happy decemberween!

Yay! I love December. Christmas and snow and seeing family and friends and drinking hot cider. So much goodness in this month. I love how friendly everyone is all the time and wishing me happy holidays. I may keep this tradition up all year round. If I'm asked what holiday, I'll just pick the closest one.

9 more weeks of pregnantness. Yay. I feel so big. Baby is measuring 3 lbs 14 oz and about 3 days ahead of his due date, according to ultrasound yesterdee. Also, he is cute. You'll have to take my word on that one since I don't want to put ultrasound photos on my blog. That seems weird. Here I am at 28 weeks, so this is 3 weeks ago. Baby is kicking tons, nausea has come back a bit (boo), and I am trying to mentally prepare for childbirth, which has me alternately excited and terrified.

Jason is ridiculoso busy with school and work. We don't see much of each other, and when he's around he's usually typing up a paper. Here he is on Thanksgiving weekend, with his new leather jacket which he wears around the house because it makes him feel awesome. He is. I will be glad when this guy gets a break and a chance to sleep.

It snowed a bunch one day and Jason was trying to suggest things we could do together while he was both home and awake one Sunday... I picked building snowmen. Here are our friends:

Bet you can guess which one is me. Clue: the pregnant one. And at our house, snowmen wear sombreros and their mouths are made of strawberry jam.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with family and continued to get more snow... our little friends were buried.

As they have melted in the past few days, I look at them outside the window and think, "Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!" Hahaha. I'm hilarious.

Are you getting excited for the holidays? I hope the season finds you well and with lots of ideas about how to make it meaningful and fun.

xoxo

bump, set...

...ok, just bump. Here's a pic of J and I at Halloween this year. He's a construction worker. I am self explanatory. :) Also our awesome pumpkins. Recognize them? 20 points to whoever figures them both out.




Also my sister sent me a link to this excellent website about intuitive eating. I know many of us have weird relationships with food or fall prey to other folks' weird theories about eating, and I thought this website had some good, sound advice.

Lastly, I now wash my face nightly with olive oil. Yes, you read that right. WITH OLIVE OIL. Never have I enjoyed such even-toned, soft, and clear skin as I have since embarking on this new routine. It is awesome. I won't preach the gospel of oil washing here but let me know if you want more info. It is easy, cheap, and effective. All favorites.

Now adios! I'm going to bed! At 10:30 on a Friday! I'm old!

rocktober

So, October has been rad. J and I went to California for an adventure with some of our favorite peeps. So glad we got to see those of you we got to see! And so glad to have some beach and sun time before we came back. To snow. Sigh, winter...

So happy to see all of these ladies. I love you girls.

...and my favorite little sister and her cool husband

p.s. their kid is adorable

J and I spent hours and hours together driving and we didn't even
get bored of each other. That is amazing. True love here, people.

...but then, how could you not love this man?

Back to life, back to reality... J has been working and going to school lots. I have been growing a baby lots. He is getting strong and good at kicking me right in the spinal cord, or so it seems. Still training some folks and doing a lot of domestic things like baking bread and cleaning and organizing... all the things I couldn't do while I was so nauseous, and probably won't have much time for come February. It is fun. I feel an odd sense of peace in my life, even though by every someone else's standards, I might appear a bit lazy (no job? what?)... but I am having a good time researching about babies and all the STUFF they need and how to properly care for one, and trying to keep things flowing at home so the J man can have clean clothes and food to eat, even if I don't get to see him very much. (p.s. This takes up a considerable amount of time. No wonder I never cooked or organized or cleaned properly while I worked full time! And props to you people who do work and/or raise children, and also do these things. I am in awe of you.)

Want to see the belly? It is a-growin. Course my california dessert adventure may not have helped much. :) J took one as well, as usual. Ha. For my 2nd belly photo I stuck that sucker out so you could get an idea of how I FEEL. Enormous. But that is good. Grow, little man! Only 15 more weeks to go!

oh, how LOVELY was the morning

So enjoyed General Conference this morning. I feel to change and improve. Looking forward to some more learning, reproof, and revelation this weekend. I love October... or, as J calls it, ROCKtober. :)

I passed my personal training certification test yesterday, yay! (NASM) So now I will be seeking for some folks to punish, ahem, I mean, help to improve their movements. I'm so excited. I've been training a friend along with myself for the past two months and I love this methodology. Makes a lot of sense and my body, though it feels enormous, also feels strong. Yay.

Baby update: he is kicking around so much these days. He's quite active, it appears! I'm excited. I need a son that I can teach to play sports. J is in charge of teaching him how to be a rock star. I guess we'll both take on the effort to teach him who he is and what he's doing on this planet in the first place. Intimidating? Yeah. But we'll rely on the Spirit all of the times. I think it will be ok.

Off to Costco for me! I require almonds, in bulk!

some of my favorites lately

So. First of all, I haven't died of nausea. That's a miracle and it's thanks to these:

No joke. Buy some at Walgreens or wherever if you experience nausea for any reason, and tell every person you know. They are amazing. Saved me from many an embarrassing public puking session.

That got me thinking about some of my favorite things...

• For taking off mascara: Huggies Natural Care baby wipes. Keeps my lashes luscious. :)
• For eating: ramen noodles. I ate 3 packages today. I'm disgusting. Hopefully baby likes sodium.
• For smelling nice: I've been on a Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume kick for a while. I think maybe it's time for something new (and I'm running out). Any suggestions?
• For a new hair experiment: I just bought hot rollers to create those oh-so-desirable waves in my hairs. I shall experiment directly. Hopefully it works and I look awesome.
• For muscle tightness: foam rolling, or self-myofascial release. I'm kindof a junkie lately. My foam roller arrives Saturday. CAN'T WAIT. Here's where I got a roller for myself and for J.

That is all. Sorry for the long breaks between blogging; I thought I was crazy for thinking that the computer made me sick, but it turns out that the refresh rate of a computer screen can actually do that. So now I will return to my books. And my hot rollers. To end, belly photos! (J insisted on having one as well. Hahaha, how I love him.) What a strange sensation this pregnant thing is. It is, in a word, a miracle.

A Tale of Two Parasites

(as told by Jason)

Once upon a time, Laura and Jason went to Honduras. They had a killer time.

One night, Jason and Laura ate at Chili's. From that moment on, Jason carried with him a parasite. Unbeknownst to most, Laura was also carrying a parasite. Both parasites wreaked their havoc. Jason did everything he could to fight his parasite. Laura, on the other hand, did everything she could do to feed her parasite.

When they got back from Honduras, Jason got a drug that killed his parasite. Laura, on the other hand, got more drugs to keep her parasite from killing her.

Our little parasite is now 14 weeks old, and we hope to carry it for another 26, until approximately February 7.

To be continued...

so, this one time, we went to honduras

It has been a dream of mine to return to Hondolandia since I got back from my mission there (FIVE years ago! Gah!). I promised the folks that I'd be back, and they told me that all the missionaries always said that, but I told them that I meant it.

I totally did. We went from Weds July 21 to Weds July 28 and it was amazing. Surreal, miraculous, fantastic, funny, and so good. I posted all the photos on facebook so they are all visible there. I'll post some of my faves here. These are people that have continued in the gospel, and it shows on their faces. They've been to the temple with plans to return, and they have the peace that comes from living as a disciple of Christ. I love them and I seek to be more like these beloved, humble, generous, devoted people. They may have little in the way of material possessions and comforts, yet they are happy. I miss them.

p.s. Jason was a champ, and somehow managed to be funny despite his limited Spanish. And he navigated us around the country like a pro. And didn't even crash despite the CRAZY drivers there. And came back with serious intestinal woes. We're hoping he gets into a doctor tomorrow. Oh, Honduras....

i knew i was getting old.

... but when the girl I tutor didn't understand my Chris Farley tribute when studying El Nino, I knew I was seriously getting up there.

Here are some pics from my fab 28th birthday:

Jason took me on a surprise hot air balloon adventure!
Jason + hot air balloon = dreams come true

I just kinda wanted to stay home on my birthday this year (another sign of aging).
Jason made us some delicious salmon for dinner. YUM.

Then we made a delicioso strawberry shortcake cake, courtesy of the Pioneer Woman.
(Warning: this recipe is RIDICULOSO sweet. Even for my sugar-lovin' teeth.)

When The Pioneer Woman says to use a pan that is at least 2" deep, she means it.
We had a little extra donut of cake that fell off. But Jason ate it. YUM.

Happy Birthday to me!

28 for reals?

Thank you Leah Claire for the lovely necklace...
and all friends and family for your gifts and cards and calls.
You made my day extra-special happy.

July is jam-packed with fun: visits from family, family reunion, and a trip to Honduras. Oh, I can't wait. Not to mention (!) a nephew will be joining us sometime mid-month. How mucho exciting! I am way excited as I have been particularly lonely for family lately. Adjusting to life in Utah has been a bit tough on me as it seems that most folks who live in Utah also have immediate family who also lives here. I have some aunts and uncles here, but nobody close by that I could just pop in on. I find that the best friends I make here are folks who also don't have any family around... and in my new ward, so far that is nobody. Not to complain! I am feeling like we are fitting in well in our ward, and we are where we are supposed to be. I am just saying that sometimes I get pretty lonely around these parts. Maybe I should get a dog.

In other news, neither the USA nor Honduras made it in the World Cup, super big bummer. And this weekend is going to be a blast with a little mini-reunion of some folks I taught with at the MTC, and my sister and her husband coming to visit with their kids. I have the pool noodles and popsicles ready! Let's have a party!

i am from washington. i drive a subaru.

Well, technically, I only drive it when Jason has my car, but my old roommate Blair insisted that everyone she had ever met from Washington State either drove or wanted to drive a Subaru. She is right. Of course she is right! Subarus rule. Why wouldn't you want one? You can drive up any mountain anywhere and through snow and mud and to a lake and carry a canoe with it and also a bunch of other gear in back and also their lights turn on automatically when the car does. Case closed.

Here are some pics of my trip to WA in April for the Vancouver, BC temple dedication and general good times with fambly.

Papa and I in front of the temple. I have a cool dad.

My brothermen and I. I sure love these guys a lot.

My brother Steve took this more artistic-y photo. He's good at photos. And science.

EL TEMPLO DE DIOS. It is beautiful.

This is my parents' back yard.
(Finally I don't write "my" back yard anymore. I am all growed up, I guess.)

One of my favorite things about home is watching my brothers and dad
fight each other with pool noodles stuck onto bamboo poles.
Ah, the good times. Also whilst home I invented a version of
pool noodle clay pigeon shooting, which involved hurling a
bambooed pool noodle at a frisbee while it was airborne. I love home.

At deliiiiiiiiicious Chinese food with (L-R) Uncle Sandy, Aunt Bonnie,
my brother-in-law Ian, and my sweet mum (Jason's mama).

What a great trip. The dedication was moving, the cultural celebration was fabulous (good job Mom!) and it was so wonderful to see my family and Jason's family and to meet Bonnie and Sandy for the first time. I sure hit the jackpot in the family department, I tell you what.

Time for FHE! Today it involves guitars and spreadsheets, so Jason and I will both be pleased. :)

xoxo

in which i post some photos

I may be officially the worst blogger ever. I got this sweet new computer but I haven't been putting photos on it... finally decided TODAY I SHALL CHANGE MY WAYS. So I loaded a bunch of sweet photos on the ol' lappy, some of which I will tickle your fancies with now, and stay tuned for many future photo-laden posts. (I can almost feel your anticipation.)

Let us start at the very ending, shall we? Today I didn't have tutoring, so I was to spend the day studying. Instead, I decided to tackle the evil stack o' papers in the Spare Oom. These papers are my nemesis. I consider myself a fairly clean person, and usually attack clutter in the main rooms on an "un dia si, un dia no" (every other day) basis. However, Spare Oom is a land less navigated by both visitors and me, so the evil stack kept growing. Plus I think filing papers is my #1 Most Hated Task. (What's yours?) But I subscribe to this organizational email which encouraged me to tackle paper daily, and though I am no Leah Claire, I figured it was time to attack the demon.

THE DEMON:

A closer look: this is seriously several months of papers I need to file

So I was fairly motivated. I think I lasted all the way through Losing it with Jillian and partway through another show before my four year old brain got distracted by the sunshine outside and I decided it was time to soak in my daily vitamin D and repaint my toenails. (Do not you love this color? It is Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer in "Orange You Cute?") I tried my fingernails as well, but, as usual, my impatience resulted in severe smudging. Gah. Curse my metal body! (5 points to whoever identifies the source of that quote.)


So here I am buried in the below jumble of papers. I have to go through about 2 years' worth of old papers and pull out what is now irrelevant, replace with new irrelevant papers, and shred like a million trees. Ugggghhh. Why can't everything be paperless? FILING IS MY ENEMY.

[Aside: Whilst I was constructing this post, I was summoned to an HOA meeting at our complex, during which I was voted secretary. That's what I get for answering the door. Heh.]

And now, signing off, your newly-committed-to-blogging-with-interesting-photos friend,

Laura