Tuesday Testimonial

It's been awhile since I actually talked about what is going on with me. Here are some things I am doing, enjoying, and looking forward to.

~ Walking. I look forward to my daily walks during my lunch break at work, and at home after dinner with the dogs. I enjoy the break from the confines of the office, the fresh air, being able to stretch my legs and feel invigorated, and watching Fall settle in. The weather is slowly TRYING to get cooler, and the leaves are trying desperately to change!

~ Getting used to being pregnant. I am 10 weeks 4 days, and feeling pretty good. I don't have much nausea anymore, except for a few weird food aversions and smells. I am still tired almost all the time, although I get spurts of energy at weird times of the day. Eric and I are excited about the baby, and looking forward to seeing things progress.

~ Camping. We're going camping with our wonderful group of friends weekend after next, and I can't wait!

~ TV. The Office Season 4 started last week, I am so excited and loving it! I heard the start of CSI (the original, Las Vegas one) was amazing too, and I still need to watch last week's. I'm enjoying a few other shows too, like Scrubs for instance.

~ Rest and Quiet. I have been sleeping so much, and taking naps when I can. I know this is really important for me right now, and I'm forcing myself to rest as much as possible. I am enjoying it, because I usually push myself to stay busy. I am naturally such a night owl, so sleeping more is so nice.

More later! Time to go.

The epitomy of deprivation

In the 8 or so years that I have known the wonderful man we all know as my husband, it has been revealed that I am fairly sheltered and deprived. He has been my faithful "edubacator" when it comes to the world of secular music, restaurants, pointless trivia facts, and basically everything else. Without him, I wouldn't be the person I am today. In the past few days, Eric has come to the shocking realization that I have been deprived of the worlds best cereals. As a diabetic child, I wasn't able to try them. As an insulin pump wearing adult, I have freedom to do so (in moderate quantities, of course!) Here is my current list of cereals that will soon be tried and enjoyed.

Cocoa Puffs
Count Chocula
Frankenberry
Fruity Pebbles
Sugar Smacks
Cocoa Pebbles
Sugar Crisp
Choco Crunch
Crunchberries
Cookie Crisp
Trix
Apple Jacks
Corn Pops
Cocoa Crispies
Cracklin' Oat Bran

Also. I think every city should have something as awesome as this cereal bar, for those of us who are in such a seriously cereal deprived state. Columbus needs one badly!

Our first baby picture

Eric and I got to see the little heart beat at my first ultra sound yesterday. It was the craziest, most amazing thing. The doctor says everything looks perfect and is right on schedule! You can see the head to the right as it lies facing the top of the screen.


I am humbled and in awe of how it is possible to have such a tiny (2cm long) life inside of me. It is surreal. Another testimony to how truly awesome our Creator is!

Florida Pictures Continued!

Here are a few more pictures from our wonderful trip to Florida. The picture quality is terrible. I am never ever using a disposable camera again! :p

Eric and I on that beautiful "private" beach we found, Hammock Beach. It was windy. :)




I couldn't get enough of the sea at dusk.


Eric's imitation of Captain Morgan cracks me up.


That's Eric and Dave coming out of the ocean at Flagler Beach. Those disposable cameras have incredible zoom features!


The pool at our resort... it was beautiful, and we found some interesting wildlife in it. We found a few small frogs and some really big bugs!


Last but certainly not least, our dear Settlers of Catan board. Take no notice of the loads of candy sitting around.

My Autumn Wreath

I had a blast making an autumn wreath for my front door over the weekend. OOooh I love love love autumn!!

Florida Pictures ~ To Be Continued!

Thanks to Katie, I have some pictures to post. I will have mine developed soon and will post them within a few days. Click for bigger versions.

Eric can't wait to get there. :)


Here we all are at Flagler College in Saint Augustine, the country's oldest inhabited town. It was founded in 1565!


Here is a shot taken as we left Flagler College. The buildings and architecture in the town are beautiful.


We went to the beach a few times, and believe it or not... I didn't burst into flames! Amazing, eh? It only took half a tube of suntan lotion, too. Katie and I going for more of a TAN than a burn...


Eric got some sweet air over this wave on the second beach day! The water was absolutely gorgeous. It was warmer than the temperature controlled pool at our resort. It was a nice surprise after being used to freezing cold water of the Pacific Ocean!


We found a gorgeous "private" beach behind this really nice hotel. There were no signs that said we couldn't be there, so we stayed!


The sky at sunset that day. It was breathtaking.


Eric and Dave played Mrs. Pac Man in our villa quite a bit.


One very warm day, we visited the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.


We fed these guys. There were piles of gators in that tank!


They had a feeding demonstration. At one point, this lady almost got chased down by a massive alligator who wanted a snack.


They had a 19 foot, 2000 lb. alligator named Gomek that was stuffed and put on display after he died. Can you imagine actually being near such a huge creature? Katie can. :p


Dave and Katie with Gomek...


This guy waved goodbye as we left, hehe.


Towards the end of our trip we visited the Ripleys Believe It or Not Museum, which was a blast.


They had some seriously strange things on display. Here is Katie next to a wax figure of an 11 foot man, for instance. I believe he is the world's tallest man to date.


If you've ever read the Bathroom Reader we have in our house, you've read about Mike!



That's about all I have time for. Hopefully I can post tomorrow with some of the pictures I took. Happy Wednesday bloggers!

I'm Baaack!

In honor of the gorgeous cool weather that has blessed the central Ohio area, I have made a new banner. It's my favorite so far. I think I say that every time I make one!

I was hoping to have pictures from our Florida trip today, but alas! I have managed to slack off incredibly, and have yet to get my pictures developed. I suppose the digital camera age has made me lazy, and therefore I have not brought my silly disposable camera to the store yet. After being used to plugging my camera into the computer and downloading directly, it really is a hassle!

You'll have pictures soon. Katie is giving me copies of the pictures she took, so I will probably have those sooner than I will have my own. You rock, Katie! Take a look at her blog for some of the pics she took. :) Florida was amazing. I will wait to give a long narration of our trip until I have pictures to go along with it.

I hope you are having a great week, fellow bloggers!

PS ~ Morning sickness is FUN! Praise God I wasn't sick in the least while in Florida. :)

10 things I can't wait for this week

Today is the 10th. So here are 10 things that I cannot wait to experience while in Florida this week.

1. Swimming. There are 3 big pools at the resort we will be staying in, and the ocean just seconds away.

2. Shopping. I can't wait to explore St. Augustine and shop with Katie. I would include the guys in that statement but it wouldn't end up being accurate! :D Seriously, if they could bring their computers along, they would shoot each other online all week.

3. Settlers. If the pictures on the resort's website are correct, we'll have a perfect table on the patio to play Settlers on during the evenings. I will keeel you all!!

4. Resort Cleaning Service. I won't have to clean dog hair or dust or anything else all week! I won't even have to do laundry... will I survive?!!

5. Food! I can't wait to try restaurants in the area and sample the local cuisine. Pray my morning sickness stays calm at least until we get back!

6. Workless Weekdays. I rarely get to experience two weekdays in a row without work, much less 4! Ah, to be lazy.

7. Getting a tan. This is more of a dream than anything. Everyone knows I will just burn and peel and go back to being pasty white. I can dream!

8. Sleep. I'm not sure how much sleep I will actually end up getting, but I will at least get to sleep in a little bit. If I get to snore anytime past the hour that my alarm clock usually goes off, I'm happy!

9. Sightseeing. We have a few touristy stops planned, including the Ripleys Believe It or Not Museum that I mentioned last week. Fun!

10. Good Memories. (Do you hear that, morning sickness? I said GOOD MEMORIES!) How fun will it be to spend 4 days at a resort with your very dear friends. I am so bringing a disposable camera to remember this week by, and wishing our actual camera worked! Although, I think Dave & Katie's new Canon 40D will do the trick. :)

I hope you all have a brilliant week. Here's to vacation!

Florida!

I am so excited. Dave & Katie and Eric & I are going to Florida this coming Tuesday for 4 days. We'll be flying into St. Augustine, and staying in Palm Beach for 3 nights. We have plans to see the Ripleys Believe It Or Not Museum, the Fountain of Youth, and perhaps another thing or two. For the most part, we will enjoy laying out on the beach, lounging around our resort suite, shopping in old historic St. Augustine, and being lazy bums overall. It will be a relaxing and enjoyable time out of our normal routines. Just think. No dogs who bark and whine because they need to go outside at 6am. No annoying alarm clocks that go off much too early and remind us of the busy workday ahead. Imagine starting the day by getting up at your own pace, meandering into the kitchen with your crazy bed-head, only to eat breakfast at a leisurely pace with your very good friends. Ah. Life is good. Can you tell I'm not a morning person? :)

Autumn will be here soon. In honor of my anticipation, I made a new banner. :) I cannot wait to feel the cool air of autumn on my face. It's windy today, and I love it. I plan to drive to Highbanks Metro Park for lunch, roll down the windows, and sit in the quiet while the wind blows around me. It is during those times that I am most able to open my heart and mind to God. There is something about a mildly strong breeze that lifts my soul to Him. It seems to carry my worries away, leaving only peace. I close my eyes, pray, and let go of the day's concerns. Hmm, it must be Friday. :)

I will post again before we leave on Tuesday. Have a great weekend, blogger friends!

Ah, Long Weekends.

They are wonderful, aren't they? No matter what your plans are or how busy the weekend becomes, long weekends are special. Mine was quite busy and fun. Saturday and Sunday I helped photograph weddings. Yesterday was filled with lots of fun. We spent the day with Dave & Katie, taking the doggies to Antrim Park, acquiring lilly and hosta plants from Aunt Kaz, a delicious BBQ at Jim & Kris's, ending with a competitive game of Settlers of Catan in the evening. Much, much fun. (Edit: I forgot to mention that Katie and I went shopping for a swimsuit for me ~ we are all going to Florida next week on vacation. I absolutely cannot wait!!) Here are some shots that Katie took of the puppies at Antrim. They truly had a blast! It was Molly's first time swimming on her own, without encouragement. She jumped right in, and loved it!



Eric was the lucky one who had all three dogs shake water on him at the same time. Immediately after that, Molly decorated his shirt with a muddy puppy paw! Poor Eric. :)


In other news, Dave's 9 Month Gestational Growth Comparison has been released. Starting with the smallest object, you can see the growth progress until the final result, Psycho Max... at this point, I'm a little scared to give birth!!! Click for full size.