Let the Good Times Roll: September 2009

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I Can't Believe We Live Here!

Some people, when they heard we were moving to Grand Junction, Colorado, would say things like, "Oh, I'm sorry," or "Why not somewhere prettier in Colorado?" To that I reply, beauty is in the eye of the freakin' beholder, suckers!

Grand Junction and its surrounding areas have a lot to offer and we're continually commenting to each other about how much we love this place. We're so happy we moved here. Just this Saturday, we drove up to the Grand Mesa (a large flat-top mountain visible from the back window of our house) and fished on beautiful Island Lake, one of about a hundred lakes to choose from in our area. The drive from our front door to the lake was only about an hour.

We rented a canoe, which afforded me my first experience of fishing out on the water and, may I say, spoiled me because I had a full-time oar man to get me around. Thanks, Kevypoo! I also had a successful 4 hours of fishing, catching 8 rainbow trout and 1 cutthroat. I am loving this fly fishing stuff! It's not a hobby I ever would have picked up on my own, but since I married a fly fisherman, it has become pretty easy to fall in love with the sport.

Here's one of the rainbows we caught. They were all about the same size, around a foot long and weighing around a pound. We had a good time singing our jig song, (credit to Strong Bad from Homestar Runner) "Come on and bite on my fly, Fishy! Come on and bite on my fly, Fish Fish!"

"Kevin Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah!" We wrapped up the fishing just as the sun was getting low in the sky and...

Took some awesome pictures of the changing fall colors on our drive home. Hello?!!?! I can't believe we LIVE here! We are so happy.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Martha Stewart Time

Here's a project that was a long time in the making that I recently finished. I got the idea from a Martha Stewart magazine I bought for 25 cents at a garage sale. My friend Cassa and I pooled our resources and did some serious design on a dime. We're so proud of ourselves.

It started with some fabric (also purchased at a garage sale for around $1-$2/yd), dead sticks from Cassa's M.I.L's back yard, and some acrylic paint we already had on hand. We hand-painted our sticks, which took forever, but since we already had the paint, why buy a can of spray paint? We cut our flower shapes out of fabric and then bought some fabric stiffener from Michael's as well as flower pips (the wire part in the middle of the flower).

Here's a close-up of one of my flowers. After they were stiffened, I colored on them with some of my colored pencils and then super-glued them strategically onto the branches.

The glass vases were a Good Will find, under $2. We painted the inside with acrylic paints and we also made stripes on the glass with Armor Etch (glass etching cream -- thanks again, Martha!) but the etching is hard to see. If I did it again, I'd either paint it or etch it but not both.

My wedding album, also from Michael's on a 40% off sale. I filled it with some of our favorite wedding photos. The last thing I need for this display is one of those small decorative easels to prop up the photo album with. For now, it's on top of the black box that my wedding proofs came in. And, put it all together with the canister light above...

Ta da!

One corner of my house is decorated. Now I have about fifteen walls that need some attention. Hmm... And you wonder why I don't have a bunch of pictures of my house up yet? It still looks a lot like it did before we moved in. I'll just have to do these little mini transformation moments. Up next: hopefully something in the nursery!

Monday, September 14, 2009

A Few of the Joys of Pregnancy

1. You have an excuse to be scatter-brained and/or forgetful.

Example: When your visiting teaching companion calls you a week before the appointment to tell you about the woman you are going to be visiting and tells you that she's blind, if you're reading the lesson to her and ask her if she wants to read the next quote and she replies, "I can't read," you don't have to feel bad because you're pregnant and you forgot she was blind.

2. You can blame certain guilty pleasures on the baby.

Example: I normally don't eat at Taco Bell, but in my first trimester the baby kept asking for Baja Beef Chalupas. Incessant little bugger, but I aim to please. S/he also really likes Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. As a midwife (or any person with common sense), I know these are not the most healthful things I could be feeding my baby, but I think it is strengthening our mother-child relationship to show the baby that I can listen to its needs while still in the womb.

3. You may find yourself with boobs that you never had before. (See exhibit A: Our "Let the Good Times Roll" banner picture.) Or your husband may find them.

Example: Jamie steps out of the shower and thinks to herself, "Man, these things are getting HUGE!" Then she goes and puts on her 36A padded bra. Example: Kevin is heard to be saying things while in bed like, "Wow, a whole handful now!"

Being pregnant is awesome.

P.S. The ultrasound will be October 13th :)

Saturday, September 12, 2009

By Popular Demand

I WAS going to wait a few weeks until I found out the gender of our baby to announce the pregnancy, but since my family is so patient...

This picture has a triple meaning. Our family is growing by one, and my belly is growing. So is Kevin's, but he didn't want a picture of his on here. (jk, lover!) I hope we can get that blue spraypaint off our wall later. Hmm.

Sometimes I look more pregnant than at other times. This is what my tummy looks like after I've eaten a full meal. As you can see, the hamburger has nary a place to hide since there is a baby blocking where my intestines used to be. Currently, my baby is about the actual size shown in the picture above.

I'm 17 weeks and 2 days pregnant and due on February 18th, just three days after cousin Megan! Hooray! We are so excited to become parents and I'm so excited to deliver my OWN baby -- ask Kevin. I've been baby hungry since I became a midwife. Can you blame me?

We'll be letting you know whether it's a boy or girl in the near future. :)