new blog

thesharester has moved to a NEW, better blog. in fact, its a whole fun website. you should definitely check it out....www.hytnenhype.com

doing just fine in 2009

the last two weekends have been so much fun for me! two weekends ago, we had a teacher workday/planning day to mark the end of the 1st semester and the beginning of the 2nd semester on friday. we got a surprising amount of work done and it was a great way to enter a 3 day weekend (yay mlk day!). ross' cousin james came up to visit for the weekend and we all had a great time. friday night b&b came over and we played scattergories and just hung out. saturday morning ross and i went over to a really nice spa that ross had bought me a gift certificate to. it was so awesome! we both got a massage and then i got a pedicure while ross enjoyed the steam room and sauna. we had a really great time spending the morning together. then we went out to lunch with james, then i took a nap, and then we went to play glow in the dark putt-putt golf. it was an incredible day! on sunday we drove over to pedernales falls with the dogs and hiked around all afternoon. another awesome day! on monday, ross and i both had the day off. i relaxed and did some things around the house while ross hung out with his friend mike. it was a really fun and really restful weekend.

i then went to work for 3 days before taking friday off. i did some housework and then drove up to graham. my mom and i drove down to see rachel's bball game...so much fun! then saturday morning my mom and bekah and i got up super early and drove to midland for a double baby shower. we also got to see my cousins play in their basketball game. then we took a nap at our hotel, ate dinner at outback, looked at baby stuff at target, and went to an engagement party before coming back to the hotel and looking at baby stuff online. we had so much fun and saw a lot of old friends. sunday morning we drove back to graham and then i drove back to austin. i really enjoyed getting to hang out with my mom and bekah. :)

i'm not sure how my future weekends can keep up with the previous two, but here's hoping.... :)

Photos from a long time ago ...

Sharon commented a few months ago that she has no photos of me when I was "young". I found a small cache of photos from 5-9 years ago. You can judge their relative age by the amount of color in my hair and how skinny I used to be. Most of these appear to be around the time I was still in "fighting shape". Also, proof - notice the experiation of the boat registration.

changes

its hard to believe we are already headed into the spring semester of school. its odd to anticipate the school year ending because it also means the arrival of our baby! overall, for me, being pregnant has not been too big of a hassle just yet. the beginning weeks i felt pretty nauseous but overall not too bad. waking up and going to bball practice in the mornings when i was feeling blah was probably the worst part of it. for a few weeks i had to allow 30min extra in the morning because i frequently had to sit down to keep from getting sick. i was fortunate not to be throwing up sick. however, i did unfortunately break my 6+ year no-vomit streak over the christmas holidays due to some belated morning sickness that did not mix well with a road trip.

besides feeling nauseous, the other symptoms i had were extreme tiredness and only desiring certain foods. i would come home from work and pass out asleep. sometimes ross would try to wake me up when he came home and other times he just let me be. during this time nothing sounded good to eat. i ate butter toast for breakfast, 2 pieces of bread and a slice of cheese for lunch, and sometimes would sleep through dinner. if not, i wanted whatever my current craving was. at first, it was cheese and pickles. this is not really too weird as i eat that as a snack often, even before. then i began to want chinese food. then i began to only want tacos from taco bell. gross! thank goodness that has passed...i normally can't stand taco bell! and then began a chipotle fixation. it also happened to be in the height of basketball season, and i couldn't resist stopping there on the way home after games. i think ross found it humorous, though much more tasty than the taco bell thing. now nothing is really on top of my list. i have more energy so i am back to cooking dinner (at least sometimes!) and trying to eat much more balanced meals. though i must say, my aunt & uncle gave me a deep fryer and the recipe for fried pickle chips for christmas....awesooooooooooome...so, this all might be in jeopardy i suppose.

i really couldn't have a better doctor. i selected him randomly from a google search and made sure he was on my insurance plan. the main reason i selected him is because his office is 5min from school. this makes it possible to plan appointments during my conference periods, with a little help from some friends to cover for me for a few minutes. so far things have worked out well, and i really like him. also, he has an ultrasound machine at his office so i get to see the baby every time i go! quite fun. he would like to deliver the baby at a new hospital that is only 6months old right now. its sort of far from our house, but is easily accessible via toll road so traffic wouldn't really be an issue.

as i near the halfway mark in about 1 1/2 weeks, we have already begun to make a few changes to get things ready. the first thing we did was move my computer desk into our bedroom and move the guest bedroom into what was my office. the other room is now mostly empty, ready to be transformed into a nursery as the time comes closer. we also took both dogs to obedience school to help get them into tip top shape for when the baby comes. we were pretty pleased with what they learned. this year many of our christmas gifts were small baby gifts and we started to get really excited! i felt ross needed to trade in his camaro for a car with a bigger backseat and also room to transport our dogs in such a way that they did not have access to the baby. ross reluctantly agreed and this weekend we picked out a blue chevy trailblazer for him to drive. we are both excited about it. also, tonight i bought some maternity pants. o dear, here we go!

vacation: day 3

this was the mot busy day of the break so far. i had a lot of errands to run in the morning. i got my haircut, i registered my car, i stocked up on books at the library, and bought lots of groceries. then i came home and baked away. i made all kinds of christmas goodies to give away as gifts. won't be seeing me this christmas? sad day. :( you are missing out. meanwhile ross and a buddy of his were outside in the 30degree weather cutting wood for a bed set he is making for us. afterwards they came in and gamed away. later that night ross and i delivered some gifts, then stopped at frys for a few last minute presents to wrap up our shopping. i then spent some time reading a book about being new parents...craziness!

vacation: day 2

this day was just for hanging out. we went to a matinee showing of seven pounds, a movie that is out right now starring will smith. it was pretty interesting but mildly depressing. to me. we each took a nap and then played on the ps3 together. we had bought a new game the night before to play with our friends. its a buzz in trivia game that was surprisingly really fun. we played on line against other people and convinced ourselves that we must certainly be the most intelligent people in the world,except perhaps in regard to music. i cooked dinner for us and we watched tv. ross helped me rescue my music, photos, and files off my laptop that will no longer boot up. i am most grateful. he probably should have timed it better because i now have lots of music that i want to listen to (including christmas music :)) all the way to my parents. not to mention all the way to his parents...in missouri.

vacation: day 1

the goals for today were short and simple: sleep and clean. we did both beautifully. i woke up around 11.30 and cooked sausage, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast. then ross and i spent all afternoon cleaning up around our poor house, neglected from so much grad school and basketball activities. a little later, a couple friends are coming over for some drinks, snacks, and to hang out. vacation? so far, so good. :)