Saturday, December 19, 2009

16 weeks!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by! I remember when I made our first doctor's appointment. We had to wait like 3 weeks before it was actually time to go and I told Eric that it was forever away and would never get here. Now the appointments are always right around the corner. And as soon as we get to the New Year I know that June is going to come up on us faster than we will be ready for!

We had our 16 week checkup on Thursday. Ali went with me and got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which she thought was pretty cool! The baby is still doing good. We can't wait to find out what we are having next month!
I'm finally starting to show so that other people can recognize it (unfortunately our camera got left in Wapato at Thanksgiving and we haven't gotten it back yet, so no pics yet, sorry!). I gained quite a bit of weight since my last appointment, but considering I didn't gain any weight (and possibly lost a little) between my first 2 appointments I guess it's not that bad. It's still less than 1 lb a week for the whole pregnancy. I continue to enjoy feeling good and not being sick all the time! I now battle with heartburn and finding out that most of my favorite foods cause it, which is almost the worst thing in the world for me!! No more spicy food for this mama. I am also enjoying waking up way too early in the morning! I usually wake up between 5:00 and 6:00 am, so I enjoy some quiet time on the couch with my Lifetime Christmas movies (which Eric wont watch unless he's forced too!).


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Victoria

So, my plan was to blog about this last week but I was sick Monday & Tuesday and super busy the rest of the week. Better late than never though!

We went to Victoria, BC two weekends ago for our Anniversary. I was a little worried at how I would do since I was just getting over the flu and still getting "morning" sickness. Amazingly enough I felt great pretty much the whole weekend! I felt better each day and wasn't nauseous the whole weekend. It was nice to be able to enjoy the time together and not have to spend the whole weekend on the couch in the hotel room!

When we got to Victoria we still had a few hours before we could check into our hotel, so we took a tour out to the Butchart Gardens. What a beautiful place! Because of how late in the year it was there really weren't too many flowers in bloom, but we got to enjoy the fall colors!

It was so cold that day!


The Sunken Gardens....so beautiful!


Eric getting in touch with his inner Asian as we head into the Japanese Garden.

The colors were absolutely gorgeous!

They were starting to decorate for Christmas. They do the 12 days of Christmas we found the "Maids of Milking"

We walked so much I got a little thirsty! (The little sign below says "This water not safe for drinking")

So this boar is from Italy (I don't remember full story and Eric is still asleep!) and they would rub his snout for luck. Eric felt the need for some luck!

So that is pretty much our first day in Victoria. I think I will leave that for now as this is already super long!

Monday, November 23, 2009

12 weeks

I had my 12 week appointment last Wednesday. It is so amazing to me how fast time is flying by! I feel like we just found out we were pregnant! The appointment went really well and the baby is doing good, which is all that we can ask for.
The worst part of the appointment was that they had to draw my blood for the THIRD time! I warned the nurse the first time that my blood clumps and she assured me that it was the result of technician error. Well I think she had to eat her words...twice! I haven't heard back about this last draw yet, but I hope that all is well. If not I will most likely be sent to a hematologist (which is not something I look forward to), so cross your fingers for me.

This week was also full of exciting surprises (ok, well maybe just one)! I am feeling oh, so much better! I have not been nauseous since Wednesday (and that was very mild) and it is awesome!! I feel like I have been waiting for this day forever. Now I just feel like I eat ALL the time! But I much prefer that to being sick.
The best part of not being sick is that I cleaned!! It had seriously been like 6 weeks since I had felt well enough to clean and the house was really starting to show it! Yay for a clean house and a fridge that doesn't make me sick when I open it!
I am also enjoying my new internal alarm clock...waking up at 6:00 am no matter when I go to bed is tons of fun...oh the joys....

Mandy asked me the other day if I was starting to get a baby bump yet and this is what I told her "I can tell that it's there, but I really just look fat!" I had Eric take a picture of me, but I just can't get myself to post it because I look so horrible in it (sorry Jen)! Maybe in a few weeks I'll look pregnant and not fat!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

9 Weeks

Alright, so I have been pretty non-existent on the blog front lately. I blame my sickness! I get home from work and just can't really do anything at all! Poor Eric has not only had to deal with a sick, pregnant wife but he has also had to pick up the slack around the house. Good thing I have such an amazing husband who is willing to help me out and deal with me at the same time! Hopefully the next 3 weeks will be the last of my sickness and I will be back to my normal self and able to do things, like keep the house clean!!

We went to our first doctor appointment on Thursday and had our first ultrasound!! It was so amazing to see our little baby, and even more amazing that they know it is a baby!! Right now our little one is 2 cm, so tiny!! It is going to be amazing to feel it grow and I can't wait for our 20 week ultrasound to actually see it! We also got to hear and see the heartbeat (which was 174 bpm), which was absolutely amazing!





I feel so blessed to have this wonderful opportunity to bring a child into the world and I look forward to the next few months and all the changes that will occur as the baby grows and develops.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

And so it begins.....

Morning Sickness?????
Nope.......
Try Afternoon/Evening Sickness!

The last few days have been oh so much fun! My mornings are filled with upset stomachs and then around 3:00 I get hit with some extreme nausea. So I'm pretty much worthless after that, and I still have to work until 5:00! Awesome!! My upset stomachs and nausea are only helped by the construction that is going on next door to us and literally right outside my office window. So I am constantly being rattled, not to mention the noise!

Good times!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Camping

So last weekend we went camping with Eric's family at Deception Pass.
Talk about gorgeous!!!




Luckily we missed the rain and had beautiful weather!

There was a huge "teeter-totter" on the beach (like 7 feet high or something). Talk about scary! I did not like that at all!

Addison is super excited and ready for our hike!

Look at that! She didn't even break a sweat!

So I whined pretty close to non-stop on the hike. But it was so gorgeous up there and actually enjoyed it!

Climb baby, climb!

Jacob and Alissa braved the tree together.

Eric is such an explorer! Look at him scoping out the landscape!

Watching the sunset...

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Bring on a new week!

This last week almost ate me alive!!!
I think that it was probably the worst week I have had in a long time.
My coworker lost her job, so I was all alone and expected to pick up the slack. Which I thought would be no problem at all.
So on Tuesday I was shown how to do the other half of the department. I felt like it was 2 days of training in 4-5 hours. I barely got anything done that day and was completely overwhelmed (so much so that I asked Eric if we could go out to dinner b/c I was so stressed I didn't even want to think about cooking!).
Wednesday comes around and I am expected to put into action what I learned the day before. At this point I realize that on Tuesday I never completed a task all the way through, I did the main component of each task and then moved on. I at once felt SO overwhelmed and didn't even know where to start or what to do. I became so overwhelmed that I was fighting back tears and knew if anyone talked to me I would just break down. I ended up taking an early morning break and went outside and cried and talked to Eric. (Man, I am so grateful to have such an amazing husband. He always does such a great job of comforting me and helping me to feel better, even over the phone!) I came back from my cry-fest and found out that they hired someone new, which was the best news ever!! My stress level went way down and started to feel a lot more comfortable in what I was supposed to be doing.
The rest of the week went by fairly smoothly and I am happy to report that I survived! I was very happy to say goodbye to my horrendous week on Friday!
So bring on a new week....I am totally ready for it!!!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

It's official.....

We are big fat quiters!!!
That's right, we took our Smart for Life stuff back to Costco.
We decided that it was just NOT for us.
The cookies were dry, not very tasty and anything but filling.
I really felt like I was starving myself all day long!
Since we were hardly eating anything we never had the energy to go to the gym. I would much rather lose weight by eating healthy and excercising.
So that is what we are going to do.
Yay for having real food again!!!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Day One.....

Ok.....
So Eric and I have decided that we really need to lose some weight.
And so today was day one of our new diet.
We ordered Smart For Life from Costco, which is a "cookie diet weight loss program."
(Although I must say that it is a very loose interpretation of a cookie)


It was kind of a rough day.
The "cookies" really aren't very big (like maybe a 2"x 2" square) and aren't very filling, which left us hungry all day! But at least we get to eat a real dinner.
Let's hope this works!!!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The joy of two-incomes

The best thing about my new job is that we finally have the money to buy a new comforter set!
I have wanted one pretty much since we got married.
(Sorry babe, I like the comforter you had but it was just manly and not pretty)
So last weekend we went out shopping and found a gorgeous new bed set.
Yay for being able to afford a pretty comforter
(and all the new pillows that we had to get in order to fill the shams!)


Monday, July 13, 2009

New phases....

So the week I started working was quite an eventful week (what a crazy time to start working!)

On June 12th Ali entered a new phase in her life.....
She graduated from High School!!!

Holy Cow! When did she grow up!


I am so proud of my little Booger Butt. She has truly grown into a beautiful, smart, talented young woman. I am so proud of what she has accomplished so far in life and I look forward to seeing what her future holds. She is such a good friend to me, I couldn't ask for a better sister.
I am so excited for Ali to start college in the fall (which is 100% official as of last night when she registered for her classes!).
Ali Bug, you're off to BYU!!!!


The eventful weekend continued with surprise party for my mom's 50th.
She told us in no uncertain terms that she did not want a party, but I was very adamant about throwing her a party since I missed my dad's.
So of course, being the loving daughter that I am I took her wishes into consideration and threw a party anyways! We chose to wait for the weekend after her birthday so that we could truly surprise her. And surprise her we did!! We had the party in the park down the street from my parents house and my dad got her there by saying they were going out for dinner. So, as they were passing the park my mom saw a huge group of people that she recognized. Her first thought was, "What is the ward doing at the park?" What a shock when my dad stopped the truck! She was angry at first (and threatening physical harm) but her heart was slowly softened and she ended up enjoying herself and her friends and family.

Mom's surprise face! And boy was she surprised!! (And I absolutely love Ali's face in this shot)

My sheepish face (thinking, "I can't believe we pulled this off!")

"Yeah, I did it!"

Eric is really proud of this panoramic that he took that shows the whole crowd, so I had to put it up!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Yes, we are still alive!!!

So I called my parents last week and my dad goes, "We were just talking about you...You haven't blogged since you started working!"
I KNOW!!!
I have had a major struggle getting used to this whole working thing! Especially since I don't get off until 5:00 (my last job I got off at 3:00). To top off getting used to a work schedule it has been a super crazy month!! It started off with Ali's graduation, a surprise party for my mom, Ali's graduation party, the 4th of July, and the craziness just ended with Youth Conference. In a perfect world I would have devoted an entire entry to each event and I hate that I never got around to it, but such is life!

So....here is an update on our life and what has been happening:

I'll start with my job. I LOVE IT! I love that I am able to finally have a job that uses my degree and is something that I truly enjoy doing. The week after I started they brought in another girl, so we split the duties of the legal department so that it is not overwhelming. I really enjoy my coworker and we get along really well. We definitely have our work cut out for us! The legal department at Renton Collections has had almost a constant turnover for the last 7 years, and the most recent employee left it a mess! Tons of documents were returned by the court or our attorney because there were errors and then she never fixed them! Since I haven't really gotten around to it, here is a basic rundown of my job: when the collectors are not able to get payments from the debt holders they turn the accounts over to us and I prepare the documents to start the lawuit and then later I will prepare the documents that will give us judgment against the debtor (which means that the court says we have the right to take a set amount of money from the debtor). Once we obtain judgment my coworker then prepares the paperwork that we need in order to garnish their bank account or their wage. My day is always full and almost always flies by! I love it!!
It is so nice to have a double income again! We are SO excited to be able to save money (and hopefully buy a house in the next year) and be able to afford to do some fun things again!

Well, I think that is enough for tonight....more to come tomorrow!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

It's about time!!!!

YES!!!

After 4 1/2 months of being out of work
and nearly 6 months of job searching I finally have a job!!

And I start TOMORROW! Holy Cow!

I am SO excited!!!

So I will be working for Renton Collections Inc., which obviously is a collection agency in Renton, as their legal secretary. It is a pretty small office, I think they said there are about 25 employees in the office. They have a small legal department in house that works in conjunction with a lawyer out of Federal Way. When a payment plan cannot be worked out with a debtor legal proceedings need to be started to garnish wages, etc. I'm not sure about the whole process and what specifically gets done. But as the legal secretary I will be preparing the documents to start the legal process against the debtors. There will be a lot of learning in the next few weeks as I get trained by the person I will be replacing (thank goodness for that!).

I am just so excited that I finally have a job! I am glad that it is close to home and I won't have a huge commute and I am especially excited that I will be doing something in the legal realm.
But mostly I am just so grateful to finally receive an answer to our prayers! It has been a struggle for me to wait patiently on the Lord (maybe a lesson I needed to learn?) and trust in His timing. But I know that He has always been in control and had a plan for me. I know that He guided me throughout the whole process and I am grateful to know that He was always there with me. I am so thankful for His loving care and guidance.

I also need to thank my biggest supporter...Eric! He always had so much faith in me and my abilities. Whenever I would have moments of despair he would lovingly remind me that I am amazing and I would get a job and until I did we would be okay. He has been so patient with me, I'm sure at times I wasn't the easiest to deal with! Thank you, love, for always supporting me, for loving me, and for comforting me during this trial!. I love you so much and I am so grateful for you!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Today is my Mom's 50th Birthday!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADY!!

Thanks for being such an amazing mother! You have always been a strong example to me of love, kindness, charity, faith, and trust in the Lord. I am so grateful for the way that you raised us and all that you taught us. I know that I am the woman I am today because of your love and example. Thank you for all the sacrifices you made in order to provide us with the things we needed and sometimes just plain wanted.

Thank you so much for being my Mom!! I love you!!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

All grown up!!

I cannot believe it!!
Ali had her Senior Prom last night.
Holy Cow!!

I feel like she was just a snot nosed little girl yesterday and now she is all grown up and ready to graduate High School. But she truly has become a beautiful young woman who is smart, talented, outgoing, and ready to take on the world! I am so proud of the young woman that she has become and the effort that she has put into her education. I know that she will succeed in all that she does and I can't wait to see what she is capable of as she starts her "life" in the "real world."

I love you Booger Butt!!


Ali in her beautiful dress that mom made. Great job mom!!

Close up of Ali, I caught her mid-word so she's doing something funny with her lips but I still like this picture and it's a great close up of the awesome makeup job Eric's friend Dar did.
Thanks Dar!!

Me with my little girl! I can't believe she is grown.

Ali putting on Bryan's boutonniere.


Ali and her boyfriend Bryan.

Ali and Bryan with their friends Natasha and Kyle before they headed to dinner.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

I decided that since I am just sitting on the couch with nothing to do I should blog about our weekend.

I absolutely LOVE 3 day weekends!!! Even though I am not working and weekends are pretty much the same as weekdays for me! I love that Eric gets to be home an extra day with me and we have more time to spend together. I couldn't ask for anything more!

We decided that we would go to Eric's parent's house for the weekend, it had been a few months since we had seen most of his family so it was long over due!

The drive over Friday was.......well.......long.......There were accidents and breakdowns going over Snoqualmie Pass starting early in the afternoon and it backed up traffic for like 20 miles. We kept laughing at the traffic reports because they would say things like, "it's backed up for 30 miles, I'm not even kidding you." It was never as bad as they said it was, but it was still bad. The 2 hour drive took us just a little over 4 hours! The upside is that it was a gorgeous day so we could roll down the windows and enjoy the fresh air.

Whenever we go visit Eric's family I always want to go to Miner's to get a big fat juicy burger. Because Eric loves me so much he always takes me!! Miner's never disappoints!! I rewarded Eric for taking me there for lunch by letting him take me to see Terminator Salvation. I actually enjoyed it and I know that Eric did.

Monday we had a BBQ with some of Eric's extended family. The weather was beautful and it was so nice to be outside enjoying it and each other's company. The weather was so nice that a kiddie pool was set up for the babies and they loved it! I didn't take too many pictures (hardly any at all) but here are just a few:


Our niece, Addison, enjoying the water!

Addison getting back in the water to play with Eric's cousin's baby, Blake.

A picture of our spread. Everything was so good....which meant I ate way too much!!

We had such a great weekend. It was so good to spend time with Eric's family!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

STEAK DINNER!!

So my parents and I got Eric a BBQ for his birthday. I wanted it to be a huge surprise so we waited and gave it to him on Saturday when we had a birthday dinner at their house.

Success!!!
It was a surprise!


Eric and his amazing skills put together the BBQ yesterday after church so that we could have an inaugural steak dinner!

There's nothing like a man with his toys...look at that happy face!

Look at those steaks! (I was so busy getting the rest of dinner together
that I didn't get a chance to take other pictures)



YUM!!
It was so good!!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Mother's Day Weekend and Other Updates

Wow! This week has been so crazy! I feel like I have been go, go, go all the time! Because of my crazy busy week I have been unable to blog about the fun times and other news that has happened in the past week. I still have a bunch I need to do, but I am making the time right now!

This past weekend my parents took us all on a cruise from Vancouver, BC back home to Seattle. We had so much fun! None of us (other than Dad) had ever been on a cruise ship before. We stayed up late, ate too much food and just a great time in general. It was a clear and sunny day so we were really able to be out on the deck and enjoying the breeze, sun, and water. Since words just aren't good enough to describe our fun I am going to have to put a bunch of pictures up!


We had so much fun on our short cruise and can't wait to go on a longer one!!! It was a great way to spend Mother's Day weekend. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us all! We love you!!!

I just became an independent consultant with Tastefully Simple, which is easy-to-prepare gourmet food. It is seriously yummy and all you have to do is add one or two things to the mixes and you have something that tastes like you spent tons of time on it. Anyways, I had my first taste-testing party on Tuesday and it was tons of fun! I was a little nervous and winged a lot of it. But all in all I think it was a success. I am so excited for this and look forward to what it will bring.

Wednesday was Eric's birthday and I am so sad that I didn't have a chance to devote a post to him on his special day. But, baby, I love you and I am so grateful to have you in my life. I don't know what I would do without you. Thanks for always being there for me and believing in me! I love you!!

Okay, so this post is already super long....but just a quick update on the job situation....I had an interview on Tuesday and one today. The Tuesday interview was literally 5 minutes from our house and the one today is in Renton (pretty close to my parents). I love the location of both because the commute would be awesome!! So wish me luck! Hopefully I will get some good news soon!