Vacation starts in t-minus 3 hours...

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! How many days will I not be working you ask...18. That's right folks, EIGHTEEN days straight of not working. EIGHTEEN straight days of Seth not having to wake up WAY before the sun comes up. EIGHTEEN straight days of Seth not having to wear scrubs. EIGHTEEN straight days of Seth not having to study. EIGHTEEN straight days of not having to talk to clients. EIGHTEEN straight days of not going into stinky, yucky houses. EIGHTEEN straight days of sleeping in, eating good food, being with family, enjoying the Christmas spirit, and remembering why vacations rock.

Merry Christmas everybody. May your holidays be merry and bright and full of the best things in the world. Merry Christmas.

Another year older, but probably not much wiser...

I am officially a quarter of a century old. It happened on Friday. The day was pretty good and started out with my fave Einstein’s bagel for breakfast with Seth. Then he and I picked up a bunk bed from a donor to give to one of my clients. Seth broke part of it while loading into the truck. He felt way bad. Then we did some errands together and I later met up with a SIL for some lunch. She is going to die when she reads this because she didn’t know it was my birthday. LOL. My SIL will remain nameless. I thought it was pretty funny. I was going to mention it during lunch, but then I thought it might seem like I wanted her to pay for my lunch. When I got home from lunch, Seth had a treasure hunt for my present. I asked for money to finally finish a project in my condo that I’ve been wanting to do forever! Instead of just forking over the dough, Seth left creative clues throughout our place and had money at each site. It was fun! On the last note he said I could spend the money on whatever I wanted “EXCEPT CANDY!!” He also gave me a pair of boots that I picked out for him to give me. J We finished the night by delivering the bunk bed to 4 very excited kids and tried putting it together. We were unsuccessful and definitely let the kids down. We headed over to meet my cousin Amy and sister Lanx for dinner. It was delish and the company was even better. Amy gave me a card with money in it and said I could ONLY spend it on candy. I love her. Sunday the festivities continued with a birthday dinner made by my mom and the most delicious cupcakes ever. I had two last night and just ate another one just now. Even though I am depressed that I am another year older and closer to wrinkles and dentures, I felt very loved on my birthday weekend. Thanks everyone who sent texts, phone calls, and cards to make me feel special! (Except for you, nameless sister-in-law. JUST KIDDING!!) Oh AND I have really great co-workers. Thursday (since we don’t work Friday) I came into work with a fully decorated office, balloons, streamers, the works. I had a 12-pack of Diet Pepsi waiting for me and what else but candy! My friends know me too well. I got super cute gifts and even Baby got a cute fisherman’s sweater from my friend Abbie! It is so, so cute. Oh and Saturday morning I went back to my clients and was able to set up the bunk bed so you don’t have to feel bad for them. I now have 4 kid clients who think I’m the bomb dot com. Kids are so easy to please.

Baby it's cold outside...and inside...

Our furnace seemed to be broken a couple of weeks ago. Turns out our furnace was really dirty. Also, we were informed you are supposed to change the furnace filter monthly. We have lived in our place now for 17 months and haven't changed the filter once. Oops. Our bad. The furnace works now. Thankfully.

A belly that is growing at a rapid pace...

My belly has seemed to go from this to this in just a matter of weeks. I can't remember when the first one was taken, I think around 4 and 1/2 months. Right around the time the barfing stopped. I'm 6 months now. My belly button seems to be holding on for dear life. I keep checking to see if it has popped. It's almost there. I always thought pregnant people were cute. Not so cute when it's happening to you. One really cool thing is the baby is moving SO much. I really love it.

I don't know if anyone wanted to see this, but this is what I look like at the moment!

2 Years of Marital Bliss

Because there's no better wayto say "Happy Anniversary" than a pair of matching I Heart each other slash Mr. and Mrs. sweats. Seth always thought it would be funny to have matching elastic bottom sweats. Lucky for him, the traditional two year anniversary gift is something made of cotton. These Wal-mart special sweats are 100% cotton. Perfect.

Seth and I celebrated our second anniversary on Nov. 17th. Two years and going strong.

To Chop or Not to Chop?

I know this is ridiculous and the length of my hair certainly is not worthy of a post, but deciding whether or not to cut my hair has been consuming my thoughts during the entire time I get ready each morning and each time I go to the bathroom (cuz I see myself in the mirror). Above is a picture of about what my hair looks like right now.

The pics below are examples of my short hair. I am so so so sick of my long hair right now. I have lots of fine hair that just hangs on my head and doesn't do anything. I'm hesitant to chop it though because my preggo-chunks-face might be just around the corner. It'd be pretty traumatic if I chopped by hair and then my face all of the sudden decided to get chubster.

Do I just not risk it and wait until my baby is born and then do the traditional new mom chop?

p.s. I realize I am so pathetic to post about this, but help a girl out would ya?

p.p.s. This picture is from when Seth and I were dating. We were so in like in this picture, not quite in love yet. :) Fun memories. Oh and it looks like he has frosted tips. He doesn't.

Travel Bug

It's true. I have it. The travel bug. I only blame Seth for growing up in such a cool place, close to so many cool things, and for having cool parents who still live close to all these cool things. I really, really want a vacation at the moment. Lucky for me we get to go to Belgium for Christmas and see more and do more cool things like this.




Us in Amsterdam (obviously) I'm on the D. Seth's on the T.

Us in Holland on the way to Amsterdam.

Seth and the infamous Panda suit in Pisa, Italy.

Me. Another town on Lake Como, Italy. On our way to get some more gelato most likely.

Us, on a balcony of our hotel in Bellagio, Italy. It's okay, you can be jealous.

Time for a Change

I'm considering changing professions. I have my undergrad degree in Behavioral Science with an emphasis in Social Work. I've debated about going back to school for a Masters in Social Work or Education. Both pay poop so the financial aspect doesn't really come into play. I realized how much fun it is to watch and help kids learn though! I always want to read stories with my kid clients when I do visits and especially love when they read to me. It's so cute watching kids sound out words! Kids can be stinky though, especially after recess. Although, I do go into stinky homes nearly every day. Did you know I have a client that lets her goats poop in her house? Oh, well I do. As awesome as it is to work with dope smoking, child abusing, goat loving, emotionally exhausting, house dirtying, law breaking people, I'm thinking that education may be the route for me. Plus, I have fond memories of my elementary school teachers for the most part, but I doubt most kids have fond memories of their caseworker. I don't know. I actually don't hate my job at all right now, but I've just been thinking I might be better at something else. Maybe a job where I don't have to carry travel-size Febreze every where I go. And maybe where I don't actually have conversations about whether or not the poop was from a goat or a dog, it is still poop, and it is still in the house, and it is not okay.

Sweet Baby Cole

I just got a call from my friend Hailee about one of my old friends from middle school, Janessa Morrison Whatcott. Janessa gave birth to a sweet little boy last week, but he passed away just a few days later. My heart is aching for them and I can't even begin to imagine how they must be feeling.

There were several complications after birth which have led to an incredible amount of medical bills. If you would like to donate and help ease the burden (at least the financial one) a teeny tiny bit, then please go to this blog for more details.... http://www.colewhatcott.blogspot.com/

This May Not Be For You

If you think barfing stories are funny, read on. If not, then you should probably move on with your blog stalk.

I'm on my way to work today and exactly 1 1/4 miles away from my exit when, uh oh, I don't feel so good. My mouth started filling with saliva and I kept thinking, breathe, breathe, you'll make it to the exit. I made it to the exit, but didn't quite make it out of the car, or even close to out of the car.

I put my hand over my mouth, which now I realize was stupid because one hand can't catch much of anything when it's in a bodily fluid form. I was wearing sunglasses and somehow, I had my hand at the exact right angle to target the stuff right up into the spot between your face and the sunglasses. Yep, all over my face. ALL. OVER. In my eyes and everything. If that is not disgusting enough, it kept coming and got all over my pants, the steering wheel, the carpet, the stick shift, and even some splatters on the windshield and side window.

I was in complete shock. When I realized what had happened I panicked because in less than one hour I had a VERY important meeting, with VERY important people, which I had requested and planned and was supposed to facilitate and now I was completely covered in my breakfast and maybe some of dinner from the night before. Don't know, I couldn't really tell.

I started to head home to change and I was freaking out because I knew I didn't have time to change, clean the car, and get to my meeting in time. My mom came to the rescue and met me at home while I changed and she took me back to work. Yes, the car had to sit for several hours in this condition. I HAD NO CHOICE! And I did make it back in time for my meeting.

I was so mad because I actually got ready today and was wearing brand new maternity jeans that actually didn't look ridiculous on me. The jeans are now soaking in my tub while I am at work. Sick, I don't want to face it when I get home.

There is a silver lining to this story though. This afternoon I was able to take my car into Supersonic to get it shampooed and everything. Which by the way, super embarassing when you're like, "Um, can you clean these seats really well because someone puked on them." I didn't really feel bad for the guy when I got the bill though. Sheesh. (Praying Seth doesn't ask how much it cost) We had an accident with some jam about a year ago (I know, what's wrong with us??) but it got all hard and crusty and I could never get it out. A big thanks to Supersonic, who I really consider Super, got it out. AND they got out all of the grease marks from everytime Seth has put his bike in the back seat. Our car looks like NEW on the inside. Still can't say much for the outside though. Man, that car has issues. Or more like, WE have issues.

The only comparable vomit story I have for this is what my family affectionately calls, The Barf Slide. The title might be self explanatory, but I'll give a short explanation as this is a very long post. Taylor was sick one night and got up to go to the bathroom, she was about to enter the hall when she lost it. It kept coming so she had to get to the bathroom, she stepped into the hall which is hardwood and BAM! slipped and landed right in her own barf. The BAM! and the cry that came out of her after woke up everyone in the house.

Hopefully those who kept reading this far have a strong gag reflex and were able to finish! Sorry!

This is Seth

Seth just said, you should blog about me. He's definitely neglected on this thing. Here are some facts about Seth.

1. Seth likes donuts.
2. Seth would DIE without BYU football.
3. Seth played rugby for BYU during his undergrad years.
4. Ever heard of DanceSport? Probably not, but it's huge at BYU. (I know, dorks.) Seth won 1st place with his partner in the Two Step competition. He wore a western shirt with tassles.
5. Seth tried out for Cougarettes, but decided it was rude since there were girls who were taking it very seriously. He faked a pulled hammie.
6. Seth worked as a Chemical Engineer at ExxonMobil in Houston, TX for a year after his undergrad.
7. He got caught writing notes to another employee at a meeting. He got in trouble. :)
8. Seth likes cereal and goes crazy when it's on sale. We probably have 11 boxes of cereal on top of our fridge right now.
9. He has made me the favorite in my family.
10. He has a rockin bod. When our friend Amy P wanted me to go out with him she talked about him like this, "He has the body of a Greek god." Ok, Ok, I'll go out with him. Geez.
11. He's funny and thinks it's his job to make me funnier.
12. He's a fun uncle and sometimes teaches his nephew a few bad things like how to light paper on fire and then throw it in the backyard. My SIL and BIL have said they will get him back one day. Great.
13. He says he purposely tries to lay low at church to avoid high profile callings.
14. He can do really good accents. But don't worry, he doesn't do it so much that it's annoying. 15. He's BFF is Jerry Mullholland. He lives in Seattle, they talk everyday. So cute.
16. When Seth moved to Belgium (4th grade), the first kid he met at school asked, "Do you like to kill girls?" with a british/australian accent. Seth didn't know what to say so he said, "Yeah." The boy responded with his hand extended for a hand shake, "Right mate, you're wif us."
17. He loves to dance and has some good moves. Dancing at our wedding was one of the most entertaining things I've seen in my life.
18. He likes pillow talk and always wants to talk about "Hopes and Dreams"
19. He plans all our vacations and is super good at it.
20. He LOVES vacations.
21. His goal in life is to be filthy rich and not have to work. (Any suggestions?)
22. Seth is very easy going and doesn't take anything too seriously. Except Hopes and Dreams. 23. Seth is very, very humble. VERY.
24. Despite him avoiding callings, he has a huge knowledge and testimony of the gospel. I've gotta step it up to get even close to him. I really hope we don't end up in different kingdoms.
25. He LOVES to be outside.
26. Seth was the cutest little boy ever.
27. He has beautiful blue eyes.
28. He is very practical with money. By practical, I mean it likes to keep it and not spend it.
29. He loves exercise. He did a full Ironman when we were dating. That's over 12 hours of constant exercise. We decided to get married the weekend he did it. 30. He's going to be a really, really good dad.

IT'S A BOY!

We're having a BOY and are so so excited. We had the ultrasound today and it was so cool. Seth asked the ultrasound tech how confident he was in saying it was boy and the guy said, "Well either it's a boy or a girl with a penis." Yikes. That girl would have some serious issues. Rest assured folks, girls with weiners aren't very common. We're banking that ours is an actual boy. You can even see his little bum in one of the pictures and I've shown everyone at work today. Is that weird? I just love his bum. I'm kind of a bum person though. We saw his heart beating which was way cool and saw that he has two hands and two feet (phew). The tech said he's measuring on track and I'm still due March 8th, to the day, he said. I keep getting more and more excited as the day goes on. It feels a lot more real now. Does anyone know if with Fetal Photo you can actually see the shape of the baby's face? The ultrasound only really shows the bones, so right now his face kinda looks like Skeletor in the pics. We'll still love this little guy even if he does look like Skeletor, but I was just wondering. Seriously though, couldn't be happier. I can't wait for him to come now.

A Hike and Some Good News

A couple of weekends ago Seth and I ventured down to St. George and Zion. Zion is so beautiful and so seriously filled with Europeans. I swear the entire time we were there I rarely heard English. There were also a lot of Japanese tourists and Seth always laughs when he sees them. We were only down there for two days, but the first day we hiked the Narrows. Neither of us had done it before and it was really fun! I highly recommend doing it.

The next day I layed at the pool while Seth watched the BYU game. I came totally unprepared though, forgetting sunglasses, tanning lotion, and something to read! I didn't last very long and didn't get an speck more tan. Oh well.

Sidenote: It's kind of annoying going on trips as a couple when you are trying to take pictures. A) you have to switch off being in the picture and B) it's super awkward standing by yourself in a pic. I wonder how much it would cost to hire a professional photog to come on every vacay?

Sidenote #2: How creepy is that baby counter in the corner? It's starting to freak me out. I need to change it to something cutsier. Oh and it does not help one bit that the countdown is still in the hundreds.

AWESOME ALERT:

I haven't had a prego-puke in over a week! I threw up last week because of the flu, but still! I think I'm over the barfy bump. Hooray!

So Grateful

For this little treasure I was told about this weekend. Ever feel like blogs are a best life contest? Well Seth does. He'll love this new blog.

www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

It totally made my day and I think will keep making my days.

Job A Lot

So, I've had a lot of jobs.

1. Midvale Elementary-afterschool sweeper. Sweeper is a nice way of saying cleaning urinals and vacuuming and other janitorial things.

2. Oakdale Elementary-afterschool sweeper. Loves those urinals. When do boys learn to aim?

3. The Trolley Stop-a snack shack at VF Factory stores. Lots of free nachos and ice cream for me. (although I don't think it was supposed to be free, oh well.)

4. Limited Too-little girls/tween clothing. I was holiday help. So boring. But better than my friend who worked a Hickory Farms selling logs of meat and cheese.

5. Some guy in my ward. Filed for his financial planning office. Much more boring than Limited Too. A lady named Myrna did not seem impressed by me. Prolly because I called in sick every other day. Who cared? The papers would still be there to file the next day. And the next, and the next, and the next.

6. Macaroni Grill-foodrunnner. Name should be self-explanatory. I ran food. Took food to tables. Once dumped a plate of ravioli on a guys lap. Whoops.

7. Sweet Tomatoes-greeter. I said this 70 times a day, "Hi. Welcome to Sweet Tomatoes. Is this your first time here? Well let me tell you how it works. Get a tray, get your food. Have a nice day." So much more boring than filing. I would honestly wish I would get in a car accident on my way to work so I wouldn't have to work. I think the world would survive without greeters. Oh! And I had to wear a bow-tie. There is just something REALLY humiliating about wearing a bow-tie.

8. JP Morgan Confections. A little cart kiosk at Cottonwood Mall that sold flavored popcorn and truffles during the holidays. One night I really wanted to go to a party so my mom came and worked for me! LOL.

9. Joe Morley's BBQ. I actually really loved this job. A hole in the wall BBQ restaurant in Midvale. I still crave it sometimes.

10. A survey company in Logan. Can't remember the name. Did Gallup polls over the phone. Semi-boring except when talking with evangelicals from the South.

11. Temp receptionist for Reagan Outdoor Advertising. I had literally no responsibilities except the answer the phone than rang maybe 10 times a day. Max.

12. C.R. England Trucking. Truck driver recruiter. Enough said.

13. Back to Joe Morley's-combo with C.R. England. I was a working woman.

14. MyFamily.com-tried to talk people into their membership that they were totally conned into. I was not so good at this job, I agreed, we totally should've given them their money back.

15. Goodwood BBQ. My longest job EVER. Nearly 2 1/2 years. And yes, back with the BBQ.

16. Certiport-receptionist. Phone rang even less than at Reagan.

17. Division of Child and Family Services. Working with the best of the worst in West Valley, K-Town, and T-ville. Word.

I forgot to mention a stint of temp work for 3 days which were quite possibly the most miserable three days of my life. Again it involved a bow-tie. Desperate "tie"ms call for desperate measures I guess. I was working with a whole lotta people who quite possible were on crack and/or homeless, but nevertheless served food to nearly 6,000+ Asian people at a NuSkin convention at the Salt Palace.

While this may be very impressive to all of you, I do not list all these jobs on my resume. I don't think a sweeper is very impressive, nor is it to have 16 jobs following. And no, I was never fired.