Yesterday was such a wonderful day. I slept in a little bit with Henry, and then headed downtown to meet up with Amber and Adie for some girl time. Henry came along too, but he didn't mind the girl talk and chit chat one bit. ;) We ate lunch at Esoji, and I had sushi for the first time since I became pregnant. It was absolutely delicious and I forgot how much I enjoy miso soup and a rainbow roll- the perfect lunch in my opinion! I was so happy because H. didn't make a peep the entire time we were in the restaurant outside of happy little smiles and sighs, and the whole experience was really fantastic. I still have that new mama anxiety about taking him places (especially restaurants) and having the fear that he'll cry and I'll have to leave. But he was awesome, and we even went to Starbucks afterward. All in all it was a lovely day and it feels so good to get back into the swing of things with my friends, and also to just feel "normal," after not going out very much over the past month. It was so nice to spend time with my darling ladies and I'm so happy Amber is in town for a few more days.
It's hard to believe that 2011 is upon us, and I'm looking forward to making some goals to start the year off on a positive foot. I actually really enjoy making New Year's Resolutions and I typically stick to them, surprisingly. I think I just like any excuse to make lists, to be honest! haha. But I will definitely be sharing my 2011 goals before the week is over, and they include both personal and blog goals. One goal I can share now is getting back into taking photos more often. It was easy to fall out of taking my camera everywhere with me while I was pregnant, but I definitely need to get back into the swing of things. And speaking of getting back into the swing of things, I have one more guest post to share with all of you on Friday (originally it was going to be yesterday but I had other things to post), and then I won't have those posts to rely on anymore. It is harder to find time to blog with little H. being my priority now, but it's not impossible and because I find blogging to be relaxing and quite the de-stressor, I make it a daily "must do." It will be nice to return to more day to day posts, and start working on a few longer posts I have rolling around in my head.
Well, sleep is calling so I hope all of you have the best Wednesday. Enjoy your day! xo
Happy Friday, everyone! I hope all of you are having a wonderful start to your weekend. My parents are currently in town and we've been having a great time getting things done and getting the nursery all set up. First things first, we had to paint the nursery. Hank and I have been mulling over gray shades of paint for what seems like forever, and we finally settled on one: Valspar's "Polished Silver," which we purchased at Lowe's. The room has all white trim, so we wanted a nice gray that would really make the white pop. We got started last night and taped the whole room, and this morning my Dad laid the plastic out while my Mom and I got ready for breakfast. Afterward, it was painting time. The room that became Henry's room was the only room in the house that had been repainted outside of the color scheme and was a bright blue. Some of our friends loved the color and thought we should have kept it, but our minds were set on the gray and I'm definitely glad we changed it. The final result is so incredibly perfect and I'm totally in love with it. I'm so excited to get the rest of the room done...and just in time too since I'm about 36 weeks pregnant!
I'm also really excited for tomorrow because my sister and her fiance Abe are coming up so we can all go to the pumpkin patch! I've been looking forward to it for awhile and I'm happy the weather's been a little chilly so we can enjoy a nice Autumn afternoon. Tomorrow's also the day that Hank's band Hour of the Wolf goes on tour, but due to little H. being on the way so soon, he elected to stay behind for this one. Since it's a full-US tour, it was just too risky to have him across the country if I went into labor. Our dear friend Caleb is filling in for him during this 5 week jaunt all the way across the country to The Fest in Florida, so definitely check them out if they're in your area. You can see their tour dates on their Myspace page here or on the Think Fast! website by clicking here (scroll down and select "view all shows"). And be sure to say hi to the guys if you happen to catch a show!
In case you're not familiar with Hour of the Wolf, here are a few songs. Enjoy!
What a weekend. I feel like I got a lot accomplished, which is wonderful, but the moment I stepped foot inside our house I kind of melted into the couch and this is where I've been for the past thirty minutes. I should make myself some dinner, I should put away some of the non-perishable groceries sitting there in the bag, and I should be getting ready for Hank and my evening walk...but it's so much nicer to just sit here and kind of zone out for a bit. I snapped that picture really quickly driving home (at a red light, mind you!). You can kind of see my new hair color, which is a shade of red! Rhonda did an amazing job as always and I had a blast hanging out with her on Saturday AND seeing Melissa! Double awesome. I also got to spend great quality time with my family this weekend and they definitely were troopers as we shopped 'til we dropped. Exhaustion aside, we did get all of the nursery's furniture ordered! This is a relief to me and I'm looking forward to getting the room done in the next few weeks. Oh, and if you're curious about the slight chaos going on behind me in the photo, my car is filled up with some goodies from IKEA, part of our new bedroom furniture, and lots of other random things I grabbed from my parents' house. We move into our new place in about 10 days, so we are starting to get everything together and ready for that. I can't even tell you how excited I am be moving out of this small (but still wonderful) apartment and into our first home, which is has a million times more space. We won't even know what to do with ourselves, and I am happily anticipating having lots of houseguests to occupy our guest rooms! Who's coming to visit? ;)
Today I also got to meet my dear friend Erin's baby boy Kyler, along with Shirley. He is so precious and tiny, and it was amazing to look at him and think that our little Henry will be here so soon, and it will be him that I am holding! The girls and I had a great afternoon catching up over lunch and listening to Erin tell us all about her birthing experience. She's one honest gal, so I learned a LOT- and this makes me really happy. Tomorrow is our first birthing class and I'm looking forward to it, but it's always good to get the real deal from a friend.
This weekend Hank was also super busy up here in Prescott. One of his bands had a show Friday night, and then yesterday he played in a golf tournament. He didn't win but did really well, which is awesome. I love that he's so into sports and I can't wait for our little guy to maybe be the same way! Growing up my parents were always at our dance practices, recitals, gymnastics, early morning soccer games, practices, you name it. I'm excited to do the same- I'm just really curious to see what he is into. I know that's a long way away, but it's fun to imagine what Henry will be like. If he's anything like his Dad I'm sure he'll pick up skateboarding pretty early and probably play some basketball and football too, but we'll see! I don't care if he wants to tap dance! I will be there, with bells on.
I'm looking forward to this week for a couple of reasons: one, our birthing classes begin as I mentioned earlier. Two, the Peters family is coming up for dinner one night, and three, the weather is starting to the get nice and fall-like, with the temperatures in the 50s at night. I love it so much and I can't wait to do some Halloween decorating.
Thanks so, so much for all of your kind words and positive thoughts about our inspection! It went very well and we are good to go. Now we just have a termite inspection on Monday and we are hopefully off and running towards our closing date. Like I mentioned in yesterday's post I hadn't even seen the entire house, and we hadn't seen it for a month or two since our first and only visit, so it was fantastic to be able to walk through it, and imagine US living in every room. It's a lot bigger space than we're used to, so it's almost shocking to think about having all of that room to make our own! I can't wait. I didn't want to take tons of photos until it's cleared out and ready to move in and it's actually ours, but I did snap a photo of part of the kitchen. I'm so weird and still feel like all of a sudden the bank will say, "Oh just kidding we DON'T accept your offer!" even though we are past that part and safe. I hate worrying but it's hard when you are so excited about something!
I just keep imagining all of the wonderful meals, sweets and treats we will be cooking in that great space. Hank and I are so excited to have our friends over for dinner (we'll finally have a proper dining room), and all of the holiday baking I'll have space to do. To give you a bit of a comparison, here is our teeny, tiny kitchen now:
Yes, that little green counter top is seriously the ONLY counter space we currently have. As you probably know, we cook and bake a lot and somehow make it work, but I am just over the moon happy about having so much more space to work with. Like I said yesterday, this is our "first home," in the sense of being homeowners, so it's a big deal for us and I'm glad we were so patient. I know I won't feel 110% secure that this is truly OUR house until we have the keys in our hand on our closing date, but unless something insane happens (ie, termites eating the house alive), I'm getting more used to the idea. :) It's just hard for me to think anything is definite until the process is truly done and over with. It's funny because our realtor today was like, "Yes, Danielle it's okay to get excited now" because she knows how cautious I am. Still crossing my fingers and looking forward to the day I can just sit in the new place and breath a sigh of relief! ...and then get straight to work getting the house together before Henry arrives! haha. But really, thank you again for all of the positive energy! I definitely think it helped.
It's amazing right now because in the blog world there are so many wonderful things happening for so many of my friends. One had a baby today, one announced her pregnancy, one found a great new place to rent, another is engaged, and another is starting a new career! That's one of the reasons I just love reading personal blogs- there's always so much good to share in, and at the same time when there's some bad, there's always a great support system. It's a beautiful little world we have here.
What a week! It's truly been a roller-coaster these past few days, and luckily it seems to be ending on a very great note. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'd know that Hank and I have been house hunting since last spring. We have pretty specific things we want, and it's hard living in a small town because there aren't as many houses for sale that fall into our specifications. Although we're in a bit of a time crunch (12 weeks until our baby is due), we still didn't want to settle at all. Plus, this is our first time buying a house and we really wanted to take our time and do it right. So we've been looking, and looking...and looking. Almost two months ago a home popped into our listing cart at midnight, and of course I was awake and immediately got excited. It was exactly what we wanted. It was seriously perfect for us, and had so much more than we wanted with no negatives that we could see. I got Hank and showed him all the photos, and emailed our realtor. We ended up going over there first thing in the morning, absolutely falling in love with it, and submitting our offer that same day. We were so fast that no one else even went to see the house before we submitted our offer (with a stipulation in the contract that they couldn't accept any other offers/contracts), and the agent told us that the next day about 20 different people called about it, so I'm so thankful we got there right away. Being that it was a short sale we had no idea how it would pan out. It could take months and months for something to happen, so we continued to look. It was hard because nothing matched up to "that" house, but we kept our search going. Little by little our short sale house started to move along. And to make a long story short, the bank accepted our offer! We found out earlier this week, but the house was set to go to auction, so we had to get that taken care of. Apparently even though the bank approved our offer, sometimes houses can get inadvertently sold at auction like this if someone drops the ball. Luckily that was cleared up today, before the auction date, which happens to be tomorrow! Our last hurdle is the inspection, which originally was happening on Monday but is now happening tomorrow! I'm really excited to see the house again, and hopefully hear that it's in great shape and we can move forward. Being that it's almost brand new and it's hardly been lived in I am hoping the inspection goes smoothly, but I'd appreciate any and all positive thoughts being sent our way (tomorrow at 10am Arizona time! haha). ;)
I'm just SO excited. To be able to have a HOME to welcome Henry into, to be able to stop renting, to have a garden in the big backyard, to have so much space and so many rooms, to be able to finally get the furniture I want, to decorate, I'm kind of dying a little just thinking about it. We've been renting for six years now and started off living in a teeny tiny studio, and shared a TWIN BED for a year. So you could say we are very excited for this big step.
In other news, school is going very well. It's definitely my best year yet and the kids are so fun. I'm having a great time. This week I've been really overwhelmed with everything going on, and I owe about five of my friends phone calls, so I'm looking forward to getting comfortable this weekend and making some time for that. Hank also had a basketball game tonight (they won, yeah!), and it was so fun to watch him and our friends have a great time. Now they're all downtown have celebratory drinks, and I'm sure Hank is enjoying a Shirley Temple. ha.
Here's a little collage from some photos from this week:
each row from left to right: my handsome breakfast date at Cuppers, waiting for a basketball game to start, flowers in our front yard, my giveaway win from Merry Made Handmade, the Pink Team wins again!, driving/looking like a bug with those huge glasses, cuties lounging on the couch, baked potato with broccoli- so good, vintage tee for Henry, gifted by the lovely Ashley, Mike's b-ball legs, tonight's game, a present for Henry from Kat and Oliver!
Here's a bigger version of their team photo, it's so cute!
I mentioned in the caption but I want to give a HUGE thank you to Ashley over at Merry Made Handmade for sending over the biggest box of goodies for me (and even adding in a present for Henry!). I won a giveaway over there a week or so ago and I was so excited to see a cute little package from her. I opened it, and it was chock full of so many awesome things. Definitely stop by her blog if you don't already- she is a Phoenix gal who runs her own business, and she's the sweetest little gal in the world. Click here to head over to her blog. So I was just blown away by that wonderful package, but then Hank tells me I have another box waiting for me, and inside I find the cutest Seahorse toy for Henry, from my darling friend Kat and her son Oliver. I love it so much and I know H. will love falling asleep to his "Soothe and Glow Seahorse." :) I have the sweetest friends- thank you both SO very much. My heart is so happy.
older photo I made into a button over there on the right hand sidebar! ;)
Well, it's Friday! Today was a good day. I'm extremely happy it's the end of the week- not "relieved" because my classes are actually all pretty great, just basically overall happy. I had a doctor's appointment today and got to hear the thump-thump of our little boy's heart. It's always such an amazing thing to be able to hear that, and it always kind of makes me tear up a bit. Since it's a group practice I've been scheduling all of my appointments with the NP/Midwife and I love love love her. I should have seen her all along, but better late than never I guess. I got to talk to her about some things I've been experiencing that I haven't even talked about here. Since I've been pregnant I've had some weird episodes that are similar to anxiety attacks (which I am no stranger to), but they're slightly different. I get really hot, light headed, and overall it feels like anxiety, but the doctor thinks it from my very low blood pressure rather than my mental health. Who really knows. All I know is that it's not fun. Last time it happened was about 4 days ago on the first day of school, in the morning, and it was pretty bad. I had to sit on the couch for about 20 minutes until it passed. The midwife told me that even if I have minor anxiety issues (like I do from time to time), these can be exacerbated during pregnancy, or it could be the blood pressure thing she was talking about. It's happened just a few times but she said to keep an eye on this and let her know. So...let's hope that it was a passing thing and it is smooth sailing from here!
In other news, I began a really wonderful book last night. It's called "The Center of Everything" by Laurie Moriarty and according to my Kindle I've read about 30% of it. Obviously I can't give a review of it since I'm only about a fourth done but I will say that it has the possibility to be in my top 10 favorite books ever if it continues at the pace its going. I don't want to give anything away (I hate even reading summaries on Amazon beforehand), but here's a vague snippet about the book from Publisher's Weekly:
For 10-year-old Evelyn Bucknow, there really is no place like home. On all the world maps she's ever seen, the United States has been smack dab in the middle, with Kansas in the middle of that. "I feel so lucky to live here, right in the center," she proclaims, in Moriarty's wonderfully down-to-earth debut. Dazzled by visions of Ronald Reagan on the television, the twinkle in his eye and his contention that "God put America between two oceans on purpose," Evelyn's youthful optimism is shaken by her young single mother Tina's inability to take control of her life.
I definitely, definitely recommend it if you're looking for a new book to read!
Other than that, I've been keeping busy with sleeping a lot, hoping and wishing we hear news about our short (long) sale house offer, and daydreaming about holding baby Henry. Currently I'm thinking about getting myself to the gym for a late night workout to stretch my legs a bit and clear my mind. It seems like a perfect night for a long go on the elliptical with some music and a good book. If you couldn't tell, I'm having a wild Friday night!
Before I go, I'd like to ask all of you for some input about something I've been thinking about for a few months. Here are some of my blog's stats: currently I average 7 posts a week, have 1581 followers via blogger, 2,174 readers via Google Reader, and average about 3,150 page views a day (averaging approximately 14,500 visits/22,000 page views a week- and these numbers have been consistently growing). The reason I am telling you about all of this, is to share that I am currently thinking about opening up sponsorship spots. In the past I've been wary of sponsorship, but the larger my reader base becomes, and the more small business owners I meet, I've come to realize what a neat opportunity it is to be able to feature people I support- be them Etsy shops, Mommy bloggers, bloggers in general, baby shops, tattoo-related products, small-companies, etc, and share them with so many thousands of like-minded people. I've seen a handful of my blog friends go this way recently (the darling Holly Sarah being one of them who has inspired me- be sure to check out Create Loves if you don't already), and I've spoken to a few about it (thank you again Diana for your input), and I believe that this is something I'd like to do. What I'd like to know from YOU is how many of you would be interested in a sponsorship spot here on Sometimes Sweet? I would be doing a small number of month-to-month ad runs at a reasonable rate (with options for longer runs at discount) with giveaway options. The one thing I DO NOT want my blog to turn into, is a space that is all about sponsors, making money off sponsors, etc. There's nothing that I hate more than when I blog I love suddenly turns into giveaway central with tons of "ads" from all sorts of random shops and people, and the content I love falls to the wayside. This blog is about my life. That will never change. I never started blogging to have this many (wonderful) people a day come here, but it's happened, and I've welcome it with open arms. It's given me the chance to meet so, so many amazing people and have a place to share my writing, which I just love. I think this will be a fun step for me, and if I don't enjoy having sponsors, or I feel it takes away from the "me" aspect of this space, I will stop. But I think it is worth a try and something I am moving towards, probably as Fall begins.
So again, I'd love to see who is interested in a spot here, as well as get any and all feedback about this topic.
Well, two days down...a "few" more to go, but I am definitely enjoying my time at work! I've had great luck and I think that all of my kids are just darling, each and every one of them. Even after two days I can tell that my time at school going to be wonderful and continue on without any problems. It's nice to keep myself busy, and I think I will enjoy it as my due date gets closer. It's nice to be around all my teacher friends, and it's also kind of neat to have SO many new people in our department!
Here are a few photos showing one of my "tattoo and maternity friendly" work outfits of the week:
and the cute details of the top without the sweater!
So yes, overall today (and yesterday) was really fantastic. On the first day, I do an activity with all of my classes- one of those awkward, getting to know you games that students probably hate, but I really like! :) I have them turn to the person next to them and ask them 10 questions I've already chosen, write down each others' answers, then introduce each other to the class. It's always really interesting to see their answers to the questions I've picked out- especially their favorite band and their biggest wish for themselves. Today was down to business and I literally talked all hour, every hour. We went over the syllabus and all of my rules, upcoming projects, etc. I teach the same exact thing five times in a row so it can get a little monotonous but overall the kids make it fun. Tomorrow we actually start "learning" something and we begin our Native American Lit. unit.
Hank has been so incredibly sweet about me going back to work for a bit while pregnant. For the past two nights he's had dinner ready for me when I walked in the door. He basically told me to take a seat, put my feet up and then fed me such great food. What a man, huh? ;) Last night we had Thai and tonight I came home to a delicious, delicious home cooked spaghetti and "meat"ball/fresh veggie dinner. Yum. If you're curious, our favorite meatless meatballs are the Trader Joe's brand, and that's what he used here. They are incredibly good.
After dinner we headed downtown so Hank could play a show with one of his bands, Hot Skin. I really, really, really LOVE this band. Addison is the singer/guitarist, Pat plays drums, Jordan plays second guitar and Hank plays bass. It's really fun music and always a good time. Plus, I got to see a million people I haven't seen in awhile which is always fun.
If you're curious about what Hot Skin sounds like, here's a video I took awhile ago at one of their small shows here in town. The quality isn't anything special, but you can kind of get an idea of the type of music they play. It's a side project for these guys (all but one of them are also in Hour of the Wolf with Hank), but they're about to record an EP, so I'll post info when they release it.
So, this week is almost half over and I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend spent with Hank and my friends. On Saturday I'm going to see Eat, Pray, Love with my friends Adie and Becky, and then hooopefully getting root beer floats at the Raven again. So good. (Amber, wish you were here!)
That's it for now, bed is seriously calling my name! I hope you all are having a beautiful week!
Today's been such a good day. I feel like we're on pins and needles waiting to hear back about the house- we're scheduled to hear something this week! Possibly Monday, but hopefully before the weekend. This will seem like a bunch of nonsense if you're not familiar with short sales, but the bpo came back and our offer was right on point...so we're basically crossing our fingers that all the signs that are pointing to yes actually follow through and say yes. If you are familiar with short sales, you'd know that it could fall through at any time. Although we are in the very last stage and everything has been smooth sailing, and has moved quite quickly over the past month since we made our offer, nothing is certain until we sign those papers. I've been sending so much positive energy into the air and visualizing the heck out of this situation. With Henry arriving pretty soon this would make life a lot easier. So we'll see! We're continuously looking at houses, and although nothing we've found is as great as this one, I know we'll be able to find something else we like if need be. Time is the only thing that is a little iffy, since we are renting and our lease can only be extended month to month for so long! Apparently we're playing the "how much stress can we put on this pregnant lady" game. haha.
Other than that, work this week has been so much fun. It's nice to see so many happy faces and spend time with my teacher friends. This year has such a positive vibe about it and I'm glad to be back. I'm already done with my preparation so I've been having a lot of time to enjoy Harry Potter (currently on Book 2) and plan out the entire semester for the sub that will take over in my absence. The weather has also been so beautiful up here, and Hank and I have been taking evening strolls every night, and he's been playing basketball with his friends, which makes me ecstatic that he's out enjoying himself. As usual we've been cooking dinner each night, and tonight Hank is making his curry again. It looks and smells 100x better than last time, which says a lot since last time was amazing!
I realized last night that I forgot to do a 24 week pregnancy update so I will be doing my week 25 update tomorrow as scheduled, and you might see a bit of a jump in my belly size! I definitely think it's been growing a bit in the last couple of weeks.
Also, before I go, here are a couple odds and ends!
1) I signed up for Home Ec today and I am SO incredibly excited. Nervous, but mainly excited! Have any of you signed up or are any of you planning to? If you're curious, click here to learn more about this AWESOME class! And what perfect timing for me! I'm looking forward to learning all the basics (and a so much more), and making all sorts of things from curtains to plush animals, and one day, even clothing! As soon as I wrap up this entry I'm heading over to the Home Ec private blog for the first time and I can't wait. :)
I've been an avid reader for a month or so, and this is seriously one of the absolute best blogs I've come across dealing with all-natural, healthy living. It's a wealth of information, and even though I feel like I'm very well-educated, I learn something new every single day (often many new things)! I urge all of you to add Chemical Free Skinny to your daily read, and be sure to let me know what you think!
3) Speaking of natural, I have to share my favorite snack of the week! If I'm in a bind and totally craving something chocolate, I've found Clif's Zbars in Chocolate Brownie to the be the best option. As a rule I try to stay away from consuming tons of packaged foods, but this is such a yummy treat and fairly healthy as well. I think it tastes just like a brownie and the entire bar is only 130 cal, 3.5 g of fat, 10g of sugar, and you get 3g of fiber and 3g of protein! Not too bad for something I like to enjoy for dessert, along with some fresh berries. http://www.clifbar.com/
Well yay! I'm enjoying getting back into posting almost daily updates. This summer was a little strange with all the traveling we did, and it was hard for me to get into the groove and really sit down and write my usual posts, outside of the weekly features and pregnancy updates. I'm really looking forward to these next months, and sharing so many fun and exciting things with you all! Happy Wednesday!Source URL: https://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/search/label/daily%20rundown Visit sweet tattoo for girls wallpaper for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
Well, today is my last official day of summer! The photos above are from last summer and the summer before, while I was organizing my empty classroom...and as far as this year, I go back to work tomorrow! Although the kids don't arrive until Monday I'll be spending the week in my classroom, getting ready and doing some planning. It's actually quite easy because I'm teaching the same thing I've taught for the past four years, so all I have to do is make copies and review what I've done in the past and think about whether or not I want to change anything. In years past, no matter how much I've loved my job, I still dreaded the end of summer. I think it's natural...enjoying months of doing whatever you please and than waking up and having to go back to work can be a bit of a shock. However, this year I'm not dreading it at ALL! I'm really excited for summer to be over because that means fall will begin soon, and THAT means our son will be here! We officially have "approximately" 15 weeks until our little guy makes his arrival into the world, so my focus isn't so much on having to end my summer, but all about meeting Henry!
Besides the obvious, this year is a bit different because I typically teach a section of seniors, in addition to my 4 sophomore classes. This year I'm teaching ALL 10th graders, which makes my job about 10x easier and just kind of weird but I do the same thing all day, 5 times in a row. Much easier, but maybe more boring? We'll see. So I'm excited to get back in my classroom tomorrow and plan out the entire semester, so the sub that takes over when the little one comes will be totally prepared and my kids won't miss out on anything great. Hopefully I will be able to fit in teaching The Crucible before the birth because it's one of my all-time favorite things in literature. If you're curious, I teacher American Literature, and we begin with Native American Literature and go all the way up to modern day, ending with a poetry unit. The first quarter is actually one of my favorites so I'm happy to fully be there for that.
Other than school everything is going really well. Madeline's just the sweetest little thing ever and I swear she knows I'm pregnant. I can't wait until we end up in a house and can get another little Boston to be her best friend, I know she'll be so happy. Speaking of the house, things are moving along and looking so good. I do NOT want to get my hopes up but we should know something in the next week and things are looking very positive. So cross those fingers, friends! This weekend I came down to get my hair done by my darling friend Rhonda and while in the valley we ran by some furniture stores and I got so excited to maybe, maybe start decorating soon. I am bad about getting ahead of myself, but I figure if it's not this house it will be another, so no harm in looking at furniture right? haha. And as far as my hair, we added some lighter colored panels underneath the dark and it looks so good and so subtle. Rhonda's amazing and I'm really happy with it. I'll take a photo to share this week!
Now that school is back in session I feel like I have a lot more structure in my life, which I enjoy. I'm looking forward to planning meals and packing lunches, doing that sort of thing. I'm not too sure how much I'll enjoy teaching once I'm hugely pregnant, but so far it's been pretty smooth sailing so I hope it's okay. Let's hope! Wellll, I should be winding down since we have a faculty meeting at 8am tomorrow, so I'm signing off! I hope all of you have a great night.Source URL: https://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/search/label/daily%20rundown Visit sweet tattoo for girls wallpaper for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
This week has been a good one. The weather's been a dream- thunder and lightning almost every night, some rain, and every evening sky has been one of those weird gray-yellow colors that just screams that monsoon season is here. I've been trying to really slow down a bit and enjoy this last week of summer, before I head back to work next Tuesday. We've been taking walks, and sucking in every last bit of this amazing weather up here in the mountains. This week's been full of appointments for me- Madeline went to the doggie spa, I headed to the dentist, and I have a hair appointment this Saturday. I'm truly looking forward to freshening up my color and getting a little trim. I went through a phase a few weeks ago where I wanted to cut my hair...but now that phase is OVER and I am back to loving it, in all it's long length glory! The only thing I'd like would be for it to be more of a rich chocolate brown with some more depth to it. My hair feels so dull and Saturday can't come soon enough. Other than that, I'm just winding down the summer and getting ready to enter my third trimester next month. Can you believe time has gone by so quickly? Today while at the dentist (no cavities yet again, yeah!), I had to make my next cleaning appointment for February. I was looking through my planner trying to pick a day that would work with my work schedule until it hit me that I could come anytime, since my job will be taking care of Henry...who will BE HERE then! It was kind of weird to have that realization, and think about that life change, so I went ahead and made my appointment for 10am on a weekday...since that time will work out just fine for my stay-at-home-mom self! :) So, so neat and it made me really excited, as silly as it sounds.
So, for the rest of the day today I'll be doing little things around the house- laundry, organizing, etc. and then getting a GOOD night's sleep. Last night I went to bed incredibly late, and I had to be up at 7am. It's imperative I get back into a good schedule for school because otherwise I'll be a disaster. Last night was fun though, I met up with Amber and Adie at the Raven to enjoy some dessert. Our original plan was to get pie, but we decided to do the Raven instead and enjoyed the most delicious root beer floats. I totally treated myself and it was so tasty. I can't wait to take Hank there on a little date night! I had a great time, even though it was a little bittersweet, since in the morning I knew Amber would be heading off to her new home in Texas. I'm so excited for her though, and it was great to have "one last night" before she left. So after a long night of root beer float sipping, girl-talking and downtown walking, I headed over to my friend Robyn's house for a little visit and got home way past twelve, and didn't get to bed until well past 2am. Not the best choice. I'm still feeling good though, so maybe it's what I needed in order for me to get to sleep early tonight. Let's hope!
Today was such a lovely day. I had a lot to get done, and I got all of it done, yay for me, right? I started out the morning with a movie date with my sister-in-law Brooke. Our big plan was that by going to see Eclipse at 10am on a weekday, the theater would be totally empty. We still got there fairly early, but when we walked in the theater was packed! We managed to find two seats at the end of the aisle which was good (although the seats where you can put your feet up on the bar are preferable), but we were still comfy. I was SO happy with the movie though. I've read all the Twilight books (in my opinion- great story, horrid writing), and I've also seen each of the films so far. I thought the movie adaptations were pretty good, but this one takes the cake for being the absolute best so far! I really, really enjoyed it and was pleasantly surprised. I'm usually really annoyed with Kristin Stewart but she wasn't so bad this time, and overall I kind of loved it! So, if you're on the fence about seeing it, I recommend it 100%! And if you did see it, what did you think? Do you share any of my sentiments? Which movie have you liked best so far?
Afterward I did a lot of errands, then came home and Hank and I decided to have a dinner date. We haven't gone on a just-us date in a week or so, so tonight was perfect. Originally Autumn's family was supposed to be up here, but unfortunately Jason has to work tomorrow, so they are having to reschedule their visit. I'm really sad but I know we'll see them soon. So due to the change in plans we decided to do a just-us night, and started the night off with a little stroll. I think it's so important to have nights like these, because I know when Henry arrives our lives will be a lot different than they are now. And not in a bad way, just a different way. We headed out down to street to see our friend Addison at the guitar shop he works at. They were having a little blues jam session, so we stopped by there to say hello then walked down to Taj Mahal, one of our favorite restaurants in town. It was so nice to enjoy a leisurely dinner and talk and talk. Everyday I feel a little bit luckier that I have Hank in my life, it's so neat to be married to your best friend, and nights like this always remind me to count my blessings and be so thankful for this love. :) At dinner I got to see my friend Robyn! She works there as a bartender/server and it was so nice to catch up for a bit, amidst the live piano music and delicious food. After dinner we strolled back home- I get tired pretty quickly so I wanted to veg out and rest. In a minute we're going to lace up our running sneakers and go on a little outdoor workout jaunt through the neighborhood and THEN....(oh I am so excited)...Hank is going to watch one of my FAVORITE movies ever for the FIRST time, Death Becomes Her.
I dvr-ed this via HBO the other day and it blew my mind that Hank had never seen it, so I've been looking forward to watching it all week with him. It will be nice to have a relaxing evening because tomorrow is going to be quite the day. All of my family is coming up to enjoy 4th of July up here in Prescott. Again, we're totally all going to miss Autumn and family but next year will be just as fun! Last year Sarah spent the weekend with us and we had a blast hula hooping, wearing patriotic crowns, and watching fireworks. This year should be great too and I'll be sure to take a million photos.
Speaking of, here are some pictures from today that I took using the shakeitphoto app on my new iPhone 4! Happy Friday, everyone!
Another week, and still feeling really, really good! Hank and I keep laughing because we'll go go go all day long and all of a sudden I'll be hit with this insane wave of exhaustion out of nowhere. It's so funny to us because we seriously forget that I'm pregnant every single day. I'm thinking once I have a bump it will be harder to forget but right now if we aren't discussing something baby related it's completely out of our minds! So weird. Yesterday was one of those days where we did so much and I felt great, until 9pm hit and I fell asleep sitting up. Too funny.
I didn't bring my camera out unfortunately, but it was a really fun day that started fairly early with a walk over to the coffee shop so Hank could get a cup of coffee. We walked around a bit downtown- they were having a huge dog festival and it was the cutest thing. There were hundreds of dogs, a huge doggy buffet lunch out of dog bowls, paw art you and your dog could create and bring home, tons of vendors, exhibitions with police dogs and training...you name it, it was there! All of the dogs were so happy, wagging their tails, smiling. It melted my heart. We explored for a bit then decided to grab lunch at Hugo's. I got a green corn tamale with veggies and Hank got two bean tacos. Seriously delicious. Afterward we headed over to Target to pick up a few odds and ends, then went to Harkins to meet Hank's Mom and step-dad to see Iron Man 2. I usually really love comic book/superhero movies, and I did like Iron Man, but Iron Man 2 was just okay in my opinion. Hank really liked it though, and that was all that mattered to me. I figure now he owes me a Nicolas Sparks or other girly-movie date in the future! haha.
After the movie we headed to the gym, and after a really great workout, we went over to Bill's Pizza to grab some dinner. Our good friend/Hank's band-mate Pat was working and it was great to see him as always. He's going to Spain next week and I am SO excited for him. He's doing France too and all the awesome touristy things. I really can't wait to see photos! But anyway, Bill's is a really delicious downtown pizza spot a stone's throw from our house and right on the square. Bill makes amazing pizza- wholesome, fresh ingredients and they have this TO-DIE-FOR spring greens, spinach, cranberry, feta cheese (pasteurized for the pregnancy police that frequent this blog and my formspring! haha), almonds, and balsamic. So good. They had live music going (Willie Nelson covers! Yes!) so it was just a really nice evening. And before I forget, a few people have asked for a better photo of the dress I wore yesterday in those photos. Excuse my weird facial expression, but here it is! The dress is from Urban Outfitters last summer- I bought it while we were visiting Burlington, Vermont.
When we got home I seriously passed out and fell asleep around 10pm. I woke up this morning around 10am feeling incredibly refreshed and wonderful. It makes me happy to know that in four short days I can sleep in every single day until school starts again in August. Some of you may follow me on Twitter (click here) and saw that I was going back and forth about returning to work next year before the baby arrives, since it's just for 9-11 weeks depending on how I feel. I made a decision, and I've decided to go back and work until the baby arrives. That means the birth will be covered by double insurance (both Hank's that I'm on, and mine), so it works out so, so well financially. I also think that I may get pretty bored not working June-November with no baby to take care of. We are also still house hunting and hoping to find something we love by the fall. There's so many great properties up here and I know it will happen sooner than later.
Today is going to be a pretty relaxing day. Right now I am figuring out dates for our Hawaii trip in June to celebrate our wedding anniversary, it's a pretty last minute trip but I seriously can't WAIT to go. Hank still hasn't seen the house (just his Mom and I went last month), so I'm super excited. I'm looking forward to a romantic week on the beach, relaxing on our deck, enjoying the pool, and cooking yummy food. Counting down. ANNNND tonight is the LOST finale! After investing 6 years of our life into this show, Hank and I are both sad and excited to see how it ends. Bittersweet for sure.
Speaking of television, while I was sick in bed last week I got into a new television series and fell so in love with it. It's hard to believe I hadn't seen it sooner, given my total fascination with this time period, but The Tudors has completely entranced me and I highly, highly recommend it! The first two seasons are currently on Netflix Instant Play.
So his week leads into both Hank and my birthday week (his June 1st, mine May 29th), our wedding anniversary (May 31st), Shirley's birthday celebration, the last week of school, and the start of summer! Can't wait. I'm excited to spend a lot of time down in Phoenix this summer, swimming at Autumn's new house and hanging out with my girls. If any of you are teachers you understand the extreme giddiness that is felt during the end of the school year- it's seriously like being a kid again!
As far as how I've been feeling with the pregnancy, I've been doing very well. Feeling great, besides this pesky cold I caught last week, but now I am back to healthy. I got back in the gym this weekend and I'm feeling great. We learn the baby's gender on June 25th which is just about a month away! I'm so excited. Hank still thinks the baby is a boy but I'm not sure. I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other.
This week Baby H is the size of an orange!
Your Baby: Week 15
Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably still can't feel the movements.
I also had a couple of questions for for Mama friends:
1) Did you have a feeling that your little one was a boy or girl? Were you right? Did any of the "old wives' tales" ring true for you? Like no morning sickness = boy, etc.?
2) At what point did you have trouble sleeping? Do you recommend any type of pillow or sleeping support? I'm sleeping wonderfully still but I'm definitely curious for when the time comes.
3) At the "big" 20 week ultrasound when they do the gender reveal, what else do they check? I forgot to ask our doctor last time and I was wondering. I've looking online at my usual go-to websites (babycenter and thebump), but there's always tons of conflicting info.
Oh, and don't forget I have a formspring- I've answered 562 questions as of today, and it's a fun way to interact with all of you! You can use the box on the left hand side of my blog or go here: http://www.formspring.me/sometimessweet.
I hope everyone has a beautiful, wonderful Sunday. All my love!
So this week has been absolutely wonderful so far. Last weekend I mentioned that Hank and I had some big news...and we definitely do- we are in the process of looking for and buying our first home! We are beyond excited, as we've been renting for what feels like ever, and we are so, so happy that we are able to do this at the perfect time. I am so excited to finally be able to make someplace our own, and even more so, decorate a nursery for our baby! We had a meeting with our realtor yesterday, and tomorrow we have about six homes to look at. We are looking for a 4 bedroom house in town, and one of our "musts" is a large yard. Prescott is absolutely beautiful, and we will most likely choose a place in a foresty area, which I am really happy about. When we first started looking I was drawn towards homes in modern subdivisions for some reason, but the more I look at these mountain homes I can't get enough. Many of them are in subdivisions anyway, just on 1/2-2 acre lots. Much better. We may end in either type of place still though, our minds are definitely open to all possibilities. But best of all is thinking about being a stay-at-home Mom in an actual home that I can make ours!
We also had a big day today- it was our monthly doctor's visit and it went really well. We got to hear the heartbeat of our little babe, and it always, always makes me so happy. It's amazing to know that his or her little heart is beating away, inside of me! The heart rate was 158 which is nice and strong. We also made our appointment for our big ultrasound to find out the gender. It's taking place on June 25th, and we are SO excited to find out if Baby H will be Henry IV (love that!) or our mystery girl name! I can't wait.
Tomorrow we are spending the afternoon looking at 6 or 7 houses and we have one beautiful home as our internet MLS favorite so far. I'm excited to see if it looks as great in person. It's completely in the woods and has 4 bedrooms, three full baths, plus an office, living room and family room. I don't know what we'd do with all of that space since we currently live in a tiny 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house, but it's exciting to think about the possibilities. Wherever we end up, Madeline is going to have a grand old time playing in the forest amongst all the trees. You never know if the photos and virtual tour are misleading though, so I'm curious to see what all of our choices look like in person.
The rest of the week should be pretty low key. Next Thursday is my last day of school so this week we are tying up a lot of odds and ends and getting ready for finals. I will be returning to work the beginning of next year, and I'm glad I don't have to say goodbye just yet. It's going to be fun to keep busy up to the birth, and I'm going to love being around all my excited students. Like I've said before, I'm ready to be done, but I'm still looking forward to working a couple of months next year and ending on a great note before I embark on full-time Mommy-hood/house-wifery (is that a word? haha).
Well, LOST is calling my name so I am signing off. I hope all of you have the best night. Thanks again for all of your continued support, thoughtful comments and sweet sentiments. And thank you for the great mommy blog suggestions- I am slowly checking all of them out and loving what I'm finding. And as always, feel free to use my formspring over there to the left. I've had a great time answering all of your questions.
Oh, and don't forget to re-add me on Twitter and send me a hello! I'm so excited to be back on the site publicly! :)
Your Dad and I can't wait to meet you in less than six months! It seems like only yesterday I was daydreaming about the time in our lives when I would become a Mom, and now that it's a reality, I can't even begin to write about how amazing it feels. All my life I knew I wanted to be a Mom. I truly feel that I was put on this earth to do that. Your Dad is so excited too, and we both can't stop talking and planning, and imagining what you are going to be like. You're still pretty small, so there isn't much of a bump yet, but I can't wait until you grow a bit bigger and I can feel you move. In just a couple of weeks your ears will be formed and you'll be able to pick up on all the sounds going on out here in the world you will soon be joining! I can't wait to read to you, play beautiful music for you, and keep telling you every day how much you are already loved.
Love you,Your Mom
I am currently very sick and I've been in bed asleep all afternoon. I know my immune system is lower than normal due to the pregnancy, and it makes me sad because I'm hardly ever sick...and I am presently miserable! I've gone through a box of tissues and I'm currently nursing a hot cup of tea. I'm going to head back to bed in a minute, but I wanted to share a few things. Number one, being the worrier I am, I go through periods where I am pretty wracked with anxiety about pregnancy. What if something goes wrong? What if our baby isn't healthy? It's horrible to have these thoughts but my mama friends have assured me that it's perfectly normal. My weekly yoga class has really been helping me accept the fact that my body is doing exactly what it should, and that I am fully capable of a carrying and delivering a healthy baby. I've been trying to practice small periods of meditation in order to get me through these occasional periods of self-doubt and anxiety. I can't remember where I found this, but I believe the link came from babycenter.com. To warn you, this may be too hippy-dippy for some, but it's right up my alley! Pregnancy Meditation
During this meditation you will learn how to connect to your baby and how to feel completely relaxed and at peace with your pregnancy.
1. Take a deep breath in and out as slowly as you can.
2. Gently close your eyes.
3. Take another deep breath in and out counting slowly up to 4 and than back down to 0.
4. Continue breathing by focusing on a gentle inhalation followed by a long, slow exhalation. As you inhale, feel your abdomen expanding and as you exhale feel your abdomen deflating.
5. Now, as you inhale visualize the energy of your breathe going down to your belly and to the baby.
6. In your mind repeat the following sentence very slowly: "I Love you." Take this moment to talk to your baby, speak to him or her with kind, gently and loving words.
7. As you breathe in and out visualize a beautiful white and pink light surrounding you and your baby. This light is protecting, clearing and caring. Surrender to the power of your breathe and to the flow of energy while you visualize the light moving in and around your body.
8. Relax and allow. Every sell within your body is filled with this very powerful white and pink light. You and your baby are safe and very, very loved.
9. As your mind's chatter becomes less and less active every second that goes by, your worries and anxieties about your pregnancy are completely gone and a sense of renewed strength is filling your mind and body.
10. Say to yourself: "I am safe and my baby is safe. I am well and my baby is well. I am loved and my baby is very, very loved. As I move further and further into this pregnancy, I feel my power as a woman and as a mother-to-be grow each day stronger and stronger."
11. When you feel ready, open you eyes and gently return to your normal daily activities.
I really like this exercise, and it's a great way to recenter myself when I'm feeling a little off. It's very reminiscent of what we are practicing in yoga too, and I enjoy the calm feeling I have when I'm finished.
I also wanted to share the two vitamin/supplements I've been taking. Both have been okay-ed by my doctor and I highly recommend each one.
The first is Trader Joe's One-a-Day Prenatal Vitamin.
photo from Google Images
I love this pill because it is extremely gentle on my stomach and it easy to swallow. They're vegetarian and totally natural. I can't remember the exact price, but I'm pretty sure they're about $9 for 60 pills. Great deal!
The second pills I take are Country Life's Prenatal Omega Mom.
photo from Google images
These pills include a combination of contaminant-free Omega 3-6-9 from fish and borage oils, GLA for cardiovascular health and vitamin B-12 for additional nutritional support. Additionally, they include both ginger root and peppermint oil which help to ease any stomach discomfort or nausea if you experience it. The pills also support:
Healthy Fetal Development
Fetal Eye and Brain Development Including Nerve and Neurological Support
Bone, Cardiovascular and Immune System Function for the Mother
Soothing of the Digestive Tract
Click here to view the product at Hi Health. And to read more about the importance and benefits of fish oil during pregnancy, click here.
As far as food sources for vitamins, I haven't had much of an appetite over the past few months, but I've definitely been eating healthy. I've been doing mainly organic food, with the exception of when we go out to dinner, but that isn't too often. I need to be better about eating vegetables, because even though I think I'm eating enough, I'm eating the bare minimum of what I should be consuming for veggies. They just don't sound appealing to me! Overall though I'm feeling pretty confident in my level of health as far as what I'm consuming.
Our next ultrasound is in about a month and a half and that's the big one where we find out the sex of the baby and check to be sure everything is looking good! I am beyond excited to finally know if Baby H is a girl or boy, and I can't wait to start shopping!
I just got home from a great, long walk downtown with Hank. It's such a beautiful night in Prescott that we skipped the gym and decided to get some fresh air. Now while he's at practice I thought it would be a perfect time to do a little update on what's been going on in my world. I'm going into my 14th week of pregnancy and still feeling exceptionally well. I've been attending prenatal yoga for the past couple of weeks and I've really been enjoying it. I'm more of a go go go type of person, and I struggle even while I'm in class to just let everything go! I often find my mind running wild, planning out our dinner, our weekends, thinking about my day...when I'm supposed to be letting go and trying to clear my head. I try not to judge these thoughts though, and my instructor reminds me of this regularly, and brings me back into the moment. I adore my teacher and she's an incredibly inspiring mother herself. I just feel so grateful that my friend Layla got me connected with this class. I think the baby enjoys the downtime too. :)
Speaking of the little one, he or she is the size of a lemon during this next week! Last week was a peach, and a peach seems bigger than a lemon, but who knows!
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.
So our little lemon is growing a lot! Our next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday and I can't wait! It always surprises me how fast the time goes between each visit. It's hard to believe it's already been a month. We haven't taken any more belly photos other than the beginning shot, but this weekend we will probably start since I have a mini (unnoticeable to anyone but me I'm sure, haha) bump happening.
I had a really wonderful pre-Mother's Day too! I received lovely gifts from my parents and family, Hank's Mom, and Autumn! I felt really special and I love that I am kind of, almost, a MOM! Ahhh.
So, I hope all of you have a great night! My formspring is still up, and I do get rude comments from time to time but overall I like connecting with all of you like that, so I'm going to continue to leave it up! Feel free to ask away. And don't forgot about my baby gender poll up there.
AND, I'll have some big news to share in the next week or so.
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or dehumanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I like this quote a lot and I really identify with it. I do feel that we all determine the climate of our day, and once I figured this out, life seemed to sail along a little smoother. There are definitely days when I actually decide to have a shitty day- I do not choose happiness, and in a way I almost give in to the negative emotions that are always swirling around in my brain. In turn, my day becomes pretty horrible. Often this is a conscious decision and I realize I am making a poor choice as I'm choosing. It's hard to explain, but if I'm feeling really depressed, it's really hard to make the choice to be happy; it's easier to just be sad...but most of the time I can manage to choose positivity. It's a constant struggle though, but I find the more I choose happiness, the easier it is to stay happy. I really like this quote because I feel like it's a great reminder to choose happiness, and be our own "day maker." I also really love what it says about the way we treat others. Inspiring.
Today was a good day. My dear friend Rhonda colored my hair a couple of shades lighter, and we are slowly going to bring it to more of a chocolate brown. I'm just so over having such DARK hair. I'm naturally blonde, so lately I've been feeling like the harsh dark ages me a bit and makes me look a little too pale and washed out. I'm looking forward to a bit of a change, slowly but surely.
I also realized I never posted photos from the Viva Las Vegas charity event Hank and I attended last weekend in Scottsdale, so I'll leave you with some photos from that evening! Have a great night! :)
Erin and me- she is also pregnant and her due date is exactly 2 months before mine! I also look kind of gothic here...I told you I need lighter hair! ;)
Erin's hubby Jeff and Hank
my two besties, aren't they beautiful?! Shirley is the president of the women's Active 20-30 group that put this huge event on. So proud of her.
