Thoughts about Cell Phones

Dear Readers,
Let me tell you a little story.
My sister is turning 16 tomorrow. It's awesome. She's awesome. She's turning 16 on 12/12/12. And she gets that awesome date on her license. She also gets a phone tomorrow. I don't think she reads my blog...and even if she did it wouldn't be a big deal because she knows she's getting it. We all got a phone for our 16th birthday. It's a good age. You don't need a phone before because 1) your friends all have one-so you can borrow it and feel lame that you don't have one (that's what she says at least) 2) you aren't driving so you don't need to call mom/have mom call you to pick something up 3) you aren't dating until you're 16 so you really don't need anyone to call you and if a boy is calling/texting you they shouldn't be because you shouldn't be dating. So they can call your house. And your mom can answer and then give the phone to you. DONE.

My mom washed her phone in the laundry machine. So my sister is getting my line (a different number) and my mom gets to put her SIM card in my phone.

All that being said, I am happily getting kicked off my parents cell phone contract. I will be joining Tanner's families plan.
I have a few mixed feelings about this.
-I feel like we should be independent and pay for our own phones.
-I also know we can't afford it and it's ridiculous how much they make you pay for phones
-Tanner needs a smart phone because he's smart and because his field of work (in the business world) basically demands him to be available via email at all times.
-I wish we could get our own plan. We've looked and it is soo expensive. That being said, we're still going to pay for our portion of the plan with Tanner's family, but I still feel bad.
-I will get a new number. I will also get a new area code and people will be like...woah she's cool cuz she's not from Utah

So my mother came and picked up my phone this morning. The number was disconnected and when I called, it said it was my sister's new number. I haven't had my phone for like four hours and it feels like i'm naked...
It is hard in this world to not have a cell phone. It's also strange that it's so hard. We were all fine, happy, functioning people before cell phones were invented. We were fine before it was mainstream to have one too. What happened? Why can't we just call the home line? It takes time for people to get back to you, to return your calls. It's inconvenient to look up addresses on google maps and WRITE DOWN directions for heaven's sake. It's also hard to wear a watch so you can look at your wrist for the time instead of your phone. And it's hard to have to play games on your calculator during class. I'm being sarcastic.
What is so hard about not having a cell phone?
Is it because we're used to having something there, something to check when we have nothing to do? Something to play and someone to text when we're bored? A way to "connect" us to other people. Even though since we've had cell phones I would say we're more disconnected as a society. I won't get into that now though.

Strange. Cell phones are so strange.

I'm sitting in a computer lab waiting for my husband to finish his final. I asked to borrow a strangers phone to text him where I was so he can come when he's done. I told this stranger that I left my phone at home. It was easier than relaying all of what I've written above. So then I was sitting here, doing nothing (because I have one final left on Thursday that is online and going to be EASY) when I just felt bad. I felt bad for telling her a lie. It ate me up so I apologized to her and explained that I felt bad that I just told her a little lie so I wouldn't have to explain details about not having a phone and such. I am so glad I did. It's so easy to apologize and have those bad feelings melt away. I'm so grateful I did so.

So there you have it readers, my cell phone saga and why I love repenting.
So go apologize to someone that you need to and let's start a revolution and not use our cell phones anymore.

What's in a Name?

Well, here I am sitting at home at 10:30 am. We have 9 am church. I sat through Sacrament meeting while Tanner was fanning me and felt like I was going to explode. Hi, I'm almost 39 weeks pregnant. I was hot, sweaty, anxious and could NOT sit still. And I'm supposed to sit upright without crossing my legs to help baby be in the best position. I turned to Tanner once and said, "I think I'm going to die". I really did, in that moment feel like every fiber in my body wanted to explode. He suggested I go home. So I'm home, sitting in bed lost in my thoughts.

One conversation I've had at least daily for the past few months consists of someone asking me if we know if we're having a boy or girl and then immediately followed by, "Do you have a name yet?"

Do we have a name yet...

A name is so important. It's defining. It's your identity. It is the word you will respond to, that cues your attention and beckons you to respond. A name is important.

I remember one of the first talks I gave in church was about my name. I was asked to talk about the importance of a name and my name. I was like what, 10? That's a topic for a ten year old. I don't remember all that I said but I do remember researching with my dad our last name. I remember reading about all those family members who came before me and coming to a small understanding of the significance of a family name. Perhaps the last name is most important because it connects you to other people.

Why does the name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints matter? Because it identifies us with Jesus Christ. 3 Nephi 27: 3-9 . I love this set of verses. We take upon us the name of Christ and strive to do as He would have us. Verse 6 "And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day."

Yes, names are important. Perhaps last names are more important because it is your family name. But I know there is significance in a person's first name. We do have a name we love for this little girl. But we have back up options too. She may come out and not look like the name we've thought of. It may not be her identifying word.

After reading those verses however I have realized that it truly only matters that eventually in her life, this little babe will grow
up and take upon her the name of Christ. It only matters that she stays true to herself and her testimony of Christ. It matters that she feels connected to her name of Pearson and also to her name of Lewis. It matters that she feels loved and cherished by her parents and Father in Heaven. A name is important but a new name in Christ is more important.

This was taken last week just shy of 38 weeks. Gooo baby!

Remind me on Wednesday to write about our neighbors....and their Opera singing at 12 am...I MUST document this time in our lives.

A slurry of thoughts

I just really hope my baby is chubby like Stephanie Nielson's. She's the cutest chub in the world.
I want to kiss those cheeks.

Life is good. Finals are almost upon us and we're busy with final projects. Christmas Around the World is this weekend which means we've spent the week at the Marriott Center. You might wonder why, especially because we're done dancing. BUT Tanner TA's the tour team and I thought I might as well help with costumes since he'd be there the whole time. It's nice to feel useful and practice what I'm supposed to be able to teach soon.

We're getting ready for this babe. My uterus is gearing up for the marathon and I'm really enjoying my pressure waves. (That's the word we use for contractions). I'm doing hypnobabies for my child birth prep and it's awesome. And it works. I love it. Go here for more information or ask me if you have questions!!

We're going to have a quiet afternoon/evening now. I haven't seen my husband very much this week and I'm excited to just be with him. We promised we wouldn't do homework until tomorrow. Maybe we'll get our Christmas tree...ps...any suggestions for cheap-ish tree stands? We were thinking we'd try DI but if anyone knows of a better place let me know!

There's going to be a huge load of recipes uploaded on my recipe blog this weekend...so be warned. The project is due Tuesday and I have a few more to upload along with pictures. So get excited!!!

Tanner just installed the car seat in our car. I think I'm slightly freaking out about everything now. That's normal, right? It's going to be fantastic and overwhelming and wonderful. Happy Friday! :)

Giving Thanks

I'm just going to go ahead and get my gratitude list out a bit early this year...
-I am grateful for the knowledge I have of the Gospel. I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm grateful that I know it's true.
-I'm grateful my husband makes dinner with me. It is so much fun and we make some rockin' food together.
-I am grateful I'm pregnant. I have loved the past eight (!!) months. Every single second of them ... ha ha. I am grateful for the opportunity to lend my body over for the creation of human life. What a miracle. What a blessing.
-I am grateful for water. I LOVE WATER.
-I am grateful for my awesome husband. He is the hardest worker I have ever met and I admire him so much. He does so much for our family. I love him a lot. He's so handsome and wonderful and helps me be all sorts of happy. And he started a blog too...read it. www.theweeklytap.blogspot.com
-I am grateful for amazing family and friends who have spoiled us the past few months as we prepare for this baby. People are so giving and generous. THANK YOU.
-I am grateful for kindred spirit friends. I am grateful for long Sunday night conversations, pumpkin pie medicine, and bath robes. All of these symbolize my sweetest friends. I am so grateful for them and the things I learn from their examples.
-My mother. My dear friend said this about my mother tonight, "that woman has more kindness and love than anyone I know and that's just stored up in her little pinky finger." (this is not a direct quote...but pretty close). How true this statement is. Tanner just said, "her name is appropriate for who she is". Mom, we love you.
-I am grateful for my abilities and talents. I am grateful for my gifts. I am grateful I have opportunities to use them for good in this world.
-I love education. I'm grateful I'm still in school and learning and growing. What an amazing journey college has been. I wouldn't change it for the world.
-My siblings. They are the best. I love and admire them and all they do. They are some of my best friends.
-My dad. He is the sweetest father. I love him and am grateful for his undying support.
These are just come highlights. There is so much in this world to be grateful for. I hope I can live my life in a way that shows others that I am truly grateful. Hope you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving week. :)

Update of the Stolen Bike

Once upon a time my bike was stolen...I have already written a post on that one. It was exciting.
The other day I received a letter telling me that the girl (yes it was a girl) who stole my bike is being arrested/called to court for a myriad of things. Turns out that if you steal a bike it's bad, but if you sell is illegally to a pawn shop it's worse. :/
They have asked me to send them a letter and receipts indicating how much I would like to be reimbursed basically. So...without a receipt (because I had to buy it with cash and somehow I didn't get a receipt?) I will write them and let them know that yes, it would be great to have $30 back. And can they restore my basket too?
I felt strange about this whole situation. Justice vs. Mercy. I kept going back and forth thinking, what if she really needed that $30? What if her family is starving and she's just trying to help out? On the other hand, perhaps she bought drugs with it? Or perhaps some make-up because she's trying to impress a boy? So many reasons. I thought to myself, it doesn't matter, it's just money and I am fine. I don't want her to get in trouble. I don't want her life to be turned upside down because of this one mistake. And yet, we believe in Justice. It's such a fragile balance.
I want there to be Mercy. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. Then I thought of the Atonement. We are thankfully blessed with Mercy. But there is Justice as well. Someone has to be punished. Christ takes our punishment for us. HOWEVER, we still remember the sin or wrong doing and we individually punish ourselves internally before true repentance can take place. That's at least what has happened to me before. Then we turn ourselves over to Christ and the suffering is taken away. BUT we remember our sin and there are still consequences on this earth for the things we do. Thus, we have a legal system that hopefully justly punishes those for their wrongdoings. I hope things work out okay for this girl. I am sad she stole and then sold my bike but I hope that this is the extent of her mistakes. I hope she is punished fairly for the laws of the land she broke but then can continue to press forward and improve herself and hopefully not make the same mistakes again.

Also, take this post to remind yourself that we have a check and balance system in our government...cool huh?

Park City Adventure

We had a really really fun weekend in Park City.
No pictures were taken....
When do we ever take pictures?? SORRY!

I decided after finding a great deal on Groupon that we needed to do something fun. We don't like spending money and have a hard time letting ourselves to "fun" things-meaning things that cost money. But after not being able to truly celebrate our 1 year anniversary this summer (we didn't want to spend money-ha!) and not getting to go on the Cancun trip or Cruise that Tanner won at work, we needed to do something! And...people talk about Babymoons so we thought we would splurge.

We had fun walking around Main Street and finally decided on a place to eat after walking down the entire place. Yes, it was at the very end of the street and it took us almost a whole hour. I think I'm more indecisive since being pregnant. Oops. We went to a lovely and fairly inexpensive brick over pizza place called Vinto. It was super yummy and we had the best Cesar Salad I've ever had. Maybe the best Tanner has had too. I just think it was divine.
Then we walked up to the other end of Main Street and Tanner got some ice-cream (did I mention it was freezing?). I got a hot chocolate. Again, this was the best hot chocolate I have ever had. EVER. I experienced many favorites this weekend.

By this point, it was late and we were really tired from a long week and day of school. We got back to the hotel (yay Groupon!) and crashed. But Tanner did whip out his guitar and play the song he wrote for me when he proposed. It was sweet. I cried-remember how I'm pregnant? Then we broke out the bottle of wine that came with our Groupon...kidding, they gave us apple cider. PS. How is that equivalent  Apple Cider costs like $3 and wine is much more expensive...even the lowest quality right? I TOTALLY wish I could have had that wine...too bad I'm pregnant. ;) But we had fun. We slept in really late and enjoyed a really late breakfast/brunch at Squatters.

Again, I had the best French Toast I've ever had. And really, all those things, the salad, the hot chocolate and the french toast TRULY were the best I've had. I'm not joking. Then we went shopping at the Outlet malls...but remember how we can't spend money on things we don't need? So we bought baby clothes because we actually really do need baby clothes. Oh, and a splatter screen because Tanner has wanted one for so long and we've never actually gone and bought one. After about an hour and a few adorable dresses for a little one later, we drove to City Creek in SLC and went to H&M. They have maternity things there. Yay!! I bought a shirts and a sweater. I also tried on some regular clothes and laughed at myself. Don't do that to yourself if you're almost 34. It's funny and cruel all the the same time.

After the shopping we went and visited some good friends in Sugar House. We spent the afternoon enjoying their new baby and our future son-in-law. It was so fun and we wish we lived closer to them!!!

Then we went home and I cried because I didn't want to go back to school and sit in the same room as my husband in silence as we studied and did homework. Yes, I was a baby. The weekend was so fun and so good for us. I am grateful that we splurged and did a little getaway. It was so healthy for us and let us reflect on our future and what is coming up in our lives. We're so excited for this little baby and so nervous too. But I am so confident that the timing is right and the Lord will help us prepare. Truly, nothing is impossible with Him.

Park City is really fun. And really expensive. But really fun. And it clearly has three of my favorite things...so we may have to go back up again soon.

This is Halloween

One of my favorite things in the whole entire world is checking things off my list. You know, you make all those To Do lists and then you get to draw a little check next to them. OR you can just cross out the thing entirely. This depends on your mood for the day/activity you have to do.
I just love getting things done. I also love procrastinating certain things...obviously.

As we skyped my in-laws the other night my Father in Law mentioned something about having the baby early, like can't she come at 39 weeks? Of course I answered that no, she's full term at 37 weeks. SO he asked if I was ready for that. ha ha ha I seriously have not even thought of her coming that early...or early at all. I'm planning on her staying put until at least 40 weeks. Or 39...I have finals people.

We're excited for Halloween tomorrow. Sad that Tanner has a soccer game (that I will miss), but happy because we get to dress up and pass out Halloween candy in our house. And those children had better come. Candy is expensive!!!

This post is extremely lame.

We're going to Park City this weekend (yay groupon!). We had to celebrate the Cancun trip Tanner won this summer (that we won't go on because we're too practical), the Cruise he won (that will happen over my due date), our 1 year anniversary that we never REALLY celebrated, and a Babymoon. Too bad we're stressed about what will be due in school when we get home. Sigh. Vacations are never really vacations are they?
Have a happy, candy filled Halloween! :)

A list of gratitude-I'm skipping Halloween this year.

Just so you know...

1) I freaked out a little bit today when we set up our car seat, stroller and crib. But just a little bit.

2) I love my major and am so happy I made that switch...middle of my junior year. My classes are amazing.

3) I've been wanting to show Once Upon a Time to Tanner since this summer (when I watched it while he worked). We finally started watching it last night and now we may never stop

4) My husband is only taking 12 credits next semester. This is music to my ears. Yes, he may still be the TA for PAC and have an internship and be on the Executive Board for PRSSA and have a brand new baby...but this will be an improvement from this semester. 

5) I really like hypnobabies...go look it up if you're curious. It's really really awesome stuff. Our minds are so powerful. I am actually looking forward to my birthing time with excitement. I get so anxious to experience it all and I'm not even scared.

6) I started having contractions again. It was really fun. So we went to the midwife again. Here's what we concluded: I'm sick. I'm very sick. I have a UTI (first one-wahoo!), a nasty cold, and my uterus likes to contract when I get sick and cough and have bladder problems. So we went down to Good Earth and spent a fortune. I'm gulping down elderberry syrup, anti-cramp tincture (yuck), vitamin C, Echinacea (to boost the immune system), magnesium, Epsom salt baths (I like baths), CRANBERRY JUICE (this part is yummy), and Onguard (DoTerra Oils). I like natural medicine, I really do but there is one thing to be said in favor of other Western medicine-it doesn't taste bad. I would rather put something natural in my body any day though. 

7) We're really excited for the baby to come...I save my nesting for the weekends and it's awesome

8) I don't especially love GE's. Statistics is kicking my behind right now and I curse my test anxiety.

9) Speaking of tests, I just took a textiles exam and scored a 57%. I was really confused because I studied really well and KNOW I knew the material it covered. Thankfully we found out our teacher accidentally gave the testing center a wrong key. WHEW. That is good good news.

10) Life is lovely and boring and wonderful all at the same time. I love the mundane and the happy times I find day to day. I'm grateful for good education, a wonderful husband, the Gospel, and wonderful family members. I am also really happy I didn't have to sign up for classes for next semester.

What are some things you're grateful for?

Belly Pictures

Because I always wanted to see people's cute tummy's...

26 weeks

? 28 weeks?

29 weeks

30 weeks

I'll be 32 weeks on Tuesday! Crazy how fast it's flying by now. Only a few more weeks to get everything ready! :)

Teenagers, politics and a list

So I T.A. for a Multicultural Education class at BYU. I love it. The hours are whenever I want to work and I find the class so great. It was one of my favorite classes I've taken at BYU (at least one of my favorite secondary ed classes). The students did an online session today and one of the articles the professor had them look at really really made me go crazy. I thought I would share.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-m-roffman/teen-sexuality-sex-as-spo_b_620024.html?view=print


Sorry for all the crazy posts about cheating/teenage problems with sexuality posts. I just think these things are important to know about.

The debates are important too. You should watch them and then not post anything about them on Facebook. My friend's status this morning read: Let's all remember: the debate was last night. Don't continue is on facebook. You, in fact, are not running for office. Leave the dirty work to the politicians.

Hilarious. I love her.

You should also find out about the topics these men are talking about. And you should know who else you'll be voting for in a few weeks. It's not just about these two men. The President is just one part of government. Ever heard of the balance of powers? Yes, that means the House of Representatives and the Senate. You'll be voting for those people too...that's important.


On a less serious note
1) My mom, Tanner and I mostly painted the baby's room yesterday. We forgot a ladder so the top of the room is still blue.
2) I decorated the front porch with spider webs. I'm making a huge foam spider to put on my door instead of a wreath. It's kind of like...welcome to my lair.  Tanner insisted we bought orange lights to string around. I will put those up tonight.
3) My father-in-law is here and we're excited! Tanner and his dad are running the St. George Marathon (along with quite a few other friends) on Saturday. I think they are awesomely crazy.
4) I am going to post a few more pictures of my increasing waist line soon.
5) I bought a beautiful picture to put in the baby's room and it makes me want to cry every time I look at it. I'll obviously post pictures when the room is finished
6) This baby is coming in 2 1/2 months...
7) Obviously I'm having a really hard time focusing on school. All I want to do is nest. However, I am doing really awesome in my four classes. Yay for only 12 credits! Life is so much easier when you're not dancing. Yay!

Hope you have a really really awesome day.

Pregnant with my bike stolen.

You really shouldn't steal a bike from a pregnant woman.

The other day, I got up to ride my bike to campus. This hadn't happened in a while because Tanner's bike broke and we walked to school together.  I also wasn't really supposed to ride my bike/engage in physical activity. Well, my beautiful cream beach cruiser was gone.

Stolen.

I texted Tanner and was sad. But I wasn't angry. I was really calm and just thought to myself, oh dear, that is sad. But it's just a thing.

It didn't really bother me the rest of the day. When I got home I called to report it to the Provo police. They were awesome and sent someone over to get the rest of the information about the bike. Luckily, I had this picture to show him:

The nice police man said he would let me know if he found it. I was hopeful but not expecting much. He called me about an hour later saying he found it at a pawn shop.

This was a good and bad thing.
Good because it was found.
Bad because the person who stole it also scammed the pawn shop. They have to identify themselves through finger print and with their address and everything, verifying that the item they're selling is theirs.

She lied and so now there were two cases.

The police man told me I could come pick it up but I would have to pay the $30 to get it back. P.S. my bike is worth WAY more than $30. Poor stealer.

So I went to go pick it up. I was a little annoyed that I had to pay for my stolen bike, but the pawn shop didn't want to press charges and wanted business still. Whatever, I wasn't going to fight it, especially because the police man had probably already tried to reason with them.

I go in...the nice teenage boy working there tells me he's sorry for this big mess. I'm fine about it. They wheeled out my bike. It doesn't look like my bike. But it is. The basket was broken and I was worried I was going to take the wrong bike home.

Then I take out my card to pay and the girl says, "oh no, we only take cash".
That was the straw the broke the camels back.
I then said to the girl, "so you're making me pay $30 cash to get my stolen bike back from you, because you're not going to press charges?" I didn't say this meanly but just like...hello I'm paying for my stolen bike.
She went quiet and told me again they would only take cash.

I didn't have cash.

By this point, most of the employees were around. And yes, I started to cry silently. The nice teenage boy asked me if I was okay. I told him, "yes but I'm pregnant so tears come very easily to me."

I started to walk away, crying of course. The rest of the employees starting going in the back awkwardly.

This is the dramatic part.

I stop and say, "This is why choices matter". They turn around and stare and this silly, crying pregnant woman. I continue, "because they affect other people". I turned and walked out of the pawn shop with them all staring at me.

At least if any of those employees ever think about stealing a bike or something they'll remember me standing there crying, trying to teach the world about choices.

I still haven't gotten my bike back. I don't have cash. The police man went to arrest the girl who stole my bike but I haven't heard anything about it yet.

So next time you think about stealing a bike from a pregnant lady...think about who your choices are affecting. :)

Cheating

You know, there are a lot of bad things out in the world.
Drugs, pornography, immorality, infidelity, murders, etc.

Bad.

There's just a lot of bad.

But do you know what scares me more than those things? People's lack of integrity and character.
I just read this article and it's long but it's well worth the read and you might as well know more about what's going on in schools rather than the blogs you're reading, right?... I know you have the time.


This makes my skin crawl. Just really really crawl.

I remember one time down in my basement doing a group project. It was a simple assignment and I was sitting there, writing things on the poster board. Everyone else in my group was talking (not a big deal...you know how group projects are). Then we got on the subject of cheating. Everyone starting talking about the best ways to cheat. I was completely caught off guard. I asked them if they all cheated on assignments and tests. Their responses were that of, "duh, doesn't everyone?"

Um, no. Not everyone cheats. They asked me how I cheat on things. I told them I hadn't since second grade. They were shocked. SHOCKED.

So then they said, wow I bet you and so and so (a boy from my grade) are the only ones in the school who have never cheated.

Um, hey. I went to high school in Utah Valley. 99% of my classmates were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I'm pretty sure more than just two of us in the class hadn't cheated before. But I was shocked. I looked at all those people in my group and just sat there dumbfounded. What was the world coming to?

Indeed. What is the world coming to.

In second grade I remember cheating on a test. We were sitting there with two manilla folders around our desks, taking a little test. I looked over initially to look at the boy next to me (he was cute, okay?) and saw his answers. I thought it would be so easy to write down what I just saw, so I did. Then my teacher caught me. She caught me and pulled me aside and talked to me about what was going on. I remember crying, realizing that what I had just done was so wrong. I knew that I was unhappy, my teacher was unhappy and ultimately it made the Lord unhappy. Was a temporal test worth that? No. It never is. I decided then to never cheat. And I was honest with myself.

So as a teacher, what do I do? What do I do when I know this will be happening? I will of course take away all phones at the beginning of classes, rewrite tests and such but what do we do? How to we stop this moral decay?

Standardized testing is for another day...

Read the article. Tell me what you think. And please, remind yourself that it's easier to be obedient 100% of the time than it is to be 98% of the time. And teach your children ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Contractions

Today has been an interesting day.

I have been having contractions all day. No, not just Braxton Hicks. Yes, I'm 26 weeks....Not quite ready for our little girl to come yet. So to say I've been slightly stressed and paranoid is an understatement. But let me just say one thing.

The Lord is so watchful and takes care of His children. He puts people in our paths and in our day to day activities for real reasons. Like the nursing student who was just there while I was at work. And the professor who I T.A. for who knew exactly what to say. And good midwives who are careful and calming. And a mother who listens to the spirit and comes to take care of me. And a wonderful husband who is too busy for his own good but had class out early today. Really, things are good.

I'm fine, the baby is fine and I'm on a "modify your lifestyle" prescription. This means I will no longer be able to dance like I want to....I'm really only taking a half credit country western class (line dancing...really?) and I'm teaching a Russian dance to the back up folk dance team. Looks like those girls won't be able to see me turn full out. Darn.

But life is good. I'm calm, the baby is not (she will have to be doing the dancing for the both of us), and everything is happy. But you know, I thought I should keep record of the blessings and scary-ness in my life somewhere.

My favorite part of the day was a conversation I had with my mom.
Me: "You know, these contractions are not that awful. If this is what contractions feel like during labor...I'm going to be fine."
Mom: "Oh my dear, your contractions during labor will be much worse. Don't worry."

Haha I love my mom. And I don't really love contractions...just give me 14 more weeks okay baby?

Food Blog

I just started a food blog... I know you probably all want to check it out :)  I think it's much prettier than this blog. And I like the name better too soooo maybe I'll just combine them. We'll see. And no, I don't have pictures yet and when I do post pictures, don't expect them to be fancy.

Happy weekend! :)

www.sonofpears.blogspot.com

Upstairs and Downstairs

We live in a yellow submarine. Actually we don't. We live in the upstairs of an adorable old home and we love it. We have so much room and a second bedroom to get ready for the baby (probably won't happen without my mother...school has taken over).
Last year, we lived in the basement of this home. We feel very very lucky to have found this place and to have such amazing landlords.
We were always really quiet downstairs. I think we were at least. We always made people leave around 9 because of the children upstairs and tried to be courteous.
So we have been nervous about having a baby come December. New borns are not quiet, especially at night when you're trying to sleep. :/


Since living upstairs, we've realized that you can hear a lot that goes on down there.
We hear singing ALL THE TIME. We hear yelling quite often. We hear conversations that we don't want to hear.
We've still been trying to be quiet up here. The downstairs tenants say they can't hear us at all...and I really hope that's true.

We just heard another yell....at 10:40pm.

That being said...I may not feel as bad come December.
This is the part where I feel bad for thinking that, let alone writing it here. Judge away.

Weekend of Fun

It's been a lovely weekend.
Friday I got to watch my cousins adorable girls. We had lots of fun playing with bubbles, play dough and burying ourselves with pillows. Tanner came home and played with them which just melted my heart. He's going to be such a good dad.

That evening Tanner's brother, his wife and their adorable son came to stay with us. It was so fun. We sat up talking and Saturday went to the MOA where we saw a very nice exhibit. Then we went shopping at Plato's closet (first time-I was overwhelmed and will probably never go back).

Then Tanner and I made a lime cheesecake-heaven. REALLY. The recipe is on my sweets board on pinterest. Best cheesecake I've ever eaten. Sigh. I wish I could eat it everyday. That evening we went and saw Arsenic and Old Lace at the Hale Center Theatre. It was so so fun. We were on the first row and were quite sucked into the comedy. We love this story and it was just perfect. Tanner had bought the tickets for me/us way back in December for Christmas and it was really fun to have a pre-paid date 8 months later. I think we'll do it again this year.

Sunday was lovely in our new ward and we enjoyed spending time with our guests and then went up to Highland for my birthday dinner with the family. A lovely summertime walk, the adverb game and the cheesecake were just AMAZING.

Life is good. Really good.
And yes, we had hard times this week too. Don't just read this post and think that our lives are great and perfect. It's not. Have a happy week,

Weeks 22 and 24

Here are some more lovely belly shots!!! Yay for being pregnant! 

Also...being pregnant in classes is really fun. The first day I want to pass out half way through my two hour class. I need standing/walking breaks! It is going to be so much fun. The RB stairs are more fun this semester as well. I pant more, and I have to walk up slowly. Biking to school is also more tiring. Can I tell you how happy I am that this is my last semester of classes?

22 weeks in my totally awesome striped dress. 

Yes, Tanner took this picture from down below so the angling is a bit off.

24 weeks! Quite the difference eh?

And so my eleventh semester begins

Tomorrow I start the first day of my last semester of classes. Can I just say...THANK GOODNESS. I have been starting fall semester too many times. I looked at my classes and I have two tomorrow. Just two. Lovely. And then two on Tuesdays. Only one on thursdays. I am so thankful that it's not a jam packed one.

So bring on the back end side of pregnancy and my eleventh semester.

Other thoughts:
I am happy I'm not dancing this year. I'm a little bit sad...but since Tanner is TA-ing I'm pretty sure I will get my fill. I've already been asked to teach some things this semester too so that is fun and gives me the less stressful side.
I need to drink more water. I drank a lot this summer since I was sitting at home with water bottles galore. But since we've been in Provo my life has been busier and thus I'm not just sitting around (amazing!) drinking water.
We need a full size couch-for cheap. We are upstairs in a lovely home with a very very large family room. Our chair and love seat look lost in the big room. Besides, if we get a larger couch we can host more fun things! Anyone have any leads?
I loved recipe hunting tonight. It made me so happy.
I also loved pulling out my planner and writing things down in there like...an interview for a TA job tomorrow, (cross your fingers!) my birthday on Thursday, and a date night to Hale Center Theatre on Saturday. They're doing Arsenic and Old Lace which is the best show ever and Tanner gave me/us tickets for Christmas. Yay for dates that were paid for 8 months ago!
I bought my first pair of maternity jeans last week. I refuse to wear them until the elastic around my button breaks because it's been stretched so far. Really though, they were comfortable and I wondered why all jeans weren't made with wonderful stretchy material at the top.
I am really happy. We have a cute new second bedroom I'm excited to paint (it's blue) and baby things to fix up and get ready. Hello nesting. I also have an awesome husband. And we have so much fruit in our house right now it's insane. I love craving fruit (and fruit smoothies and sushi). I also love Bountiful Baskets.
I love wedding and seeing old friends.
That's all.

Moving and Grooving

Today was a good day.
We slept in and were greeted at the front door by two cute kids. One in just a diaper and the other one explaining to us that his little sister (the one in the diaper) was yelling for his friend. His friend used to live here and they were really cute. It made me happy.
Did I mention that we live in a house? Well, we lived in the basement last year but we get to live upstairs now. All that we have is moved in and looking for a home. I secretly love unpacking. I love finding homes for things. This unpacking was like Christmas. We have so much stuff! We didn't bring a whole lot to TN so seeing all these wonderful goods make us feel like we got married again and have new presents. It's so fun.

This evening I got to teach a dance at folk dance workshop. It's a few days of intense auditioning for the backup folk dance team. It was lovely to move again and stretch my limbs. I got to teach a beautiful Russian number. The girls did a great job and it felt so good to move. I'll probably feel it tomorrow.

Baby Girl was moving along with me. I usually only feel her when I'm sitting and comfortable but tonight while I taught, she was dancing right along. Maybe she loves music? Maybe she loves exercise? Maybe she's just a folk dancer. She did start when she was 6 weeks old...

Happy School!

Baby is a...

Hi!  Just wanted to share some happy news!

Baby GIRL will be joining us in December. Merry Christmas to us! :)

She was tightly curled into a ball the entire ultrasound and wasn't moving at all...very unlike her. But even with her knees touching her nose, she raised her cute little hand and gave us a wave. Perfect.


Happy Baby Girl Day!

My interest in Pinterest

Two post in one day. This is exciting!!!

I would like to say some things about Pinterest

1. The other night I was getting ready for bed and I hear my husband..."I just pinned something. I don't know what I'm doing. This is confusing." I loved it. I also loved that he pinned a yummy pecan cheesecake something. Good choice dear.
2. I am bothered when married woman...actually all women single or not....pin pictures of men who do not have a shirt on. I promptly stop following that board or person, depending on my mood. Because if men were "pinning" pictures of half naked women it would be pornography. Oh wait. SAME THING FOR GIRLS.
3. I also dislike scanning the food and drink section and see pictures of half naked men because it's under someone's board titled "Yummy". No thanks, I don't like eating humans.

I mostly just wanted to vent about pictures of men that I don't like to see.

Your thoughts?

One week more

One week until we are home in Utah.

I only have one more week to do nothing...but don't worry I have big plans.

Today I will do nothing. Actually, maybe I will try to go to the library and get one last book for this week. Yes I will do that.
I will also attempt to make the blog look better. I don't know how. I don't like blog templates. Someone help me.
I found Bewitched on Hulu. That was a good find.
Tomorrow I will do nothing.
Wednesday I have the car so I will return the guitar and sewing machine we have borrowed (no, the sewing machine has not been used. I didn't bring any of my supplies and wasn't about to buy new scissors, tape measurer, etc). I will make cookies for those we borrowed them for and I will also use the groupon I bought at the beginning of the summer for a manicure and pedicure.
Thursday I will begin to pack...maybe. Oh yes, and the company is taking us to lunch.
Friday I will finish or begin packing. Friday night we will pack the car
Saturday morning we will leave for Utah.


When I get home I will do the following:
Find out the gender of the child.
Buy a cute outfit for said child.
Brainstorm for nursery
Begin to actually buy things for baby...maybe
Research more for baby things
Buy maternity clothes? BLAH no thank you
Buy a maternity swimsuit...any suggestions?
Eat at Cafe Rio
Eat at Snoasis
Move into our new/old place. We will be living in the upstairs of the house where we were in last year. WAHOO!
Buy books for the semester
Enjoy the fact that it is the last time I will have to buy textbooks for myself.
Figure out how I will finish my dance minor
Find a job...interview for jobs I've applied for
Exercise
Wish I was at PAC rehearsals because I don't know how to exercise without dance. Maybe I'll just go and dance for the exercise. Tanner was asked to TA for PAC this semester so perhaps because our director loves him so much she will let me. And I have not lost my balance yet, just my dancing muscles.


Clearly I have more to do when I get home. AND my family will be there so while my wonderful, hard working husband is working next week, I will have people to do things will. Or at least I can sit with them and do nothing with them, and talk to real people.

And I will drink out of the tap. No more buying water bottles for this lady.

YAYYYYY for one more week of doing nothing! :)

Politics and my opinion

Some things have been on my mind lately and I thought I would get my rant on.

These are totally just my opinions and you can disagree or agree with me. I just hope it makes you think about what your opinion is on some of these different subjects.

Let's start with something easy.

1) Dr. Oz. Who is this guy? I have no idea what his credentials are,(I haven't cared to look him up) and I don't know who he is. Why do people love him so? I heard he has told people that it's good to have oil in your body because it runs throughout and lubricates everything...oil is not running around your muscles and making them move better. And suddenly this guy reminds me a lot of the wizard from the wizard of Oz...remember how he was a fake?

2) Olympic medals. The tax thing. So the whole deal here is that people who win a gold medal get $25,000 additionally as a stipend for their hard work not being able to have a job while they train. Silver gets a smaller amount and bronze an even smaller amount. So those men and women have to pay $9,000 in taxes if they win a gold medal. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Don't tell me the IRS is saying that the $25,000 is being counted as income! Well, isn't it income? At first thought I was like, that's rude. They shouldn't tax those athletes. But they earned that money by working hard. Other hard working people pay taxes on the money they earn. The Republican who is putting forth a bill  claims that the IRS is being discriminatory to the athletes. Aren't you singling them out by having them not pay on the money they earned? Because being an athlete is clearly so much more valuable to our society than working somewhere else. Um, can you say discriminatory?

3) Chick-fil-a. Eat chicken. That's all they're selling.  And the mayors of Boston and Chicago are again, being discriminatory against someone who they think it's being discriminatory. What the...

4) Education. No. I will not go there. That soap box will have to be saved for another time. Just know I have one.

5) Contraceptives. So if you want a morning after pill you can just go get one. I think the government is thinking, if we let people get birth control for free they will not have babies out of wedlock and we won't have single mothers and we won't have poverty and we will have happy, whole families. THIS IS THE ANSWER TO  FIXING POVERTY. Yes, often times when there is a rotten tree, I like to cut the branches off too instead of dig the whole thing out. This is just taking away people's responsibility. 

The family is the basic unit of society and we are seeing it fall apart. It is degraded and thus so is our country following suit. 

Ron Paul encourages us to govern ourselves and our families. I agree. It begins in the family.

I find this life to be confusing sometimes. I see our country struggling in some areas and doing well in others. I see the constitution hanging by a thread. Yet, I am comforted because I know this is the way God intends it to happen. We can not fix the government or change our economy with a flip of a switch. The problem is within our families and in this generation of entitlement. Blah blah blah. I'm done. 

And today I'm 21 weeks pregnant. YAY! :) 

Some belly pictures

My mother claims that many people are anxious to see belly shots. I have not be vigilant at taking them every week. I'm sorry. I will start to do that now. I promise. SOOO here are a few. I think I've taken more on my phone but it does not claim being smart and I don't know how to get those online.

 This is when we told Garrett we were pregnant. He was at work and the owner of Culver's said we could put it on this big sign. So cool.

This is the day we found out we were pregnant. We visited my parents and she insisted we take a picture. Thank you Lindsay for making me look pretty in this picture. :)

SO...4.5 weeks

11 weeks. In the lovely bloated stage. Excuse the face and open drawers. 

17 weeks
Tanner's Birthday. Don't worry we documented those festivities as well.
And no, I don't wear make up anymore isn't that what the pregnancy glow is anyway?

Just a few days shy of 20 weeks. 

How's that for random? 

We're waiting to find out the gender until we get back in Utah in a few short weeks!! We can't wait.

And yes, this little girl or boy likes to move and kick and punch his/her daddy's hand. Too fun. 

Really Grateful

You know, this summer has been really hard.
I've had a hard time sitting around with no car 95% of the time and feel very lazy.
I'm not going to go into all of that because it's boring and I have had enough pity parties to last me a while.

But I'm really grateful for a good husband who is the best therapist.
I'm grateful for my mom and sister who let me text/call/skype them almost every day.
I'm grateful for good friends who let me blab to them and cry to them on the phone.

I am grateful that I get to read a lot and expand my mind and also watch tv shows that are popular and I never knew about because I don't watch tv...except for this summer.

And I am grateful for the Olympics because now I can cheer and cry with the athletes. And they make me motivated. Like I did push-ups and squats and calf raises yesterday. This is a big deal.

I'm grateful that I've been sick with this little babe and even more grateful that at 20 weeks I'm starting to feel better.

I love the pool and I love homemade pizza and I love that I get to go to Alabama this weekend. I love that even though my husband is a self proclaimed health nut, he brings home resee's peanut butter puffs and cinnamon toast crunch for cereal.

I have a lot to be grateful for because life is great, even amidst this hard summer.

AND did I mention that Tanner won a company competition and a free trip to Cancun? Ya, that's something else to be grateful for.

Update for my avid followers

Whenever I see some of my favorite blogs void of updates I get sad. I like consistency. That being said, I don't think I am anyone's favorite blogger or a very amusing read. I would still like you tell you something.

I'm obsessed with Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next Series. Thank you Megan, thank you thank you thank you. I was working my way through the series and went to get the fourth book at the library. When I saw the other three just sitting there I thought, what the heck!  I should just bring them all home!  I did just that. I am really glad I love reading so much...so much that the other day I was sitting there reading while Tanner made dinner alone and I did nothing to offer to help. I am ashamed. The book (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) won. Thanks Jenn!  I'm trying not to bring my book to the dinner table as often and yes, I've made more dinners lately.

I will soon post some really really hot pictures of myself with a semi-pregnant belly. I am currently 19 weeks and 2 days along and I like being pregnant. I will be perfectly honest and say that those kicks I feel (or a head jab-seriously how does a fetus this big make an impression-it must be the head) are strange. I am trying not to think about it. So get ready to see pictures of me......and no I did not do anything cute with a chalkboard so don't expect to pin my pictures. 

Faith and Miracles

Tanner and I just started reading the New Testament and we love it. I love the conversations it spurs and the spirit I feel as we read.
I also love the Bible videos found on lds.org. Here is one of my favorites. Miracles are always directly related to faith.

Why I may be an irresponsible parent

I did some really fun things this past week. Maybe they were too fun.

On Tuesday the company Tanner works for paid for everyone to go to a huge water park. It was located in Santa Claus, Indiana. It was about three hours away so we left bright and early to get a good taste of Holiday World. Yes, Holiday World in Santa Claus. Victoria, he does exist. This was the very first theme park in the world and it was all about different Holiday's. A huge Christmas tree greeted us as we walked inside and Christmas music was blaring from the speakers. Since it was July and about 1000* outside, it did not feel very normal. It was very fun however. We spent most of the day in the water park and decided not to explore Fourth of July land or the Hallo-swings.

The Splashin' Safari park was awesome. I was extremely paranoid about going. The night before I had a mini break down because I didn't want to go. I would just be sitting there all day in the hot sun, holding my husband back and I wouldn't want to go on any of the rides. Then one of my favorite people out here texted me and told me that we had to ride together. After a lot of coaxing we decided to go. I was so worried about the whole being pregnant and going to a water park. Obviously-it can be super dangerous. There was however, the longest and biggest water coaster in the world "THE MAMMOTH" at this water park.

That was the first ride we decided to go on. It was a long long wait. I looked and looked for warning signs saying no pregnant women but there was nothing. Seriously...nothing. (Little did I know that Tanner and one of our friends who works with him saw the sign and decided to with hold that information). So after about an hour and a half of waiting in the sun (and drinking lots of water that was stationed throughout the lines), I passed out. My really strong husband caught me and escorted me out of the line and under a gate. Yes, he is strong. Apparently everyone kept asking what was wrong and he was like, she's pregnant (and crazy). He kept asking me where I wanted to go and the only thing I could think of was the bathroom. So after a bathroom trip and feeling sooo much better, I decided we had to go back to the ride. Thankfully everyone let us through because they had seen what happened, and we were able to go on the ride with our friends. IT WAS AWESOME. It was truly the best water slide/roller coaster I have ever ever been on. I just...look it up on youtube and try to experience the awesome-ness of this ride.

The next ride we hit up had a no pregnancy sign. So I waited and watched. It was fun...and then our friends convinced me that if I could go on the first ride, I could have gone on that one. Roller coasters are bad if you are pregnant because they have lap bars and jarring twists and turns. Yes, water slides have dips and turns but you are floating on water. I did a selfish thing. I went on the rest of the rides. I do think our baby enjoyed it however because he/she was flipping out the next day. That is good news.

So that was my selfish day where I went on water slides and ignored warning signs and my baby is still happy and consequently, so am I.

Another irresponsible thing I did last night involved one of my cravings. I have been thinking and craving sushi for about two weeks now. BUT I know that the world of the internet cautions against raw fish. I understand why. But I couldn't shake sushi out of my mind. So we went. We ordered nothing with raw fish and I still got my sushi fix. And it was an awesome awesome place. Tanner thinks it's funny because for hundreds of year women have been pregnant and eating whatever they want including raw fish-hello Japan- and hot dogs and every other bad thing you aren't supposed to consume. But perhaps we're living less healthy now and the risks are higher because our bodies are just not taken care of as well. Who knows.

I did already beat myself up about going on the water rides and eating sushi. I had a mini break down. I'm really awesome at those. They happen quite frequently. Tanner is really good at handling them. Except when he tells me to control myself-telling a pregnant woman to control herself makes her more hysterical. At least, it did in my case. I don't think he'll be using his favorite word any time soon. :/ And I'm probably going to be eating more sushi during the pregnancy. Actually not probably. I will be.

A rant-women in the media

Something has been on my mind lately and I just thought I would briefly share. 

I really like empowered woman. I like the whole independence and electricity that comes when a women finds who she is without a man. I like careers. I like working moms. I like people who work. 

That aside, I feel like we've been bombarded with movies and literature lately that shows things similar to the woman described in the above paragraph. 

Katniss-she's strong, finds food for herself, volunteers as tribute, fights mean guys and is the rock of the revolution.

Brave-(uh, sorry I don't remember her name). She has fiery red hair, (Which is amazing!!!!) finds her own voice and adventure, and doesn't need a man to complete her. Awesome-what a great new disney princess. I didn't LOVE  the movie but we can save that for another day.

Thursday Next-I recently read The Eyre Affair (thanks Megan!) and really loved it.  Thursday is the best. Served in the army, gives everything to her career and fights the bad guys. She's the ultimate heroine. I loved her. 

See the common thread? Now I'm not saying that the lack of a man is what we're missing....but maybe I am. Yes, Katniss ends up married with a family (spoiler) and Thursday does as well but it showcases that all these woman are great and happy being the provider. I liked the books and I liked the movies. But then I thought about all the books and movies that have been made recently about woman who raise children and a family. They cook and clean and they're happy. Wait, have you not seen/read those either?

HUH. Hollywood doesn't make movies about that? Women never leave their families wishing and hoping for something better? They hire nannies and go shopping? They never sit around and talk about how great and complete they feel when raising a family? 

I read a book that did. Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielsen (son?). She gushes about her family and her husband and how happy she is. And I couldn't help but feel more complete after reading it. It touched my soul. So maybe I am a sap. I'm someone who believes that you really can't be complete without a husband and a family. I believe that woman are nurturing by nature.

I'm done rambling now. Post your opposing views or validating comments below. 

I am not an animal person. I am a people person.

So on Friday I was asked by two lovely people to watch their new dog...for the rest of the summer. They work full time with Tanner and needed me to look after their new found love. I agreed, and as I did so a little thought popped into my mind...you should think about it. But, Tanner was so excited (he wouldn't even be here with the dog?) and I wanted to do them a favor so I said yes.
I was really looking forward to having a new companion, because I'm at home alone all day with my books (thank you for the recommendations!) and computer. I'm not ashamed to say I've been watching Say yes to the dress on netflix. Ahem.

So the dog comes yesterday. So little and cute. It is 3/4 Pitt bull (!!!!!) and 1/4 Lab. At this stage in it's precious life, it looked like a black lab with little wrinkles. It was cute. I will add however, that a pitt is not my favorite breed of dog. No collar, no leash, no cage. Just a dog bed and some food. I was scared.

I did not grow up with a dog. We always wanted one but it just never worked out with our family. My whole life I would go to friends house and be secretly terrified of dogs. I didn't know how to pet them, or play with them and when they jumped up on me I screamed a little inside. Fast forward to my first year of college. My family gets a dog. So the past few summers I have had a dog and we actually get along and he sits on my lap and we play. He understands that I like him if he's my quiet friend.

Okay back to yesterday. The dog is asleep in his bed. I look at the time and plan out his feedings, when I'll take him out, etc. The dog wakes up. BOOM first accident (luckily it was on the tile floor). The dog starts crying, whining, howling. And I'm trying to console this little puppy and hold him and he just won't have it. He keeps wandering around and hitting his poor little head on the chairs, the walls, anything. I'm like, can this dog see? How old is he? I do some research. I freak out because suddenly I remember that I heard the number six. Six days or six weeks? Of course, I assume it's six days old, because it's stumbling around and can't see. I find out that puppies shouldn't be taken from their mother until they're 8 weeks old. AHHHHH and I need to feed it formula? Where's the formula? And how in the world do I get it to go outside.

I'm really quite beside myself at this point. I'm texting my husband and he finally finds out that this dog is six weeks old. Whew. This is better. The rest of the day was difficult. He went outside to do his business but every time I took him out there he flipped out. Backing away from everything, crying, whining, howling and he's just beside himself. So I took him inside and bam! he employs the carpet as the landing bed of his waste. Then he would wander around as I tried to hold him and help him and he's freaking out at me and backing up and pouncing on me and I just couldn't do it. Like I said before, I do not have these loving animal care giver instincts/this is not my dog. He sleeps then we repeat the above paragraph. He ate a lot. And had accidents a lot.

Some of you may be thinking-he's just a puppy and this is normal behavior. This may be completely true but I was not in a place to handle this. I feel awful and cried on multiple occasions because I felt so bad-can you say pregnant? And perhaps you may be thinking-if you can't handle this then there is no way you can handle a baby. Might I disagree? I am a human and my child will be human. And I can handle those things because I want those things and I want a human baby.

Is this so long and boring? Mostly it was just an interesting day where I learned a lot about myself.
1. I shouldn't try and train a puppy when I'm pregnant. I had no patience or understanding.
2. We will get a dog when I am older, and when Tanner and I plan for, and prepare for a dog.
3. Puppies shouldn't leave their mommies before they're 8 weeks old. Attachment issues. Did Erik Erikson ever study the development of dogs? He should have.
4. I am not an animal person. I am a people person.

Ella Minnow Pea-a book you should read.

I just finished a wonderful book.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

It was SUCH a hilarious and intriguing read.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a love of the English language, quirky characters and books like 1984.
It's an epistolary novel about a fictional island off the coast of North Carolina.  Letters from a beloved statue begin to fall and the citizens are left to write and speak with the remaining letters. I found myself laughing near the end of the book because the brilliance of the language was just astounding.

I am so happy I found the library. Any other good book suggestions?

In which I complain about my lack of appetite.

My sister told me she wants me to post more often. I really just don't have very exciting things to share. My mother also wants more pictures (I don't take pictures). So here is a post for you both...but there may be no pictures. I found myself the other night scooping up tomatoes out of my chicken minestrone soup and plopping them into my husband's bowl. I don't do that. I don't do that with tomatoes especially. Then I remembered that I was pregnant and the only things that taste the way they used to are chocolate pudding, sherbet, chicken top ramen and nectarinky's (nectarines). Yes, that is what I have been eating for the past two weeks. It's sad really but anything else I make or try to eat I end up gagging on or making ugly faces at because it don't taste normal. And suddenly I don't like cooking. I have to have my friend come to the store with me so she can go get raw chicken and hide it behind her back the whole way through the store and to the car. And I pick tomatoes out of my soup. WHAT HAS THE WORLD COME TO? I'm sorry. This is obviously not a happy, rainbow and bubble infested blog post. Could it be the hormones? Probably. I am not a shopper either. I have never enjoyed shopping for clothes (unless I am with my mother). So now, I have to shop for things for this upcoming baby. I am really excited about the baby but I have no clue where to start with cribs, strollers, etc. I need your help! Any suggestions when looking, what to look for etc? I would greatly appreciate it. That is really all I have to talk about. Life is good, we're happy in Tennessee. Tanner is working like a crazy man and I do nothing all day except eat chocolate pudding. There's milk in that, right? Calcium is good for me and the child. I don't feel that bad about the pudding now. And...any suggestions about baby things?

French Toast and I love babies

Sometimes I crave French Toast and my husband makes it for me. I think it's because I'm pregnant.

Tennessee

We are in Tennessee!!! It's lovely and I can't wait to explore Nashville. We finally got the internet hooked up so I can actually look up directions to places. I have been to scared to wander around in an unknown city by myself. I have read most of Great Expectations and find it very entertaining, although not for seven hours straight. I was going to work in the office but there wasn't really much for me to do and working there would have only given me about 15 hours a week and cut the hours of the other employees...so job hunting for me! I'm hoping to find a part time nannying job and if not, I will start waitress-ing and singing to try and get a recording contract. I'm in Nashville, I might as well try! Life is good-Tanner has enjoyed knocking on doors, trying to help people get rid of bugs and we're happy to have the summer ahead of us. I'll try to update more frequently (with pictures, mom) but that only means I'll need to go on some fun adventures! :) Here are some of the adventures we've had so far... spilled bleach on the carpet spilled detergent on the carpet ...both of these spills were not done by my hand... forgot pots and pans bought pots and pans on a Sunday so we could eat for the rest of the summer bought a bit case of water because I am a water snob and the water here is quite disgusting. Even when I boiled vegetables in the water I can taste it. Sad day. the electricity went off for a few hours! Then, when it came back on a funny smell started circulating our apartment. I was afraid we would die so I stayed in the room where the smell had not seeped into yet. we went to a pool party with the other employees on Memorial Day. It was fun and then it started pouring rain. I think it does that a lot. It pours for an hour or so and then the sun comes out acting as if it was never gone. I like Tennessee :) Come visit if you want!

Longing for the Kitchen

And...a month later.... I'm back from our Folk Dance Tour. We traveled around the Southern States and had a lovely time. It's bitter sweet that it's over. However, I'm leaning more towards the sweet side :) I think that's because I actually got eight hours of sleep last night and I don't have to dance for a while...I'm sure I'll feel differently once I get back to school in the Fall and folk dance doesn't rule my life. I realized one of the biggest things I missed on tour was my ability to cook for myself. It's my favorite thing to do and since I couldn't ever get in the kitchen I'm really excited to be browsing Pinterest and finding recipes to make this summer. Oh, and tomorrow we're driving out to Tennessee! Yay for summer and adventures! That's all I have for now folks. :) Enjoy your day.

FHE

This is how FHE went down today....it's 8:22 and I decide I want to start an online final. I open it up-"please plan for at least two hours to complete this final". I groan. Tanner, seated on the adjacent couch asks if we are going to have FHE now or a little later. I ask for later because I just want to get this done.

Fast forward an hour or so later. I have three questions left-one asks for a 1/2 page response and the last two beg for a full page. My brain has checked out at this point so I ask my sweetheart if we can have FHE now. He responds with a happy yes along with a-I just finished our taxes and we will get $11 back. (We didn't really need to pay taxes (we didn't make enough money-tmi?? but we're doing it for habit)... So we start FHE.

I sit on the couch with my legs slung over my husband. We sing a Hymn. One line in, tanner slides up to a high note and we burst out laughing. We laugh throughout the whole song. It was a funny song. Then I pray. But I'm still laughing.

I'm not just giggling...I'm full on crying. I know people really do cry when they laugh really hard but this was the first time I have ever laughed so hard that I literally had tears rolling on my cheeks. It's a full on belly laugh and I can't remember ever loosing control of myself like I did during this prayer. Tanner is laughing too, only he's really just laughing at me. After I finish, my very patient, wonderful husband looks at me and says, "I have NEVER seen you laugh so hard". I have never laughed that hard.

Then I start to break down. I start crying because I'm stressed. I don't want to study, I don't want to pack our things Thursday and move, I don't want to observe in a high school for eight hours Wed, I don't want to dance tomorrow (that's my number one thing), I don't want to finish the three questions on my final because it's just too hard. I seriously lost it. It was the strangest feeling-being roaring with laughter one minute and then crying uncontrollably the next.
Tanner just sat there, and listened. He stroked my hair and dried my tears from my face. He told me everything was going to be okay. I half way believed him. Then we read in the Book of Mormon and I was comforted. My fears went away and I was motivated to study. I finished those last three questions, and felt ready for the rest of the week.

I am so blessed and so grateful for the calming messages of the scriptures.

This Family Home Evening will go down in history.

TUESDAYS

Tuesdays are apparently my days to write on this little blog. Yay for Tuesdays. And yay for the last Tuesday of the semester. I've had some great Tuesdays this semester but I am sure glad they are over. Tanner made a lovely French dinner tonight and I looked up food ingredients for hours. It was so fun. And now my homework is complete for the semester and I just have to show up for classes tomorrow...and did I mention that Tanner and I are joining my family for a camping trip tomorrow?

We are. We're driving down to Zion's national park and hiking the subway. It's a huge slot canyon and you have to swim through frigid water....and there's not sun down there. And it's April. What are we thinking? It will be fun. My uncle who has literally 3-6% body fat (I can't remember), almost got hypothermia when he went with my dad. I am a tad bit worried about Tanner because he really doesn't have a lot of body fat. I'm just glad we'll have wetsuits.

Perhaps I'll post pictures when we get home, but chances are not very likely. Finals start Saturday and we'll be hitting those head on. YAY finals!

After finals we'll quickly pack our house (what?) and head to Texas for tour with the dance team. Then we'll fly back, turn around and drive to Tennessee for the summer. Now all I need is a swimming suit. Any suggestions?

Winner

This evening I had the opportunity to attend a student recognition dinner for the Dance Department. I was lucky to receive a wonderful scholarship from Mary Bee Jensen-the founder of the Folk Dance program. The food was great, the women were lovely and the gratitude was plentiful. The best part of the evening was when someone announced that under some seats were pieces of paper indicating the winner of each table. They were the ones who got to take the beautiful tulips in the center of each table home. I was excited but nervous because I don't usually win things like this. I was the girl in primary who always reached down under her chair and never found something. This time, I felt the piece of paper and grabbed the winning paper. I took those flowers home, vase in all and I felt so happy. It's so strange that something so small can be significant to you. I am continually blessed and those happy tulips will make me smile for days to come.

Anne Shirley in the books

Anne Shirley
She is the best.
Once upon my childhood I started reading the classic book. Unfortunately, those books did not capture my attention. I must find them and start over again.
The movies are wonderful however. I bought my sister all three for Christmas and I think it was one of the best gifts I've given. Sure, it wasn't homemade and it was quite expensive but every single penny was worth it. I think she may have almost shed a tear. I was nervous and excited all Christmas break while we were in New Hampshire anticipating her reaction. We celebrated Christmas with my family when we got home around New Years. They always say that anticipation is greater than the event itself (...Gary Dunn?) but this was one of those cases that the event was just as great if not more.
Let me tell you something about my sister that may illustrate how much she loved this gift.
I call her Anne. Her name is Anna. In my phone, her name is Anne Shirley. My name is Jane Austen in her phone. Our alternate names. That's as close as we get to second life. ha.
Anyways. She really liked the gift and I really like giving it to her. I realized after giving her the wonderful collection of DVD's that I had not seen the final installment of the movies. This wasn't a huge deal given the fact that I didn't make it through the first book, but I wanted to see it nonetheless. This weekend I was granted the pleasure of watching Anne Shirley make her way through the front lines of WW1.
Here's my dilemma. I was bored. I didn't like it. She was all grown up and spending more time with other men and I wanted to see more of Gil. I missed the little stories of her childhood and the funny situations she was put in. It happened in all the books so why not in this movie? Well the movie makers did a little stunt and created this after story for Anne. It wasn't true to her or to the books. It tried to move along a plot and Anne just doesn't live a life like that. Her life is what she wrote-silly little stories of people she loves most. I didn't get to see that in the final installment of the movies.
I will forever be grateful I gave my sister those DVD's. I am also glad I got to see them all and from now on, I will only watch the first two.
Books win.
I suppose I'll check back in after I watch The Hunger Games this Saturday. I'm anticipating a wonderful event they could change my book vs movie opinion :)

Itis of a Senior

I have been at Brigham Young University for 9 1/2 semesters. That's a long time and I am not graduating in April.
Perhaps I should tell you that I was a Dance Education major for two semesters. It was fantastic. And I tried out mostly to prove to myself that I was a good enough dancer and that I could do hard things. It worked and now I believe that dancing is a talent of mine. In the middle of my junior year however, I decided that this major was not for me. Mostly I just wanted to educate people and dancing was not the medium I am supposed to teach through. I found a major that fit me perfectly.
Family and Consumer Science Education. In a year's time I will be able to teach the following classes:
Foods 1, 2, Pro-Start
CTE courses
Sewing of all levels
Fashion Design (and I pray I never have to)
Teen Living
Adult Roles
Child Development
Interior Design
Financial Literacy
Early childhood education
I can run the preschools in the high school
Food and Science
Human Development
Life Management
Hospitality Services--I have yet to know what the class teaches...

That's a lot of classes. Not to mention other jobs I can get with my degree outside of the education system. Thank goodness I found such a fabulous fit for me...
But I'm tired.
I'm tired of writing papers, of reading chapters and responding to questions that my teacher never discusses. I'm tired of memorizing facts without application.

I'm tired of taking classes that are supposed to teach me how to teach...and they don't.
Don't get me wrong, the education program at BYU is great I'm sure, but the course content seems so vague and out there that I'm getting frustrated.
I am just tired.
I have all of four more classes to take in the Fall and then I'll student teach. If I get any more tired I don't know what will happen.
This blog post was written to merely pass the time. In the future I will think of better things to say. I will tell you of the picnic Tanner and I had Sunday. That's at least somewhat entertaining right?

Flowers

I'm just really excited to have a flower party tonight. A dear friend of mine is getting married tomorrow!!!! My mom and I are doing flowers and it will just be a party. Yay for marriage and flowers.

I reactivated my account on facebook so I could grab these pictures (I'm on campus with a long break before I go to a master class with the Russian Red Army (world renowned dance group-yesss))

Here are some of my beautiful flowers from my wedding. All pictures from Amanda Castleberry. Flowers done by my wonderful aunt, cousin and mom.



Handsome

This is just a funny picture..but the bouquet is lovely.


A bridal shot


The bouquet for my bridals


Beautiful cake by Dani Talbot Wilkinson


Probably my favorite part of the flowers.


Huge splay.


Centerpiece-they were all different


Cute bridesmaids-hydrangeas


Bouquet for the day


Pretty flowers tucked in the desk drawers


I love flowers, don't you?