The past several weekends have been filled with fun and adventure!
First, I quit my day job at Mailboxes, Etc. It was ...interesting while it lasted, but I finally got to the point where lifting boxes, packing things, and squeezing my way around the place got to be a bit too much. I must admit, though, the job gave me a better understanding of some of the people in this great country of ours. Little old ladies would come in and proclaim how they saw Obama on the TV and he promised to create thousands of jobs for the people (if only...). Others would come in wondering why they didn't get free shipping to return the item they bought from the ad on the TV; "But on the TV it said I could return it for free!" (said with quite the missing-a-few-teeth accent). I really hated it when the smokestacks would come in though. One of the favorite quotes from a customer is "Oh, do you have mailbox rentals here?" Um, did you see the neon sign on the front of the store? or the
name of the store? or the
wall of mailboxes right when you walk in? Oh, the joys of working with the public.
One of the may things I "got" to pack while I was there. Who wants to guess what it is?
One weekend we were able to head down to Springfield, IL (the state capital). It's not especially large, but we had fun touring Lincoln's home there and learning more about that great President.
Here we are in front of the Lincoln home. (yes, I'm still preggo and getting bigger)
The following weekend, we went to California to celebrate my brother's wedding. It was
wonderful to be able to go out and spend time with my family and enjoy the amazing California weather! We had a slight mishap with the flights out to CA, but it worked out well because we were able to get our own private area with only two seats, fully reclining seats, leg/foot rests, and a curtain to block out the other passengers. This was a blessing for me, being about 32 weeks pregnant during the flight.
This is our little area (I promise, it was cool even though this picture doesn't do it justice).
Braden took one of the family cats Simba for a "walk" in the backyard at my parents' house. (Notice the beautiful blue sky and the fact that he is wearing shorts and a t-shirt at about 8am...it was gorgeous there!)
Outside of the Oakland Temple, waiting for the happy new couple to come out.
(I don't have a very good picture of them, but they were very cute and happy to be married.)
We are thrilled for you two, Terrill and Emily!
Alas, we couldn't stay in California forever. We decided to make the most of the fact that there was snow everywhere when we returned to Illinois by going to the movies on Thursday. The theater was almost empty. Going to a movie on a Thursday night, during a recession, definitely the way to go.
The ticket master at the theater gave Braden and I 3-D glasses for our movie.
Braden tested them out, just to make sure the movie
wasn't actually 3-D. It wasn't. We don't know why we got the glasses, but Braden looks good, huh?
7 weeks to go! (This was two weeks ago)
Braden has been such a good sport during this whole pregnancy. He puts up with my 4-5 pillows taking over the bed at night; luckily he can sleep through just about anything (hopefully our little girl gets his sleeping abilities!). Then there are many nights that I just don't want to make dinner. He happily offers to make something come 7:30 when we still haven't eaten anything and he realizes that if he wants a dinner he's going to take the initiative. He doesn't complain that every trip we take also involves a trip to a baby store or two. He lets me buy and eat tons of fresh fruit (even if it mean he doesn't get more than two bites). He is putting up with the mess in our "baby room" - with the stacks of different sizes of baby clothes all over the bed and our awesome new stroller in the middle of the room and pregnancy books everywhere. Braden gives me wonderful back and foot rubs when I ache. He ties my shoes for me now because I suffocate a little when I try to reach them. He is absolutely the best husband ever. I can't believe that I am lucky enough to be able to call him mine. We have a couple of unkowns in our life right now (like where we are going to live in June...) but I know that we can do anything together. Braden is truly a rock and helps keep my worries in check. I love him so much and am so excited we get to be parents together! I love you, Dimples!
Braden made an end-table for our living room in our kitchen for our anniversary. Isn't he awesome?!
I apologize for the grainy photo (it was taken from my phone while I was on the scooter) (I was stopped - don't worry), but yes that is a goose nesting in the parking lot!!! I couldn't help but notice the similarities to my own home...
And of course I would be the valiant goose protecting his gander and unborn gosling from like SUV's and dudes on scooters taking pictures... 5 more weeks and I'll be a daddy! That beautiful gal nesting in the comfy-sac will be a mommy! And we'll have our own little... gosling? Okay this metaphor is getting weird. But seriously, we are having a little girl!!!
Notice the passenger blinker - now that's what we call midwestern ingenuity! Run over a deer and smash your blinker? No problem! Just bungy-strap an orange Nalgene bottle next to the head-light and you're as good as new.
I almost yelled for airport security, but then I realized he was just filling his water bottle. I don't know why they put the button so low, but needless to say, it gave me a chuckle and I thought I'd share.
