The Andersons

So S.A.D.

2012-01-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

It happens to me every year. Right around mid-to-late January I get an itch to be somewhere warm, on a beach, in a swimsuit. I begin hating Utah weather (even though this year has been really quite mild!) and I get sad that I'm not rich and famous and don't own my own private island near Bermuda.

I've said it for years. My friends, I'm a SAD sufferer.

I certainly don't help my Seasonal Affective Disorder by lusting after trips to Mexico and the Bahamas on Travelocity. I don't know why it happens, but I just really need a vacation to someplace WARM and SUNNY. If I were a millionaire, I'd spend a good chunk of my winter on a warm beach sipping some sort of delicious frozen beverage.

But, alas, I am here and I am certainly not a millionaire.

So begins my quest to find a "staycation" that fulfills my needs. It also needs to be nearly free, ha ha. I have a feeling that I will just need to tough it out until the hot summer months come to Utah and keep away from travel websites.

What do you do to fight the winter blues?

My Top Baby Items

2012-01-17T15:28:00.002-07:00

I've had several friends ask me, "what are the must-have baby items I should get before my baby comes?" I never know what to say to them so I compiled a list of things that helped Tony and I survive the beginnings of parenthood.

#1 - Summer Over-sized Muslin Swaddle Blankets
We had registered for the velcro "burrito wrap" blankets (the ones that look eerily similar to straight jackets) and naturally, Audrey hated them. My lovely friends and family bought a ton of them for me and I used one...once. My cousin told me about this and while they seem a bit pricey ($24 for a 3 pack) they are worth EVERY penny, especially if you have a summer baby. They are huge blankets so they can be used for covering up while nursing, playing on the floor, covering your carrier seat, etc. They wrap snugly around baby and Audrey rarely broke free from them when she was a newborn. Because they are so thin and made of muslin, a breathable material, I was still able to dress in her in footed pajamas and swaddle her without making her too warm. They were also perfect for covering her up when we'd go out in July/August when the summer heat was at its worst. These are one of my favorite baby items, and I'll surely use them again for future babes.

#2 - Fisher Price Soothe and Glow Seahorse

I got this for Audrey just a couple weeks after she was born and it was a heaven-send. The successor to the Glo Worm, this adorable little sea horse helped lull Audrey to sleep on a nightly basis. When she would wake up for feedings I had a hard time getting her back to sleep because she wanted to play, and once I turned the seahorse on she would always drift back to dreamland without any problem. It's soft, cuddly, super cute, and Audrey still loves her seahorse. She still sleeps with it and she even knows how to turn it on by herself now. The only downside to this toy is that I played it so much during the night while she slept in our room that sometimes if I listen very carefully I can hear it's lullabies quietly in the distance somewhere. Perhaps I should get that checked out.

#3 - The Happiest Baby on the Block

This book saved us from going completely insane during Audrey's "fussy time." My pediatrician recommended this book to us during our prenatal classes. I didn't end up getting it until Audrey was about a month old and I wish I would have gotten it sooner. Dr. Karp's 5 S's are nothing short of miraculous. They worked every. single. time. It helped me understand baby's crying more and helped me learn how to cope with it better. I recommend this book to EVERY new momma I meet.

#4 Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Bottles

I don't even know how many bottles we went through before we found one that Audrey could take easily. We started with Playtex Drop-Ins and she liked them for a few weeks. She is exclusively breast fed so she didn't have bottles often, mostly when she was with a sitter or when I was gone for long periods of time. These bottles have a very wide nipple so it is closer to the shape of a breast, and the material the nipple is made of is very flexible so it feels more like breastfeeding to the baby. They aren't the cheapest bottles, but Audrey loves them and drinks from them like a champ. I love these bottles but I don't love the fact that they are only available online or at Babies R Us. Hopefully they will start expanding where they sell them!

#5 - "Lovey Bunny"

Lovey Bunny is what we call Audrey's little security blanket with a head. She can't sleep anywhere without Lovey Bunny and she snuggles it every night. It is so soft and she just loves it. I'm not sure what will happen if she ever loses this thing. It's not sold in stores anymore.

I think everybody needs a lovey :)

I know there are more than five things that we feel are necessities but these are my top items. Now, hopefully when my friends ask me what one thing they should get for a baby I can remember writing it all down and let them know instead of sounding like I've never had a baby. :)

Maybe some googler will stumble across this and it can help them as they prepare for a baby, as well. (Hi googler!)

Mushy Gushy Mama

2012-01-12T14:12:00.001-07:00

Audrey has been a rough sleeper lately due to teething. My sleeping champion quickly went from sleeping 10 hours straight to staying up until midnight and waking up every few hours, making for a very tired mama. Last night she did a bit better, but I'm still trying to catch up on sleep from the night before when I fell asleep at 6:30 AM.

She woke up quite chipper at 8am and it took everything inside me to lug my body out of my warm bed and tend to her. I fed her and hoped that she would fall back to sleep in bed with me like she sometimes does. Nah. Audrey was ready to play! Sometimes I wonder if she somehow sneaks sugar before I wake up. She is always bouncing off the walls and I am dead tired. So, we stayed up and I was ultra-grumpy about it. Judge all you want, but sleep deprivation brings out the worst in all of us.

Around 11 Audrey was getting a little antsy and whiney and she had been fed and was clean so we did what anyone would do...we went to Target. I always try to go out once a day with Audrey so I don't lose my mind. We just look around, Audrey likes to check out all of the other little kids, and we generally have a good time.

Audrey seemed thrilled to get in the car and go somewhere with me. She loves sitting in the shopping cart so she immediately began dancing once I put her in. I got a soft pretzel and shared a bite with her, which she seemed thankful for. She drank from the water bottle all by herself, and asked me for more to drink. (She technically did the sign for "milk" but I knew what she meant.) She gabbed away the whole time, giggling and smiling at everyone she met. When it was time to go and I picked her up from the cart seat she put her head on my shoulder and laughed, almost as if she was thanking me for the awesome time we had at Target.

I know it seems really simple and sounds like an every day occurrence, but it was special today. It was a day I want to always remember. We had fun together and she's just growing up too darn fast. I wanted to push the pause button that moment she "hugged" me. It was really nice to see that she really loves just being with me and it made me regret being such a grump. She's totally worth the bags and dark circles under my eyes and never ending "get ready quick" ponytails I sport. She's my pal and I love her!

She's just settled into a nap so I think I'm going to go SLEEP.

Sunday at the Park

2012-01-01T15:32:00.004-07:00

Right before Audrey was born we made a wonderful discovery. There is a cute little park right in our neighborhood! There are a few townhouses by us and the park is a part of that "complex" but we have gone a couple times. The first time Audrey didn't love it (she was only 4 months), but this time it was a little more fun for her. I probably had the most fun taking pictures :)

Having fun in the swing

She was thrilled to be there, can you tell? :)

This was the "big slide" and she looked a bit nervous to be at the top.

She survived!

Swinging with mom, sticking her tongue out at dad.

I can't wait until it warms up and we can go to the park more often!

Grateful at Christmas Time

2011-12-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

Since my trip to Bulgaria, Christmas time has always gotten me a little teary-eyed thinking of those less fortunate than me. I have had a lot of experience dealing with children who had nothing. My time working at the mother's drug rehabilitation center introduced me to children who, at times, had no one in their life to give them a hug but the staff. Their mothers were undergoing intense counseling sessions in order to prove to the court system that they should regain custody of their children after losing them for drug/alcohol abuse. It was often a sad situation and my heart broke every day for the kids. Of course, my volunteer work in Bulgaria showed me a world I had never seen before. Most of the children I saw weren't actually orphans, but children whose parents couldn't care for them, so they were abandoned. I was so happy that even though these kids didn't have much, they still loved Christmas and getting into the spirit of the holiday.

I've been reading lots of stories on blogs about the kindness people show at Christmas and read one in particular about a woman receiving a Target gift card from a stranger allowing her to buy toilet paper and a ball for her son for Christmas. When I read this story I cried like a baby. I could blame it on hormones, but I really think it is because the children I have been in contact with over the years--and now Audrey--have given me a new perspective of Christmas and what it is all about. There are so many people who struggle to provide their families with things as simple as toilet paper and here I sit in my house with tons of presents under the tree for my 6-month-old who won't care much about Christmas this year and won't remember a bit of it.

I don't want to turn Christmas into a big guilt-trip, but I like to use my experiences as reminders to myself that there is more to the holidays than gifts, and to remember how incredibly lucky I am to have the life I do. I am so excited for Audrey to experience her first Christmas. It's so fun for us as parents to see her experience new things. I know she'll love the toys she's getting from her grandparents (and us, but we only got her one "toy", haha). We'll take lots of pictures and give her extra snuggles on Tony's day off. I'm so excited!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday celebrations with family and friends! Be safe! :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa,

and a Happy New Year

to all of my lovely friends and family!

Ready to Rock

2011-12-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

Today we got a package from my grandma with Christmas gifts for all of us. My grandma has always been the one to get "the hot toy of the season" and has no problem spending whatever she has to to get it for her grand kids (and now great-grand kids). She asked me what Audrey liked as far as toys go and I told her the usual stuff, books, stuffed animals, and I also mentioned that Audrey loves music.

Here's what Audrey got for Christmas:

A "Let's Rock Elmo" complete with the add-on interactive instruments pictured. We have all of the working parts to start our own family Sesame Street-themed band.

Tony and I snuck and played with Elmo while Audrey was napping to see what he was all about. Audrey is going to love him! I think I'll love him for a while...until Audrey learns how to turn him on. Elmo isn't a very lyrical singer. He gets kind of shouty and I could see him wearing on me after a long day, ha ha. I'm really excited for Audrey to see him on Christmas. She always perks up when she hears this toy go off in the store. (It's displayed in Target and kids constantly turn it on).

Don't be surprised if you see our music video on MTV in the near future. ;)

Mini Grinch?

2011-12-07T23:20:00.001-07:00

Audrey loves our Christmas tree. It's been great for me because I can put her blanket by the floor and she'll contently sit and look at the lights and ornaments while I do dishes or tidy up. Tonight I put her by the tree to look and went to do some dishes. All was going well and I suddenly heard a crash. I ran over to investigate the situation but couldn't see anything broken. The tree was fine! I then looked over the railing and saw this:

Audrey scooted her little self over to the tree, snatched an ornament, and chucked it over the railing sending it crashing down to the entry way (I assume). I had her on her tummy and she must have figured out how to move!! I guess we better start baby proofing??

Feeling Lazy

2011-12-01T16:09:00.001-07:00

I was never one to keep my house spotless. There has always been clutter here and there. However, since Audrey came around my house is kind of a disaster zone. I get everything all picked up and then it seems like 3 hours later there are dirty clothes all over the floor, bibs in the kitchen, dishes in the sink, spit up on the carpet and couch, sweet potatoes on the walls, and it goes on and on. It's really hard for me to keep up with things how I'd like. I stay at home with Audrey so it seems like there would be plenty of time for me to tidy up, but I realized today that even though I don't have a job, I'm a very busy lady.

Audrey is SO much fun now. You can see her learn things and absorb everything we say to her. She's getting more mobile and has more control over her motor skills and it's prime time for teaching her new things. When Audrey is awake I try my hardest to create learning situations. I take her around the house and tell her what things are, or we go to the store and look at fun things. (I'm sure I've gotten some funny looks as I talk to Audrey while we browse the canned vegetable aisle!) We work on rolling, crawling, and standing up. I keep busy with Audrey during her waking hours and when she goes down for a nap, I need some grown up, momma time. During this time where I could probably get lots of cleaning done, I plop on the couch and just sit quietly by myself and play on my computer or watch TV. It used to make me feel lazy but I have to always tell myself that I need breaks, too. The house being messy is nowhere near as important as helping Audrey learn and grow, and that will always be a priority for me.

So, I WILL sit here and watch Ellen while I look at crafts on Pinterest I know I'll never make; and I'll feel darn good about the things I've done with Audrey today.

I hope all of you can take some lazy moments to recharge your batteries!

My Little Shopper

2011-11-22T15:25:00.001-07:00

Today Audrey and I were finishing up our pre-trip errands and I had to stop by Babies R Us (because I could not find those disposable bibs anywhere!!). I was browsing the aisles and Audrey was sitting in her stroller. I didn't buckle her in because we were going to be really quick and thought she'd be fine without it this time. After I was done looking at the "feeding" aisle, I hustled over to the diapers to find the disposable bibs. I looked down at Audrey when I got there and saw her gnawing on this little beauty:

I did not give her this cup. I could not figure out how she got it. I went back over to the "feeding" aisle and realized that these little guys were at a perfect level for Audrey to grab if she leaned over in her stroller. Apparently she realized this as well, because she plucked it right off the shelf and started chewing on it, making it so I had to buy the thing. Luckily it is a stage 1 sippy cup and she's starting to use those. It's also Tommee Tippee brand, which I love. It's the only bottle Audrey will take easily. Upon closer examination I learned the name of this sippy cup (The Explora) and it makes me laugh because it makes me think of this:

Jokes.com

Brian Regan - Dora the Explorer

comedians.comedycentral.com

Brian Regan

Comedian

Stand-Up

I guess I'm going to have to keep an eye on Audrey while we shop so I can avoid a lot of extra, un-planned expenses! :)

Finding Nemo

2011-11-20T15:48:00.001-07:00

We took Audrey to the aquarium this weekend. We knew she wouldn't totally appreciate it, we just wanted to do something "date"ish. Turns out Audrey was quite fascinated with all of the little fishes. I don't have a picture of the penguins, but Audrey loved watching them jump in and out of the water, and even talked to them a bit :). It was a fun little outing and pretty inexpensive. We want to go back in January when the Otters arrive!

She was digging the brightly colored fish, but she had to make sure mom wasn't going anywhere.

Sting rays!

Amazing anaconda

I can't believe she actually smiled for this picture!!

Fabulous Food

2011-11-15T13:13:00.001-07:00

We've been slowly but surely introducing Audrey to solid foods. She's very interested in food, especially if it's something Tony and I are eating. I haven't been too aggressive with giving her solids because I know she doesn't need them for nutrition quite yet. Plus, to be honest, it's kind of messy :)

Her first food we tried was oatmeal. Not a hit. Next, we tried bananas and oatmeal and she loved it.

Then, plain bananas. This is hands-down her favorite food.

If we have a pretty ripe banana, she just chews on it. We know that since its pretty mushy it probably won't choke her. She gets so excited to when she sees bananas. She's our little monkey!

I wanted her to try some unique foods and heard that avocados were terrific foods to give to babies because of their good fats. She gagged when I fed her avocados.

We then tried butternut squash, which she tolerates but I think she'd still prefer bananas.

We took a break from new foods until last night. I made her some peas. It didn't go over well.

So, squash and bananas it is for now! I usually like to eat a banana for breakfast and if Audrey happens to see it, she goes nuts trying to get it from me. Hopefully we can broaden her palate in the upcoming months.

The Dangers of Spinning

2011-11-14T13:19:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been trying to get my exercise on to lose some of the lingering baby weight I'm sporting. I've been running a bit and taking walks with Audrey. Each Saturday I like to go to the gym and attend a fitness class to get some "alone time" and workout while I'm at it. I'm usually a Zumba girl, but this week I decided to try something new: Spinning. Spinning is basically riding a stationary bike like a complete lunatic for 45 minutes. They do it a lot on Biggest Loser and I was convinced that it would burn loads of calories, so I decided to give it a go. I convinced my poor friend Cami to tag along, and she was a good sport waking up at 8am to go to Spin class with me.

Let me say that I'm sure Spinning DOES torch fat and calories. But after giving it a second try, I hate it. Not only is it BO-RING, but that stupid little seat, er, sorry, "SADDLE" is big enough for maybe a 100lb girl to perch her little boney bottom upon comfortably. After 40 minutes of Spin class and sitting on that tiny seat, I feel like I did right after birthing a child. The teacher attempted to offer comforting words: "after 3 or 4 times, you won't get numb anymore." Sorry, babe, 3 or 4 times is 3 or 4 times too many for this girl. Never again do I want to feel the after-pains of childbirth without actually having a baby. I couldn't sit all day after that class... and I rather enjoy sitting. It's been two days and my poor bottom is still feeling sore.

I don't want to completely rip on Spinning. Some people love it! Plus, it wasn't completely horrible. The goober guy trying his best to flirt with the teacher was highly entertaining. But, calorie burn or not, I'm never going back. Ouch.

Throwing Fits

2011-11-06T23:01:00.002-07:00

(Lucky you! Double posts today!)

Audrey has seemed to learn a new trick. It's a trick that I don't really enjoy, and one I'm trying to discourage. I didn't think I'd have to deal with it this early, but my little Audrey has started throwing fits. I knew she was a drama mama but I guess I underestimated my little girl.

The first fit was completely 100% my fault. We were at a grocery store and walking down the baby aisle. Audrey was in her sling and was reaching for a toy. I thought it was pretty cute she was reaching for it that I grabbed it and handed it to her. I was excited about the thought of it keeping her occupied until we left. Well, as I wrapped up my shopping, I made my way back to the toy aisle to return Audrey's distraction device. I pulled it from her tiny hands and she immediately began screaming. It never occurred to me that she's not used to getting stuff taken away from her but I thought she'd forget about it and stop crying before we got to the checkout. Oh. No. No way. She screamed and cried and arched her back and threw her head around in protest. She wanted that stinkin' toy! I left the store as quickly as I could, embarrassed as ever. Lesson learned - always give her a toy from home.

The second fit happened just this weekend. She's been sitting up with help quite well and HATES her carrier seat so I've been trying to give her opportunities to travel without it. (Sitting in the stroller like a "big girl", carrying her in the Bjorn, etc.) Well I thought I'd try the seat of the shopping cart to see how she liked it. She L-O-V-E-D it. She smiled the entire time we were at the store and she sat up quite well with the seat belt's help. I plan to get one of those shopping cart covers that has the harness on it so she can sit in it better. Well, naturally we weren't going to stay at the store all day so we made our way to the car. The minute I unbuckled that seat belt she looked up at me with a pout. She knew her fun was over. I picked her up and she started squirming, crying, arching her back, and trying her best to avoid her car seat. She did not want to get out of the super fun shopping cart. I drove all the way home listening to Audrey tell me all about how mean I was to end her fun at the store. :)

I'm not sure where Audrey got her 'tude, but I'm so not digging it, man. She's such a happy girl but she'll turn on you quick!

*In an attempt to save this from being a "diss Audrey" post, I'll share a cute little thing she did at the store.*
I was looking for an umbrella stroller at Babies R Us, and Audrey was sitting "big girl style" in her stroller playing with her toy (that I brought from home!!). I was browsing the selection and suddenly hear her "talking." This usually involves a lot of "ah ah ah ah ah"s. I assumed she was talking to me and turned to her to answer and noticed that she had noticed a little boy sitting in his stroller, too. She was talking to him! He responded and after that Audrey wouldn't let him get a word in edge-wise. She talked over him the entire time. His mom and I were laughing so hard at these two just jabbering away at each other in their strollers. They were about the same age and seemed to be having a most engaging conversation! I think Audrey is slowly overcoming her shyness. :)

Making a Comeback!

2011-11-06T22:47:00.002-07:00

I am attempting to get back into running shape and to help me do so, I've committed myself to running the Canyonlands Half Marathon this coming March. I decided this several months ago but somehow my training ended up being sitting on my butt all day. Realizing it was November, I panicked to get a training schedule in order and am happy to report that this weekend I started! By March (according to my little schedule) I will be running over 13 miles and conquer my Half. I got some spiffy pink running shoes, specially made for people with flat feet like mine, and lots of running gear for my birthday so I am ready to go! I remember when doing a 5-mile run seemed like cake, now I'm lucky to go for 2! I'm trying not to focus on what I used to be able to do. Having a baby sure messes up yer innards and makes running kind of difficult. I'll just keep my head up and think positive thoughts!

We won't talk about how incredibly sore I already am from my first 30 minute run....

The Little Things

2011-11-02T21:37:00.001-06:00

I am behind with Audrey's baby book, so I will most likely refer to my blog to catch up to the current day. I just wanted to document one of the sweetest moments I've had with Audrey. It's small, but my heart is still swelling with love because of it.

Audrey went to bed very early tonight, about an hour before her typical bed time. I was fine with it because it gave me more time to do some things. I knew she'd be up around 9pm to eat since she went to bed so early, and right at 9pm she started making noise. (She's started making raspberry noises to get our attention instead of crying.) I went in and fed her in the dark so as not to fully wake her. As she finished eating I picked her up and held her for a bit. My sleepy little angel rested her head on my shoulder, grabbed onto my shirt, and let out a content sigh as we snuggled. She's been struggling with going to bed lately and this instance just made me feel like everything is going to be okay. After I held her for a bit and took in my snuggle I put her in her crib, gave her her lovey, and off she went to dreamland. It was such a peaceful moment and something I needed after several nights of taking two hours to calm her down for bed.

I think I'll keep her ;)

Halloween - New Parent Style

2011-11-01T11:47:00.002-06:00

When people say "a baby changes everything," they are right! I wouldn't say I've gotten lazier--although sometimes I feel that's the case--I've just re-prioritized based on Audrey's needs and capabilities. This year's Halloween was greatly affected by my new mom role. I wasn't as "festive" as I usually get at Halloween, but I got to do new things that I never have thanks to sweet little Audrey.

Here are some examples of how my Halloween was different this year:

I bought a pumpkin at the last possible minute on Saturday, mere hours before our Murder Mystery party. Even though I snagged one in time to put it out for decoration for the party, it was forgotten and spent the night in my truck.
Related to above point...I bought A pumpkin. Only one! Usually we buy at least two. Last year we bought three! One for Tony, one for me, and one for baby fetus (at the time), ha ha !
Our poor pumpkin remained faceless this Halloween. First year in my life I haven't carved a pumpkin. Instead, he donned a wig and fedora. Very Michael Jackson-ish. :)
We went Trick-or-Treating! We've never done this as a married couple because we never had anyone to take. While we didn't take any candy for Audrey, we helped Candace get a good loot of goodies. Audrey loved all of the kids and did a stellar job of being happy so close to her bedtime. It was so fun to be out with all the kiddos again and I can't wait until next year when Audrey is a little more into it.
Because we went out, we weren't around to pass out candy. I didn't really care too much about this. We left out a bowl out and there were actually some left when we got home. Of course it was all of the gross candy, but I was still impressed.
I went to the mall to check out the Trick-or-Treating there. Lots of little kids were dressed up and very interested in baby Audrey. She squealed and giggled with delight at all of the little monsters, princesses, and dragons. It was fun to see her so happy.
My friend Cami (who also just had a baby) took us to Gardner Village for the Witch/Halloween festivities. I had never been there and it was so fun! It was quite the adventure getting there with two crying babies but once we got there all four of us had an enjoyable time. Thanks Cami for showing us how to get there and enduring Audrey's meltdown!

So, there you have it. Audrey sure has changed a lot, but I love her! I joke around a lot about her being difficult, but I wouldn't change anything about her. I can't imagine life without her! (Heck, I get sad when she goes to bed at night because I miss her so much. I have to check on her at least three times before going to bed.)

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Murder in Little Italy

2011-10-30T13:33:00.000-06:00

Tony and I ended up starting a fun tradition with our friends a couple years ago by throwing a murder mystery party. We've done one every year for the past three years and they're always a lot of fun. This year the murder was set in New York's Little Italy so we got to eat lots of pasta and bread :). Everyone really did an awesome job with their costumes and acting. The story was so funny and people did such a fantastic job acting that some of us were laughing to the point of tears. Thanks for another great year, friends!

The Characters:

Mama Rosa and Tara Misu

Bo Jalais, the Frenchman

Angel Roni, Mama Rosa and Pepi's (the dead guy) daughter

Marco Roni, Angel's brother and Rosa and Pepi's son - he "just wants to play football [soccer]!"

Rocco Scarfazzi, Pepi's twin brother

Since Father Al Fredo (Tony) was taking the pictures, he unfortunately isn't pictured here. Clair Voyant (me) was cooking, so I missed the photo opportunities.

The only picture of me from the party, haha.

The Diaper Fairy

2011-10-14T20:58:00.000-06:00

I recently stumbled upon the most wonderful thing for busy moms -- Amazon Mom! It's a section of Amazon.com that is obviously geared toward mommies and the baby stuff they need. They have everything, even diapers and wipes! I feel like we are constantly running to the store for diapers, so I researched this Amazon Mom thing. You can sign up for "subscribe and save" and have diapers (and wipes, if you want!) DELIVERED to your house! Here's the kicker, they are CHEAPER including SHIPPING than getting them in the store. I compared prices from all of the grocery stores and big box stores like Target and Walmart, even Costco and Amazon mom is by far the best price especially since they bring them to you! They have almost any brand you could think of. For my diapers (Huggies), shipping was free. I don't know if that's the case for everyone/every brand. Today, the UPS man so kindly placed a huge box of diapers on my porch, just as I was getting close to the end of my supply.

If you couldn't tell, I'm super stoked about this. I never have to worry about diapers again! As soon as I run out of my Costco wipes I'm going to order those as well. It's cheapest if you subscribe, and they just deduct the amount from your debit/credit card each month. It is so worth it for me! You can also change the frequency and size of the diapers as you please.

They also frequently have deals on other things like clothes, strollers, diaper bags, and right now they have Halloween costumes.

Yeah Amazon Mom!!

Some Emotions Regarding Cry It Out

2011-10-12T17:03:00.001-06:00

I've mentioned before that Audrey's pediatrician recommended we begin sleep training (crying it out) with Audrey. He showed me how she is "manipulating" me with her cries and that if we don't start now, we could have a very needy baby on our hands; one who is too dependent to fall asleep on her own. I agreed with him that Audrey knows how to get what she wants. She's learned that if she cries = mom comes to save her. I know that in our culture this isn't desirable, and if I want to have a normal life, I can't let her be so dependent on me. Right now she is peacefully napping in her swing and my tired self is wondering after such a hard past couple of nights, is this cry it out thing working? It's such a stressful process to sleep train this way, and if it isn't working...I want to stop immediately and try a different route. It's hard on my heart.

The first night we began sleep training, I followed exactly the doctor's orders. (We've since changed our method) He said to set her down sleepy, if she cries, let her do so for 2-4 minutes, go in and tell her "I love you but its time for sleep", and leave. Leave and don't go back in. I put on my big girl pants and did it. I didn't do it very gracefully, though. I sat outside Audrey's door while she cried and cried, and I cried and cried. My heart immediately went to Bulgaria and the orphanages I worked in. We saw children who were locked in their rooms all day to cry. No one would ever go in and lovingly pick them up and give them kisses. They just sat. Some of them were 30-something year olds who looked like they were 8 and couldn't speak because they were constantly in a crib with no interaction. As Audrey sobbed in her room, alone in the dark, I felt like I should go in there. Every baby deserves a mommy that will rescue them, pick them up, love them and kiss them when they are sad. I realize the benefits of teaching Audrey some independence, but at the same time I knew she just needed me. After an hour of listening to her cry, I ran in and rescued my baby. I held her close to my chest, wiped away both of our tears, and rocked her to sleep. That entire night I couldn't take my mind of the Bulgarian children we saw during our time there. Are they okay? Does anyone hear their cries? Can I go back and just pick them up and hold them again? With all of the controversy surrounding the "Cry it Out" approach, I felt like creating a situation similar to the children in Bulgaria was somehow cruel and unnecessary. I felt (and sometimes still feel) like I should just hold her all the time, show her how much love I have for her, and make sure she knows that she'll never be alone. Something that those Bulgarian kids will never know.

I know that Audrey crying it out in her room is not a comparable situation to the orphans, but I loved those kids dearly. If it weren't for them and the situations they presented to me, I don't think I'd be as good of a mother to Audrey. I wish that I could give them the love I try to give to Audrey every day.

The Vintage Pearl

2011-10-12T16:16:00.000-06:00

I have been looking around for "mother's jewelry" that isn't tacky and that I could wear everyday. Something that looked just like regular jewelry but a little more special. :) I found The Vintage Pearl and I love her stuff! She's giving away a necklace that I'd love to win, so I'm posting about her contest to get another entry! Wish me luck!!

http://www.thevintagepearl.com/blog/2011/10/golden-love-new-giving-one-away/#comment-47344

Four Months Down

2011-10-04T10:30:00.001-06:00

It is still so strange for me to say "she's four months old."

I'm being rather gushy today, because I realized that this week last year was when I found out I was pregnant. It seems like in a blink of an eye I went from freaking out about a little line on a pregnancy test to watching my sweet little girl sleep next to me on the couch. She's grown so much and every day she's acting older and smarter. I love watching her grow and develop but it's just flying by!

She had her four month check-up with the pediatrician yesterday. All is well, she's a perfectly healthy little girl. She's in the 80th percentile for every category and the doctor is pleased with her growth. It's amazing that the girl I had to almost buy preemie clothes for is now a chunk-tastic 15 pounds! She took her shots like a champ. She only really cried because the pokes scared her, I think.

The doctor said that we can start solids because Audrey is showing interest in them. She's done some pretty funny things trying to get at our food. One day she was sitting on my lap as I ate a muffin for breakfast, and suddenly she reached out, grabbed a chunk, and shoved it in her mouth. She seemed to enjoy it and it all happened so fast that I didn't know what to do but laugh. Tony's also give her a lick or two of pear. We have a pear tree in our yard and we've been eating pears like they're going out of style. She loved that pear! I wasn't at home, but Tony showed me pictures of my little miss piggy with pear juice and pear chunks running down her cheeks. (We are bad parents and let her taste food before 4 months. Shame, shame on us.) I gave her a tiny taste of baby oatmeal last night but she was ultra-grump and didn't seem to like it much. I'm not going to push solids with her, but we'll play around with them and test them out here and there. I've got pear baby food already made and so we'll probably stick to that and oatmeal for now since her nutrition still comes from milk.

The doctor also showed me yesterday how Audrey is beginning to learn to manipulate me with her cries. He wants me to start more aggressive sleep training with her. I'm fully aware that I'm wrapped around her little pudgy finger, thank you. We started letting her cry for a bit last night and it nearly killed me. My chest physically hurt to hear her cry for that long. I know its for everyone's benefit, but sometimes I feel like, "so what if she wants me to hold her? Soon she'll be 13 and want nothing to do with me!! Just let me hold her all the time!" You must admit, I have a good point. ;)

It's fun to see her grow and experience new things, but she's going faster than I can keep up! We love you Audrey Bear!

The Great Fig Adventure

2011-09-30T20:34:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Bountiful Baskets, I had the challenge of figuring out something to do with a basket of figs. To show you how familiar I was with figs...I thought they were tomatillos. Good thing I didn't try to make any Cafe Rio salad dressing with them! The only encounter with figs I'd ever had was eating Fig Newton cookies, which I'm sure is 100% "real" fig filling.

I scoured the internet to figure out what to do with these cute little figs and found a recipe for bacon-wrapped figs. I figured if I'm going to try something new and different, wrapping it in bacon is the way to go!

So, here's what I did:

My cute little figs!


Sliced in half. I think they look just beautiful on the inside! I never knew what figs looked like until now.

Slather some yummy goat cheese on top (the more the better in my opinion)

Cut bacon slices in half so they are short. The figs weren't big and cutting the bacon in half still allowed me to wrap it all the way around.

Broil for 5 minutes or until bacon is brown and crispy!

Man, were these delicious! I added a small dab of honey on top of each of mine which really made them yummy. I like that these could be dessert (use nuts instead of bacon) or an appetizer! I think its so fun that with Bountiful Baskets we are trying things we normally wouldn't get to. Figs are pretty darn expensive, but included in my basket they were a really good price.

Yay for trying new foods!

Spidey Senses

2011-09-27T22:30:00.003-06:00

Today Audrey woke up from her nap just shrieking like I've never heard before. Nothing I was doing was comforting her, and she wouldn't eat. She kept rubbing one side of her head against my chest as I held her and she kept grabbing her ear. My first thought was that she might have an ear infection, but she had no fever (I thought that was a main symptom). I knew something was wrong, I could just feel it in my gut. I can't explain it. I sent Tony a text saying that I was taking her to after hours care. He was home when I sent it and came in to help me assess the situation. As soon as Tony grabbed Audrey she was completely fine. She acted happy, and when he touched her ear she didn't flinch. (When I touched it she freaked out.)

I was pretty insistent that we go to the doctor but Tony was hesitant, probably thinking I was just being a nervous first-time mom. We ended up going at 8pm and come to find out, my mom instincts were right. DOUBLE ear infection. I'm not going to say that I'm *glad* Audrey is sick, but it's nice to be able to say that I'm not just a crazy first-time mom that panics at every whimper. I know a lot of people must think this about me, some have even told me they think I worry too much. I feel like I know my baby pretty well now, and I could tell that she wasn't comfortable. It's a good feeling.

Shopping Champion

2011-09-23T18:04:00.000-06:00

Before today Audrey had very few fall outfits. My mom sent about four the other day, but other than that, this girl was so not ready for the cooler weather that's coming our way. I saw a commercial for buy one, get one 75% EVERYTHING at Old Navy so I decided it was time to go shopping. I ended up going to the mall as well, and a lot of stores are having some amazing deals right now! I'm going to brag and show you what I got. :)

First stop, Old Navy:

This adorable sweater


4 long-sleeved body suits


Two pairs of pants

Old Navy total: $40!!

Next, Baby Gap. Usually I don't even set foot in this store because I get sad at how expensive the adorable clothes are. I only ventured in because I saw the "take an extra 40% off sale items" sign in the entrance.


Three cute shirts! I was really digging the patterns, apparently.

Baby Gap total (get ready for this): $12!

I ended my shopping spree at The Children's Place, another store I don't usually go in due to their high prices. They, too, were having an amazing "take an extra 40% off" sale, so I scored a few items there:

3 shirts

The Children's Place total: $18!

Needless to say, I am pretty stinkin' proud of myself. This girl is gonna be stylin' and I didn't have to pay a fortune for these high-end places (well, high-end to me at least). I saved over $100 with all of my sale deals. Then, to end the night, I found a killer deal on pizza for dinner! What a great day for shopping.

Growing Up

2011-09-21T12:03:00.000-06:00

Last night we moved Audrey to her own room. She had been sleeping in a bassinet by our bed since the day she was born, and I gotta be honest...I was sad. Tony kept saying that I'm going to be a basket case when Audrey goes to college, and he's right! I loved having her right there beside me for several reasons. Middle-of-the night feedings were easier (we don't have those anymore though), I could constantly check to see if she was breathing without getting up, and I just like being close to her. She did a fantastic job in her own room. She slept ten hours with only one feeding. It's nice to have her be so cooperative, but I missed her! Luckily she let me know everything was okay by greeting me this morning with a big, goofy grin.

I can't believe she'll be 4 months in a couple of weeks. This is going so fast!

With her trusty seahorse, she made it through the night! What a big girl.

Birthday Cake

2011-09-06T10:34:00.000-06:00

Today is Tony's birthday (Happy Birthday!!) but we celebrated with his family this weekend. They all came over and we had dinner and games and he opened lots of presents. I put my self in charge of the cake and the only request I got from Tony was chocolate. I wanted to get creative so I found a recipe for a giant Hostess cupcake birthday cake and went for it. It seemed so simple but it ended up being pretty intense. It just took forever! It was one of my finer birthday cakes, if I do say so. Tony was really pleased with it and we were both really excited to slice it up and see if it really looked like a Hostess cupcake.

Here's what it looked like!

I kind of cheated and didn't make the cake layers myself but the cream filling, chocolate frosting, and signature Hostess swirl on top were all made from scratch. That vanilla cream in the middle was so good I was eating it by itself as I baked! Tony and I were worried that having a big cream filling middle would be a bit over-powering but it wasn't at all. This was one of the best cakes I think I've ever made, and Tony loved it.

Happy Birthday, Tony!

Bountiful Basket

2011-09-03T10:11:00.001-06:00

This morning I headed to Vineyard Elementary to take part in my share of a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. I hadn't done it before, and Tony's mom recommended I try it. I was a bit late, but I got there in time to get my haul. I didn't know what to expect but man, was it worth it!

I forgot to take a picture before I put all of the food away (and I'm much too lazy to go get it back out) but here's what I got:

-this is all fresh food from gardens and restaurant suppliers-

2 bundles of spinach
1 head lettuce
4 tomatoes
4 peaches
2 of the biggest mangoes I've ever seen in my life
10-ish pears
10-ish adorable little plums
1 huge bunch of bananas
1 stalk celery
1 head cauliflower
15-20 yellow potatoes
1 bag of green grapes

All for 19 bucks!! And it's all fresh, too, which is important to me. I'm SO going back next week.

If you're interested, its way easy to sign up. In Utah contributions are taken from Monday morning at 10am to Tuesday evening at 8pm. I think hey also do the co-ops in Arizona, California, and other Western sates. You just pay online with a credit card, pick your location and time, and (this was the hard part for me) remember to go get your goodies on Saturday! You have to pay a first-time fee to pay for your basket that holds your produce, but after that you don't have to pay for the actual basket.

www.bountifulbaskets.org

It's fun because you never know whats going to be there when you show up. I'm excited to try to plan my meals around what I get in my basket each week.

Road Trip

2011-08-25T12:12:00.000-06:00

Last weekend Tony, Audrey, and I packed up our car and headed to St. George, Utah. We've been there several times before as a couple but this was our first attempt at a long car ride with Audrey. Tony's family recently bought a little vacation house in St. George and we love using it. This weekend Tony's family was also down there because his little sister Caity is starting school at Dixie State College. It was our anniversary so it was fun to "get away" and also have babysitters!

Audrey did so well on the way to St. George. If she had it her way, she would have slept the entire drive! We made sure to stop every 3 hours so she could eat (I had to force her to wake up and eat...so not like Audrey!) and stretch out a bit. She had fun looking around at this interesting little pizza place we went to in Fillmore. I don't know if we'll ever go back there again, but Audrey sure liked the people, the TV, and sitting with us at the table.

On Saturday, we had breakfast/brunch at this place called the Black Bear Diner. It was really yummy food and a really cute place. It reminded me of my Grandma, who owns a little trucker diner in Indianapolis. We then hit up the pool in the complex where the houses are. We didn't get many pictures, but Audrey was a little more "into" the pool this time. It was perfect for little kids. It started really shallow, like barley 1 foot deep, and then gradually got deeper. Tony and I could sit and just hold Audrey on our laps. She enjoyed watching the teenagers do back flips into the deep end and splashing her feet in the pool.

That night, Tony and I left Audrey with her grandparents and went out for our anniversary. We went to Outback, shopped around at the outlet mall, and saw Grease the musical at Tuacahn. It was a fun show with some really talented singers. I was a little disappointed at how much they changed the songs, though. Their attempts at making the show a little more "G" rated ruined some classic songs for me.

Sunday evening we left and made our drive back home. Audrey did really well again. We did have to stop for an extended period of time in Beaver for what we call the "Beaver Blowout." It gave me confidence that we can visit St. George several times a year as a little family with little problems from the backseat passenger. :)

Pool Hunny!

2011-08-13T21:28:00.001-06:00

Because Audrey loves bathtime so much, we thought we would take her in the pool! She was a bit hesitant, and was curious, but I think there's a special place in her heart for the bath.

Getting in, what does she think??

Tony showing her around the pool

She basically had fun :)

It was fun to see Audrey experience the water. I think when she's older she'll like the pool a little more. If anything, she looks stinkin' cute in her swimsuit!

Sweet Dreams

2011-08-06T23:19:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here blogging because I have some free time! Audrey is happily relaxing in her bed, and Tony and I are watching TV together. Our pediatrician, being impressed that Audrey was sleeping 5 hours in the night, suggested we start some simple sleep training. Basically, we have a bedtime routine which, for us, involves a nice swaddle, time in the rocking chair with some Disney songs performed by yours truly, and when her eyes begin to look sleepy we put her in her bed. Then I leave the room and wait outside the door. The doctor said if she cries to go in the first time so she knows she hasn't been abandoned, then after that let her cry it out.

The idea of letting Audrey cry it out made me a little sad but luckily for this momma Audrey is a champ and hasn't cried ONCE! When she gets drowsy, she willingly goes to her bed. I give her a little kiss, tell her I love her (usually she gives me a big toothless grin). Next thing I know, she's off to dream land. She's been sleeping longer since we started this (she's gone 7 hours two consecutive nights) and it makes me excited for the transition to her crib (she's currently sleeping in a bassinet in our room).

Tonight she kind of woke up a bit when I put her in her bassinet but she didn't make a peep when I left the room. I think she enjoyed the quiet :)

I'm so pumped about all of this!

Two Months Old!

2011-08-05T09:30:00.001-06:00

It's official, Audrey has taken over my blog! I keep trying to think of things besides Audrey to post about, but right now it's all about her!

She had her two-month appointment yesterday. I had been dreading this appointment since I scheduled it at the pediatrician because they begin vaccinations at two months. I had to be brave for my little girl! Well, I guess she isn't so "little." The doctor said she's the size of a 4 month old! She's in the 80th percentile for all of her measurements. She's a big, healthy baby. The doctor also said she was a really smart baby, which I'm sure he says to all of his patients ;). Because she's doing so well with weight gain, the doctor is having me switch to on-demand feeding instead of every two hours. I'm really excited about this. I feel like I'm going to get some of my day back!

"Little" Audrey weighed in at 12lbs 4oz and was 23 inches long.

Her shots were horrible. She LOVES being naked so spending 30 minutes in just her diaper at the doctor's office was heaven for her. She was laying on the table in her skivvies smiling and laughing until the nurse came in. Even after the oral dose she was smiling and laughing. I was hoping she would be one of those babies that doesn't notice shots, but she IS NOT. I don't blame her, either! Those needles are so long and they jam them so far into their poor little thighs. When the first needle went in Audrey looked up at me with a face that seemed to say, "what the heck, mom?!" When the nurse poked her with the second needle, she screamed bloody murder until she was red in the face. She had 3 total pokes, and was not happy about it. After the nurse left we snuggled a bit and she slept the whole way home. I felt so bad putting her through it but thinking about the benefits of vaccines and the pain she put me through to get to this world made me realize it was all okay :).

Last night she was so pitiful and was whimpering like a little puppy all night. I gave her a warm bath to help with the soreness, gave her some Tylenol, put her in some jammies and at 8pm, she and I fell asleep in our bed. She seems much better this morning, thank goodness! I just hate the fact that in two months we have to do this again!

Little Miss Audrey, 2 months old!

Side-by-Side

2011-07-10T15:39:00.001-06:00

Since Audrey started smiling, we've called her smile the "Harrison Ford smile" because she does this goofy crooked grin. What do you think?

I just think this is hilarious. :)

Bathtime!

2011-07-08T23:43:00.000-06:00

About a week after we brought Audrey home, we decided to try giving her her first bath. I was pretty nervous about it because all the babies I've ever known hate bath time. We got out our little book we got from the hospital on how to take care of babies and followed the instructions for bathing a newborn. (I know, we're kind of pathetic.)

Lucky for us, sweet little Audrey LOVES bath time! She completely relaxed and just enjoyed herself as we washed her up.

Luckily for me she still really enjoys bath time. She's starting to be able to smile and make cute "cooing" noises and does so throughout the entire bath time. I'm so lucky to have such a cooperative bather! :)

Audrey Rose

2011-06-09T09:37:00.001-06:00

I've finally got a minute (and the energy) to write out the "birth story" of Audrey. I know a lot of people have been waiting to hear about it, and I'll try to do my best to include all of the details everyone is wanting to know.

As I mentioned earlier in the blog, I was having high blood pressure issues and my doctor was getting concerned about my health. He decided to have me induced on Friday, June 3rd. We were on-call and just had to wait for a phone call from labor and delivery telling us when to come to the hospital to get things going. They called bright and early at 6:30am and told us to be there by 7:30. Since we knew when I would be going to the hospital we already had all of our things packed so it was a quick and easy morning for us. We got to the hospital, checked in, I got in my *lovely* gown, and after an examination they decided to start me on Pitocin. The doctor was concerned at my previous appointment that I would need Cerdivil to help ripen my cervix, but I had apparently made good process that week.

For a long time I was having contractions but didn't feel much at all. I was still making progress and the doctor eventually came in to break my water. That was not a very comfortable experience at all! The doctor asked how I was doing and told me, "contractions are going to get pretty mean from here on out." They kept asking if I wanted my epidural yet, but I didn't feel like I was in enough pain to have one. I wasn't really sure how bad things would get so I was trying to go as long as I could before asking for one. When I finally decided to give in and get it the nurse told me that the girl in the room next to me was getting hers and that it would be about 15 minutes. I was sure I could last that long. My contractions QUICKLY got harder and faster and I was crying in pain five minutes after asking for the pain meds. It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life and I hated that nothing I could do was making the pain easier. Tony was trying counter-pressure moves, I was trying to breathe well, but it just was too much for me. FINALLY the epidural came and all was well again in the world. After the medicine kicked in the nurse checked me and told me that I had labored to 8cm and 90% effaced on my own with no medication. No wonder it hurt! I was a little relieved that I wasn't just being a pansy, and proud of myself for going that long! The nurse told me if she had known I was that far along she would have given me the epidural first.

All the family took Tony to the cafeteria for lunch after I was feeling pretty good and right after I left the nurse checked me and said that I was nearly "complete" and told me to call Tony and tell him not to leave the hospital. The doctor didn't want me to start pushing because my body was doing well at pushing the baby down on its own. He didn't want to make me use all of my energy pushing when I didn't need to. On its own, my body pushed her past my pelvis and about an hour after I called Tony the nurse had me start pushing. The nurse kept saying how impressed she was with how well I did (I'm sure she says that to everyone). I pushed for about an hour, and then little Audrey was born. She weighed 6lbs, 7oz and was 21 inches long. The doctor commented on how little she was. She's a super skinny little girl!

I'm recovering from everything really well, and I've been up doing things since about day 3 postpartum. We are still adjusting to live with a baby. It's amazing how differently I do things now. We are trying our best to get sleep and its been really great having my mom here for a couple weeks to help us adjust. We sure love our little Audrey!

Question of the Day

2011-05-25T15:17:00.001-06:00

How am I supposed to try to keep my blood pressure down while knowing that the doctor will deliver by June 3rd at the LATEST?

Please, enlighten me.

I have to go in to the hospital twice a week until June 3rd to make sure baby isn't affected by my super high blood pressure. He wants to keep her in another week and is planning on June 3rd. Holy Crap.

Getting So Close!

2011-05-22T15:32:00.000-06:00

I try not to ONLY blog about pregnancy and the baby, but that's all I really have going on for me right now. To quote Tony, "all of our dates involve a trip to the doctor or hospital."

We have had some semi-eventful things happen in the world of baby lately. I had an appointment on Tuesday with the doctor and everything was just peachy. My blood pressure was higher than *my* normal, but still in the normal range so no one was worried. On Thursday night I got a really bad headache. I've suffered from migraines since my freshman year of college, so I'm familiar with how painful a headache can get. Unfortunately for me, this latest one was pretty bad and none of my migraine prescriptions are okay for a pregnant Hollie to consume. I remembered the doctor telling me that if I experienced any headaches with visual disturbances that I need to call him. This was also tricky because my migraines always produce what I call "sparkles." (It looks like the little flashes you get in your eyes after you get your picture taken.) I sort of brushed this headache off, chalking it up to pregnancy causing a migraine.

I went to my Prenatal Water Aerobics class Friday morning (don't laugh!) and talked to my teacher about my headache. During class I still had a dull headache, what I call migraine hangover, and the teacher suggested maybe I go to a drugstore and take my blood pressure. So, after class I grabbed a snack and headed to the store. I took three readings and averaged them out. You have to know that my blood pressure is usually something like 119/59 -- super low numbers. The average from these three readings was 141/91. AH! I called the nurse at my doctor's office and she sent me over to the Labor & Delivery unit for some Non-Stress Testing.

My blood pressure didn't get lower as I was monitored so they drew some blood and had me do a very lovely 24-hour urine collection. I had to report back yesterday.

The results? Well my blood and urine samples were great--the nurse said my urine collection was the best she had seen in a long time, that's right--but my blood pressure still refuses to come down to normal. I was told to rest and I go back to L&D Tuesday for a non-stress test and Wednesday I see my doctor. I guess if my blood pressure keeps creeping up like this, baby might make an early appearance.

I royally freaked out while we were in the hospital Saturday. They were swamped in L&D when I showed up and so instead of putting me in Triage (the transition room, basically) they put me in an actual labor room. Like, the room where I would be delivering the baby. The room was very nice and spacious, and we'll be quite comfortable there, but it was a little weird for me to realize this is all going to happen VERY soon. The nurse kept saying stuff like, "we just want to keep her in for a couple more weeks." Here's hoping my blood pressure goes down! I don't know if I'm ready for all of this!!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2011-05-17T09:40:00.001-06:00

The older I get I realize more and more how similar I am to my mom. We certainly have our differences, and are in no way the SAME, but there's a lot about me that reflects who my mom is and what she's about. I came to realize this over the weekend during various activities and things I had to do. I won't go into all of the ways i feel like I'm just like my mom, but my favorite trait I inherited from her is perfectionism.

When my mom and I throw a party, it gets done to the extreme. We both try to make things look the absolute best they can and if it doesn't work out it's never good. I've spent many days early in my marriage sobbing on the floor because a cake flopped over on the floor from being too soft, a recipe tasted nasty, etc. We really like to go "all out." A lot of people think its because we want to impress other people, and there may be a hint of that in there, but it is mostly because we want everyone to have a great experience. Especially if we are throwing a party for someone else.

If you look at the pictures from the baby shower my mom threw for me you can see what I'm talking about. Every little detail was planned to perfection by my mom and I loved it. The cupcakes were beautifully frosted with little flowers piped on top, the diaper cake looked edible (even Tony said it made him want cake), even the games were printed out on scrapbook paper that matched the theme. It was the loveliest party anyone has ever thrown for me. There was nothing about the shower that I would have changed had I done it on my own. I'm really glad I got to go home for that weekend and so grateful that my mom put so much time into the party.

I'm not entirely sure why I wanted to write this post. The whole perfectionism thing has just been on my mind this weekend and I know without a doubt that I got it from my mom. While I like the fact that I inherited the desire to make things "just so" from my mom, I realize that as a mother you can't be a perfectionist. Kids aren't going to listen to you all of the time. I've been trying to tell myself this and learn to let some of my perfectionist tendencies go in preparation for motherhood.

Speaking of motherhood - my due date was a month from yesterday! CRAZY. I have a doctor's appointment today, so we'll see how it goes! I'm getting a bit impatient with this last month of pregnancy. I wish she could just come today.

Fruit Lady

2011-05-03T21:48:00.001-06:00

I haven't had a lot of cravings this pregnancy. I've had a lot of "cravings" (things I just felt like pigging out on that I blamed on pregnancy) but no true foods that my body just wanted and needed. The one craving I have had is fruit. Beautiful, colorful, delicious fruit.

I seriously just can't get enough of it! Prior to my pregnancy if we got fruit at Costco it was often a waste of money because we couldn't consume the large quantities in time. Since about month 6, however, Costco fruit has been a weekly purchase in our home, and I eat most of it. I'm glad my craving is a healthy one at least!

I realized how bad its gotten today when I was checking out at Costco. Here's the list of things on the conveyer belt:

-4 lbs strawberries
-1 large clamshell blueberries
-1 large clamshell raspberries
-a box with probably 12 kiwis in it
-a box of frozen all-natural fruit bars (26 total!) - I've already eaten two today :)

Upon ringing me up, the little checker lady started giggling. I grinned at her, wondering what the heck she was doing, and asked, "what?" She said, "I can TOTALLY tell what you're craving!" I had to laugh, and I wasn't embarrassed because hey! It's fruit for crying out loud! No one can call me a pig for eating too much FRUIT. I know, I know.... fruit even has calories. I just feel justified in pigging out on fruit instead of cheese puffs.

In other pregnancy news, this baby is getting insanely close to being here! I can officially say that she'll be here NEXT MONTH. I am so excited but sometimes I have moments of sheer panic about all of this baby business. This usually happens when I'm alone and bored. I'm really excited to not be pregnant anymore, though. This being a huge, clumsy whale thing is getting old really fast.

Doctor Follow-Up

2011-04-27T17:03:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my doctor's appointment. I was really nervous to go because of all of the stuff that happened in Florida, but I was excited to make sure that baby was okay. The wait in the waiting room seemed to be an eternity and finally when they called me back and began taking all of my vitals, the nurse got a very concerned look on her face after taking my blood pressure. Oh great. When I asked her what was wrong, she asked me to put my arm up and squeeze my hand over and over. After doing this, she took my BP again, then had me walk up and down the hallways. Third time's the charm, I guess, as my BP was completely normal after my little walk. This was really strange for me because I am notorious for my low blood pressure readings. The nurse told me that sometimes the cuff she was using was a little wacky.

The doctor came in and we talked about Florida, and he smiled throughout the entire discussion. He said I was fine and to let him know about any more "excitement." He said I probably just did too much. I wish I would have had HIM in Florida with me! We could have made our flight home!! He told me that they were probably overly cautious with me because I was an out-of-towner that they hadn't seen before. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

So, baby and I are all a-okay. She had a healthy heart rate, I'm measuring right on track, and the doctor was pleased with her activity level (though sometimes I wish she'd chill out a bit). I'm actually very glad that she moves a lot, because if something were wrong, I'd know in an instant. This little girl moves all day long it seems.

Only 7 more weeks!

Baby Room Update

2011-04-25T21:27:00.000-06:00

I apologize for two posts in one day, but I just realized that we basically finished up baby's room this weekend! I bought some flower & butterfly decorations I've been eying at Hobby Lobby and we're so glad we got them! They really make it look like a little girl's room.

The toolbox on the shelving is NOT a permanent fixture ;)

It's really fun to have the room done! Now all we need is a cute baby to put in it.

Florida Vacation

2011-04-25T14:41:00.001-06:00

*Warning! Super long post!*

Last Thursday Tony and I flew to Florida to attend his sister's wedding in Ft. Lauderdale. She was having a destination beach wedding so the whole family gathered to be there for her special day. I must say, I didn't mind leaving a snowstorm and showing up to 86 degree weather! The humidity wasn't too bad, and it was so nice to wear shorts all the time!

We went to the beach Friday during the day. The water was so clean and nice. It was really a pretty beach. I usually don't like the ocean because it stinks and the water looks dirty, but this beach was more like a Caribbean beach (not quite..but close enough). It was nice to be in the water and I think the baby liked the rocking motions of the waves. She slept basically all day and hardly moved. After our day at the beach all of the whiteys in the family (Tony, Caity, and me) all developed pretty bad sunburns and looked pretty fabulous at the rehearsal dinner that night, haha. I put sunscreen on like 3 times and STILL got burned! The rehearsal dinner was really nice. It was at a place called 15th Street Fisheries. Even though Tony and I aren't big fish eaters, Tony ordered grouper just to try it, and we both ended up liking it. Yay for trying new things! :)

Saturday was the "big day." All of the bridesmaids congregated in Carleigh's hotel room to get our hair done. I had to step out several times because of the hairspray fumes, but it was still fun girly time. I didn't really take ANY pictures (I'm bad, I know!!) so I just have to describe everything! Our hair was all done in low buns with loose curls. Very beachy-looking. I tried my best to cover up my funny-looking sunburns with foundation. I even enlisted Tony to do some cover-up work on my back, and he did a really nice job! It didn't totally get rid of the burns, but it helped blend it in a little bit for pictures. I'm hoping the photographer can do some Photo Shop magic on that stuff. ;)

The wedding was beautiful and very romantic. I really hope that Carleigh and Sherwin are happy, they both did a great job and looked so happy together. During the reception/dancing part, Carleigh had each of the members of the wedding party announced and we had to dance in together. If you know Tony and me, we're not the grooviest folks on the block. I've been to a lot of dances at church, but I am by no means talented in the dance department. We decided to just goof-ball it up to compensate for our lack of skills. Tony did his best shimmy down the runway and I was laughing so hard I could barely move. I already felt like an idiot trying to boogey down with my big baby bump. We survived and did it for Carleigh. She seemed pleased with everyone's dancing and luckily we weren't the only ones who did some silly stuff.

After all of the wedding celebrations were over, Tony and I decided that we'd use the rest of our week in Florida to take a last-chance vacation as a couple without a baby. We did a lot of fun stuff: an Everglades Tram Tour in Miami, ate at some local-recommended restaurants that were delicious, went to a comedy/magic show (we were the only couple there without kids, haha), did some more beach stuff, and even played Mike and Carmie in a rousing game of mini golf. It was really fun! My feet were so swollen and puffy the whole time from the heat and--I think--elevation change. Tuesday night we drove from Orlando back to Ft. Lauderdale so we could catch our plane on Wednesday. We went swimming in the hotel pool--fabulous!--and relaxed in our hotel room to enjoy our last night of vacation.

Wednesday morning we woke up as normal, ate breakfast, and began packing our bags. RIGHT before we were ready to walk out the door, I decided to hit the bathroom one last time before we went to do some sight-seeing to pass time before our flight. When I was in the bathroom, I noticed that I was bleeding. I got really scared and tried to stay calm when I told Tony. Tony was a superman and remained completely cool the entire time as he told me to call the doctor. We ended up having to wait about 30 minutes to call because the office wasn't open yet. When I finally got through the nurse asked me a handful of questions and then sighed and told me to go to the nearest Labor and Delivery to get an evaluation to make sure I wasn't going into Pre-Term labor.

We checked in at the nearest hospital where I was hooked up to all sorts of machinery. The doctor came in and examined me, and told me that I was having contractions. He hoped it was just because of dehydration and ordered an IV for me. This was my very fist IV of my life, believe it or not, and it was the WORST EVER. They screwed it up the first time and after like 45 minutes they realized NONE of the fluid was going into my body. They pulled out the IV a little and I could feel the fluids flowing, but soon I began developing a huge bulge in my arm and it hurt really bad. It looked like my arm was going to pop! The nurses took their time taking it out, saying it was "just infiltrated" and they tried again in my other hand. Luckily that one worked, but I really would be okay if I never had to have another IV for the rest of my life.

The IV wasn't helping the contractions, so they ordered an ultrasound to check the length of my cervix. At this point we had been at the hospital for around 5 hours, and had to cancel our flight home. I felt so bad about the money wasted (the airline couldn't help us at all with transferring/penalties/etc.) and the money being spent to pay for the medical bills, but Tony didn't seem to care a bit about finances and helped me get through my rough day. I was actually a little excited that I was going to be having an ultrasound because I thought I would get to see my cute little baby girl. It was a bit of good news in a day full of scary stuff. Unfortunately for me, the ultrasound tech was anything but nice and I didn't get one peek at my baby the whole 45 minutes she did the ultrasound. I was told by the receptionist that this was a diagnostic ultrasound and that I shouldn't ask a lot of questions so as to not break the tech's focus. Tony wasn't even allowed in the room with me. The only question I asked was, "so, is she still a girl?" The tech just glared at me and I shut my mouth. I was really sad.

Finally, 11 hours later, the doctor told me my cervix was perfectly strong and wasn't shortening at all, so my contractions weren't actually leading to labor. I was able to go "home" to our hotel and was put on 24-hour complete bed rest. Tony literally jumped up for joy and began collecting my things as I was disconnected from all of the monitors and needles stuck in me. We found the nearest McDonald's (neither of us had eaten the entire day in the hospital. I wasn't really allowed and Tony didn't want to eat in front of me) and stuffed our faces. We have never been so glad to see a hotel room in our lives. My bleeding and contractions, the doctor said, were most likely caused from simply over-doing it and not staying hydrated.

I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow, and I'm a bit afraid that he'll put me on bed rest for the duration of my pregnancy. 24-hour bed rest was hard enough for me and I don't think I could do it for two months! I'm also secretly hoping that they will do an ultrasound and since I know they are nice I might get to see my little girl :). One can hope, right?

So - that wraps up our Florida trip experience. It was a nice vacation even if it was a bit eventful at the end. We are all doing well now, safe and sound at home in cold Utah.

A Little Funny for You All

2011-04-12T11:49:00.000-06:00

As I've mentioned before, this little girl inside me moves A LOT. She's bigger and stronger now, and its beginning to actually be painful for me when she decides to have dance parties in my abdomen. Tony and I always joke about how crazy and energetic she'll be once she's older.

Just for fun (and because I was bored) I did this mommy/child horoscope thing online and got this as a result:

Your Gemini child certainly keeps you busy! She grins at strangers in the park, and at home she unloads her entire toy chest looking for one toy at the bottom of the box. In general, she wreaks merry havoc as she rolls through childhood in her playful and energetic way.

That made Tony and I laugh, of course, because we could totally see this being her with how she acts right now.

So...(here's the funny)

Last night, after mowing the lawn, Tony began his workout. He was doing plyometrics from the P90x workout. If you've never heard of these, its a lot of jumping. It kills you. It's the "mother of all P90x workouts." It's super-tough. Tony, being the guy he is, always takes it up to the next level, jumping as high as he can and really pushing himself hard. Pan over to me, sitting on the couch with my blanket, watching TV, being a big lazy blob. I was trying to move the baby's dance party out of my ribcage area and while Tony was jumping up and down over and over, touching the ceiling then the floor I sighed and said, "She moves so much! I'm afraid this baby will be nothing like me." Mid-jump Tony (huffing and puffing) says, "why???"

I just cracked up and said "well....look at ME and look at YOU."

It may not be funny to others unless you were there, but we couldn't stop laughing. Maybe I should get up and move a little more? These two are going to outrun me!

Saying Goodbye

2011-04-07T15:50:00.000-06:00

Today was my last day of work. I know that I still have 2 more months before baby is due, but the timing was right to quit now. We'll be going to Florida next week for a whole week, and instead of taking a week off of work and then quitting a few weeks later, my boss and I just decided that it would be easier to have me stop working now. It was a day full of mixed emotions. I was sad to leave Grace. I've spend two years helping her learn and grow. I felt like I was abandoning her in some way. It was a really similar feeling to when Tony and I left Bratsigovo in Bulgaria. I am also feeling some excitement because I can now devote my time to preparing for our baby. It also means that baby is coming so soon!

My experience as a nanny was a terrific one. While it wasn't the career I saw for myself upon graduating from college, it was so wonderful to have a boss that respected me and understood life's situations. I wanted to do something nice for them to say "thanks" for being so good to me and letting me help raise their children!

I made this cookie bouquet:

It's basically sugar cookies with shiny icing. They are on lollipop sticks and stuck into some floral foam. It's time consuming, but fairly easy to do. I was (luckily) able to practice with Morgan while I was in Indiana, so I knew what to expect and what could go wrong.

I also wanted to write the kids and their parents little notes to let them know how much I'll miss them and how much I've enjoyed spending time with them.

This one is for Grace:
She loves panda bears, so I took that and ran with it. I used my Silhouette die cut machine to cut out these cute little pandas, then used some chalk to give them some rosy cheeks to make them look more "girlish." I also added the little bows. Grace loved the card and immediately realized that the two panda bears were us.

For Clay:
I went with a robot/space theme. I'm not sure if he'll like it, but I tried my best! It's always difficult for me to make cards for males. I feel like they don't appreciate it as much as girls do :) I used my Silhouette again here, cutting out the robot and the letters. I added the little details to the robot with my super-awesome silver Sharpie marker. Tony really liked this card a lot, so I'm confident Clay will like it, too.

For the parents:
I just did a basic thank you card. I hope I expressed how grateful I am that they treated me so well during my employment. I plan to keep in touch with them and see them from time to time. I am going to Grace's dance recital at the end of May and I'm really looking forward to it.

It's a really strange feeling to know that I won't be working, but Tony has some web development jobs lined up for me which kind of settles the stress of my lack of paycheck. We're getting closer to baby's appearance and I couldn't be more excited. It's a really great feeling to begin a new chapter of my life and begin raising my own little girl.

Baby Shower - Indiana

2011-04-04T13:53:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday I flew to Indiana to visit my family and so my mom could throw a baby shower for me. We were originally going to have one, but we ended up with two - a family shower, and a friends shower. It was really fun to see everyone, and I ended up with A LOT of girly things! It was also really nice to see my family again.

Hanging out in Morgan's room before the shower!

My mom made a "diaper cake" for the shower. It was so cute!

My mom and I decorated these cupcakes with our new flower-making skills. I'm really starting to love decorating with icing :)

All of the gifts from shower #1 (friends shower)

My mom is a *titch* excited for her first grandbaby. Here is her gift. It was a really cute idea! She gave me a wicker laundry basket full of clothes that were all clothes pinned on a clothesline. The clothesline was probably a mile long, but that's okay!

Shower #2 gifts (including my mom's) from the "family shower."

This baby is going to be WELL DRESSED. I could not believe how many clothes people gave me. They were all so generous! She's going to be more stylish than me, that little punk. :) The showers and parties sure made my trip fly by pretty fast. I feel like I didn't even get to see my parents and sisters! It was still a fun trip, though, and I'll see them again in June!

Tropical Cupcakes

2011-03-23T14:59:00.000-06:00

WARNING: I am going to be a little braggy in this post. I'm quite proud of what I accomplished here, and I'll be patting myself on the back throughout this entry :).

My sister-in-law, Carleigh, is getting married next month. She currently lives in California and she was in town visiting a couple weeks ago, so we threw her a bridal shower. I helped Tony's mom by volunteering to make a treat for the party. Carleigh is obsessed with all things "beach" so Tony's mom decided to have an island/beach theme for the shower. How fun! I decided to make mini Pina Colada Cupcakes for the shower, and they were delicious!

I'm proud to say that my creative juices came flowing back to me the week of the shower. After a test run of these cupcakes (and a hefty cupcake donation to Tony's co-workers), I decided that these cupcakes were awesome, but needed something else. For some reason, icing flowers popped into my head. I have made cupcakes with sunflowers piped onto them, so I began researching what it would take to make a tropical icing flower to top these little guys.

I settled on a petunia, because I though it looked like the flowers found in Hawaiian leis. I bought the supplies I needed, which included bright teal blue icing coloring gel, royal icing mix, and a lily nail.
This is a lily nail. It's pretty intense. It makes it so you can pipe a more 3-dimensional flower. I felt pretty professional as I worked with this tool.

My first attempt at making these flowers was a complete and utter FAILURE. I was going off of some written directions on wilton.com, and it was just not working out for me. My flowers looked like a 2-year-old did them. A batch of royal icing wasted and severely blue tinted fingers later, I went to the source of knowledge of all things: youtube. I found a tutorial video, slapped my forehead as I realized I was completely doing it wrong, and tried my hand at piping petunias a couple days later. Thanks to this lovely lady who posted her video, I wound up with this:

A perfectly formed petunia! I was so proud! Unfortunately my celebration didn't last long, I had 49 more of these babies to pipe out! I spend a couple hours piping flowers and decorating them with edible pearl dust and stamens so they looked realistic. These flowers were quite legit.

Here is a picture of the flowers completely decorated:
My flowers took FIVE DAYS to dry and before popping them off of the foil I had to stick them in the freezer for a few minutes. I learned this the hard way and ended up with a few flower casualties in the process.

Tony and I were getting a little sick of bright blue petunias after a while. They took over our kitchen table and I was quite protective of them. :)

The finished product! I love how these turned out (fyi: I toasted the coconut that goes on top of these cupcakes. The recipe doesn't say to, but I think it looks and tastes better). I love that these cupcakes look like little hula dancers! :)

I may have made this sound super hard, but if you have patience and a steady hand, you can TOTALLY make these flowers! By doing this project, I began to get back to my pre-pregnancy self. However, after it was all over I vowed to Tony that I would never do anything like that again. (We all know I will)

Baby's Room

2011-03-19T18:26:00.000-06:00

We are so lucky that my parents so graciously purchased the furniture we wanted and needed for baby's new room. Last weekend we painted the walls a really pretty aqua green/blue. It looks really great with her bedding that's mostly pink and orange. I didn't pull this blue idea out of nowhere, though. There were flowers in the quilt that accented this color I picked. I really didn't want it to look like a pink monster puked in her room. This weekend we were able to pick up two pieces of the furniture that were delivered to the store. You see here our glider and changing table/dresser.

Before

March Madness was not missed! Tony moved the TV in our bedroom to the hallway where he could watch the games and didn't have to miss a second! :)

Working hard!

All finished! I LOVE the furniture we got!!

I need to get some baskets for this changing table. I'm excited to take on the challenge :)

I'm really excited we got this done, but we are exhausted. That changing table/dresser thing was hardcore. We literally built it from the start! It just came in a million pieces. Now we're relaxing, munching on girl scout cookies, and rooting on BYU as they take on Gonzaga. What a great Saturday!

Welcome to Third Trimester

2011-03-18T18:34:00.000-06:00

This week I entered the third and final trimester of my pregnancy. As of March 16th I was 3 months away from my due date. This is all going so crazy fast! Part of me is scared to death of giving birth and wants to postpone as long as possible, and the other part is wishing she was born yesterday. I've continued to have trouble sleeping and when I do, I have very strange baby-related dreams. Here are some gems for you:

-I constantly dream that I'm at the doctor and for whatever reason they do an ultrasound that reveals that our baby is a BOY and not a girl. I hate this dream, ha ha.

-Several times I have had dreams that my baby comes out HUGE. Like, walking and talking huge. The doctors are always clueless as to why she's so big, like it was something they couldn't catch. How's that for a subconscious fear? :)

-Of course there's been the "baby mix up at the hospital" dream. I had a dream the other night that they accidentally gave our little girl to someone else but in return let us choose any baby we wanted from the nursery. I'm not sure how anyone got home with their own baby with this procedure!

Anyway, my dreams have been entertaining to say the least.

I've been feeling really good lately about this whole being a mom thing. I am learning to run on 3 hours of sleep, I'm mastering the art of concealer under my eyes (something I've never had to do before), and I somehow get through the days without a nap. I feel like I'll be well prepared in the sleep area for this little child!

I've been really struggling, however, with this whole being a huge whale thing. I haven't gained more weight than I should, but I feel so huge compared to everyone around me. I hate shopping for clothes. I recently went to a bachelorette party for my sister-in-law, Carleigh, where everyone dressed up all fancy. I was able to squeeze my fat butt into a pre-pregnancy dress that was considerably stretchy and I did my hair the best I could. (I have a limited time frame for primping. My feet start KILLING after a while!) While I thought I looked good when I left, I was sure a sore thumb in this group of skinny girls! Ah, oh well. I'll be hot again one day :)

I'm starting to get comments from strangers, now. It's amazing to me the things people feel like they can say to you just because you are pregnant. Some of my favorites:

"Wow, you look like you've put on a lot of baby weight!" -someone I've never met in my life

"I don't know if we can both fit through here! *giggle*" -random lady at the craft store while passing me in the aisle. I'm not sure why she said this. I wasn't walking sideways or anything.

"WOW you are PREGNANT."

"What are you, like 8 months?" NO. I'm 6, thank you very much!

It makes me laugh when they happen, but I get annoyed with people. For some reason you can tell a pregnant lady she's gotten chubbier and it's okay. If you tell a regular person they have gotten chubbier, its rude. I know I'm not the only pregnant lady this has ever happened to, but it's still annoying :)

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. There's my update for you all.

Big Girl

2011-03-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

I apologize to those of you who really couldn't care less about all of the details of my pregnancy, but I think starting a "baby blog" is just too darn hard. If one thing has changed me in this pregnancy, it's that I am so much more lazy. I usually go the extra mile and make things from scratch, try a new recipe each week, etc. We now eat chicken nuggets and if it comes in a box form, made-from-scratch goodies are out of the question. There's nothing wrong with this, but it's so not me! Hopefully I can go back to my old self someday :)

This little girl swimming inside me is getting bigger and stronger by the day! Every appointment we go to they struggle to find her heartbeat because she's moving so much in there. I even purposely scheduled my last appointment for right before lunch hoping that she'd be calm since it wouldn't be right after a meal. Nope! At this last one they couldn't even record a heart rate. After about 15 minutes of work with the doppler they had to just say "we think it's 160." I asked the nurse if I should cut back on sugar or something and she informed me that a moving baby is a happy, healthy baby and to keep doing what I'm doing. So that's good. She's definitely Tony's daughter! :)

There are so many joyful things about being pregnant, but as many of you know it doesn't come without non-joyful things. I am one week away from entering my third trimester, and I am already experiencing the "uncomfortable-ness" that is often associated with the third. I can't remember the last night I slept well. My old pal body pillow is doing nothing now for my comfort. I get SO hot then suddenly I'm freezing. I just cannot get comfortable in bed. I lie in bed so completely dead tired but I stay up for hours! Because my little girl is getting bigger (and MUCH stronger) by the day, I think feeling her more is making it difficult for me to find a good position to sleep in. Anytime I move, she moves and puts herself in the least convenient places. Her favorite time to play is midnight to 2am. I know this because I'm awake to feel her playing in there. I know it's good practice for when she comes, but you'd think nature would let pregnant ladies sleep as much as they could prior to baby's arrival!

I've been so tempted to get one of those nifty 3D ultrasounds. Tony was even interested until we saw the price tag. $140 to get a 30 minute ultrasound. We were so interested in seeing our baby's features and figuring out what she looks like, but we'd rather spend the money buying clothes or diapers. If it were cheaper we might consider doing it. Darn!

This baby stuff is all starting to become really real to me. Of course I always knew it was real. My ever-growing belly fails to let me believe otherwise. But the fact that I'm only 3 months away from holding our little girl is just unreal to me. I'm so nervous, anxious, excited for her arrival. I just hope I can be the best for her :)

Channeling My Inner Designer

2011-02-11T16:31:00.001-07:00

One thing I sort of stressed about even before we knew the gender of Baby A was how to set up and decorate the nursery! I didn't want it too "theme-y" or "baby-ish." I wanted it to last for at least the first few years of life. While I think cartoon jungle animals are cute, I don't know how cool those would be to a 5-year-old. Once we found out Baby A is a girl, it helped me begin to narrow my ideas. I had in mind this bedding that was beautiful but if anything impractical.

I loved that this looked like it was a little girl's room, but wasn't too baby or way super pink. (I wouldn't paint the walls pink, so MY version wouldn't have been super pink.) I also loved the antique look of this set. However, not only was the quilt too puffy for a baby and the bumpers too fluffly, it was a hefty price of nearly $250. I just couldn't bring myself to consider buying or even getting it as a gift when I can foresee huge poop blowouts in this bedding's future.

So began my search for cute, girly bedding that could last at a good price. After days (yes, days) of searching and getting opinions from Tony, my mom, Tony's mom, sisters, etc. I finally decided on a cute one from Target:

I feel like this will last into toddler-hood, and I can decorate with things that aren't just baby-ish. While its pink and has a clear theme, I don't feel its too "theme-y."

Tony and I have had fun thinking of colors to paint the room, how to decorate with crafty, cheap, homemade items, and picking out furniture. I know that Baby A couldn't care less what her room looks like, but I do. I want her to have a fun room. I'll have to post pictures as we finish it up!!

Big Belly

2011-01-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some belly pics. I've only been taking them when I have doctor's appointments and I missed taking some, so there are only two right now. Enjoy!

12 Weeks

20 Weeks

20 Week Appointment

2011-01-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

Many of you probably saw on facebook, but I feel like I should post in my blog, too. For you lucky readers, this will be a little more detailed than my facebook status update was.

Today was our big day, the 20 week appointment/anatomy scan. We went in 9am for our ultrasound, and it was a really great experience. Little Baby A was very cooperative and was moving around a lot. All of the organs are working and it's weighing in at a healthy 12 ounces. It was cute that baby A was sticking out its tongue during the ultrasound. It also had its hand behind its head, like it was resting on it. The stomach looked good, all of its organs are developing well. The ultrasound tech went from head to bum and finally was able to tell us what we were really waiting for. As we saw our baby spread eagle for the camera the technician told us...

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GIRL!

I was so surprised. I had sort of a feeling it was a boy but not enough to bet on it, I don't think. I'm still sort of in another world with all of the excitement and emotions that are rushing through me. Now that I know more about our little baby girl, I feel like it's so much more real. It was kind of funny how the first thing I thought about was the fact that I will have to worry about doing her hair when she's older, haha!

I've moved on from stressing about pregnancy to stressing about how in the world I will sufficiently raise this little girl. I feel like a real mom now, already worrying!

(belly pics coming soon)

Pregnancy Paranoia

2011-01-14T12:23:00.001-07:00

I have often been accused of being over-analytical, researching too much, and trying to hard to understand EVERYTHING in detail. These things are very true about me. I really like to know what's going on in any situation and this has been especially true during my pregnancy. Sometimes I read to the point where I get upset. Example:

I frequent some community forums on the website TheBump.com. I like to read what other mothers who are due in June are experiencing. Lately--aside from everyone BUT ME finding out the gender of their baby--all of these women are talking about how often they feel their baby and how even their husbands are feeling the kicking and punching movements. Remember, these women are all on similar timing as me. I have yet to feel anything. UGH! I've felt the baby sloshing around in their sometimes, mostly when I'm exercising, but every night in bed I sit really still hoping to feel my little baby kick me in the gut. I know the baby is healthy, I just had an appointment this week and the heartbeat was strong and the little bugger even punched the doppler! I'm just getting a little sad that I can't feel it move in there. I know later on I'll wish I couldn't feel it sometimes, but right now I would give anything to feel it!

Part of the problem is that I have no idea what it feels like. I'm sure that I've felt the baby tons of times but I don't know how to recognize it. Tony tries to feel it move, too. It seems like every night we spend at least 30 minutes with his hand pressing on my belly to try to feel ANYTHING from this kid. Tony, learning that baby can now hear us, even tried singing songs to it last night to encourage it to move around. Nothing happens. It's kind of frustrating to know that all of these people are feeling their babies on a daily basis and some of them are not as far along as me.

I know this is totally normal, but I just needed a place to vent (whine). Thanks for listening :) I'll let you all know when I feel this kid moving around!

Baby on the Brain

2011-01-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty crummy at updating this blog during my pregnancy, (let's face it, I've been slacking for a while now) and I know some of you might be interested in how things are going so I'll give you a few of the latest newsworthy happenings.

I've had three doctor's appointments so far. At each of them the baby has done something funny to entertain everyone involved. At one, the baby moved around so much they couldn't get a heart rate reading for a while. At the one today, it totally punched the doppler. As active as this kid is this early on, I am confident it gets its energy levels from Tony. It's been perfectly healthy each time, and we're really grateful for that.
Even though we have an active little fetus I haven't felt much of anything from him/her. A couple times I've felt what I thought was the baby, but since this is my first I have no idea what to expect in this department. Everyone talks about "flutters" but I don't know what that means! I can definitely tell there's a baby in there, but it's not quite beating me up yet.
Yes, fetus is still an "it." Until two weeks from Friday! We are going in on January 28th for the full anatomy scan and we'll find out what we're having. We have our feelings as to what it is, but we're trying not to dwell on them because we don't want to think we're having one thing and then have to "get used" to the idea of the other. :) We will be taking wagers and guesses. Winners get...bragging rights.
I have been taking belly shots, but I can't find my camera right now to upload them. I will post some pictures of my ever-growing gut when I can locate my camera.
I haven't really craved anything strange, but I have been eating like a teenage boy. No amount of food can satisfy me. What's great about it is that I'm not gaining excessive weight! I wish it could always be like this...
I've been exercising more, and it feels amazing. I am still a little lazier than I'd like to be. I only do a solid workout once or twice a week, but I walk a lot for my job and I typically count that. I also count trips to the grocery store. That's hard work as a pregnant lady!
Tony just informed me that he has found the basketball hoop he wants to get our infant child. This is a very important purchase for him (I think mostly because he'll play on it just as much as our kid) and I'm glad that he's found "the one." I think it's super cute that he gets excited for buying the baby things, even if its sports equipment. Here's the winner:

It's a Huffy One on One, and it's really similar in height to the fisher price hoops but it's obviously much cooler. Only the best for our baby! I'm sure I will get to experience a lot of games on this hoop, haha!

There hasn't been much going on in our lives besides working and me being pregnant. It's been so fun looking at baby things at the stores. Even the bottles are so fun to look at! While I can't wait to hold and show off my cute little baby, I'm trying to enjoy being pregnant--especially how portable the baby is! It's really fun, even if I am getting fatter :)

The Tony Awards

2010-12-18T22:57:00.001-07:00

I just have to say that Tony has been stellar during my pregnancy! He helped me through some morning sickness, checks on me frequently throughout the day, and tries his best to make the food that sounds good to me. I've told him not to give me EVERYTHING I'm craving, because I'll surely get fat if he does that. He's just been really supportive and interested in the pregnancy. He could probably tell you more about what goes on inside me than I could!

Here's the kicker for me:

I have been wanting a piece of pie tonight, and he just told me he is willing to take me to Village Inn at 11pm to get me a slice of pie. What a man!

It's not just about food, though, Tony is an all around supportive, loving, and caring husband when it comes to my comfort and health during the pregnancy. He even let me cry it out when I freaked out about my pants not fitting anymore. As irrational as I was being, he hugged me and told me it was okay and that I was still beautiful. What patience!

I just needed to brag about Tony because he's been more than I could have asked for during my pregnancy. Plus, I'm really excited that we're going to get pie!

Thanksgiving Trip

2010-11-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

I am currently blogging while flying back home from Indiana! During the "holidays" Delta is offering free on-board WiFi, and it's making this 3 hour flight (which we were just informed is delayed coming into SLC) much more tolerable.

Tony and I decided to visit my family for Thanksgiving this year, since it's the Andersons' turn for Christmas anyway. Tony had never experienced a Grandma Grey Thanksgiving, and I really believe everyone needs to have one of those. :) Thanksgiving day was really fun. I was really happy to see all of my family. There was the traditional Bingo game at my grandma grey's (which lost Tony and I five bucks!) and everything seemed to be just how it was when I left it. It was really nice, and the food was spectacular on all accounts.

Friday morning after Thanksgiving is traditionally Black Friday shopping for all of the girls on my mom's side of the family. This includes everyone from Grandma to Aunts and cousins. This year, however, my grandma couldn't make Black Friday because she was visiting my uncle who was just diagnosed with stomach cancer. My family had our own little Black Friday adventure--Tony's first one!--and it was really fun. I was so tired afterward, but it was worth it! We didn't buy a ton of stuff or get up at 2am for any "steals", we just like the tradition of going and being together as a family. Later that day, we all took a nap then headed downtown to see the Circle Tree lighting and a really good Pacers game!

At the lighting ceremony--it was COLD!

Saturday was just a day to relax. I was starting to feel sick and I think everyone was a bit tuckered out from all of the exciting days we were having. It was nice to lounge around, watch the BYU v. U game, and go to my favorite pizza place, Chicagos!

It seemed like the weekend FLEW by, but I'm glad we spent Thanksgiving with my family. They're pretty cool cats.

Oh! P.S. While I was there, I was able to announce to my family some really wonderful news!

There's a baby on it's way! I'm due June 16th, and we couldn't be more excited!

Counting Many Blessings on My Day Off

2010-11-01T17:12:00.000-06:00

I am feeling really lucky today. I'm so proud of my accomplishments, and Tony's accomplishments as well.

First off, I'm lucky to not have to work Mondays! I have been feeling under-the-weather lately and it was so nice to be able to sleep in and just relax today.

I got to relax in my house, which I'm so grateful to have. With hard work and help from our amazing agent, we found a wonderful little house that's all ours! If you're looking to buy in Utah, you need to use our agent. She is so wonderful, very honest, and would do anything to help her clients!

Tony got a new job last week. It's for an internet marketing company for more pay, and they pay 100% of our insurance. It will be a wonderful, new environment for him to be a part of and there is a lot of room for potential growth. (And I also heard they throw some pretty killer Christmas parties.) I'm so grateful for Tony!! He's such a hard worker, and the smartest guy I know. He is ambitious, which is why he got this new job. He wants to learn from his job, not just rake in the money for minimal work.

I'm grateful I'm healthy. I know I said I've been feeling a little sick, but I am still healthy. I recently had some blood work done at a checkup, and I just got a call from the doctor today delivering some good news and positive results about my lab tests.

I'm not sure what sparked this grateful attitude in me today, but I really enjoy it. It's sometimes hard to see all the things you are lucky to have. I'm going to try to blog more. It's been hard when I feel so tired from feeling gross. I have a feeling I will have a lot to blog about soon, as we enter a new phase of life.

New Programs to Help the Orphans

2010-10-24T16:38:00.000-06:00

As most of you already know, I currently work for an organization that is near and dear to my heart called One Heart Bulgaria. This organization works to help orphans in Bulgaria have a better life by sending over needed supplies and sending over interns to help these little children feel loved. I work as the internship director. I help volunteers make necessary arrangements to travel and work in Bulgarian orphanages, as I did 2 years ago. You can read my blog posts from my wonderful experience here, here, here, and here

I am excited to announce that we are starting a new program within the internship program that makes it easier to volunteer in Bulgaria if you don't know the language. We are going to have "sessions" so that a group will all go over together (safety in numbers!), and you are guaranteed to have an interpreter come with you. Interested? Yes you are. Know someone who is interested? Sure you do! Email me or comment for more details!

We are currently accepting interns for the summer 2011 session. Applying now gives you PLENTY of time to acquire the funds needed for travel, and if you speak the language, possible scholarship opportunities are available to help lessen the cost. As the internship director, I will also provide ideas on how to raise money for your internship and for the children you'll be working with. Please don't hesitate to contact me!

hollie dot anderson at oneheart-bg dot org

Girls Night

2010-10-03T14:36:00.000-06:00

Since moving to Utah, I've struggled to find super close friends. I've had some off and on, but as time goes by they move away. Understandable, as they have their own lives and families. I still keep in touch with them through facebook and other means, but as you probably know, it's not like having friends here.

Last night I went out with a group of girls and it was a BLAST. I've never had so much fun! We took a trip down to SLC for some good times and some good pizza! One if them is the wife of one of Tony's mission acquaintances that we just randomly ran into through common interest. I'm so glad I finally found some girlfriends to hang out with in Utah. I love Tony, and he is of course my best friend, but every girl needs some straight up girl time now and then. It's been a terrific weekend!

Food, Inc.

2010-08-18T15:39:00.000-06:00

No more excuses! School is over and now I shall blog frequently!

Tony recently talked me in to watching a documentary called Food, Inc. Ever seen it? You should. It really opened my eyes to what goes on in the food industry and why it is important to support local farmers. A lot of you are probably thinking that Food, Inc. is one of those scare documentaries something similar to a Michael Moore film, but it's not. While it does gross you out a bit, it all makes sense and really informs the viewer about the food they are eating.

Upon viewing this film Tony and I decided that we were going to buy natural food as much as we could. We took a trip to a store called Good Earth and bought some things. While a bit pricey, we felt like we could try our best to get a few things here and there from this store. Today, I stopped by a place called Sunflower Farmers Market in Orem. It was a great place! Lots of local, natural food for reasonable prices! I got almost 3 pounds of grain-fed organic ground beef for around $5.00. I also stopped by a farmers stand along State Street on my way home. The smells alone from that place are enough to go there. It smelled so wonderful! I got some tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries, and peppers (all local). Not to mention, the peppers smell like Bulgaria, and it made me miss that place so much! I'm going to make a nice, all-natural Shopska salata later :) Mmmmm.

Watch the Trailer by Clicking on the Image Above

I would really encourage all of you to see Food, Inc. and try to support the local farmers in your area!

Graduation

2010-08-18T15:25:00.000-06:00

Wow. What a great feeling to have graduated from college. I worked hard for it, and felt like I deserved every moment of celebration I gave myself on Friday, the 13th. (Yes, of course that's when I graduated, haha) As I was sitting listening to the speeches in my convocation, which were all really good, I began thinking back to all of the years I spent at BYU and what they meant to me. So, you all can take this little nostalgic trip down memory lane with me, while I document those feelings in my blog :).

FRESHMAN YEAR:
I started at BYU in May of 2005. I was a summer semester starter, and I thought that was pretty cool. I was so excited to come to Provo, Utah and begin a life full of devotionals, scripture studies, cute returned missionaries, and tons of awesome friends. My family and I made the horrendously long drive from Indiana to Utah and they helped me move into my dorm and get acquainted with my new home. My mom constantly had tears welling up in her eyes, and my sister, Morgan, hardly spoke. It was an emotional time....for them. We were all joking this past weekend about when they said goodbye to me. There was a freshman dance to get to so my goodbye seemed very short and unloving, but I was ready to go dance! My mom and Morgan cried all the way to Wyoming while I boogied down into the wee hours of the night.

I made some amazing friends freshman year: Caleb Hustedt, Ashleigh Donner (now Elliot), Christie Valentine, Katherine Anstead, Katie Monson, and more. These guys were some of my best pals and stuck with me through thick and thin. I still keep in contact with them and I'm so glad they were all a part of my life. I also met some not-so-great people who created some pretty tough obstacles in my life, but I learned from them, as well.

Freshman year was my first year of college marching band. Oh, I could have sworn at that time it was the best moment of my life--to be in the BYU Cougar band. The practices were long, hard, and hot, and I loved every minute of it. I made some more awesome friends in marching band as well. I endured my first year of music theory, dictation, and clarinet lessons. Those were some of the hardest classes I ever took at BYU.

In one of the speeches at my convocation, the young woman speaking mentioned situations and failures in our college careers that helped make us stronger and grow. One of my biggest upsets/ failures of my life came during my freshman year at BYU. I was an eager music education pursuing student who after taking the classes, and submitting my work to the committee waited for the result following my interview. These men had my music career in their hands. It was up to them to decide if I could continue on as a music education major. I got the call to come in to Dr. Jessop's office to discuss the results. I excitedly entered the room, sat down and said "Yes, Dr. Jessop?" (probably with the gooberiest grin I've ever plastered on my face because I was so giddy). The conversation proceeded like this:

Dr J - Sit Down.
Hollie sits down...
Dr. J - Well Hollie, we talked about you, and we don't feel you're cut out to be a music teacher
Hollie - *silently holding back tears*
Dr. J - With what you have presented to me, and from what I have heard from your theory professors, I think you should just give up music altogether. Find a different path because this simply is not the one for you. I don't think you'll ever get what it takes to do this work.
Hollie - okay.
Hollie leaves....

I left his office and tried my hardest to AT LEAST make it down the hall with out bawling. Yeah, I didn't make it. I couldn't believe how MEAN he was to me! He made me feel like a piece of crap. I had always had music teachers that were uplifting and encouraging and here this guy is telling me to quit the thing I loved most, the thing that brought me so much comfort and peace growing up. I was devastated to say the least. Tony was waiting for me in his car, which made things worse. Now I had to tell my boyfriend what a loser I was. Boyfriend? Oh right! I met TONY my freshman year! Yeah! (I won't go in to HOW we met, if you'd like to know, just ask!) But that was pretty awesome :)

SOPHOMORE YEAR:
Just prior to the starting of this school year I married my best friend, Tony, in the Nauvoo temple. It was the best day ever! And probably the smartest choice I've ever made in my life.

This year wasn't nearly as eventful as freshman year, so I'll skip the details and give you the short version: I took more music classes, re-submitted my work to be considered for acceptance into the music ed. program (I know, I'm nuts), and was again rejected. This time, the let down was a little more gentle. It actually was up to me. If I could prove myself in my theory class, and there was room, they would let me in. I decided after a lot of meditation and thinking, that a music degree wasn't going to work out for me. I loved music, still do, but I obviously needed to do something else with my talents. After completing a tour with the BYU Wind Symphony, which was an unforgettable experience, I decided that I was changing my major to Marriage, Family, and Human Development.

JUNIOR YEAR:
I began my journey with my new degree and had a tremendous gain in confidence. I loved the content of my new classes, I loved my professors, and I loved the freedom to THINK! I knew that this was a good choice for me, and that I would do well in my classes. It was a fresh start. While I did feel good about my major, there were days of doubt and question of whether or not I did the right thing. One of of these particularly "down" days I made my way into the School of Social Sciences internship fair. There, I ran into a booth with programs that let interns go to Bulgaria, of all places, to work with orphans there. When I met Tony for lunch on campus, I told him about it and we decided we were going to do it. Fall of 2008 we would leave for Bulgaria.

SENIOR YEAR:
Things start to get tricky here, because I actually stayed at BYU for five years. But I'll lump years 4 and 5 into this category, for simplicity's sake. This is the year we traveled to Bulgaria. Readers of my blog know about all of the crazy stuff we endured there. It brought us closer together and taught me about the world around me. Years 4 and 5 I took some of my favorite classes from some of my favorite professors. Some of these include: Infant Development, Advanced Issues in Human Development, both taught by Dr. Chris Porter; Marriage and Family Therapy, Dr. Elizabeth Fawcett; Adolescent Development, Dr. Sarah Coyne; and Language Development.

Oh! We can't forget my Independent Study classes. THAT was so hard for me. It was hard to keep myself on track for the whole summer. Ah yes, and not to mention the professor who called me "ignorant." Boy was I glad to get rid of those classes!

Then, I graduated. I didn't think I would get emotional at my graduation. After all, I was SO glad to be finished! But, when we were all done walking through and the crowd cheered for us (for probably 2 and a half minutes) I cried. I cried like a little girl. I have never been more proud of myself in my life. I was also a little sad to be moving on into the grown up world and not learning anymore in classes. With all of the bad things that happened during college, so many good things came from it. I'm smarter, happier, more well-rounded, and more self-confident. I wouldn't trade my education for the world. I'm kind of known for hating lots of attention, but that day, I loved it. I loved it because I knew I deserved it. Go me!

Now I'm excited to go to a football game not only as an alumna, but as a non-marching band citizen. :)

Sigh of Relief

2010-07-22T21:05:00.000-06:00

Well, today I took my very last final for my undergrad. I'm not planning on going to graduate school right now...at all....I need a break! It's hard to be relieved at this point for me, though. I usually am never fully relieved until I can SEE my grades and know that I did alright. It does feel good to not have to cram my head with silly biology terms tonight. All I have to do is bake my muffins and watch the Office. It's great.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Salt Lake to check in to our hotel and get ready for my RACE! I was starting to get nervous last night about the race but I feel much better now. I've been reading up on some literature on how to best prepare myself for a race of this size. I'm gonna rock it, man! :)

I'm so glad to be done with school. I never thought I'd see this day!

Running and Hiking

2010-07-12T21:49:00.000-06:00

So, I haven't been mentioning much about running on here lately. Heck, I haven't been mentioning much of anything on here lately! I am scrambling to finish my online classes in time for graduation. I keep having recurring nightmares about showing up to BYU and having them tell me that I actually can't graduate. Once this is over, I will probably be a completely different person! :)

A while back (not sure if I mentioned it) I began a training program for a 10K race. I'm all signed up and ready to go! I'm going to run in the Deseret News Marathon/10K on July 24th. Today I booked a hotel room in SLC so I don't have to get up SUPER early the day of the race. My race starts at 6am and waking up at 4am to get there is just not appealing at all. It may sounds silly, but I am so excited to stay in a hotel! Even if it is just 45 minutes away, I'm super excited. I'm also excited to run my first ever 10K. Hopefully I finish alive and well. I'm sure Tony will snap lots of pictures and record video as well.

I've not been doing my 10K program because we've been hiking so much. Tony had me go on lots of hikes to prepare for Lone Peak: The Second Attempt. We didn't make it to the top because of bad weather, but we sure had a good time and my legs are more than ready to take on a race. I am hoping to get in one last long run before Monday of next week and then just do some short ones to rest my legs. I'm so excited to run this race. I have a feeling it will be pretty emotional for me. I'll let you all know how it goes!

To the G!

2010-06-29T23:50:00.000-06:00


Beginning Our Hike!

In Pleasant Grove, you can see the G on the side of the mountain, similar to the Y or the U seen in Provo or Salt Lake. We've always wondered if you could actually hike to the G without bushwhacking your way to the top so we tried it out! It seems that you can :). It's really easy to get to the trail head. You just take Battle Creek Drive/200 S as far up as you can, basically. You'll find a gravel parking lot and a sign that says Kiwanis Park. After passing the pavilion, you'll see a thin, steep path--take that one! You'll see a strange yellow structure that lets you know you're on the right trail (picture at the bottom). It was a really fun hike and we even ate fried chicken once we got to the G!

The view on our way up

Tony is excited to hike to the G!

Two paths: Take the skinny one that doesn't look like ATV's use it frequently

It starts to get greener the closer you get to the G. You can see it there in the background!

Nice and shady. At this point you're almost there.

Getting closer!

Yeah, I kissed the G when we got there.

We finally got the the G we've been seeing for the past year!

View from the G

This is the strange yellow structure to look for to make sure you're on the right path

House Hunting

2010-06-26T23:01:00.000-06:00

Today was a really exciting day for us. Our real estate agent came to our apartment, picked us up, and showed us some houses in Pleasant Grove and Lehi (Orem is up for next week). At first we were a little disappointed because one of our mortgage lenders we called only had an offer for us that was a little high for the down payment. But Dana, our adorable agent, told us about all kinds of government programs that we qualify for to help us out! Its such a good time to buy a house right now. The prices are low and the interest rates are like at 4%.

We saw two that we really liked, one MEGA fixer-upper, and another one that we weren't too fond of. The fixer-upper is huge, but we would have to do a lot of replacing floors and some windows. Lots of stuff. It's tempting us because we could potentially make money on it when we sell. But who knows.

Right now, I must say I feel the right to brag about my wifey skills. I am currently sitting in our office/weight bench room making jerseys for Tony and Sherwin (Carleigh's fiancee) for the rec. basketball league. We couldn't find any reversible jerseys ANYWHERE so we improvised and I got some iron on transfer paper made specifically stretchy for uniforms. They are looking quite good, if I say so myself!

Busy day, but I learned a lot and it was really fun.

Breathe In...Breathe Out...

2010-06-23T10:21:00.000-06:00

As Grace would tell me, "Hollie, it helps me calm down when I take huge breathes. Just take breathes."

I had to implement this tactic yesterday upon receiving an email from one of my professors. I won't go into a ton of details in case said professor somehow stumbles upon my blog, but let me just say this person was RUDE. After grading my assignment they wrote me an email essentially asking me how I could be so stupid. I'm not exaggerating at all. This wouldn't be too offensive except this professor had previously sent me another email regarding a different exam and attacked my character because they thought I had cheated. After explaining to prof., they realized I had not cheated and gave me a deserved grade. I let it slide that time, feeling that it was somewhat deserved for someone who was assumed to be cheating. However, this time, I let prof have it. I spoke my mind! I told them that I didn't appreciate how I was being spoken to and that I felt frustrations could be communicated just as effectively without a personal attack on my character.

Well, prof. wrote me back, gave me my grade, but there was still something lacking.....oh yes! An apology. I'm not complaining too much because my B turned into a B+ for some reason, so I suppose that will work.

I just don't understand why some professors feel like they can treat their students this way. Just because you are an expert on something, doesn't mean everyone else is an idiot for not knowing as much as you. This professor expects and demands respect from me, but somehow I don't get the same in return. Hopefully now after speaking my mind I will get due respect.

Good news is, only a couple weeks left of school work! Yeah! Then I'll be a free woman. Free to...go find a job and not be free again...

I'm off to the pool.

Comments?

2010-06-22T23:16:00.001-06:00

Not that I'm anticipating tons of comments, but I don't even see a link to post one!

I'm trying to figure this out...this is a test!

I'm Quitting My Job...

2010-06-19T15:18:00.000-06:00

...and running for a living!

It seems like whenever I go for a jog around noon, I find money laying on the side of the road! It's mine to keep because out in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road...where do I turn in money? I usually find about 20 bucks, but today I only found $14. I'm chalking it up to the carnival that was going on yesterday. A lot of people were parked by our apartments and so I'm sure someone accidentally dropped their cash. I feel bad, I really do.

In other news, I have officially made July 7th finals day for me. This coming week I have NO work (the family is on vacation) and so I am going to sit around at home and be a homework doin' fool. I should be almost done with my classes by the time next week is over, and I think that's just great. Soon enough my graduation stuff will be here, and I can make it official! Tony is taking me tonight to buy a dress I've been lusting after, and I plan on wearing it at my graduation (and probably to some other places before then, too). I'm really happy that my family is going to come out and sit through that horribly boring commencement ceremony. But, I'm sure that 3 seconds of me walking across the stage will be more than worth it for everyone in attendance.

I've been thinking of some hobbies I'd like to start after I finish school. I don't know if they'd ever happen, but who knows! I'd love to take a cake decorating class so I can make some fabulous birthday cakes. I love making cakes but the decorating I am not so good at. (And I just BARELY got decent and making cakes without having an emotional meltdown) I'd really like to take some professional cooking classes, too. I am so excited to read a book that I want to read! Sayanara textbooks! I am also hoping that having less school will give me more time to focus on training for a half marathon. I've got a whole list of things I'd like to do, but those are just a few of the things I've been thinking of recently. Oh--and I'd like to get a job.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2010-06-12T22:38:00.001-06:00

My absence in blogging has been due to two online classes I have been taking this summer. I had two classes left before I graduated and I decided that the drive to campus wasn't worth it. I signed up on independent study and now I am loaded with homework all the time. It takes a lot of discipline to do the work for these classes but I'm doing alright and in a month it will all be nothing but a bad dream. I graduate August 13th at 2pm. You're all invited :)

I ordered my cap and gown today and it made it seems that much more real. It seems so far away right now and thinking of the nearing end makes it much more bearable. There are so many things I'm excited to do when I'm finished. Read books that I want to read, work on my Bulgarian, and just RELAX! Oh..and...look for a real job.

I promise when school is done I will post more!

What Color are You?

2010-04-13T09:50:00.000-06:00

I recently took a little quiz at colorcode.com to kind of re-affirm what I knew about my personality color. Just from reading the descriptions before I had determined that I was a white personality, and my quiz produced the same results:

white: 43%
blue: 28%
yellow: 26%
red: 3%

You are a WHITE personality. The Core Motivation that guides you through life is "Peace." This is not referring to a political agenda or the absence of war. It is, however, an absence of inner conflict, much closer to the idea of serenity, and an acceptance of oneself and others. You have a strong and compelling need to keep things in balance in your life so as to maintain an internal feeling of tranquility and comfort.

As a WHITE, you seek independence and require kindness, especially from those with whom you are in a relationship. You resist confrontation at all costs. (To you, feeling good internally is even more important than being good.) You are quiet by nature, process things very deeply and objectively with great clarity. Of all the colors, WHITES are the best listeners. You respect people who are direct but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle.

You need your "alone time" and refuse to be controlled by others. WHITES want to do things their own way and in their own time. They ask little of others and resent others demanding much of them. You are probably much stronger than people think, but are not often seen for your strength because you don't easily reveal your feelings.

I really think this describes me really well. I can especially see these personality traits right now in my life. I'm a sucker for these kind of tests but I think they're fun and this one is a little more well-known. If I told people I was a white, they would totally understand me :).

Being Creative

2010-03-28T22:44:00.000-06:00

Not that I have any time to do this sorta stuff right now, but I scheduled it ahead of time and made sure I had a block of time where I could make a birthday card. I was sad I couldn't make one for my dad, but I was having a hard time designing one in my head for him. Maybe I'll give him one in August when he comes out to see us.

Gracie, the little girl I nanny, is turning 4 this Tuesday. It will be nothing short of a princess affair. Her mom set up an appointment at the local beauty school for a mini pedicure, manicure, and updo for this princess. (I'm jealous...I just get to watch her be pampered)

It's going to be really fun, and I got her some cute little girly things for her birthday. I made her this card, and I quite like it! It screams Grace. Sorry the picture is kind of dark.

My Best Friends

2010-03-19T11:55:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the lack of posting, this semester is kicking my butt and I really don't have a lot of time for blogging!

Recently I have discovered something interesting. I have learned who my BEST friends are at this time in my life.

The first, quite obviously, is Tony. I could not ask for a better husband to be with. He understands me and sticks with me through my silly adventures I have in this life. He loves me for who I am, not for what I'm supposed to be or expected to be. He is so loving and accepting. I really don't think I could have married a better man for me. I can talk to him about everything I'm feeling without fear of judgment or criticism. He is my bestest friend and I'm glad I have him as a forever friend :)

The other, which I'm finding funnier by the day, is the little girl I spend most of my days with: Grace. This girl loves me so unconditionally it isn't funny. I realized that she was my best friend a week ago when we went to the mall for a "girls day." (it was her idea.) We tried silly clothes on, and she gave me her opinion on how things looked on me, whether they made me look silly or as beautiful as a princess. I feel good when I'm around her, and she told me that she likes being with me as well. I think it's hilarious that the one girlfriend I trust most is going to be four in a few weeks. I have a feeling that being a mom is going to be fun someday, if it's anything like hanging out with Gracie-Head Maisey.

I know this is a random post, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I feel like I'm beginning to relate to all of you mothers out there. I can imagine that your adorable children are among your best friends.

Emerson Hits Home

2010-02-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

I know that every middle-schooler who comes across Emerson's work quotes him like crazy because they feel so "misunderstood" and "misread", and it is my goal in this post to talk about how my recent reading of Emerson's "Self-Reliance" impacted me without sounding like a misunderstood pre-teen.

Recently I have felt like people, even those closest to me, simply don't and won't understand the thoughts I'm having and the things I'm feeling. I've been struggling with this for several months now, trying to figure out how to fix the discomforting feeling that accompanies my views. There are basically two sides to this fight: one, I be who I want to be, think what I feel is right, and have people think less of me, scorn me, tell me "how sad" it is that I feel this way; or two, I suck it up, put on a pretty smile and make the world around me happy all the while feeling horribly guilty and empty on the inside. As you can see, these are two pretty extreme and opposite results so the decision on how to act is a very serious and difficult one.

In my English class I'm taking to finish up my general education courses at school, we've been delving into personal narratives. I kind of find them hard to read and very long and boring, but I try my best to keep up. One exception was when we read Emerson's essay entitled "Self-Reliance." I loved reading this work! In case you aren't familiar with it, it is essentially an essay about not being a conformist to make people happy, and living your life for you--not for the sake of others. If you're interested in reading the entire thing, you can find it here. It really gave me some hope for the hard time I'm having and I felt that it was almost a pep talk for me to just be myself, and live my life for me. Forget everyone else, there's no need to do things simply to please others. It was really inspiring and I'm so glad I read it at this time in my life.

Here are some of the quotes from Emerson that really struck me:

"It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

"Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. -- `Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' -- Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. "

"There is a mortifying experience in particular, which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history; I mean "the foolish face of praise," the forced smile which we put on in company where we do not feel at ease in answer to conversation which does not interest us. The muscles, not spontaneously moved, but moved by a low usurping wilfulness, grow tight about the outline of the face with the most disagreeable sensation. "

"The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them."

I am not becoming some sort of hippie transcendentalist or anything, I just wanted to share some of these quotes because I really loved them. Sorry if this was too much. :)

Gettin' Stuff Done

2010-02-01T17:07:00.001-07:00

This probably makes me sound like an old lady, but recently I have found great joy in getting stuff done during the day. This usually never involves cleaning, but I mean setting up appointments, paying bills, getting things straightened out so that I am less stressed. Today was one of those days where I woke up dead tired, looking like death warmed over. But, I got a lot done and my day that could have been quite miserable turned into a pretty good one! I have less to stress about because I got a lot of things in order. Yay!

I Liked This Video

2010-01-29T10:50:00.001-07:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Two-Faced

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economy

Granulation

2010-01-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I made the trip into my academic advisor's office to discuss graduation. After a 5 minute process of looking to see if I had the right classes, she cheerfully told me that I could graduate in August.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Then, looking a bit concerned, turned to me and said "you did a 9-credit-hour internship?" I reluctantly replied with a yes, fearing that my previous good news was going to be taken back somehow. "That means you can waive one of these upper-level classes you're taking. You'll get an A in it automatically." Whose side were the gods on that day? MINE. I couldn't believe that BYU was giving me two pieces of good news in a row. Now, I have 20% less school to attend three days a week, and I can look forward to donning the cap and gown in August. The only negative thing about this is that my Senioritis has doubled in its intensity and I am so looking forward to the end of the semester. I love how some good news can just brighten your day!

What good news have you guys had this week?

Christmas, Presents, Cupcakes, and School

2010-01-11T22:56:00.001-07:00

Holy moly, I haven't posted a real post in so long! While I have some time before bed I will try to recap everything that has happened from Christmas until now. It's been exciting, let me tell ya.

We spent Christmas this year in Indiana with my family. It was a pretty long trip, but a nice break from reality and a nice opportunity to spend time with family and see some old friends. Morgan and I thought it would be a good idea to make some "Ugly Christmas Sweaters." Here's a picture our Christmas Eve sweater contest. Can you guess who won?

Tony and I decided that we would have "our" Christmas when we got home from Indiana so we didn't have to lug our gifts to each other in our suitcases. We couldn't do it before because we were just too dang busy! We had a really nice little Christmas. Tony got me a really nice manicure set, some much needed cold-weather running clothes, and a litter box, cat food, a book called The Idiot's Guide to Getting and Owning a Cat, and a piece of paper that says "this is good for one date with Tony to pick out a KITTY!"

We had talked about getting a pet (a cat...never a dog...I can't handle dogs...) but this was such a total surprise! I was so thrilled and I thought it was so thoughtful. Tony tried his hardest to come home with a cat, but decided in the end it would be better if we both picked one out together. So, that following Saturday we headed up to the Humane Society and found our new friend that we shortly re-named (her name was really dumb) Pepa. She isn't a kitten but she's a perfect fit for us and so loving. Sometimes she acts more like a dog than a cat! We love her a lot and she's teaching us a lot about caring for another creature. She's about 6-7 months old and she's a Tortie (?).

Here are some pictures of our kitty:

She loves to snuggle for naptime.

She ALWAYS has to be a part of whatever action is going on. She gets jealous when we play on our laptops and tries her hardest to prevent us from paying attention to something other than her.

This past Saturday when Tony was getting his haircut, I noticed a place that was newly opened called Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe. I HAD to see what this was about. We walked in and it was the cutest little store! They have all kinds of coffee, hot cocoa, and lots of CUPCAKES! These aren't your Betty Crocker box cupcakes, either. These are gourmet. Simply beautiful and SO delicious. I had to take some pictures of them before we scarfed because I am a nerd. Tony got a cupcake called "Party in My Mouth" It's a chocolate cupcake wit h Nutella in the middle, cream cheese frosting and chocolate drizzle. I can't remember the name of mine (but I liked mine better) but it was a milk chocolate cake with sweetened condensed milk on top with a delicious buttercream frosting topped with almonds. These were not only insanely delicious...they were HUGE! They come in a cute box all packaged with a fork and napkin for you. Simple things please me, if you couldn't tell. They have a BLOG that you should check out...it's such a fun place! I just loved looking at all of the cupcakes through the glass! I think that's such a fun thing :)

This is the inside of the store. CUTE, huh??

Aside from kittens and cupcakes, I began my last semester on the campus of BYU last Monday. It's really hard to adjust to a new work schedule, school schedule, a kitten that cries at night and wakes me up, and trying to finish homework. So, if I don't post for a while...you'll understand why.

Life is good, we're having fun and we're getting through these crazy times!

Awkward Workplace Photos

2010-01-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

Check out Tony's new website he built over the Holidays. :) I think it is pretty funny and he is hoping it will become popular. Rate photos, leave comments, share on facebook, do whatever you like -- but check it out!

Just click on the Post-It note above.

Christmas Spirit

2009-12-18T15:11:00.001-07:00

For one of my classes my professor so graciously accepted our offer of doing service instead of a final exam. We decided that we would help out and do the Sub for Santa thing at the mall and buy some gifts for a needy family. The night after we decided this, the director of One Heart Bulgaria emailed me telling me the Bulgarian government cut the orphanages' budgets by 25% causing a problem with getting Christmas gifts to the orphanage. I suggested a change in service projects to my class and they gladly accepted. I was so happy to be able to help the kids I know so well!

All of my classmates dropped off donations at our professors office (we had to write a short essay as well, but that was no biggie) and yesterday I went to pick them up. I was so glad that people had donated, but wasn't expecting a ton from poor, married, college students. My professor handed me the envelope and looked at me and said, "there's 300 dollars in there." My jaw dropped and tears began to flow. I could not believe how generous people were. There were only 10 of us in the class, and without my contribution we raised $300. As I drove home I was filled with an overwhelming sense of Christmas spirit. I began to miss my kids so badly and I was so thrilled to know that they would be having a good Christmas. After all, I was just leaving them this time last year.

I am so glad to know that there are kind-hearts out there in this world that can seem so mean.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and remembers the real meaning of the season.

My Creations

2009-12-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

I really love the Silhouette machine Tony got for me because I can create fun things! I don't have much time to blog today (two finals are staring me in the face) but I wanted to put this up. It's a card I made for my cousin, Shereena for her baby shower. The lighting is really bad because it came from a cell phone picture, but you can kinda get the idea. I was super proud :)

Merry Christmas

2009-12-04T08:57:00.001-07:00

This made me laugh :)

Thanksgiving Week

2009-11-29T14:17:00.001-07:00

School has kept me busy as it nears the semester's end, so I've had little time for blogging. I was so grateful (even THANKful) for this 5-day break that accompanied the Thanksgiving holiday. I've gotten some things accomplished and got in plenty of relaxation, which was much needed.

We had our own little T&H Thanksgiving dinner. Tony's parents went to see his sister, Carleigh, in California and since we couldn't afford to take days off to go with them, we decided we wanted to do our own little feast. It was a lot of fun and very delicious! We started our day by going on a jog (our own little "Turkey Trot" if you will). We ran about a 5k distance since I hadn't been running in a while. It was really fun to go running together again. We'll have to do it more often! After showering off we began our meal.

We only had a turkey breast so it took about 4 hours to cook. I didn't make everything from scratch but some new recipes I did try from scratch were cranberry sauce and stuffing. Both were very successful recipes and I would make them again. I usually don't like cranberry sauce (especially when you can see the rings from the can still in it) so I decided that maybe making it fresh would be better--I was right! It was so yummy. And the stuffing was good enough to impress even my dad, the ultimate connoisseur of stuffing/dressing. Here are some pics from our Thanksgiving feast:

Tired, but trying to look happy!

On Friday I ventured out into the wild to find some deals on Christmas gifts. The crowds actually weren't as bad as I was imagining and I got some really great prices on a couple gifts for Tony. I also got to go out for lunch with my friend, Amie, and it was really fun to see her!

We wrapped up our exciting Thanksgiving weekend with a trip to the Greek Orthodox church in Salt Lake City today. No, we're not converting, I had to do an "inter-ethnic activity" for my racial and minority groups class. I suppose going to their service works. It was an interesting experience and it reminded me a lot of the time we went to church in Bulgaria. It was really fun to go on an interesting adventure. After the Liturgy was over we headed over to temple sqaure to take some pictures for Christmas cards. It was a really fun weekend! I'm kind of sad to see it come to an end, but excited that in two weeks, I'll be done with classes!

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Report

2009-11-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

So if you didn't notice on the sidebar, I lost .6 pounds this week on my little program. I'm okay with not meeting my 1 pound goal since I lost almost 2 last week. I have to tell you it's amazing I even lost .6! Two times this week I had french fries, and last night I ate apple pie. The apple pie kind of frustrated me after I ate it because I don't even really like it! I could have saved myself several (thousand) calories ;)

I told Tony yesterday that this week would be my healthiest week ever. I don't know how that's going to happen, but we'll see! Last week I kind of consider an off week, so I'm hopeful for the upcoming week.

In non-weight loss news:

We got Christmas decorations this weekend! I got some lighted garland for the fireplace mantel, a wreath for our door, some ornaments for the tree, a STAR for the tree (yeah, we've never had a star on our married life Christmas tree...sad I know), some garland, and other fun things. It is killing me inside to make myself wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it. I really love decorating for Christmas! I want to clean really well before I do it though, so maybe the fact that I don't want to do that will help me wait to put the Christmas decor up. I'm just as bad as my mom :)

My Attempt to Be Trendy

2009-11-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been seeing a lot of cute trends that I want to try. One of them being the flower clip. I think it's a really cute and classy little hair accessory. Note I said LITTLE. I'm so not into those humongous flowers that take up half the side of your head. Here are some examples:

So, while at the mall yesterday as I was picking up some awesome boots, I stopped in the store Icing. I saw some of these small flower clips and they were buy one, get one 50% off. So, I splurged and purchased a black rose bunch, and a cute brown flower similar to the second picture above. I think they are so cute! I just can't seem to figure out how to use them. This morning I tried to clip my black flower in my hair but I couldn't get it to work without it looking like a small animal created a nest on my head. I liked the look I got when I put it by a ponytail, but I wasn't in a ponytail mood today.

I know eventually I'll figure it out, but I thought I would turn to you, my loyal blogreaders. Have any of you tried this flower trend? How do you get it to work? Where exactly on your head to you place it? I don't want to look too "out there" with these flowers, but I really would like to wear them because I love them! Should I bag this altogether? Like I said, I really like the way they look when I use them with a ponytail or a messy bun, but other than that I can't seem to get it right, and I want to wear them more than just when I pull my hair back.

1 down, 20-something More to Go

2009-11-09T07:53:00.001-07:00

This will be short because I have to finish getting ready for work, but I just wanted to direct you all to my sidebar "weight loss goal" area. I'm proud to announce that I lost a total of 1.9 pounds. I'm proud of this, but I didn't eat very well this weekend at all so I'm considering myself quite lucky to have those numbers. My little program seems to be working and I'm excited! I already feel a lot better because of the healthier foods I'm eating and the pounds dropping isn't too bad, either.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday morning!

Bringin' It

2009-11-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

So I don't usually do this because of my fear that I will fail miserably, but I want to keep myself as accountable as possible so I meet my goal. I guess I figure if I have to stay accountable to Tony, my family, and my blog readership, it will increase my chances of success. So, here it goes.

I am starting now on a journey to lose about one pound per week until May 2nd (for a trip I'm planning on going on that I'll need to look ridiculously good in a swimsuit for :) ) I want to lose a grand total of a 20lb. Technically I could do this by March, but I'm giving myself some wiggle room by setting my goal date in May. A lot of people have told me that I really don't need to lose that much weight, but I could. I would still be in the middle of my healthy weight range and I feel like I would feel so much better. I want to get as healthy as I can before I have kids so that I will have developed those habits when they are here. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I want my children to have a healthy lifestyle. It's so important on so many levels and I know that it starts with me.

I'm not doing any crazy crash diets or body cleansing systems. I'm doing it through good ol' diet and exercise. Tony bought me a lovely (no really, it's really nice) heart rate monitor for my birthday and it is going to be my companion through this weight loss adventure. It not only reads my heart rate so I can check if I'm "in the zone" but it tells you how many calories you burned during your workout based on information you enter about yourself. Sweet deal, huh? Last night I finished the day right about even with my new determined caloric intake for the day and burned a whopping 540 calories, thanks to the plyometrics workout on P90X. I feel really great today, and so far I'm doing well (ha, it's only day TWO!)

So, there you have it. Hopefully I won't fail miserably, but I'm trying really hard to make it so I won't. I'm going to put up my stats on the side of the blog (not because I think you care, but so I can track it) and the whole world will see it. It's really hard for me to do this but I think I'll be okay. You're all friendly folks, and I don't think you'll bash me if I gain here and there :)

An Affair to Dismember

2009-11-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

This past Friday night we hosted our first Murder Mystery dinner. It was really fun and it turned out really well. We worked pretty hard on it so we were quite pleased with the sucess.

Table Setting and Decorations

Appetizers

All of the monsters getting to know each other before dinner begins

I was Lizzie Bordeaux, a gothic Frenchwoman engaged to the deceased Neville Aster-Night

Here's a short little video of us questioning Madame Garlique about the fake garlic necklace she was wearing.

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of Tony (Hannibal Schecter) but he was just as well dressed as the rest of us. The characters in this "episode" were really funny, and everyone did an awesome job of staying in character throughout the night. I'm so glad everyone could come!

The characters were:
Hollie- Lizzie Bordeaux
Tony- Hannibal Schecter
Cory K- Balihi, the Rogersandhammerstein Monster
Alli K- Madame Garlique, fortune teller
Shereena F- Glumda, the Wicked Witch of DePressed
Aaron F- Mummy of Aldrinktotat
Ian M- Asthmadeus, Prince of Dimness
Amie N- Dr. Angela Deth, psychotic dentist

I would totally recommend this murder mystery! We just bought it in a package and it came with everything we needed (except the food).

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

Your Input

2009-10-13T11:47:00.001-06:00

I was recently given the opportunity to become the Director of Internships for the organization I interned for during my Bulgaria service. I am really excited to be able to help out the organization and to start recruiting interns!

I am going to be holding an information meeting on the BYU campus sometime soon, and I need my blog reading friends' help! I want to give out some little thing to help people keep us in mind (kind of like a business card, but cooler)

If you were going to this internship meeting, what would you want to receive to help you keep One Heart Bulgaria in mind if you were ever interested in interning with them? So far I've only come up with pens but to be honest, I don't know if enough people will show up to the info meeting to make it worth the cost. But, if it would work, I'm willing to try to get it approved!

If you guys could help me out, that would be awesome! Also, anything else you'd want to know about/get/hear at this info meeting. We're (Tony and I) bringing homemade baklava which *pats self on back* tastes VERY authentic. So yeah, a free piece of baklava! I don't know how I can top that, but we'll see what you've got! :)

Creative Juices

2009-09-27T22:54:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been trying to be creative. It started with a cake for Tony's birthday. I am quite notorious for my baking disasters in the kitchen. I never burn anything and it always TASTES good, but something falls apart or something else happens so that it just looks hideous. Well folks, this time I did my homework and took two days to make the cake you see below. It was the most gorgeous, most delicious yellow cake I've ever had. I'll refer you to the recipe if you wish. I think next time I won't use a ganache frosting (it was a bit too rich) but other than that it was perfection. Nothing I did mind you, I just found a good recipe with good tips and instructions.

I put it in a cake box to keep it safe on its journey to Sandy.

In other creative news, Tony bought me a Silhouette for an early birthday present. His company was having a huge warehouse sale and so it was only $100! Its regular retail price is $299. He also hooked me up with a free unlimited year subscription to the online store where I can download all of the images I want! Yay for husbands who work at scrapbooking companies!

I made this card with my Sil for my friend Amie, who graduated from college this past Saturday.

And last but not least, here is my "Halloween Blocks" project. I don't have many Halloween decorations so I made some. I bought the wooden blocks at Robert's, painted them, cut some cute halloween letters and shapes with my Sil, glued them down, and used some modgepodge to hold it all in place. I love them! Tony suggested that on the other side I make it say "Trick or Treat" so I can have two messages. I liked the idea and I plan on doing that sometime this week. I feel so crafty!

The Dentist

2009-09-20T20:55:00.000-06:00

So, about a month ago I went to the dentist for my regular check-up. All went well (I did have a couple tiny cavities..boo..) but something during my visit really stuck out to me this time. I had noticed it before, but never as much as this particular time.

Do you notice that after the assistant is done cleaning your teeth, the dentist comes in, says hello to you, and then you somehow disappear from the dentist chair? He leans you back (like, past straight so your head has all the blood rushing to it) and checks your teeth. He then starts a charming conversation with his assistant: "So, Chrissy, did your boys like the pool party you went to the other day?" "Oh yes Dr. Nate" and they go on like this pausing only to call out numbers of rotten teeth you have. Then they raise you up in the chair. You still aren't sure what's going on or what is going to happen next. The dentist begins taking his gloves off, puts his hand on your shoulder, tells you how many cavities you have, then leaves. Did he even know I was here? I could have just left my teeth for him and done some shopping! That would probably look funny, though. Don't get me wrong, our dentist is great, it's just funny when he does this.

I thought it was really funny after that appointment, but this past Friday I had to go in for my fillings and things were a little different. Let's just start off by saying this: I have a new friend, and her name is Nitrus Oxide. Tony suggested I get it to calm my nerves and I loved it. It was so relaxing! Because I was on Nitrus, the dentist didn't get away with his "ingore Hollie chatter." While they were waiting for me to get numb they began talking and I (partially without realizing) said "hey! the left side of my mouth isn't numb yet, is that okay?" Looking shocked that I spoke up he said "well, I'll go slow and you raise your hand if it hurts." Satisfied with the answer, I closed my eyes and let him go to town.

During this process, however, the tubes feeding me my joyful juice were pinching my cheek. I kept reaching up, getting in the dentist's way each time, to adjust it. Finally after the fourth or fifth time, the doctor realized what was going on. "Oh no, I'm stepping on your tube!" he said. He took his foot off of it and adjusted it so it wouldn't pinch me anymore. When he did all that I suddenly felt a WHOLE lot better, too. He was cutting off my supply!

In the end I did well, it only took about 25 minutes and I was happy as a clam. The only not-so-fun thing was the incredibly numb mouth I had for 3 hours afterward. I'm just glad it's over now. I can't say I'm a fan of the dentist, though ours is terrific.

My Midnight Thoughts

2009-09-12T00:48:00.000-06:00

I apologize for the lack of blogging. I just started the semester and figuring out my new schedule has been kind of difficult for me. So, here I find myself at midnight with a spare moment to blog about what's on my mind. Don't worry, no heavy politics here. I'm off the stuff. ;)

What's been on my mind recently has been the idea of the innocence of childhood. There are a couple reasons for this: 1) I am taking an amazingly interesting class on Race and Minority groups and we've been talking about the honesty of children, and 2) I feel that I am extremely naive because when I talk to other people about issues in the world today, I am just concerned that we are being nice to one another. I feel like a little kid when I think "well, that's just plain not nice!" Not that I posses the innocence of a child, but sometimes I feel like one.

In my class we are reading a book by a man named Wendell Berry called The Hidden Wound (amazing story, I recommend it). Berry is describing his feelings about having grown up on a farm in the south where his grandfather owned slaves. It's a very complex book about this "hidden wound" but the part I read the other day has just stuck with me and I cannot get it out of my mind.

Berry is very good friends with the black slaves on his grandfather's farm (named Nick and Aunt Georgie) and decides to invite Nick to his birthday party. Nick, knowing full well he could not enter the house for the party, sat outside on a bench and observed the party. Berry saw him, and decided he would rather be with Nick than be with the party because he loved him. After relaying this story, Berry says the following: (These are just a few exerpts)

To both the racist and the puritan, childhood is not a time of life that we grow out of, as the life of the child grows out of the life of the parent or as a plant grows out of the soil, but a time and a state of consciousness to be left behind, to cut oneself off from: "when I became a man, I put away childish things."

I am not necessarily objecting to the manly virtues, but I am objecting that they
should be so exlusively assigned to grownups, and that grownups should be so exlusively restritced to them. A man may have all the prescribed adult virtues and, if he lacks the childhood virtues, still be a dunce and a bore and a liar.

Under the dispensations of childhood, a child may cross the boundaries of class and race and property with a good deal of freedom, and his reason for crossing these boundaries is his honesty in the face of experience.

You see this all the time in children. They see no color, no political party, no rich or poor. They simply love everyone around them. I saw this a lot as I served in the orphanages in Bulgaria. The young children did not care that I was different, they just loved me because I was a person...just like them.

It's sad that we lose this "childhood honesty" as Berry talks about. Wouldn't the world be so perfectly splendid if we all acted as children do? I don't think we should be childISH, but childLIKE. I don't know if honesty is a good word to use, because I don't think that we all suddenly become horrible people when we are adults, but I do believe that as we enter adulthood social pressures and expectations somehow force us into being grown up, and not so loving and innocent and simple anymore.

As people rant and rave about politics and Obama's healthcare reform plan, I can't help but wonder what Obama feels like as people yell at him as he is trying to clarify his plans. I would hate to be President. I would cry myself to sleep every night. On my facebook status once I said that I wish I could tell Obama that I think he's a good man. Man, oh mighty did that get people going. I wish we all (including me) could look at Obama--and everyone for that matter!--and see the good in them, as a little child would do. I know I said no politics, but this is about people, not issues at hand.

Thanks for listening (er..reading) my thoughts. I just feel like this world needs to start being a kinder place or we are in some serious trouble. I am going to try harder to follow some true examples. Children.

Naska and Mimi, from the Bratsigovo, Bulgaria orphanage

Contacts and Bats

2009-08-24T19:51:00.000-06:00

Well, it seems as if I chose a race that was a little too soon to train for. It's quite alright, though. There are plenty of 5Ks around to do. That one did sound pretty fun, but I want to run it well and make sure I can get the goal. I won't be Beating Beethoven this year.

In other news, I have been trying to get used to contacts this week. I started wearing them 4 hours the first day and I am supposed to increase my time by 2 hours each day until I get to "all day" wear. They're not too bad, really. I love being able to see 100% without hauling my glasses around. My eyesight wasn't horrible, but have contacts all the time is making my life so easy, and my headaches haven't been happening as much.

Putting them in was a little scary at first, but now I'm a pro at it. It's just the taking them out that I can't get a hang of. It takes me like 15 minutes to get them out. Is this normal?? I have to be doing some sort of damage to my eye by poking it that many times. Maybe I need to reconsider my form.

I'm really excited to have contacts for school. Wearing my glasses during lectures was so annoying, and it made my nose really sore and oily by the end of the day. Now I'll be able to see those powerpoints easy-cheesy! School starts a week from today and I'm getting quite anxious. I'm excited to start learning again. I'm also excited to graudate at the end of this year.

Nothing too exciting going on right now. We DO have a bat living in our hallway. We've named him Battier, after Shane Battier from the Houston Rockets.

Beat Beethoven!

2009-08-13T22:29:00.000-06:00

I've found a new race! Next month Pleasant Grove is hosting a 5K race for Pleasant Grove Heritage Days called "Can You Beat Beethoven?" It's awesome--they play Beethoven's 5th over loud speakers for the duration of the race, and people who finish before the last note of the symphony (approx. 32 minutes) get a pin that says "I beat Beethoven!" I began training today so that I can totally beat Beethoven. I know for some finishing a 5K in 32 minutes is no biggie, but I've never focused on speedwork so this is a new challenge for me.

I am so stoked to beat Beethoven. I have 5 weeks to conquer this composer, and I'm going to do it.

Poof-less

2009-08-11T21:57:00.000-06:00

Well, come to find out they don't do the old puff of air test anymore. What a relief! :) I did find out that I am forever doomed. My astigmatism has worsened and now I'm a full-time prescription wearer. I have to call on Thursday to set up an appointment get fitted for contacts. Ugh, I'm not excited about that. The doctor says it will be a lengthy process because of my astigmatism situation. Hopefully it will help with my reoccuring headaches, though.

We have the dentist on Thursday and they'll probably talk to me again about Invisalign braces--which are also supposed to help with my jaw/headache problems.

One day all of my problems will be solved!

My Appointment Tomorrow

2009-08-10T23:50:00.000-06:00

This is totally me with the "poof" test at the eye doctor. I am going tomorrow, I'll let you know if I survive.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

2009-08-10T20:31:00.000-06:00

As of late, I have been noticing an increasing number of facebook posts, status updates, etc. that are quite judgemental. I hate to say the word "judgemental" because I feel that by my thinking THEY are being judgemental, I am being judgemental as well. But I can't help but notice all of this. It spans from Obama's health reform plan to judging what people are wearing...

Don't get me wrong, I'm always up for a good debate, but it seems as if sometimes this Obama business can go so far as to almost ruin relationships! For instance, Tony posted a facebook status update that was posing a question about the health care proposal to extreme republicans who are just going nuts with this concept, who say Obama is Satan and things of the sort. I believe everyone has a right to free speech and if anyone likes a good debate--it's TONY, but his comment has ruffled the feathers of many of his family members. Ruffled them a lot. Tony's uncle now refers to him as his "favorite left-leaning nephew" and his grandpa is appauled that Tony is "behind this plan." Everyone in his family seems to think Tony is some sort of Satan worshipper, when he was just looking at ideas objectively and getting more opionions so he could form his own. He never once said he was 100% behind the health care reform. If anything he said he could see flaws in it. Even if Tony is a left-leaning Satan worshipper, what's it to you? I just don't get people sometimes and how mean they can get with this stuff. I realize it's important for our nation to choose the best thing for us, but when you start name-calling and judging because someone thinks a little differently than you....that is so not cool.

Aside from politics, I noticed a facebook status the other day commenting on a girl who was wearing a skirt that was a little short for BYU standards on campus. Yes, I signed the Honor Code agreement. Yes, she did too. I would probably raise an eyebrow to her outfit as well, but I don't think I would dedicate a facebook status to show my disgust for her dress and how she is not following the honor code. Talk about Holier Than Thou. I'm sure that girl is a really good person and maybe her skirt is a little short, but that doesn't give anyone any right to judge her. Last I checked, that wasn't our job here on earth.

One last situation--I was at Old Navy shopping the extra 50% off clearance sale and I was browsing through the swimsuits which were running at 4 bucks a piece. I picked up a bikini, and looked at it for a little bit. I thought it was really cute! But I kept on looking for tankinis and one pieces. As I was looking at this bikini, a middle-aged woman said to her friend (very loudly) "Someone who so proudly shows their garments [I guess my garments were showing a bit out of the top of my shirt, I didn't know] shouldn't be wearing bikinis on the beach. She obviously doesn't realize what garments mean." Excuse me? I almost said something to this woman. Seriously. Even if I did wear bikinis on the beach and DIDN'T understand what garments were about, there is absolutely no reason to say that about anyone.

I've always been one of those hippie-minded "let's all be friends and hold hands" types but I don't usually speak out about it. It's just amazing to me how mean people are getting towards one another. It really makes me sick sometimes. I wish people could talk with one another objectively and considerately.

Maybe in the next life?

Excitement

2009-08-06T10:03:00.000-06:00

Recently I've found myself just plain excited. I can't put my finger on why I'm so giddy lately, but it feels really nice to be so excited about life. I seem to have much better days and not as many things bother me as before. I keep trying to figure out what I'm so excited about, and I can only thing of the following things to attribute my happiness to:

1. August 18th- our 3 year anniversary. Wow. I really love anniversaries because it's like a day set aside to just appreciate each other. Plus, it's another "na na na boo boo" that I've made it this far without a "surprise" baby. When I was engaged it bugged me so bad that everyone was like "you'll be a mom this time next year" so every anniversary is more proof that I'm responsible. :) Don't worry, I'm not anti-baby. I'm just anti-"right-now"-baby. That could change soon enough, so don't get your britches tangled! I do indeed want a family.

2. School starts August 31st! I know most people are dreading their first day of school, but I haven't been to actual classes on BYU's campus in...almost two years! With the Bulgaria internship last fall, and my deferrment mess this Winter semester, the last time I was in classes on campus was January of 2008. I'm really excited to start learning again and to FINISH learning! Yep, it's my final year at BYU. I'm not sure where I'll go from there, but we'll see, I guess!

3. Tony's birthday is September 6th. I love love love Tony's birthday because I get to buy him things he wants! I really love giving Tony gifts. Plus, I get stuff that I want all the time because he spoils me so it feels nice when Tony gets showered with some of his "wants" and not just his "needs". This year I want to have the big family party at our place, since it's big enough now. Yay!

4. My birthday is October 8th, but I don't care because October 15th we're going to Disneyland! We're little money savers and we're going to take a little trip to our honeymoon destination! I'm so excited for the hotel, the beaches, the Mickey Mouse (I never saw him last time) and everything else we're going to do in Anaheim! We've been talking about Disneyland a lot lately and we both agree that we will resist the temptation to ride the Peter Pan ride or any other of those dinky little princess rides. On our honeymoon we waited 2 hours in Peter Pan's line (we thought we should ride some classic rides) almost died of heat stroke and wasted two hours of our life for a tripped out ride that we probably should have been high on something to enjoy more. It was nice and cool in the ride, but definitely not worth a two hour wait. We're more excited for rides like Indiana Jones, The Tower of Terror, and Space Mountain, even though I almost threw up on Space Mountain. Indiana Jones is MY personal favorite and we rode it 5 times last time we were there. Yay Disneyland!

5. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. From about August to February we 've got something exciting once a month! Thanksgiving this year will be okay, it will just be Tony and me because Tony's family is going to San Fransisco to be with Carleigh this Thanksgiving. We could go other places, I'm sure, but we're kind of looking forward to making our own feast.

Christmas will be spend in Indiana if all goes according to plan. We haven't been there on Christmas day in two years. Last year we planned on it, but my family wanted us to come out for Andrea's graduation in May plus we had been traveling madmen with Bulgaria. So, that should be fun.

Sorry to go on about all of this, but I just love this excited feeling I have!

Wonderful Muffins!

2009-07-28T18:36:00.000-06:00

I have been trying to eat really well recently by trying to eat very nautral foods. I made some blueberry bran muffins tonight that are simply amazing and don't have any sugar in them! The sweetness comes from the honey and banana. I was amazed at how yummy they tasted!

I thought I would share the recipe so that you guys can try them out!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unprocessed wheat bran or oat bran (I just used wheat bran cereal)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (I'm not sure if mine was ground or not, but it was still good!)
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free milk
1/3 cup honey
1 ripe medium banana, mahed with a fork
1 large egg
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat 2 nonstick mini muffin pans with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine bran, flour, flaxseed, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl or a blender, combine the milk, honey, banana, egg, olive oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in one third of the liquid mixture. Using a spoon, stir until smooth. Add the remaining liquid mixture and stir just until combined. Add the blueberries and stir again, but don't overmix.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each prepared muffin cup. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the tops spring back when pressed gently in the centers. Do not overbake! Cool the muffins in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from the cups. Serve warm, or allow to cool completely on rack.

These freeze really well, also.

Almost Pretty

2009-07-25T14:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday at work I was driving the little girl I nanny to some "foam party" thrown by the Lehi Fire Department and she said something that just cracked me up:

Gracie: Hollie, you're kinda pretty!

Me: Well, thanks, Gracie! I think you're pretty, too.

Gracie: Hmmm, do you want to know why you're KINDA pretty?

Me: Sure, why not, let's boost my self esteem a little.

Gracie: Well, the thing is, your blonde hair doesn't curl like mine does. When your hair is curled it's all tight and scrunchy. My blonde hair is big and not scrunchy curls. Maybe one day your hair will be curled like mine and then you can be all the way pretty.

Wow. Good to know. I didn't realize the fashion sense this 3-year-old had hidden in her! I'll have to buy some product and curling irons so that I, too, can one day be pretty...all the way pretty. :)

Long Time, No Blog!

2009-07-19T18:40:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I have been really busy lately planning a baby shower, going to family events, and things of that sort.

Let me begin by telling you all about our magnificent hike! We started at the trailhead at 6:45 am last Saturday so that we would have plenty of time to complete our monster hike. We were taking a trail called Jacob's Ladder which is notorious for being insanely steep and horribly rocky and slippery. It sure lived up to it's reputation. I was slipping all over the place and I was covered in dirt by the time we finished "the ladder." After the ladder there was a hill sort of thing we had to get over and it seemed to take a lifetime to get there. We had to take a stop under a nearby tree on this portion while it poured down rain. Luckily this only lasted for about 3 minutes. After we got over that stinkin' hill, the hike was easy cheesy! I was skipping through meadows and playing in rivers. The weather was nice and cool and the trail was FLAT. I felt so great!

A little after this point in the hike you kind of lose the trail and have to begin following cairns (little rock piles carefully made to tell you which direction to go). We thought we were totally following the cairns then suddenly...no more cairns. We couldn't find a rock pile anywhere! We wandered around for a bit and Tony even climbed over some tall rocks to see what he could see. We decided to go down to the river and follow it back to the last cairn we saw. We successfully retraced our footsteps and somehow got lost...again. So, we retraced once more, and found a trail, finally! Only to find out the the trail actually took us DOWNhill...the opposite way we were going. Frustrated and disappointed, we stopped and ate our lunch. We felt kind of dumb until we heard on the news just a couple days ago that two hikers got lost when they lost the Jacob's Ladder trail on Lone Peak. So, we're not the only ones!

We had fun watching the deer prance through the meadows, and we even saw a badger! I, unfortunately, made friends with a fat squirrel when I was "using the facilities" in the wilderness.

After lunch, we decided it was too dangerous to keep wandering around because it was about 2pm and we wouldn't make it back before dark. So, after trying so hard to reach the summit, we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

(there is a church talk in this somewhere, I'm sure...this is not copyrighted, feel free.)

We met up with some mountain man who told us we lost the trail like a MILE back from where we were! What the? We weren't really sure how we did that but we shrugged our shoulders and braced ourselves for what we knew was ahead...going DOWN Jacob's Ladder. I was cranky and hot and not in the mood to fall on my butt the whole way down so I grabbed on to Tony's pack and held on for dear life. We made it down the Ladder and celebrated when we saw the sign indicating the end. We were sure we were so close to the car that we would be there in 10 minutes or less. About half an hour later, we hit a dead end. We somehow took a wrong turn and ended up on an ATV trail. I was ticked...so ticked. My feet hurt, I was sunburnt, and I had already been lost enough for all the hikers on the mountain that day. I told Tony that if we got lost again, I wasn't going to be able to make it. I was running out of energy fast and if we didn't get to the car soon, I'd have to stop for a pretty lengthy break.

We found our trail and made it back to the car! We stopped at McDonald's and got some yummy food (there was no way I was cooking dinner) and rested the rest of the night. Too bad all that night and the whole next Sunday my knees were literally not working. I couldn't move. BUT--at least I didn't get attacked by fire ants and stung by stinging nettle 500 times like our last hike.

It was a really fun experience, and one day we are going to try to hike it again and get to the summit, but I'm not sure either of wants to anytime soon. We are planning our first camping trip for next weekend-ish. I've never been so we're going to a campsite to test out our "gear" and make sure I can hack it. If that works out, we might just do Lone Peak in two days so that we don't get any cranky Hollies. Those are not nice creatures at all.

To the Top of the World!

2009-07-10T14:22:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow Tony and I are hiking Lone Peak. I'm sure some of you have been on this hike (probably with Tony). I'm writing about this particular hike ahead of time because I am a little nervous about it. Tony's told me stories of climbing over boulders with thousands of feet to drop on either side, about how you get dizzy at the top, the fact that it's 13 MILES LONG.

I am, however, really excited for the hike as well. It will totally test my fitness level and it will be a fun day activity....all day activity. We'll be hiking (with rests and lunch breaks) for about 12 hours. Plus, 13 miles is a half marathon basically, so if I can do it up a mountain, I can for sure do it jogging lightly on the ground! ;)

I'm about to head to the store to get some food and other supplies we need for the hike tomorrow. We have to wake up at 6:00am to start the day. Wooooooo hoo.

In other news, the little boy I nanny said to me as I was walking out the door to go home today, "bye, Hollie! I love you!" What the? It was nice because today I was REALLY tired and kind of irritable but the kids helped me get in a better mood and the fact that he told me he loved me made me feel like I am doing something worthwhile for my job right now.