Life: A List

Current Book(s): I have been on a huge Tom Clancy kick lately, picking up one or two from the library every time I go. Currently I am reading The Bear and the Dragon. Normally I put down a book of his in a week or so, but this one has taken me almost 4. My goal is to finish it by Monday so 1. I don't have to renew it again 2. I don't have to pay more late fees on it. 

Current Playlist: The other night when I was making supper for Valentine's Day I was listening to my Rich Mullins mix, but then I went to grab a different CD and found the mix that Luke put together for when he proposed to me. I love popping in that CD and remembering exactly what happened during each song. 

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Daily naps. Of the 2 hour variety.

Current Color: Pink. Always pink.

Current Drink: Water. And 1 Cherry Dr. Pepper a day. Yummmm. 

Current Food: I have been on a huge quesadilla kick lately, so most of this week I have been eating one for lunch. My current mix is brown rice, corn, black beans, a mix of sharp chedder and pepper jack, with some splashes of lime juice. It really is the lime juice that pulls it all together and makes it AH-MAZING.

Current Favorite Show: ALIAS. Bethany and I started a fun little tradition where we would buy every other season and then share them with each other. We currently have all 5 seasons at our house and after I finished Gilmore Girls, I needed a new background noise series. I am currently in Season 3 and could watch it all day long. 

Current Wishlist: A pregnancy work-out DVD. And the ability to be crafty so I can make cute things for our baby like this. And a printer with pretty paper so I can print some of these and write letters!

Current Needs: Maternity clothes. Lots and lots of maternity clothes.

Current Triumphs: It's not my happy time of year, so I have been trying to beat it by doing my hair and make-up in the mornings, even if I'm just going to put on my comfy pants and not step outside of my house. It helps a lot to glance in the mirror and focus on my pretty eye color instead of nit-picking my complexion (pregnancy acne!) and obsessing over whether or not my face is gaining weight (I say yes. Luke says no.).

Current Bane(s) of my Existence: The 2 rooms filled with stuff I still need to organize/unpack. I'm waiting for that whole nesting thing to kick in so I can stop having a panic attack every time I step in those rooms.

Current Celebrity Crush: Jennifer Garner. She's cute, classy and has a great smile.

Current Indulgence: Girl Scout Cookies. Or the Pioneer Woman's chocolate Valentine's Day cookies I made on Monday. Yummy.

Current #1 Blessing: My husband. He is simply the greatest.

Current Slang or Saying: Baby is hungry, so I need to feed him. Now. 

Current Outfit: Purple cardigan, pink tank top and blue-camo gaucho pants. I don't care that blue-camo and gaucho are both out of style - these babies are comfortable! And super stretchy so I still fit in them.  Win-win.

Current Excitement: My awesome husband is building me shelves so I can store stuff! So I can unpack stuff! And also, we're going to have a baby in a little over 3 months. Do you know how cute babies/baby stuff is??? So cute!

Current Mood: Sleepily content. Is that a mood? Not sure. But I'm going to say it is!

Changes

Oh my dear friends. How I have missed you these past months. And yet, every time I thought to myself "self, you should go blog something!", I simply did not. The thoughts did not materialize, the words did not come, and so here I am, many a moon after last blogging with a simple apology, and a quick list to get you updated on all the changes that have happened to us since September.

Because? There have been lots of changes since September.

1. I applied to graduate from college! I am assuming that the information I got the other day about how to order my cap and gown means that I was accepted to graduate. Which. Is. So. Exciting!! My graduation date is April 30th and then I will be scott free ... until May 7th,when I have to start my final and last class. Ah well. At least I will be completely done with my BA in Mass Communications in July!

2. We moved! Yes, we reversed everything we had done a mere 7 months before, packed everything back into our little camper and hit the road once again. We will always treasure our time in Alaska, and the people we were blessed to get to know while being there. However, it wasn't for us. When I do not get sun in the winter OR the summer, bad things happen. Like all my energy flies away to Bermuda or somewhere sunny and lies on a beach, while I lie on my bed (because we didn't have a couch obviously).
We did discover something vitally important about ourselves while there though: we are prairie people. Now, there are mountain people and prairie people and neither kind are bad.  We just happen to like our flatlands where we can see for miles and miles. It energizes us. And helps us take a deep breath, one that we had held onto for 7 months in the mountainous/treed regions of Alaska.
Oh and remember how good I did at blogging our move there? I had pictures upon pictures to share and stories upon stories. Well, let's just say that didn't happen on the move back. I do have this picture:

Because it was cold and we somehow gathered more stuff while we were up there, it was simply not possible to sleep in our camper. So, we slept in half of the back of the Explorer. Which means everything else got thrown to the way way back. Apparently even Miss Millie. Doesn't she look pathetic?

Our trip back was an adventure, to say the least. It involved not showering for 5 (6?) days, a flat tire on the camper, getting stuck in the snow, breaking down on the side of the Interstate, getting pulled over in Canada and cranky border patrol personnel. But, we made it! We are now living in South Dakota where Luke grew up and loving it!

3. We got another dog! She was a stray who showed up at a neighbor's, so we took her in. We're guessing she is a black lab mix (strong on the black lab) and around a year old. She is very smart and sweet and attention deprived. Sadly, we are looking for another home for her as our landlord calves out a bunch of heifers at our place and isn't comfortable having a big dog around. But isn't she cute?

We named her Aleda (a-lay-da), but call her Leda all the time. She sleeps most of the day and is hilarious to watch dream. As I am typing she is woofing in her sleep and her paws are just a-going.  She also sleeps with her eyes open, which is slightly creepy.

4. We're going to have a baby! It's still surreal to type that, even though I have known since October. We did  not tell a soul until the 12th week (Thanksgiving), even though I spent half that time laying in bed, trying not to die. It's amazing how easy keeping a secret is when you live thousands of miles away from family! They didn't know that in between writing FB posts that I was running to the bathroom or that I was talking to them while laying down in bed, trying not to move. Now there is no keeping this secret since this is what I currently look like:

And this is what Baby Waldo currently looks like:

(don't worry ... we're not actually naming him Waldo)

According to my Dr my due date is May 27th and according to the ultrasound tech, my due date is June 2nd. My thoughts on pregnancy are varied, and sadly not all flattering. However, that is another post for another time! I am definitely digging his crazy antics though. He loves it when I eat and lets me know by doing a happy dance. However, I would appreciate it if he would give me my memory back. 

So, there you go! There are the highlights. Of course there was lots of other living in those months, including the holidays, living with Luke's parents for 3 weeks, getting stuck on the way to my parents, celebrating our 1 year anniversary, date nights, friend nights, and all around goodness. Can't wait to share more goodness with you in the time to come!