Oranges.

Last night Brian and I were shopping in the produce section of Costco trying to decide on which brand of oranges to get when we met a lady who took grape tasting to a whole new level.  I picked up a box of oranges from Chile and she told me that they weren’t good—apparently they really dry and mealy.  I’m thinking that she must have bought them before and hadn’t liked them.  Nope—she had just opened up the box, peeled the orange, and tasted it right there in Costco.  While I was glad I hadn’t picked the oranges from Chile, I was in awe at the nerve she had.  I quickly went over to Brian, told him what had happened, and from afar we watched her open two more boxes of oranges, peel them and apparently decide they weren’t good enough to purchase.  I think in the end she chose Sunkist—but even those she picked through until the whole box was filled with good oranges, replacing bad oranges with better oranges from other boxes.  As we were leaving the produce section we saw her taste a tomato—no joke!  

I’m back!

I feel like I checked out of life for about 3 months, but I’m back to myself…almost.  I started feeling pretty sick at 4 weeks of pregnancy, and it just got worse and worse.  For about 10 weeks my diet consisted of strawberry pop tarts, ginger ale, and Hunts vanilla pudding snacks.

I tried a few different medications—Zofran caused such bad headaches and the headaches caused horrible nausea, so I tried Reglan, but I got insomnia and didn’t sleep 4 nights in a row.  My only true relief from morning sickness was when I was sleeping, so that obviously wasn’t going to work.  So, after playing around with those meds for a few weeks, I decided to wait it out without any pharmaceutical assistance.  Around 14 weeks I finally started feeling better.  Brian and I went to Fairfield for a week for Thanksgiving and I didn’t vomit once.  I think my parents may have questioned how sick I ever really was because I was so healthy the whole week.  They had expected me to lay in bed all day and not be able to eat anything without corn syrup in it.  I ate so well that week I think I finally gained back all the weight I had lost from the past few months. 

I still have bad days—but far fewer of them.  I’m loving healthy foods again and I have cooked real dinners for the past week.  I think I could live off oranges! 

Right before we left for Fairfield I had a doctor’s appointment.  Brian was able to come, meet my midwife, and see an ultrasound of our little baby.  They wouldn’t confirm the gender of the baby, but we have a hunch.  We can’t wait until January when we’ll find out for sure. 

Here’s our little baby:

 

We’re already so in love with this little person!

Nate came to town.

Brian's friend came to visit over a month ago.  We had a great time together and tried to get some sight seeing and hiking done between rainstorms. 

Crown Point

The Vista House at Crown Point

Multnomah Falls

Punchbowl Falls

Thanks for coming to town, Nate!

Boat cruise.

A while ago—back in July, Brian and I were adult chaperone’s for a young single adult activity.  The year before we had gone as young single adults.  It was a little funny to be back this time as chaperone’s.  The Portland Spirit left the dock at midnight and got back at 1:30 a.m.  We had fun, but realized again how grateful we are to be married and not single anymore!

More Halloween!

I may be going against the current (with my family), but I think I like Halloween.  I might get some flack for that.  Maybe I should clarify—I don’t like the scary, creepy, ugly costumes, ghoulishy side of Halloween (at all!), but I really like pumpkins, carving, cute costumes, and even a tiny bit of trick-or-treating for the kids.  I have some really great Halloween memories growing up, and I hope I can bring out the great side of it for our kids—I’m convinced there is one!

This year, we went to Brian’s parents for pumpkin carving.  Brian did the carving for our family—I can hardly look at food right now, let alone dig into it and smell it’s gushiness.  So, I opted to watch (from afar) as Brian and his mom carved.

Brian and Barbara carving

finished product

the headless horseman in the dark

A note about our costumes from the last post—I thought of the costume idea and did some of the thinking behind them, but in reality, Brian put them together—he’s quite incredible that way.  He really can do anything, I’m learning. 

Happy Halloween!

There's a bun in my oven!

And this guy's responsible! (is that too suggestive?)

There's 2 buns showing...but only 1 on the ultrasound (thank heavens!)

Timer goes off May 28!

Yay for babies!

Pumpkins!

Monday for family night, Brian and I went to get pumpkins.  We are so excited about spending the holidays in our new house.  We love this season!   

 

And these three little guys:

Utah.

I was so excited when Brian and I drove out of Utah after we were married.  I told him that if I was sleeping, I wanted to be woken up so I could enjoy the moment.  He laughed and reminded me that we both still have a lot of family there.  He made an excellent point!  We do love our family in UT!

We decided to go back to Utah for a very short trip over Labor Day weekend.  We left Friday evening after Brian got off work.  We stopped through Boise, getting there very late and leaving early in the morning to make the rest of the trip to Utah. 

It was a whirlwind of a trip!  We spent more time driving than we did awake in Utah. 

But it was worth it for several reasons:

1.  Meeting Jace and being at his baby blessing.  He is beautiful!  I think he looks like Brian—so he’s very cute, of course!  

We look like naturals, huh? 

2.  Family pictures—to be posted later.  We drove in to town just in time for photos.  Everyone in Brian’s immediate family was there. 

3.  We picked up some weights we accidently left behind when we left Utah in November.  We must have been preoccupied or something…because we rented a U-Haul, and everything… but forgot to put some important things in it. 

4.  Family.  Even though we were only there about 24 hours, we saw all of Brian’s brothers, their wives, children, and parents.  Nate and Char hosted a brunch at their house after the blessing.  They are really great hosts!  It was fun to see Brian’s grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  They are a big family—good thing I’m used to big families!

5. Cafe Rio.  I post this last, but I’m going to be honest—it was a definite reason for making the trip.  We love Cafe Rio—and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), we don’t have one here in Oregon (yet).  We actually made two trips to Rio.  One with the Harris family after family pictures (thanks you DeWin and Barbara) and later on our way back from Boise.  We raced (and I really mean that) to the Cafe Rio in Twin Falls, barely making it before they closed at 8 p.m.  (the people behind us were turned away…that’s how close it was!)  We like to think that God was helping us…but it was Sunday—so let’s be honest…he probably wasn’t.

Cafe Rio salads!

And some pictures of our road trip home:

You might regret looking at these next ones—they’re kind of passionate:

He really likes to dip me.  And I like to be dipped.  So it works out well.

You can tell we were the only ones at this rest stop. 

(but hey, at least we didn’t send any kissing shots with our wedding announcements!)

Take me out to the ball game.

A few weeks ago I met Brian downtown for dinner.  After we went to an Oregon Beaver’s game.  Brian’s company rented a box.  It was fun to see his coworkers and watch the game together.  They lost the game, but we still had a blast!  We love baseball!

   Me with the Blazer mascot in front of the baseball stadium.

I love this picture of Brian!

With the Beaver’s mascot

He’s a Romeo!

Often, when Brian is working in the yard (and he LOVES to work in the yard!), he will come in carrying roses and other flowers that he picked from our yard.  I love them!  They look perfect in my little vases.

Beautiful!

He also serenades me.  Sometimes it’s country, but most times it’s Bryan Adams.  He’s very good at it too!

Bread and my new Bosch.

Ever since my mom came to visit, I have been making bread about once a week with a small little mixer that struggles.  Brian and I have been trying to figure out how we could ever afford buying a Bosch mixer like my mom has, but we just couldn't justify the expense.  

One day when I was on the phone with my mom, pining over her mixer, a friend who was over at her house heard our conversation and mentioned that she had a brand new Bosch that she had only used once in four years.  Since she hadn't used it in a while, and because she is one of the most generous people I know, she offered it to me.  For free.  Can you believe it?  I'd feel bad, but I'm so happy!  And grateful!  Thank you, Caroline!

I just got it yesterday, and today I made some yummy bread!    

It's official!

It's official!  After hours of waiting, being sent away for other documents, searching for those documents, coming back (three times!), taking a driving test, and paying a bunch of money, Oregon finally decided to let me be a resident.  I also got Oregon license plates.  I love being an Oregonian!  I'm lucky to have found such a great guy in one of my favorite states!  It's crazy to think that I could (and mostly likely will) live here the rest of my life, raise children here, and even possibly be buried here in like 70 years.  This is the beginning of something really great!

p.s. the house across the street is for sale.  I'm a pro at becoming a resident, if any of you need help.  And, if you don't want move here (you're crazy!), you can at least come to visit!

Sisters.

Way back in February, I left Brian during Valentine’s Day weekend (our first VD…needless to say, this was not the weekend I would have chosen…but obviously it wasn’t up to me) to spend a long weekend with my sisters.  We had such a great time! 

Rebecca, John, Mom, Me, Annie

The highlight of the weekend was seeing Annie play at her BYU sophomore harp recital.  She is one talented girl!  I’m so glad I was able to see her perform.  My mom also had the fun opportunity to accompany Annie on one of her big pieces.  They both did a fabulous job! 

We had a great time catching up—lot’s of talking, a little shopping, great food, late nights, and even a little Rook. 

We missed Ofelia!  She was still in Honduras-- now they are in Hawaii.  Sisters in Hawaii next year?

Hydrangeas.

 

My dreams just keep coming true.  I’ve loved hydrangeas since I was a little girl.  My mom had these Victoria magazines— they were filled with hydrangeas and other beautiful things.  Then I moved to Oregon where hydrangeas seem to bloom like wild flowers.  I just can’t get enough of them. 

Brian planted these for me last night!  I am a happy, happy girl!  He bought me the two on the ends, and a neighbor gave us the middle one because we didn’t kill their dog while they were away (we thought we did…but luckily he lived). 

I can’t wait for these to grow so big!  I want to fill my yard with them!

Mom!

My mom came to visit for a week! 

Unfortunately (only for her), we worked more than we played.  It wasn’t much of a vacation for her, but I appreciate her help so much!

Here’s what we did:

We cleaned the garage.  Oh, how I wish we had ‘before’ pictures.  Just imagine a garage so filled with stuff that you can hardly walk in.  Now take a look at this:

For a while, our house looked like a Cat In the Hat house—one thing led to another, and to another…

Two of these chairs came in from the garage—and they needed pillows, so Mom made a few.  I love them!

With all of the stuff coming in from the garage, we needed more organized space in our closets, so Brian put closet organizers in 3 of our small linen/coat closets, and I organized them.

While Mom figured out how to make a bed skirt out of some Ikea curtains I had.  She can do anything!  We also decided to raise the bed 7 inches, and we were able to fit all of our Christmas stuff and suitcases underneath!  Yay for more storage!

 

She also made this pillow out of some linens I had.  I love it!

While she did these sewing project, I learned how to make my mom’s whole wheat bread.  I made it 3 times (15 loaves)  I wish I had taken a picture.

The day before she left, we got up early and went to the temple.  Then we went downtown and saw a sandcastle building contest thingy.  We did a little shopping too.  We stopped by a huge sale at Sacs 5th Ave.  Oh my goodness!  Even at 60% off the prices were outrageous!  It was very enlightening for both of us.  We had a great time at Nordstrom!

I miss her!  I wish my parents lived here!

Me & Mom on a hike with Brian to Wahclella Falls

A house becomes a home.

I finally hung some of our art work.  Our house is starting to look and feel more like our home. 

Dining room

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

Family Room

 

Master Bedroom nightstands

Living Room

Hall Bathroom

We still have a few more to hang, but so far, I’m quite pleased!