3.28.2010

03.28.10- Day 87

Today:
Going to SFC.
Visiting with friends.
Sitting in the sun for 3 hours while eating lunch and reading.
Trimming Nigel.
Making chicken, asparagus, and sweet potato for dinner.
Eating dinner outside with Alan.
Shopping for our new refugee family (due to arrive on Tuesday night).
Also shopping for a new purse and sunglasses :).
Reading magazines and drinking a decaf french vanilla latte at Barnes and Noble.
Coming home to a quiet house.
Reading and sleeping.

3.25.2010

03.25.10- Day 84

Snow Day and Preggo pics!

Yesterday was a lovely snow day, but we did have one casualty- a huge limb from our yard. We ended up getting about 11 inches of really wet, heavy snow and it was just too much for our poor tree. Oh well, it gives us good excuse to get our trees trimmed! In the evening I went over to Sarah and Carissa's for dinner and hang out time while Alan was at youth group. I love sitting by the fire and chatting with friends!

Also, here are 13 week pregnancy pics! We went to our 2nd appointment today (the first at the midwifery clinic). We heard little baby's heart beat and my uterus is now peaking out about 2 inches about my pelvic bones. (This means I should start showing more soon!) Also, they are sending us in for a more official ultrasound next week to confirm the baby's age! I'm excited to see the baby again- hopefully it will have a little more definition than the little blob pictures from before.

I went to yoga tonight and Sarah joined me. She actually liked it! I was hoping she would because I love it so much. Whenever I go, I just feel so rejuvenated and relaxed afterwards. Plus, it's so good for your strength and posture.

3.23.2010

03.23.10- Day 83

SNOW DAY TOMORROW!!!!!!

3.22.2010

03.22.10- Day 82

These pictures are a little late, but Alan and I had a fantastic date night for our fourth anniversary! It's hard to believe that it's the last one with just the two of us :). We braved the windy/cold weather to go downtown to the Old Spaghetti Factory. Afterwards, Alan braved the cold again to get us Coldstone icecream- yum! It was a lovely evening of visiting and enjoying each other's company. Babe- I love you so much and can't imagine my life without you! You bring so much joy, laughter, and fun to my life. I respect your work ethic, considerateness, and curiousity and hope that you rub off on me over the years. Plus, in your own words, you're awesome! haha.

Alan and I posing before the date Another shot

This pic is from Friday afternoon when the snow really started coming down (only hours too late to cancel school- how sad!) It was beautiful! We probably got about 6-7 inches. The lovely thing is that it all melted away in 2 days. I love spring snow.

I'm praying again for a snow day this week :). It was amazingly beautiful today, but it's supposed to start snowing tomorrow through Wednesday night! Keep your fingers crossed.

Side note: I'm extremely impressed that Grace, a girl in our church, came today to our life group one week after having her baby! She looked awesome and seemed to have so much energy. Her mom is in town helping her with the baby since her husband is a resident working 6am to 9pm everyday this month! She's such a trouper. I can't wait to get together with her and find out all of her secrets! I hope that I get out and about that soon after having our little one!

3.20.2010

03.20.10- Day 80

Feeling better today. Woke up in a great mood after 12 hours of sleep :). Better not get too used to that, right? haha. Hope to have a productive day!

3.19.2010

03.19.10- Day 79

Dear Friday,
Please end soon. I think the weekend will be kinder to me. Thanks,
Susan

Blah....
Do you ever have those days? Today... we didn't get a snow day- it's just nasty outside, I feel like an idiot because of a meeting I had today, and I just want to curl up into a ball. Awesome.

03.18.10- Day 78

This spot is reserved for later today when I can post about Alan and my anniversary!

3.16.2010

03.16.10- Day 76

Here are pics of this past weekend (thanks to Sarah). There was also a picture of us at Starbucks before church on Sunday, but I think it was vetoed due to the odd pinkish hue of the picture. Did I mention that I love these people?

In other news... I ran for the first time since becoming pregnant today! I felt really good. It was maybe more of a run/walk because my heart rate kept going too high, but it felt SO good. I'm not sure why I didn't run at first. I felt very fragile for some reason in the first few weeks, then I was just really tired and the thought of running was not appealing. The beautiful sunshine and nice weather have brought back my motivation I guess. We also had girls' night to do accountability/watch the biggest loser. My preggo brain was at it again because I thought I was hosting tonight, made dinner, cleaned the house, etc, then found out Nicole was hosting. Oh well. Clean house and leftover gnocchi is okay with me! Last thought- I picked up a nice large pot (like for plants) on the side of the road today! Pots normally cost more than $20, so I was really happy, even if there was a nasty old, dead plant inside. It is getting a coat of spray paint, then it will house herbs or cherry tomatoes over the summer!

3.15.2010

03.15.10- Day 75

Sorry for the absence. The end of last week/weekend were pretty busy and I was absent from the blog world.

Several thoughts:

1. Alan and I had a fabulous weekend with Paul, Bethany, and Sarah in Kansas City. It was a long drive, but worth it to spend time with good friends. There's nothing like heart friends for good discussion, encouragement, laughs, and rest.

2. I'm officially in my last week of my first trimester (belly- or absence of belly- pics up soon. i promise!). I can't believe I'll be 13 weeks pregnant next week. That's officially second trimester, as well as starting the 4th month! Crazy. It still seems surreal on basically every level. I'm sure the next 3 months will change all of that.

3. Our church is doing a church-wide book study on the book One Month to Live. I (and several others in my small group) haven't really been able to get into the whole thing and we had a good discussion on why at small group tonight. It's basically because the book kind of forgets about the gospel. It makes our journey as a Christian based on finding fulfillment and happiness and leaving our mark on the world. The whole thing is just backwards though. The Bible that I read describes our journey as a Christian based on losing ourselves, looking towards the goodwill of others, sacrifice, and bringing the kingdom of God to the world. Eric brought up a good point in that the book makes the goal finding fulfillment and joy in life and the byproduct serving God and building his kingdom. He said that the reality of our gospel is the exact opposite. The goal is to serve God and build his kingdom and the byproduct is fulfillment and joy. Ugghh... the American church (of which I am an active member constantly buying into self-help religion- aka I'm not pointing a finger, I just think it's time to start switching our mentality.)

3.10.2010

03.10.10- Day 70

Several thoughts (in no particular order):

1. I'm losing my mind. I searched for my purse and keys for 30 minutes this morning, only to find them when I got home from work sitting behind my workout bag that I looked in at least 8 times.

2. I'm having crazy baby dreams. Last night I dreamed that I forgot to feed my baby for two days after I gave birth. It was a bad dream.

3. I think?! I fixed my cuboid syndrome myself tonight. For those of you who don't know, I gave myself cuboid syndrome (pain on the outside of my foot) from going on a long walk with flip-flops on Saturday. It's been killing me ever since. Suffice to say, I think (hopefully) that I mobilized it (the bone that is bothering me) back into place by standing on a bone shaped pen (ironic- huh?). Sorry, just ignore if its too medical.

4. I love Chipotle's vegetarian bowl.

5. Sin is an interesting thing. Why does it seem to affect those in ministry and those with so much potential so often? I think I know the answer, but still- I'm in shock. It's not anyone I really know, just sin affecting a family that I blogstalk. It's still tragic though. I'll be very happy one of these days when all that is wrong in the world is redeemed and turned right and we humans stop making stupid choices and see the truth clearly.

6. Maybe we're going to Ecuador for vacation this summer (instead of the DR instead of the cruise instead of Europe). Sorry if that doesn't make sense, but we've had a hard time deciding on an appropriate "babymoon" since we found out we're expecting. We don't want to be risky or break the bank, but we do want to go exotic and international. hmmm....

3.08.2010

03.08.10- Day 68

I read this tonight and it made me think:

"Recognizing that the earth and the fullness thereof is a gift from our gracious God, and that we are called to cherish, nurture, and provide loving stewardship for the earth's resources. And recognizing that life itself is a gift, and a call to responsibility, joy, and celebration, I make the following declarations:
1. I declare myself to be a world citizen.
2. I commit myself to lead an ecologically sound life.
3. I commit myself to lead a life of creative simplicity and to share my personal wealth with the world's poor.
4. I commit myself to join with others in reshaping institutions in order to bring about a more just global society in which each person has full access to the needed resources for their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.
5. I commit myself to occupational accountability, and in so doing I will seek to avoid the creation of products which cause harm to others.
6. I affirm the gift of my body, and commit myself to its proper nourishment and physical well-being.
7. I commit myself to examine continually my relations with others, and to attempt to relate honestly, morally, and lovingly to those around me.
8. I commit myself to personal renewal through prayer, meditation, and study.
9. I commit myself to responsible participation in a community of faith."
- Visions of a World Hungry by Thomas G. Pettepiece

3.06.2010

03.06.10- Day 65

Girl Day...
Sarah, Carissa, Nicole, and I have been planning a girls' day for a while, which included eating at the S.A.M.E. Cafe and getting massages. We finally found a weekend to do these things and it was a GORGEOUS day! Notice the short sleeves and even sleeveless! The SAME cafe is a restaurant in Denver that allows anyone to eat, even if they can't pay for their meal. (SAME stands for So All May Eat) You can either make a donation or work for 1 hour to get your meal. It's a really cool way to give dignity and an opportunity to get a good meal for those who may not be able to afford it.

Nicole and Sarah at SAME Cafe Me and Ris
All four of us
After lunch at the SAME cafe, we went on a walk at City Park since it was so beautiful outside. It makes me SO happy that spring is coming.
After our walk at the park we headed over to Massage Envy where we had booked out massages. This is the part of girls' day that starts to go downhill for me. We fill out all these papers and get called back by our massage therapists. Mind you, I've been looking forward to this ALL week. So, I get to the room with my massage therapist and we start chatting. I say something like, "I'm just here for so relaxation and destressing. I don't know if you saw on my paper, but I'm pregnant." She asks, "How far along are you?" I say, "Oh, not very far along. Only about 10 weeks, so I should be able to lay on my stomach still." She says, "Oh, I'm sorry. I can't give you a massage today." My mind says, "WHAT! I HAVE TO GET A MASSAGE TODAY." My mouth says, "Why not?" She proceeds to tell me that Massage Envy does not give massages during the 1st trimester because the risk of miscarriage is still high and they don't want to do anything that could jeopardize the baby's health. Also, that I have to get a doctor's note signed if I want to come back for a massage in a few weeks once I'm out of the 1st trimester. I'm fighting back tears at this point and trying to act like it's not a big deal. So, I go back to the lobby and proceed to wait for an hour while my dear friends get relaxed and destressed. I decide that I can't wait there for an hour because I'm already getting really sulky. So, I go walk around Cherry Creek, which is actually a really cool shopping district in Denver. I went to Crate and Barrell, which always makes me happy, then stopped by Starbucks on the way back to get a decaf French Vanilla Latte. The timing was about right, but the girls were a little confused when I had Starbucks when they got out of their massages. They tried to comfort me, so I made them promise to make me come back to get my massage in a few weeks.

Alan felt so bad for me when I got home that he even gave me a 10 minute massage, which put me in a little better mood. I made him salmon, salad, and stuffing for dinner (and I ate about half of the stuffing- oops!) After he went to work, I went over to Sarah and Carissa's for dinner with them, Jason, and Andy. It was a nice relaxing evening- tacos, cookies, chatting with Meggie, and hand and foot.
*I am officially switched over to the midwifery clinic at my hospital! I have an appointment in a couple of weeks, but I'm already feeling really good about making the switch. Thanks for the advice!

3.02.2010

03.02.10- Day 61

So, although I can still wear all my clothes, I guess this picture shows that I have a little baby bump (or perhaps it's still baby bloat.) I think it's my baby's rapidly growing brain that's taking up extra room in there! (ps- steph- hopefully this picture is adequate for you- haha).

10 weeks In other news:
During girls' accountability night every Tuesday, we talk about physical, spiritual, and life goals that we have each month. This month my goals are:
Physical- work out 4 times each week
Spiritual- read my Bible each night using my Guide to Prayer devo with the focus of getting my heart ready for Easter
Life- check out The New Square Foot Garden from the library and make plans to start my garden in April/May!

3.01.2010

Online Auction opportunity

So, I forgot to post this a few days ago when it opened, but here is the link to an online auction that will benefit a group of teachers going to Sierra Leone this summer to do educational development and teacher training. There are some great deals/opportunities, especially if you live in the Denver area (some even if you live away). It's super easy to navigate and there is everything from gift cards to restaurants to art to jewelry to massages to babysitting, etc. Check it out!

http://www.idonatetocharity.org/store/auction4africa/

03.01.10- Day 60

These pics are from Micah and Betsy's wedding on Saturday in Breck. It was a beautiful and personal wedding. I'm inspired to love more deeply and more Christ-centeredly.
Me and Alan
Sarita and I

On a completely random note: our baby's brain is developing 250,000 neurons per minute this week. If that isn't reason enough for another helping of cake or cheese slices, I'm not sure what is :). Seriously though- that's incredible! I know there are billions of cells in a body, but 250,000 neurons per minute? crazy. That means that I'm officially 10 weeks. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to switch over to the midwifery practice at my clinic or stick with the OB practice. If anyone has strong opinions on this matter, feel free to share. I'm up for learning from whatever experiences you all have been through before.

Another side note: I really like my small group. The people in it have been a huge blessing in my life over the past year or two. I've laughed a lot, learned a lot, eaten a lot, and grown close to these amazing people as we each walk through life changing journeys together.

Anyway, I better go because I have 3 IEP meetings tomorrow and I'm not quite finished with my reports! I've also got to figure out where the first one is because it's a progression to Kindergarten meeting and I've never been to the school it's at. Good thing for GPS!
hmmm....
Allergies, pregnancy rhinitis, or a cold?