I am pregnant!

Phew! Glad to get that secret out! I am one day shy of 14 weeks along. I have been EXTREMELY lucky by not having ANY morning/afternoon/evening sickness. That is quite a shocker to me since I'm one who gets sick constantly: motion sickness if I'm not the one driving, sickness if I don't eat every 3-4 hours, etc. The only two times I was sick over the past 14 weeks has been: altitude sickness when we went to North Lake Tahoe for a wedding. I was close to fainting a few times! The second time was when I took a prenatal vitamin on an empty stomach. That problem was solved when Lenessa introduced me to gummy prenatal vitamins. They are wonderful! No sickness, and a yummy way to get nutrition.
So far for cravings: I have been craving spicy food galore! I put chili powder or cayenne pepper on everything: even on macaroni and cheese!I also have been craving sourdough bread. I probably go through a loaf a week. I know that's bad, but I just can't get enough.
Food adversions: sweets and fish. I thought when you're pregnant, you're supposed to crave sweets galore! Not only have I not been craving them, I also feel a bit sickened when I eat something sweet. Weird!

It was great for Nick to be at the doctor's appointment on 08/26 when we heard the baby's heart beat. For the next appointment, we will listen for the heart beat again and take more blood tests. The Ultrasound will occur when we find out the gender. That will be mid-October. Anyone want to place any bets?!

I've got a secret...

and it's really hard to keep. I can't wait until I receive full permission to tell my secret.

Bachelorette weekend for a friend

This past Thursday-Sunday, I went down to San Diego with my friends for one of my girlfriend's bachelorette party. It was a surprise to her that we were going to San Diego. My friend rented a large Suburban and we drove down Thursday morning. It took us 11 hours with the traffic through LA, but it was a fun car trip. On Friday, we hung by the pool all day at the house that we rented. What a gorgeous house it was. On Saturday, we all went to the horse derby in Del Mar. We all wore fun hats and summer dresses. The picture included is my maid of honor and I in our derby best. On Saturday night, we went to a dance club. The conclusion at the end of the night for me: I am WAY out of shape, and I really don't care to go out anymore. Too many rude people and too loud of music. I must be getting old! On Sunday, we drove back. It took just as long due to accidents on the road. It was good to be home but it was a great weekend with some great women.

Kauai

As a celebration for my graduation, Nick and I went to the beautiful island of Kauai with my parents for one week. They go every year for their anniversary, but they decided to let us come this year. After weeks of trying to find the best airfare, I purchased the tickets before they sold out. We had a great time with my parents. We ate at many great places including: puka dogs, Merrimans, Duke's, and other places that surely fattened us up! We didn't do any excursions, but we did sit on the beach almost all day to read our books. We did go visit some beautiful beaches and swam in the warm water. It was heavenly. It is always sad to leave Kauai, but I was ready to not live out of a suitcase! I hope we can go again soon!

House sitting

We love house sitting. I think everyone loves us house sitting as well because 1) we don't charge and 2) I become OCD with cleaning. This week, we house sat for a mutual friend. They have a beautiful house in Menlo Park that has a salt water pool and hot tub. This week, the weather was between 85-100 degrees. The pool was perfect. It was a vacation away from home. I was actually sad when we had to leave on Sunday. Imagine how excited I was when the lady of the house emailed me today and asked if we could house sit again over the 4th of July weekend. YES! If anyone in the bay area needs a house sitter, let me know! :)

College Graduate!!

I did it! I graduated college. I finished with a 3.71 GPA. I have to wait until my Cal Grant pays off the remaining balance before I receive the diploma, though. Either way, no more school! Now what to do with my extra time?

Georgia

Over the weekend of 04/28-05/02, I got to fly out to Georgia to visit Rachel! What a great time I had. I always have so much fun with my sister. We toured a beautiful place called Calloway Gardens. I tried a chicken fried steak meal and some of Rachel's fried green tomato sandwich. We then went to her house on Ft. Benning. Rachel has done an amazing job decorating her house. I hope I someday have her talent of decorating! We went to Atlanta with some of her friends for shopping. That was similar to shopping here, but the people were a bit different. A lot more people were overweight but had no problem dressing like they were 100 pounds lighter! Motivation for me!
It was great to see the kids as well. I gave Izzie my old iPod touch for her birthday. You would have thought I gave her a new iPad. She LOVED it and was my best friend for the whole trip. Brenden is getting so big. He is now taller than me and so strong! That's good because Rachel's little dog, Tucker, will drag you down the hill if you're not strong. Tucker is absolutely adorable, but still full of puppy energy. Lexie was so cute with him. She giggled and would chase him when he had one of our shoes or clothing. Needless to say, that house is full of energy. No wonder Rachel is always asleep by 9!
I was sad to leave Rachel at the very end. I hope she is able to move back here soon. Talking on the phone every day is not enough!