I’m in the ‘Real World’ now May 15, 2008

Well friends, this is it. I’m in the ‘real world’. I thought I was before but now I really am…but I guess I’m more on the brink than in the miry muck. How’s that for being negative?!…lol.

I recently had a battle between my doctor, insurance company and pharmacy with drugs I’ve been taking to help the nausea subside. It was such a mess and so ridiculous. All I will say about it is don’t get between a nauseous pregnant women and the pills that make her feel better!!!!! Needless to say I have my pills and now I am a happier person!

We’re having a huge garage sale on Saturday because…you guessed it…we need to make room for the baby and we need to make some $$$! We’re getting rid of A LOT of stuff…I didn’t realize how much junk we were holding onto; it’s ridiculous! We’re selling everything from furniture to Christmas decorations to clothes to office supplies. You name it, we’re probably selling it or something like it. Pray for us that we will make a decent amount of money!

We’ve also been having a bit of car trouble. Last weekend our Jeep was towed away from our own parking lot because the registration was expired by a week. $180 and a sketchy neighborhood later, we got it back. Our other (newer) car is giving us a really dangerous problem. When you press on the gas, it sticks! Yes, you read that right. And guess what? Even though we bought an extended warranty from CarMax, it doesn’t cover this specific problem. Figures, right? We’re still unsure as to what we need to do. Right now I’m driving my old car from college that my parents own, which I affectionately call ‘Cappy’ (it’s an ‘88 Caprice Classic…here’s a link to a pic of a similar car). It’s hilarious…I love the looks I get while I’m driving it.

Anyway sorry for the negativity but I just needed a place to vent! These are the ups and downs of life!

Where should we go? UPDATE May 13, 2008

Thank you all so much for your suggestions on where we should spend our 3rd anniversary!  Especially to my loving and encouraging Pastor & boss who made me extremely depressed that this is my last vacation for 25 years…thanks!

Well it was a hard decision but we’ve decided to go to Key West. We wanted to stay semi-local but at a place that we don’t know a lot about. We’ve only been to KW once and it was an amazing trip but very short. This time we are staying 4 nights & 5 days at a B&B right by Duval Street. We are really excited!

It was funny when we were trying to book a place to stay because we called at least 20 different places and out of those, about 3-5 were clothing optional places. That would be interesting and would definitely be a good story!

Thanks again for your help. We are thinking of taking a weekend off in the Fall and going to either Savannah or St. Augustine with our best friends. We’ve gotta do our traveling now while we can!

Baby Collins at 12 weeks May 9, 2008

Yesterday was a really exciting day. I went for my monthly check-up and got to hear the heartbeat (for the 3rd time) and see my baby (for the 5th time!). This was a MUCH better picture than any of the others…we actually saw a head and a body! The baby even entertained us by jumping a couple of times. The heartbeat was nice and strong. It never gets old to have the ultrasounds…it was so amazing. Every time I have one it all becomes so real to me all over again. I’m having a baby. There is something growing in me and even though it makes me quite sick and miserable sometimes, it’s exciting! Check out our baby at 12 weeks:

 

Technical difficulties May 8, 2008

I’ve written two posts but haven’t been able to post them yet. I have pictures included in both of them but WordPress is giving me a hard time inserting the picture into the blog. So please be patient with me. Just to let you know there’s a great sonogram picture coming!

Where should we go? May 5, 2008

Joel and I will celebrate our 3rd anniversary next month. The procrastinators that we are, we have no plans as of late. Of course we’ve been talking about what we should do for months now, but that hasn’t gotten us anywhere.

Here are the options we’ve discussed:

• Sanibel/Captiva (downside: we go there with my family every memorial day weekend. upside: i know every inch of that place which makes planning very easy).
• Key West (downside: not a lot to do and it takes FOREVER to get there. upside: we went last year for a work-related trip and had a blast but were only there 2 days and would love to see more).
• Disney (downside: well, i’m pregnant which means i can’t ride a lot of the fun rides. upside: disney is so diverse that we can find other things to do and joel has only been once.)
• 4 or 5-day cruise (downside: i’m not really feeling any of the destinations and we took a cruise for our honeymoon. upside: it really gets us far away from reality.
• NYC (downside: SUPER expensive. upside: joel’s never been but i have and there’s so much he needs to see!)

Those have been the main options. So…help. Where should we go? What should we do? Any new recommendations?

Everything’s changing May 5, 2008

I used to have another blog when I was in college. I’m not giving the link because it was pretty embarassing. Anyway, I stumbled upon it a few weeks ago and saw this post I wrote a couple of weeks before my wedding (june 2005). I talked about how my life had rapidly changed from college life to graduation to single life to about-to-get-married life! Here’s an excerpt:

My life these days has rapidly shifted from waking up, going to class, lunch in the Caf with my wonderful friends, homework, constant access to internet, dinners out to Moe’s and Panera, study sessions at Barnes and Noble, my messy roommate and best friend, buying Pizza Hut at 10 p.m., people jumping on pogo sticks, reading on the quad, dreading convo, weird Alabama weather, being completely independent, getting away with almost anything, Blue Monkey, Dave’s, talking about swimming in the fountain, Chili’s, Friday’s, 2nd West girls, Suite H girls, Southern hospitality, the simple life, writing papers, working on the newspaper, mooching off my grandparents, scraping for quarters to do my laundry…to….

back home in my paradise, waking up when I want to, being my Mom’s slave, constantly running errands and working on wedding stuff, writing thank you notes, missing Joel with every fiber of my being, reading for pleasure (I almost forgot what that was like!) spending time with my amazing family, cooking, playing with my dog, shopping, spending time with my childhood friends, wondering what I will do with my life, taking in the life I used to live and how much things have changed, wondering how much more life will change…this is what I do day to day.

I decided I don’t like such rapid change. And I miss Joel.

When I reread that, I had to laugh at myself. Wow, I had it so great! However, I know I’m at the right place at the right time in my life right now. I also think of how things are on the brink of changing ALL OVER AGAIN for me. Three years ago I would’ve laughed if you told me I would be pregnant right now. I always said I’d wait five years after I got married. It’s funny how my outlook has changed. I know God has changed my heart and I’m excited to see where He’ll take me from here and how He’ll take me through all the changes. The best is yet to come!

Miss Mary Mack April 30, 2008

Have you all seen that commercial where the ladies are in the elevator and one of them is eating a 100 calorie snack and randomly breaks into “Miss Mary Mack”? I LOVE THIS COMMERCIAL! I know it’s lame but it brought me back to my childhood! I can’t tell you how many times I sang MMM with my friends in elementary school.

(I tried to find the commercial on youtube but I don’t think it’s on there.)

The first time I saw the commercial, Joel was watching it with me and after it was over I was freaking out about how I used to do that. Then I chanted the entire thing for him (no clapping because he wouldn’t have done it with me). It was so much fun. He looked at me like I was crazy but I didn’t care!

And that’s my story for today. Riveting, I know.

The Marathoner’s Wife April 29, 2008

So my husband is pretty awesome. This past weekend we flew up to Louisville so Joel could run in a marathon with his Dad. Joel and his best friend Herald have been training since January for the race but in the last month or so had kind of lost momentum…it could be because I got pregnant and needed way more of his time…that could be it.

Nevertheless, having run 14 miles at the most, Joel, Herald and Joel’s Dad Chip ran the Kentucky Derby Marathon (all 26.2 miles of it) and all finished in under 5 hours! I am so proud of him! Below are his stats:

 

Bib	Name	Sex/Age	City, State, Country
1226	Collins, Joel	M26	Davic, FL
Gun / Chip Overall Sex Div  10K   15K   25K   30K   Chip Time   Pace   4:59:00  /  4:57:49    989 /1207   630   74   1:05:11   1:38:16   2:45:31   3:20:24   4:57:49   11:22

Oh the good ol’ days! April 24, 2008

Check out this picture my old 8th grade Sunday School teacher sent me! Oh man…

From left to right: me, Donna (our SS teacher), Erin McInnes and Sherry Adlet!

Just had to share.

How are you feeling? April 22, 2008

That is a question I am asked frequently nowadays! I feel bad saying “not so hot” or “I’ve been better”. But on a day like today when I’m feeling like myself, I love saying “I’m feeling great today!” I’ve appreciated everyone’s comments and encouragement in the last couple of days, it has meant so much to me! I’m still adjusting and as I adjust I know that I will be more confident.

So I am feeling good today. Sunday & Monday I was in bed. I finally talked my doctor’s office into letting me get an oral drug to ease the nausea. I have been trying EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING (don’t want to go in to too much detail!). I’ve sucked on preggie pops (which are great by the way but don’t help when you’re nauseous all day), I’ve been drinking ginger ale, I’m eating small snacks throughout the day…I’m doing everything they’ve told me to do. It just wasn’t working for me. So I’m hoping I don’t have to take this drug a lot (it’s a drug that they give cancer patients but it is safe for pregnant mothers too). I tried to do everything so I wouldn’t have to take any drugs but here we are.

We’re going out of town this weekend. Joel is running in a marathon! And we get to see his family and spend some time with our niece! We’re very excited and it’s a relief for me to know that I can take this drug when I start to feel sick so I’m not stuck in bed the whole time!