Being a Good Bridesmaid and Cook

This past weekend I tried on more than 30 dresses all for my friend AJ so I could help her decide on her bridesmaid dresses for her upcoming wedding.  No decision was made yet, but I was happy to help.  Plus it was good girl time.

Besides being a good bridesmaid I got in the kitchen, now that the holidays are over, and tried a new recipe I found in the Cooking Light magazine.  It was broccoli gnocchi with grilled chicken.  I have never had gnoochi before, let alone cook it, so I was pretty proud of myself at how it turned out.  It was a nice light calorie meal and Andy says I can definitely make it again. 

Broccoli gnocchi with pine nuts, grilled chicken and Parmesan sprinkled on top.  Yum!

First Doctor Appointment

January 4, 2013

I went to my first doctor appointment yesterday to confirm that the at home pregnancy test was really true.  Yes, the doctor confirmed that the Yes+ signed I saw was in fact true.  Actually, her exact words were "You are most DEFINITELY pregnant."  All of a sudden I received a lot of congratulations from the nurses and other staff.  I didn't know if that was normal or not, so I immediately got shy and quietly said thank you.

I was informed that I am 5 weeks along.  Holy crap!  Really?  I don't feel any different other than being extremely exhausted and having swollen boobs.  I don't have morning sickness...yet (knock on wood) and I am not gaining weight...yet.  I guess my thought of pregnancy was that you immediately started packing on the pounds and you would throw up all day, every day.  So far, I am in the clear.  Let's keep our fingers crossed on no morning sickness.

After that, my doctor informed me about all the do's and don'ts of pregnancy.  Well, if I didn't have so many pregnant friends in the past couple years this news might have shocked me, but it just confirmed what I already knew. Two things from that list I will dearly miss: wine and sushi.  After the do's and don'ts list she asked me if I had any questions and I said "Uhm, yes.  What do I do now?"  I really had no idea.  She then referred me to an OB GYN to schedule an appointment and have my first ultra sound.  That will be in a few weeks. 

Until then, we are playing the secrecy game...rough!  We agreed not to tell anyone until after the first ultra sound and then it will be the parents only.  After the twelve week mark we will then tell everybody.  This is going to be a long seven weeks explaining why I am not drinking, especially since we have the following events coming up: Outing in downtown Phoenix, Cabo San Lucas and the Phoenix Open.  This is going to be hard.  I see many "IBS issues" in my future.

What an exciting and crazy adventure Andy and I are now on!  I can't wait to keep everyone updated throughout the pregnancy.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year.  I got news the day before New Year's eve that my cousin got hit by a drunk driver in Wisconsin.  He is ok, but his vehicle is mangled.  That is very scary and made me not want to venture out on New Year's because Andy and I may be safe, but you never know what the other idiots out there are doing.  Basically, it's amateur night.  Don't get me wrong I love a good New Years party, but let's be honest, it's the time of year that everyone thinks they have to head out for a good time.  These are the people that never go out all year long, but decide to whoop it up on this one night.  These are the people who have a couple drinks and don't realize how the alcohol is affecting them and they get behind the wheel.  Very scary!

With that said, my mother-in-law is in town and we went with her to her friend's house in DC Ranch.  There was tons of amazing food.  We had a great meal and socialized before we headed home to watch the ball drop at midnight.  We left the friend's house at 11pm in hopes of getting home before all the amateurs hit the road.  I must admit though, I did fall asleep on the couch just before midnight so I never even got to see the ball drop.  Boy, how my New Year's festivities have changed with my old age.

On New Year's day it was Rose Bowl time.  The Badgers made it to the Rose Bowl for the third year in a row and we decided not to go this year to watch them lose yet again.  As you know, we went the past two years to watch the Badgers lose and we didn't want to do it for a third year in a row.  We also thought that maybe if we don't go that will provide them with good luck.  Nope, they still lost.  We had some people over for the game with food, beverages and some great socializing.  It was a great way to kick off 2013.

2012 was good to Andy and I.  We were crazy busy with all of our travels and we have more travels and exciting adventures for 2013 so keep following.

Yes+

December 30, 2012

Back in February 2012 is when Andy and I decided to pull the goalie and see what happens.  We decided "not to try" but to "not prevent" either.  Basically, whatever happens, happens.  I felt that if we were suppose to have a kid, then we would and Andy agreed.  It took quite a few months for my body to get back to normal and then in December was the first time I felt weird and that maybe I could be pregnant.

Buying the Stick
In mid-December I wasn't feeling very good and had symptoms of being pregnant so at 10pm Andy and I went to Walgreen's and I went in to buy a two pack of pregnancy tests.  It was my first time ever doing this and I was a little uncomfortable.  I kind of felt like I was a teenager buying condoms...it was really weird.  Then it didn't help that I was in the most ghetto Walgreen's where I had to press a button for service because the tests are on lock down.  As soon as I hit the button the following came over the loud speaker "customer assistance in family planning, customer assistance in family planning."  Now, if I wasn't already uncomfortable enough, this just made it worse.  I know I was being a baby, but it was really weird.  Well, needless to say in the morning I peed on the stick and three minutes later it told me I was not pregnant.  Ok, not a big deal.  I was neither sad nor happy, just kind of like "whatever".  

Two Weeks Later
So two weeks go by and I did not get my period.  It is now December 26th and the day came and went with no aunt flo in sight.  I wasn't worried, but my mind automatically went to "I'm pregnant" because since February I was NEVER late.  The latest aunt flo ever arrived was the 26th of the month so when that day passed I knew right away.  Plus I was a little nauseous the past week and I wasn't sure if it was IBS issues or not.  I decided to give it a few more days before I peed on the second stick that came in the two pack.  On the morning of December 30th I peed on the stick, put the lid on it, wiped it off and set it on the counter.  I didn't even get the toilet flushed this time before the YES+ appeared on the stick.

Yes, it's the big YES+ sign on the stick.  Whoa!  The box said three minutes and the first time I did this it took three minutes, so where is the rest of my time to sit and think about this?  There was no thinking this time.  The stick didn't event let me flush the toilet...crazy!  I must really be pregnant!  I went back to bed and laid down for a few minutes before I rolled over and said to Andy "Good morning, I'm pregnant."  His response was "Seriously?  Are you messing with me?  Now way!  Really?  Congratulations sweetie."  Then he gave me a kiss.  That was sweet.

My mother-in-law was in the next room so we were being quiet.  Since we couldn't talk about it most of the day I had a lot on my mind. I had so many emotions going through me that I didn't even know what to do.  I was excited, scared, nervous, freaking out and ecstatic.  Will I be a good mom?  Are we ready for this?  Am I sure this is what we really want to do?  Will the baby be healthy?  How will the animals take the baby?  How will I handle labor? Oh my, so many questions and only 9 months to figure this out.

After all that we decided to keep it to ourselves even though his mother was in the next room.  We decided not to say anything until after I see my doctor and even then, we decided to keep it quiet until the three month mark.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a fabulous (and safe) New Year's.  We stayed in Arizona for the second year in a row.  I did miss a WI Christmas, but overall Andy and I had a nice Christmas together...just the two of us.

The Nutcracker
The weekend before Christmas, Andy took me to see the Nutcracker in downtown Phoenix.  I have always enjoyed this show at this time of year.  It takes me back to my childhood.  Back to the first time I saw the Nutcracker when I was about 10 years old and my grandpa took me.  I enjoyed the experience and as a little girl it meant a lot to me that my grandpa took me to see the Nutcracker and only me...not my sister.  Since then I have enjoyed going in December and try to go every year.  It was a great holiday date night with the hubby.

Christmas Eve
After many last minute trips to the store Christmas Eve arrived.  We spent the day cleaning the house and making appetizers to have our friends (Mike and AJ) over.  They brought their puppy Cooper and this provided our dogs with entertainment.  Cooper tired out our dogs by 10pm, but he wouldn't let them lay down.  He wasn't done playing.  The three friends played until 3:30am.  This allowed for our dogs to sleep for the next two days straight.  It. Was. Awesome!  After that, I have decided we need to do more doggy play dates with Cooper.  After stuffing our faces with many yummy appetizers we played board games and watched movies. 

Christmas Day
After our friends left we opened our many presents that we received from family back in WI.  Again, we were shocked at how many gifts arrived at our house.  We were overwhelmed, again, at how many gifts were sent to us.  We spent about an hour opening everything.  I wish I took a pic of all the gifts under the tree for only two people, but I didn't.  I am horrible at picture taking.  I think that will be one of my New Years resolutions for 2013.  After presents we headed to the movie theater to see This is 40.  I thought it would be a very funny movie, but it was only mediocre.  Not as funny as I thought...it is a renter!  After the movies we made our own ham dinner at home and enjoyed the peace and quiet in our house while the doggies snored on the couch.

Overall it was a good holiday for us.  We spent a lot of time together and spent most of this month with our good friends.  I did not get all my cookie baking done this year.  I only made peanut butter balls and I did not make the Dove blossoms that I love so much.  I purchased all of the items needed to make the cookies, but just never quite got them done.  I also got my holiday cards out late.  Epic fail!  According to Shutterfly people will be receiving our cards between December 29th and January 4th.  Another oops on my end.  I was a little disappointed in myself for being so late, but time crept up on me and before I knew it, it was the end of December.  Enjoy our holiday cards when they finally do arrive.  One other thing I wanted to do this December, but did not get to: Zoo Lights.  I have been wanting to do Zoo Lights since we moved here, but again, time got away from me and now I will have to wait until next December to do Zoo Lights.

Fa La La La La

Last weekend was my firm's holiday party.  It was a great time had by all...enough said.

Andy and I in the photo booth at the beginning of the festivities.

Another Weekend Away

Following guests in town and plenty of crazy busy around our house I took off to Palm Springs with the girls for our second annual shopping trip.  This is our second year doing this and we decided it definitely must be an annual trip.  This year it was a little later than last year which made holiday shopping so much better.  It was a lot easier to get in the mood for holiday shopping and to actually shop.  The other thing that was different is we were down two girls.  Jessica had the flu and AJ had to stay home and be a responsible adult while she chose studying for her MBA over shopping with the girls.  That left Amber, Kim and myself all weekend.  I am not going to lie, I did do some damage at the mall in Palm Springs. 

A picture of the damage three girls can do at a high end outlet mall in Palm Springs.

Besides shopping we went out for a nice dinner at Roy's and then to see the Twilight Breaking Dawn 2 movie.   Such a girlie day and I loved it, especially since Andy would never do shopping like that with me and he would never, ever go see a movie like that with me.

While I was away I asked Andy to hang the outside Christmas lights and help me finish a project that I was in the middle of, but just ran out of time due to the craziness lately.  He is such a good husband as he completed both tasks.  I was a little unsure if he would help me with my project because he is not into arts & crafts at all, but he must have been super bored without me around that he did do it and he did a great job.  I got this idea from Pinterest of course.  I already decorated the entire house the weekend prior and purchased the letters J and Y for the wall.  I needed them spray painted gold, and then a layer of gold glitter over that and then hung on the wall on each side of the wreath.  Now you see why I was unsure if Andy would participate.  He is such a good sport and he did a GREAT job! 

The finished product behind the couch.

Up close of the final product.  I am very happy how everything turned out.

Well, that concludes my traveling adventures for 2012.  I will not be traveling for the rest of this year, thank goodness because I am all traveled out.  I had a great time this past weekend with some amazing girlfriends.