For the guessing game, I made a google survey. Feel free to take it here, or through the email I'll send out! If you don't get it via an email, you can take it just for fun, but you won't be in the running for a candy bar. :) The king size candy bar thing has been a fun tradition in my family for a looong time.
You have until May 6, the day of our ultrasound, to get your guesses in. After you take it, you can click a link to see previous results to view all the guesses.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Prenatal Appointment - 16.5 weeks
This morning we had our second prenatal appointment. It was reassuring to hear the baby's heartbeat and to hear him/her kick around in there. Apparently he/she's a wiggly one. :) I still haven't felt any movement yet, but I assume that will start in the next couple of weeks.
I was a little frustrated with the clinic, though. They open at 8:30 and our appointment was at 8:30. And we still waited in the waiting room for 20 minutes, and then waited in the little exam room for another 30 minutes. How on earth are they behind when we had the first appointment of the day? I just don't get it. The appointment itself was very quick though, since I didn't really have any questions. All my blood work from the last appointment came back clean and normal, so that's good news.
Our next appointment will be on May 6th, and we'll be getting the ultrasound! So we will finally get to see the little one and find out the gender! Yay! Now that I think of it, I think it's time to send out the email for the Baby Thornock Guessing Game... :)
I was a little frustrated with the clinic, though. They open at 8:30 and our appointment was at 8:30. And we still waited in the waiting room for 20 minutes, and then waited in the little exam room for another 30 minutes. How on earth are they behind when we had the first appointment of the day? I just don't get it. The appointment itself was very quick though, since I didn't really have any questions. All my blood work from the last appointment came back clean and normal, so that's good news.
Our next appointment will be on May 6th, and we'll be getting the ultrasound! So we will finally get to see the little one and find out the gender! Yay! Now that I think of it, I think it's time to send out the email for the Baby Thornock Guessing Game... :)
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Interview # 3
Well, Spencer's off for one last interview. He's interviewing at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo tomorrow. They are a brand new medical school. As in, Spencer will be part of their very first class if he attends there. His interview goes from 7:30 am to 4 pm! Apparently they'll have a combination of MMIs (multiple mini interviews), which is what he did at Central, and a traditional inteview, which is what he did at Wayne. So I'm thinking about him and praying that the interview goes well. Part of the day will be tours of the medical school, and I think they are doing a tour of Kalamazoo, as well.
I didn't call in to see if there was work today, because I had to drive him to the airport this afternoon. They probably wouldn't have had anything, anyway. I've hit a dry spell this week. No work since Monday, and it doesn't sound like there will be anything for me tomorrow either. Oh, well. I'll just try to be extra productive at home or something. It'll make my weekend alone seem longer though. I do have a friend coming over for dinner tomorrow night though, so that will be fun! Her husband is out of town for the weekend as well.
I hate it when Spencer has to leave. Last night I got all emotional about it. Last time he left and this time (both during the pregnancy) I got kinda mad at him for leaving the night before he went. And then I felt bad for being mad at him and cried. haha. I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy hormones, because I don't think I'm usually that ridiculous. But maybe I am. I am glad that he's had three interviews, and we keep praying that something will work out for next fall. I know the Lord has a plan for us, I just want to know what it will be. :)
Anyway, I dropped Spencer off at the airport and then came back home. Spencer will be renting a car, so he took the GPS with him. I didn't even get lost. Yay! I'm pretty sure I won't have a problem getting back to the airport to get him on Sunday... Once I got home I gave Mom a call, and that was nice to chat for a while. I should call her more often. I'm glad that Spencer will get to spend some time with them this weekend, and it's Mom's birthday on Sunday, so it's nice he can be home for that. Kinda -- he flies home Sunday. I'm so excited to live close to them in a couple of months! I'm sad that we'll still be pretty far from (my) Dad, but we'll be close enough to Spencer's parents and Brigham to visit them pretty often.
I should also call Caroline more often. We had a great chat this week when I called to ask her for advice on buying maternity jeans. Which brings me to my next big announcement. I'm wearing maternity pants! haha. I'm not really "showing" yet, but my pants were getting too snug for comfort and I figured I'd have to get some eventually. So I got some. And they are so comfy. I tried Target, but they didn't have anything long enough for me in their pitifully small maternity section (two choices for pants!), so I went to Motherhood Maternity in the mall. They didn't have a lot available in longs, but they had a few pairs to choose from. I ended up getting two that are identical because I liked the cut, they only came in one color, and they were the least expensive ones there. I like them a lot, and I feel much better about myself in these than when I squeeeeeze into my normal jeans. By the way, I'm 16 weeks today!! I'd take a picture to add, but there's no bump to show off yet.
Now, on to the most challenging part of my day: dinner! I never know what to make and I tend to eat better when Spencer's home than when I'm by myself. Some nights I get to this pathetic point where I'm so hungry, but I feel like there's nothing good to eat, and Spencer has to rescue me by making something. haha. So, I better go find something before I get to that point. I know we have fish and ground hamburger and nasty chicken in the freezer...
I didn't call in to see if there was work today, because I had to drive him to the airport this afternoon. They probably wouldn't have had anything, anyway. I've hit a dry spell this week. No work since Monday, and it doesn't sound like there will be anything for me tomorrow either. Oh, well. I'll just try to be extra productive at home or something. It'll make my weekend alone seem longer though. I do have a friend coming over for dinner tomorrow night though, so that will be fun! Her husband is out of town for the weekend as well.
I hate it when Spencer has to leave. Last night I got all emotional about it. Last time he left and this time (both during the pregnancy) I got kinda mad at him for leaving the night before he went. And then I felt bad for being mad at him and cried. haha. I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy hormones, because I don't think I'm usually that ridiculous. But maybe I am. I am glad that he's had three interviews, and we keep praying that something will work out for next fall. I know the Lord has a plan for us, I just want to know what it will be. :)
Anyway, I dropped Spencer off at the airport and then came back home. Spencer will be renting a car, so he took the GPS with him. I didn't even get lost. Yay! I'm pretty sure I won't have a problem getting back to the airport to get him on Sunday... Once I got home I gave Mom a call, and that was nice to chat for a while. I should call her more often. I'm glad that Spencer will get to spend some time with them this weekend, and it's Mom's birthday on Sunday, so it's nice he can be home for that. Kinda -- he flies home Sunday. I'm so excited to live close to them in a couple of months! I'm sad that we'll still be pretty far from (my) Dad, but we'll be close enough to Spencer's parents and Brigham to visit them pretty often.
I should also call Caroline more often. We had a great chat this week when I called to ask her for advice on buying maternity jeans. Which brings me to my next big announcement. I'm wearing maternity pants! haha. I'm not really "showing" yet, but my pants were getting too snug for comfort and I figured I'd have to get some eventually. So I got some. And they are so comfy. I tried Target, but they didn't have anything long enough for me in their pitifully small maternity section (two choices for pants!), so I went to Motherhood Maternity in the mall. They didn't have a lot available in longs, but they had a few pairs to choose from. I ended up getting two that are identical because I liked the cut, they only came in one color, and they were the least expensive ones there. I like them a lot, and I feel much better about myself in these than when I squeeeeeze into my normal jeans. By the way, I'm 16 weeks today!! I'd take a picture to add, but there's no bump to show off yet.
Now, on to the most challenging part of my day: dinner! I never know what to make and I tend to eat better when Spencer's home than when I'm by myself. Some nights I get to this pathetic point where I'm so hungry, but I feel like there's nothing good to eat, and Spencer has to rescue me by making something. haha. So, I better go find something before I get to that point. I know we have fish and ground hamburger and nasty chicken in the freezer...
Monday, March 17, 2014
Pregnancy Update - 15.5 Weeks
Well, hi there. I've been meaning to write an update about my pregnancy, but I felt like I had to write my about Cancun first, and I was procrastinating that. I finally spent an hour or more (who even knows...) writing that up yesterday! Phew. Now I can write about other things.
Like how I ate an entire bag of kettle corn popcorn just now. That's not actually a new thing for me. We just don't get popcorn very often because Spencer doesn't like it. However, a couple of weeks ago I ate 2 and a half bratwurst for dinner, and that was weird! That was the only time that I really feel like I ate more than usual.
Things have been going well with the pregnancy. I feel good. For a couple weeks there I was feeling like I had more energy again, but then that kinda disappeared. On days that I don't work I always end up taking a nap -- for like 2 hours. On days that I do work, I end up wishing I could go home to take a nap after lunch.
Last Saturday I learned that if I take my prenatal vitamins in the morning I'll throw them up along with my breakfast, so I'm never doing that again. I always take them right before bed, but I forgot on Friday night. By the way, I am soooo grateful that I didn't have morning sickness!
I hate leftovers, and that is a new thing. Usually I'm thrilled to make dinner every 2 or 3 days and just eat the leftovers, or at least have them for lunch the next day. We had this yummy chili dish for dinner last night, and we have a lot of leftovers. So, I took some for lunch today. I managed to eat half of it, but I just couldn't do it for the rest. Luckily, I had an orange and a cookie, so I didn't get too hungry by the end of the day. The problem is that I know I won't be in the mood for them tomorrow either. Or ever again. Spencer's gonna have to eat it all.
I feel fat. Can I just throw that out there? It's getting kind of depressing to try to button my pants in the morning. I CAN'T SUCK IT IN!! And James was so kind to tell me in church on Sunday that I'm "of size" for the first time in my life. I know he wasn't saying it to be mean, but I was kind of annoyed. haha. I said, "thanks for telling me I look fat." and walked away. James, if you're reading this, don't ever say anything to a pregnant woman about her size. Ever. In fact, all you should say is, you look really good!! The worst part is that I know I don't look pregnant yet. I just look like I've put on 10 or 15 pounds. (Which I might have, but it's hard to say when you don't own a scale. And hey! At least 3 ounces of that is baby!)
Starting a couple of days ago, I've discovered that I can't comfortably bend straight over anymore. For the last week I was working in a warehouse assembling kits, among other things. For some of the kits I had to bend over to pick up different components off of palates on the floor. Even though they only weigh a couple of pounds, I had to squat to get them. And I have to sit down to tie my shoes. It's like there's no room in my gut for things to squish around when I bend over. I do realize that this will only get worse over the next 5.5 months.
I'm getting anxious to start feeling the baby move. I'm supposed to start feeling it any week now. Sometimes I hold really still just to see if I can feel anything, but I don't yet.
Sometimes I just unbutton my pants when I'm at home so I'm not so squished. It might be time to invest in some maternity jeans.
Oh, what else? I don't know. We already have two boy names and two girl names that we both like. We've kind of had them "picked out" for a while. We know which girl name we'll use if it's girl, but we're not sure between the two boy names. However, I'm not putting them on the blog until it's official. I don't want anyone's opinions. haha. Names are just one of those things that not everyone will like, no matter what you choose, so it's better to just tell people after the decision is made. Don't worry, they aren't weird.
That's all for now. I wish I had some pictures to add.
Like how I ate an entire bag of kettle corn popcorn just now. That's not actually a new thing for me. We just don't get popcorn very often because Spencer doesn't like it. However, a couple of weeks ago I ate 2 and a half bratwurst for dinner, and that was weird! That was the only time that I really feel like I ate more than usual.
Things have been going well with the pregnancy. I feel good. For a couple weeks there I was feeling like I had more energy again, but then that kinda disappeared. On days that I don't work I always end up taking a nap -- for like 2 hours. On days that I do work, I end up wishing I could go home to take a nap after lunch.
Last Saturday I learned that if I take my prenatal vitamins in the morning I'll throw them up along with my breakfast, so I'm never doing that again. I always take them right before bed, but I forgot on Friday night. By the way, I am soooo grateful that I didn't have morning sickness!
I hate leftovers, and that is a new thing. Usually I'm thrilled to make dinner every 2 or 3 days and just eat the leftovers, or at least have them for lunch the next day. We had this yummy chili dish for dinner last night, and we have a lot of leftovers. So, I took some for lunch today. I managed to eat half of it, but I just couldn't do it for the rest. Luckily, I had an orange and a cookie, so I didn't get too hungry by the end of the day. The problem is that I know I won't be in the mood for them tomorrow either. Or ever again. Spencer's gonna have to eat it all.
I feel fat. Can I just throw that out there? It's getting kind of depressing to try to button my pants in the morning. I CAN'T SUCK IT IN!! And James was so kind to tell me in church on Sunday that I'm "of size" for the first time in my life. I know he wasn't saying it to be mean, but I was kind of annoyed. haha. I said, "thanks for telling me I look fat." and walked away. James, if you're reading this, don't ever say anything to a pregnant woman about her size. Ever. In fact, all you should say is, you look really good!! The worst part is that I know I don't look pregnant yet. I just look like I've put on 10 or 15 pounds. (Which I might have, but it's hard to say when you don't own a scale. And hey! At least 3 ounces of that is baby!)
Starting a couple of days ago, I've discovered that I can't comfortably bend straight over anymore. For the last week I was working in a warehouse assembling kits, among other things. For some of the kits I had to bend over to pick up different components off of palates on the floor. Even though they only weigh a couple of pounds, I had to squat to get them. And I have to sit down to tie my shoes. It's like there's no room in my gut for things to squish around when I bend over. I do realize that this will only get worse over the next 5.5 months.
I'm getting anxious to start feeling the baby move. I'm supposed to start feeling it any week now. Sometimes I hold really still just to see if I can feel anything, but I don't yet.
Sometimes I just unbutton my pants when I'm at home so I'm not so squished. It might be time to invest in some maternity jeans.
Oh, what else? I don't know. We already have two boy names and two girl names that we both like. We've kind of had them "picked out" for a while. We know which girl name we'll use if it's girl, but we're not sure between the two boy names. However, I'm not putting them on the blog until it's official. I don't want anyone's opinions. haha. Names are just one of those things that not everyone will like, no matter what you choose, so it's better to just tell people after the decision is made. Don't worry, they aren't weird.
That's all for now. I wish I had some pictures to add.
Cancun!!
Well, I'm really tempted to just redirect you to AnnaMarie's post on our trip, but I'll write my own here. :) Warning: This post ended up being super long. Also, the pictures are in roughly chronological order, but they are not lined up with the text because that's too much work. Also, I don't have all the pictures because AnnaMarie took most of them on her camera, and she still has to send some of them to me. :)
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Well, I got up really early on Wednesday so I could catch my 7 am flight out of Salt Lake. Spencer got up to drive me up to the airport. It was very early, but he got back by 7 so he didn't have to miss class or anything, and I think he even had time for a little nap. I mostly slept on the planes, though I got a little bit of my independent study course done, too. I had a layover in Houston, which is a HUGE airport, by the way. I had packed a lunch and snacks to tide me over through the trip to avoid buying expensive airport food. So I ate my sandwich and people watched while I waited at my gate. It's interesting to see how different people handle traveling with kids... Anyway, I got into Cancun at like 3:30, and waited in the forever-long line to get though customs. Then I kept following the hallway, looking for a place to sit and wait. There were none. No chairs anywhere! I eventually wandered out the exit, hoping there would be chairs outside. There weren't. And I wasn't allowed to go back inside, either. So, I waited and people watched some more. It was beautiful out, though, so that was lucky. Dad and AnnaMarie's flight was supposed to get in around 5:30, so I figured they'd show up by about 6:00. I think it was like 7:00 by the time they finally made it through customs. I found out that I only brought $4 in cash and there was no ATM by the airport. (What the heck??) So I couldn't even buy myself a dang can of Pringles from Little Margaritaville. Or whatever the bar conveniently located just outside the airport was called. It's okay, I survived. A couple people asked me why I was traveling to Cancun alone. Oh, you know me. Just looking for a good time... ;)
Dad and AnnaMarie finally came out and we found our shuttle to the hotel (Marriott Casamagna). After a little bit of confusion, but we got there. Apparently we didn't make it onto the shuttle list for some reason. The hotel was absolutely beautiful. Definitely the fanciest place I've ever stayed. We got checked in, dropped off our bags, waited (impatiently on my part -- I was starving! Hello.. pregnant, here.) for AnnaMarie to skype with Tyler, and FINALLY got some food. We went to the Japanese restaurant associated with the hotel. It was good. Then we gave ourselves a little tour of the hotel. It's all kind of open-air, and we could hear the ocean. :) By the time we went back to our room it was almost 11, so we went to bed.
AnnaMarie wanted to sleep in on Thursday, but I wanted to spend as much time with Dad as I could. Besides, I've had lots of time to sleep in lately. So I got up and ready, and we set out on a little Mexican adventure to find some breakfast. We wandered across the street to a convenience store and got some juices and donuts/pastries. Dad paid on his credit card and as we left, he was like, "I have no idea how much money we just spent." haha. Yep. Pesos are kind of confusing. The juice was really good and the donuts, well, they were convenience store donuts.
Dad went off to his meetings for the NAYEN conference, which is the whole reason we went. And the only reason Dad actually left the country (besides Canada). AnnaMarie and I had a lovely morning in the hot tubs and pools. At one point, we were looking at the beach and saw the lifeguard change the red flag to a yellow flag, so we went down and played in the ocean. It was pretty wavy, and it was so fun. And salty.
We found dad for lunch. We were planning on taking a bus into town to find a real Mexican restaurant, but Dad got out of his meetings late, and had NO interest in taking a city bus anywhere. AnnaMarie thinks she could have convinced him, but I don't think so. AnnaMarie may be stubborn when she wants to do something, but Dad is more stubborn when he doesn't want to do something. :) I was up for anything. We ended up getting lunch at a little cafe connected to the hotel, down by the beach. I got these seafood tostadas. The first one was good, but then I was over them. I should have gotten the quesadillas instead. It's hard to know what to order when you're pregnant. Stuff is good, then all of a sudden it isn't.
Dad went back to more meetings, and AnnaMarie and I took the bus down to a little flea market type place. I have been in a don't-buy-stuff mood lately, probably because every time I buy something I think about moving it in a couple of months. I did want a souvenir though, so I ended up getting some cute silver (100%, I'm told!) earrings that are tiny aztec calendars. I also wanted a fridge magnet, which I got. And then I kinda browsed for Spencer, but I didn't want to buy something for him just for the sake of getting him something. I didn't really see anything I thought he'd like so, I didn't get him anything. (I did end up getting him some little bottles of hot sauce in the airport on the way home.) AnnaMarie got a bunch of stuff for her kids. :) And got ripped off. I mean, she really got a deal on those hand-made, silver bracelets!! Regular price is $75, after all! I'm sure her kids will love the stuff. On the way back we got on a different color bus. I wasn't stopping at every stop, and I didn't see any buttons to press to let the driver know when to stop. We ended up not being sure quite how far the hotel was, but we didn't want to end up going way past it. We hopped off at one of the stops and then realized there was still quite a ways to go. It was a nice walk though, even in the light rain.
That night we went to a mix and mingle event for the conference. They had a mayan purification ritual or something. It probably would have been less boring if we could have understood anything they were saying. It was in English, but the speakers were too quiet and unclear. We mostly shook our big bean pods. We did get to try the different hors d'oeuvres and some virgin pina coladas though! Then we changed back into our swimsuits to use the hot tub with Dad and we took a walk down by the beach. Dad waded into the ocean a little and I found out that it was his first time! Yay, Dad! I wish we would have had time to swim in the ocean with him before we left, but he was busy with all of his meetings during the day.
On Friday we took a tour of Tulum! The bus left at like 7:15, so we got up and ready, got some lunch to take with us, and hit the road! Well, we actually sat on the bus forever as it stopped to pick up guests at each hotel. Then we hit the road! First we stopped to drop off some of the guests at a Xel-Ha tour, which looks like lots of fun, then we continued down the road to Tulum. The city was absolutely beautiful. Seeing sites like that always make me sad, in a way. I guess it's the tragic history, and I always wish that I could see the city back in its hay-day, with a busy market and ships coming in and out. Our tour was guided, but we ended up ditching the tour guide after he spent 30 minutes talking (and talking and talking) by a tree, and showed no signs of stopping. Plus, he'd do one sentence in English, then repeat it in Spanish. It was annoying to listen to, and tour guides usually annoy me anyway. We wandered around the site and took pictures. I read the signs that were up, but they weren't super informative. Anyway, the ruins were beautiful, and the city is built on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There was a small beach, but a different beach was part of our tour package, so we didn't bother going down to the one there. We spent the last 30 minutes of our time there looking at the souvenirs and haggling with the sellers. (AnnaMarie was haggling. I didn't need to buy anything.) AnnaMarie had a lot of fun using her Spanish. I could follow their conversations, which is a little surprising. I haven't ever really studied Spanish, but I guess I have acquired a lot of latin roots in my science classes. I think if I had a chance to be in an immersion situation with Spanish I'd be able to pick it up in a few months.
After that we met back up with the tour and got in the vans that took us to El Paraiso beach! It was a beautiful beach! Palm trees, white sand, and beautiful blue water. We had two hours there, so we changed, ate our lunches, and enjoyed the water! The water here was very calm, unlike the beach by our hotel. We brought our goggles with us, but there wasn't much to look at under the water. Just lots of fine, white sand. We did find a school of minnows though! We chased them around for a little while. I'm sure we looked ridiculous to anyone watching us. haha. We got out in time to dry off in the sun for a while before our van came to take us back to the hotel. I fell asleep for a little bit. :)
By the time we got back to the hotel it was almost 5, I think, and we had a bus leaving at 6:30 to go to the city plaza in Cancun with Dad and the Rotary folks. We showered off and met up with Dad. I think we all got a little snooze in before we had to leave. The bus we took ended up getting wedged into a turn with parked cars on either side. It was right next to the plaza though, so they just let us all off. The bus was within 2 inches of one of the cars, and it took a while for the police to guide them back out. Rotary had arranged some food and dancing at the plaza. I wasn't very impressed with the food, but that was okay because there were churro stands!! So we bought some churros and some fried banana chips-- possibly plantain chips, as they weren't sweet at all. The churros were super good! And then I got some fries and what I thought were hot dog pieces. The hot dog looking things tasted like hot dogs, but they had a weird spongy texture? I'm not sure what they were. I didn't eat all of them, though. :/ The dancing was good. I think it was put on by some community dance studio. There were little kid numbers, and then some teen-age numbers. It ended up going a bit long and we all had to leave when our buses came back, even though it was in the middle of a number. I felt bad, but there wasn't much I could do about it! By the time we got back we were ready to crawl into bed.
Saturday was our last day there. I got up early to have breakfast with Dad again, and I went to part of the first session with him. It ended up being really boring before it got to the part I was interested in (long term effects of youth exchange), and I left to find AnnaMarie. We spent some time in the pools and then I went back to the room to take a nap for a little while before lunch. For lunch AnnaMarie and I tried out the sports bar restaurant. Dad had lunch provided by the conference. I ended up getting the only thing that sounded appetizing -- a giant plate of nachos. haha. I just wasn't in the mood for anything else. They were good. We took the bus again in the afternoon to find a pharmacy and a few other things AnnaMarie still wanted to get.
That night was the closing banquet. We got all dressed up, and I did my hair the best I could manage with my limited supply of bobby pins. :) The food was so good. They had yummy little rolls, a soup, salad, a stake and twice-baked potato for the main course, and some pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. It was all very fancy, and it was presented beautifully. They put a saucer of fruity sauce down with the main dish, but none of us had any idea what it was for. It was for the stake. We're not as fancy as we seem. After the food they had an awards ceremony. Dad's district (he's the district chairman) earned a gold award! Yay, Dad!
We didn't have to leave for the airport until like 10 on Sunday morning, so we slept in a little bit. Everyone was a bit indecisive about what we were going to do, so I decided to take a shower. Then AnnaMarie decided to go down to the beach one last time. I guess it would have been nice to go to the beach again, but it was also nice to have a slow morning and get breakfast with Dad! I just wanted to spend my time with Dad, doing whatever he decided to do. I also think we were a little confused about how much time we had left because the clock in Dad's room was like 40 minutes fast. Anyway, I got all ready for the day, and Dad and I went to find breakfast together. We had quite a bit left on our room credit, so we went to the hotel's breakfast buffet! It costs $35 a person, but it was very good! Anything you could possibly want for breakfast was there. There was even a Japanese breakfast section, so I had waffles and bacon and fruit first, then went back for some rice, gyoza, and miso soup. Mmmm. It was nice to be with Dad and chat. I don't get to see him enough, and he was in meetings all day during our trip. Someday we'll take a real vacation together, Dad! :) I am so excited for him to come to Provo for graduation next month, though!
We got to the airport with plenty of time to get through security and get some food before we left. I was going to get a shake until I saw that it would be $10. No thanks. haha. Dad ended up buying a pizza and we all shared it. I ended up eating one more piece than was comfortable, but it was good because I didn't have time to buy anything during my layover, so I didn't have anything else to eat until I got home at 9 or 10 that night. My flights went well, and customs were faster in Houston than they were on the way in. That was good because I only had a 90 minute layover, and I was getting a little bit nervous. I got through customs only to realize that I had to go back through security again to make my connection! It's been a long time since I've traveled abroad. Then I had to take the tram to my terminal and walk through the forever long terminal to get to my gate which was, naturally, at the very far end of it. I got there a few minutes before they started boarding though, so it ended up working out just right. I slept on both of my flights back and was feeling anxious to get home to Spencer. Cancun was absolutely beautiful and it was so much fun to catch up with Dad and AnnaMarie, but I don't like being away from Spencer for that long. :)
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| Look Christy! She has pants like the ones you love in Chile! That is why we took this picture, and I felt like a creep, so I hope you appreciate it! |
Well, I got up really early on Wednesday so I could catch my 7 am flight out of Salt Lake. Spencer got up to drive me up to the airport. It was very early, but he got back by 7 so he didn't have to miss class or anything, and I think he even had time for a little nap. I mostly slept on the planes, though I got a little bit of my independent study course done, too. I had a layover in Houston, which is a HUGE airport, by the way. I had packed a lunch and snacks to tide me over through the trip to avoid buying expensive airport food. So I ate my sandwich and people watched while I waited at my gate. It's interesting to see how different people handle traveling with kids... Anyway, I got into Cancun at like 3:30, and waited in the forever-long line to get though customs. Then I kept following the hallway, looking for a place to sit and wait. There were none. No chairs anywhere! I eventually wandered out the exit, hoping there would be chairs outside. There weren't. And I wasn't allowed to go back inside, either. So, I waited and people watched some more. It was beautiful out, though, so that was lucky. Dad and AnnaMarie's flight was supposed to get in around 5:30, so I figured they'd show up by about 6:00. I think it was like 7:00 by the time they finally made it through customs. I found out that I only brought $4 in cash and there was no ATM by the airport. (What the heck??) So I couldn't even buy myself a dang can of Pringles from Little Margaritaville. Or whatever the bar conveniently located just outside the airport was called. It's okay, I survived. A couple people asked me why I was traveling to Cancun alone. Oh, you know me. Just looking for a good time... ;)
Dad and AnnaMarie finally came out and we found our shuttle to the hotel (Marriott Casamagna). After a little bit of confusion, but we got there. Apparently we didn't make it onto the shuttle list for some reason. The hotel was absolutely beautiful. Definitely the fanciest place I've ever stayed. We got checked in, dropped off our bags, waited (impatiently on my part -- I was starving! Hello.. pregnant, here.) for AnnaMarie to skype with Tyler, and FINALLY got some food. We went to the Japanese restaurant associated with the hotel. It was good. Then we gave ourselves a little tour of the hotel. It's all kind of open-air, and we could hear the ocean. :) By the time we went back to our room it was almost 11, so we went to bed.
AnnaMarie wanted to sleep in on Thursday, but I wanted to spend as much time with Dad as I could. Besides, I've had lots of time to sleep in lately. So I got up and ready, and we set out on a little Mexican adventure to find some breakfast. We wandered across the street to a convenience store and got some juices and donuts/pastries. Dad paid on his credit card and as we left, he was like, "I have no idea how much money we just spent." haha. Yep. Pesos are kind of confusing. The juice was really good and the donuts, well, they were convenience store donuts.
Dad went off to his meetings for the NAYEN conference, which is the whole reason we went. And the only reason Dad actually left the country (besides Canada). AnnaMarie and I had a lovely morning in the hot tubs and pools. At one point, we were looking at the beach and saw the lifeguard change the red flag to a yellow flag, so we went down and played in the ocean. It was pretty wavy, and it was so fun. And salty.
We found dad for lunch. We were planning on taking a bus into town to find a real Mexican restaurant, but Dad got out of his meetings late, and had NO interest in taking a city bus anywhere. AnnaMarie thinks she could have convinced him, but I don't think so. AnnaMarie may be stubborn when she wants to do something, but Dad is more stubborn when he doesn't want to do something. :) I was up for anything. We ended up getting lunch at a little cafe connected to the hotel, down by the beach. I got these seafood tostadas. The first one was good, but then I was over them. I should have gotten the quesadillas instead. It's hard to know what to order when you're pregnant. Stuff is good, then all of a sudden it isn't.
Dad went back to more meetings, and AnnaMarie and I took the bus down to a little flea market type place. I have been in a don't-buy-stuff mood lately, probably because every time I buy something I think about moving it in a couple of months. I did want a souvenir though, so I ended up getting some cute silver (100%, I'm told!) earrings that are tiny aztec calendars. I also wanted a fridge magnet, which I got. And then I kinda browsed for Spencer, but I didn't want to buy something for him just for the sake of getting him something. I didn't really see anything I thought he'd like so, I didn't get him anything. (I did end up getting him some little bottles of hot sauce in the airport on the way home.) AnnaMarie got a bunch of stuff for her kids. :) And got ripped off. I mean, she really got a deal on those hand-made, silver bracelets!! Regular price is $75, after all! I'm sure her kids will love the stuff. On the way back we got on a different color bus. I wasn't stopping at every stop, and I didn't see any buttons to press to let the driver know when to stop. We ended up not being sure quite how far the hotel was, but we didn't want to end up going way past it. We hopped off at one of the stops and then realized there was still quite a ways to go. It was a nice walk though, even in the light rain.
That night we went to a mix and mingle event for the conference. They had a mayan purification ritual or something. It probably would have been less boring if we could have understood anything they were saying. It was in English, but the speakers were too quiet and unclear. We mostly shook our big bean pods. We did get to try the different hors d'oeuvres and some virgin pina coladas though! Then we changed back into our swimsuits to use the hot tub with Dad and we took a walk down by the beach. Dad waded into the ocean a little and I found out that it was his first time! Yay, Dad! I wish we would have had time to swim in the ocean with him before we left, but he was busy with all of his meetings during the day.
On Friday we took a tour of Tulum! The bus left at like 7:15, so we got up and ready, got some lunch to take with us, and hit the road! Well, we actually sat on the bus forever as it stopped to pick up guests at each hotel. Then we hit the road! First we stopped to drop off some of the guests at a Xel-Ha tour, which looks like lots of fun, then we continued down the road to Tulum. The city was absolutely beautiful. Seeing sites like that always make me sad, in a way. I guess it's the tragic history, and I always wish that I could see the city back in its hay-day, with a busy market and ships coming in and out. Our tour was guided, but we ended up ditching the tour guide after he spent 30 minutes talking (and talking and talking) by a tree, and showed no signs of stopping. Plus, he'd do one sentence in English, then repeat it in Spanish. It was annoying to listen to, and tour guides usually annoy me anyway. We wandered around the site and took pictures. I read the signs that were up, but they weren't super informative. Anyway, the ruins were beautiful, and the city is built on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There was a small beach, but a different beach was part of our tour package, so we didn't bother going down to the one there. We spent the last 30 minutes of our time there looking at the souvenirs and haggling with the sellers. (AnnaMarie was haggling. I didn't need to buy anything.) AnnaMarie had a lot of fun using her Spanish. I could follow their conversations, which is a little surprising. I haven't ever really studied Spanish, but I guess I have acquired a lot of latin roots in my science classes. I think if I had a chance to be in an immersion situation with Spanish I'd be able to pick it up in a few months.
After that we met back up with the tour and got in the vans that took us to El Paraiso beach! It was a beautiful beach! Palm trees, white sand, and beautiful blue water. We had two hours there, so we changed, ate our lunches, and enjoyed the water! The water here was very calm, unlike the beach by our hotel. We brought our goggles with us, but there wasn't much to look at under the water. Just lots of fine, white sand. We did find a school of minnows though! We chased them around for a little while. I'm sure we looked ridiculous to anyone watching us. haha. We got out in time to dry off in the sun for a while before our van came to take us back to the hotel. I fell asleep for a little bit. :)
By the time we got back to the hotel it was almost 5, I think, and we had a bus leaving at 6:30 to go to the city plaza in Cancun with Dad and the Rotary folks. We showered off and met up with Dad. I think we all got a little snooze in before we had to leave. The bus we took ended up getting wedged into a turn with parked cars on either side. It was right next to the plaza though, so they just let us all off. The bus was within 2 inches of one of the cars, and it took a while for the police to guide them back out. Rotary had arranged some food and dancing at the plaza. I wasn't very impressed with the food, but that was okay because there were churro stands!! So we bought some churros and some fried banana chips-- possibly plantain chips, as they weren't sweet at all. The churros were super good! And then I got some fries and what I thought were hot dog pieces. The hot dog looking things tasted like hot dogs, but they had a weird spongy texture? I'm not sure what they were. I didn't eat all of them, though. :/ The dancing was good. I think it was put on by some community dance studio. There were little kid numbers, and then some teen-age numbers. It ended up going a bit long and we all had to leave when our buses came back, even though it was in the middle of a number. I felt bad, but there wasn't much I could do about it! By the time we got back we were ready to crawl into bed.
Saturday was our last day there. I got up early to have breakfast with Dad again, and I went to part of the first session with him. It ended up being really boring before it got to the part I was interested in (long term effects of youth exchange), and I left to find AnnaMarie. We spent some time in the pools and then I went back to the room to take a nap for a little while before lunch. For lunch AnnaMarie and I tried out the sports bar restaurant. Dad had lunch provided by the conference. I ended up getting the only thing that sounded appetizing -- a giant plate of nachos. haha. I just wasn't in the mood for anything else. They were good. We took the bus again in the afternoon to find a pharmacy and a few other things AnnaMarie still wanted to get.
That night was the closing banquet. We got all dressed up, and I did my hair the best I could manage with my limited supply of bobby pins. :) The food was so good. They had yummy little rolls, a soup, salad, a stake and twice-baked potato for the main course, and some pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. It was all very fancy, and it was presented beautifully. They put a saucer of fruity sauce down with the main dish, but none of us had any idea what it was for. It was for the stake. We're not as fancy as we seem. After the food they had an awards ceremony. Dad's district (he's the district chairman) earned a gold award! Yay, Dad!
We didn't have to leave for the airport until like 10 on Sunday morning, so we slept in a little bit. Everyone was a bit indecisive about what we were going to do, so I decided to take a shower. Then AnnaMarie decided to go down to the beach one last time. I guess it would have been nice to go to the beach again, but it was also nice to have a slow morning and get breakfast with Dad! I just wanted to spend my time with Dad, doing whatever he decided to do. I also think we were a little confused about how much time we had left because the clock in Dad's room was like 40 minutes fast. Anyway, I got all ready for the day, and Dad and I went to find breakfast together. We had quite a bit left on our room credit, so we went to the hotel's breakfast buffet! It costs $35 a person, but it was very good! Anything you could possibly want for breakfast was there. There was even a Japanese breakfast section, so I had waffles and bacon and fruit first, then went back for some rice, gyoza, and miso soup. Mmmm. It was nice to be with Dad and chat. I don't get to see him enough, and he was in meetings all day during our trip. Someday we'll take a real vacation together, Dad! :) I am so excited for him to come to Provo for graduation next month, though!
We got to the airport with plenty of time to get through security and get some food before we left. I was going to get a shake until I saw that it would be $10. No thanks. haha. Dad ended up buying a pizza and we all shared it. I ended up eating one more piece than was comfortable, but it was good because I didn't have time to buy anything during my layover, so I didn't have anything else to eat until I got home at 9 or 10 that night. My flights went well, and customs were faster in Houston than they were on the way in. That was good because I only had a 90 minute layover, and I was getting a little bit nervous. I got through customs only to realize that I had to go back through security again to make my connection! It's been a long time since I've traveled abroad. Then I had to take the tram to my terminal and walk through the forever long terminal to get to my gate which was, naturally, at the very far end of it. I got there a few minutes before they started boarding though, so it ended up working out just right. I slept on both of my flights back and was feeling anxious to get home to Spencer. Cancun was absolutely beautiful and it was so much fun to catch up with Dad and AnnaMarie, but I don't like being away from Spencer for that long. :)
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Spencer
So, I'm the only one who ever updates this blog, so it usually ends up being more about me and less about Spencer. So, here's a post about Spencer. :)
This semester, Spencer has his classes in the morning and works in the afternoon. I pick him up when he gets done with work. Lately, he's been bringing little candies back for me from the office. It always makes me smile. Plus, it's usually chocolate.
We usually start making dinner as soon as he's home. He's a great help in the kitchen, especially when I don't really know what to make for dinner. If he's not helping with dinner he stops by every once in a while to give me a hug and to thank me for making dinner.
He always thanks me for whatever I do around the house. Even if it's just a few dishes during the entire 7 hours he's gone.
He's taking bowling this semester, and he loves it. He always texts me his scores after class. He scored a 193 today! His goal is to break 200, and he's been getting consistently better, so he'll get it before the end of the semester.
He loves what he studies. I mean the microbiology part. He doesn't really love French history, but he does come home with some interesting facts every once in a while. I think he especially loves the parts that have to do with the immune system and how different pathogens get around it. I have a basic understanding of the immune system from taking physiology, but he knows a lot more about it than I do. He likes explaining to me how different pathogens work around our immune system, and how our immune system handles different pathogens. I usually keep up pretty well, but that's because he's good at explaining the parts I don't know about. :)
His favorite music group right now is Pentatonix.
He's a light sleeper. I've been up a lot in the middle of the night lately, usually running to the bathroom, and no matter how quiet I try to be he always wakes up. He never gets annoyed though. In fact, he usually will give me some snuggles to make sure I know he cares.
He never gets upset with me. Or with anything, really. Spencer keeps his cool, and sometimes he has to keep mine, too. ;-) Along the same lines, he doesn't ever really look excited about stuff. I've learned that it doesn't meant that he's not excited, it's just that jumping up and down out of excitement is the last thing Spencer would do. After my first prenatal appointment, he was like, if this is all they're going to do next time, do I need to come? He is excited about the baby though! He's also excited about our trip to France, but the only way you'd know is if you asked him.
Spencer is going to be a great dad. Seriously, he's so good with kids. I thought kids liked me until I starting hanging around kids with Spencer. Kids adore him. And he's always up for a game of whatever they can come up with. Besides that, Spencer never shies away from responsibilities or complains when I ask him to do something. He's never changed a diaper, but I'm sure he'll be a pro in no time.
I love Spencer, and I can't even imagine where I'd be right now without him. He is everything I ever could have asked for in a husband and friend. I'd better go finish packing now. Spencer's dropping me off at the airport early in the morning, and I'm going to Cancun for a long weekend with AnnaMarie and Dad!! There's a big Rotary leadership conference there for Dad, and there's a beach resort for me and AnnaMarie. :) I'll miss Spencer, but I cannot wait for the warm beach and some quality time with AnnaMarie and Dad!
Spencer's the best.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Everything is Falling into Place (through May)
The last couple of days we've been emailing an apartment owner in Marseille, and we've officially booked it for May! 2 weeks. We paid our down payment, and yesterday I booked our flights!! It's kind of scary to book flights like that, especially since they are so dang expensive. We were going to get flights with just one layover in Paris, but when I'd click on them to buy them they'd either go up in price or say they were no longer available. So then I tried to get another flight with 2 layovers one way, but Orbitz would keep saying it wasn't available anymore when I'd click select. I ended up giving up on Orbitz and bought them directly through Delta, but we got them in the end. We ended up getting tickets with 2 layovers each direction, but the layovers aren't too short or too long, and the tickets were a decent price. It's gonna be a long day of flying, no matter how we do it. So, yay! Our France trip is officially on!
Today I talked with our landlady when I went to pay rent and I let her know we'd be moving at the end of May (one month before our contract is up), and she was fine with that, so that's great. I thought we'd have to find a new renter, but she said she'll put an add up at the beginning of May. It'll fill, because apartments always fill quickly in Provo. So, we are now officially moving at the end of May. We'll probably pack most things up before our trip, then when we get back we'll mostly have to load up the trucks and hit the road.
For where, you ask? Well, probably for Spencer's family's house at first. The plan is to stay there while we find an apartment. I'm not signing a lease unless I see the place in person, and flying us both out for a weekend of apartment hunting would be too expensive. So, we'll leave our things in storage and stay with Mom and Dad until we can find a new place. Which hopefully won't take very long. I'm a little nervous about it though.
Medical school update. Spencer interviewed at Central Michigan University last month, and we found out on Tuesday that he was put on the wait list for them as well. I was having a little bit of an emotional morning to begin with, and burst out crying when he told me. I just really wanted to know where we were going, and I really want to go to CMU. Wayne State also informed us this week that Spencer's status as wait listed has not changed. So, we bought his plane ticket for an interview at Western a few weeks from now, and we continue to wait. And learn patience. Or something. I think it will probably be mid-May when we find out. May 15 is the deadline for students to declare which school they will be attending, so any students holding places at more than one school will have to tell the school they are not taking the slot. Those positions will be filled from wait lists. And hopefully Spencer will be offered one of them. Of course he could be offered a spot sooner than May or he could get into Western. So, we'll probably be in Kalamazoo, Detroit, or Mount Pleasant for medical school. If Spencer doesn't get into a school by the time we move, he'll start looking for a job, and we'll move to wherever he finds something.
Today I talked with our landlady when I went to pay rent and I let her know we'd be moving at the end of May (one month before our contract is up), and she was fine with that, so that's great. I thought we'd have to find a new renter, but she said she'll put an add up at the beginning of May. It'll fill, because apartments always fill quickly in Provo. So, we are now officially moving at the end of May. We'll probably pack most things up before our trip, then when we get back we'll mostly have to load up the trucks and hit the road.
For where, you ask? Well, probably for Spencer's family's house at first. The plan is to stay there while we find an apartment. I'm not signing a lease unless I see the place in person, and flying us both out for a weekend of apartment hunting would be too expensive. So, we'll leave our things in storage and stay with Mom and Dad until we can find a new place. Which hopefully won't take very long. I'm a little nervous about it though.
Medical school update. Spencer interviewed at Central Michigan University last month, and we found out on Tuesday that he was put on the wait list for them as well. I was having a little bit of an emotional morning to begin with, and burst out crying when he told me. I just really wanted to know where we were going, and I really want to go to CMU. Wayne State also informed us this week that Spencer's status as wait listed has not changed. So, we bought his plane ticket for an interview at Western a few weeks from now, and we continue to wait. And learn patience. Or something. I think it will probably be mid-May when we find out. May 15 is the deadline for students to declare which school they will be attending, so any students holding places at more than one school will have to tell the school they are not taking the slot. Those positions will be filled from wait lists. And hopefully Spencer will be offered one of them. Of course he could be offered a spot sooner than May or he could get into Western. So, we'll probably be in Kalamazoo, Detroit, or Mount Pleasant for medical school. If Spencer doesn't get into a school by the time we move, he'll start looking for a job, and we'll move to wherever he finds something.
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