Memorial Day

Thank to the men and women who have paid the price for freedom and allow us to spend weekends doing things like this.

God Bless America! God Bless our Troops! And God Bless the good weather.

Converted

Like my brother always says, "Red Neck is contagious."

When I met the man of my dreams he was a Eugeneite who was more used to hippies wearing tie dye and patchouli than he was to people wearing cowboy boots and Carharts. In fact, the first time Daren drove up to meet my family he was in this green Audi station wagon and my brother said to his wife " I give it two more weeks." 

By the time we were married he was driving his awesome and very manly black Toyota Tundra.  Then for Christmas he asked for cowboy boots and a shotgun....and to a girl born and raised in the country nothing could be hotter.

It took Daren exactly one year and two weeks to be baptised by fire ( almost literally) and make the final conversion over to Red Neckhood when he made the trek with my Dad and brothers to The Ranch in central Oregon.

        Here is my Dad and Jason getting the Tundra good and dirty.
 Ryan and Jason shooting at some target or another. The competition over who is a better shot is never ending, and though it hasn't happened, one of these days I'm going to win.

Daren in the back of the Tundra in his new orange Kubota tractor shirt. ( I told you he converted!)

Here is Daren's hand after he burnt it. His response was "well somebody needed to learn that lesson"  My response was " maybe it shouldn't have been the one man who earns his living with his hands!"

     All four of my favorite fella's after a long weekend of target practice, wine drinking, cigar smoking and all around enjoying the joys of  being a Red Neck.

16 weeks and 5 days

 My clothes don't fit and I don't fit into maternity clothes.  My tear ducts are working overtime. My appetite is that of a small giant.  My baby is growing and sometimes I can feel him/her dancing ever so slightly. My heart is happy.

Two Anniversaries in Two Weeks

On April 26th, Daren and I celebrated one year of marital bliss with all of the laughter, tears, fighting and making up, secrets and inside jokes, the learning and bonding, joy and pride that married life is. We spent the weekend at the coast and had a perfect time.

It is such a joy to be married and I am proud to be Daren's wife. We both agree that we are better at being married to each other now than we were a year ago...and if that is a sign of anything it means that the best is yet to come!  And I, for one, cannot wait.

To My Daren,

I love and respect you. I am proud to be your wife, honored to be your confidant, and enjoy being your friend.  I am so looking forward to all that God has in store for us in our life together.

~S

One Anniversary down, many many many more to come.

And on May 9th we celebrated our 2nd Date-iversary.  Daren and I met, married and were back from our Honeymoon two weeks before the anniversary of our first date.  And now, two years after meeting, we are happily married and expecting our first child. Hey, we're people who know what we want!

And a Special Recognition to one of my Glow Girls, Jen and her new Fiance Ryan! They got engaged on Saturday and are over the moon about being together and getting to spend their lives as husband and wife. Married life Rocks!  Congratulations Jenny and Ryan!

Two sides of the same coin

Make no bones about it, I am over the moon about becoming a mom.  I'm also pretty overwhelmed.  On the one hand I am incredibly calm and worry free about the process of being pregnant. In fact, I told my Mom just the other day that my biggest concern with my pregnancy is that I'm not concerned enough! As far as my growing baby is concerned I will worry once I am given something to worry about.

But on the flip side of that same coin I keep thinking about all of the things I don't know how to do, don't have and don't know to buy. I worry that I'm not going to know what to do with my new baby, and I will be raising a bored child.  Today I found something that shows me I am not alone in these new mom worries and concerns.  I have found help!

www. rookiemoms.com

Hooray! I am so happy about this site. It has lists to hep guide you through registering for baby gifts as well as personal reviews about the various items. The site also has lists and lists of activities to with with babies of all ages!  I love it and am so grateful to have stumbled across this site.  

I am a Rookie Mom-to-be and I'm loving it! I'm also loving knowing that I'm not crazy,  I am just your standard worried, excited, afraid, and happy pregnant lady.

I was Tagged by Gina of Team D

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. Write the book thats always swirling around in my mind
2. Run while pregnant
3. Be an effective small talker- I'm terrible at cocktail parties because I can never think of a thing to say
4. Sing in a choir again
5. Be as good as the Dog Whisperer with our dear and edgy terrier
6. Kick the procrastination habit, but I guess I'll do that later
7. Math
8. Sit outside and drink a martini on a perfect spring day

8 Things I did Yesterday:

1. Took a bunch of cloths to Goodwill
2. Laundry, always laundry and there's about to be much much more
3. Got really into my book and could hardly put it down to say hi to Daren when he got home
4. Made a special Cinco De Mayo dinner
5. Researched baby registry items and got overwhelmed
6. Skyped with my cousin Kara who is in Italy
7. Promised my friend I would sign up for a charity walk and then forgot to actually sign up
8. Worked out  on the stationary bike and felt my legs bump the bottom of my belly for the first time

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Meeting my Baby
2. Being a Mom
3. Knowing  if I'm having a son or a daughter- though we are waiting until Baby is born!
4. Really feeling my Baby move
5. Having a place with a yard for the dogs
6. Watching my husband become a Father
7. Drinking Red Wine again
8. Finishing my book

8 Things I enjoy:

1. Orange Juice- a new found love of pregnancy
2. Being Pregnant
3. Napping with my dog, Boomer
4. Traveling with Daren
5. Cooking new and complicated foods
6. Reading- I love a good story that makes you laugh and cry
7. Running and Yoga
8. Being Married

Another perk of Urban Life

Today I am locked in.

I've always figured that at some point I would get locked out of our house, but never locked in. When I lived in my previous building, before getting married, I locked myself out once and had to sit in the hallway with my dog until 1:00 am until the locksmith got there.  That was a peach of an experience!

Today I am locked in!

Last night, after a long day of exploring and trekking around, Daren and I arrived home both blurry eyed. We bathed the dogs, who still smell a little like wet hay, and crashed into bed. It was not until this morning's much needed dog walk that I realized I couldn't find my keys.  At first this was a pretty normal occurrence. Yesterday morning I couldn't find my keys but them I found them in my sweatshirt pocket.  Today, I had no such luck. 

With the dogs trying their best to wait patiently at the door I searched every known hiding place for my keys, then it hit me. That sudden burst of realization where you remember exactly where your missing keys are, and they are not in my house.  My keys are, in fact, at work with my husband!

Thus locking me in for the entire day.  When you live in a building you can't enter the building at all without your building specific key. And, wouldn't you know it, our building has just recently upped their security so its even harder to try and prop a door open ( already tried it this morning and was promptly scolded) or to get in any other doors that used to be easier to open.

I had so many errands planned for today, but today had other plans.