New Dinner Plan

So, if you know me, you know I'm really indecisive. This is very evident around dinner time in our house. Usually around 4:30 the conversation goes something like this:

Me: Jer, what do you want for dinner?
Jer: I don't care.
Me: What are you in the mood for?
Jer: Whatever you feel like making.
Me: I don't know what to make, that's why I'm asking you.

And around and around we go. I don't even remember what we eat half the time, and we probably eat out more than we should (though part of that is because the nights Jer has class and Ella and I go with him, we're in such a hurry to get going that there isn't time to make something).

Well, this isn't really a problem anymore. Yay! I've tried meal planning before, but it never stuck or worked and I couldn't stay motivated, but awhile ago I saw a cooking segment on Studio 5 where the guest said something about a theme night every night (different genres). I thought to myself, that might work, and what will it hurt to try? So I worked up a list of something different every night (crock pot, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc), and wouldn't you know it actually works?! We're on our 3rd week and it's made life so much easier. I just look at my chart to see what kind of food we're supposed to have that night and then narrow it down from there; example: Wed is Italian night, last week we had chicken tetrazzini, tonight we'll probably have spaghetti). I've made allowances for left-overs (pulled pork one night, pulled pork tacos the next) and random nights where we can have sandwiches or breakfast for dinner (or something else), but I'm so happy to say THIS IS WORKING!
Just wanted to throw this out there in case anyone else could benefit from this idea!

20-30

This is late, but I told myself I'd finish, so here are my Thanks-giving #20-30:
20- Vacations, especially when they're REALLY needed.
21- Beautiful places on this earth that are a treat for the senses.
22- The Gospel of the church I belong to. It brings so much hope and peace to me, especially when I'm feeling the most down.
23- Decorations. They can really warm up a space; even if I'm not very good at it, our house looks a lot homier now.
24- The beautiful sky that seems to go on forever sometimes. It always amazes me when I have the chance to sit and stare at it's vastness.
25- Hot cocoa. It's a nice little chocolate fix, and it's nice to get warmed up.
26- A washer and dryer. I can't imagine having to do laundry in the winter the way they did "way back when".
27- Our dependable car. Even though I don't get to use it that often, I'm glad it's a good, safe vehicle to get us around.
28- Cupcakes and other treats that are a little pick-me-up when I'm having a bad day.
29- Learning new things. How else do we grow and know how to do stuff?
30- Ella. She's the answer to so many prayers and is so much more than I ever could have hoped for. I'm so lucky I get to be her mama.

Baby Shower

I realize we haven't posted anything in awhile...mostly because nothing really has changed. Jer is still looking for a job/waiting to hear back from jobs and luckily I'm still working.

We finally got our crib, and just last night picked up a mattress for it, things are starting to look more like a baby's actually coming (besides my growing belly).

I had my first baby shower last week with Jer's family. It was so fun and they went to so much trouble to make it super cute w/the food and decorations. If you couldn't tell, the theme was Dr. Seuss and the baby got some Dr. Seuss books and stuffed animals, as well as "Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go: A Book to be read in Utero" to go along with the theme. I tried reading it to her/my stomach the other day (because that's what you're supposed to do with it) and could barely get through it I was crying so much. It's amazing to think we'll finally have our little angel in less than 5 weeks. I'm still so scared that she's going to die though, I'm not sure if this is a normal fear or if it's because of everything that's happened in the last 3 years? I try not to stress too much about it though, I'm trying to have faith that everything will be fine.
Well, back to the shower. I got a ton of wonderful gifts from everyone that came, and I had some friends come that I haven't seen in a long time.

Belly shot of Kim and her miracle baby with me (above)
Kim, Joanna & Makenna, me, Riley and Heidi

As for games, the main one was where everyone estimated a length of yarn to what they thought would go around me. My sis-in-law, Janeen, was right on in her measurement, and then there were a couple others that were pretty dang close. It was fun to see how big around some people thought I might be.

My next Dr. appointment is Tues. for my 36 week check up. I'll be going in every week from then til our little girl comes to join us! It's crazy!

Cruise!

Above is a view from the airplane.

Jer and I went on a cruise Feb. 23-28. This is the cruise that Jer got me for Christmas that we went on over my birthday. It was so much fun. We went with my college friend, Joanna, and her husband, Chris. Joanna and I have been on a cruise together before, and we were both really looking forward to going on another one with our hubbies instead of my parents. We even went and got cute matching pedicures a couple of days in advance.....french tips with a little white and blue flower on each big toe with a little sparkly thing in the middle of the flowers-fancy us. We left on the morning of Fri, Feb. 22, flew from Salt Lake to Atlanta, then after a 2 1/2 hr layover, flew to New Orleans. Long day of flying, but it was so fun to get to Louisiana for our first time. Once we got off the plane and gathered our luggage and Chris (he had different flights from the rest of us J name people), we got in a taxi and went to our hotel. The Marriott convention center hotel was... WOW. It was beautiful and big and the beds were oh so comfy. Joanna works for Marriott, so she hooked us up big time. After dropping off our stuff we walked around town, found Bourbon Street, got accosted by some street performer/shoe shine dude, saw a bunch of drunks, and realized we were in the midst of a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, so we left that area, found a nice restaurant, ate, went to the hotel and crashed.This is the street our hotel was off of, just past the palm tree is one of the entrances to the Riverwalk Shopping Centre, it has great views of the Mississippi River.

The next day (Sat, Feb. 23) we got up, walked around, went to Decatur St. to Cafe Du Monde and got their famous beignets (basically scones with lots of powdered sugar on them) so yummy. Here's Jer enjoying one :

After this, we checked out of the hotel and went searching for where to get on our boat. We were pretty excited to get the vacation started.
We explored the ship a bit, ate lunch and went through the necessary training for in case of emergency. Jer goofed off a bunch with his life vest, it was pretty funny.Our first day after boarding the ship was my birthday (Sun, Feb. 24), a day at sea, formal night, and the fancy midnight buffet. Sadly, the food wasn't as good as it looked, but it was fun to see.





The next day (Mon, Feb. 25) we stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. When we got off the ship, we didn't really have any plans, but as we were walking, we were approached by a snorkel/glass bottom boat salesman, and we got a deal (compared to what the people who booked the excursion through the cruise line paid). We got all we could drink beverages, snorkel gear, glass bottom boat, and 2 snorkel stops in beautiful water for $45/person (the people who booked through the cruise line paid about $73/person). It was fun, but I got stung by mini jellyfish (luckily it cleared up after a couple of hours) and I got really worn out so I chilled in the boat while most everyone else was checking out the fish. After that we changed and walked around town.



The next day (Tues, Feb. 26) we were docked in Progreso, Mexico. We didn't really have any plans for this stop either. We walked around, took a 20 min. tour of the town (for just $2/person), stood on the beach, and went back to the boat. Progreso is a really cute and quaint town, but the main attractions are the Mayan ruins about 3 hrs away by bus. We didn't go that route this time, though it would have been pretty cool.



That night we sang some karaoke, it was fun. Through a strange turn of events, Jer and Chris were dubbed "the bad husbands", though they redeemed themselves by singing some karaoke too. I'd post the video or pics, but the video won't post and the pics are really dark.

The day after that (Wed, Feb. 27) was another day at sea, and boy was it rough. The ship was rocking like crazy and it was chilly outside-everyone was inside filling up all the space making everything crowded and uncomfortable, so we napped, watched t.v. and read in our room most of the day.

Our waiters were awesome. They were funny and friendly. Our head waiter was Muhameed from Turkey and our asst. waiter was Dewa from Thailand.
The next day (Thurs, Feb. 28) I woke up feeling absolutely horrible(I'm still sick, and so is Jer)- sinus infections are nasty little things. Luckily it was the day of debarkation and we traveled home, it was so nice to be back with more space and our own bed.

If you want to see more pictures and hear more of the trip, check out Chris and Joanna's blog entry.

We had a great time and I think we both needed that for our sanity with the next big thing coming up - my surgery.

Lava Hot Springs

This weekend (well, more like Fri night-Sat morning), we went to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. It was Jules' first time there, and Jer's 3rd.

On the way up we stopped in Logan so Jules could eat at the Fire House Pizzeria, and Jer could reminisce about his good ol' college days. That was fun.

When we got to LHS we checked into our luxurious ghetto motel and got ready to go soak in the springs. The air was freezing cold, so it was a good thing the springs were only about 50 ft from our motel. 

There was a lot of steam coming from them, and the water was wicked hot. Just when you started to get used to the heat, the water temp would go up, it was crazy.

Sadly, it was really busy with kids and college people all over the place, so it was pretty much impossible to find a quiet, romantic corner. Oh well, we had fun anyway.
It was fun to go, but it was so nice to get home. Motels really make you miss your own bed.

Enjoy the pics!