We've lived in Utah, Nebraska, upper Michigan and now we've settled in Colorado...at least for now! Marley is 10, Isi is 6 and Enzo is 4!

Life is great!

Friday, February 29, 2008

Funny New Word...

So, I'm at work and two of my co-workers are standing around my cubicle talking to me about various work topics. One of them started reading "My Goals" (which I just set with my awesome new supervisor and hung up as a reminder) and I tried to cover them up and say, "This may be up in my cubicle but, it's not for public reading!" But, all I said was, "This may be up in my publicle." (I mixed Public and Cubicle and made Publicle!!! Who does that!?!?!?) Then I just started laughing really hard. The other two didn't hear what I said because the conversation was so random and the topics were coming and going so fast. But, the girl noticed I was laughing and wanted to know why. I explained later after the male co-worker (the one trying to read my goals, rude!) left. When I explained she laughed really hard too!

Maybe you had to be there.

I laughed SO hard the whole time I typed this...and I think everytime I think of that new word I will laugh so hard. The hard part about this new word...when will I ever use it again. Hopefully never!!!

Monday, February 25, 2008

I Found The Sleeve Only Guy!!!!

Back on the 13th I mentioned in my post that I have hot flashes...but, they are weird and that my arms and feet will be freezing but the core of my body is burning up! I also referenced a certain article of clothing that would be perfect for this situation and saw it on School of Rock...but, couldn't find a picture of the said article of clothing. Well....my husband found the picture! I'm sorry for how icky this guy looks (I tried to edit the picture to cover his torso, but I'm not savvy enough, sorry)...but, it's that thing he is wearing on his arms I'm interested in.

Honestly! That thing would be perfect for me! It doesn't have to be made of leather and I promise to wear all my normal clothes under it. I should try to make this and market it as a Hot Flash Jacket for Pregnant women!

From Blog on the 13th -
"I have decided I need a hot flash "jacket"an article of clothing that is the opposite of a vest.I found the perfect one....it's on the movie School of Rock. It's at the end and one of the guys in the band that wins the battle of the bands is wearing it. Unfortunately, that is all he is wearing on his top. But, really it's just sleeves...that's what I need. I tried REALLY hard to find a picture of this guy. He is totally hittinng on Joan Cusack in the end....he's really hard to miss...he looks and acts ridiculous. By the way...I love that Joan Cusack! I'll keep trying to get a picture of the sleeve guy."

Thursday, February 21, 2008

I Got Promoted!

Ya, so, I got promoted at work. I have been doing date entry for over 9 months and now I am an Area Office Coordinator. I'm grateful for the change. Needless to say I've been REALLY busy with the transition and it's been kind a stressful. But, things are settling down and I'm gettin into the groove of my new job. Best part is that my supervisor changed. I couldn't be happier.

I'd give you more details but then I'd have to kill you. So, to protect the blog reading/lurking public.....that's the update on me.....for now.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Baby Girl!

I'm getting pretty excited for our baby girl! I'm about 29 weeks now. I can't wait to see her. I was looking at the ultrasounds again the other day...so exciting! When my sister Julie saw the one that shows her profile, she said, "She totally looks like you!" I agree, she has a cute little button nose, that's for sure. I hope she has Nathan's eye lashes. He has the most beautiful, dark, thick, naturally curly eye lashes!

We've already picked her name. I love it! Nathan likes it too. We aren't telling anyone what her name is until we tell her....face to face. It drives my sisters-in-law crazy...though I think they just act like it is driving them crazy, to tease me. When she is born and has heard her name I will definitely blog all about her name.

Being pregnant is not half as bad as I thought it was going to be...granted I'm still not done...but, I really thought the whole thing was going to be miserable. It REALLY scared me, before. I thought it would change my body SO much that I wouldn't feel like myself. I know, I know, I'm not done yet but, still the changes that have occurred so far have been gradual so I don't really notice....at least not drastically. I actually like being pregnant...I feel great. Well, I didn't like the first 3-4 months...nausea and throwing up is the pits! And I'm still scared of Labor...but, I've heard that it's not that scary because you just want it out!

Sure, now I get heart burn, which I never had before pregnancy...but, generic TUMS are my favorite...plus, they have calcium which builds strong bones and calcium is something my body needs anyway. (from the commercial. ha ha!!!)

Sure, having to go #1 every hour....including at night is inconvenient but, most of the time I don't mind.

Sure, having hot flashed daily between 1:30 and 3:30 is kind of a drag...but, I survive. And it helps to have the people that sit around me laugh at how hot I am...fanning my self and getting red faced. It varies how extreme it is and how long it lasts but, man! My arms and feet can be freezing and the core of my body (torso, back, bottom and top of legs) bust with heat starting around 1:30 each day. I have decided I need a hot flash "jacket"an article of clothing that is the opposite of a vest.

I found the perfect one....it's on the movie School of Rock. It's at the end and one of the guys in the band that wins the battle of the bands is wearing it. Unfortunately, that is all he is wearing on his top. But, really it's just sleeves...that's what I need. I tried REALLY hard to find a picture of this guy. He is totally hittinng on Joan Cusack in the end....he's really hard to miss...he looks and acts ridiculous. By the way...I love that Joan Cusack! I'll keep trying to get a picture of the sleeve guy.

Back to pregnancy...many times people tell me that I'm not that big for how far along I am...but, I have had no complications. They measure my tummy and I'm exactly the size I'm supposed to be (# of weeks I am in centimeters). I really haven't gained that much weight, only about 13 pounds more than before I was pregnant. But, I lost about 10 pounds in my first trimester so, starting from my second trimester I've gained 23 pounds. The doctor has never said anything about my weight being a problem, so far. Blood pressure is good, so far.

It's getting a little hard to maneuver and change positions when I'm sleeping but, I'm not uncomfortable yet. I've heard that I'll get more and more uncomfortable...sitting all day at work and when I try to sleep at night. So far I've only been uncomfortable a few days and that had a lot to do with bloating and gas...I'll spare you the details.

I love feeling her kick. I've heard of kick charts...but, I don't really know what they are because my doctor hasn't given me one...I guess it's not time yet? Sometimes she kicks A LOT! I love it, EXCEPT when she kicks down...if feels like she kicking my butt and trying to push my bowels out the exit. It's the weirdest feeling. It doesn't actually happen as much as it used to though...she's probably head down now? Maybe.

Anyway, that's the update on my pregnancy....I'll let you know when I'm huge...and having comfort issues.

So, my husby started a wager war for when Baby Girl is going to be born. If you want to participate...let me know. The way it works is, you try to guess the day that she will be born! You wager something...if she is born the day you predict I have to get you what you wager...if she isn't born on that day...you have to get me whatever you wager. The rules are...you can't pick a day that someone else has picked and the wager cannot exceed a $25 value.


April
16 - Mom Alger - wager Article of clothing (no more than $25) (this is my grandmother's birthday and Baby Girl would be 2 weeks early!)
17
18
19
20 - Liz - wager "Gas money to come to Lake Tahoe! Baby Girl will want to put her feet in the water!" (sister in Reno)
21 - Lisa Bartholomew - wager Baby stuff (work friend, she's sure she's going to be wrong)
22 - Andrea - wager a free night of babysitting. (cousin in China, but she is coming to the Y in the fall. She says, " While this only works one way, lets just hope I'm wrong! ")
23
24
25
26 - Nathan - wager Dinner (this was our original due date...he's counting on it!)
27 - Lindsey Brewer - wager TWIX (work friend, it's HER BIRTHDAY!!!)
28
29 - Matt - wager King Sized Kit Kat (my brother-in-law)
30 - Cassie Hurst - wager box of Churro mix!!! (work friend, she's the one that got me the first box that Julie and I had fun with, see http://julie536.blogspot.com/2008/02/churros-party-of-two.html)

May
1 - Katie Merrit - wager Jamba Juice (work friend - she first said the 30th but that was already taken, they're filling up fast!)
2
3 - Julie - wager a King Sized Snicker (sister - in my rush to post this I neglected to post Julie's prediction. Since Kim picked the 3rd also, and it was my fault Julie wasn't on here...there are two for May 3rd. My bad, I'm sorry!)
3 - Kim - wager my/her favorit carton of ice cream! (Nathan's sister, she's a nurse so she is using nursing logic...one week from my due date, if she doesn't come by today doctor will probably induce. That's a GREAT wager!!!)
4 - Sarah - wager an outfit for baby/or her daughter Amber (sister-in-law, she figures if I'm induced on the 3rd then I could have her on the 4th.)
5
6 - Sam - no wager because he's under 8 years old. (my nephew - it's HIS BIRTHDAY and Baby Girl will be a week overdue!)

Let me know if you want to wager! I'll fill them in as I get them. First come first serve.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

I Hate Reading the News...

I like to stay up to date on current events, which I usually do by watching the news on TV. The news on TV kinda bugs me sometimes...but, when I try to read the newspaper it totally frustrates me. I feel like the articles are very repetative. They either, totally confuse me and at least a dozen times I think...didn't they already say that? Sometimes they don't even disguise it by refrasing it...they just repeat the same information verbatum.

If it doesn't confuse me it totally bores me and I think...get to the point!!! I wonder if they are just trying to fill up space to make it look like they have a bunch of news? A front page article that has 2-3 paragraphs on the front page and then says to go to A-5 for the rest of the article, usually can be totally reported on in that three paragraph space on the front page...but they don't write it like that.

They need to write newspapers more like they report the news on TV....short and to the point. I do like quotes from people in articles and I do like extra details, which they don't usually provide on the TV news...but they can still include those aspects with out dragging out the article forever!

I also feel like many articles are biased especially magazine articles. Some newspapers/magazines are more left wing or right wing (always forget which is which - right wing is conservative and left wing is more liberal right?)....but, I can't keep track of that! Then I never know how what I'm reading is being tainted.

I feel like this is true with politics. How are we supposed to know if the media is holding back positive aspects of a person's contributions to the good of the whole? How are we supposed to know if the media is twisting the truth to make us think a politician is all about his own self interest? The democrats will only report the bad things about the republicans and visa-versa. So, it's hard to know a politicians true character (maybe that's an oxy-moron? Do politicians have true characters?)...either they are sugared up by their own party's perspective...or they are mudslinged to death by the opposing party. It's hard to keep up and wade through to make an educated decision.

Don't get me wrong...I don't hate politics and I totally feel that voting is a priviledge. But, I do think that when we vote we should make an educated well thought out vote...I'm still learning about how to do that when often times I just get confused and frustated by the media.

I feel like this is true with the war in Iraq. At the risk of sounding uneducated (maybe someone could educate me) is that where the war is going on? I can never tell when I look at the news!?!? Maybe I need to look at a map with someone and they could educate me. I know Al Quida is bad. I think Jihad is good...or is it bad? I don't know.

I have a strong desire to know more of what is going on with the war our country is fighting in and why we are fighting and if we should keep fighting and how it should all be maintained and what not. I'm not anti-war...I'm not pro-war....I'm pro-making educated decisions based on facts....but, the more I read, the more I get confused and the more I wonder....How do I know what is true?

Any thoughts? Any suggestions?

Monday, February 4, 2008

WHAT is that SMELL? And WHERE is it coming from!?!?!

Sometimes I wish I had some of the stuff that coroners wipe under their nose so they CAN'T smell the stink of dead bodies.

(After doing a little Internet research I found that all that stuff is...is VICKS Vapor Rub. Apparently most autopsy labs have an industrial sized container of it. Not too hard to get your hands on after all. But, who wants to smell THAT all day? I guess I would considering some of the alternatives!)

There are some pretty interesting smells that float around my work. I had a particularly hard time with smells my first trimester. Even slight changes in smell or even changes in the moisture in the air (going from inside to outside) would cause me to spew. So, strong overwhelming smells were unbearable. Thankfully it seems to have subsided. Still there are stenches that even those not sensitive to smells, can't stand. Am I right?

There is this really nice guy at work...and he used to sit by me...and he wore WAY too much cologne. It isn't even good smelling cologne. (It reminded me of Phyllis on the Office). I used to bring oranges to work and eat them for breakfast. I would save parts of the peel and leave them on my desk so that when overwhelming whiffs found my nostrils I could sniff a refreshingly good smelling orange peel. Toward the end of the day though the orange peels would dry out but, I found if I just ripped them in half, the sweet fresh orange smell was back.

There is a reesty stench on I-15 right around the Tahitian Noni building (building is on west side of the freeway). It smells like very strong fart...and it makes me want to puke every time I pass it. I have always assumed it's the Tahitian Noni building but, others have shared their theories with me...I still think it's Tahitian Noni.

Someone told me it was the fertilizer they use in those planting fields on the east side of the freeway. They told me that during the planting season and it did look like fresh fertilizer had just been applied to the fields. But, how do you explain that theory in the dead of winter?

Another person told me it is the stench of Utah Lake. I also believed that for awhile but, I don't think the wind is always blowing just right for the stench to always reach the freeway right at that point. Plus, I've smelled that lake and it DOES smell...but, it doesn't smell like fart!

So, what prompted this post? Two things....

First, it smelled like cat food at my work on Friday. GROSS!! I didn't know where it was coming from but, I'm not even close to the break room and it was still early in the morning, but maybe someone had tuna for breakfast? Or maybe someone had brought a tuna fish sandwich for lunch and they were just letting it chill in their pocket? Don't get me wrong I like tuna fish sandwiches but, I don't like an undetermined location of an unexplained stink!

Also...

Last Thursday I drove to work because I had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day. When I left for my doctor's appointment our car smelled like cigarette smoke! I was like…what the?!?!!

I rolled down one of the windows. I thought someone at work was smoking by my car...but, would it get INTO my car?!?!

When I left that day…same smell.

When I drove to work Friday morning….same smell.

When I drove home on Friday….same smell.

When I got home Nathan just jumped in the car because we went to his nephew's birthday party. He got in the car was like…what the?!?!

I was like, "I KNOW!!! It smells like cigarette smoke in here and I don't know why!?!" We rolled the windows down to air it out.

Our neighbors across the street smoke outside all the time, even in the FREEZING cold! But, they smoke up by their front door so we didn't think it was their smoke wafting into our car? And why was it lingering!?!?!

We were racking our brains to try and figure out how our nice clean car which was never owned by a smoker could smell like cigarette smoke. We got an oil change at Jiffy Lube about two weeks ago and they recommended we get a new filter, so we did. I wasn't sure if it was an air filter so I asked Nathan if it was and maybe some genius smoked around the air filters. No luck...the filter they changed was in the engine. We could not figure it out!

Then after the b-day party, we got back in the car and before the door closed and before the light turned off…I saw something on the floor mat…..I was like, "OH MY GOSH!!!! FREAKING LITTER BUG SMOKERS!!!" There was a cigarette bud on the floor in our car!!! It must have gotten stuck to my shoe probably with snow!!! I was so mad…but SO glad to get that nasty smell out of the car. It was seriously driving us crazy!

Well, that's it. Smells bother me....but....not as bad as they bother my sister Julie. We call her "The Nose."

***Appologies - I know I used the word fart twice in this post. I tried to think of other ways to get the reesty stench described and even pondered upon using alternatives to the word (fluff - too innocent; gas - too nonspecific; break wind - again too innocent; boof - does everyone know that means fart?) I'm sorry....but it won't stop!***

Friday, February 1, 2008

Elastic!

Isn't elastic a wonderful invention? Since my belly is getting a little bigger each day I was just thinking today that it's a good thing that we have elastic in our underwear. I've always taken it for granted. But, what if our underwear didn't have elastic? That would be SO weird. Try to imagine a pair of underwear without elastic! It would be like a glove. It's funny!!!

So, I image googled "underwear with no elastic" and some interesting things came up. I didn't look too long because there was icky pictures of people in skimpy underwear but, LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!! A pattern to make your own underwear! I'm not much of a sewer but, I'm sorely tempted to get my mom's sewing machine out!
I like how this post started out talking about elastic and ended up talking about underwear.




Tag You're It!

Ok, so here is my first "Tag, you're it" thingy. My Sister-in-law tagged me quite awhile ago. Here goes….

How long have you been together?
Were engaged for about 4 months.
We have been married for approximately 1 year, 2 months and 13 days.

How long did you date?
Well, he finally asked me out at the end of April 2006 and then we got engaged July 24, 2006. So….about 3 months.

How old is he?
He is 28. Exactly 80 days younger than me.

Who eats more?
I think we eat about the same…but, he probably eats a little bit more.

Who is Taller?
Nathan

Who sings better?
Nathan would probably say that I do, but I love it when he sings!

Who is Smarter?
Nathan

Who does the Laundry?
Nathan has been doing most of it recently…but, we usually try to do it together.

Who does the dishes?
Nathan usually fixes dinner…for now anyway. I usually set the table and my mom does the dishes. That's how it has been working lately.

Who mows the Lawn?
Peter (my brother)

Who cooks dinner?
Nathan recently, as mentioned above.

Who drives when you are together?
We take turns but usually I do because I really don't mind driving and Nathan hates it. I just don't like driving in the ice and snow. Otherwise I prefer to be the driver and he prefers to be the passenger.

Who is more stubborn?
Depends on the situation. But, I am definitely more annoying.

Who kissed who first?
Nathan kissed me.

Who asked who out?
Nathan asked me out…and I was so happy!

Who Proposed?
Nathan! I don't think it all turned out the way he planned but, it was wonderful and very memorable.

Who has more friends?
Ummm….do we have friends?

Who has more siblings?
He does. 5 kids in his fam and 4 in mine.

Who is more sensitive?
I would say we are about the same. Tag you're it....JULIE, JEANNA and CASSIE.