Much-needed Relaxation

Our third anniversary is on Monday, and Chris and I were able to go down to Salt Lake for a much-needed escape from our rather hectic day-to-day. Everything seemed to come together just right to give us the break we needed. We dropped Jane off to spend the night at my parents' house, then we headed out for a night with just the two of us.

First on our list of celebration activities was my all-time favorite restaurant. I LOVE the Old Spaghetti Factory. And, as luck would have it, our waitress was amazing. She knew exactly what to do and exactly when to do it--I don't think we've ever had such a perfect waitress. It was lovely.


Besides my parents being available to babysit, the other blessing in our favor came by way of my sister. Deborah earned Employee of the Month at her job working for Discovery Gateway Children's Museum, and part of her prize was a free night's hotel stay. When Chris fixed her water pump a while back, she gave the hotel stay to us as a thank you. And I say, Thank you Deborah!!


We went swimming. Oh. My. Goodness. I'm less than a month away from having a baby--meaning, I'm hugely pregnant. Being in the pool was heavenly. It was so nice to be able to move without any pain or great effort. And I could breathe! I'm glad I finally caved and bought a maternity swimming suit. It was so worth it. I highly recommend a trip to the pool to anyone who is having a baby.


Amazing-ness #2 of staying in the hotel: king size bed. We have a queen size bed at home, which is generally just fine. But sleeping in a king size bed when I'm as big as I am? It was great to be able to roll over without feeling like I caused a small EarThQuaKe for Chris.


And here's a picture of me because it's only fair. I don't think I look too pregnant in this shot, but you can still tell...right? I hope I don't just look fat.

This weekend getaway was exactly what we needed. The escape from school, work, and parenting was just enough to recharge our batteries and get us set for the next two weeks--until we have a baby and start a whole new level craziness.

Thank you again Deborah and Mom!

But wait, there's more!


Following our apparent tradition, after our adventure with the hotel, we stopped by Chris's sister's house so Chris could fix her car. Luckily, it was a quick and cheap fix.

While Chris and Brenda fixed the car, I opted to stay inside and chill with my family. I took the chance to play a little Rockband--I like trying, but sometimes it's a little intense to play with people who are really good. I enjoyed having the chance to play by myself for a while...and then I was done.


These are my brothers, Bill and Michael. They are both really good. I've never seen anyone play the drums like Bill--and he said he's actually better at the guitar. I didn't watch that, but if he's telling the truth, he's got to be pretty darn good.


Jane always has fun at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Her favorite activity of the day was cleaning. She managed to use up an entire box of wipes throughout the course of the afternoon.


Cleaning wears anybody out, right? It's been a long time since Jane has fallen asleep on my lap. It was nice, although it did make it harder to breathe...

How was your weekend?

P.S. It turns out that I didn't have the flu. I was only really sick for about 16 hours. My doctor said the intense nausea and stomach pains were a side effect of the kidney stones. Because things are getting that bad, my doctor has decided to induce me a week early. Yay! Hopefully it all works out as planned...

I have the flu.

just shoot me now.

A Moment away from Miserable

Life in our house lately has been, in a word, miserable. My health is getting worse and worse the longer I'm pregnant, Chris has a majorly intense school load this semester (and that's with only 11 credits!) and Jane has apparently decided she no longer needs naps, which doesn't help anything.

Just because I need a little pick-me-up from one crappy week before we head into the next, I thought I'd share some of Jane's more endearing moments from the past little bit. (By the way, endearing was a vocabulary word in my class this week.)

o + o + o + o + o + o

With all of my being way sick and in pain and Chris endlessly working on homework, we've been watching a lot of movies at our house. Needless to say, Jane is getting better at actually paying attention and catching on to a few things that happen in the movies.

Today we watched The Lion King. When Simba first meets Timone and Pumba and learns how to eat a grub, Jane repeatedly pointed at the screen and said, "Ew, gross!"

Hopefully that means she won't eat bugs.

o + o + o + o + o + o

Jane's newest fashion statement: Dad's dirty socks.

Chris often leaves his socks lying around on the floor of whatever room he happened to be in when he decided to take them off. Jane has become quite adept at finding them and putting them on herself. She'll wear a pair of Dad's socks all day if we'd let her.

o + o + o + o + o + o

And my personal favorite: Sacrament Meeting today.

Jane has learned how to "sing." At least, she makes very high-pitched shrieking noises either while playing the piano or when anyone else is singing. She took the opportunity at church today to show off her amazing vocals during the intermediate hymn: Master, the Tempest is Raging.

Background reminder: I am now the ward chorister, so I was on the stand conducting the music when this happened. Jane was watching me most of this time.

She was all situated on the bench, hymnbook open on her lap, "singing" at the top of her lungs. She also had her arm going full speed, conducting as well. That's funny enough by itself. But it was LOUD. Just about everyone in the chapel could hear her, and those sitting close by could see her as well. From the stand, I could see more than three rows worth of people desperately trying not to laugh--and mostly failing.

And from the stand, seeing that many people laugh and hearing my daughter take part so enthusiastically in the hymn--well, it made me laugh, too. And it's really hard to sing and laugh at the same time. I kept conducting, but I missed more than a few measures of the song while I tried desperately not to laugh.

The best part, though, was how serious she was the whole time. As far as she knew, she was only doing what you're supposed to do during a hymn: sing.

Garden Drive

It's all about the story, and those things with the best stories usually come with at least a little bit of character...

My sister Lisa and her husband Christian recently bought their first house. Yay! This particular house came with much more than it's fair share of character.

Let's start in the front yard. If you're really into weeds, this is the yard for you.


And if weeds don't float your boat, how about bushes that overtake the driveway?


Ok, ok, I know that weeds and overgrown bushes aren't really a sign of character. How about handprints on the fence?


Is that red paint? or maybe...

And venturing inside, we come upon the living room. Half tile, half carpet, with lovely red and yellow paint


to compliment the authentic Chinese characters adorning the window treatments.



The hallway first brings a view of this door: any guess what room is behind it?


And the winner is...

Did you guess right?

The bathroom looks an awful lot like a bathroom, but don't overlook those small touches that give it a homey feel.



There are two bedrooms: the black and blue bedroom that belongs to Dalton,


and the black and brown (yes, brown) bedroom that belongs to Lisa and Christian.


I don't know that black and brown would have been my first choice, but the colors to compliment the linoleum nicely.


If you look closely, you can see the quality paint job that is characteristic of the previous owners.


Moving on, we see the kitchen


and if you turn around quickly without blinking, you'll see the dining room.


Continue walking past the cork wall,


and you'll enter the family room, complete with family


and its own walk-in closet.


It's always nice to have your own laundry room.


And who doesn't want that extra... ... ...room? I believe the current intention is to use this room as a shop/storage room.


In case you're in there and you get lonely, just look up and you'll find a friend.


And if you need a shower but the bathroom is just too far away, grab the curtain from the window


and head out through the sliding glass doors. You're all set to take a shower!


While you're there, take a moment to soak in all the grandeur that is the backyard.


There's the deck,


the shed,


the permanently locked brick something building,


the irrigation ditch,


the sprinkler control box,


and the traffic cone, just in case.


And if you get hungry, take your pick:







Now, I know that I've poked fun a bit at the house and all its character, but I am excited that Lisa and Christian found a fun house to fix up and make their own. While it's not the most appealing at first blush, it definitely has a lot of potential. I'm excited for the follow-up post when I can show how they've redone everything.

I think Dalton is excited, too.