Monday, June 28, 2010

Dinner at the Smiths

June 25, 2010--Had a great time with friends at Abe and Kristie's. It is Abe's birthday this week, so they invited a few of the couples over for a get-together. We stayed til a little past 11 pm and had such a great time getting to know everyone better. We've all decided a karaoke night is in order, so hopefully we'll be organizing that soon! Tyler and I have committed to do an Air Supply number, so we're pretty excited for that ;)

Katrina and I were able to catch up more, and we've decided we need to get together and do some projects. We have really loved getting to know her and Ethan better--they are really amazing people and so much fun to get together with. Tyler and I had decided we were going to explore the next day, and Katrina recommended falls lake, which ended up being great.

We met a new couple, Tati and Justin, who are so much fun! It was really great to get to know them. I'm pretty sure they got dubbed "Honorary Mormons" for the evening and were probably a little surprised at the short amount of time (relatively) that the couples had dated before getting married. Tyler and I usually win this contest lol

Tyler held Breianna's three week old and it was so cute!! Gets me way excited to see him become a dad! I'm afraid he's going to be better than I am at this baby stuff :) He is really sweet and it's so fun to see how a little baby looks in his arms--so tiny next to him!!

Abe and Kristie were great hosts and we look forward to more get togethers in the future!

Lunch and scriptures

June 23, 2010--I met Tyler on campus for lunch because I knew I would be gone in the evening, and he didn't know if he was going to a bowling night or not with the law students. It was fun to get together and actually see him in the middle of the day! We went to the cafe and I couldn't decide what I wanted (again, this pregnancy thing really throws my ability to know what I can/want to eat). After letting a bunch of people go ahead of us, I finally apologized to the guy behind the counter with, "I'm sorry--I'm pregnant and I'm confused." He laughed and said, "Becaues it all looks so good!" Tyler ended up getting pasta and fries and I decided it would just be best to share. I always cause such a scene lol Lunch went much too quickly and it was all too soon before Tyler had to go back to class. Even though it seemed too short, it was great to see him.

Tyler came home pretty early, so we had time to hang out before I went to scripture study. I got there about 20 minutes early cuz I thought it started at 7 and not 7:30. It worked out though, because I was able to help set up chairs and get to know Valerie better. We had a great scripture study with some women from the ward. It was great to get to know them better and to talk about the scriptures and our testimonies. Each month we get together on the last Wednesday and study a couple of chapters together. This week was out of the book of Mosiah. We talked a lot about service and how we can better keep the commandments. There were delicious monster cookies after, and I even took one home to Tyler :)

One of the girls there is getting induced today, and another is due in October. So fun how many babies are being born! One of the girls and I decided we're going to get together and sew burp cloths to give as gifts, which was funny because I had already been planning on doing this when she came up and was like, this is way random, but would you want to get together and sew blankets and burp cloths?? Crazy how things work out!!

Tyler didn't end up going bowling, so we got to spend some time together before my early bedtime came around.

Law wives Tuesday

June 22, 2010--After the pool, Breiana picked me up to head over to Lindsay's where some of the law school wives were getting together. We were going to watch a movie, but ended up talking instead. It was fun to get everyone together and I think we're going to make a weekly get together out of it. Breianna had her one year old Seth and her newborn Kaitlyn with her, and Lindsay has a 15 month old son named Charlie. Charlie and I spent most of our time putting together puzzles. We became pretty fast friends looking for puzzle pieces and even put together a Mr. Potato Head. He surprised me by shoving a piece of pineapple (one of his snacks) into my mouth. Now that's friendship ;)

Fun at the pool

June 22, 2010--Crystal, Spencer, and I met up at our pool for some summer fun on Tuesday. It was so nice to escape the heat and humidity in the cool water. Spencer was so cute with his toys--he would toss them out and Crystal would help him swim to them. He has decided he doesn't like getting water around his eyes, so he won't put his head under and doesn't like it when his mom and dad do either. I guess he brings a towel over to wipe off their eyes, then he thinks they're okay. I think it's so cute how he "takes care" of them :)

My favorite was when Crystal had Spencer recite the articles of faith. He started out by saying, I'll go slow. Then he excitedly said, "Number one!" and proceeded to tell me the first article of faith. I was so impressed!! He is two turning three soon. Little did I know this was not all. He finished the first and said (again in a really excited voice), "Number two! We believe..." Crystal helped him through the third one and he finished it all by himself. He is so adorable!!! I can't believe how smart he is!!

He would also go over and get my water bottle and say "Kimberly's" and then come hand it to me. We shared some graham crackers and had more pool time. On the way out he chased some geese from our pond up a hill. It was such a fun day and I look forward to having them over to swim again!

Father's Day

June 20, 2010-- Father's Day was so much fun! I woke up to all the great things Tyler had done, and then I gave him his presents, a book called I love my daddy, and a what to expect for fathers' book. His big present STILL hasn't come, over a week since Father's Day, so I'm hoping it gets here before I get to Utah so I can see him open it. My sewing machine came, and at first I thought it was his gift...then we realized it was mine. He was a good sport about it, though! I also wrote him a four page letter on many of the reasons I love him.

It was then off to church where the men were given Sprees. We forgot how much we love them!! It was really cute, because my friend Crystal's son came running up to her after church, reached into her bag and grabbed hers out. Even through nursery he had remembered where they were.

Tyler and I went home and I made calzone dough for our dinner. I had Tyler put on his own toppings and just made a loaf of bread out of mine (this whole pregnancy thing still throws me about what I like to eat). He braided them up into cute little loaves and we threw them in the oven. We had a fun little dinner together and have decided that calzones are a favorite for us!!

Father's Day Eve

June 19, 2010--Obviously, I got a little behind in my blogging, so I'll try to catch up. So the night before Father's Day, Tyler and I spent most of the day cleaning out our second bedroom and getting the last of the unpacking done!! By the end of the night, I was pretty tired, so Tyler offered to let me rest while he went and picked up groceries. I got pretty sick after he left--gave myself a black eye from throwing up and then went to bed. A couple of hours later, he wasn't home yet, so I called him and he was on his way home. Turns out he'd picked up some "father's day" gifts (turns out I benefitted more from father's day than he did)--he stayed up til one putting the finishing touches on our apartment: stands for our dishes, a new dish set, lamps and bedtables for the bedroom, cute shelves to put our nick-knacks on, etc. I am one lucky girl!!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Anniversary Date Night

Tyler and I met one year ago yesterday! We've been having anniversary weekend leading up to father's day :) We went to Robin Hood Thursday and enjoyed that, and decided to go out to dinner Friday. I had just finished reading Life of Pi about a boy from India, so we decided to try out a new Indian place called "Curry and Spice." We got the plain naan bread (I love this bread!) and tika masala chicken with rice. So yummy!

After dinner we decided to go to the Sarah P. Duke gardens and ended up walking around campus before going to the gardens. They are really beautiful! Fireflies were out and there are lots of ponds with cute little bridges and ducks swimming around. We walked around a few of the paths and then headed home.

It was a fun way to spend our evening, since our first real date was one year ago today, and we went walking around the mall and Red Square. Going for walks was and still is one of our favorite dates.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Hollywood spoils diplomacy with Russia

Found a fairly funny article on how Hollywood has not helped our diplomacy with the Russians, entitled "8 movies that have made Russia even madder at us." It lists 8 movies that would not have made the Kremlin any more friendly towards the US. One of my personal favorites is number 8--Goldeneye. The explanation reads:

Yes, we know this wasn't the first time 007 came out on top of some of the KGB's top agents, but this wasn't your ordinary Bond. Pierce Brosnan's resume includes roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Mama Mia. Doesn't sound like England's deadliest weapon.

I have to post a disclaimer here: I loved Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia--all the more because he sang in it!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Strange pregnancy dream, perhaps?

Bizarre dreams are not new to me. I tell Tyler about them all the time. But I think pregnancy has some new twists for me. People say that pregnancy affects your dreams, and until last night they had mostly been that either someone was trying to attack/kill me, or that all of my friends and family (Tyler included) were upset with me over something. But last night was one of the first pregnancy dreams that made it almost impossible to sleep.

I woke up yesterday with a really stuffy nose, and I was thinking I must have allergies. It was like that almost all day long with frequent (like every 10 minutes) trips to the bathroom to blow my nose. By evening, my head was kind of hurting and as Tyler felt sick, we both crawled into bed around 8:30 pm.

It was then I realized I couldn't breathe through my nose while laying on my side, and I'm just not a back sleeper. Or a mouth breather. Believe me, Tyler suggested it several times after my continued moaning about not being able to breathe.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I had taken a unisom (part of my anti-morning sickness routine) just before going to bed. Well, that must have knocked me out because I was fine until about midnight.

I woke up and started ranting about how I was suffocating and couldn't breathe. I was thrashing my arms and legs in frustration over not being asleep and it only being midnight (a whole night of this ahead??). Poor Tyler kept trying to calm me down by saying, "You just need to settle down." Well intentioned, but I get kind of upset when I get woken up and I'm in and out of dreams. I found I could sleep only if I kept my head in a certain position and laid on my back.

So I would kind of fall in and out of asleep, and in my dreams, I dreamed that I had to say "air" to keep the breathing hole opened, which then progressed to having to find the right kind of bread. If only I could remember which bread it was, I would be able to breathe! I went through all the different recipes I could think of, wondering which would be the lightest and fluffiest to allow the most air through so I wouldn't suffocate. This then moved on to thinking, oh if only our oven worked I could make some bread and figure this all out!! (Our oven doesn't bake evenly and I've been wanting to make homemade bread for weeks).

So in between these strange recurring dreams, I would wake up angry about not being able to sleep and thrashing around. I think I mentioned bread once or twice, and Tyler told me I'd been saying some weird stuff in my sleep.

I have yet to find out what dreaming about bread and suffocation means during pregnancy, but it was enough for me to hope that a different theme makes an appearance in the future.

Mormon profiles

Really excited about this new Mormon profile idea on mormon.org. I hadn't heard about it until Tyler sent me an email this morning. The idea behind it is that Mormons come from very different backgrounds, but share a deep commitment to Jesus Christ and the gospel. This new site will let people find out more about what Mormons believe from everyday members from around the world. In mind, this is great public diplomacy for the Church! We are often misunderstood in our beliefs and this is a great way to overcome that for people really wanting to know what Mormons are all about. So, for all of my Mormon friends, I would really encourage you to post a profile. For all of my friends of other faiths, feel free to check it out :) The profile contains things like interests, why you are a Mormon, a place to give your own answer to frequently asked questions about our faith, and offers a chance to explain why we do the things we do. Obviously I'm really excited about this! Hope you are, too :)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Temple weekend

Tyler and I were asked to speak on temples at Sacrament meeting. I spoke on the blessings of the temple and the importance of the temple to LDS people, and Tyler spoke on the blessings of having a current temple recommend. To help us prepare, we went to the temple together Saturday. It was great to go together.

Our talks went well Sunday--it was nice to be able to share my experiences and research more about the temple. It was great to be able to bear my testimony of the peace I have felt there, how I have been able to draw closer to my Savior, and how I have come to understand better my place in our Heavenly Father's plan. I was also sustained and set apart as the Relief Society secretary. I am really excited to be able to serve in the Relief Society. Everyone has been so kind, and I look forward to getting to know the sisters even better.

We had the missionaries over for dinner yesterday (Sunday). We made salmon, baked potatoes, and green beans. This turned out to be great, because one of the Elders was from Washington, and the other from Idaho. Seems like we had our bases covered :) It was really fun to get to know them better and hear about how the work is going in Durham. They shared a thought with us about trials and how we can either grown stronger through trials, or allow them to weaken our faith. We also talked about gaining more knowledge of truth. We appreciated having them in our home.

Afterwards, we met up with Jaren and Mindy from the ward for a game of Ticket to Ride and Boggle. I did much better at the first lol Tyler, of course dominated Boggle, with Mindy not too far behind. Jaryn and I were satisfied coming in much further behind...

This morning I was able to go and help clean the temple. I met some really nice people there, and it was nice to get out and serve.

3rd anniversary

Three month anniversary that is :) Friday, June 11 was three months that we've been married! Tyler got me Life of Pi (a book the Blevins recommended) and even did some of my prenatal yoga with me--he's the best :) I had done yoga earlier in the day, then went walking on the treadmill, only to find I was still pretty stiff. So when Tyler got home I was doing yoga, and he finished up with me.

We then went out for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen by the mall. The spring rolls we ordered as an appetizer were oh so yummy (at least the mediterranean ones), but I'm afraid that was all I could eat. I'm still figuring out what my body likes while being pregnant. The white sauce pizza with ricotta had a really strong cheese (not ricotta, but some other kind as a base layer) that I just couldn't handle. I got about a 1/2 piece down before calling it quits. Despite my picky stomache, it was a really fun evening. We walked around the outdoor mall, going in some shops and picking out furniture and housewares we would some day possibly own. This mysterious "some day" has been coming up lately for some reason haha

Walking around and sitting by the fountain and on a bench was really fun. It reminded us of being in Moscow. A frequent date for us was going for walks. We would go to parks, to Red Square, or really any where in town. It was fun to reminisce about it. We also stopped by Barnes and Nobles to look at more books. I'm so spoiled :)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

S/he's a mover and a shaker!

We saw our baby tonight!!! I know I'm biased, but he is so cute! Really, it looks like an alien, but he (I switch off calling the baby he and she depending on what I feel like s/he is that day) was wriggling around and moving its little arms and legs and looked so cute! So crazy! We found out we're actually 12 weeks, not 13, so that should be a relief to those of you who had done the math lol Our three month anniversary is tomorrow! Can't believe how fast the time goes, and yet in some ways, it seems like we've been married forever :) I'll post the pictures once we get them scanned in...

Missing Lake Powell again!

I just wanted to make note that my family is yet again at Lake Powell without me. I somehow always manage to be gone at the wrong time. First Russia, now Durham. Definitely motivated to find a good deal on airfare for the August trip...

Pregnancy updates

So I started searching for a doctor out here and found out that no one really wants to take a woman who is 13 weeks pregnant. I was quite surprised by this, and then started wondering if there is some rule that says once you're 3 months pregnant you should just consider learning how to deliver a baby yourself. I suppose a tub, bed, or backseat of the car could be just as comfortable as a hospital...Luckily, before it came to that, I was able to find a clinic that will admit me. I officially have an appointment for June 30!

One of our friends ran into the same, yet more urgent problem. She and her husband moved out here two weeks before she was due, so no one would take her. Finally they found someone (again, what do these people expect you to do? Deliver yourself?) and had a healthy baby girl on Saturday. So excited for them!

In the meantime, I found a pregnancy services clinic that is much like Planned Parenthood minus the abortions and it's Christian. How alike are can those two be?? I have no idea. All I know is that they were willing to give me a free positive pregnancy diagnosis that we needed for insurance reasons. They also provide for first trimester ultrasounds (I'm just barely into the second trimester and scheduled it a couple of weeks ago) so you can hear the baby's heartbeat. We're going in tonight at 6:15! I'm getting pretty excited! It almost makes all the nausea and pain seem worth it...

Southern socializing

Well, we're pretty much settled in and loving North Carolina! So far we've been able to unpack, go to the Outerbanks to the beach, hit up a farmer's market with some law school friends, attend a Duke law school reception, a Durham Bulls baseball game with the law school, grill out with the neighbors, invite some friends from law school over for pizza, Origins, and Wise and Otherwise (both excellent games if you like words or phrases), and meet up with a girl I met in the MTC 5-ish years ago to play Pit with her husband and another couple. Lots of socializing!! We've even had house guests :) Our friends have been trying to close on their townhouse all week (thanks to Wells Fargo not getting things in order on time)--they are way excited at the prospect of moving in today!

Grilling out (we found out that BBQ is much more than we make it out to be in the west) with the neighbors was really fun! We had the four apartments nearest us all together. We made Dean's beans (my dad's recipe) and corn on the cob. The neighbors provided drinks, grilled meat, and some cherry cobbler and ice cream. It was so nice to just sit out on the lawn and get to know everyone better. The weather couldn't have been more perfect!! I really think we're gonna like it here :)