Christmas pic's

Here are some pic's from Christmas in Kansas. We had a great time visiting w/ family and friends. It was busy, as usual. These are only a few pic's - I put most of them up on Facebook.

(Here's my nephews and nieces - cute little boogers! They must be singing "Away in the Manger")

(Jamie's mom flew to Kansas and spent Christmas w/ us - what a treat!)

(me and my best friend from childhood, Jenny. She's due in April)

(We had a "cousin night" on my mom's side of the family - the Swartz's. This is just part of us, some of the cousins were missing that night). We're constantly growing too. If we include the kids, there are over 80 people in my immediate family on my mom's side)

(the belly shot - need I say more?!) :)
p.s. here I am at 19 weeks

The most memorable moment at Christmas:
While Jamie and I were stopped at a gas station on our drive home to Kansas, I was leaving the Ladies Room when a young boy, around the age of 10, practically ran into me. We did the little dance where we were trying to get past each other, but to my horror he didn't make it. He puked right in front of me and I had to witness it all. Luckily I was not hit with any of the flying debris!! :) (you're welcome to all of you who have a weak stomach)

Updates...

Here's a few pictures to give you all an update...

(12.12.08 - this is us for our "traditional" family picture in front of the mantel) :)

(our sweet tree we got from Craig's List for a great price. It stands 7.5 feet high and
4 feet wide!!)

(12.13.08 - at Joy's work party. We're wearing our Christmas ties that we got from the thrift store. Apparently we didn't get the memo that it was formal dress attire that night. oops.) :)

(12.16.08 - We went to Copper Mtn so Jamie could learn to ski. Up until the day before we left, I was planning to ski too, but we (unfortunately and fortunately) went to our regular doctors appointment for a baby check-up and they pretty much kicked that idea out the door. :( I went ahead and went w/ the group so I could hang out, but it was still hard not be out on the slopes. Jamie did a great job (thanks Chris)!! Check out his skiing video on his facebook. The good thing is, now we'll be able to ski as a family in the future!!)

(Jamie looking like a pro already!)

(friends from church that we went skiing with: Crissie, Chris, Tim, Allison, Peter (Tim's brother visiting for the weekend)

12 Days of Christmas

I heard this on the radio on my way to work, thought I'd share it with you. I enjoyed it!!
Merry Christmas! Watch this.

Christmas is comin'!!!

I love this time of the year: putting up Christmas decor, eating foods that only come around at Christmas, seeing family and friends that you don't normally get to see, and Christmas parties!!!
This year we've got a lot of parties on our calendar; most of them are one's in which we need to bring "white-elephant gifts" to - I love it!!! Last night, we went to a party and had a great time. Deena went w/ us and the gift she got was someone's great, great-grandmother's hair!! It was so funny. (but not to Deena!!)
Jamie and I hit the thrift store this past weekend and found a pretty sweet gift to take to another party next weekend. I better not say what it is right now.

Well, we got our Christmas tree up!! I'll try and take some pictures soon. I got it off of Craigs List for $50!! The lady we bought it from moved from a large house to a condo, so she just didn't have room for the 7.5 foot (high) by4 feet (wide) pre-lit (white lights) Christmas tree. In all honesty - I didn't expect it to be SO big! I convinced Jamie it would fit in our place...and it did, after we completely rearranged our living room and pushing our couch 5 inches from the TV. It fits! :)

We're headed to Kansas for Christmas. Unfortunately, the prices to fly to Mississippi were outrageous and we couldn't justify paying that much to only stay for 5 days. But we're pretty excited that Jamie's mom is going to come to Kansas and spend Christmas w/ my family.

Well, not much else is going on. The belly is growing slowly but surely. I have yet to buy maternity pants. I wouldn't have made it this far w/ out the belly bands!! We did go to Target the other day and I tried on a few pair, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $30 for one pair.
I will say that I surprised myself by (accidentally) putting on a pair of size 2 jeans. I don't say that to brag - but I was utterly shocked b/c now is the time I feel the biggest!!! Needless to say, I didn't buy them - even though they were on the sales rack - because they were the maternity pants that had the elastic on the side and I don't think those are very comfy. ??? I actually prefer the band at the top of the pants b/c i feel like it's holding everything in place.

Jamie's in his last week of classes this semester. Finals begin Monday. He's had a hard semester - mostly b/c he did it to himself by taking 8 classes. :( But he's done a great job in balancing time w/ studying, spending time w/ me, and other responsibilities (w/ church and stuff). I'm proud of him for working so hard!! He's such a good student.
You can do it, honey!!! Keep up the good work.

Thanksgiving 2008

Here's some pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend in Kansas and Missouri

(niece: Isis, sis: Melody, and myself)

(niece: Katelynn, nephew: Paul, sis-in-law: Gina, brother: Tony, myself)

(me and my cat, Reuben)

(Jamie and I at Silver Dollar City in Branson)

part of the fam (Tony, Mel, Jamie, Me, Isis, and Mom)

playin' the Wii

Here it is!! (And yes, some of it is from Thanksgiving dinner!) But it's finally here. Funny thing is, it happened like everyone said - it almost happened overnight.

Happy Turkey Day!!!!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

So, we're here in Kansas at my parents house for Thanksgiving weekend. We got in last night - we made good time from CO. It's been a long time since we've last been home, so I was excited to get here!!
We're only going to be here basically today, then we're headed to Branson, MO to see my brother and sister-in-law. The fun thing is, our whole family is going for a mini vacation. We're all excited! And for all of you who don't know where/what Branson is, it's VERY similar to Gatlinburg, TN.
Here are some things I'm thankful for:

• seeing my family over Thanksgiving
• getting to see my old cat, Reuben!!!
  
• that I have most of my appetite back...just in time! :)
  
• I work at an amazing place and enjoy the people I work with
• me and the hubs are gonna have a kid

As for the pregnancy (sorry I've been lacking in the updates)...
Things are on the up and up. I am (today) 15 weeks along. I am just now beginning to show, but nothing too spectacular. I may put up some pic's from this weekend later on.
To me - I feel huge, but I still have a lot of people say that they can't tell. I kind of feel like that it's a compliment but then I feel discouraged b/c I feel so big. :( ??? It's a weird thing.
For the most part, I have most of my appetite back now. There are still a few smells that bother me (ie chinese food). But we're getting there.

Well, that's it for now. I'll try and keep up from the weekend.

heartbeat

Jamie and I went to our first Dr's appointment today. For some reason I expected our first appointment to last for an hour or longer. But we were in and out within almost 40 minutes. We did get to hear the heartbeat, which was really cool!! (and no Deena, I didn't cry).
It took awhile for the nurse to find it, but finally did. Our little prune was hiding from us!! :) Jamie's sure it's a boy now.
Next week we'll get to see "Pat" for our first ultra sound!!

ugh...

Today is the first day I put on a pair of pants and they didn't fit right. I got them shut, but I knew it would be a long day if I wore them.
So it begins...

emotions...

The past few days have been pretty emotional. I had to put my cat (Sake) up on Craig's List on Sunday. Then today a co-worker actually came by and picked her up. I know that for the sake of the baby (b/c Sake was a little too rambunctious), we made a good decision. However, it wasn't an easy one. I definitely took it harder than I thought I would...a lot of tears have been shed.
Growing up on a farm, we never had to give pets away. If my parents didn't want it as an indoor pet, then we would just have it outdoors. I don't have that option here since we live in a condo.

Now, for all you who are not pet lovers, or even cat lovers, you probably don't understand where I'm coming from. But growing up on a farm, my pets were my best friends. (not to say I was a loser who didn't have any friends, but I just had a lot of pets!!) :)

And you know, the older I get - I don't think it's gonna get any easier on me when I have to give up a pet or when one dies. Jamie will probably still be comforting me when I'm 50...and that's okay with me.

My day so far...

• wide awake at 7 am and have to go to the bathroom
• wake Jamie up at 7:30 and tell him I'm hungry and want pancakes
• lay in bed until pancakes are ready :)
• eat too many pancakes and stomach hurts
• put laundry away
• catch up on reading blogs
• lay down for my morning nap at 10 am; sleep until almost noon
• eat a little lunch and head to grocery store
• came home and went and ran (more like slowly jogged; first time back to running in almost 2 1/2 weeks)
• during my jog, I stopped at a garage sale and checked out some "free" items that were sitting at the end of someone's driveway; wanted the patio furniture, but by the time Jamie and I went to get it, someone else was already picking it up. :(
• (currently) sitting here blogging. I need to shower, vacuum the place and get dinner started for our party tonight.
  

Yeah for friends coming to Denver!!! We're excited to see James and Jessica.
I'll try and take pic's and put them up later.

The secrets out...

well...as some of you may have already guessed, we're having a kid in the spring (May 21st to be exact) - or so they say.
We've not yet been to the doc together for any type of sonograms. I went several weeks back, only b/c I was in denial with the home-pregnancy test.
After a (short) state of shock - I am happy to say that we're excited. Well, Jamie's always been excited from when I first told him
We go to our first appointment at the end of this month.

So...between now and May - we've got a lot of planning to do.
NO, we're not going to figure out the sex, nor are we going to share any of our baby name ideas. So you'll all have to wait in suspense...as we are.

I apologize to anyone of you who reads this and is offended that I didn't call you personally. Please don't hate.
And for some of you...I really did try, but was never able to get a hold of you.

So, there it is. It's out there. No more secrets. :)

p.s. we're exactly 9 weeks along!!

Fall

I love Fall!! I don't think it's my favorite season, only because I don't think I have a favorite.
But here are some of the reasons why Fall is so great:

• Pumpkin Pie
• Carving Pumpkins
• Driving in the mountains to see the fall foliage
• wearing sweaters/sweatshirts
• The beautiful colors
• Thanksgiving dinner!! (my favorite part) :)
  
• Having an excuse not to run ("it's too cold outside to go out and run!")

Today was/is a good day. I slept in ('til 8 - which that's sleeping in for me b/c I'm now an old lady), ate pancakes that Jamie made, went to the Walmart and spent too much money, carved pumpkins w/ Deena, currently watching college football, and will hang out w/ friends tonight.
I'll try and post pics when Deena gets them up. I didn't take any pictures.

YEAH for Fall!!!!

the weekend!!

I'm soooo glad it's Friday. It's been a LONG week.

ah...love!

I have a wonderful husband, need I say more??

oh blah dee, oh blah dah, and life goes on...

India Clay Oven

So today we took one of our faithful volunteers to lunch because it was her last day with DFN. One of her favorite restaurants is India's Clay Oven in Lone Tree, so that is where we went. Let me just say, it was YUMMY!!! The bad thing is, for lunch, they have an all-you-can-eat buffet. So I of course ate too much! But the curry was so good.
If you're looking for something different, but GOOD - then try this restaurant out. Check out their website at: http://indiasclayoven.siteactivation.com/index.html
I may become a frequent visitor myself...

the weekend.

So for a Monday it hasn't been too bad. Although, I did feel like I could already take a nap during staff meeting, which was at 9 am!!
We had a good weekend - busy, but good...
FRIDAY: we had Cody over for dinner. Jamie made his chicken hot wings and garlic potatoes (yummy!). Then the four of us: Jamie, Cody, Deena and I played poker w/ our the money we keep in our change jar. Jamie won! Then, the guys stayed up and watched a movie (eh hem, "guys" movie which I won't say the name of!! ;)).
SATURDAY: I ran a short run and then went and watched some friends finish a triathlon at the reservoir. Just watching them made me tired - so I went home and took a short afternoon nap!!
Then Saturday night, Jamie and I went to the Rockies game w/ our dear friends, Chris & Crissie. SUNDAY: of course we went to church at Hope. Can I just add that I love our church family? Every week I feel more and more at home there. After the service, we had our quarterly meeting followed by a potluck. Yeah for potlucks!! Then we met w/ our small group for the 1st time this fall. Jamie and I are leading this year. We're pretty excited about the group - a majority of them are the same people from last year, but we had 2 couples that had to leave and so 1 joined in their place. On our way home, we hit up Stasia's birthday party (co-worker from DFN) and ate some yummy food + cake. Last night, Jamie and I just hung around the house, ate leftovers and watched a Bollywood movie, "Chak Dei".
And that was our weekend.

my birthday weekend

So last Thursday (9/11) was my 27th birthday. It was a great weekend!! It was even better b/c I had a 3-day weekend from work. And even though I was PMS'ing a lot, my sweet husband still gave me a "surprise" party on Saturday night. I'll have to see if I can get photo's from Deena's camera. Why I say "surprise"?? Because I guessed it before it happened. Plus, when we drove up at our apt after running errands, I saw everyones car parked in our lot!! :) Thanks for hiding those guys!!!For my birthday, Jamie got me a Nike+ipod Sport Kit, plus a running watch/heart rate monitor.
I love them both!! It's awesome. I wish the only thing it did was tell me to "move my butt faster" (literally) when I slow down. Unfortunately, it doesn't. :(
We did have to return the watch b/c the face was too big for my wrist. I'm gonna keep looking for another one to replace it.

Well, sorry this is so short and vague. I've gotta get to my night class w/ Jamie.
Until next time...

a change...

Today was one of those, so-so days. I looked at the clock around 2 this afternoon and was sure it was close to 5 p.m. But no, it wasn't. For some reason lately, I just haven't felt like being at work. I absolutely love my job and I enjoy the people I work with, but I feel a little burned-out right now. No reason. So on my drive home, it was nice to get a call from Joe & Becca. They were on their way to Applebee's close to our place and wanted to see if we'd meet them. We gladly agreed!! I had the yummy Crispy Orange Chicken bowl. It was so tasty.

It was also a great excuse to not run tonight. I decided I'm going to take it a little easier for the next week or two and then start re-training for another 1/2 marathon. I've yet to decide if I'm going to run the Denver Marathon. It's a HUGE race!! I think it'd be an awesome experience, but to be honest - I hate running in cold weather. Last year, the weather was so nasty for the race and I'm scared it could happen again. Plus, I'm waiting to sign up b/c the registration isn't cheap.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Right now, life seems to be in a bit of rut. I need to look for some change. I guess turning 27 this week may be a good start ... yikes!!!

--JOY

my run...

So today was the first day I got back to running after my 1/2 marathon on Monday. I was given a small dose of "humble pie" during my run. On my shorter runs, I head to University Blvd, which is a pretty busy 4 lane road. I was at my turn around (in front of the Fire Station) when all of a sudden I tripped over a small incline (I think??) in the cement. I totally did a face plant and just laid in the drive way - mind you I was no farther than 10 yards from passing traffic (which a lot of cars were passing by and totally saw). I laid there for awhile b/c 1) it hurt and 2) I was checking to see if I skinned my knees; luckily I hadn't. I think if I had, I probly would've sat there crying. I finally got up and headed home. I guess the only thing that got hurt was my pride!!!

My First 1/2 Marathon

I finished my time in 2:11:00. I wanted to break 2 hours, but it just didn't happen. I came 283rd out of about 700 runners. I've just gotta figure out when the next when will be...

Labor Day

Labor is race day for me. I'm running my first 1/2 marathon in the Springs. Wahoo!!!
Jamie and I head down there Sunday afternoon so I can go and pick up my runners packet and so we can just relax once we get there.
I'm excited to do this. I've been training for a while now. I hope to keep it up afterwards; although lately it's been harder to get out to run lately.
Pic's will soon follow...

Democratic National Convention

Right now, Denver is hosting the Democratic National Convention. The last time it was held here was in 1908. So, last night Deena and I ventured to downtown to witness history in it's making. It was pretty entertaining to say the least.

I'm not sure if I was more intrigued or a little scared. When you find yourself between police lines and rioters/protestors, you begin to think the worst!! At one time I told Deena, "if anyone goes crazy and the police even look like their about to use tear gas, I'm running!!"

I will say it was pretty intense to be standing where we stood and see what we saw. Even though these pictures don't really capture the full sense of how many people there were, this may give you a small glimpse...

I've never seen so many police in one place, except on tv or movies. I'm not sure if it made me feel more safe, or scared. ??

(above: this is one of the many street vendors selling Obama shirts, buttons, bracelets, etc.)
(above: so this is part of when we were between the police lines and rioters/protesters. Check out the guy below and what he had to say. Deena and I were like, "why?" and what did it have to do w/ Obama. Whatever!!)

(above and below: are of a LONG line of bikers protesting shouting, "less oil, more bikes". It caused quite a jam towards the end)

(above: a view going into Larimer Square)

Rocky Mtn National Park

Here's a few pic's of our camping trip to Rocky Mtn National Park this past weekend w/ our friends: Clint, Theresa, Deena, & Cody.

This was our "B'ham reunion" before school starts on Monday.

Here are some friends that came and visited us Saturday morning before we left camp.

This was our "campfire" b/c we weren't allowed to have one in the park!!

It was a close call!!!