Embarassing moments - I’ll share mine if you share yours! May 22, 2008

Why would I share my most embarassing moment with all 5 of you who read this? Ask her. She did it on her blog and I’m shamelessly copying her. But, to be exact, she copied it from them. If you need a pick-me-up, read my story, then go to those pages and read theirs…you will laugh for at least 10 minutes, I promise. Especially at Jen’s…it’s pretty bad!

Ok here goes.

Last year I was getting groceries at Publix. I was really feeling good about myself that day; I had dressed up for work (it’s a laid back office so I usually wear jeans, sandals and some kind of top). I was wearing this really cute dress over my nicest pair of jeans and heels. This dress ties in the back and is a little poofy.

While checking out, the cashier (who was probably 75 years old) asked me if I’ve joined the “baby club” (which is a club you can sign up for at publix to get coupons & stuff). I, of course was shocked but I didn’t know what the baby club was…I thought she was basically asking if I was pregnant, so I smiled (but really dying inside) and said “no”. She then proceeded to tell me that I can sign up for the baby club for free coupons, etc. I didn’t want to be rude so I just said “ok thanks”, thinking “oh crap there’s a real baby club?? she thinks I’m pregnant!” The lady who was bagging my groceries (who was also about 75 years old) said “how do you know she’s pregnant? she doesn’t look pregnant to me!” By this point, I’m looking at the exit..ready to run outta there. The cashier replied, “well, just look at her!”  I looked down too, wondering what in the world she saw. Then I saw my dress was poofing out at the very obvious spot!

It got even worse. They asked me when the baby was due (I made up a date) and if I knew what it was (a girl) (side note: jen, i remembered this very funny fact later). And then I said thanks, took my receipt and cried all the way to my car!!!! Needless to say it was a real downer since I had felt so confident about myself earlier. I couldn’t believe someone could think I was pregnant?!  I still can’t believe I made up a due date and the sex of my unborn child, but I didn’t know what else to do!!!! It was too late at that point to go back!!!

It’s ironic now because I actually signed up for the “baby club” yesterday when I went to Publix.

Ok now, to be fair, you have to share yours. And no one can say “I don’t have one” because you know you do…just think about it for a whie. I had forgotten about this one until yesterday when I went to Publix for an errand. SHARE AWAY!!!!!!

Mini-vacation May 21, 2008

I’m leaving tomorrow for Sanibel Island with the fam. We go every Memorial Day weekend and it’s one of my favorite places to vacation. My grandparents have lived there for at least 25 years and we always stay at their place. We ride our bikes to the beach and to the cute little boutiques, shops and restaurants on the island. We always have a blast when we are there and I’m so excited to relax on the beach for a while. I hope to carry on the yearly tradition when our baby is born. I always had so much fun going there as a kid. But, I won’t be blogging or even checking email while I am there…so see ya on Tuesday!

Here’s some pics from last year:

Me & Joel on the beach

My brother, Scott & my sister-in-law Raychel on the beach

Scott throwing the frisbee!

My lovely parents

We went on a short cruise to watch the dolphins near Captiva.

Could it be narcolepsy? May 21, 2008

This is just a random thought/question. Recently I get tired after I eat a meal…and I don’t mean the afternoon low that everyone gets after lunch. I mean I am dead dog tired after I eat…like I could fall asleep at any minute. It’s annoying!

Last night Joel and I had a date night. We went to Chilis (my fave place to have chips & salsa…except the salsa was like water so we sent it back and got skillet queso…). Anyway, after dinner we went to TCBY and sat outside for a while to let our food digest before getting a little ice cream. As we were sitting there talking, suddenly a wave of exhaustion came over me! It may have been because we got into a really deep subject (arminianism vs. calvinsim…weird, I know…we never talk about that stuff and neither of us know much about it). All that to say, we got some ice cream, went home, watched AI and then I couldn’t fall asleep fast enough (9:00!!!!).

I’m at work now and just had Chick-fil-A for lunch and now I’m about to fall over. I guess this is just the beginning of weird things during my pregnancy!

Complaining May 19, 2008

I’m just gonna be totally real with you all: I feel like my last post was just a big ol’ complaint! God slapped me in the face this weekend when I realized how much I complain and how much He has blessed me with! We did really well at the garage sale…way better than I thought we would. I wasn’t sick the entire weekend…I haven’t taken my “happy” pills since last Thursday!! I even got to sing on Sunday for the first time in weeks! I loved being back.

I feel like I’ve also been a jerk lately to people in my life. I haven’t been myself. Needless to say I have a lot going on in my head right now. I’m still trying to adjust to being pregnant and all that comes with it. My walk with Christ is definitely not where I want it to be, which I am working on. Not that any of that excuses my behavior, but if I have offended you or been rude (anything that has been uncharacteristic of me), I am deeply sorry!

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!