Angry Birds

Oh Angry Birds, why are you so addictive? You were probably made for an age group much younger than the 20-somethings, so I don't understand why me and (especially) my husband like you so much. The last two times we visited my parents' house we would steal my dad's iPad and play you nonstop, and it was no big deal because we were on vacation. However, now that you have come out with Angry Birds on Chrome, we can play you whenever we want, and we don't have to steal any iPads or iPhones. While this is okay for me, my husband really needs to be focused on school and his thesis rather than you. So, while I appreciate the free entertainment, please don't come out with any new levels on Chrome for a while. Thanks.

California Fun

Who doesn't love a good California vacation?? I sure love them, especially when they involve family, friends, shopping, sugar, the beach, a wedding, and SO much fun!

When I first arrived in LA, it was time for Girls Weekend! My aunts and sister-in-law all joined my mom at her house for our annual weekend of pampering, good food, and good laughs. This year, the theme was PINK, which was incredibly fun. My mom definitely went above and beyond. Check out this table!


Yeah, it was amazing. And of course we did a photo shoot:


By Saturday, Michael had flown in so he was able to volunteer with us at the Revlon Run.

I'm already looking forward to many more Girls Weekends! :-)

Anyway, the reason Michael came down at all was because I decided to stay an extra week since one of my best friends was getting married the next weekend and Michael deserved a vacation too. :-) So we lounged, went to the beach, and even borrowed my parents' car for a couple days to make a quick trip to Vegas to see more friends and family. We can't wait to (eventually) move back to the West!


Michael flew back to Nashville a few days earlier than me in order to make it to his all-day Saturday class that he has this summer. (yuck!) I stayed and went to the wedding, which was beautiful. Congrats Krista and Jeff!


We had a blast in CA, and I'm sad our vacation is over, but now the next big thing to look forward to is the arrival of our baby! Woohoo!

The Good and The Bad of Tennessee

Now that we have lived in Tennessee for (pretty much) all four seasons, I have learned a lot about the good and the bad of living here. There are so many reasons that we love Nashville, but just like everywhere, (or almost everywhere) ;-) it has some downsides. This is what I have discovered so far about the good and the bad of Tennessee:

GOOD:
-It's SO green! Well, in the spring and summer anyway. At first it sometimes annoyed me because I couldn't get a good view of the city, but I have really learned to appreciate how pretty it is. Oh, and all that green makes for a seriously pretty Fall.
-Southern hospitality is real. People are generally nice here, bless their hearts. <-- a common southern phrase
-It's strange and so nice to live in a state that is red even though there aren't a lot of LDS people. I am able to voice my political opinions and have most people agree with me rather than look at me like they want to light me on fire.
-Lots of good BBQ. Since meat has been my biggest pregnancy craving, this has come in handy.
-The musical talent is insane! Half of our ward is trying to make it in the music business, and this makes for some really great musical numbers in sacrament meeting.
-There is a student discount for everything! Yay for Michael being in grad school.
-Country music everywhere! I suppose that many of you might consider this a bad thing. :-) I was never that into country music before I moved here, but I have learned to embrace it. And there's lots of free country dance lessons in the summer. We're definitely going to capitalize on that in a month or two.
-The southern accent is quite charming.

BAD:
-Sadly, even though this definitely does not apply to every person (or even most people?) in Tennessee, racism is more prominent here than anywhere in the West. There is nothing that annoys me more than someone saying some nasty racist comment while proudly showing off their Confederate flag. Ugh. And it's even worse in some other areas of the South, or so I'm told.
-Bugs! Big, nasty ones! I sort of forgot about them for a while in the winter, but sadly they have started appearing again now that it's warming up. I really need to get back into the habit of plugging the drains in the house when they're not being used.
-I'm not crazy about the weather. We've already established that I'm a weather snob, but still. So much ice (and surprisingly a lot of snow) in the winter.... thunderstorms and/or tornadoes every other day in the spring. (Michael loves the rain, and sometimes I do too, but not quite so often). And summer... it it seriously SO hot and SO humid. Walking outside feels like jumping into a hot tub. Fall is great though! :)
-I'm not great with directions, but this city is confusing. The freeways (or 'interstates'- I was made fun of for calling them freeways, ha) all twist around until you have no idea if you're going towards California or New York. And there are a lot of unlabeled streets. Even Michael got confused a lot when we first moved here. The drivers aren't the best either. NO ONE here uses their blinker. Ever. Oh, and the traffic reminds me of LA on a Friday evening. Yikes.

Overall, Tennessee is great. We have some really fond memories here. Come visit us anytime, but I'd recommend sometime between March and November.

As for other updates, our Easter was spent at home, while Michael was miserable on the couch. He got really, really, really sick for a couple weeks. So sick, in fact, that I thought a few times that we were going to have to go to the ER. Thanks for everyone who remembered him in your prayers. He is pretty much completely better and all caught up with school.

I am 23 weeks along and I am definitely getting bigger! I love feeling the baby's kicks, which are getting stronger all the time. From what it feels like, he is also learning acrobatics. My current cravings include chips and salsa, chocolate and caramel, and fruit.

We are looking forward to going to California soon!!

My New Man

In case anyone hasn't heard, our baby is a BOY! This wasn't a huge shock- we've actually been referring to him as a "he" for several weeks now, but I always thought in the back of my mind that it was still possible that 'he' was a 'she.' Now I finally get to start collecting blue stuff while Michael dreams of his future basketball star.

It has been hard to get a great picture of the little guy since he won't hold still. I really want one of those cute, perfect side profile shots that most people have by now. This is the best we could get, but it's still pretty cute. :-)


Being pregnant is an amazing experience, but I seriously can't wait until we get to meet him!! Oh, and we haven't decided on a name, although we have a few we're toying with. We're open to any suggestions!

Paradise

Did you know that if you book a cruise at the very last minute, you can get an amazing deal on it?? Well, since we are at that very, very rare point in our life where we can actually pick up and go on a trip last minute, we decided to make the most of it. So, during Michael's Spring Break a couple weeks ago, we went on our first ever cruise... to the Bahamas and Key West! We took off from Jacksonville, FL (about an 8 hour drive from Nashville) on a Monday and got back early Saturday morning. We were home that night, just in time to watch BYU make it to the Sweet 16. (Too bad the Cougs didn't make it any farther than that....) :-(

It was amazing.... and oh so relaxing. No work, no school, no cold.... just the sun, sand, ocean, and lots of good food. The only bad thing that happened was that one of us got really, really seasick the first night. Guess who it was? :-) We really should have been more prepared considering Michael gets sick on pretty much anything that moves. Haha. We learned our lesson, bought him some seasick pills, and by the next day, he was MUCH better.

I think our favorite part of the trip was the Bahamas. I wish we could have stayed there longer. One day, we want to go back. Other highlights of the trip include: the yummy dinners, the fun shows, (especially the dancing ones!) the amazing sunsets, kayaking and snorkeling, and getting to lay out in the sun all the time.

Key West was cool too, but unfortunately we were there on St. Patrick's Day during Spring Break and the place was crazy full of drunk people. Still, the weather was beautiful and we had fun.

Here are some pictures:

Playing miniature golf on the top of the cruise

Right before dinner

Dinners were delicious! Michael didn't think that the 'fine dining' portions were big enough, so he usually ordered two entrees. :-)

He was brave and got snails as an appetizer one night.... he made me try them... not my favorite.

Bahamas!

Isn't the water so pretty? (Bahamas)

Clear kayaks- awesome! Since Michael felt a little queasy when he looked down, ;-) he did most of the paddling while I enjoyed watching the fish.

Snorkeling

Drinking from a coconut seemed so tropical and fun, but it was pretty gross.

Getting back on the cruise after a fun half day in the Bahamas

Key West!

Also Key West... I thought I saw a turtle in there but then Michael put the idea of it being a baby saltwater crocodile in my head and I got freaked out. :-) You can see my 16 1/2 week baby bump here.

Key Lime Pie in Key West. YUM!

One of many pretty sunsets we watched from the cruise

The slide on the cruise

The trip was awesome and I'm so glad we went. Now we're back to real life which means lots of studying (for Michael) and getting ready for the baby!! We'll know for SURE whether it's a girl or a boy in about a week (the doctor told us at my last ultrasound that he was 70% sure it was a boy but I was only 14 weeks along and it was still a little too early to know for sure) so I'm excited for this next ultrasound.