Get Ready to PAR-TAY

In less than a weeks time I get to see these girls!!!!! For my birthday they spent their hard earned money to come see me (cute I know). Thank you girls...I've been missing my sisters! I'm so excited I can hardly sit still!!



We are going to explore the city and spend a lot of time in the water. And of course they can't leave without having some good old Texan BBQ. Bring on the ice cream and beach umbrellas!

Don't worry Mom...I'll try to keep the Texan boys from staring.

Pictures will follow...

Walmart.....a necessary evil

I've avoided this trip for two weeks. I'm now out of face soap, body wash, eye shadow, shavers, shaving cream, cleaning supplies, Q-tips and hair spray. Obviously you can see that I had no choice. I had to brave the crowds, and the crazy people hanging out in the parking lot trying to get me to donate, join their church group, or buy some tomales.
So I figured I would go right after dropping Paul off at work. It would be 8:00...no one would bother me and I could shop in peace. Walmart is the
NECESSARY EVIL in my life. Every time I go something bad happens and I regret going. So why do I keep feeling this gravitational pull toward the big blue sign. I don't know..maybe it's the marketing for cheap stuff.
So this morning I'm pretty excited to go to Walmart so that I can get home and shave my legs. My hair is getting out of control! My specific goal was to address the lack of shaving equipment.
Surprisingly I find everything I need, and I'm pretty proud of the cost. I go to the check out and I'm surprised again because I chose the right line to get into. I was impressed...no crazy coupon lady, no new checker, no product without a bar code, and alas no one with too many credit cards they can't decide which one to use. Paul would have been proud of my surveying skills! The person across from me wasn't so fortunate. As I exit a woman approaches me to discuss the next
religious meeting her church will be having for Easter...I should have given her a pass along card. I'm not too disturbed by this because my shopping experience went fairly well.
I get home and go about my daily routine. I get to the shaving part and there's NO shaving cream! I search the bags over several times hoping that I won't have to go out a get in my car with no gas and go to Walmart AGAIN! Twice in one day is too much for me to handle.
I come up with no shaving cream so I head back to Walmart. The parking lot is overflowing with anxious shoppers. I take a parking spot out back. I head to the customer service counter and the woman there tells me she has to check the register...she wants to make sure that I'm not trying to steal a 2$ bottle of shaving cream. Finally she comes back and tells me to go pick one off the shelves. At this point I'm starting to formulate in my brain how I can get Walmart to pay for this bottle after my inconvenience. I bring the bottle up front and get back in the line of 10 people for her to give me a receipt that means nothing.
As I'm in line I'm looking over my receipt and notice an item that says (disposable) and it costs 15$. I know for a fact I didn't but anything over seven dollars....and nothing that was called disposable!
I get to the front and she gives me the shaving cream. I point out the 15$ and she looks up the number. The shavers that I bought that were labeled 7$ are on my receipt as 15$. At this point I chose to walk away...I could have made my claim but I didn't. I'm not going back home to get the shavers to make a third trip! It was 11:30 I hadn't shaved my legs, I needed to get gas for the car, and I had a visiting teaching appointment at 12:00. My legs still aren't shaved.

Getting Older and Wiser

After blowing out the candles


Earlier this week I went to get my hair cut. Let's just say 80-90 degree weather + pregnancy + thick long hair = a very unhappy person. Afterward, I was headed home on the freeway minding my own business when the person in front of me moves out of my lane. I'm still driving thinking nothing of it, then I see something gleaming on the road in front of me...by that time it's too late. Before I know it I'm hitting a metal ladder going 70 mph. My heart was pounding! I wasn't sure if the car was okay...I didn't even know if I was okay. After calming down and calling Paul I was fine, and the car surprisingly "so far" has nothing wrong with it.
So if your headed out on the freeway make sure to remember to watch out for large random objects. I'm just grateful it wasn't a couch!

This baby is growing. I finally broke down a couple days ago and went pregnancy clothes shopping for my birthday. When I woke up for church last Sunday and tried everything on, and then had to piece something together...I knew it was time. Success, I feel normal again!

For my Birthday Paul and I made breakfast together. He doesn't usually have a lot of time in the mornings so it felt really good to sit down and have breakfast with him.
Breakfast always reminds me of oranges. Have you ever known anyone that doesn't like oranges? I don't know what is involved in the cultivation process to make this deliciousness happen, but I want to know the secret. So now that I have seriously heightened my craving for "Simply Orange" orange juice with extra pulp we will move on.

I had a great birthday yesterday. I spent a day next to the pool by myself, which surprisingly was very relaxing. Paul came home and took me to the greatest burrito place on earth for dinner. Then he made me a carrot cake as per my request...yes he did all of it by himself. I only had to monitor the frosting. Then we watched Tangled. I couldn't be happier, 26 doesn't feel so bad after all!



Very pleased with his cake baking skills



P.S. Thanks to Karl for these awesome candle holders. Our kids are going to love them!

Guess What....

Do you have any idea how ridiculous one feels in a posed position in front of a blank wall. I feel like I'm getting a mug shot! I'm sure it will be great for posterity, but how am I supposed to smile when I feel so...exposed.
So you may ask why I would put myself through something like this. Well, I live far enough away from home that people keep saying, "I can't picture you pregnant!". So here is the proof. I am going to have a baby. Despite my ever growing waistband I still have to remind myself every now and then that it's actually happening.
Today was like Christmas for me. I was so anxious all morning to find out what "it" was. I think the Doctor could sense that I was excited and waited as long as he could to get to the bottom half of the baby. He kept on talking about it's arms, mouth, and head. Finally he took a peek. It looked like a blob to me. He announced that he was 90-95% sure that we were going to have a GIRL!!! Paul's extended family is almost completely made up of boys, so I had to ask him to look again. Paul has been telling me for months that he wants a Girl.
On the way home today he confessed that he felt like he couldn't get excited or call it a girl until the doctor knew 100%. He said...and I quote, "I don't want to get my hopes up only to have my dreams taken away at your next appointment". I thought it was cute!
I'm not that smart but I think 95% is a pretty big number!

He gave in...we're picking out names.

Texas World Speedway

About a month ago Paul and I headed off to the old Texas Speedway. Apparently if you have a really fast car or a race car of your own it's the place to be! It may look like a ghost town, but it's pretty awesome what they do here. This track used to be the place where all the real races happened, until things got a little outdated. Luckily for us they left the track for people who want to make a hobby out of racing.

As we entered the speedway I started having flashbacks of Paul and I in high school watching "The Fast and the Furious". If I wasn't so sick at the time I may have bummed a ride off of someone! I think my brothers would have been proud.

Here they do three different types of races. The first one is for the beginners with street cars. It was crazy, there were even executives with their BMW's! They take their cars out on the track with an instructor to get a feel for the track. The next run is all the "more" experienced guys with whatever they want to drive, and the last race is done just with modified cars, and race cars. Paul's co-worker goes out every weekend to race his car. Paul was invited to come watch and take a ride of his own. I was a little scared to have him going crazy speeds around corners but I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's something he has wanted to do for a long time.

I wish I had a decent picture of him in the race car but the one I did take ended out being fuzzy. Here's a picture of the car Paul got to take a ride in and a picture of one of the races.

If you want view this on your own, in all it's glory...it's free to get in and watch. I promise it will be worth your time!




Updates on Pregnancy:

We find out whether it is a Boy or Girl next Thursday. I'm so excited!

I feel the baby move on a regular basis now, it's pretty much the most amazing experience I have ever had! I love that I'm starting to feel pregnant and not chunky anymore.

I hate the smell of french fries. I have a hard time breathing through my nose when I drive past any fast food restaurant...and sadly there are a lot of them.

I feel great! Here's to the second trimester!

I love cheese cake, cucumbers, kiwis, and grapefruit...I can't get enough of them.

I've been inspired by my sisters to do some refashioning. I need pregnancy clothes, and what better way is there to get cheap fashion and refine my sweet skills on a sewing machine. Pictures to come...