thanksgiving weekend!!

this years thanksgiving was pretty awesome! jeremy had a four day weekend which was really nice. i like that this command gives 4 day weekends whenever there is a holiday. =)

i hosted thanksgiving again this year, which is one of my favorite things to do. we had our friends chris and sandi over! they came over around 3:00. i made hot apple cider and we enjoyed that before dinner was ready. dinner was a little late. i wanted it to be ready by 4, but that doesnt usually happen with me. hahaa it was ready at like 5. everything turned out really good. chris and sandi made mashed potatoes and the pumpkin pie. it was just a really nice dinner and im glad that we all shared that together!

after dinner the boys cleaned up (yeah!) and sandi and i talked until they were done. when everything was good to go, we played the new super mario bros wii! it was soooo much fun! i really like how they made it so 4 people can play at the same time. sometimes it got confusing, well for me anyway, but it was really cool. we played for a while and then chris and sandi went home around 9 so they could call their family and we also had to call ours!

on friday we headed out to the christmas markets that just opened up in the area with chris and sandi. our first stop was in ludwigsburg. it was pretty big. we walked around there for a while. we found this awesome present for roberta! she will love it. they had a bunch of nutcrackers and wooden figurines. we really wanted to buy some of those for our family and friends but they were so darn expensive it wouldnt have been possible. a small one was like 25€ which is about $37.50! crazy! there also was a lot of ornaments there but nothing seemed to scream to me "hey! im from germany!", ya know?! so, we went away empty handed with only buying one present. we then headed to the stuttgart christmas market and it was bigger than the ludwigsburg one but had a lot of the same stuff! it was really nice to get out and stuff, but it was super duper cold! at the end of the night we ate salmon dinners in this big teepee tent that had firepits inside. it was really cool!

on saturday and sunday i was really sore from the previous day and so we took that time to rest and relax. jeremy and i played video games and watched movies and such. it was really nice. on saturday night we played rockband with afton and that was pretty awesome! we hadnt played rockband with her since the states so it was really nice to talk to her and play games! =)

so all in all our thanksgiving weekend was great! its now monday and we have a doctors appointment tomorrow!! we have to be there at 8 and i will drink my sugar drink for the glucose test. then we have our hour long ultrasound! im really excited about that! we will get to see the baby a lot! we might also find out the gender of the baby. i am a little over 16 weeks, so im hoping that it will be noticeable! if not, we will have to wait until after the new years! which is fine with me, i guess i cant wait! =)

what im thankful for - thanksgiving 2009

this year i am thankful for many great things, they are:

*God, first and foremost
*my family
-dad & mom
---missy & ryan
----mackenzie
---steven
---patrick & kelly
-----caleb
-----haley
---melanie & scott
---benjamin
---monica
---michelle
---megan
---martha
*jeremy's family
-roberta & jim
---josh & alyson
----eli
---jenna
---jacob
---jaci
*all of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins
*my friends
*my wonderful husband, jeremy
*the little one that God gave us that is growing inside of me
*having the opportunity to live in germany
*all of our armed forces, especially the ones fighting
*the beautiful world
*every day that i live

i wish you all a very happy thanksgiving! =)

just a little update!

ok, so it totally stunk not being able to write about anything that has happened since i havent had internet for a while! so here is an update!!!

alrighty, well we had our first doctors appointment on the 20th of october. our appointment was at 4:15pm. we got there, filled out some paperwork, and had to wait a long time to be seen. they first took me into a room and took blood. then a while later the doctor called me in and we got started. thats the difference between german and american, when you go into the room, the doctor is already there. but you just have to wait a while to be called. anyway, so we go into the first part of the room and the doctor asks me questions and such and then after he is done, the nurse escorted me to the bathroom. which off of the "office" is the exam room, then off that is the bathroom. anyway, i went in there and realized i was supposed to get into a gown. well, the nurse didnt show me where any gowns were and i didnt see any so i got a little freaked out. but i finally found one!! =) so i got ready and went into exam room, he did some exams, and then started the ultrasound. it was so nice to finally see the baby! we got to see the heartbeat and the spine and everything! ahh, it was great. he gave us one picture:


he estimated that we were about 10/11 weeks along by the length of the baby. so he put the due date, may 10-15. after the ultrasound was done i got dressed, he talked with us for a bit, and then we scheduled another appointment in 2 weeks to go over the bloodwork and get a better idea of how far along we are. next one, november 3rd. after the appointment, we were so happy! it was just so nice to see our little one!! =D i took a picture of the ultrasound picture(thats the only way i could show them) and sent it to our family so they can finally see too! they were all so happy!

the day after the doctors appointment jeremy and i finally moved out of the hotel and into our new place! we were so excited to be out of the hotel! you have no idea! even though we didnt have any of our stuff, it just felt nice to live in our home!

that weekend jeremy, me, chris, and sandi all went to the pumpkin festival! it was super cool! there were like over 300 different types of pumpkins there! there were also figures of fairy tales made from pumpkins. here are some pictures from the fest:


after we walked around for a while we got something to eat. i had pumpkin soup, which wasnt anything i would ever order again, and jeremy got the same but also pumpkin quiche. we were not impressed. hahaha it was a good experience though. after we ate we browsed a bit more and headed back. it was really nice to get out and about!

the tuesday after, which was october 27th, we got our household goods delivered! it was amazing! of course the first room set up was our bedroom, but close after was the living room! jeremy could NOT wait to set up the tv and gaming systems. the kitchen took me a while to get situated and everything because i washed all of our dishes! and let me tell you, it took about 10 loads in the dishwasher for them to be done. maybe 11 or 12. because we would accumulate dishes on the side from using them. the house is coming together nicely, however, we are still missing couches. the set we really want has not been delivered at the furniture store yet so that is what we are waiting on. its lame. right now we are using a camping chair and disc chair. classy, i know.

we had a pretty good halloween this year. i was pretty bummed because the commissary ran out of pumpkins pretty early on so i thought that maybe we wouldnt be able to get pumpkins this year to carve, but the day before halloween the commissary got a shipment in and we got pumpkins!! here are a few pictures of that:


we handed out candy with our neighbors in the building. it was nice to get to know them! there were actually a lot of kids that came to our building. we thought we wouldnt get a lot since we are way down at the bottom of the hill, but we were wrong! there were even a few local kids that came and kept coming! they would just switch masks and get more candy! hahhaa we thought that was funny! i guess germans dont celebrate it as much as we do in america so they just come to score free candy! haha trick or treating on base was from 5-8 and we ran out of candy before 7 so it was nice to go inside after freezing outside for a bit! we came in and watched "the exorcism of emily rose". that movie always freaks me out, and mostly because i believe it can totally happen to anyone! scary!

on the 3rd of november we had another doctors appointment! it went very well. he did another ultrasound and the baby grew 2 centimeters in 2 weeks! wow! i could see the heart beating and we saw the brain. he said we were a little over 12 weeks and he gave us the due date of may 15th. we scheduled our next appointment which is on the 1st of december and we do my glucose test that day as well as the hour long ultrasound. i think then we will be able to tell the gender of the baby as well! i will be 16ish weeks! oh and i also found out from a lady that called me from the wellness center on base that my doctor doesnt actually deliver the baby. that a midwife does! i was super happy about that! i initially wanted a midwife but being overseas i didnt get the option, and so i am happy that they deliver the baby. i am not even sure if the doctor is present at the time of birth. weird, huh? i wonder if the midwife comes into the appointments at all before birth. like in the late 2nd or 3rd trimester. i want them to know what i want.

now it is the 6th of november. we finally got internet and phone setup yesterday and it has been so nice to call people back home and talk to them for a bit. oh, and its super nice to actually have a computer to type on rather than a bitty phone with a touchscreen keypad! tomorrow we are going onto another base and getting some groceries and then maybe going to ikea. since we dont have anything to sit on and are getting a futon set for the guest room anyway, we might just buy that from ikea and use it in the living room until our furniture is available. at least that way we will be more comfortable watching movies and such. on the 16th or 17th of november i start pregnancy classes on one of the bases. which i am not sure if i want to do since its for the 1st trimester and i am already past that point, it might be a waste. i will get more information before going. there is also a new expecting moms class that is every other wednesday that i might start going to. i need more information on that one as well.

there is so much going on here, its crazy! thanksgiving is coming up, then the ultrasound, christmas, and then the new year! crazy! i cant wait for it all to happen though!

living in a hotel is a bust

so i totally remembered recently and figured out how to write a blog
through email! i am super happy! =)

well, we have been in germany for 3 weeks now! it is totally weird
that we have already been here this long! we are currently living in a
hotel and boy does it stink. i cant cook decent meals because we only
have a microwave, the cleaning people come everyday to change our
towels and stuff(which is nice but when they come at like 9 in the
morning, come on), and i am bored by myself all day. the only websites
i can get on in the hotel are secured ones or i would have to pay like
300 dollars extra(that the navy wont pay) to get total internet. its
lame. tv is getting really boring here since there is only 3 channels
that are in english. anyway, next week we should be getting our stuff
and moving into our new place. i am super excited to have our stuff!!
plus we can wash our clothes anytime we want since we will have a
washer and dryer! =) plus, our new found friends live only like a
building away from us so maybe her and i can do something during the
day!

speaking of next week, we have our first doctor's appointment on the
20th! i am super excited for it but also really nervous because it is
a german doctor. i am really hoping he speaks good english. =) jeremy
and i went on the hospital tour last week and the lady informed us
that whenever we are seen by anyone it is always the head of the
department. that makes me feel better! german doctors are also more
compassionate than american ones as well. we are really hoping that
they do an ultrasound because we really dont know how far along we
are. they put my due date down as march 21st, but i do not think its
that early. i guess we will see next week!

we didnt make it to oktoberfest this year, which is alright because we
have a couple more years for that. i would have liked to go but with
me getting sick, it really puts a damper on things. we have made it to
downtown stuttgart and it was nice. they have this huge indoor market
full of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, bread, cheese,
everything! and up top they have this store that goes all the way
around it full of furniture, kitchen stuff, bath stuff, decor, it is
just awesome! i want to go again when i start feeling better. the
train kind of makes me sick to ride it so i wasnt feeling the greatest
when we went. where we are going to be living is super close to
downtown as well. only like 5 stops on the train, so thats cool. we
really want to make some trips to places soon but since we dont have a
car its pretty hard. there is a lot on base called "the lemon lot",
where people can just put their cars they want to sell, and when we
went to check it out people are trying to sell them for crazy prices.
they had one for $16,000! if i wanted to pay that much for a car i
would put it towards a new one! we did find a german car on there for
$4,000 and it included snow tires which was pretty cool. we have to
wait to actually purchase a car anyway because we need our
international drivers licenses. we are still looking and hoping to
find a good deal.

it has gotten pretty chilly here in the past week which i am really
happy about! i love love LOVE this time of year and cant wait until it
gets even colder! hopefully in the beginning of november is when we
are going to start seeing the snow! its going to be really cool!
especially since they have a good snow removal system here! ahh!!
winter! yay! christmas is my favorite holiday and i cant wait to
celebrate it here! its going to be awesome!

things that have happened

so we are now in colorado springs, colorado visiting with jeremys family! we landed yesterday at around 10:45. we left a little late because they were short a flight attendant. but we also landed late because when we were about to land and got pretty close to touching down they took off again. the tailwind was too strong for them to land. it was kind of weird and freaked me out but when the captain said why they did that it made me feel better.

last week was super super crazy. every single day we were busy doing something for the wedding. it went by so fast and was so exhausting. staying up late, waking up early. it stunk. the wedding was beautiful though! i am really happy for melanie and scott! they make an awesome couple and they deserve each other! we got to see my grandparents one of the days and my grandma showed me the quilt she is going to send me when i get to germany! it is super awesome! i freaking LOVE quilts. the only bad part about being there was that we didnt get a lot of quality time with anyone. especially my dad. =(

everyone i saw from my family was super happy for us that we are going to have a baby(babies, yep, still hoping for twins)!! it was really nice to hear positive things from everyone! a couple of my cousins are pregnant as well and it amazes me how irresponsible they are with their unborn child! they smoke and drink while pregnant!!! that makes me so disgusted!! it also makes me feel really sad for their baby. anyway, i am still super hungry all the time. i have gained weight, im not sure how much but its noticeable! my dress for the wedding almost didnt fit! a lot of people are telling me that with your second pregnancy you get bigger, faster. well, even though i didnt have a pregnancy full term i guess it still applies to me. i havent been sick yet which is a really good thing. i hated being sick last time. one other thing i have noticed is that i have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. i NEVER did that before, but lately i have been!! its weird and i hate it. jeremy and i are still set with our names from when we talked about it a long time ago. we are really excited about it. we just love the names and they are named after really important people in our lives!

right now roberta is helping jaci and 3 of the neighbor girls(which are all sisters) with their homework. i talked to grandpa today and he was super excited about the pregnancy! we are going to see him sometime this week which will be very exciting because we havent seen him in like 3 years!

we are going to have a baby!!

we finally told all of our family so its now time to write about it! jeremy and i are going to have a baby!! yay! we are super duper excited! its taken us 2 years to get to this point and we couldnt be more excited! we found out on friday, sept 4th, at about 7 in the morning! i wanted to take a test that day and woke up especially early to do so! the test came out positive super fast, i was shaking and woke jeremy up to show him! he was happy!! we initially wanted to wait until we were in the 2nd trimester to tell people but jeremy was too excited to hold it in! he called his mom first, she is super happy, then adam and he is happy too! we then called afton! she is super super happy for us too!! i was really excited to tell emily too and of course, she took forever to text me back! haha she is really happy for us! so our babies are going to be about 2 months apart! that is pretty awesome! we told some others throughout the day and i even took a second test just to make sure. we decided to wait until we were home with my family to tell them in person! we told most of them yesterday and they are really excited for us! my brother steven was the last to find out today and he gave me a huge hug! =)

lately i have been super hungry. i have been trying to eat really healthy, real sugar pop (if i want pop), fruit, veggies, no fast food. i have been taking prenatals for over a month now so i am really glad i started when i did. i wanted to get healthy for when we did finally get pregnant! anyway, i have only gagged on a few things. i gagged on a no bake cookie, and my mom makes pickled green tomatoes and she puts whole cloves of garlic in there and i tried eating one and almost threw up and i couldnt even eat the tomatoes!! i wasnt happy about that! the other thing i cant eat is eggs. eggs make me grossed out! i probably could eat egg whites, but i haven tried yet. i want to!

we are just so happy and excited we are going to have a baby!! hopefully we are having babies! we really are hoping for twins again. you never know! we are going to see a doctor when we get settled in germany. we really dont know how far along we are yet because my body hasnt been regular lately. im guessing just about 5 weeks or so. we will know in a couple of weeks! yay!

and we went over the mountains...

last weekend jeremy and i decided to take a trip over to eastern washington. we both have never been but have wanted to for a while so we thought that we might as well do it while we still live here. crystal (my boss's daughter) had told me about winthrop a couple of days prior and that is basically what sparked our last minute trip!

when we decided to go we were just going to go for the day on sunday. i had plans on saturday morning to go to target with nikki and by the time we would have gotten back it would have been too late to just spend the day over there because its a 4 hr drive. then we thought maybe still going on saturday but then just spending the night. i looked online for a while and couldnt find a hotel in winthrop that wasnt completely booked. after a while of searching i finally found a room in a town about 8 miles away called twisp. only 50 bucks for the night. of course though, it was a motel. haha so all the plans were set and i started packing. by this time it was about 10:30 at night.

i woke up around 7 or so, took a shower, got ready and finished packing. we were pretty much ready to go at like 9. nikki and i talked and she said that we could go another day to target since it was such a long drive over east. i hesitated and said it was fine but she insisted on going another day. jeremy and i headed out about 9:45 and went to the exchange to pick up some snacks and stuff for the drive. we got gas and was on the road by 10:30.

i started the drive and for the first hour or so it was just my regular drive to work. after we got past burlington we were heading closer to the mountains. i had only been on that part of the hwy once and jeremy has never been on it so the scenery was new to us. it didnt take us long to get into the mountains and it was so pretty.

the first stop we made was along the skagit river. down in burlington the skagit river is brown and looks pretty gross, but where we stopped it was blue and gorgeous! it was pretty warm and so jeremy and i stuck our feet in!! the water was very cold though, but it still felt nice! we stayed there for a little bit before heading back on the road.
the roads were starting to get twisty when we started getting deeper into the valleys and mountains. the scenery was just gorgeous! our next stop was at a lookout to a dam on the skagit river. it was pretty cool. all the power that the water creates there supplies electricity to 25 % of seattle. i thought that was neat. there are actually 3 dams on the skagit river that are hydroelectric dams. when we were there we took a little walk to the different viewpoints and saw a waterfall from pretty high up. it was beautiful.

jeremy took over driving after we left the lookout. we would stop at some little places here and there so i could take pictures. my favorite pictures are of diablo lake. the water was a really pretty greenish blue! it was super windy there so we didnt stay long, but i got some really good shots.
it took about 4 hrs for us to finally reach winthrop, and i think that was pretty good time! winthrop is this old western gold mining town. all of the shops look old and rustic and the sidewalks are the wooden type so it feels very authentic. we ate at this little pizza place and we both had a buffalo burger. it was really tasty!! that was the first time we've had buffalo. after we got done eating we wandered around the town for a bit. it was pretty small so we got done fairly quick. there was an ice cream shop there that looked really good but we both were too full to even attempt to eat any ice cream so we decided after we got back from the waterfall we would get some ice cream.

the waterfall wasnt too far away. maybe a 15 minute drive. well, actually the 15 minute drive turned into about a 25. we kept thinking we were going the wrong way and turned around a couple of times. we finally got there and walked up this short path to falls creek falls. it was a pretty big waterfall and we could get super close to it. if i would have brought my bathing suit (i had it hanging to dry and forgot it) i would have totally went in the pool at the bottom of the falls. we still waded around though and had fun. it was pretty cool and there wasnt a lot of people there which was nice. we could have some privacy. we took a bunch of pictures, however, jeremy didnt notice or just didnt tell me that i had something in the middle of my two front teeth(from the buffalo burger) and all of the pictures of him and me show that!! i was so mad when we got home and looked through the pictures and saw that! so i am going to have to edit those ones. bummer, huh?

when we left the waterfalls we stopped and had some ice cream and then headed out to the motel. it was this little rinky dink motel on the outside of town. for 50 bucks though, we had a pretty nice room. an air conditioner, lcd tv, queen bed, and it was pretty spacious. we rested for a bit and watched "cars". after a little while we headed out to the grocery store and got some dinner. we came back to the room ate dinner and just relaxed for the rest of the night...

we got up around 9 in the morning and got ready for the day, packed up and headed out. we took a drive east out of town before heading back to drive home. the drive back was nice again. we stopped as some places and got pictures of the different views heading back. we made it back home in the same amount of time it took us to get there. our last stop was almost the same place we stopped at first. we took a little break from driving and dipped our feet in the skagit river.

i am so glad that we took that trip. jeremy and i really needed to get away from whidbey island. i love going on little adventures and taking in the gorgeous scenery God gave us! if only i could do it everyday.