30 Days of thanks- November 2014

So I got lazy this year and didn't write every day on what I was thankful for. But, I thought I'd just write the top 10 things we have been thankful for, since our lives have been so blessed this year.

1) We live in Florida. Seriously. It's 80 degrees outside and even when it's cold, it's not really that cold. The beach is beautiful, and being able to walk around in shorts year round is really a blessing. Some people may miss the seasons, but I sure as heck don't!

(I mean look at this- it's stunning!)

2) Our finances. When we were planning to move here, we had the goal to use our loan money to only pay rent, and my teaching job would cover all other expenses.

Welllll, that didn't happen. I got pregnant, didn't get hired, and had a really hard time finding a job. As in, I had a tutoring job for two weeks that didn't pan out because the family "couldn't afford it" (then called my friend a week later to ask her if she wanted the job. She didn't.)

We live right next to an elementary school, and it hurts my heart when I walk by and remember just how much I liked feeling important. I learned so much last year, mainly because it was a baptism by fire. It would not have been fun to teach while I was this sick, but I do miss feeling like I'm being productive and contributing to our family and society.
But we are doing ok! We were able to save enough money to get out here and for Brandon's financial aid to come in, and since then we have been living frugally enough to live off of that without having to rely on more assistance. We have had to make sacrifices (like going home for Christmas... sad face), but considering the cost of doctor's visits and the cost of living out here, I am ok with where we are standing.

3) Our parents. We have been so blessed to have such generous parents. They understand what it was like to have a small apartment, and to have a baby on the way when we aren't quite sure of our finances. They've been very generous to us, and we are so excited that they get to be the grandparents of our little one.

4) Our ward. It has been such a learning experience to live in a small ward like the one we are in now. We have never really been "needed" before, and had callings that required some effort, but not a lot. Moving here has taught us SO much. We have been put in contact with very interesting people from all over the world, and it's definitely been an adventure every week.
5) Friends. We miss our friends from Rexburg, even if they have already moved away too. It has been an adjustment, moving across the country to a place where we only knew 2 people. But I am SO glad we moved near Tanner and Alyse, and that they were welcoming enough that we were able to make friends in our ward quickly.
6) Brandon's PA Program. He has worked for years to be able to get to this point, and I'm so grateful that he still loves it! He really truly enjoys going to class every day, and no matter how hard it gets and how burnt out he may be from the workload he still loves learning. This bodes well for the future.
7) This tiny one. As much as I have complained about the first trimester half of pregnancy, it has been a pretty fun ride. I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to show just a little bit, and I can feel the baby moving a LOT. Not constantly, because I know that comes in a few weeks. But for now, it's just so fun to feel. I've been going to bed later and later because just as I'm about to fall asleep, I can feel the baby kicking and rolling and punching (or whatever the heck it's doing), so I stay up and enjoy feeling it.
8) Brandon. Because what thankful list would be complete without a shoutout to the man who makes it all run smoothly? He's been in his hardest semester of school, got called to be the Ward Mission Leader for our ward (which is a high involvement kind of calling), and has a wife who's been basically incapacitated for the last few months. He's basically Superman in my eyes. I've put him in charge of taking out the trash and cleaning out the fridge, but he has done the dishes many times without complaint. Also, a few weeks ago when I almost got a hernia (heavy lifting), he brought the laundry down 2 floors and did the wash. As I'm still slowly but surely feeling better, I'm trying to take back over my jobs. But I sure appreciate a husband who will help out without giving me you-know-what for it.
9) My health. I had no idea everything that went into pregnancy. A few months ago, we got a call that I had tested positive for a disease (that will remain nameless, because of the nature of it). Obviously, I had no idea how this happened and I was scared. My first thought was that I had killed my baby. Luckily, this disease does not hurt the fetus, and would just require additional tests after birth.
OBVIOUSLY, as I had expected and reallllllllly prayed for, it turned out to be a lab error. Which I could have told them, but I am just so grateful that I do not have some sort of serious illness that I could potentially pass on to my baby.
10) The Gospel. As Christmas season is upon us (I love seeing Christmas lights on palm trees), it has reminded me of how grateful I am for the clarity the Gospel brings to my life. The Church isn't exactly popular in mainstream culture right now (when has it been?), but I stand by it and believe in it. I love that families are forever, and I encourage everyone to watch this video this Christmas season!
http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Thanksgiving 2014

Is it really almost December?? What the heck.

We changed our Thanksgiving plans a few times, but were happy to stay in Florida for the week. Brandon has a few tests next week, so he can study this weekend.

My day started with a 5k! I finally signed up for one with my friend Jeni, so that we would both have motivation to do it. She brought her 1 year old with her, and he was a trooper. But he did NOT like being in the stroller for that long.

We just jogged/walked it, and didn't worry about keeping any kind of time. I was worried about running, since I haven't since I got pregnant. But I think the baby enjoyed it... therapeutic bouncing.

We ran right along the A1A, which is the Atlantic's version of the PCH. It was a GORGEOUS day.

(When I think of this vs. our last Thanksgiving, it makes me very grateful we live here.)

Jeni and Kai at the finish line!

No the sand castle wasn't real. We were kind of disappointed.

While I was out doing that, Brandon was busy playing in a Turkey Bowl and making the turkey.
We photographed most of the process, because it took a while. He wanted to brine it, but we didn't have room for it in our fridge. So, we used our cooler!

The brine, which got the bad smell out of the kitchen for a while.

 Brining the turkey in 3 trash bags, in a cooler filled with ice. We changed out the ice a lot, don't worry.

Ready to bake!

(In the oven... the smell was ridiculously good. I wanted to eat it all right then.)

The master chef with his masterpiece.
Wednesday night I started feeling bad that I hadn't done anything to help with dinner, so I decided to make 2 pies. French Silk, of COURSE. I realized that while I like to bake, I'm not that confident in it. So this helped a lot. Note my very proud face when I finished one.

We had dinner at the Coleman's house, with many of our friends from the ward. The food was delicious, and the company was wonderful. I only ate one plate of food, but that was more than enough. Tiny's Thanksgiving gift to me was not making me throw up. We had dessert at a park, and I was able to eat a little bit of that one.

We have much to be grateful for this year, and I will write on that later. But for now, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving near and far!

(PS the shirt was $13 at Target, so I got it in a size up to stretch with me. That's why it's so big.)

Pregnancy is not dignified, Part 2

As mentioned, I've struggled with this. Not only the sickness, but the fear before every appointment that I would be told my sickness proved too much for the baby and we lost it. And THEN the guilt of feeling like this, because I had wanted so badly to be pregnant!! And I still do, obviously. I don't feel like there's anything better I could be doing... I just wish there was a better way of doing it.

So today I read this article, and it has some passages that are word for word what I have felt.

http://ldsdaily.com/personal-lds-blog/getting-know-god-al-fox-pregnancy-expecting-unexpected/

I think the pregnancy "glow" is a load of hooey. As we speak I'm freezing my buns off because we have the A/C at full blast to keep the smell of the neighbor's cooking out of our apartment. My nose is so sensitive that I gag whenever I smell their diverse and multicultural meals.

See this? THIS is pregnancy glow.

My lowered immune system gave me an infection on my face, which caused my right cheek to swell up. I had to get it lanced today and an antibiotic. Cute right?

But anyway, Brandon and I had a great moment where he gave me a blessing last week. I was at the end of my rope and needed help. I won't say everything, obviously, but one thing he said really stuck out to me that I think could help pregnant women who are feeling like me everywhere. I was told that I have physically never been closer to the Savior, because of the sacrifices I am being required to make. And to think of the love I already have for this child because I am literally sacrificing myself for it. Now I always cry when Brandon gives me blessings, but ESPECIALLY this time. As miserable as I am at least once a day, what a reminder I have! The little kicks and squirms I have been feeling lately are just a reminder of the sacrifice I am making. And I believe that any mother makes it, no matter the pregnancy. But I just needed an extra reminder of it this time around! Hopefully I get the message quickly so I don't need as much next time right?

Back to my midnight snack. We've got a squirmy little thing that is always hungry.

Phillip Phillips Concert

So Brandon bought me tickets to go see my favorite band (Muse) for my birthday last year. Unfortunately, as the school year was much more crazy than I expected we didn't go. Which hurts my heart! But Brandon promised he would try to find a concert in Miami to go to. Of course now is the time that nobody is coming to South Florida, so we thought we might not be able to see a show before this baby is born.

So I was listening to the radio and heard an ad that Phillip Phillips was coming to town on the 15th. He's a winner of American Idol, and while Brandon and I don't know his stuff very well we've liked what we've heard. So I texted him just mentioning it, and he said he had already bought tickets! He was going to surprise me, but decided to tell me since he had just shot down my "babymoon" idea (another story).

So we were excited! It was at Hard Rock Live, at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. And no, we didn't have to go into the casino to get to the show thank goodness.

Our seats were up at the top (obviously, we wouldn't pay for closer), which gave us a good view of the whole stand. It's not like I could be in a pit right now anyways.

They had an unknown band opening for them, which turned out to be much better than expected! So we recommend people check out Saints of Valory.

And Phillip Phillips was exactly as we expected. He was excellent! He sounds just like his songs. Which is so refreshing in a world of auto-tune.

As I said, we don't really know his music that well. But we listened to his music all week, which helped a tiny bit. And the songs we did know we sang out!

One of the fun parts of Hard Rock is you get to see guitars signed by some of the greats. I got a picture with Bon Jovi's guitar:

And Brandon got a picture with Garth Brooks' guitar. That says a lot about our personalities.

Side note: we walked by a Mediterranean restaurant afterwards and saw a fire breather!

She moved too fast for a good picture but it was pretty sweet.

So that ended our crazy weekend of worldly activities and spending money. We don't have many other big plans for a while, but the Dolphins game and concert were 2 things on our baby bucket list.

(We don't like taking selfies, but thought it might be good to have a picture with the 2 of us for this occasion.)

Dolphins Game (And Karen's birthday!)

I thought I'd FINALLY blog about something fun we did. There's a few of them I need to catch up on, but here's what we did last night!

So about a month ago, Brandon told me there was a Barry fundraiser where they had tickets to the Dolphins game for cheap. So why not? We didn't really have the desire to go to a Dolphins game normally, but for a deal sure!

It happened to fall on Karen's birthday, and so he made a poster for his mom's birthday. Seriously cute.

(it was 70 degrees, but I crocheted a teal beanie. It was just too good to pass up on.)

I just told him he needs to just teach our boys to love their mom this much.

When we got to our seats, we saw why the seats were so cheap. Second row from the top... what a hike.

Luckily, we could see the whole field from where we were. It was quite the show! I read that the baby is just now beginning to be able to hear, so I wondered what it was thinking with all the fireworks and loud music at the beginning of the game.

 We did NOT get on TV with the poster, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. There was plenty of dancing and jumping around (from him, I can't do much right now).

Lots of good food (they don't allow purses at all in the stadium, so my usual snack supply was at home), which we are now on a cleanse from. Only fruits and veggies today. So who knows how many NFL games we ever go to, but it was way fun while it lasted. And happy birthday Karen we love you!

Pregnancy is NOT dignified.

I think that whoever said "Pregnancy is bliss" was never actually pregnant.
Or if they were, they never had a "typical" first trimester.

They didn't struggle with food aversions, when something as simple as peanut butter brings up awful memories of vomiting and you can't bear to look at it.

They were probably able to continue their exercise regimen, because their pregnancy didn't come with a warning label that moving faster than a snail's pace might cause... yep, throwing up.

They never had breakdowns because they were SO hungry and yet so nauseous, and weren't sure if they could even keep a baby alive like that.

They never had to swallow their guilt as the only thing that helped them feel better was a Taco Bell soft taco (my current craving).

And a million other, much more horrifying and TMI things that have happened.

So many people have said, "Just be grateful that you can get pregnant at all", and to that I just roll my eyes. I can be grateful for the miracle happening, but still miserable over what it is doing to my body right now. Nobody beyond Brandon, myself, and Heavenly Father knows what it took for this to happen. So I am very grateful, but losing 15 pounds is nothing to cough at.

AND I know it could be worse. And at the very least, so many other women go through what I have, and don't always have the support system I do. Which does help me feel a little better. My mom told me now I can see why a mother will do anything for their child, because the "bonding" begins right away, for better or worse.

In closing, here is a picture I found online and laughed really hard at. Because that's how I feel right now.

I'm just waiting to get to the part when people say they love being pregnant.