Baby Shower

Last Saturday was my first baby shower. It was with the Ambrose family (and my mom and best friend because they just have to be there too). I love my in-laws. It was a lot of fun.

We played a game where you have to pick out safety pins from a bowl of rice while blindfolded. It sounds easy, but trust me, it's not. In fact, it's so difficult that my mother-in-law felt the need to pick out a few before her time started. It didn't help. She still lost. Haha! My mom really doesn't like shower games so she didn't want to participate in the 3 way tie she ended up in. She said to just give the gift to someone else but they made her do it. In my opinion, I think she lost the 2nd time on purpose to make sure she didn't have to do it again. It was so funny! Miranda & I were the only ones who caught it and couldn't stop laughing at her.



After the games came the presents. I must say, I love getting gifts for Baby! I got some wonderful stuff that I can't wait to use. I think my favorite has to be the BYU onesie though. I cannot wait to put her in it!

The guests:

My mom & Miranda

Rosa, my mother-in-law & Abby, my niece

Future sister-in-law Whitney; cousin Kate; sister-in-law Arlen & Aunt Gloria

Liz was the one who ran everything, which is why she isn't in the pictures. She took them. And somehow Allan's stepsister, Margaret, avoided them too.

 Thank you to all who attended. I'm so glad to have you be a part of this exciting occasion!

The True Spirit of Christmas

I've been so overwhelmed with these feelings recently that I decided to post them. Maybe it's due to pregnancy, maybe it's not. Either way, this is what's going on.

Every year my family goes all out for Christmas. They always have. We have always had a Christmas tree (or two) and lights up on our house. In addition to this, we have tons and tons of other Christmas decorations around the house. I noticed this year that they even spilled into the bathroom. Yes, there are Christmas decorations in my family's bathroom. I couldn't help but chuckle at that. I must say, it's been impossible to not catch this spirit. I LOVE decorating for Christmas and putting up lights, etc.

This year, we don't have enough $ for a tree so we are going without. I think this is the first time in my life I've not had a tree. At first this was incredibly upsetting to me. I looked and looked for a tree we might afford without much luck. We don't have ornaments either or lights so I'm not exactly sure what we would've done with the tree, but still, we would have one. I was thinking I'd string popcorn. :) We also are not getting each other any presents for the same reason. My favorite part of Christmas is definitely GIVING the presents. So this has been hard as well. 

I recently realized that this doesn't have to be hard. I was the one who was making it so. I just had to choose to be happy and grateful for everything that we do have, because it really is a lot. First and foremost, we have each other. Even if I had a more lights and decorations than anyone in the neighborhood or if I was able to give hundreds of presents, it would not be one of my best Christmases if Allan was not with me. In fact, it would probably be one of the worst.

We have a roof over our heads, a running car and our health. Good health is not something I've known throughout my life so this is a really big one, especially during pregnancy! We also have our families and our friends and a wonderful bishop and fellow ward members who are doing so much to help us make ends meet. I know that a lot of people do not have a lot of people they can turn to in times of need. We do. We have been extended a helping hand by so many people that it has been overwhelming. Things are still hard, but we know that we will make it because of these other people. The Lord truly does help us through the service of others. 

I've realized that even without lights, trees, presents or other Christmas decor, I have felt the true spirit of Christmas more this year than I ever have before. Even without a lot of the simple luxuries of life, I am genuinely happy. How grateful I am for wonderful people in our lives and for the gospel of Christ that enables us to experience and know the true happiness in life that the world cannot offer.

Happy holidays to all! We hope you are enjoying them as much as we are.

Thanksgiving

Ok, I've stalled long enough. I'm going to add a quick Thanksgiving update. I was really nervous about Thanksgiving and the holidays because they seem to be centered around food. This wouldn't be a problem except that I have a very limited diet due to Celiac. However, it's been great so far. We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year. My mom made everything gluten free from grave to pies. It was wonderful! And my breadsticks were even better than their rolls! It was so encouraging to know that I wouldn't just have to miss out on all the good stuff. I've been SO discouraged lately about everything I can't eat. I've gotten to the point where I just want to avoid all events that include food. So this was a good experience. I don't know what I'd do without my mom and her dedication to keeping me gluten free! She's done so much research on all the common holiday foods and is helping me find a way to enjoy treats like everybody else but still stay healthy.

We then spent the weekend with Allan's family and had a Thanksgiving dinner up there. I took my pies and breadsticks with me (I left the stuffing out and it went bad :( ) and once again, I didn't miss out on anything. Hopefully the Christmas season will go just as well.

Surround Sound

Baby's ears are fully developed so I though I would introduce her to music early in life. My little sister thought this was a great idea and lent me her awesome headphones. That's what I call surround sound!

So far it's been a lot of swing music (she went NUTS over Tuxedo Junction by Glenn Miller Orchestra today). We're going to have a little dancer yet! I'm also going to introduce her to the smooth wonderfulness of Dean Martin. I'm hoping she'll recognize his voice when she's born and I can play it to calm her down. I know it calms me down. :)

If anyone has any other suggestions for music for Baby, feel free to leave it in a comment. I'll see what I can do.

BYU Quilt

Last week was my dad's birthday so I made him this BYU lap quilt. I was telling my mom about all the cool things I wanted to do for this quilt, but she pointed out that my dad just won't notice nor care so I should do something simple. I took her advice and think it turned out quite well. My wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law helped me tie it when we went up to Logan to visit. So this was finished very quickly. I think my favorite part is the back. It's a little bit different since most backs are usually one solid color. Instead of doing that, I pieced mine. I think it looks awesome! I'm tempted to make one for myself. GO COUGARS!

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law (Arlen) and me tying the quilt

A close up of the material

My dad showing off the front

My dad showing off the back

Veterans' Day

I just wanted to say that I am SO proud of Allan for serving his country. I am always so proud to state that my husband is in the military and that he has also been to Iraq (although I'm desperately hoping he doesn't go again). I consider him a true hero and also all those who are/were in the armed forces to protect our freedom. Your service is truly appreciated.

The Third Trimester

I am officially in my third trimester! It feels like such a huge milestone. I almost feel like I should feel differently now than I did last week because I'm now in a whole new trimester, but obviously, I don't. It still feels good to know that I've made it this far though.

For those who want it, here's a current picture of the baby bump at 28 weeks. I can't believe how much bigger I am now than at 22 weeks! I didn't think I'd really gotten much bigger. Luckily Liz recently lent me a whole bag of maternity shirts, which has been SO helpful. Now I have shirts that actually cover my belly button! Thanks, Liz!

Oh ya, the doctor said he's probably going to induce me on January 18th since I told him it had be be after the 17th because the 15th-17th is the Utah Lindy Exchange. Although, he also gave me permission to go dance my little heart out and try to induce myself. I love my doctor!

CNA Training

Last month I finally started to put my foot in the door of the field I really want to be in: nursing. I did an 8 day CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) class.  Although it was only 8 days, it was rough. I was in class from 7-5 for six days and then had 2 days of clinicals from 6-4. I was so exhausted by the end, but it was well worth it! I passed with flying colors. Now I just have to send in my certificate of completion to the state so I can take my state certification test. 

I do have to share a couple of experiences I had at the senior living center I did my clinicals at. As I was walking by, one guy grabbed my upper thigh and said, "Nice!" I couldn't help but laugh. Normally you would chastize them, but it's a dementia and alzheimer's clinic so they don't really know what they're doing. But it sure was funny. 

Another cool thing was that the center is pet friendly because it helps the residents feel more at home. So there were a lot of dogs and cats, but the coolest part is that the center has its own joey (baby kangaroo)! I had to do a double take when I saw him hopping down the hall. He's adorable! Below is a picture of Oscar the Kangaroo. 

Halloween Fun

I love Halloween! It's so much fun. Whoever thought of creating a night where kids can dress up as anything they want and then go knock on doors for free candy is brilliant! While I no longer go trick-or-treating, I still love to dress up. Allan isn't as gung ho about it as I am, but he humors me and plays along.

Costumes are just too expensive to buy and too cheap to be worth it anyway, so we made ours. This year I decided to use my pregnancy as part of the costume and have some fun with it. So we went as a pregnant nun and a priest. Even Allan loved it. They called him "Father Allan." How fitting.

On Friday we went to the Halloween dance and won the costume contest for the second year in a row! Go us! Then on Halloween night we went to my parents house and I passed out the candy and Allan helped Jackson, my little brother, with his haunted house that he and his friend put together. Allan was the host and just led people through it. For it being done by a couple of teenage boys and a dad, it was quite impressive. I got the grand tour before it opened and I still got scared. They did a great job!

More Excitement!

I know that all of my posts have been about the baby and that's it, but I want to make sure I write everything down so I don't forget it. It's also the biggest part of our lives right now. So here goes yet another baby update.

Yesterday morning I not only felt Baby move, I SAW her move too! My belly looked like it was twitching. It was so cool! I thought I was imagining it at first. I told Allan to look and he confirmed that I am, in fact, sane and that it was moving. Well, as sane as possible being pregnant. I've totally got the pregnancy brain thing going on. It's quite funny. Anyway, Allan and I got to watch her move around for a few minutes before she stopped. I honestly think I could watch it for hours if she'd cooperate. 

It's so hard not to be ecstatic about every new progression. Maybe I won't be so awed with the next baby, but it's so amazing to me now. In the words of my mom, "ah, the miracle of life." It really is exciting.

Baby Bump Week 22

I've had a couple of requests for baby bump pictures so here it is. This is me at 22 weeks (1 week ago). I've been told a few times that I'm really tiny. My sister, however, after seeing me for the first time, told me I'm really fat. It made me laugh. Only a sister could say it and get away with it. I love that you can tell I'm pregnant now and don't just look like I'm eating my way through the universe.

I had an ultrasound last week and Baby looks great! She's developing perfectly. I got to see her arms, legs, stomach, kidneys, bladder, diaphragm, brain hemispheres and all four chambers of her heart. There was even a shot where I could see all 5 toes on her foot. It was quite amazing. I love modern technology! They gave me a DVD of the ultrasound as well so I got to show Allan and my mom and dad. This is the first ultrasound Allan has missed and he was really sad about it so he was really glad to have the DVD.

While all her organs and bone structures are formed perfectly so far, she is quite small for her age. She's about two weeks behind size wise. She's only in the 28th percentile (normal is 50). The doctor isn't concerned about this. He's just going to watch her a little bit more closely. I personally am thrilled about it. I am so ok with having a small baby, especially because diabetics tend to have HUGE babies. So things are going great!

Our other great news is that Allan got a job! Woo hoo! He's working at Auto-Owner's Insurance. So far he really likes it. He just can't wait to get to the real training. They are currently swamped and trying to play catchup so they've got him doing little odds & ends jobs. But hey, it's still a job. And I start my CNA class on Monday. I'm so excited!

Allan's Turn

On Sunday night, Baby was kicking pretty hard so I decided to see if Allan could feel her. I didn't think he would, but we had nothing to lose. I had him put his hand on my tummy and wait. After just a few seconds, his whole face lit up! He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. He definitely felt her moving and he was SO excited. He got to feel her about 4 or 5 times before she stopped. After that, he put his head on my belly and talked to her for a bit. I'm not sure if she can hear him yet, but it was darling. He now sleeps with his hand draped over my belly, just in case she moves again. I'm so lucky to have a husband who is so excited about this baby! I think she's got him wrapped around her little finger already. 

She Moves!

Ok it's been a little while since I've updated. We are back from TX and found a new apt and moved in on Monday. We had to paint almost the whole thing before we moved in and it was quite the project! But it looks so good now! I thought my next post would be before and after pictures of the apt and a video tour, but something even more exciting happened that made me update today. (The apt post will come later...after I unpack all the boxes. It could be a little while.) But on to the big, exciting news...

I felt our baby move for the first time today! It was so exciting! What's funny is that it took me about 10-15 seconds to figure out what I had felt. I feel like I've been waiting for this for so long and it just wouldn't come. I kept hearing that I should've felt something by now and was almost concerned. But she's alive! It was just a small fluttering feeling, but it was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. Life is good! :)

It's A Girl!

We just found out this morning that we are having a girl. We are SO excited! We were totally shocked when the technician told us. We were both so sure that we were having a boy. The doctor had to actually point it out to us because we just couldn't believe it. We are absolutely thrilled! We were both hoping for a girl. Allan because he loved having an older sister and therefore wanted a girl first and me because we couldn't agree on any boy names, otherwise I wouldn't have had a preference.

It now seems so much more real. Now I feel like we can really start planning. We can start thinking about names and maybe decorate a nursery in our new apartment and I can start buying baby clothes! Ok, I only want to go buy a little dress or something, just because I can now that I know.

I'm starting to think that Allan is more excited than I am though. After the doctor's visit, I had to take Allan to the military unit. When I went to pick him up, he asked me to bring the pictures from the ultrasound. He took them around and showed everyone around unit. I thought it was darling. He's so proud! I think this little girl has got him wrapped around her little finger already.

Housing

Our friend Bags had this on his blog and I just had to steal it. I couldn't stop laughing at it because it's exactly how I feel right now.

Allan and I recently found out that we will not be able to move back into the house we were living in before moving to TX. We now have less than two weeks to try to find a place to move into. The problem with this is that we have no idea of what we're going to do exactly. We have no money and we also don't have jobs to come back to, so we're not sure how to pay for the rent. Needless to say, we're totally stressed about it. We do have my family though who are going to let us stay with them if need be until we can find our own place and get jobs.

Because were were on a month to month deal, we've never had to sign a lease. (I've decided that school housing contracts are different because you KNOW you're going to be there for the whole semester.) So while I don't ususally think of Batman, this comic still expresses my feelings exactly. Sometimes I don't like having to be a responsible adult.

Allan was going to go back to school, but with a baby on the way and rent being a lot more expensive, he's going to have to work full time. The problem with this is that he's got some government loans and if he doesn't go back to school, we'll have to start paying those off and that doesn't help either. He was going to work full time during the day and do night classes, but they don't offer any night classes in his major. STRESS! So he's now looking into changing his major. You might think this just adds to the stress, but I'm pretty excited about it. I think any other job will pay more than a teacher. I know. My dad is a teacher. :) He's now looking into becoming an electrician, which he's always had some interest in. I think having a family is just pushing him to it more. We'll see how things turn out. Like I said, we've got less than 2 weeks to get things figured and planned out as school starts then. *sigh*

If anybody knows of any *CHEAP* housing in the SL valley (preferably Murray to Sandy) or good jobs, please let us know!

Another Eventful Evening

We recently had yet another eventful evening. Last week, my blood sugar went higher than it's been since I was diagnosed. I hit 589 initially. I'm not sure why this happened. By the time I realized it, I was already so dehydrated that my insulin wasn't being absorbed and I kept going higher. This high blood sugar and being dehydrated thing isn't all that big a deal to me normally. It happens a few times a year. Being pregnant changes the "not a big deal" thing quite a bit. I went to the hospital to get an IV so we could get my blood sugar down. By the time I got to the hospital I was over 600 so we were not quite as calm this time. However, this hospital was not helpful at all. They were HORRIBLE!

I explained to them what was going on and also let them know that I'm pregnant, hoping this would rush things as it makes it more dangerous. They sat me in the waiting room because they didn't have any open rooms. After being there for an hour, I was really sick & was ready to just tell them to treat me in the hallway because I had started cramping. To make things better, after going to the bathroom, I discovered that I was bleeding pretty heavily. If you don't know, heavy bleeding & cramping during pregnancy is NOT GOOD.

I ran to the front desk crying to tell the nurse what I'd just discovered. She asked me if I wanted a pad. I was so frustrated. I explained that no, I'm pregnant and I just started to bleed heavily. She very snottily said, "Well, if you're going to miscarry, you're going to miscarry and there's nothing we can do about it. Please go sit down until we have an open room." I was so shocked! I couldn't believe anyone could be that callous.

We sat in the waiting room for at least another 15-20 minutes with me crying and Allan about to blow a fuse before Allan got the idea to call the police dept. to ask them where another hospital was. Luckily he found one and we rushed over there immediately. They admitted me right away, got me an IV and gave me some insulin. As soon as my blood sugar started coming back down, the cramping and bleeding stopped. They also did an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok and sure enough, Baby is just fine.

It was quite the scare and I was pretty shaken, but things are fine now. I'm just a lot more anxious to get home to be closer to friends and family just in case something like that happens when Allan isn't around (not that I'm planning on it!) to help me out. Less than 2 weeks and we'll be back! :)

Ultrasound Pics

Yesterday I had another ultrasound and things look great. Apparently I will be having a jumping bean. Baby wouldn't stop moving! Allan said that he is definitely my child. It's amazing to me that there can be that much movement inside me and I can't feel a thing. It will be pretty exciting when I do, but that's not going to be for a while. Here are the pictures that we got. The technician labeled it as "My Cute Face," but I've gotta be honest, I don't think it's a cute face. I think my baby looks like Strong Bad from Homestarrunner. I've put the pictures below for you to compare. :)

My Baby

Strong Bad

Isn't it an amazing likeness? HA!

Baby had his hands in his mouth almost the whole time. It resulted in my absolute favorite picture of him sucking his thumb.

I use "he" only because Allan decided it's a boy until proven otherwise. We'll find out for sure on Aug. 17th...if Baby will cooperate.

BIG News!

Just in case you couldn't tell by the new decor of our blog, Allan and I are expecting! Yep, that's right! I'm pregnant! As of today, I am officially at 12 weeks according to the doctor. To those of you thinking, "But, I thought you were going to wait a couple of years," our response is, "So did we!" But Baby and the Lord had a different plan. We are thrilled!

We were so scared at first because I am so high risk and so we didn't tell many people. In fact, our extended families and friends don't even know yet. However, it will be posted in my family newsletter next month and then I'll make the huge announcement on Facebook so the whole world will know. So for those of you who read our blog*, you get to know even earlier!

Yes, I'm very high risk, but I go to the doctor every single week and so far things are going great! I'm very healthy -despite being so sick & tired all the time- and the baby is doing wonderfully. We are so grateful. I'm finally getting over my morning sickness (HALLELUJAH!) and even gained my first couple of pounds this week. My doctor will be so thrilled. You now all know what was going on when I stated earlier that I started getting sick again and therefore stopped doing door to door sales. Turns out it wasn't another disease, just a parasite. ;)

It's ironic because I was diagnosed with Celiac disease only 7 months ago and my symptoms were very similar. I was ALWAYS nauseous & so tired I slept more than I was awake. But that was a bad thing. Now, whenever I'm nauseous I'm grateful because it means Baby is still there. It's amazing how things can change!

So for those of you wondering the big questions, no, we do not know if it's a boy or a girl yet. We have to wait a few more weeks. And I am due on February 1st. I've still got a ways to go, but it feels so good to know that I'm out of my first trimester! We really couldn't be happier.



*I put a hit counter on our blog so I know that people actually read it. However, I don't get any comments so I don't know who it is reading besides those who are following it. Please, please feel free to comment on this so I know who you are. :) I figure if this post doesn't get comments, none will.

Low Blood Sugar, Passing Out & Paramedics - An Eventful Day!

I was hoping to get all of the pictures from our trip updated before I moved on to the rest of life, but today was just too juicy an event to not post it. Basically, my doctor had me switch to a new insulin and I ran low all night and all day. When I got home from work, I was so exhausted that I don't think I could feel my blood sugar dropping. All I know was that I was talking to Miranda and all of a sudden, I could tell something wasn't right so I tested my blood sugar. I vaguely remember my meter saying that my blood sugar was too low for it to measure, meaning it was below 20. Then I passed out.

Luckily, I was still on the phone with Miranda when all of this happened. She told me that I told her how low my blood sugar was and she told me to go get juice, but I stopped responding. I'm assuming this was when I passed out. She called Allan to let him know what was going on and he called Whitney to go check on me. Whitney came over and tried to get in, but the door was locked. I wasn't answering the door or my phone. She called Allan and told him and he then called 911.

I finally woke up to someone POUNDING on my front door. Somehow I managed to go from the bedroom, where I remember talking to Miranda, to the couch in the front room. I have no recollection of the move. It's a good thing I moved though. I was barely able to crawl to the front door to answer it. When I did, I saw five paramedics there along with Whitney and Stephanie, the wife of another salesman down here. I barely got the words "Help me!" out before they barged in and did just that.

They made me eat two tubes of glucose gel (affectionately known to diabetics as "camel snot"), a couple glasses of juice and two containers of yogurt. I was starting to get really sick at this point as I always do after extreme lows. They told me I had to keep eating because paramedic guidelines state they're only supposed to be there for 20 minutes. I was frustrated that they made me keep eating because it takes at least 15 minutes for it to really get into the blood stream and raise blood sugar and my blood sugar had to go up a lot. They tried to get me to go to the hospital, but I was difficult and refused. They ended up staying for 40 minutes until my sugar came up to an allowable amount.

After they left, I just kept getting more sick. Luckily Allan was there by then and didn't make me keep eating. He knows what happens after an extreme low. They kept trying though because the paramedics told them I needed to eat a meal, something more substantial. I was getting frustrated because I knew I had already eaten too much and was going to have high blood sugar. However, that ended up not being a problem because I threw up everything I ate about five minutes after the paramedics left. I made it to the bathroom but still made a little bit of a mess. Poor Allan had to clean that up. He's so wonderful!

Needless to say, I went back to my old insulin. It just wasn't worth the risk of it happening again. I'm doubting my doctor will mind too much. Luckily, I'm just fine now and even feeling good. I just have to make sure I take it easy. I'm so grateful for good friends who care about me and take care of me! I don't want to think about what would've happened had Miranda not called Allan right away. Thanks, Miranda!!

Houston Aquarium & Hard Rock Cafe

On July 3rd, Allan took the day off and we went to the Houston Aquarium. This will be a bunch of pictures from that excursion. It was so much fun!

Allan looking through the peephole below the stingrays' tank. Pretty awesome.



Allan & Lexi, deep sea divers!


I have no idea why there were white tigers at the aquarium, but there were and they were so very cool!

Allan getting eaten by the white tiger exhibit.

We went in a shark tank tunnel. They were swimming all around it. It was one of the coolest things ever! This saw nose shark (I bet you can't guess why they call it that) went right over our heads!

After the aquarium, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. It was delicious! There was a car hanging in the restaurant that I absolutely love! If you just change the paint job, it's my new dream car. I love the rocket lights and fins!

Happy Birthday, Allan!

A bit has happened since I last updated this. I started getting sick again and so I am officially no longer doing sales. Luckily for me, a job just fell right into my lap. I am now doing office work Tues-Fri at a competing pest control company. I find it very funny. Source, the company Allan is working for, is way better. I'm hoping Preventive, the company I'm working for now, doesn't put me on the phones. I'll tell all their customers to go to Source because it's better. But for now, I'm only processing paperwork so it's all good.

Allan got home a week ago and just happened to get home on his birthday, June 20th. To celebrate, we went to a sock hop. I knew that everyone there would be doing the poodle skirts and the rolled up jeans with white t-shirts so I decided we'd go a different route and go in 50's prom attire. I started to make myself a prom dress, but then got a job and just didn't have time to finish it so wore a dress I already have. The real prom dress is still in the process of being made. I bought Allan a white suit coat and bowtie and we looked awesome! Whitney even did my hair for the occasion.

When we got there, I was absolutely right about everyone else dressing up in poodle skirts and rolled up jeans with white t-shirts. We really stood out with our awesome costumes. One person even told me that if there was a costume contest, we would definitely win. And not only did we stand out with our costumes, but apparently with our dancing too. Everybody there only knew east coast swing so we looked pretty good with our Lindyhop and got told so several times. It was such a great night! Doo wop is my favorite music and we both love dressing up so it was a great way to celebrate Allan's birthday and his being home.



The other way we celebrated Allan's birthday was a surprise party that Whitney and I both threw for Allan and Peter since their birthdays are only one day apart. We told them we were taking them somewhere cool and put blind folds on both of them. We then drove around the neighborhood for about 15 mintues and then came right back to the apartments. When we took the blind folds off, all the sales guys were there! It was awesome! Below is a picture of the whole group at the party.



We had hot dogs cooked on the grill and chips, soda, etc. But I think the best part was surprise was the surprise cake that we got for them. We got Rosa, my wonderful mother-in-law, to help us out and she sent us a picture of Allan & Pete when they were younger. I think they're about 7 and 10 in this picture. We then got it put on a sheet cake at Walmart. It turned out great!



We then put 24 candles on Pete's side and 27 on Allan's side. We tried really hard to light them all, but even with about 5 people trying to light the candles, the wind was too much so they each only blew out about 5, but hey, it was still fun. We didn't have nearly as many people show up as we anticipated so there's TONS and TONS of cake and hotdogs left. If anybody's interested, feel free to come to Houston to visit & eat some!

The Gulf Coast

Allan left yesterday afternoon for his two week military training stuff. I hate this part of the year. Luckily, he took Monday off and we spent the whole day together. We went to the Gulf Coast. It was a blast! The water was so warm and the weather was perfect! There was a bit of a breeze so there were some pretty awesome waves. We loved running out into them and trying to jump over them.  We would also put our backs towards them and try not to step

forward when they hit us. We failed miserably at that part. After our eyes started stinging because of the salt in the water, we decided to build a sand castle. Allan thought it would be cool to make it in the shape of a star. This picture is of Allan starting our star sand castle.

This is me helping Allan with the castle.









TA DA! The finished "castle." Allan was so proud that he got the top of the tower in the middle to stay. The edges don't line up and so he thought it would fall but it didn't. YAY!

Allan looking all hot after sitting in the sand. I can't believe how much sand we brought home with us! I'm still finding it in the shower. 

After the beach we came home and then went out to dinner at a local BBQ place. It was a cafeteria type place but it was absolutely delicious! Allan is already talking about going back again for some good ol' Texas BBQ.

But all good things must come to an end, right? So Allan is now gone until June 20th, his birthday. At least he's not going to be gone for his whole birthday, just a part of the day. Below is a picture of my handsome hubby in his uniform. Gotta love a man in uniform!

Good Dancing

Last night Allan and I went dancing and it was pretty cool. We convinced Pete and Whitney and even Johnny, the sales team leader, to go with us. It was only our second week going and apparently we've already made a name for ourselves. They started playing some wicked fast music and doing a jam (a dance where only one couple is in the middle and everyone else forms a circle around) and at one point, one of the dancers there told us to go in the middle. So we did! I almost died after, but it was pretty cool that even though we'd only been there a couple of weeks, they already wanted us to go in.  Both of us also got told numerous times that we're good dancers. It was such a boost to my confidence in my dancing. Granted, Allan gets told that all the time. :) Still, it was a great experience. 

Quilts Galore!

Recently I've really taken to quilting. Before I got married I had started a few quilts and only finished one. Now, I've finished quite a few. I don't know what changed, but all of a sudden I have a lot of patience for it and really enjoy it. Here are some pictures of the quilts I've made.

This first picture is of my sister holding the quilt I made her for her graduation present (and finished almost a year after). It's a random shag. It has everything from cows to rockets. She had to put the squares in the order she wanted them in because I kept trying to find some sort of pattern and just couldn't do it. It drove me crazy. My sister is about 6' tall so this is a fairly decent sized quilt.



This quilt is the one that I started back in high school and although it's not completely finished because I still have to get it quilted and bind it, etc., the top of it is done & I consider it a huge accomplishment. It's purple and green and is HUGE. I really like it though. The squares in the middle look white, but are actually a light lime green.




This next one is a baby shag that I made for our friend, Jess. Or rather, for her baby. I love it! I definitely have a thing for animal quilts for babies. Allan actually helped me sew it because he wanted to say that it came from both of us. 

This next one is the quilt that Miranda asked me to help her make for her new niece. It's also a shag but instead of squares, we did it in strips. We whipped it out in just a few hours and it turned out great, if I do say so myself. :)





This next one is one that I made for my niece, Abby. It's the first quilt I've finished that isn't a shag! So in other words, my first binded quilt. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hope she likes it.




I have definitely saved the best for last. This quilt is the first applique I've ever done. Originally I started it to give away, but after putting in SO MUCH time, energy, effort and money, I just couldn't give it away. So I'm keeping it for when I have a little girl. It is certainly the most extravagent quilt I've done. I absolutely love it. The pictures really don't do it justice. And although this one isn't finished either (still needs to be quilted and binded), I finished the top and therefore it's being put on the blog.