lose weight. I'm thinking by the time I'm about due, I'll be back up to my pre-pregnancy weight. Anyway, the baby is due in July and we're super excited. Hence, our over enthusiastic faces in the picture.

Overview of 2010:

I felt like this year was hard but also rewarding. Hard in the fact that I(and Jon but I show it more) had to learn patience and be reminded that things will happen in their own due time, when it's right. I won't go into detail but we were reminded of that numerous times. I got to see how selfish I am and how unselfish my husband is. During school, he took around 16 credits a semester and still kept up 36-40 hours at Broulims working the night shift. Even with him feeling like a zombie, he still made time to hang out with me and go on a date once in awhile. And, we saw family members struggle and go about as low as a person can. It's hard seeing them struggle and it's hard feeling powerless. But, on the upside, we had a lot of good things. Jon and I learned we're pretty good at supporting each other in hard times, which is good to know. It's good to know that I can cry and be moody and not make dinner for a few months and still have my husband tell me he couldn't live without me. We're grateful family is there to invite us to dinner since I've given up trying to make it. We got to travel to Pittsburgh to see Aubree and Mike, which was a great experience. And, we got to see a heartbeat, besides my own, inside of me. And we got to see the little arms and legs moving and little fingers that are already developed. The process of human life is...amazing. Anyway, we're excited and maybe a little bit scared for 2011. Hopefully it will bring a lot of changes.

A little drive

A couple days ago, Jon and I decided to go for a drive. We hadn't planned anywhere in particular but we ended up going towards Mesa Falls. We didn't have a lot of time and the roads were closed anyway so we didn't make it all the way to Mesa Falls but it was nice to just go. Here's a picture from our mini adventure:



Too bad these roads made me soo car sick or it would have been even more enjoyable. I might add some more pictures later but it took me forever to download just one so that's all there is for now.

Victory

So, 2 months and 12ish pounds later, I've won the competition against my sister-in-law. We had an agreement that we had to put $1 in the "pot" for everyday we missed working out. Whoever missed the least amount of days, wins. It's hard for me to work out 5 days a week but the determined/stubborn side of me comes out when I'm in a competition I know I can win. I don't think anyone has beaten my stubborness. It's a quality that Jon finds endearing and extremely frustrating. At least I think he finds it endearing...frustrating for sure. It's sad that now that the competition is gone, my willpower goes drastically down. However, it's still a goal of mine to work out 3-4 days a week and now I know that the only thing that really works for me is running and lifting weights. And eating healthier, of course. I hate running but I love lifting weights so at least I can look forward to that when I go to the gym. Thank goodness BYUI gives spouse I-Cards. I also noticed how sad it is when I barely recognize 12 pounds gone. When I was in high school that would have been a huge deal but now it just means my "fat pants" aren't tight anymore.

Snow!

Guess what? It snowed! Everyone is cursing it and I'm loving it. Is it too early to play Christmas music?

So, I'm super excited about these next pictures. Preface: Derek got a little schnauzer last year(Jasper, who now lives with my parents) and he bought him a little sweater because it was winter and cold outside. When we got Abby, Derek gave us the sweater in case we wanted to use it. We found a different one for Abby but we still kept the sweater. Now Abby has a little boy puppy and I randomly found Jasper's sweater and decided to see how it looked on him. I know, I'm ridiculous. It's just a dog for heaven's sake. In my defense, I think a lot of married couples start treating their dog like a child when they don't have their own children right off the bat. I know we're not the only ones. Anyway, the sweater is too big but he looked soo cute I could barely stand it. I was oddly giddy about it which is weird...and rare. Jon would probably like me to mention that most of this stuff isn't his idea. He is super wonderful with Abby but I'm the one that takes a million pictures and dresses them up.




Isn't he cute?




He's gotten quite a bit bigger since I last posted pictures of him



On a non-puppy note: I'm developing a love of cooking. Up until now, I was pretty good at putting anything in a tortilla shell. Burritos, tacos, quesadillas...you name it. Tortilla shells were more of a staple for me than milk. But, I know Jon likes more than fake Mexican food so I've been venturing out. Lately, I've been on an Italian kick. We found a few different Olive Garden recipes that are super good, and my latest find, were the Italian nachos from Carinos. If I do say so myself, they taste as good from my kitchen as from the restaurant's kitchen. It's sort of become an obsession with me. If I taste something I like from somewhere, I want to figure out what they put in it, and how they did it. I think I'm doing pretty well with the Italian and Mexican food but honestly the hardest thing for me to cook is plain old meat and potatoes. Potatoes are simple enough but for some reason I don't feel like steak is cooked enough unless it looks like shoe leather. Jon's nice enough to eat it and say it tastes great but I know it's no good. Anyway, my next recipes to perfect/figure out are: lasagna frittas(just tried them at Olive Garden tonight-terribly unhealthy but incredibly delicious), pumpkin cheesecake and black tie mousse. I think the cheesecake will be the hardest. Cheesecake out of a box is...fine but not what I'm looking for. I've tried other recipes from scratch and they've turned out horrible. So, if anyone knows of an amazing cheesecake recipe, let me know. One that's better than what you'd find at an average ward party. It's a phase. I'm sure I'll get out of it but until then, I think Jon's sort of enjoying the bigger diversity in our diets.

Another week down...

Update for this week:


Jon and I worked. I know, our life is soo exciting. Jennah(the other employee at Ferguson Music Company) was out of town for the last half so I worked a little more than usual. Here was my day: teach a lesson in the morning, since Jennah was gone-I had to reschedule students, work till 6, eat, go to a rehearsal or a concert till 10ish. Jon's day: Go to work for 9-10 hours starting a 11:45 PM, come home and sleep till I got off work. Then we both eat dinner together, then I run to a different rehearsal. I come home, go to sleep, he goes to work. I know...you're all jealous. I mean, how much more glamorous does it get? On top of that, I needed to get my exercise in(I'm having a competition that I'm determined to win with Jon's sister) which usually happened around 10:30 at night until Jon went to work. Bad thing is they weren't as productive as before because I've been unusually tired lately. But, we found that it's really nice family time to take a walk/run together with Abby. She loves it, we like it, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise.


The reason for the extra rehearsals this week was because I got to play backup for Collin Raye. Now you can all really be jealous. He's actually a really cool guy. And, surprisingly, pretty talented for a country singer. Can you tell I'm not normally a country fan? However, last night I sort of felt like a country rock star and I really enjoyed it. That puts my celebrity gigs up to two. David Archuleta and Collin Raye. I think I've found my new calling in life. Being a celebrity. Totally kidding, but it was fun. The only disappointing part was that I didn't get a picture with him. Two nights ago we had a rehearsal and he was walking around talking to everyone but of course, I didn't have my camera. Last night I had my camera but he ran off stage right after the show and I was too shy to run up to his dressing room to get a picture after the concert. Go figure. Next time.

Another nice thing this week was that we've been getting some super nice weather which was soo great. Honestly, I'm not a fall lover. I like the color of the leaves, Thanksgiving...that's it. It's sort of sad to me because I am a summer lover and fall tells me that my summer loving days are coming to an end. It's also not quite early enough for Christmas but cold enough that it can't be summer. Don't get me wrong, I sort of like Halloween(ok, I don't really) and I really love Thanksgiving but I just don't like the cold. If it's cold, I love snow. So picky aren't I? Anyway, I think I go through this end of summer depression starting every September-Thanksgiving and then Thanksgiving cheers me back up. I'm glad Jon puts up with my weird, crankyness. He loves fall. He loves walking outside in a jacket and having it slightly cool and seeing the leaves change color, and everything that comes with loving fall. I envy you all who feel that way.


On a more domestic note: our puppy is learning to walk. He's soo cute while he does it. He's making a lot of noises and he pretty much grunts or whines if he can't move in a way he wants to. He also is making this bird noise that I can't describe. I never get tired of it. Jon knows I'm obsessed with the little guy so he recorded a video of him trying to walk a couple days ago. It really is adorable. If we get rid of the puppy, I think I'm going to struggle with that one.

Well, this is my first super long post that doesn't have pictures. I've had long posts before but they've had lots of pictures. This is just me writing my thoughts. Sorry about that. Normally, I hate people to read what I write so I guess this is good getting me out of my comfort zone. Please don't judge my writing skills.