Maternity Shots

My uber-talented friend Bethany and I had a photo shoot when I was in Utah! Oh, how I wish we lived closer to one another so she could document my entire life. Her photos are that amazing!

Below are a few select ones. The rest you can view on her photography blog.

Shameless plug: Her prices are reasonable and she is amazing. If you are in the Wasatch Front area--check her out!

How to make...

...a 35 week pregnant woman infinitely happy.

Book a massage at a place that has a special prenatal massage table so she can lay on her STOMACH for the first time in five months!

Seriously, it was heavenly!

Quilt Top #2 Complete!

While my house did not get the deep cleaning it usually does on Saturday, my weekend was productive nonetheless.

I finished the quilt top for the crib bedding! I've learned a lot through the process--like next time I will pick a less time consuming pattern if I have a limited amount of time, and I will try not to use fabric that is a *little* too busy for the pattern. (Ronnie complains of a headache if he looks at the quilt too long). I just figure it will stimulate our little one's brain!

Now to get it off to the machine quilter's house and hopefully REALLY finish it soon!

Tag 2--Embarrassing Moments

The rules: Each player lists 6 facts/habits/embarrassing moments about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people.

First Fact/Habit/Embarrassment: I was 15 (yes that really is 1-5 and not just 5) and peed my pants at work. I have already told this story here, so I won’t waste space with it on this post.

Second Fact/Habit/Embarrassment: Most of my extended family lives in Utah. While I was going to school at BYU, Ronnie and I were my immediate family’s “representation” at all family functions. We were attending a large family reunion on my dad’s side just after Thanksgiving. I had made my delicious spinach and strawberry salad at home and had taken off my sweater during the preparations so it would not get dirty. About two hours into the reunion, a distant relative (so distant that I had never seen her before) informed me that my sweater was on inside out. You may think that not that many people had noticed, but this sweater had a hood and pocket on the right side, so all of those seams were proudly displaying themselves all night.

Third Fact/Habit/Embarrassment: I cannot whistle. Luckily, most of the time, I am able to go on living a normal life despite this fact, but every once in a while I have to hang my head in shame (like when my brother who was 4 at the time learned how). And don’t think that you are the wisest, greatest teacher of whistling—cuz many a person has been sorely disappointed when they try to teach me.

Fourth Fact/Habit/Embarrassment: I have been involved (aka: driving) in five accidents since I began driving. Three of them were my fault, and those three occurred within 1 year of obtaining my license. (Obviously I had a rough start to the whole driving thing.) My parents did not know about the second one until I moved back to Laramie this summer. It didn’t do any damage to my car and I had a friend fix the dent on the guy’s truck.

Fifth Fact/Habit/Embarrassment: I sometimes wear the socks I have had on all day to bed at night. Well, actually I don’t do it anymore, because Ronnie FREAKS out about it and closely watches to make sure I change my socks. Some nights, he makes me put on a new pair of socks again, because he didn’t SEE me put on the first pair of clean ones. In my parents’ defense, we were talking about this the other day and they also FREAKED out, so obviously I was taught at some time in my life that it was gross, but it just doesn’t bother me.

Sixth Fact/Habit/Embarrassment: I have to eat my foods one at a time. I never take one bite of potatoes and then one bite of steak, then a bite of salad. I select my least favorite food on the plate and then eat it all. Then I move on to my second least favorite, and so on. I do not like the fork to be “contaminated” and food CAN. NOT. TOUCH. (not ever!)

And now I tag: Anne Marie(private blog, sorry), Amber, Ginny, Jess, Lindsey, and Lauren.

Tag 1

I’ve been tagged by both Jen and Anne Marie (who has a private blog) so for the next two days, I will finally be responding.

What is your favorite smell?
Fresh cut grass.

What is your favorite sight?
Hmmm, this one doesn’t come as quickly to my head, but I think something clean and visually pleasing, like this.

What is your favorite taste?
I’m pregnant, my cravings change daily. Last night it was Raisinets, the day before, chicken nuggets, and today? Who knows?

What is your favorite sound?
A well-played violin.

What is your favorite touch?
Ronnie’s backrubs.

I tag Bethany, Cheryl, Carissa, and Jill.

Evaluations

Disclaimer: There is one swear word in this entry. I am retelling a story—a story that would not be funny without it, so try not to judge me.

I work at a University. I also talk to professors (surprise, surprise).

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing the following story.

Professor A (PA) was new to the faculty. It was time for class evaluations. Each professor was assigned to proctor another professor’s evaluations and PA was assigned to proctor Professor B’s (PB) evaluations.

PA went into the department office to collect the evaluations sheets before heading up to do the evaluations. PB happened to be in the office at the same time.

PB: “Are you proctoring my evaluations?”
PA: “Yep.”
PB: “Let me tell you how I would like them administered.”
PA: “Great.” (PA was assuming at this time that every professor liked to have evaluations administered a certain way.)
PB: “After you pass out the evaluations, it usually helps if you go to the board and write the following words: marvelous, outstanding, and fantastic. Those words come up a lot on my evaluations and it gets annoying when you have 20-30 people ask how to spell them.”

It was then PA realized that he had been the butt of a joke. They laughed together and PA proceeded to the classroom to proctor the evaluations.

Later that same day PA and PB happened to be in the department office again.
PB: “So how did the evaluations go?”
PA: “Fine, the students just had one question.”
PB: “Really? What was it?”
PA: “They just wanted to know whether or not to add a hyphen to asshole.”

PA and PB have been great friends ever since.

Utah Trip

This weekend was a quick one! My mom, Erica, Sarah and I traveled down to Utah for a baby shower my aunts were throwing for me. It was a fabulous trip, but WAY too short.

The shower was great—but unfortunately, my camera never made it out of my bag, so I am relying on others to get me pictures to post. It was wonderful to see friends and family!

I had such a feeling of comfort as we drove into Happy Valley—something that I never thought I would have as I grew up. I had so many fantastic memories for six great years and am so grateful for the friends and family I was able to grow close to during that time!

Now I’m back to reality. Just six weeks until this little one emerges (hypothetically). Look for maternity pictures taken by Bethany in the next few days as well!

Crib Bedding...kind of

So after months of promises, I have pictures of some of the crib bedding. My wonderful dad came over last night and explained where the two mystery metal pieces went (the only part Ronnie and I were stumped over) and the crib is up!Here you can see the bed skirt which is made of the same material as the valance. I tied the front two panels of the bumper so you could get an idea of how it will look, but since I don't own a single crib sheet yet, the bumpers are obviously coming out soon.

And here is the inside of the bumper. You can see 5 of the 6 fabrics I used for this project here. The bumper was probably the easiest part of the entire thing. I bought padded panels made just for crib bumpers from the local quilt shop and they are perfect!

This is a close up of the 6th fabric and is the one on the outside of the bumpers. I LOVE the Moda fabric I was able to find for this project.

And here we see the 90 quilt squares ready to be assembled when I return from Utah. I probably should have picked a wee-bit easier pattern than the rail fence quilt I am attempting, but live and learn!

Now, I just have to get a shelf up and decorated and name this little one so I can order this wall decoration for over the crib.

Pregnancy Necessities

I’m sure many of you are laughing that I am trying to give YOU advice-especially since I have had arguably the easiest pregnancy ever. (if this describes you, feel free to skip this entry). Despite my apparent lack of expertise, I’m going to give you my opinion anyway, because I like to do just that.

1. Prenatal Vitamins. We all know that prenatal vitamins are highly recommended. I recommend taking them after you brush your teeth before you go to bed. It was as if I wasn’t taking anything once I switched from the morning to the evening.

2. The Pregnancy Belly Band. I got mine from Motherhood Maternity, although I know there are a lot of sources out there. It flattens out all of the lines that seem to accumulate with the 17 layers I am wearing, as well as provides some support for my ever expanding tummy. My only recommendation is to get two, since wash day is always uncomfortable for me.

3. Pickle Juice. Laugh if you want to, go ahead, I’ll wait…….I have had some serious leg cramps that last for what seems like hours in the middle of the night and this is the trick that gets rid of them almost instantly. The taste is nasty, true. I only drink about one cup and then immediately drink water and brush my teeth, but the rest of the night is spent in peaceful slumber. (A tip from my friend Clay—who was an athletic trainer for the BYU Football team—I figure if it is good enough for Luke Staley, it is good enough for me).

4. Extra Pillows. I sleep with a pillow on either side of me, wedged in tight to keep me on my side as well as one between my knees. I tried a few nights without the knee pillow and that was a big mistake. I looked online countless times for a “pregnancy” pillow so I wasn’t constantly adjusting, but never found one that I was willing to spend the money on.

5. Rocking Recliner. I’ll admit that we just got this a few days ago, but already I am wishing I had it from the beginning. I’m sure a glider is great for rocking those little ones, but putting my feet up is what I crave the most at the end of a long day. Since we got ours, I look for things I can do from the chair, just so I can spend more time in it—I even took my Sunday nap in it this week.

6. A Close Bathroom. The bathroom at my work is located on the exact opposite end of the building. While this is a great excuse to get a little exercise, I am finding that as I approach these last few weeks, when I have to go, I only have about 30 seconds before it becomes an emergency. My work bathroom is JUST inside those boundaries.

7. A Leaning Device. The little things become more difficult. One that I have especially had trouble training myself on, is putting on my pants. I now have to lean on the bed, or have one hand on a wall, etc if I am going to pull off this feat without falling. I just want you to be aware.

8. Favorite Pants. Oh, how I wish that I didn’t have to work, so I could wear my pajamas and casual clothes all day long, but since that is not the case, I have found a VERY close second. The bi-stretch pant also from Motherhood Maternity (it is the only close maternity store). Seriously. Buy these pants. I have all three colors and they are so comfortable that most days I leave them on even after I am home for the evening!

9. Lotion. I haven’t figured out if my skin is extremely dry due to the pregnancy or due to the fact that we just moved to Laramie (elevation 7200 feet), but either way, without a good lathering each morning, I would die.

10. The Best Husband in the World. Since the BEST is already living with me, you will have to settle for the second-best. Ronnie has been SO wonderful throughout this pregnancy with the little things, like foot rubs when my ankles were swelling, glasses of ICE COLD water whenever I ask, and bowls of ice cream whenever I want (pretty much every night). I don’t know what I would do without his support.

It's the little things

I have recently been self-examining my shopping habits.

We shop a lot at Wal-Mart and while many consider this unacceptable, in my defense--it is all I have access to, plus I actually like Wal-Mart, so hah!

Anyway, Wal-Mart has recently had survey invitations that print out on your receipt. Not everyone gets one and the average person does not get an invitation every time they shop--but I am not that average person.

You see--my last name is such that would generally designate a certain ethnicity.

It is my belief that Wal-Mart is targeting this particular group of customers, without wanting to appear to do so. Every time I have used my debit card to pay for my purchase, I have received a survey invitation. There have only been two times in the last two months that I have not received a survey invitation--and those two times I paid with cash.

My suspicions are heightened due to a few of the questions on the survey.

I am not offended by this, but enjoying filling out the survey online (and entering to win $1000) and get even more satisfaction by checking the ethnicity box they do NOT want me to check.

Along with demographic information, the survey asks for the reasons you shop at certain stores and has many phrases that you then rank in relevance to your own shopping habits. These phrases include things like: I am a one-stop shopper and will pay more for items if it means I don't have to go anywhere else, or I am the ultimate bargain shopper and will visit many stores to get the most for my money.

Since I have taken this survey at least ten times, I have discovered a few things that surprised me about my shopping preferences. I prefer to shop in a clean and aesthetically pleasing store. It is the little things that bring me joy in stores--like the displays that catch my eye, or an easy-to-push and noise-free cart. In fact, I love shopping at our local Safeway. Not because they are cheap (without sales and coupons, they definitely are not!), but because they have little mini carts that I LOVE! These carts have an upper and lower basket and only stick out in front of me two feet. (kind of like the one pictured, only with actually sides on both baskets and they are both the same size) Plus, their wheels glide like butter!
While my average Wal-Mart shopping trip purchases would not fit in one of these magical carts, I still request them on every survey I take.

Maybe little by little I can make a difference!

Birthdays

A year ago when this blog was started, I decided to do a birthday shout-out to all of my close relatives. Since a year has passed and I have been able to wish them all a Blog-tacular birthday I have decided to move on to other things on the blog.

I still love you all, but you can look for a card in the mail instead of a blog post!

If you are interested in reading about all of the birthdays, you can scroll down on the right-hand side of the blog and select the "birthday" label.

A Reason for my Absence

I apologize that I have been MIA this week. I was in charge of a work meeting with many, many important contacts from around the state of Wyoming and it took up more of my time than I care to think about.

At least one good thing came of all of my stress. Seeing as I was the coordinator of all of the events over the weekend, a few of the people who came were introduced to Ronnie and proceeded to call him Mr. KaLee (which I quite enjoyed). :)

But Ronnie's answer to Mr. KaLee was my favorite part.

Important Person: Ronnie, nice to meet you. So you belong to KaLee?

Ronnie: Well, when people ask me who wears the pants in the family--I always let them know that I wear the pants, but she tells me which ones to put on.

And that, my friends, is why my husband is the absolute best!

Our House

in the middle of our street. (I can't seem to say "our house" without mentally finishing it off).

I know you have all been dying to see the new place here in Laramie and so a mere three months later, here is your personal tour. (Don't think that just because you have seen pictures of our house, it will replace an actual, real-life visit. Laramie offers things you CAN NOT get anywhere else--like us). This is the outside of our 4-plex. We have the bottom, right apartment. It's not much to look at but it has a one-car garage-yea!

Another view of the outside.

This is what you see looking in our front door. I'm not in love with the fact that you enter into a dark hallway, but the fact that we are renting, and not owning makes it all okay.

This is the office/craft room. It is just to the left of the front door and is away from the rest of the house, making it perfect for Ronnie to study. He spends many hours at that desk.

A view of my craft area--I LOVE having a dedicated space. Don't think this is everything I have--that closet is jampacked!

Just as the hallway turns to the right, the bathroom is on your left. This is the first time that Ronnie and I have had double sinks-my reaction? Not really necessary.

Another view of the bathroom (I think two pictures may be overkill, but here they are nonetheless). That wooden thing cutting off the right side of the picture is a linen closet--my favorite feature in the bathroom! Do you see that brown metal thing by the floor next to the toilet? It is our electric heating unit. The entire house is heated with electricity and every room as one of these little things. Does anyone have experience with this kind of heat? I love that each room has a seperate controller, but am not so sure I love the idea of a $200 heating bill each month (that really was the high in this apartment last year).

This picture is standing in the bathroom doorway looking at the living room. Our bedroom is that doorframe to the right.

The view of our bedroom from the doorway. We love having three bedrooms, but they are not very spacious. This is the ONLY way our king-sized bed will fit (just ask my dad, Jordan or Ronnie--they tried everything!)

Another view of the bedroom, this time from the opposite side.

And this is the view of the living room standing at the end of the hall. Seeing as how this complex was built in the 1980's, it does not have any overhead lighting in the living room--I HATE it! Why, oh why was that ever a trend?

Another view of the living room, this time I'm standing by the DVD player in the previous picture. You can see our back door to the left of the lamp.
An another view of the living room, this time standing by the back door. What time was I doing this little tour? Why 6:05pm of course. That last door you can see is the guest room/baby's room.

This is the view of the guest/baby's room from the doorway. It looks pretty cozy, you should probably come try it out!
The view of the guest/baby's room from the foot of the bed. That mattress leaning up against the wall is right where the crib will go (when we finally figure out how to put it together--Dad, are you reading this? Come help us!)
And now out into the main area again. This is the kitchen. As you can see, I have taken over 1/2 of the kitchen table for my sewing projects. The other 1/2 is still dedicated to eating. That closed door you see leads to the laundry room (a must-have on my apartment list).
Another view of the kitchen. I really like the open feel of it, but would love more cupboard space (Do you know any woman who is truly satisfied with her amount of cupboard space?)

This is our little patio off the back door and our VERY dirty grill.
And finally, this is the grass area we call our own--it's looking a little sad right now, but at least it doesn't have any snow on it (that is saying a lot for October in Laramie).

Hope you enjoyed your little tour! Now you need to come see it in person!