Cruise'n

Well, we are back. It was a really great vacation. We left early last Saturday morning and drove down to Palm Harbor, FL. where we stayed with a couple that I met on my mission. It was really fun to see them again. They took us all around Palm Harbor and we got to go to Clearwater beach which they said is one of the top beaches in the world! (not sure if that is true but that is what they said). It was really beautiful. We stayed with them until Monday morning and then drove to Miami and boarded our ship (The Fascination).



The minute we got on, everyone around was getting drunk which was interesting. We didn't realize until after we boarded that it was cinco de meyo (I have no idea how to spell that as I speak english, not spanish), so everyone had beads on and there was a lot of dancing which was fun (not that we really participated).
On Tuesday we got into Key West which was beautiful. We walked around on Duval Street which is apparently the street where everything happens. We were only there in the morning so there weren't any of the street performers or activities that go on at nighttime but it was still fun to walk down. There were a lot of stores selling different tourist stuff. The weather was perfect.

The next day we got into Cozumel, Mexico which was my favorite day. We decided we really wanted to try out snorkeling while we were there. You can buy excursion packages through the cruise line where someone will take a whole group to a beach and give you gear and show you how to do it but it was really expensive and so we decided not to do that. Lucky for us we were able to get a taxi and go to beach a few miles down the road from the main beach and rent snorkel gear for 10 bucks a person which was great.


Snorkeling was soooo much fun. It was really hot outside and the water was the perfect temperature so that you didn't even notice how hot it was. Once we got in the water Elliot told me to put my goggles on and look under the water and there was about a hundred fish all around me!! It was crazy. We had an underwater camera and we took a lot of pictures so I will post those once we get them developed.

(I realize this is not the world's best picture of me, but it summed up or vacation so well I had to put it in. Keep in mind the camera adds 10 pounds)

The guy that we rented our snorkel gear from gave us some fish food to give the fish and they ate right out of our hands. Once we gave them food they crowded around us and wouldn't leave and I had my hand out with nothing in it, trying to touch one and it bit me!!! Like with real teeth and everything. I thought fish could only nibble. So that freaked me out and after that I tried to shoo them away but they refused to leave me alone. I had to keep my hands to myself the rest of the time we were in the water.
The beach where we went snorkeling had an outside bar right by the water so we got a pinacolada and laid out in the sun to drink it (I mostly wanted to do this to fulfill the Garth Brooks song) The next day of the cruise we were just at sea all day so we laid around in the sun reading and sleeping. The whole vacation was very relaxing. It was so nice to not have anything to do for 5 days. No work, school , homework or housework.
The food was incredible. I have never eaten so much food in my life. I am terrified to go to my next dr's appt. and weigh in!!! There was just so much to eat all the time. We really liked the deli which had all kinds of different sandwiches and I loved the salad bar and the 24 hr. soft serve ice cream machine!!! oh gosh.

We went to a couple of the shows that they had at night which were pretty cool. They did an 80's tribute show and a latin show. Both were really great. The 80's night was hilarious.
We docked back in Miami on Friday and drove to my aunts house in Tampa and stayed the night with her and then drove back yesterday. It was a wonderful vacation and soooooo nice to just lay around for a whole week. It is going to be hard to get up tomorrow to go back to work but I suppose it will be nice to get back into our regular routine.

I will post more of my dr's appt. after I figure out how to scan the ultrasound pictures into the computer.

Week 19

I am really starting to feel pregnant!! It is pretty exciting. Just this week my stomach feels a lot bigger and I swear it is throwing off my center of gravity a little. I have felt the baby a lot which I love. I keep trying to get Elliot to feel it but I don't think the kicks or movements or whatever they are are strong enough yet. Maybe in a few weeks. I still can't tell if people who see me in public can tell I am pregnant or not. I'm not going to lie, sometimes in public I push my stomach out a little more so I look more pregnant. I am just so excited for people to know I am carrying an actual child inside of my belly. I always love seeing pregnant woman so I naturally assume people get excited to see me and who am I to take away from someone's excitement? Giving the people what they want, that is what I'm about.


(don't mind the nasty shirt, I was already in my pj's when I thought to take the picture)

I am still feeling really good. I take a nap during my lunch break every day which I look forward to. My favorite foods this week are philly cheese steak sandwiches and orange juice. We are going in for another check up tomorrow and I am so excited! We get to do the second ultrasound which will be so cool to see the baby again. I am going to have to admit, I have had moments of weakness on whether or not we should find out the sex, but Elliot has held strong so we are still going to wait. Tomorrow is our one and only chance (the dr. was very clear on this). I will post more tomorrow after the appt.

Only 3 more days until we go on our cruise!!!

What we have been up to

Mostly we have been doing the same things we always do. Working and going to school. Same old thing. Elliot has finals this week so he has been busy studying. Booooriiiiing. I am excited for him to be done with school so he can start concentrating his attention on more important things....namely me. Kidding (not really). We are leaving for our cruise this saturday! Only 5 more days of work to get through. We are going to drive down to Palm Harbor, FL on Saturday and stay with some people I know from my mission until Monday when we will drive to Miami to leave on the cruise. We are both really excited. I can't wait to have 4 days to lay around in the sun, eat and read. I am really excited for the 24 hr. sushi bar!! I know, I know, I can't have raw fish. I am only going to eat california rolls or any other rolls with cooked fish. Don't worry (Megan). I will take lots of pictures while we are gone and post them.
I just bought a cute swimsuit at target yesterday that I am hoping is going to last me my entire pregnant. I didn't see any maternity swimsuits I wanted so I just bought a large. Is that going to work? I hope so. It has a little skirt bottom which usually makes me feel like a middle aged mom but I actually think it is pretty cute. For a pregnancy swimsuit anyways. Pregnant or not, I am not a huge fan of swimsuits period. Maybe one day when I have a really hot body a swimsuit will be my friend......one day.
So back to what we have been up to. I was starting to get frustrated because none of my clothes were fitting right so to compensate I dyed my hair red (makes sense right?) At first it came out really purple

But it faded to a pretty red and then started looking pinkish so I dyed it again with a different red color and now it has faded to the perfect color that I wanted in the first place.

Right as I am yearning for it to be blonde again......

A few weeks ago Elliot received a scholarship from Georgia State. An Atlanta accounting firm picks one accounting student a year from Georgia State to give this scholarship to and Elliot was picked this year!! We were really excited that he got this. He studies a lot and works really hard to get good grades so I really thought he deserved it. We got to go to the awards ceremony where they handed out Elliot's award as well as other students who were receiving other awards. It was a neat event. After the awards ceremony they had reception where there was a live band and really good food. They had this amazing spinach dip that I am still thinking about. mmmm... Oh gosh, I just realized there is some of that amazing spinach dip in my teeth. But this is the only picture I have of Elliot and I on this day so you are going to have to pretend you don't see it.

I have started working on a baby blanket for our baby. Since we are not finding out the sex of the baby I am going to decorate everything in fall colors as it will be born in the fall and I figure fall colors are fairly unisex. I'm going to paint the walls a rust orange color and frame pictures of trees in autumn. I think it will be really pretty. So I am making the blanket in autumn colors as well. Well, as autumn-ish as I could find anyways. The store I went to didn't have exactly the colors I wanted but they were on sale so I decided to bend my expectations a little in the name of a lower price (which Elliot was quite happy with).

Well, that is about it. I will post some more belly shots this week sometime. I think it is getting bigger myself. We have our 2nd ultrasound this Friday. I am really excited. This is the one where we would find out the sex if we were finding out. I am going to have to admit, there have been moments where I have had doubts and asked Elliot if maybe we should find out but he has held strong and is insistent that it will be more fun if we don't know. My big wish is that they will tell me that there are twins in there and they just missed them at the first ultrasound!! That would be great. Very unlikely but great....

17 weeks!

Well, I am officially starting to show. Yesterday a pregnant woman smiled at me in the supermarket! I am choosing to believe she noticed I was pregnant as well and was smiling to show that we had a special pregnant woman bond. Or she could just be friendly, but whatever. I am still feeling really good except my back is killing me by the end of every work day. I am trying to get my boss to hire a massage therapist for the office. We'll have to see how that turns out. I know I said I was going to put up all kinds of pictures but I chose to hold Megan's baby instead of blog and now it is bedtime. Did I mention Megan had her baby? That is Elliot's sister. I will put up some pictures. He is ADORABLE!! It is making me so excited to have one of my own. Ok, I'll write more tomorrow.....or at least I'll try.

Soooo.....

Well, I haven't posted in awhile. It just seems like there isn't enough time in one day and by the time I get home from work I am so tired and so sick of looking at a computer, posting doesn't sound like fun. Plus Elliot is always hogging our laptop to "study" (he thinks I don't see him looking at ESPN). Anyways, I am going to post about a million pictures tonight that I have been saving so be prepared.....

One of many anniversaries

I make poor Elliot celebrate every anniversary in our relationship that I can remember. The first day we met (Oct. 8th, 2001), our first date (Jan. 2002), our wedding anniversary -well I think most people celebrate that - (June 24th, 2005) and today just happens to be one of those great days.

And not only is it the anniversary of one thing, it is actually lucky enough to be combined with two wonderful events.

On April 2nd. 2002 we had our first kiss. At Rock Canyon Park in Provo, Utah. Elliot took me on a picnic (which consisted of a box of popsicle's) and then made the move. Don't ever ask for his version of the event. It is quite distorted.

The second event that makes this day so memorable happened on April 2nd, 2005 when Elliot proposed to me. He took me to this pretty castle next to the state mental hospital in Provo (so romantic) and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. If I had more time (I am dying to go to bed) I would tell the longer version, assuming someone would care, because it is actually pretty funny. I will have to save it for another time though.



So anyways, today is a pretty great day. Elliot took me to Chik-fil-A to celebrate with some french fries that I have been craving for awhile. I also indulged in a little milkshake and then I made the mistake of weighing myself when we got home. Now I am convinced that I have gained all my pregnancy weight in one night and am starting to freak out a bit. I guess it was worth it.......... Chik-fil-A french fries are darn good.


I know I haven't posted in awhile. I feel like we haven't done anything very exciting lately. I will come up with some stuff and maybe post again tomorrow. I am not ready to post any pregnancy pictures yet because right now I just look fat and am not ready to show that off to the internet world.