... When No One Else is Watching

The little things

After the last few weeks of feeling like I can barely breathe because of the litany of errands and phone calls that were in need of being done I can say that things have finally calmed down. Sure, there are still lots of things to be done but at least now I have some breathing space. I took the day to do a few things that were thoroughly enjoyable and feel a renewal of sorts after such a pleasant day.

So what did I do, you ask? Well, let's start at the beginning. I slept in! I didn't plan on this but I loved that this was the way I started my day. I have been having quite a hard time sleeping lately because of all the things on my mind and the constant kicking of the baby so I think this was my body's way of telling me to relax. I actually woke up around 6am and once my husband left for work at 6:30 I decided to get up and go upstairs. I turned on the news and before I knew it I woke up lying on the couch and it was 9:30am! I felt so guilty but at the same time decided to enjoy it since I know this will not be happening in a few months once the baby is here. I then showered up and got ready for the day. I had to go to my insurance company to pick up our new ID cards and finalize our homeowner's insurance for the new house but I am proud to say that's the only thing I did where the house was concerned. I then went to meet one of my best friends, Michelle, for a girl's lunch. I am telling you, there is nothing like having lunch and gossiping with your closest girlfriends (but not mean gossip!) I've known Michelle since I was 16 and we always have such a good time together, she's practically like my sister, I can't tell you how much I love her! After lunch I had to go to Motherhood because I am starting to cave and buy maternity clothes. I haven't needed to buy maternity pants yet but I am sure that will be coming within the next few weeks. I found some great tops though that I am super excited about. When I came home I remembered I had made a promise to my husband that we would have a nice dinner tonight to make up for the Taco Bell I made him eat last night (I was tired and stressed and didn't have time to cook,,, excuses, excuses) so I looked on one of my favorite websites and found an amazing recipe for Fettucine Alfredo. I grilled up some chicken to put on top and made a salad and all I can say is YUMMY! I love to cook so it was a perfect way to end my day. Tomorrow I am making my sister's favorite meal for her birthday. We'll be having lasagna, garlic bread and salad and finishing off with yellow cake with chocolate frosting. If I keep eating like this the weigh in for my next doctor's appointment will not be as pleasant as those zero pound weight gain appointments I have been having. It will definitely be time for lighter fare after tomorrow!

So, that was my pleasant day and oh, was it pleasant! Much too often I let the stressful events of life really overwhelm me and forget to enjoy the amazing life I lead. Everything really came into perspective for me today. Life might be soooo stressful at times but for the most part I am extremely blessed and I need to remember to take time to remember all the little things that make my life so wonderful. Life is good!

It's Coming Together!

So, I just spent quite some time creating a new entry for this blog and somehow I managed to delete it. I can't tell you how frustrated I am and hopefully I will be able to regain my sanity at some point today. Just for future reference you may not want to insert an image and then select it and hit the backspace button because it will delete your entire post! The anger! So I will now paraphrase what has been going on the last four days because I am not writing the whole post again.

As many of you now know our house is under contract in Texas which has allowed us to start looking in Utah for a new home. I can't tell you how excited we are about this situation, it's more joy than I can take and I sometimes have to sit down just to absorb the fact that after six months of living with my mom we finally get to be adults again and have our own home,,, so much joy! The only thing that dampers this joy is the price of housing. It's incredible how much the housing market has exploded in the last 18 months in Utah, prices have increased so much that Rob and I have experienced a bit of sticker shock. But we have learned to get over the sticker shock and look for homes. We didn't think it would be too difficult a task but we learned rather quickly that we are quite picky personalities. If I had to venture a guess I would say we looked at about 200 houses before we found IT, the house we are very excited about. Don't get this home confused though with the home we put an offer on last week. We decided not to buy the other home because the owner decided to raise the price during the time of our offer. The home we are in the process of purchasing is soooo great and we are very happy, here's a picture of the house, it's pretty, don't you think?

Life has been so hectic since we have decided which house to purchase, here's a list of things I have been able to accomplish since Friday:

• Call all utility companies and cancel service on home in Texas
• Get two good faith estimates from mortgage companies and decided on which one to use.
• Get all financial documentation copied and put together and taken to mortgage company.
• Call insurance company in TX to cancel homeowner's insurance along with transfer of car insurance to firm in Utah.
• Call insurance company in UT to get quote on new homeowner's insurance policy along with verify transfer of auto insurance.
• Meet with home inspector to verify house is of sound condition
• Call and make hotel and car rental reservations for Austin to meet with movers and get belongings boxed up and packed.
• Call kennel to get boarding set up for Laila while we are in TX.
• Talk to mortgage company to verify all new information is correct on Good Faith Estimate.
• Take mom out to the new house to show her around.
• Call realtor in TX to make sure new owners of house in Austin has set up utilities
• And I even made my husband dinner on Saturday and Sunday, so proud of myself!

Phew, I am so glad to know all of this is done because it's just a pain in the butt to get done! So much time on the phone and hoping that all of it comes together and not too many people drop the ball on their end. It's also nice to know that this stuff is done because once I am in our new home I might actually see a recurrence of my sense of humor. It definitely seems to have went missing lately and I really want it back!

We also found time on Friday to go to the doctor and get another ultrasound! I'm happy to say that the little one actually looks like a baby now and not so alien like! Here are some great pictures, one is of the profile and the other one is of the legs that now constantly kick my bladder for fun. I think I am either going to give birth to a drummer or a child who is a black belt in karate.

Why I Haven't Been Updating My Blog

I'm Busy! Life has seemed to turn upside down in the last week and I am caught up in the whirlwind. It's definitely a good busy as we have finally got our house under contract with a new buyer. The thing I didn't plan on was the pain of dealing with a relocation company, I feel like we have to get everything ok'd through them in order to sell our own house. We can't just accept an offer, it has to go through them to approve the offer and then we are ALLOWED to sign off on it. Crazy! Usually the process of getting an offer would be looking at the paperwork, signing it, getting it notarized and send it back to the buyer, usually about a days worth of work. But no,,, not when you are using a relocation consultant, then this process takes about seven days and much more aggravation than is necessary. The poor buyers, I think they were sitting on pins and needles thinking we were going to back out of our verbal agreement. But hey, we have a house under contract which allows us to buy in Utah!!!!! So happy!

You would think buying a house in Utah would be a very easy thing for two people who have lived in Utah for a long period of time. Well, during the 18 months we were living outside of Utah the housing market EXPLODED and property values are literally increasing everyday! It's painful to watch houses get sold and then in three months go back up on the market for a $60,000 mark up, but that's what investors are doing. And you probably think they are fixing them up,,, nope, they usually don't even put in a yard in the new builds, they just hang on to them for a few months and then put them back on the market for a massive gain. And they sell!!! Who are buying these homes? Prices are completely out of whack! We actually found a house we love yesterday and made an offer, but during the time we made the offer the owner decided she wanted to increase the price $8000 because some random realtor came in and told her she was under priced. I want to hunt this realtor down and kill him. We are waiting to see if she accepts our offer. We put a full priced offer down on the old sale price and now can just wait and see if she really wants that extra $8000, I am hoping she doesn't, because we won't be buying it, and I'll be sad. But I figure new houses come on the market everyday and we'll just have to go back to square one to find a house we like. Who knew I would ever get sick of looking at houses but after looking at more than 20 houses a day for 5 days straight I just don't want to see one more bedroom or kitchen.

I hope everyone is doing well because I know I have a lot of phone calls to return that I have missed in the last week. I swear I'm not ignoring you, just trying to find a yard for my dog and a nursery for the baby! The Agony!

Reflections

I turned 29 yesterday (Oh my goodness, I'm almost 30.) Rob decided that it would be fun to remind me all day long, "you know, you are 29 now, did you know that?" Uhhhhh, yeah, I know it, and thanks for reminding me EVERY FIVE MINUTES!!! Actually, I am not one of those people who are scared of the whole 30 year mark, I think it will be great that I am out of my 20's (the "figuring it all out years," as I call them) because then I can say I was able to make it through my 20's and came out of them relatively unscathed. Remember, I said relatively unscathed.

As I was reflecting on my 29 years yesterday I started thinking about all the things I haven't done yet, I mean wasn't I supposed to have scaled Mount Everest by now? Made my millions? Have a child? Well, I haven't done any of those things and since I don't want to get depressed thinking about all the things I haven't done, I have decided to remember all the things I have done.

Here's a partial list:

• I have traveled to all 50 states and 6 provinces in Canada
• I have also traveled to England (I lived in England when I was just a little tyke but have to go back quite often to visit family and friends,) Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Australia, Mexico, Nassau and the Caribbean Islands.
• I have had amazing employment opportunities and am blessed enough to say that I've loved my business career and been successful in the business world.
• I have been blessed with an amazing family in which I am lucky enough to say I laugh with every day.
• I have formed beautiful friendships and learned from each one of them.
• I've experienced loss - may be odd to list this, but to experience loss teaches you about what is important.
• I have fallen in love (most importantly)
• I have become pregnant - yeah, you all know that one by now!
• I've LIVED - I haven't let life pass me by, I've been able to experience life and be right in the thick of it.

See, it's much better to think about what I have done rather than what I haven't. I can't even wait to see what my next 29 years brings but I am pretty sure it will be loss of hair and sanity due to having children and loving them more than I can even imagine! Can't wait!

Susan Lucci No Longer

Many people know I used to work for Choice Hotels International - an amazing company to work for! Also, my mother and my sister both work there as well. Each year the company gets their field staff together and has what we call Summer Camp. It is a 5 day compilation of seminars, dinners and a chance to get together with other colleagues - which if you are a field employee you know it's quite nice to be able to see other people you work with since you are by yourself so much. During Summer Camp there is also a segment to honor people who really go above and beyond and do their job exceptionally well. People are nominated and then a questionairre goes out to their clients as well as their peers. My mother has been nominated for this award for five years and unfortunately has never won it, but has been gracious in the fact that she always says someone more deserving won (this is a woman who once gave a higher score to a co-worker than herself,,, that's how honest she is! No pressure to live up to that!) Well, I am proud to say that this year was her year! She has been known for the last couple of years as Susan Lucci (a distinction I can't say she is too happy about but is good enough to joke about it) and it's so nice to know that she is now known as Susan Bowen, Zimmerman Award Winner. I'm so proud! Congratulations Mom (the hardest working woman I know!)

Last Night's Conversation

Jenny: "Rob, I just found this article on the internet that is interesting."

Rob: "Oh, yeah?"

Jenny: "Yep, it says there is now scientific evidence that men DO have trouble hearing women."

Rob: "Huh?"

EXACTLY!!!!!

Decisions, Decisions

Rob and I have decided that since we are going to be spending most of our money on the upcoming addition to our family we might as well spend a little on ourselves. I mean, if we are going to be spending a small fortune what's a little more, right? The funny thing is that the purchase we have decided to make is in large part for the baby as well. We are now in the market for a really good digital SLR type camera. We want to be able to catch all those special moments on film and also be able to alter them the way we would like (because if I have a zit I want to be able to photoshop it out, if I am going to spend a ton of money there better be a zit remover compatability option.) Rob and I are now up to our eyeballs in research material on topics such as mega pixels, lens options, photoshop books, and of course sale ads for the camera we would like. We're trying to figure out which camera would be best for us; we aren't professional photographers obviously but we know we want to be able to take great quality pictures and print them out without them looking like crap. Hence the need to spend a small fortune. It's sad that we both have digital cameras but they don't have the options we want on them. We want to be able to manipulate the photos the way we want them and you can't do that with a simple zoom button. The small cameras will do us good just to throw in my purse for those times we want to catch a quick moment but for those bigger occasions we need something better. I am also willing to take any advice on this kind of purchase (hi Susannah) because we want to know that we will get what we pay for and not get stuck with a dud purchase (that would make me sad.) So if anyone is reading this and has the desire to put their two cents in (or ten) I would be more than appreciative.

I'm off to the stores to do some more research. Secretly, I love doing this kind of research because if I have to look at one more car seat or stroller this week I will start to cry. Who knew picking out a car seat would be so draining? I obviously have to make some of Sus' Kick Ass Brownies (Return of the Domestic Goddess post) as a reward! That will make me happy,,, and probably five pounds heavier!

Random Thought

I wish Ellen Degeneres was my friend. Just putting that out there,,, how much fun is she? I can honestly say I don't miss a day of her show and I do admit,,, I dance along with her. We all need to dance more!

The Belly,,, It is a Growin'

Yep, so it has started to happen, my stomach (not that it was ever particularly flat, sadly enough) has started to morph into what some could call a beach ball. And the beach ball isn't even in the lower part of my belly as much as it is in the upper part. I am starting to feel like I will be the first woman in history to give birth through the mouth. I did know that the stomach would start to grow at some point but I have had it so easy where the belly growth part of pregnancy is concerned that I was thinking I may just be able to bypass the stomach enlargement part all together. Alas, nope, at 21 weeks the baby has started to make somewhat of an appearance! This aspect of pregnancy has just hit me this week and I feel like a completely different person. I have not grown a ton, in fact I am still in my regular clothes, jeans and all, but they are getting a little bit more constrictive.

I have now went into the blame game part of this belly growth and since I don't want to blame what I know will be the most gorgeous baby ever (I'm a little bit biased) I have decided to blame the ultrasound technician. You see, Rob and I went to get our 20 week ultrasound done last Friday and although we know we are having the most gorgeous baby ever we seem to also be having the most stubborn baby ever. Either that or the baby is just downright lazy. We told the tech that we did not want to find out the sex and she soon stated that wouldn't be a problem because our baby didn't want to cooperate AT ALL! We were able to get the measurements the doctors needed but she was unable to get the baby to flip, NO MATTER HOW HARD SHE SLAMMED THAT LITTLE MONITOR INTO MY STOMACH (yeah, it was a bit painful and I have the bruises on my abdomen to prove it!) One little tidbit we found out about our mystery baby is that he/she likes to lay out straight, no curling up in a ball for this one! Rob has pretty much nicknamed me the barca lounger because obviously that is what our baby thinks I am, the little one literally just lounges out and waits for it's next ice cold beverage. But back to blaming! Because of  all the "monitor slamming" into the belly I think the baby has now woke up and decided to try to make more room for itself, hence pushing the belly outwards. I will make sure I have a stern talking to with the ultrasound tech next time I see her!

Although I will not show you a belly shot because that is something the world should never have to be put through, here is a picture of my sister, Janet, her son Michael and I along with my ever upward moving belly. Enjoy!