Birthday Trifecta

It's that time again wherein we celebrated our existence.  I had a great birthday because it was the first birthday my husband didn't have to work through the evening. He has always worked nights since we've been together and always had to work on my birthday. Now that he has a day job I made our evening birthday celebration mandatory for all family members. We ate steak and it was delicious.

The Birthday Girl

Next up, Baby Girl had her first birthday! We celebrated by visiting puppies. She loves puppies. We celebrated more later in the week when we met up with her dad in Chicago. He won a trip to a convention through a class his last semester so we met him in Chicago at the end of the convention to have a family trip.

Last of all it was this guy's birthday. Last year was so great he probably thought it couldn't get better, but it did. I'm good like that. Besides, how could getting a robot ball NOT make the greatest birthday a boy could want?

The New Roommate

A certain young lady has arrived here.  She hasn't brought much luggage with her, but she evidently means to stay.*

*Anyone who correctly identifies the allusion gets my utmost respect and a mention on the blog

Schrödinger's cat, my birthday, and baby things. It doesn't have to make sense.

Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment. To dumb it down, Austrian physicist Schrödinger presents a scenario where a cat may be alive or dead, depending on an earlier random event.  Until you observe the cat to actually see whether it is alive or dead, you have to assume it's simultaneously alive and dead.

We didn't find out if our baby is a boy or girl.  It doesn't bother me at all because until baby comes out and we can see if it's a boy or girl, we get to assume it's both a boy and a girl and have all the fun of anticipating both for 9 months.  Our baby is Schrödinger's cat.

We really have no indication of whether baby is a boy or girl.  No feelings, dreams, inclinations, or preferences sway us one way or another.  We really just want a healthy baby.  We're prepared for both and will be happy with either. I'm really glad I don't get to pick.  I have a hard enough time deciding what to eat for lunch.  BTW, we think all the tips, tricks, and old wives tales for guessing are BS, so don't even go there.

I'm at 37.5 weeks, so baby is full term and may show up anytime between now and Spring Break.  Five weeks is a huge margin for normal delivery timing. It's 12.5% of the length of an average pregnancy.  It boggles my mind.  Baby is all ready to go.  S/he's been head down since about 19 weeks and dropped over 2 weeks ago if my bladder is a reliable indicator.  This is my husband's child for sure. He's always prepared for everything well in advance.  Even if his exit isn't for miles he'll get in the right hand lane even if traffic is slower there just to be ready.  He joked last week that baby simply identified the exit and got in the right lane early.  I laughed so hard from the truth of the statement I almost coughed up a lung.

I've been so sick the last couple weeks.  I was doing so well and then bam!  Worst cold of my life.  All those things people say about how miserable it is to be sick and pregnant are all true.  Comes on easier, stronger, and stays around longer.  Not cool.  My only consolation is supposing that all this coughing has helped strengthen my sorry abdominal muscles and will aid in delivery.  I'm happy to report I'm finally feeling much better.

I was sick over my birthday this year.  Which is fine because per usual, my husband had to work that night.  Not like I would have spent my evening any different if he hadn't.  I've pretty much spent the last 10 evenings on the couch watching the Olympics, blowing my nose, and getting up to pee during every commercial break and/or special athlete highlight. I did get to have a little fun. We went out to breakfast (I had bacon pancakes.  BACON PANCAKES.) after a morning prenatal appointment, my coworker brought me cake and flowers at work, and I got a email birthday greeting from my local dentist.

Don't ask me how old I am. I legitimately can't remember most of the time and having a birthday just complicated it.

Happy Birthday, Me.

I love birthdays.  I say that every year.  Because it's true.  True to form, this post will involve the ways I celebrated through the food I ate. 

Day-of he made me breakfast of French toast and bacon and even used raisin bread for me especially and regular white bread for himself since he doesn't like raisins.  Which is ok by me because I don't have to feel bad about not sharing the chocolate covered raisins he gave me. 

I spent most of the day just lounging about relaxing, but I did use my new birthday yoga mat, and we took a jaunt to Target to look at things I did not spend my birthday gift card from Mom on.  After he left for work for the rest of the night I tried to watch my favorite movie before I promptly fell asleep until my roommate came home from work.  After finding 25 ballons from her drifting in my bedroom, she took me out to dinner and a movie at a theater that serves food during the movie.  We gorged on junk food and Red Velvet cake while watching The Vow (which was refreshingly not as saccharine as other Nicolas Sparks films).

The next day my brother and his wife hosted a nice dinner and cake for me and a few friends to celebrate my birthday.  I like to do the cake thing with family.  We wound up the evening with a game of Ticket to Ride.

I had a handful of birthday coupons for free food/buy 1 get 1 free food at various restaurants around the area, so on the day they expired a few friends helped me share unnecessarily amounts of shakes and ice cream on a frigid night.

Here's the only thing I took a picture of:

Happy birthday to me.

My Favorite Day

I had a birthday.  Sadly, I didn't take a single picture this year.  Whoops.  The evening before my birthday we hosted a dinner for some friends and my house-mate (oh, btw I moved; apparently nobody in Idaho knew that but my parents) surprised me with ice cream cake and some presents since most people already had plans the next evening.

I had to work on my birthday, but that wasn't a big deal because I wouldn't have had anything else to do since everyone else was working too.  But I only worked a half day then went to lunch with Luke at Rodizio Grill because I had a sweet free meal coupon.  The rest of the afternoon I lounged around digesting (a good use of time.  You'd know what I'm talking about if you've ever been to an all-you-can-eat-Brazillian grill), fielding phone calls from family, and opening packages from Mom before heading to Luke's house to share the other half of the cake with the fam before the kids went to bed.  Following that I went to Red Robin hoping I'd be hungry by then so I could down my free birthday burger, but alas I was not.  I made it though about 1/3 of my food before throwing in the figurative towel.

I got to draw out the birthday a little more this week when a friend took me out for a belated birthday lunch downtown at Noodles.  I just realized I outline my birthday celebrations according to the food I eat.  Well, I guess that's the only way I  celebrate.  I'm not complaining, because I really like food.

Per usual, friends and family came through.  Thanks for always making me feel special on my favorite day.

The Birthday Girl

It happened yet again.  And it was awesome!  Did I say my friends pull through, or did I say my friends pull through?  It all started with breakfast in bed--waffles from scratch, scrambled eggs, orange juice-- all prepared by my wonderful roommate Jackie and presented by all the roomies singing Happy Birthday.  I'd post the picture, but I make a point of never posting unflattering pictures of myself.

I skipped my morning exercise classes (one was canceled anyway) and went to the Provo Temple instead because I haven't been able to attend all semester due to my school/work schedule.  Back at home I took my time getting beautiful for the day (because you have to look beautiful on your birthday) and got a knock at the door from a delivery man who delivered a dozen beautiful roses from my parents!

I finally went to work and class.  I got lots of calls and messages all day from people who love me.  I was a little upset that my brother Danny didn't call me all day.... and then he surprised me and showed up with my friend Eric!  The boys and Eric's girlfriend Aura Maria took me out to Sammy's, a local burger joint. for my birthday dinner.  It was delicious!  Who needs cake when you can eat a pie shake?  This place literally takes a piece of homemade pie and sticks it in a blender with ice cream.  It's brilliant.  After dinner I returned home in time to be invited with some other people over for hot chocolate at one of the houses in my ward.  Word spread that it was my birthday and I got a special mixture of Orange Cream Hot Chocolate in the coveted Lord of the Rings mug and everyone sang Happy Birthday before I blew on the chocolate to cool it off as there were no candles handy.

Birthday hoopla didn't end there!  The next evening I went out with more of my favorite people ever:  Diane and Janae, my old Nauvoo roommates.  We went and redeemed food coupons I received for my birthday!  We hit up Baskin Robbins and Coldstone Creamery.  Janae had to leave after that, so only Diane and I made it to Red Robin for my free burger.

The festivities didn't end there either!  The next weekend my parents came to SLC for the Utah Dental Convention and they brought presents and took me out to dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  Spoiled?  Yep.

 

For good measure we wound the weekend up with dinner at Los Hermanos with the aunts and uncles on Saturday where my cousin John was our server for the night.  Mom declared my birthday celebrations over.  However, I just received my Tucanos coupon in the mail for a free meal this month for my birthday, so I'll have to make room for at least one more party.... <|:-)

Yay for birthdays!

More Birthday and a pARRRty!

I got up a little earlier than I had to today to finish some reading, but it's done and with the little bit of extra (and by extra, I mean I don't feel like doing anything else I should) time, I've decided to blog for Debbie. Debbie Copstead is probably my most faithful blog follower and I feel guilty when I don't keep it up for her!

I came down with a killer cold right about the time I posted last. It was a pretty miserable week. The medicine I had wasn't very effective most of the time. Then it disrupted my sleep. On top of being sick and tired I started and finished a project proposal one day because the people I was supposed to volunteer for the project never contacted me back so I had to come up with something else in a day. Good think I was sick and felt justified in missing my classes that day anyway. Oh, and on Thursday I realized a big paper I thought was due the next week was due the next day. Once again, maybe being sick was a mixed blessing! I didn't work Thursday and Friday because I started coughing and I couldn't breath well, so I stayed home and wrote the paper. It wasn't my best work, but it got done. And then I ended up with a good grade! Now I wonder about my teacher's judgment...

As harrowing as the week was, the weekend was great. My parents were in town for the Utah Dental Convention, so Friday evening I drove up to Salt Lake and we went out to Tucano's for my birthday dinner. Uncle Don and Aunt D'Ann were in SLC that night too, so they joined us.



I stayed overnight with Mom and Dad at the hotel. Yet again, I did not sleep, but I was starting to get used to insomnia. I got some homework done around 3am. The next day we took a walk to Temple Square and then I took them to the airport. I spent the rest of the day in Salt Lake visiting friends and walking in the sunshine of a beautiful day. My cold was beginning to subside, so everything was feeling beautiful :-).

The next week was fabulous. I had two projects due that I hadn't started because of the stuff from the previous week, but one project had the deadline moved to the next Monday, and I got an extension on the other. Then the weather warmed up and the sun was out all week. My ward had a Pirate Party that weekend complete with treasure hunt, costume contest, and pirate ship regatta. It was a lot of fun!

I named it "El Barco de Muerte"

Midterms are over (I have no midterm tests, but lots of papers) and things seem kind of calm right now. This weekend for church we have Stake Conference and Elder Ballard is coming from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Should be good. And spring is coming! I can feel it!

Happenin' Happenings

I can't believe I'm already half way through February! Yikes! Every semester passes faster than the last (side note: someday I will be done with school and won't measure time by semesters. weird thought). I just remembered that I have fast internet and I can actually upload pictures to my posts with ease. I'll start doing that. In Israel the bandwidth was too small and it was very difficult to download pictures, hence the links to my photo albums on Facebook.

My life has been more the same: reading, writing, and fun when I can fit it in. One exciting thing was my computer ceased to work. It just stopped working-- no blue screen of death, just blankness. Fortunately it was still under warranty. I had to send it to the company and get the hard drive replaced. I thankfully received an external hard drive for Christmas and had just finished backing up all my files onto it--over 30 gigs of stuff from Jerusalem alone!-- two weeks before the machine died. I was without a computer for about 3 weeks, so now I've been trying to get all my software back on it. It's annoying, but at least it works right and I didn't have to pay for it!

My old Nauvoo roommate Abbie stayed with me the night before she entered the Missionary Training Center here in Provo. She is headed to Cleveland, OH. I'm so excited for her! That mission includes Kirtland and a lot of historical Church sites that we toured during our semester in Nauvoo. We went bowling the evening she was here with several of friends from her home and Nauvoo, then had ice cream afterward at the Creamery. We met up with Diane, another Nauvoo roommate, at the Creamery and for the first time since we left Nauvoo over 3 years ago, our whole room was reunited!

Room 317 Reunited! (L-R: Abbie, Sadie, Janae, Diane)

I'm so happy for Abbie and I know that she will be a great missionary. And it wasn't that sad saying goodbye because we only see each other every year to two anyway!

Another exciting event was my birthday on February 11! I love birthdays. A lot. I'm not sure why; maybe because my family was good at making it a special day. This year it was on a Wednesday, and unfortunately Wednesday is my longest day in terms of classes. But I don't have to work on Wednesdays, so makes it more tolerable. I start at 8am and get out at 8pm, with two long breaks in the middle of the day. I wasn't sure if I'd get to do anything special because of that, and because this is the first year in Provo that I didn't have any family around to celebrate with me. (I didn't have family with me last year in Israel, obviously, but that was to be expected). Danny is spending the semester in Mexico. Luckily, I have amazing friends! My old Nauvoo roommate Diane called me around 6am to convince me to let her take me to breakfast before my class. My roommates made me a poster and stuck candy all over it and left it outside my door to find in the morning. Then that evening after my class I was supposed to go to dinner with Diane and the other old roommate Janae, and then have cake at my apartment afterward with a few friends. The girls made other plans for me though! They planned a surprise party for me at Janae's apartment with lots of my Nauvoo friends plus a few other people. My parents sent me flowers and most of my family and several friends called to wish me a happy day.

22 candles!

The birthday gang

The celebration continued on Thursday when my buddy Eric cooked me and my roommate breakfast. My family's tradition on birthdays is breakfast in bed, and he knew that's what I miss most on my birthday when I'm not home, so he did the next best thing: pancakes the next day in the kitchen. Did I mention I have the best friends ever?

The pancakes on the plate read "Happy Birthday"

The celebration continues more this week. My dad attends the Utah Dental Convention every year in February and this year Mom is coming with him. I'm going up to Salt Lake City on Friday to spend the evening and go out to dinner for my birthday (the other thing I miss most about birthdays at home).

The other exciting things in my life include being without gas in our apartment for two days (the temperature got down to 48 degrees--inside), making it to the quarter finals in the Paso Doble with my ballroom partner at the mock dance competition against the other dance classes, the last of my original roommates from this year moving out for a job in CA (a sad thing, not exciting), and spending part of President's Day weekend with friends at a cabin up Spanish Fork Canyon. All in all February has been a good month, per usual.

I'd better get back to work on my homework. I slacked off over the long weekend and now I have to do double duty. I'm getting a cold, have a couple of projects to get started and finished this week, and a mound of reading that I will probably finish only a meager portion of, with or without slacking. Wish me luck!

ps. I updated my photo album links

Catch Up

So I'm behind on this, and even more behind in my journal. I'm only through the second day of the Egypt trip! EEK! I have written since on selected days, but it is just taking me a while since I feel like I have to detail everything. Now I finally have some time to catch up on my personal stuff.

The week after we got home from Egypt we had two more field trips. The first one was a half day to Jericho. We got to visit a monastery that is on the side of the Mount of Temptations, the traditional spot of Jesus' fast and subsequent tempting by Satan. It is literally built into the side of a cliff. The other field trip focused on the Judges from the Old Testament, so we went to the five main valleys that connect the coastal plains to the mountain ridge where Jerusalem is located. It was fun to think that we get to just cruise around Israel. Who does that? I've updated my photos from the trips in the Jerusalem #2 album. On Sunday I went to the Rockafeller Museum in east Jerusalem and saw a lot of cool archaeological stuff about things we have been learning about.

My birthday was last Monday and I had a great day. My roommate made my bed for me and I got a card signed by all the students. I spent the morning with friends at the zoo and that was really fun. The weather was beautiful and warm! Then we spent some time in the Jewish market before walking home across town. I took the route through the Old City and got myself a birthday present: leather "Jesus" sandals that I have been eying since before Egypt. When I got back to the center my birthday packages from mom had arrived! I called home while I opened them. I got just what I wanted: eye makeup remover, ranch dressing, gummy bears, a laptop case and a few other wonderful things. I got lucky and we even had cake for dessert at dinner. And by cake I mean "cake", but it was more like cake as I know it than I've had in other places around this part of the world. It actually had sweetness to it! It was a good day and I felt good too.

The rest of the week didn't fare so well. I kinda wore myself out on my birthday and I didn't feel so well the next day. I'm in recovery though and each day I'm feeling better. It helped that it was rainy for a lot of the rest of the week so I didn't have to feel bad that I was missing out on nice weather. I had lots of schoolwork to keep me busy. We had a midterm today in our Jewish studies class and lots of other reading to do for other classes. I did pretty well on the test and spent most of the day getting ahead with other work. That about catches things up on this end. Hope you all had a very happy Valentine's day!