Jack-o-Lanterns and Dirty Viggo

Carving jack-o-lanterns is dirty buisness, especially if you want to do something more than a simple face. Saturday night we stayed up late (3am) watching Lord of the Rings and carving pumpkins. Good times. It was perfect timing too because the pumpkins kept the house lit the next day when the power went out for about an hour. Sadly, they have already passed away and had to be thrown out. RIP

Because NBC told me to...

On October 17 we attended the Samsung world cup of short track speed skating. We arrived in time to see two really good wipe outs and a lot of good races. Watching it live, you see lots of tactics that don't really come out from watching it on TV. We did get to see Apollo Anton Ohno and, he is everything the Olympics made him out to be. I wondered if he really was very good or just the product of NBC Olympic highlights. The highlights however, can be trusted. He is that good. No, I do not like him because NBC told me to.

Time or Money?

As Brad always says most things come down to time or money. So which of those things do you need more? Apparently I value money more than my time because although I appreciate being able to save money by carpooling, I've been waking up way, way too early for the past month and a half. Contract time for school is 8:10 to 3:50. But because I am carpooling with other teachers who want to be to school by 7:30 at the latest (and generally don't leave their rooms until 4 or later) I've been spending a lot of time in the teacher's lounge. The past few mornings I've gone straight to the lounge and laid down on the big leather couch and gone back to sleep for 45 minutes (students don't show up until 8:40) and sometimes an hour. But this morning I spent some time in the faculty bathroom snapping photos of myself and my big old belly.

On a non-school related note...I have a new favorite food joint called Sammy's. Tonight I had a great chicken sandwich with avocado and provolone cheese. And the best part are their real-pie shakes. They literally fill a cup with icecream and then put a real piece of pumpkin pie on top and mix it all together...needless to say it is DELICIOUS.

In other events: we saw the amazing Chinese Acrobats at BYU. They did the whole deal, body contortions, plate spinning, lion dance, and amazing men's acrobatics. It was a very entertaining evening. We also saw a dance show called "Thriller" at the new Covey center. They were incredibly talented dancers. And coming up this Friday we are going to the Olympic trials for speed skating in Sandy. And if I weren't so pregnant we would go to the corn maze at Thanksgiving Point. However, as you can see from the pictures I have become enormous and walking much more painful to my back and hips. Anyways, anyone who is in Provo should stop by Sammy's and get a real-pie shake.

Oh, one last thing...I have a 5 day weekend starting today. The kids have a fall break starting Thursday and coming back to school on Tuesday, so I too get a fall break. This means I get a 5 day weekend then only have 4 more days of teaching...then I'm done. Done, done! My TESOL minor class that I am taking this semester also got shortened by 2 weeks because my professor is awesome. This means I am done with my class next week. And finally, my TESOL practicum that I did in tandem with student teaching is almost done as well. I have to finish 2 more write ups and go to an exit interview and then I'm done with that. So, all-in-all I will be completely finished with school by the end of next week! Done, done with school...forever!!!

Oh, and did I mention I'm only five weeks away from our Due Date? Hip-Hip-Hooray!!!

Monkey Bun Success!!!

So, it's conference weekend and I have as yet never made Brad my families "sticky buns" (I like to call them monkey buns because it's a combo of "monkey bread" and "sticky buns" plus it's just funny). So I called my mom last night and got the recipe. After compiling all the ingredients and leaving them on the counter sit out over night (as I was directed) I get a phone call from my mom. Curiously, I answer the phone. She promptly tells me that my little bro', Matt, had just texted her asking if what I had done to the rolls was the correct way to do it. Both my husband and brother have very little faith (well, honestly, I should include myself in that group) in my baking abilities. I believe that somewhere early on in the blog Brad posted my angel food cake experience, see that for proof of my bad baking. Anyways, I woke up this morning nervous to get my buns in the oven. I walked into the kitchen and was horrified to find my buns spilling out over the edge of my bundt pan! My mom told me to only worry about this if my kitchen was too hot, so I made sure to keep them away from any heat producing appliance, safely tucked away on the counter.
But I was not going to give up! I immediately turned the oven on to get it pre-heating, chopped off the top of the buns that were overflowing and anxiously waited for a hot oven. Once I finally got them in the oven the 30 minutes that they were baking seemed like an eternity. I was thrilled when I went to the oven and found them cooked and smelling delicious. As we sat down to eat Matt told me that my monkey buns were better than moms sticky buns!!! I had purposely put lots of walnuts and doubled the sauce recipe...more sugar=better. I guess mom wanted her buns to be less horrible for our bodies.

What a Great Day!

We had a great Saturday. For the first time ever I got onto craigslist. Why, you ask? I was in search of a pack 'n play for Ruth. I already knew the exact kind I was looking for, priced at $109 on Graco.com. I was just hoping to find a great deal. What I found instead was the pack 'n play with bassinet and changing table as well as the Graco stroller and car seat combo for a total of $175!!! (Normally the stroller and car seat with base for the car would be $230 if bought new from the store) So, I basically found the deal of a lifetime! Brad and I went to pick it up immediately and were ecstatic to find that everything had been very gently used, hardly any scratches or wear and tear. And all of it had only been used for a year. So, I've included a picture of my wonderful new Graco baby gear.

After we got home from our baby shopping excursion we went to the Bridal Veil Falls film festival to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was skeptical because lots of people say it's a weird movie. Also because my older brother and dad both really like it and they also like things like Star Trek, Battle Star Gallactica and Star Gate SG-1. However, it was amazing. It's not the kind of movie you watch when you want an enthralling action movie, but it is very thought provoking. Really, what does that black monolith represent: innovation, inspiration, possibility? And the experience of watching a movie outdoors, stars above, waterfall behind (and this time we showed up early enough to sit on a couch!) is so wonderful and relaxing.

I've also included a picture I took of myself in the faculty bathroom on Friday. I was bored and had shown up really early to school...and was feeling cute in my green sweater so I snapped a few pictures in the mirror, enjoy.

30 Weeks Pregnant

I am officially 30 weeks pregnant which means I only have 10 weeks left to go! This is exciting and also terrifying; exciting because I will no longer be pregnant and terrifying because of how it will end, i.e. labor. I've already begun having strange labor dreams. The other night I had a dream Ruth came out as a boy and Brad was totally MIA. In another dream I gave birth in a waiting room surrounded by strangers. My student teaching is going well, although I'm very ready to be done with school. Brad is totally rocking his philosophy classes this semester and they've been really fun to hear about.

In other family news, Matthew (my little bro) is living with us for the semester as he settles into Provo and BYU living. It's been fun to have him around and make delicious guacamole for our snacking pleasure. Brad has especially enjoyed him since they stay up late together playing video games. Brad and Matt are also taking a French and Italian film class together to fulfill their arts GE. I feel like they see each other more than I see either of them since I'm up in Midvale all day every day.

Anyways, I've included a couple pictures of myself as the enormously pregnant lady that I have become, enjoy!

Wait a minute...

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the bug people should know better?

Reunion at the Pinnacles

August 8th and 9th we attended the Hall family reunion at the strawberry pinnacles between Roosevelt and Heber City UT.
We drove up the afternoon of the 8th thinking we would arrive late. We were actually some of the first. For activities we ate, played horseshoes, had a rubber duck race, had an auction, conversed and swam. A popular item was the rope swing tied to the tree near the river. We spent the night in the loft of a little cabin on the resort. It rained most of the time. Right after we left, my father called to inform us that there had been a flash flood and the river had delivered 25 ft logs and some stairs. Nate lost his wedding ring on a wild swing into the river. Sadly, unlike Kerry Walsh who had Olympic appointed Chinese men to dig for it, Nate would not recover his. I guess that means that Kristen will have to propose again... All in all we had a great time and were happy to get outside. Katie did about what she does here.

Noticing The World Around Us

This is a can of chile. This can of chile when translated says: "Chili with meat with beans". One might say that my exposure to Mexican foods and phrases is simply the result of the location of my upbringing. I can agree with this but have to wonder why a national company doesn't have a single member of the staff that would look at that and say, "that's funny, why don't we just call it Chili con carne y frejoles, or Chili with meat and beans?" Nobody did and so here I am talking about it. I like to think that maybe there was a battle in the upper reaches of the company bureaucracy between a white man and a Latino. After much blood was spilled and lives were put in the balance, a white flag was raised and a compromise was made. Being a western family, love and compromise was essential for their happiness. The compromise is what you see on the can in the picture: Spanglish.

I remember returning from my mission in Brazil and hearing about the Atkins Diet that had swept the country during my absence. I laughed to myself. The trend however has only increased. To the right is an advertisement for nutrisystem. What I would like to bring to attention is the asterisks next to "Amy lost 23 lbs". you look at the note and it says "results not typical". To me this can mean one of two things: 1. people typically loose more or 2. they loose less. Which do you think it is? Good for Amy*

*Amy has an abnormally high metabolism and an experienced personal trainer. Do not attempt to compare yourself to her body type, nor natural appearance. Amy was chosen from a large group of failures to represent the company in this ad. Amy was also chosen as she is just prettier than the rest of the participants. The hamburger in the ad is actual size.

Santa Fe Vacation!

After the doctor appointment we rushed to the pharmacy to refill my pre-natal vitamins, stopped by campus to drop off my final, made a pit-stop at the house, the gas station and Subway and we were on the road to New Mexico by 1:30. (To re-cap the events to give a concise picture of what my day was like: Wake up in Portland at 4:30 am, go to airport arrive at 5:30, flight back to SLC 6:50, throw up twice, arrive in SLC at 9:30, drive immediately to Dr's appointment arrive at 11:30, pharmacy stop at noon, campus stop at 12:15, previously mentioned stops between 12:30 and 1:30, driving until 11:30 pm, complete exhaustion and bed 11:35 pm.) Highlights of our trip include: bunny pancakes with Paula and Lydia, Blue Corn Cafe, finding out Tecolote isn't good food (like the Food Network portrayed), eating at the Pantry, meeting up with Brad's friend Mikel Evans at the Pyramid Cafe, Isotopes Baseball game, watching Kung Fu Panda with the family, Brad eating at Blake's, my massage, eating at Maria's with Brian and Tia, playing with Ben and Lydia, going to story time with Tia and the kids, go to the Talent's house for a BBQ with Brian and Tia, Tia's and my adventure at Olive Garden, Brad's sharing of things he has learned in philosophy with his mom, not having to answer the phone or door (like we do at the motel), sleeping in and enjoying time with the family. The one major downside is that there is no air conditioning anywhere which is a big change for Brad and I since we blast the air all day in our apartment. This is one of the main reasons for the adventure Tia and I had at Olive Garden.
After we had all gone to the dark, cool movie theater to watch Kung Fu Panda we came home to a very hot house. Tia and I were both starving and roasting to death and both a little grumpy because of these two situations. No one else seemed to be hungry or bothered by the heat. I quickly realized that no one was very eager to cook anything because they were not hungry and it would make the house just that much hotter. Brad told me that I should take the gift card we got from my parent's for his birthday and take Tia and go to Olive Garden (I was also specifically craving pasta). So, I suggested this to Tia who loved the idea. So we grabbed Ben, without putting pants on him, and ran out the door...we could not wait to be somewhere cool and to be eating some yummy pasta. Once we got there we had a very friendly waitress named Sara. She could tell it was a girl's night out so she pushed the alcohol really hard. We had to refuse several different offers of wine and margaritas, etc. It was funny aside from the fact that we would have refused seeing that I'm pregnant and Tia is nursing and we were trying to stay within the budget of a $25 gift card. To Sara's dismay we both ordered water. Then Sara went into her sales pitch for appetizers, which we again refused repeatedly...we only had $25 to spend! So she finally asked for our order and we both got delicious pasta dishes. We ate bread sticks and soup and salad and talked and told stories and vented our problems and frustrations. We were having such a good time. We worked our way through our pasta dishes that were so yummy and we were both so happy to be eating and to not be dying of heat that we didn't ever think about the bill that was soon to arrive at our table. But come it did, and then a horrible realization hit both of us...what if the bill is more than $25?! I didn't even think about bringing my wallet, I didn't bring anything with me! Tia made the same confession...neither of us had any money, or a cell phone, or pants for the baby! We had been so eager to get out of the house that we had forgotten that you typically need money to pay for services rendered! I picked up the black folder that contained the bill, flipped it open and discovered that we had overspent by 58 cents. Tia ran out to her car to see if she had any spare change...none. And because neither of us had brought our phones, Tia had to get in the car and leave me alone at the table as she ran home to get her debit card to pay the extra 58 cents on our bill. I sat there, hoping that the waitress wouldn't walk by, but of course she did. I lied to Sara, I told her that Tia went to the bathroom to feed Ben and that she was paying so it would be a few minutes until she could take the bill. Finally, Tia returned, and we made our escape from Olive Garden with images of us washing dishes left behind. As we drove home we giggled about how silly we were and then saw a perfect bumper sticker to explain what had happened, it read: "I do not suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it." We plead insanity from heat, hunger and being pregnant/a mom of 2.
Also on our trip we all enjoyed a pleasant night out at the ball game! We drove to Albuquerque to watch an Isotopes baseball game. They were playing the Cubs. We didn't eat dinner before hand so we got hotdogs and hamburgers and pizza along with huge drinks and ice cream...it was a great game. Once the sun had gone down we really enjoyed the breeze and the 75 degree weather too. It was really refreshing to be able to sit outside, which is something I have really missed since we've worked at the motel. And our home team even won by 4 points, go Topes!
Our plan was to leave Sunday morning so we would be back in Provo Sunday night. But when we got up the trip had just felt too short. So, Brad borrowed some church clothes (I had brought a dress) and we went to church and spent the rest of the day relaxing with the whole family. It was the perfect way to end our vacation. Unfortunately what it meant for Monday is that we had to get up at 3 am to make it back to Provo in time for Brad to get to class. So up we got, and we made it home by 1, finishing the trip the way we had started it...with a Subway sandwich.

Baby Ruth

After my "Flight-o-Puke" on June 17th, Brad and I had a very busy day planned. My plane landed in SLC at 9:30 so we had to grab my bag and hurry back to Provo so we could go to my Dr.'s appointment which was at 11:30. This is the appointment that I've been waiting for because it is the 20 week appointment where you get an ultrasound done and they hopefully tell you what gender your baby is! We arrived in Provo around 11 and went straight to the office hoping that they would just let us right in. We ended up sitting around for a few minutes but it was fine. We went in and the ultrasound started and the sonographer said, "Are you sure you are 5 months?" I said I thought so, but wasn't positive. She double checked dates and said, "You're suppose to be 21 weeks but the baby is small." This made me nervous and the pause that followed this seemed to last forever. Then she said that she would just re-do the dates and make measurements to ensure she was right. She measured the femur and said from that measurement there was no way this baby was 21 weeks. She said I was only 17 weeks along which meant my due date is now November 20th. Both Brad's and my immediate reaction was relief and acceptance. Having a later due date means that I will finish my student teaching by Halloween and then have 3 weeks to relax and prepare for the arrival of the baby! I also won't have to worry about going into labor while up in Jordan and then trying to get back to Provo in time to get to a hospital. The sonographer said she was really surprised that we were happy about a later due date, that most mom's are totally bummed that they have longer to go than expected. After she said that I was a little bummed because it means I am no longer half way through this, but in the end it's only 3 more weeks and those three weeks are truly a blessing. Then the sonographer asked if we wanted to know the gender (of course) so she would try to find out even though it was a little early to tell for sure. She explained to us everything she saw and said it's a girl. Then she suggested that if I wanted to go baby shopping to keep the receipts so we could return stuff if we found otherwise in a month when I come back for my real 5 month ultrasound. So, in essence, a trained professional said her best educated guess was that we're having a girl. We've decided that, if indeed it is a girl, her name will be Ruth. We haven't decided on a middle name quite yet, but we're very excited for Baby Ruth to come! This picture is of her head, on the far left, and her ribs in the very middle, and then her forearm and hand above the ribs like she's sucking on her thumb. (The clear white parts are bones!) The sonographer also told us that the baby is now the size of 2 sticks of butter. So forget the whole turnip image for 18 week mark...a professional told me it was two sticks of butter, not a turnip!

Katie's Oregon Vacation

As previously mentioned I went on a wonderful week long trip to Oregon, sadly leaving my husband behind in Provo to finish his finals. (I was lucky enough to have a professor who gave me the study guide and final to take with me...it was a closed note final too!) I was worried about flying mostly because I have been so sick with my pregnancy, but my first flight was uneventful. I arrived Tuesday night, June 10th and spent a very relaxing week with my wonderful family. I realized while there how lucky I am to have such a great family that I love so much. How cool is it that I get along with both of my brothers, my sister-in-law, and my parents! The first full day I got my hair cut and dyed, and then went to the Chinese Gardens with my bros. We also went to the Pita Pit for lunch where I had the best philly steak sandwich ever! Then we went back to Tigard to meet up with Megan who was getting off work. We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and had a great time eating and chatting. Then we went back to play a fun game called "Last Word." The next couple days were not as eventful but it was so great to sit around and talk with my mom about anything and everything. Grandma Lents arrived Friday; everyone thought she was flying in at 8 PM but we got a wake up of our lives when Aunt Sandy called at 8 AM and said that grandma was already on the plane! Luckily dad and I got to the airport in time, although all the walking made me fill pretty sick. Friday night grandma took us out to Olive Garden for dinner for father's day after which we went to an office supply store to buy graduation presents for Matt and Joe. (Matt graduated from high school June 6 and Joe the next day). While there I had a moment of genius and remembered that Brad loves a specific brand of clicky pens that are impossible to find in Utah. I have tried to find these pens for him on several different occasions, i.e. Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries, without ANY luck. Needless to say I was thrilled beyond belief when I found a box of 12 of these pens in this store. (I gave him the pens when he picked me up from the airport as a Father's Day present...he was nearly speechless!)
Saturday was Joe's graduation from PSU. The plan was to wake up early and be gone by 7 am. Unfortunately the nature of morning sickness is that I am generally sick in the mornings, which made our graduation plan dubious. I had all intentions of going and suffering through, because by now I wasn't vomiting EVERY morning. Unfortunately as I got up this was not to be a non-vomiting morning...and I didn't feel any better once I had. I really wanted to go but the idea of sitting in an auditorium from 8am to at least 1pm seemed very difficult, so my family went off without me and I slept until 11. When I woke up I was feeling much better so I made a fun "welcome home" poster for the boys and brought down the candy posters that I had hidden in my room. (Mom had the great idea to make funny happy graduation posters for the boys using candy bars. Friday night mom, grandma and I made up the posters) I also wrapped their presents. By the time I finished all this everyone was arriving home. We spent the rest of the day eating, playing Settlers and watching silly movies.
Monday was another especially fun day because mom, Matt and I went shopping! We went over to Target and found lots of fun maternity clothes. It was kind of weird because I've been able to comfortably wear my normal clothes until just this week, now if I want to wear my normal jeans I have to keep them unbuttoned!
Tuesday morning was my flight out of Portland. I was very sad to go because the week had flown by so quickly, but I was really excited to see Brad again. The unfortunate part about all this was that I had bought the cheapest ticket home which meant my flight was leaving at 6:50 am, which meant leaving the house no later than 5. By some luck I was actually feeling okay that morning when I got up so I ate some toast, hugged everyone then dad and Matt took me off to the airport. As I was standing in line waiting to check my bag I started feeling queasy. By the time we took off I was feeling really dizzy and horribly nauseous. As we were ascending I pulled out the Target bag from my purse. I opened it up, leaned forward in my seat and pulled the bag over my head so no one could see my face. Needless to say that was one of the most embarassing moments so far in my life. (I forgot to mention that the flight was packed so I was surrounded by people who all got to hear the show.) The mortified girl next to me pushed the call button for the flight attendent who I told loudly,"I'm pregnant" then more quietly said, "I just threw up." I lifted my bag which she snatched and ran back up the aisle. A minute later she returned with another garbage bag a huge pile of napkins and some water. A woman across the aisle looked at me and said, "It's okay, the same thing just happened to my daughter." After this I felt fine for about 30 minutes. Then we began to descend into SLC and for some reason the change made my stomach very upset. So I grabbed for the bag the flight attendant had brought and once again pulled it over my head. I heaved and heaved and this time everyone tried to keep their conversations going and not stare at me, which I appreciated. But for some reason the girl didn't push the button so once I was done I pushed it and had to sit there with my bag of puke until the attendant showed up. She once again whisked the bag away and brought me a replacement. So the beginning of my day was pretty bad, but the rest of it was nice. Read the above entries to see why I say so.

17-18 weeks Pregnant!

Well, the news as far as pregnancy goes is that I've been sick as a dog for about a month now, with increasing bouts of vomiting. The good news is that I'm pregnant! I was searching the web to figure out how big my baby is and found a great picture to depict what is going on in my belly; yes, my baby is now the size of a turnip! I wake up each morning and the first thing I do (when I don't run to the bathroom first) is rub my tummy and it seriously feels like it's getting bigger each day! It's wonderful and we can't wait for the baby to come. On June 17 (the day I get back from my Oregon vacation) Brad and I get to go to the doctor's for the ultrasound and hopefully find out (as my mom would say) the flavor of the baby! YAY! In other wonderful news we found out this last weekend that my wonderful brother and his wife are also pregnant and due sometime in January! Congrats!

Brad's B-day, Mother's Day and Upcoming Anniversary

Brad's birthday was sort of uneventful this year, but we still had an enjoyable day. As far as presents go he got a ticket to go see the reunion tour of the Stone Temple Pilots (the concert is while I'm off in Oregon) and I got him a grab bag of silly gifts like his favorite candies and a controller to play video games on the computer. On the day of his birthday we went cavorting around Provo. The highlight of this was definitely on our way to lunch at the mall. I had been feeling pretty sick while we wandered around Wal-Mart and the Game Stop. But as we pulled up to the mall (where the Old Spaghetti Factory is) I was feeling awful. We headed straight for the bathrooms but I didn't quite make it inside. Approximately 10 feet before the ladies room was a strategically placed garbage can that I utilized to empty my nauseous stomach. It was very embarassing, and poor Brad stood there not knowing what to do. Luckily, after splashing my face with some water and rinsing out my mouth I felt okay, so we went to lunch and enjoyed the rest of the birthday afternoon. That night we also went to see Iron Man which we enjoyed.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I am a mother to be (tomorrow I will officially be 4 months pregnant!). I hadn't even thought a thing about Mother's Day, maybe it's just because I'm used to thinking about my mother on this day, not myself. But Brad surprised me with a wonderful gift yesterday and this morning told me to be expecting the second gift! Wow, I really am going to be a mom! (We think we're having a girl, in which case her name will be Ruth Lydia Laws. We were having a hard time coming up with a good middle name and finally decided to name her after her adorable cousin Lydia, Brian and Tia's daughter.)
Our anniversary is May 20th, this will be two whole years that we've been married, wow! There is a band that we really like called Teitur, and they just happen to be playing in Provo on the 20th! So, that is our activity of choice on our anniversary. So, these are all the updates for now.

Katie Shines Bright

Today we got Katie's Praxis test results. She got 190 out of 200!! It came with a certificate of excellence as Katie scored in the top 15%of all who have ever taken it! That is very good for Katie.