Thursday, December 31, 2009

My Goals for 2010

With a new year comes my new batch of goals. Let's see if I do better this year than I did last year!

1. To be a better blogger. I really love blogging and reading the comments from readers. However, I tended to slack off a lot last year. I have so many posts that I planned on writing and never did. Now it just seems pointless. With a new baby due in the Spring, this may get a little challenging. Please check in at least once a week to see if I can keep up with my end of the bargain!

2. To grow an herb garden. Random, I know. But here's what happened. When we were in Sidney, we ate dinner in a local cafe. I wanted a really good salad and asked the waitress if they had "good" Ranch Dressing (I know, I'm a little obsessed about this Ranch business). She said they did and that the owner made it using fresh herbs from her personal herb garden. True to her word, it was delicious! And I immediately had visions of me in an apron bending over my cute herb garden with a quaint watering can in my hand. Homemade ranch dressing with fresh herbs, here I come!

3. To call my mom more often. I am a horrible human being. This should not have to be a goal. But it is. I'm absolutely horrible about picking up the phone and calling my mom. Seriously, I'm pretty sure there have been times when maybe two months have gone by before I'll hear her voice on the other line. My parents are very old fashioned and are the typical folks who don't like "making long distance phone calls". So basically my mom never calls anyone unless she has too. Luckily, my mom is awesome enough to never give me a guilt trip about my lack of phone calls. Now that I'm about to become a mommy myself, I already tear up at the thought of the first time Parker won't be home for Christmas. I'm hoping it's just all my crazy hormones that are making me think this way already. Now that I've moved and settled into a home in a different state, and my sister and her family are about to move to a foreign country, and my brother and his family live in a different state as well, I just feel like it's up to me to make more of an effort.

4. To complete Parker's baby book. You may be wondering why I'm making this a goal. Let me explain. When I got married, I received a wedding book from two of my friends. I didn't even take it out of the box until we had been married for about two years. That was when I learned my mistake. Apparently I should have had a newspaper clipping from our wedding day, wrote down the number one movie at the box office, etc, etc. Luckily I was able to find out most of the questions courtesy of the world wide web! However, I want to be better prepared with Parker. I've already bought his baby book, and I've already opened it! I'm thinking at least an hour a month and I can have it up to date and completed! Wish me luck!

5. To host a Christmas Cookie/Ornament Exchange party. I read about this in a book a few years ago and thought it sounded like so much fun! This may be a little daunting with an eight month old, but I'm determined to host what I hope will be an annual event!

6. To be a good Mommy. I have no idea how I'm going to gage this one at the end of the year. There are so many parents out there that think they are "good" parents, when I think to myself that I would never raise my kid that way. I suppose to each his own.

7. To print, label, and organize all the photos that are on my laptop and place them in photo albums. I know this one is left over from last year, but it really needs to be done!!! And then once I'm "caught up" I can spend one day a month adding the new pictures from that month. Sounds easy enough, but we all know what happened last year!

8. To pay off the hospital bill after having the baby. Yes, we have insurance, but of course the only OB/GYN in this town is not in my network. Luckily I have already called our insurance and have a rough estimate of how much money we will be out of pocket. It's a small price to pay to have our very own little angel, but it's also a price I don't want looming over our heads in 2011.

9. To be a MILF. Yup. I said it. And don't tell me that it's un-lady-like to speak that way. I didn't make up the expression. My reasoning is that it will be so easy to focus all of my attention on the baby that I'll quit taking care of myself. I'm already more comfortable than I should be running errands in sweat pants looking like I just rolled out of bed. Really it's no more effort to put on some decent clothes than comfy ones. And as Parker grows older I want him to be proud of his mama, and not embarrassed by what I'm wearing when I pick him up from school in. I'm sure Greg will appreciate this, too!

10. To bring the balance of our Harley down to a certain amount I have in my head. I'd love to pay it off, but I'm trying to set some realistic goals here!

11. Not to be such a control freak. You know the expression, "Don't cry over spilt milk"? Well, I'm sure it's about to happen when by this time next year I'll have a (hopefully) walking little boy. And when he does throw food, or a bottle, or whatever on my favorite rug, I need to remind myself that a little spilt milk is nothing to cry over.

12. To breast feed Parker for his first year. If a good full time job comes open, I'm not sure how feasible this will be. However, I would really like to try for him to make it one full year. I just think breast feeding is so much healthier, not to mention....it's FREE!!!

13. To be more frugal. As in shopping online for better deals on items we regularly purchase, to use coupons more, to buy in bulk to save money, you get the idea!


What are your goals for 2010?

2009 Goals In Review

I can't believe that 2009 is already coming to an end! The years seem to go by faster and faster the older I get. You may remember that I posted my goals for 2009 back in January. And although I'm pretty embarrassed by my results, here's how everything panned out:

1. To put money into our online savings account at least once a week. This just didn't happen. Some weeks I did, others I didn't. And we have recently opened a new local banking account since we moved and it's an interest bearing checking account! Amazingly enough, it earns a far higher interest rate than our online savings account does.

2. To apply for our passports. Yay! I can scratch that one off my list! Obviously, since I blogged all about our amazing vacation in Cancun, Mexico!

3. To read all of Sophie Kinsella's books. Check!

4. To write at least the first section of my book. Well....ummm....hmmm...let's just not talk about it, OK?

5. To loose 25 pounds. Obviously, that didn't happen! ;) But I'm happily starting to embrace my pregnant belly! A friend told me that Heidi Klum says, "When you're first pregnant, wear baggy clothes to disguise the "fat" look, but once the tummy starts to stick out, ROCK IT!" I'm trying to fully embrace her motto!

6. To finish the Harry Potter series. This is one that should have been easy. Especially since I'm down to Book 7. But I have a really good excuse! I am actually a huge fan of public libraries. I have always loved going to one and I could easily spend hours inside of one. Needless to say, I rarely go out and buy myself a book. However, I figured the Harry Potter series would be an awesome collection to read to my kid (or kids) someday and I wanted to hand them down to them as they got older. Which meant I wanted hardback. However, I have a hard time going to Wal-Mart and just buying myself a hardback book. So I've waited to receive it as a birthday or Christmas present and it just hasn't happened.
*hint, hint, HB!*

7. To pay off our Gordon's account. Yay! Scratch this one off the list! I love paying off debt! Now if only we could pay off the Harley....

8. To grow my hair out longer. Well, I haven't chopped it off, but I don't think it's gotten any longer than it was last year. I've always heard that pre-natal vitamins make hair and nails grow like crazy. I haven't noticed that affect. I am now trying to grow my bangs out, which is not fun.

9. To deep clean the camper at least once a week. I promise, I did really good with this up until the time I got pregnant and began feeling sick all day long. Then it got a little out of control. On the bright side, we cleaned all of our "stuff" out of the camper a few weeks ago and it's sitting in our driveway now, nicely cleaned and empty!

10. To actually get the pictures that are taking up space on my laptop printed, labeled, and in a photo album. This was actually my big project when I joined Greg on the road. You would think that 2 years later the huge box with random pictures thrown inside of it would be organized by now. Unfortunately, I had better things to do. Like read. Or blog. Or watch the endless movies we receive courtesy of DirecTV. You get the point. Basically I'm a lazy, procrastinating human being. I have made some progress though. I did get more pictures printed off of our laptop. I have them in chronological order and in zip lock bags based on the year. All I have left to do is label and put in albums. Let's just say I have a feeling this one is going to roll over onto next year's goal list as well. Is that cheating?

So there you have it! How did everyone else's New Year's Resolutions work out? Stay tuned for my goals for 2010!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

An Unconventional Christmas

Christmas was a little different for us this year. It was the first time we spent Christmas in Colorado...without the company of our families. We sure did miss seeing everyone, but at the same time it was nice to not have to deal with the annual "juggling of the families".

Our Christmas Eve was actually spent going to church. I felt a little guilty for not going to Christmas Eve church for the past, oh, six or seven years, and luckily my guilt wore off onto Greg and he went with me! From there, we went to the bar. (That's not bad is it?) We had a good evening visiting with friends and the bar owner, who also happens to be our neighbor!

Christmas morning I woke up bright and early and made us a batch of cinnamon streussal muffins. YUM! Afterwards, we opened the few presents we received from family members and then we just lounged around. For our Christmas lunch I prepared an awesome meal of ham, baked potatoes, and squash. OK, I'm exaggerating just a little. I burned the squash. And I didn't really cook the ham. It was left over from my company Christmas party that I took home, froze, and re-heated in the microwave. It was still good nevertheless!

After lunch we hit the road to go to Colorado Springs! I cannot tell you how much I am in love with the Springs! Put me in any big city and I am a happy camper! But add beautiful Pikes Peak to the background and it's the cherry on top of a sundae! (Even though I don't like cherries on sundaes, but you get the point!) One of my friends here in Lamar had graduated from college in Springs the week before and she's already moved back to Lamar but has her apartment until February. So she gave us the keys and let us stay there for free! It was awesome!

It may sound crazy, but I absolutely love going to a movie on Christmas. So we did just that! We watched Sherlock Holmes, which in my opinion was not that great, then luckily we found a Denny's that was still open for dinner. Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and hit the sack! We had to prepare for our big day of shopping the next day!

Now, I know I've mentioned that I am not the shopping type. And I'm really not. But when I'm actually in the mood to shop and am mentally prepared for it; watch out! I was determined to find a lot of good post-Christmas deals! For instance, I wanted to buy stocking holders for our mantle, a cute stocking for Parker, a train to go chug-a-luging around the Christmas tree, outdoor LED Christmas lights, and some Christmas books for Parker for next year since they would be half off! Needless to say, I was pumped!

Unfortunately, all of my dreams went bust. The only good deal I got was on 4 Christmas stocking holders (One for me, Greg, Parker, and Shady!) at Hobby Lobby. Other than that I couldn't find any of the other items I had in mind. And get this: Christmas books never go on sale. They just package them up and return them to the vendors to re-sell the next year. Darn! OH, and here's a cute story about Greg! When I told him I wanted to buy Christmas books he said, "We already have one." My response was, "Yeah, one! We need more". He argued that the baby won't even know what we're reading to him anyway. I beg to differ, but I also had to clue him in to the fact that I'm not going to want to read the same book every single night! *sigh* You gotta love my husband!

Luckily, we were able to get some fun kitchen decor at Hobby Lobby, made a Home Depot and a Lowe's run (our kitchen now has cabinet hardware!) and my first ever trip to Motherhood where I got a good deal on two cute sweaters!

The day was topped off with dinner at The Elephant Bar where we shared an amazing blueberry apple cobbler after dinner! The next day we loaded up everything and came home.

All in all, our Christmas was pretty enjoyable. However, I absolutely cannot wait for Christmas next year! I'll finally have a home to decorate that (hopefully) won't be under construction, and it will be Parker's first Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Watch Me Grow!

This was taken at 16 weeks. Which is about the time I finally started to think I looked "pregnant" and not "fat"!



Here I am at 19 weeks. This was taken literally right after I found out we are having a BOY! I told Greg I would wear blue that day since he desperatly wanted a boy. Apparently the blue shirt worked! ;)



Week 20! I made Greg take this of me before I went to work. His response was, "Why?" *sigh* MEN!



Taken at 21 weeks with "the man behind the belly". This was right after my company Christmas party. I actually felt as festive as I look!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

That ain't no ordinary bottle o' Ranch!


No sireebob!

When I was in high school I was introduced to two of the greatest food combinations in history: pizza + ranch dressing. YUM! The reason it took me so long to discover the two foods that should just automatically come together, is because I pretty much grew up in Oklahoma City. Then, right before I began high school, my parents moved to "the country". On pizza days in the cafeteria there would be bottles of ranch sitting on the tables and everyone poured a big puddle of ranch onto their school lunch tray and proceeded to dip their pizza in it. This event never happened in the OKC public school system. The first time I saw this I was a little appalled. That was, until I tried it! What's funny is that now whenever I eat pizza in front of someone that hasn't combined these two foods together, and they see me dipping my pizza in ranch, I sometimes get a raised eyebrow. They obviously have been missing out!

Now, onto the bottle of ranch pictured above...

Have any of you ever ate at Mazzio's Pizza? I know they are all over Oklahoma but not sure what other states they are located in. Unfortunately, they are not in Colorado. Not only is their pizza delicious, but their ranch dressing is to. die. for. I'm serious. I almost think the ranch dressing is why I love Mazzio's so much!

I mentioned that my sister came to visit us over Thanksgiving. And since I have the most awesome sister in the world, she knew that earlier in my pregnancy I was craving Mazzio's. (Luckily she was smart enough to know that I was really craving Mazzio's ranch dressing). Believe it or not, my sister went to Mazzio's before leaving Oklahoma and bought a large to-go container of ranch dressing. Then, she transferred it into an empty ranch dressing bottle and brought it all the way to Colorado for me via ice chest! How awesome is that?

Greg and I have been enjoying some of the best salads lately, along with a Little Cesar's pizza this past weekend, made even better with this awesome condiment! In fact, we love it so much that once it was only 1/4 full, we added water to it to thin it out and make it last just a lil' bit longer!

Why Greg and I never thought to load up on Mazzio's ranch before is beyond us. All I know is, we're going to Oklahoma in January for my baby shower, and Greg claims we are buying six containers of ranch dressing!

Does ranch dressing freeze well? ***crossing my fingers and my toes that it does!***

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

An Unconventional Thanksgiving

I know that Christmas is right around the corner, but it's not too late to write about my Thanksgiving is it? This years Thanksgiving proved to be quite different from years past. Typically Greg and I visit a family members house for Thanksgiving. But not this year! Instead my sister and her family drove all the way up to Colorado to help us work on our house. And boy, did they help!

I tend to get the impression that most families spend Thanksgiving getting together for a huge lunch and then the men retire to the living room to watch football while the women clean the kitchen. Well, not in this house! Amazingly enough, neither my husband nor my brother in law, Andy, are sports fans! Which is a good thing since the only working TV was in the nursery/temporary guest room. When we bought our house, since it was a foreclosure, there were no appliances. And although my husband bought a microwave and oven when he went on his big Home Depot trip, we didn't think we would have any of them installed by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. The week before we went ahead and unpacked the microwave and had it downstairs in a random room (it's one of those "hang over the stove" kind in case you're wondering). So when I prepared my menu for the week (yes, I am that girl) I was forced to come up with a creative Thanksgiving meal that didn't require a stove.

Let me backtrack a little. Since I now work from 2-6 every evening, I'm starving by the time I get home. Keep in mind this preggo is used to eating dinner at 5:00. So, for the last three weeks, I've been cooking with my trusty crock-pot during the work week. I even purchased a new crock pot cook book, and believe it or not, there were several recipes in it for cooking a turkey! I settled on one that I thought sounded pretty good, and it only involved a turkey breast. Sounded simple enough! I also decided we'd eat cranberry sauce (from a can, but who cares, right?), Country Crock microwavable mashed potatoes, and a new coleslaw recipe I learned from my father in law's girlfriend the week before. The meal was complete with a frozen cream pie from Edwards. There! Thanksgiving from a crock pot and microwave!

Now, if there is one word for me to describe my husband, it would be a toss up between "workaholic" and "the energizer-bunny". That may be more than one word, but you get the picture. I also tend to tell him he's a slave driver. Getting a better picture? Since we had so many people coming to visit us and help us work on our house, the workaholic in him went into overdrive. The great thing is that my brother in law is the exact same way! My family had arrived Tuesday night and by the end of the day on Wednesday Greg and Andy had ran the water line for the fridge and the new gas lines for the oven. (I discovered while living "life on the road" that I absolutely love cooking with gas! And my husband was awesome enough to surprise me with the gas stove I really wanted, even when I told him I could live with electric! Gotta love him!) Once that was completed my sister, Sheila, and I tackled putting new plastic shelving liner in all the cabinets and drawers. Then came the joyous task of trying to unpack and organize our kitchen. After I went to work they worked on some overgrown yard work that the neighbors commented on. It wasn't exactly on our schedule, but it did need to be done. Don't get me started on our lack of a housewarming from our neighbors.....




When Thanksgiving rolled around, my sister and I had to make a quick Wal-Mart run (again, something I've never done on any Holiday). Since we officially had a working oven, I decided to pick up some rolls and decided why not make "real" mashed potatoes?! Since the guys aren't sports fans, lots of work took place in our house that day! Andy painted our office and most of the upstairs hallway while Greg textured the wall we had to strip wall paper from in the living room and the dining room. Once the texture was dry, they primered those walls and painted the ceilings. Sheila was a trooper and brought load after load of "stuff" from our trailer into the basement. By the time dinner rolled around we were all pretty hungry....and thankful that our Thanksgiving dinner from a crock pot turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself!





Unfortunately for us, no shopping was done on Black Friday. But, the guys painted the living room and the dining room, and hung new lights in the living room while my sister continued to bring in load after load of "stuff" from the trailer. Believe it or not, it's still not unloaded all the way! (And to think that a lot of people don't believe anyone can actually "live" out of a travel trailer!) Despite all the work going on, the kids were pretty good about entertaining their selves. Greg turned the box that our oven came in into a "Box Castle" which also occasionally turned into a coo-coo clock and a choo-choo train. They also had a blast playing on.....the stairs! Who knew!



All in all it was a great Thanksgiving week! The gang left the next day and I was so sad to see them go. THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP GUYS!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

As I Was Sayin'

I believe my last post mentioned how I felt my life was at a stand still and I was just basically waiting for the ball to drop and for everything to take a downward spiral (but in a good way!) Well, I was definitely right!

We were finally able to close on our house on Friday the 13th! Good thing I'm not superstitious! Closing went without a hitch and by Saturday afternoon we had all of our items that were in storage unloaded into the basement of our house. Did I say basement? I sure did!! I'm a true Okie, and in Oklahoma basements are virtually unheard of. When we first came to Colorado I was fascinated by how many homes had basements. I've always wanted one, and now I have one! The best thing is that our house is a tri-level, so it's not completely underground which I actually like. I love natural sunlight!

Saturday night we spent the first night in our new home. We tossed our mattresses on the floor and that's where we've slept ever since! Thankfully we have lots of good friends here who all pitched in to help us move since I'm in no condition to do any heavy lifting. The next day we moved our fifth wheel to our house. It takes up most of the driveway! We have it for sale now and I'm hoping it sells quick!

The week has basically been a blur since then. I went on a job interview on Monday morning, was informed I had the job on Monday afternoon, and began work the next day. Whew! We also found out that evening that Greg's dad and his girlfriend were for sure coming to help us work on the house and they would be arriving on Wednesday. So, here's everything that has taken place work wise on the house this week: laid new flooring in utility room, painted utility room, installed new hot water tank, wood filled and painted trim in the master bedroom, office, and nursery, patched holes in the master bedroom, painted the master bedroom, shampooed master bedroom carpet, peeled wallpaper in dining room and in living room, hung new cabinets in the kitchen, trimmed out wainscoting in dining room, lots of wood filling and caulking, and as I type hubby is primering and painting all the cabinets and wainscoting in the kitchen and dining room. Whew! That doesn't include the day that Greg, Carl, and Ronda spent going to Garden City, KS to buy appliances and 6 cart loads at Home Depot.

Needless to say, I'm a little tired.

And it doesn't stop there! This week, my sister and her husband and my niece and nephew will be here! And, on Friday I have an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby! Greg was able to put our bed together today so tomorrow night will be the first night to sleep in our "real" bed in our new house! That's always exciting! (Sleeping in the trailer tonight b/c the paint fumes are too much for me!)

I can't say when I'll have before and after pics posted because I know by the end of the week the master bedroom, kitchen, and dining room will all be 3/4 finished and I am a perfectionist and want to wait until they are 100% done before I post....so don't hold your breath!!! Flooring and counter tops aren't cheap!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

The calm before the storm

I've been a little MIA in blogger land lately. Mainly, because I don't feel like I have anything to say or write about. Life just seems to be at a stand still. The phrase "hurry up and wait" seems to be what I've been experiencing. The first reason is because of my pregnancy. Yes, I'm excited about the baby. Yes, I'm finally starting to feel a little better (thanks to some different medicine!) No, I haven't bought anything for the baby. That's the question I get asked fairly often and I honestly have no desire to buy anything baby until I know what the sex is. Plus, until we move into our house, I really don't have room to store anything anyway. Right now I feel like the pregnancy is a slow-motion process. I'm almost 17 weeks which means I've almost reached the half-way point. But it still feels like April is so far away....

The other reason is because of our soon-to-be home. We went under contract on a HUD property around the middle of September. And we still don't have a closing date. It's a little annoying. Supposedly we may close this coming Friday, but I'm not going to hold my breath or anything. My husband and I have always bought re-possessed properties. And since I sold real estate for a little over two years, I'm no stranger to this process. However, we have never bought a HUD property, which are foreclosures that are now owned by the government. To say that they don't seem to be in any hurry whatsoever to get those properties off of their paperwork would be an understatement.

I was so excited to finally be a homeowner again after living on the road for two years. And, my husband and I were also very excited to have cash to actually pay for the repairs rather than put them on a credit card and then re-finance like we always did in the past. That was, until the bank informed us that their loan program changed half-way while we were under contract and that we now had to put a down-payment down. We now have very little money to re-model the house with and I hate that we will once again be living in a construction zone rather than getting everything done before we move in. The fact that we want to avoid credit cards as much as possible means it may be several months before the house is able to meet our expectations.

I know that once the day finally does arrive when we can close on the house, things will take a downward spiral from there. Greg's dad and his girlfriend offered to come and spend a week helping us remodel, and hopefully, clean, the house. The week of Thanksgiving my sister and her family will be making the trip up to visit us and help us "work" on the house. I'm excited to have family visit and only hope they like sleeping on air-mattresses and sitting on lawn chairs since we sold our couch when I joined Greg on the road! To be quite honest, buying furniture is pretty low on my list right now!

Another new aspect in my life is that I've been job hunting. It's a little hard for me to come to terms with the fact that this college graduate may have to work at Wal-Mart or be a receptionist since there are no good job opportunities in this little town. I loved selling real estate but you couldn't pay me to sell real estate here. And I'm not blaming the so-called recession either. My Realtor did inform me that she's very busy but upon further prodding I finally got her to admit that she's busy with a lot of sellers. Well, I can work with thirty sellers and be very busy, but if there aren't any buyers I'm not going to get a paycheck. That's just reality.

I haven't had any phone calls or interviews from prospective employers. I have also seen continued ads ran in the newspaper for jobs that I've applied for that I know I'm either perfectly qualified or even over-qualified for. It's a little frustrating. I'm trying very hard to convince myself that it's part of the calm of the storm.

This is what I foresee happening: We close on the house. Carl comes to visit. I get a phone call that I've been offered a job. I can no longer help work on the house or spend time with the visiting family members. It will take me a month to unpack because I'll be so busy. Dinners may start coming out of a bag that I dump into a skillet. Get the picture?

So for now, I'm trying to enjoy the calm before the storm.....

Monday, October 26, 2009

Goodbye, Cancun

Luckily one of my aunts was kind enough to remind me to post this! I completely forgot! I'm blaming the pregnancy! Our last day in Cancun was very sad for me...I actually did not want to leave! We had breakfast and then went back to our room to finish packing. Unfortunately, I got sick, so pretty much Greg did the packing! Here's the picture I took of our room on the last day. Sorry, I didn't get the balloons above the bed in the picture. And I was right about that: we did get some one's left-over honeymoon suite. I know this because on the day that Randy and Shannon got married they came back to discover balloons and rose petals in their room.



I did have a small hang-up that day that kind of still irks me. I wanted to buy a couple post-cards to send to my nieces and nephews. Since I procrastinated, I could only purchase them from the hotel gift shop. They only accepted pesos and I asked how much it would be for four post-cards. They told me the amount and I went to the front desk to have my American money converted. Turns out it would have been $27 to buy four measly post-cards. So I gave up. I figured there must have been some type of communication issue, but I wasn't feeling up to going back to figure it out. Oh well.

The hotel had a van lined up to take us to the airport and we went through everything with no hold up. By this time I was ready for lunch and they happened to have a Domino's pizza restaurant there. That sounded pretty good to me, so I ordered a slice and a drink a piece for Greg and I. It was $17. Now, I'm not sure if that's just crazy airport prices, or if it confirmed that Mexico just really wasn't as cheap as I was expecting.

We finally loaded onto our plane that would take us to Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, the flight didn't seem as fast this time and I started doing my lovely sounding dry heaves. It wasn't very fun. Then, there was a slight delay in landing in Atlanta due to the weather. Once we finally landed, we were able to make it through customs without a hassle. I wish I could say the same for Randy and Shannon. They were carrying the sand that was used in their sand ceremony during the wedding and apparently the good ole' US of A doesn't appreciate people bringing foreign soil into our country! Finally, about maybe an hour (OK, it may have been less than that but I was so hungry it felt like an hour) later, everything was given the OK and we were free to go. Thankfully we had a four hour lay over, so at least it helped pass the time. From there we all went to TGIFridays to eat dinner. After that, I became real familiar with one of the restrooms...I'm sure you can figure out why. Not fun. We finally all just sat around in the waiting area near our gate and patiently (?) waited for our flight. Now, normally I wouldn't post such an unflattering picture of myself, but I think this really captures how ready Shannon and I were to get back home! (Yes, that is one of my popcorn buckets next to me!)



Eventually, we were able to load the plane and we arrived in OKC without a hitch. I think by the time we finally made it back to Granny's house it was around midnight. That's when I learned that when Greg finished packing he didn't check all of the drawers. So I had no clean underware. Let's just say the icing on the cake was getting to fall asleep in a pair of my husband's boxer briefs!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Thoughts Running Wild

There's really something wrong with me when I feel the need to blog twice in one morning. Watch out Perez Hilton! It's a quiet, rainy day in South Eastern Colorado and as I became increasingly relaxed listening to the pitter-patter of rain drops on our trailer I decided I might as well take advantage of the situation and take a nice nap on the couch. No sooner had I gotten all cozy when I realized I couldn't fall asleep thanks to all the thoughts that suddenly decided to run loose in my head. Hopefully getting them out in the open will ease a little of my anxiety over things that aren't really all that complicated...

*Shady needs a bath, she's starting to smell like a dog. Too bad I can't lift her up to put her in the shower anymore...
*I bet Shady really needs to pee...
*Our new neighbors will hate us once they see us living out of our fifth wheel in the driveway while we re-model...
*When is the gas company going to call...
*Where will we park all of the vehicles when family comes to visit at Thanksgiving...
*At least I get to wear my new cute rain boots today...
*Should I start a new hat bedazzling business...
*I need to go apply to be a substitute teacher...
*Subbing for a kindergarten class would stress me out; can I just read to them all day...
*When is the gas company going to call...
*I really need to dust...
*Today would be a good day to start reading "Twilight"...
*How will our home inspection go on Friday...
*What will the road conditions be like in January...
*I want to start a stock pile of diapers. What size will I need the most of...
*Is it worth it to get a Sams Club membership when it's two hours away...
*When is the gas company going to call...
*Christmas is right around the corner; I need to start shopping...
*I can't wait to bake Christmas cookies...
*I hope our house is ready by Christmas so I can decorate...
*I need to finish blogging about Mexico...
*I can't get used to the sight of my belly without my belly ring...
*I hope Greg likes his birthday present...
*When should I start the parenting classes; November or January...
*I need to call the dentist...
*When will our new insurance cards arrive...
*Maybe the pre-natal yoga DVD I ordered will arrive in the mail today...
*I need to re-list my unwanted Body Shop products on ebay again...
*How quick will our fifth wheel sell...
*Does Greg really want to go to Vegas next month...
*I want to watch Cirque De Soile if we go...
*Am I already a bad parent if I have no desire lately to read any of my baby books...
*The Dr. better try to listen for the baby's heartbeat on Friday's appointment...
*Why were my gums bleeding for no reason this morning...
*Is Greg getting tired of eating oatmeal for breakfast...
*I can't wait to be able to make Grandma's recipe for corn casserole again...
*I hope I find the perfect shade of blue to paint our bedroom...
*I hope Greg lets me paint our bedroom blue...
*I wish I hadn't broke our towel warmer during the move...
*I'm ready to start peeling wall paper...
*Where will we get firewood from for our fireplace...
*How am I going to decorate our dining room when all I have is a little table...
*I need the desire to learn to play our ukulele...
*I wish our washer/dryer wasn't broke...
*I want a cat...


I'll quit there, but you get the general idea. Am I the only one that this happens too? Maybe now I can take a nap...

Just our luck...

Last night Greg received a phone call from a guy he worked with who didn't know that Greg had "quietly" quit working for that particular company. He is a contractor, just like Greg was. And he was calling to give us the heads up that he found out that they were going to be working together again....in HAWAII!!

Apparently we would have got to live there for about three months. I definately could have handled that! Especially during the cold months of Colorado winter! *sigh* I guess we'll just have to plan a vacation there one day instead!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Cancun Day 4: Catamaran Excursion

On our last full day in Cancun, eleven people in our group decided to go on a catamaran excursion. I was pretty nervous about how I would do on the boat. Normally I don't have a problem with being motion sick or sea sick, but since I've been so nauseous throughout this pregnancy, I really didn't know what to expect. A lot of our friends took Dramamine, but I searched through "What To Expect When Your Expecting" along with the list my doctor gave me of approved medicines and I couldn't find any information about that particular drug. It may be safe to take, but I didn't want to risk anything. So I stuck with my prescription meds along with ginger pills and prayed for the best!

Now, for those of you who don't know me, let me tell you a few things about myself. First of all, I am in no way, shape, or form what one may call a thrill seeker. I'm very much a play it safe type of person. You'll never hear me saying something like, "I want to go skydiving!" Another thing about me is that I am scared to death of deep water. It never fails when we go to the lake, we always manage to anchor out in the middle of the water and everyone but me jumps in to cool off. I would rather sweat to death. Even if I have a life jacket on. That's just how I am. I know that this is one part about me that my husband desperately wishes he could change, but it is what it is.

I knew that we were going on a boat ride. And I knew that this boat was called a catamaran. What I didn't know was what a catamaran really was. Until we were about to board. And let me tell you, it freaked me smooth out. The best way for me to describe this "boat" is to say it has two long structures that kind of make an = sign. Those are on the outside. The inside is basically made out of trampoline material. I hate trampolines. Which meant the "safest" place for me to sit was on one of the side things. With basically nothing to hold on too. To say that I was nervous before we sat sail is putting it mildly. Luckily once we got going I relaxed when I realized we couldn't go very fast. And the beautiful turquoise water was so breath taking that it was hard for me to focus on the negative.

We "sailed" for about an hour until we reached the Isla Mujeres which is an island that I believe is East from Cancun. We made our first quick stop so we could have the opportunity to hold a one hundred pound shark and have our pictures taken with it (sorry, forgot what type of shark it was). Granted, we couldn't use our own cameras, we had to have the catamaran people take the pictures so they could in turn sell them to us. Go figure. From there they took us to another spot along the island so we could......drum roll please.....snorkel!

Now, snorkeling is something I thought I'd never do in a million years. Basically the only reason I did it is because before we even left to go to Mexico, Greg asked if I would do it if he stayed near me. I was super nervous, but also excited at the chance to see some cute fish! Of course as soon as we reached our "spot" I began getting super nervous. Then the guide asked if there was anyone on the boat who wasn't a strong swimmer. I raised my hand faster than you can imagine! They told me after I put on my flippers and life belt to join one of the guides. Since I was scared, I was one of the last to get all of my equipment on. Basically I was procrastinating. By this point most everyone had already jumped in, including my husband. Then, they told me to jump in. I had a momentary minor panic attack in which I said that I couldn't do it, and Greg morphed into an authority type figure and yelled, "Get in the water!" I almost cried. I was shaking. It was horrible. Then the guide had the bright idea for me to sit on the side of the boat and slide in. That seemed easier to me since that would put me a little closer to the water. I was just scared to death of going under water.

I took a deep breath, and slid off the boat. Luckily, I didn't go under the water! The life belt worked and I instantly felt a little bit better. Then the instructor came up beside me. He had a life ring with him that I was to hold on to the entire time, which I was so grateful for. He then demonstrated how to put the snorkel in my mouth and told me to put my head in the water. I couldn't believe how much I could see! It was incredible! And I had it pretty easy since I just held onto the life ring while someone else led me around. We were in the water for about twenty minutes, but I wish we could have continued all day!

Afterwards we got back on the catamaran and they took us to yet another spot on the island. This is where we were to get off the boat for an hour for shopping time. Unfortunately, we were all so wet, then hot, and hungry, that none of us was really in the mood to shop. We half heartedly browsed through a few stores, then went back and waited to load back on the boat. Our excursion was supposed to include lunch, but I made sure to pack snacks to have with me so I wouldn't get sick. What they didn't tell us was that they don't serve lunch until around 2:00. Everyone was starving, and although I had snacks, I was trying not to eat all of them because I knew I would need some even after lunch time. I was honestly expecting sandwiches on the boat, but they took us to yet another spot on the island where they had a delicious buffet. Afterwards we were in front of a small swim beach so we all just hung out for about an hour. Unfortunately, since my eating schedule was altered so much, I started to get sick. The boat ride back to the dock seemed to take even longer and I began dry heaving/spitting up over the side of it right about the time we pulled up to the dock.

We had to take the public bus back to the hotel. By this point I was so miserable and hungry it wasn't funny. This was probably about 6:00. Then, from where the bus dropped us off, we had a short walk back to the hotel. I was so weak I was bringing up the rear of the group, being sick the whole way. I think I pretty much freaked our friend Justin out but I was beyond the point of thinking it was funny at the time. Somehow I made it back to the hotel, ate dinner, and of course was sick for the rest of the night. We did manage to go visit some of our friends in their room for a few minutes, but for the most part we spent the evening in our room watching "Legally Blond". Complete with Spanish subtitles!

**sorry, no pictures this time! I didn't take my camera with me!**

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Cancun Day 3: Here Comes The Bride!

Today was "the big day" and our main reason for jetting off to beautiful Cancun. Some of our best friends, Randy and Shannon, were getting married!!! The night before Shannon couldn't get over my make-up and asked me to do hers for the wedding, along with asking if I'd paint her nails. Of course I said, "yes"! So after another wonderful breakfast, I was off to Shannon's room to help her get ready. Also in tow was our friend Courtney, who was doing Shannon's hair, and Shannon's sister Shyla who was steaming Shannon's wedding dress. Once she was dressed, the bride looked beautiful and I have to say I think Courtney and I did as good of a job as any professional beautician/make-up artist! What do you think?



The ceremony was absolutely beautiful! They were married on a gazebo type structure that overlooked the gorgeous Caribbean Sea. (During the trip everyone kept referring to it as "the ocean" and I didn't have the heart to burst their bubble!) And thankfully the ceremony didn't last too long because it was hot! Afterwards everyone posed for a few pictures and then the newlywed couple went off to take pictures with the photographer.





Months before the wedding I began trying to convince Shannon to take "trash the dress" pictures. I even sent her emails of links to photographers web sites with examples. Needless to say, I followed the couple and the photographer afterward so I could take some extra pictures for the bride...and I wanted to continue to nag her to take some pictures I knew they would never forget! By this time it was just the couple, the photographer, and me. Sure enough we went to the beach! We took a couple of fun playful pictures of them in the sand and right when the photographer acted like he was finished and asked if there were any other poses they wanted, Shannon looked at me, and I said, "Uh, yeah! Get in the water and get on top of each other! We need some sexy pictures!"






I don't know if it was the sun or the pre-wedding beer Shannon had consumed, but she finally broke down and said, "OK!" That was all it took! Next came all kinds of pictures of them in the water. Since we were on the beach behind the resorts, it's pretty safe to say that this unconventional photo shoot caused quite a stir! Everyone was whistling and clapping...the climax came when the couple walked out onto a big rocky ledge and prepared to take the big plunge into the water. Everyone started counting down, "Three, Two, ONE!" And then they jumped into the water! It was so much fun and I was so disappointed that none of our other friends were there to take in the moment! What surprised me the most was that her make-up still looked perfect when she finally made it back to shore!









After the excitement of the pictures dissipated, I had to book it straight to the buffet. I was starving!!! Afterwards, I found Greg and we decided to see what all of our friends were doing. This is where it gets a little funny. All of our friends are die-hard OU fans. Greg and I are fans, but not to the extent of all of them. As our friends were trickling into the buffet room I started to notice that every single one of them was wearing an OU shirt. I leaned over to Greg and said, "I guess we didn't get the memo". Greg replied, "There didn't need to be a memo. They all know Saturday is game day and this is just their routine." And in true die-hard fan fashion, all of our friends wanted to watch the game. It wasn't playing on any of the channels at the resort, so they all decided to walk around to try to find it. (Sadly, they were unsuccessful!) And, since Greg and I are not die-hard fans, we were the only ones who opted to stay put! By the time we made it back to the room, I was exhausted. Greg found a movie on TV and as we both laid on the bed I said, "Look at us! We're in Cancun and we're in the room watching a movie! If we want to relax, let's at least do it on the beach!" So we did just that! We spent the next hour or so relaxing under a thatch covered umbrella, Greg with the iPod, and myself with a Nicholas Sparks book. *Sigh* If only I could be back at that very spot right now....

That evening the entire wedding group had reservations at the steak house that was on the resort. The meal was pretty good, but since I had gotten a little off of my eating schedule earlier that day, I wasn't exactly feeling very good. And sure enough, right when I had finished my meal, it hit me and I was off walking/running to the restroom. This was the first time I was "super sick" during the trip and it's safe to say I arrived back at the table with an empty stomach. I knew I had to eat or I'd just keep getting sick, and guess what? By the time I got back to the table it was time for desert! Earlier that day the couple did get to cut their wedding cake, but they took it away for everyone to enjoy after dinner. But this wasn't a traditional wedding cake! It was a Mexican wedding cake...kind of like a tres leches desert. I happen to really enjoy tres leches, while some people I know don't. Worked out pretty good for me, I ate my piece, then I ate Billy's piece, then I ate the rest of Greg's! I had also noticed on the steak house's menu that the meal was typically served with Baked Alaska.
I've never had Baked Alaska, but have heard of it and of course was curious. So although it wasn't being offered to our table since we had wedding cake, I asked the waiter if I could have a piece. I didn't realize that Baked Alaska involved quite a show...there was fire going and a huge presentation which everyone enjoyed, and I can officially testify that Baked Alaska is now one of my favorite deserts. It was muy bueno!



After dinner everyone had plans to go to Coco Bongo's which is another famous Cancun night-club. However, Greg and I learned that day that the clubs in Cancun aren't quite like the ones here in the states. They charge a $30-$40 cover charge to get in, which includes all of your drinks for the night. That may have been great for us a year or so ago, but since I don't drink now, and Greg only wanted to stay out for a couple of hours, we couldn't see the point in spending that kind of money. So once again, we opted to view the show that the hotel was putting on! That night the show was Grease, and I don't know if it's just because I wasn't feeling well or that I was a little disappointed that we weren't getting to experience Cancun as much as our friends, but a little half way through the performance I was over it and ready to go to bed. I managed to tough it out though.

Stay tuned....on Day 4 I may do something I never thought I'd do in a million years!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Cancun: Day 2

Friday was our second day in Cancun. It began at the best breakfast buffet I've ever been too! They even had a fresh fruit juice bar and I went a little nuts over the fresh pineapple juice. Yummy! While we were enjoying our breakfast, a lot of our friends mentioned how uncomfortable their beds were. Greg and I were shocked. We both slept so good and literally did not want to get out of bed. Our friends thought we were crazy. (Eventually we realized that our bed had a thick pad on top of the mattresses that was not on any of our friends beds.) We also asked them what type of towel creation they had in their rooms, and again, they looked at us like we were crazy. We finally came to the conclusion that our room was some one's honeymoon suite prior to us. That explained the balloons and more than likely the "left-over" towel creation. Not that I'm complaining! In fact, when we arrived back in our room after breakfast, we had an ever cuter towel creation greeting us in our bathroom!



After breakfast most of our group decided to take a stroll over to the mall and the Mexican market which was located not too far from the hotel. What cracked me up during the entire trip was how much everyone complained about the heat and humidity. My husband included. To me, the weather just reminded me of a hot summer day in Oklahoma. And I had plenty of dresses with me so I was actually fairly comfortable. The main purchase I wanted to make in Mexico were some sarongs. I am addicted to those things! I love how I can throw one on over my bathing suit whenever we're going to the lake and I don't have to look like a complete lake bum. I was able to find some really pretty ones at the Mexican market along with a pretty "Mexican" dress. Now, one thing that I was really looking forward too was how "cheap" Mexico was supposed to be. We were able to negotiate the price slightly with the store owner, but I still didn't leave feeling as though I got the bargain of the century. Then, to rain on my parade just a little bit more, once we got back to the hotel I looked at my sarongs and realized they were made in Indonesia. So much for authenticity! The mall held a store that interested Greg. You guessed it: a Harley store! He was pretty happy to have bought a Harley t-shirt that says "Cancun, Mexico" on the back.





Around lunch time we all made our way back to the hotel and helped ourselves to the buffet. Most of the group was pretty tired this day, so Greg and I decided to lounge on the chaise lounges next to the beach. It was so peaceful and relaxing! Then, later that afternoon he and I made a visit to the spa. Our trip included a $25 spa credit per person so Greg was able to get a deep tissue massage while I enjoyed a deep cleansing facial. I can definitely get used to resort life!

After our spa time we went back to the room to get ready for dinner. I thought that our group would be going out to Senior Frogs that night so although I didn't want to put make-up on my freshly cleansed face, I did! We joined everyone in the main buffet room for dinner. Friday also happened to be Randy's birthday. We told our waiter that, and they actually brought him a birthday cake at the end of our meal! I'm tellin' ya; an all-inclusive resort is definitely the way to travel!




Prior to dinner I was marveling at the fact that I hadn't gotten sick during our vacation. Shortly after Randy's birthday cake was presented to him, I realized I needed to use the restroom. I excused myself from the table, went to the public restroom....and then it happened. Mid-pee, I suddenly had to throw up. And I had no choice. I did it in my under ware. I swear, there's never a dull moment in this pregnant girls life! By some small miracle I had the room key with me so I was able to jet straight to my room to change, and went back to the buffet without any of my friends knowing the difference! (Well, unless they read this!)

Needless to say, I was no longer in the mood to experience the Cancun night life after that, so Greg and I opted to watch the show the hotel was putting on that night. It was called "Broadway" and they showed clips from famous Broadway musicals, and then performed a dance to a song from that musical. The dancers were fantastic, and of course, I would have enjoyed it more had my back not been killing me!

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Destination: Cancun! Day 1

By some small miracle we managed to make it to Oklahoma in one piece. What I haven't mentioned to anyone is the lack of sleep I've been experiencing with this pregnancy. I'm usually up and awake for two to three hours every night. It's so annoying. Knowing that we had to wake up at 3:00 A.M. to catch our flight out of Oklahoma City didn't make me very happy. However, I managed to convince myself that I would probably be up at that time anyway. We went to bed around 9:00 P.M. and for the record, let me say that I had the best sleep in weeks on Granny's guest bed! When 3:00 rolled around, Greg had to wake me up. And, since we have the best Granny ever, she got up with us and made us bacon, eggs, and biscuits and gravy!

Now, being the planner that I am, I had it all figured out as to what outfit I would wear for my arrival in Cancun. Unfortunately, the Oklahoma weather didn't cooperate. When we left it was drizzling and freezing! A majority of our group had flown into Mexico the day before, but another couple was on our flight to Cancun so we had a great time visiting before we boarded the plane.

Remember my post about going to the Warren for our anniversary? Well, when we got there I wasn't feeling well and asked for a popcorn bucket in case I was sick. They gave me four. Apparently they really didn't want to clean up someones vomit! Those buckets have now become my security blankets. I carried one with me throughout the entire plane ride. And, miraculously, I wasn't sick on the plane. However, by the time we landed in Atlanta, I was starving and nothing sounded better than a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit from McDonalds. Now, we were supposed to have an hour layover in Atlanta, but I wasn't expecting the size of that particular airport. It was bigger than Lamar! So, to make a long story short, since I was so determined to have McDonalds, Greg and I almost missed our flight. Shyla and Justin were already waiting for us on the plane and she was a little freaked out that we were going to miss it!

The flight to Cancun felt like it only lasted thirty minutes. Having never traveled outside of the country before, I had no idea they made you fill out all kinds of forms on the plane. Then, I wanted to put on my make-up (apparently the guy next to me was absolutely fascinated by this process). Once we arrived, we went through Customs, which wasn't as bad of an experience as I was expecting. Especially since I had a carry-on bag loaded down with snack food!

Finally, we arrived to our van that would take us to the fabulous RIU Cancun Resort. The only thing the four of us wanted to do was: EAT! We attacked the first buffet we found. Once that was finished, the four of us went to Shyla and Justin's room because ours hadn't been cleaned yet. We changed into our bathing suits and went down to join everyone else in the pool.



Now, for most of the trip, the majority of our friends were content in the pool with the swim-up bar. I, on the other hand, wanted to be on the beach listening to the sound of the waves.
The nice thing was that the waiters came down to the beach as well, so I was never without my precious virgin pina colada!

Later in the afternoon Greg went to see if our room was ready. Once I realized an hour or so had passed, I decided to go check on him. Now, I already knew what our suite was supposed to look like since I had been in Shyla and Justin's room. However, when I walked into ours, there were red and white heart shaped balloons hanging beside the bed and the cutest little towel creation I had ever seen.
Greg had already unpacked and hung all my dresses up, and I was in such surprise to see the decor, I asked him, "did you plan all of this?" This is where my husband screwed up. He said, "NO!" as if it were the most ridiculous thing for me to ask him. If he was smart he would have said "Yes, dear, because you deserve the best!" Ha, ha! We all know I live in a fantasy world!

Our resort had so many buffets and in addition to those it also had a couple of restaurants that required reservations. One of which was a Japanese restaurant. Our group had already made reservations for that night but unfortunately they couldn't accommodate all sixteen of us so we went in two groups. Luckily, we went with the 6:00 P.M. group since the next dinner wasn't until 9:00 P.M.
I have always wanted to try sushi but have never known what to try. Part of our appetizer was a huge platter of about seven different types of sushi. Unfortunately, I could only try two since the others had seafood in them. Greg has continued to surprise me recently by his willingness to try new things, so he sampled each piece of sushi and actually really liked the ones with salmon and shrimp. Two years ago that would not have happened!

That night a majority of our group went out. However, we were so exhausted from our busy day that we decided to take in the Michael Jackson tribute show that our hotel was putting on. I arrived with mixed feelings. I'm a theatre and dance junkie so I was excited to watch a show, but I was afraid it was going to be cheesy. I was wrong! It was so good! We had front row seats, and I was happy to sing along with all the Michael Jackson songs I know and love. The only down fall was that my back was killing me. Afterwards we went to our suite and had the best sleep ever on the extra comfy bed!



Stay tuned for Day 2!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

I'm Cursed

I have the Vacation Curse to be more specific.

Greg and I haven't been on many vacations since we've been together. In fact, the only "real" vacation we've been on is when we went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon. We were both so excited! Mainly because we didn't even know until two weeks before our wedding that we would have extra money to afford to go on a honeymoon. If it hadn't been for all the money that we received as gifts in the mail from family members, it wouldn't have been possible! We were to spend four days in Vegas and we were staying in the Stratosphere hotel and casino. I had never even been to a casino before and neither of us had ever gambled so we were excited to experience that. It's no secret that my husband and I both love to eat, so we were pretty stoked to get to try out different restaurants. Not to mention all those endless buffets you see on the travel channel that Vegas is known for. I was also looking forward to taking in a couple of shows!

We arrived in Vegas around dinner time. Once we checked into the hotel and deposited our suitcases in the room we headed straight to the buffet! From there we had our first, addicting experience with slot machines. Once we tore ourselves away from those we checked out all the shops located in the Stratosphere, along with traveling to the top of the building to check out the Vegas lights. Afterwards we realized we were pretty tired so we went to bed. It wasn't even ten o'clock.

The next morning we woke up and began our tour of the Vegas strip. After a couple of hours I realized I wasn't feeling well. I thought maybe I was hungry so although nothing sounded good, I forced myself to eat McDonalds for lunch. Soon after I was literally begging Greg to go back to the room. Not even thirty minutes after we arrived back safe and sound, I was running to the bathroom to throw up. As I was hunched over the toilet an article that I read in one of the many bridal magazines I had purchased flashed through my mind. The article posted a statistic of the percentage of brides who got physically ill on their honeymoon. The reason for this phenomenon being that a bride is usually so stressed about the wedding and all the details that go into planning it. The stress lasts throughout the planning stage and the wedding itself until the bride finds herself on her honeymoon. Suddenly, she has nothing to stress about. Since the body doesn't know how to cope with this sudden loss of stress, it relieves itself the only way it knows how; by causing the bride to be sick. That article made a lot of sense to me.

My ailment went on for the remainder of the afternoon. I to this day cannot even tell you what Greg did all afternoon. Again, we were in bed by ten o'clock that evening as well. The next day wasn't much better. I didn't feel like my normal self. Food sounded disgusting. Walking around sounded like a chore. I toughed it out as much as I could and we did manage to see some amazing sights and take in a couple of the shows our hotel put on. Unfortunately, I was tired every night and each night we went to bed by ten o'clock. Who goes to bed that early in Vegas? I'm still determined to visit Vegas again for the sole purpose of experiencing the night life.

A while back I wrote a post about how excited I was that Greg and I finally applied for our passports. I also wrote that we were going to Cancun for some of our best friends wedding. I was literally counting down the days from the day we booked until the day we would be leaving. This was about ninety-six days ago. The trip is now exactly one week away. And I'm dreading it.

Here's why: For the past four weeks I have thrown up virtually every day. And it's not just morning sickness. It's more like all-day sickness. When I'm not throwing up (skip to the next paragraph if you have a queasy stomach!) I'm doing this disgusting, embarrassing thing. It's kind of like a dry heave/burp. However, I cannot distinguish if I'm about to do that or actually throw up. So I'm continually running to the toilet or trash can. Luckily in the trailer I don't have far to run! I have a prescription of anti-nausea tablets as well as an acid reducer, but they don't really help me that much. The worse part about this, is that I don't want people to witness me doing this. Anytime I leave the house, I have a slight feeling of anxiety. I'm just waiting for me to throw up in the middle of the aisle at the grocery store, despite the fact that I carry a plastic sack with me. My luck I just won't get it out in time. The thought of being in an air plane while I'm dealing with nausea, with a stranger seated next to me, makes me want to cry.

My next worry is how we are going to get to Mexico in the first place. When we booked our trip we weren't sure where we were going to be. So we went ahead and arranged to be flown round-trip from Oklahoma City. The thought of the long car ride to and from OKC again makes me want to cry (are you noticing a theme here?). What makes matters worse is that on the way back, I'll be driving by myself again. That's because our friend Tim who drove the U-Haul to Colorado for us drove my car back to Oklahoma.

My third and final worry is the biggest. I want to experience Cancun. I really do. But I'm afraid I won't want to leave the room. I was really looking forward to so many aspects of this trip: The endless buffet of seafood, which, duh, I can't eat. Going to Senior Frogs and dancing the night away. Going on a booze cruise with all our friends who are going to Cancun as well. Visiting the Mayan Ruins. And, of course, shopping!

I'm usually known for being able to see the positive in things. And I'm really trying to focus on that. I'm so excited to be able to attend a beach wedding. I'm excited to wear my fabulous floppy hat I bought as I lounge by the pool. But that's about it. I will be 12 weeks next Tuesday and I'm praying like crazy that all of these nasty symptoms I'm experiencing will magically go away like so many people have assured me they will. I'm also really praying the bartenders will know what a "virgin" pina colada is.

I know that it sounds really stupid and petty of me to ask for you to pray for me while I'm on vacation in a tropical paradise, but as you can see, I am cursed when it comes to vacations.

***After re-reading this, I realize readers may take this the wrong way. My pregnancy was in no way an "accident" and I do not consider being pregnant a curse! I just had to make that part clear! ;)***

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

This would only happen to me

For as long as I can remember I've always been told that I look younger than I actually am. I grew up hearing, "you'll appreciate it one day". Well, I'm still waiting for that day to happen. It's a little ridiculous that at the age of twenty-eight, I still get nervous when I walk into a liquor store. Why? Because I'm afraid they are going to think I'm using a fake ID and that an undercover cop is going to leap over the counter, tackle me to the ground, drag me off to prison without my one phone call. Get the picture?

I've kind of accepted this simple fact about me, but when I first began my career in real estate I had a real hang-up about it. I was so afraid that people would look at me and think "What does she know? She's twelve." Of course, no one ever mentioned my age, but in the back of my mind I think that's because I firmly believed that knowledge was power, and I made sure I knew my stuff.

A few weeks ago hubby and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going on a double date to dinner and the movies. Now, looking back, I realize this would be our last anniversary as a couple without children, so we probably should have done something a little more romantic, but what can I do about it now? When we got to the theatre, Greg needed to use the restroom so I did the simple task of ordering our tickets. We were watching the movie "Inglorious Bastards" which is rated R. I ordered the tickets, and handed the guy a twenty dollar bill. After he took it, he gave me a once over and asked to see my ID.

Now, I completely understand a cashier asking for my ID if I had paid with my debit card. In fact, I appreciate it when that happens. But this was CASH for crying out loud!!! Apparently even though I was two months pregnant, I didn't even look old enough to watch a rated R movie. I swear, this can only happen to me!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

So Many Changes

As if finding out recently that Greg and I are about to become parents, we recently have had even bigger changes in our lives as well. Greg has been applying for permanent wind tech positions for a few months now. One of which was a job for the wind farm in Lamar. As soon as he applied, everyone told us that he was a shoe-in for the position. However, although my husband has more experience than the people we knew that applied, he didn't have as much technical schooling. So we weren't as confident as everyone else. I guess we shouldn't have worried, because as luck would have it, he got the position!!! Apparently being a dependable, hard-worker worked in his favor!

He was offered the job while we were in Oklahoma. We had to mail back a contract, along with a drug test, and after that we waited to hear when he would start. And basically we got a weeks notice. So to say that last week was extremely hectic is an understatement. We decided to go ahead and move all of our belongings to Lamar and put them in storage so once we find a house, we won't have to make a trip back "home" to load up.

We started out on Monday and Tuesday at Greg's dad's house so he could finish welding our smoker onto a trailer. We also had several tools at his dad's house so Tuesday morning we loaded everything up and from there went to Ardmore. Our storage unit was located there and we rented a U-Haul truck and trailer. Luckily, our friend Dave was generous enough to drive an hour to help Greg load up, because let's face it: I'm officially no help when it comes to moving. I don't know how we would have done it without him.

From Ardmore we drove another hour to Norman because we had about 20% of our stuff at Greg's grannies house. And yet again, we had some awesome help! Greg's step-dad Dave showed up, as well as his life long friend Tim.

Wednesday was our official "moving day". I was absolutely dreading it. Mainly because I have not been feeling good at all and I wasn't looking forward to driving 8 hours by myself. Greg was driving our truck with our trailer, and yet again Tim came to the resuce by agreeing to drive the U-Haul and trailer all the way to Colorado for us. Talk about a friend! Unfortunately, the drive about killed me. We stopped to eat dinner about an hour and a half outside of Lamar and I was sick in the restaurant and could barely eat my dinner. The last half of the trip my back was killing me. The nausea medicine I had was not quite doing it's trick. I was seriously almost in tears by the time we finally got to our final destination. The thought of being in a car again for more than thirty minutes makes me just want to throw up. Literally. Which is not a good thing when I know we'll be making a trip back to OK in two weeks. But that's another story.....

Thursday was spent moving our items into storage. Tim left shortly thereafter as luck would have it, Greg got sick. Because he was under the weather, and I'm not my normal self anymore, I'm sitting here staring at the mess that is our trailer. Basically we have been couch potatoes. However, we did pull it together on Saturday and looked at houses. Now, one of the reasons Greg began to apply for permanent jobs is because he misses having a garage and a house. So it doesn't surprise me that on Saturday we made an offer on a house. And of course, it's a fixer upper! Now the waiting game begins on if HUD will accept our offer or not. Cross your fingers for us!

Like I said....we've been dealing with so many changes!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Pictures Really Are Worth 1,000 Words!








*Our miracle in the making will make his/her grand entrance on/around April 20, 2010!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

This is how we roll


We left Lamar on Thursday afternoon. Greg's job there is finally over! Although, I have a sneaky suspicion we may end up back there very soon. Since we left so late in the afternoon we decided to just drive half-way, and that we'd spend the night in our trailer at a rest stop. This was a first for us, and we did just that! Since we didn't have electrical hook ups we got to sleep with the windows open enjoying the smell of the diesel exhaust from all the semi's that were parked there as well. Since this is the first time we've stayed in our trailer without being hooked up to electricity, I feel like a true RV'er now!

*In case you're wondering where we are now, we're just hanging out in Oklahoma!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

What's That Noise?

What is loud, dusty, and pretty darn redneck?





The answer: A Demolition Derby!

Greg and I attended our first Demolition Derby at the Prowers County Fair in Lamar two weeks ago. It was so much fun that we decided to attend the Rocky Ford Fair this past Friday to watch their Demolition Derby as well! I will admit: this is a pretty redneck sport. Which means I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I officially love demolition derby's!