The Polar Vortex is No Match For... and other random thoughts.

Had to laugh at this considering that was some COLD (negatives) weather earlier this month.

I am getting more and more excited about having a new baby.

I will focus on that more than the stress of student teaching.

Life really is blessed and I wish more people saw it that way.

I wish my dog could fetch me a water bottle...

I wish all those that were experiencing infertility (and would be good parents) could get the babies from people who don't want children and don't deserve the elect calling of being a parent. hug

It snowed a little today, but someone gave me chocolate.

7 Things For Today

What is there to talk about?

1. I had Monday off because of the holiday (MLK/Humanitarian Day). It was a great extra day where I did absolutely nothing except grocery shop and take a nap. 

2. I thought this was funny especially since for this pregnancy I am peeing SO much and all the time:

3. Our gender reveal party was on Saturday. We are having another little girl. I am excited to have two daughters close in age. The party was fun and pretty laid back. We had a little voting booth and a light lunch. Marcus and I made this oreo ice cream cake and it was divine. 

4. Madeline never says "yes." Only "no." I  struggling not being annoyed and angry at her. But she knows how to say "yes" and that they mean different things...I think the terrible-two's are beginning. I love her to the end and back. 

5. I crave steak all the time, and so we made steak for dinner tonight with a cucumber salad which I created using 2 cucumbers, one big tomato, red onion, dill, a small thing of sour cream, salt, and pepper. It was so yummy. 

6. Oh, yeah. Before I forget, I had my friend Sabrina make Marcus a cherry cream cheese pie honoring his "forgotten" birthday. Everyone sang happy birthday to him at the Gender Reveal and he was very surprised. It was great! I am glad she was able to make it for me so that Marcus could be surprised and feel loved. 

7. We went and saw Jack Ryan at the movies on Friday. It was the first real date Marcus and I have been on since our anniversary. It is a cool army-meets-CIA spy movie. I give it an 8, although there was one waaay too graphic scene where Jack kills a guy (in self-defense) by drowning him and you see the guy die in his hands. In my opinion, they should have left that out unless it was R-rated, and there was a very quiet f-bomb which I heard only because I have sensitive ears. Keira Knightley is in this movie and I do not like her acting, but she actually did pretty good in this movie and she even had to have an American accent. She also has toned up all her muscles ad while she is still flat-chested she just seems fit and not boyish...if that makes sense. 

Good Things About Student Teaching

Let me tell you how student teaching is going:

I find myself hoping for a snow day. That is NOT because I don't like what I'm doing when I get there or who I am working with. The truth is--I'm tired. I've been going to school for six long years for my bachelor's degree, and I'm cooking baby numero dos while trying to satisfy my family life and my education. I am tired. I am also sick. I think next week when my body is more back to normal I will feel better about student teaching.

The cute things:

1. I work with some of the cutest children. I cannot name names, but just know that they are cute. For instance, I was introducing myself to a couple of my new students (to them I was the new one not the other way around) and I mentioned that I am pregnant with my second child. One of the children looked at my belly--poking out from under the table a little bit--and said, "I can see that!" with a little smile on his face. I'm glad I was actually pregnant because if I hadn't been I think these children would be a little too honest.

2. While walking to get some water one child grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go.

3. During lunch, "I need my pickles. I LOVE pickles! Yummmy" It was hoagie day and the child scampered as quickly as he could with his food trey in hand while not actually running since running inside is, as usual, not allowed.

Good things:

1. I like the teachers I eat lunch with. They are hilarious and intelligent and fun. They seem to like the same things I like, too.

2. Today one teacher had a birthday and she made french dip sandwiches and other stuff for all the staff. I feel like we should have made HER lunch.

3. The school lunches only cost $3.25 for adults. AWESOME. Except apparently burrito day needs to be retired because it's just refried beans in a tortilla which the teachers deem nasty. I believe them.

There you have it. I am not having a terrible experience. The only terrible thing is my sickness. In time, I will be back to normal. I can't wait!

Sick-Decisions-Freak Me Out! Plus a Cute Hubby Habit.

I got super sick the other day with a viral respiratory infection which the doctors can do nothing about. Plus it is made to seem worse due to pregnancy. Oi ve. I tell you. I love being able to have babies, but getting sick more often SUCKS. At least tomorrow might be a snow day *cross fingers.*

Marcus is going to be re-screened for a laboratory research position with the Navy.
Pros:
-He will rub elbows with the right guys for future jobs or other opportunities.
-He will be done with his master's degree sooner.
-The temple will be closer than it would be in SC.
Cons:
-We will be moving to DC where it is extremely expensive and crime is at your door -or- there will be a large commute for Marcus.
-The schools are terribly rated...unless you can afford a neighborhood that starts at $500K.

The pay will be the same, and the length of time with this job would be relatively the same. I guess I just want the right thing to happen. I really don't want God to have us choose between the two because either would be great because that is what I feel is going to happen. I mean...that kind of choice is just SO difficult. I thank the Lord for this opportunity to work with the Navy, and I don't want to complain about it. We have been so blessed.

I saw this on Facebook, and it freaks me out:


I just have to tell you one quick cute thing about Marcus. If he thinks he has been a jerk and he messed up, he will come home with a can of Pringles, some sort of chocolate (usually a Reese's), and some flowers. I tell you this because he thought he messed up yesterday. I'm still not sure why...he says because he was being a jerk while I was sick. People, I married a winner. *grin* *wink*

New Years Resolutions and my 2013 Reading List

I had to read about 64 books for my children's literature class this year. Half of those were picture books and the rest fall into 5 other genres: traditional fantasy, modern fantasy, realistic fiction/humor/mystery-suspense/biography, adventure/historical fiction, and informational. Here are my favorites:

I will just write about my all-time favorite read this year which was The Witch of Blackbird Pond. This book was so good because it had a little romance, a little adventure, and tons of character growth. I loved the ending and even got teary-eyed. My husband also enjoyed it (I read most of it out loud on a trip to UT). If you only read one book from list, please choose this one.

A close second for me was The View From the Cherry Tree. This was a young adult murder mystery book. I had no idea when I began reading it that it would become a murder mystery. It was pretty awesome and you should definitely read this book next. 

I also thought since it is the new year I would post about my/our New Year's Resolutions:

Christmas Vacation and Settlers of Catan.

Visiting family is always so wonderful, but Marcus and I have decided we are excited to start our own traditions for the holidays this year! This is a good thing since we will be away from family. We look forward to  having a real Christmas tree, and hanging lights on our home. I am excited to stuff and hang our own stalkings--4 this year!

Okay, on to how vacation was. The drive there was okay, but it was pretty icey in Utah and there were a LOT of crazy drivers that still didn't care about basic safety laws (like not driving in the shoulder to pass traffic). Luckily the person that I noticed being a real threat to everyone's safety was pulled over ten minutes after I decided I hated her. She was texting and passing people using the shoulder and driving way too fast for the weather conditions. When we passed her getting a ticket I felt a real sweet sense of  justice. It made me think about how life will be when Christ is ruling the world--the righteous won't have to deal with being tolerant toward arrogant jerks. It will be AWESOME. 

As per tradition, we stopped at the Mad Greek, a very delicious Greek restaurant in Baker, CA. It is a bit pricey but always worth the extra change. I highly recommend it. My family has been stopping here for years!

This is what it looks like. The big stick-like thing on the right is a thermometer. You can't miss it driving through this long stretch of road. 

When we got to my parents' they were totally surprised because we showed up a day early! I was so sneaky. 

We spent our anniversary at a nice restaurant and I ordered steak. I have been craving it basically every day of the second trimester of this pregnancy. I wanted to stay at a hotel, but our wallets have been thin because traveling is pretty expensive. It usually costs around $500 every time we make a big trip to one of our parents', and we had visited Marcus' last month, so that's already $1000. It's worth it to us to see family, but we probably won't have a romantic getaway for years because our family is getting bigger--which we LOVE. 

Here are some pictures from the rest of our stay.

Alicia at 34 weeks and me at 18 weeks. I am showing a lot sooner with this second pregnancy but I heard that is pretty normal. I also started to feel the baby move earlier too. 

This is my grandpa and step grandma Baumgarten. Grandpa told the story of the Sugar Plum Tree which I missed last year. 

Cousins Emma and Maddy cuddling on the mattress together. 

Madeline was a little sick the day after Christmas--she slept most of the day away. Mom got her this fun easel and she LOVES it. 

The finished masterpiece :D 

I learned that we can't play Settlers of Catan with my parents. Mom takes everything personally, and Dad gets pretty upset when he realizes he is losing. The first game was fun and the second was not. But I was proud of my win the first time. 

Madeline sat on the recliner and read Curious George.

The two loves of my life. 

Overall, it was a good time with my family. I hope they visit us when we're across the country...I feel like it is unlikely which makes me sad.