stuck like glue

At the wedding we attended the other weekend in Texas, there was of course a lot of dancing and music. Good music, bad music, Texas-two-stepping music, the Chicken Dance, and even the Hokie Pokie (for the groom's sister, a proud VT alum).  But I did get to hear a song that was new to me, and it was absolutely adorable watching the bride and groom sing it to each other while dancing.  (They were also the tallest people in the entire room and she was in all white, so it was pretty easy to watch them; this, however, was not their first dance.)

I don't listen to much country music, so this was new to me but probably not to most.  I wrote some notes about the song down on the side of a medicine box in my purse so I could look it up later.

If this had been a napkin, I probably wouldn't be writing this post

 The song is apparently by Sugarland, and yeah, the video is slightly disturbing to me.

pregnancy vs. dinnertime

Ugh, food.  I never had a great relationship with food in the first place.  I'm too picky for my own good, and I only seem to really like bad-for-you foods (and an abundance of carbs).  I menu plan to keep myself on track.  However, my first trimester made my relationship with food even worse.  The simple idea of most meals make me turn up my nose.  I actually un-followed more than half the recipe blogs I used to frequent.  Anything new or different is out the window.

If you look at my menu planning board, it's still the plan I wrote in early June.  A handful of meals have been crossed off.  At some point around my 7th or 8th week, I was lying on the couch around 4pm, feeling miserable, and then tried to think of what I would make B and myself for dinner.  I cried.  I had no desire to cook, and I felt like a terrible wife because I couldn't even do my one daily task.  I eventually sent B to the store for a bag of frozen chicken nuggets.

I choked down the nuggets much in the way I ate when I was a kid.  I knew I had to it to get some protein into my body, but I certainly didn't really enjoy it.  I used to be able to fight through a bit of hunger and then enjoy a decent-sized meal to sate me.  Yeah, not any more.  The more hungry I am, the more it hurts to eat.  That means that I'm basically eating every 1-2 hours now.  I eat about a fourth of my dinner, but B is still expecting a big meal like before.  There have been other nights when I peer into the messy fridge looking for a dinner idea, just to end up in tears all over again.  Good thing I never really loved cooking to begin with.

Apparently the new MyPlate hasn't been update for pregnancy, so here's a pyramid

The worst part about this?  The garden.  It's doing pretty well, and I don't want anything to do with it.  Last week, I actually gave away tomatoes to a Marine I volunteer with because I didn't want them.  Sure, I can eat jarred spaghetti sauce until my face turns red, but an actual tomato?  Or basil?  No thanks.

I loved it when my parents came to visit over the 4th of July weekend.  Mommy sure took good care of me!  We had leftovers for a week, and I didn't have to worry about this cooking nonsense.  To the women who are pregnant with their second child and beyond, I bow down.  I have no idea how I'm gonna do this while also being responsible for another child's nutrition.

Now that I'm out of the first trimester, it's getting better.  I promised B I'd have a menu plan by the time he got home.  It has four meals on it so far . . . we'll probably end up eating spaghetti for an entire week again.  But, as most women would hopefully say, I still wouldn't trade it for anything.  And thank God for Instant Breakfast, a true lifesaver.

and now for some big news

Well, I've hid from you all long enough. This time you can even congratulate me. I'm . . .

Yeah, I cropped out the part I peed on (but it had a cap anyway)

We got a heartbeat confirmation at my 10 week appointment a few weeks ago.  I was so nervous for that appointment, thanks to my previous miscarriage.  But I switched doctors (still at the good ol' Naval Hospital though), and I have a much better vibe this time around.  Although I will say that I didn't get any pictures of Baby W!  We didn't even think about bringing our own camera, which apparently we are allowed to do.  And the doc didn't make any copies for us.  I guess after the last time, our priority was just on that heartbeat.  Well, I thought our baby looked like a little manatee.  And s/he was jumping around all over the place, making it hard to get measurements.

I'm 13 weeks along now, making my due date January 23.  I'm bummed because we can't travel for Christmas, but I'm sure it's not the only sacrifice we'll make for our child!  It is so nice having B on shore tour, though, as he is able to come to all my appointments with me with no problems.  Also, thank you military for my free healthcare!  I'm gonna miss that once he's out.

I also sorta hesitated to put this out there because I know so many couples that are struggling with infertility.  So if you want to bash me in the comments or say snide things behind my back for being a "fertile turtle" (um, I got pregnant twice within the course of 3 cycles--rude, huh?), I totally understand.

On another note, don't expect this to turn into some sappy maternity blog where I write mushy letters to my unborn child and bemuse about their future greatness.  Sure, I'll put up a few ultrasound pics and maybe some belly shots when the time comes, and maybe I'll even blog about some of my ups and downs.  (In short, food=gag; flying=awful.)  But I'm still me.  And I think weekly updates are just a bit much.

Answers to questions people tend to ask me:  Yes, we will find out the sex of the baby in week 20.  No, I haven't puked, but I still don't always feel okay.  No, I don't really have a labor plan yet, but would like avoid a C-section.  Yes, I've gained a pound, but it's all water weight.  No, I'm not showing yet, but I look a little fatter.  If you pat my stomach now, it's just fat; the baby is still down in the pelvis.  Please don't pat that or I might call the cops.  If you want to see what's happening in my body and where baby is, check this site out (and stall it at week 13).

And, YES, I am still a bit freaked out that I have a baby inside of me that will soon come out and change my entire life!

fun times in northwest Texas

This past weekend, B and I made a quick trip (via airplane) to Lubbock, TX, for his cousin's wedding.  B was a groomsman, and I had the honor of reading a passage from Corinthians (you know the one).

We knew it was gonna be hot there, but supposedly less humid than here.  Yeah, it was over 100° each day, but it wasn't terrible!  Apparently Lubbock is a college town that's home to Texas Tech University.  The rehearsal dinner was actually AT the stadium.  It was quite the site!

This is the facade of the stadium, and houses the indoor part.

And this was our view from the rehearsal dinner!

If you look closely, you'll see a few people down on the field.  The bride and groom and some others went down there and got their picture on the 50-yard-line!

The town of Lubbock had such a college vibe to it that of course it reminded me of my own college town--Athens, GA.  It made me miss it so much!  I haven't been back there in a few years.  Texas Tech's colors are also the same as UGA's, and the bride used them for the wedding.  I even saw a store called The Red & Black, which is the name of my college's campus newspaper.

One thing about college towns that most people love is the food.  And Lubbock did not disappoint.  Of course there was the old college-town-staple, Jimmy John's, but then there was this:

Yes, a fast food chicken fingers joint!

 We were only in town for 48 hours, but I ate here twice.  I just needed a quick snack and you could buy them by the finger!
Oh, and I have to mention the masterpiece created by the awesome waffle-maker at our hotel.

Excuse me while I mess with Texas.  Delicious!

Also, some of my readers will appreciate this next picture.  The groom was in the Marines, and his dad is a Marine retiree, so here's the groom's cake:

Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to hit up the Buddy Holly center (yes, he's from Lubbock!).  But at least the wedding ceremony was at a cute little chapel.

All in all, B and I had a great, albeit brief, visit to the Lone Star State!

when minor events trigger strong musical memories

Do you ever have a minor life event that prompts you to remember a song lyric? And then whenever you are reminded of that event, the lyric keeps coming back until you just have to sing the whole song? Okay, maybe that's just me.

My minor life event: bra shopping.  I kid you not.  A few weeks ago when my parents were in town, my mom and I went to the outlets over in Alabama.  The Maidenform outlet had all of their bras for $9.99.  I've never actually bought a Maidenform bra because they're mostly carried in department stores which refuse to carry my weird size.  But the outlet had them!  I bought two, and they are awesome.

Then, for the next week or so, every time I put one of my new bras on, a lyric from a song I hadn't heard in about 10 years got stuck in my head.  The lyric?  "It's wilting the quilting of my Maidenform."

The song is called "It's Raining on Prom Night," and you're probably more familiar with it if you've seen the stage version of Grease.  In the movie, it's not very prominent.  I think it just plays in the background when they're in the diner.  However, it is on the movie soundtrack, as done by Cindy Bullens.


I had originally wanted to share a pop/punk cover of it by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes that I had on some mix tape in high school, but I listened to it again and realized that they changed some of the words which altered the meaning of the song into something much more disgusting.  Now that I've piqued your interest on that, here's a link to it.  But don't say I didn't warn you.

something borrowed: book and movie review

I just finished reading Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin a few weeks ago.  I knew it had come out to theaters, and I had read another book by Giffin earlier this year, so I wanted to give it a shot.  I had known about this book for a few years now, but the plot had never interested me as I thought it was trampy.  If you don't know, the book is about a girl who is involved in an affair with her best friend's fiancé.

The book was actually better than I thought it would be.  Giffin's writing style essentially saved it.  It made you root for someone you didn't think you would.  She also did a really good job describing the complexity of emotions and relationships involved, using flashbacks and minor characters to help draw out the true motivations.  Even though I ended up loving the main character, I still put the next installment, told by the best friend Darcy, on hold at the library (I'm next in the queue).

There was one really minor technicality thing that bothered me from the book though.  And this is also how you can tell I'm a ridiculously detail-oriented person.  The main character Rachel is also the only narrator of the book, and she says how she and Darcy had been childhood friends since marching in their small town's bicentennial parade with store-bought plastic drums.  Okay, so in my mind that puts them around 5-6 years old then.  The first scene of the book (and movie) is them celebrating Rachel's 30th birthday, which is in the same year as Darcy's.  At the very end of the book, she goes through all the stuff they have been through together, and one of those things was September 11.  Do you see where I'm going here?  If they were 5 in 1976, that would put them at born in 1971.  That would put Sep. 11, 2001, in the year of their 30th birthdays, and this book was obviously set after that.  After I finished the book, I actually went back to make sure I had read this all correctly and tried to figure out a reason.  I fell asleep that night losing a bit of respect for the editor.

As for the movie: it came to our base theater recently, only a few weeks after I had finished the book, making it fresh in my mind.  Sometimes it's not a good idea to see the movie right after you read the book because it's, well, too fresh.  Every little thing I saw I was comparing to the book.  But actually, overall, I think the movie did a decent job showing the complexities of the relationships, although the way Darcy was portrayed (by Kate Hudson) reminded me of one or two people I know and that was just plain scary.  The movie also made two of the other decent book characters just plain obnoxious.

One thing I didn't like that the movie did was combine two minor characters from the book into one leading male character (played by the adorable John Krasinski from The Office).  The character that got nixed (a female) was actually one of my favorites in the book, but putting a male in that role added an extra possible romantic conflict.  The friend I saw the movie with commented that this character was just a bit too prevalent, and I have to agree.  Also, my favorite scene in the book was completely toned-down for the movie, even though I think it would've still fit the PG-13 rating to leave it alone.

So, overall, the book was decent, but the movie wasn't.  Have you seen or read Something Borrowed?  Did you like it?