Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful that…

1.) The baby has stayed in this long so I have been able to have a few days to get stuff done around the house without having to work and without a baby!

2.) That the follow up ultrasound we had on Tuesday showed that the baby was growing at the appropriate rate, although it is still measuring 1.5 weeks behind. Smaller baby = easier delivery, right???

3.) It is supposed to rain next week. This week has be so hot!

4.) I was able to schedule to have someone clean the house this weekend before the baby comes. It is going to be so nice to have a fresh start!

5.) I was able to find Parenthood on Netflix. It’s a really great show that I have enjoyed watching in the background while getting things done around the house during my time off.

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful…

1.) That even though there was an initial scare that perhaps the baby wasn’t growing as much as it should based on my belly measurement, that a formal ultrasound showed it was only 1.5 weeks behind in growth (and we don’t really worry till it is 3 weeks behind). More about this later in my 35  week update post.

2.) For the cute u/s pics we got of the little one’s face. They are the best we’ve gotten and even look 3D like! I even got some frames to hang a couple of them up. We think the little one has my frown & nose, while he/she has The Hubs’s cheeks. Guess we will see in a few weeks!

3.) That the Giants clinched the National League West! I’m looking for a 2010 repeat!

4.) That pumpkins have finally shown up at the grocery store! Carving pumpkins is usually a big hassle, but the new rage of drilling pumpkins with designs looks so cool and easy. We also bought various LED lights that flicker like candles or act like a strobe light to fill the pumpkins with. Maybe we’ll have some time this weekend to work on this project.

Image Source: Crafty Nest

5.) That the new fall TV season starts this week! Even though we don’t have cable, we still have a few shows that we are really looking forward to seeing return, including Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy!

 

Thankful Thursday

Since I’m on a blogging roll and I have plenty to be thankful for, here’s the reinstatement of Thankful Thursday:

I’m thankful for…

1.) A healthy pregnancy – as evidence by all the doctor’s appointments, non-stress tests, ultrasounds and extra care I’ve been taking with my diet to keep my Gestational Diabetes under control.

2.) Gestational Diabetes (never thought I would ever see the day were I would actually be THANKFUL for this!) – Having this condition has helped both The Hubs and I completely makeover how we look at food and the types of foods we eat. We (well mostly The Hubs) take more time to plan and cook meals (even if it is tacos for days on end), but we now always make sure to fill our plates with protein and veggies first with a small side of  a complex carbohydrate. We don’t snack on crap anymore. Hopefully, we can carry this diet into our post-pregnancy lives, with the only the occasional indulgence. This new diet has benefited all. My weight gain has been a little lower than the doctor would like, but I just KNOW I would have blown up like a balloon had I been able to eat wahtever I wanted. And The Hubs, well, he’s had to create a few more belt holes in his pants to accommodate his slimming waist line! 

3.) Supportive family and friends who have been there and put up with my crazy emotional mood swings and constant complaining. The Hubs has been especially helpful and thoughtful. If how he has taken care of me during this pregnancy (and all the practice he has caring for animals his whole life) is any indication of what kind of dad he’s going to be, we have one lucky baby on our hands! 🙂

4.) Super nice labor and delivery nurses at my local hospital who make the bi-weekly non-stress tests more bearable and not too stressful. I was concerned that with all this testing, it would just cause me more worry, but these ladies are so calm, cool and collected, it’s easier to stay calm around them. I can only hope to find the same type of nurses at the hospital I’m delivering at.

5.) Only 3.5 more weeks of work before 5 months off!

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful for…

1.) The awesome Saturday The Hubs and I had wine tasting and picnicking at our favorite winery in Rutherford. It was such a great afternoon and much needed for both of us!

2.) Spending all night Sunday and into the wee hours of the morning working together with The Hubs to put our brand new Ikea bedroom set together. We both had such fun helping each other out with the directions and figuring out what went where. By the end, we were experts in Ikea drawer making. I’ll do a post next week showing you our new stuff!

3.) My Twitter friends who were so encouraging and made me feel a lot better after a rough week. It’s amazing what a few nice comments from hundreds or even thousands of miles away can do!

4.) That I had the courage to contact an acupuncturist and actually make an appointment. Anyone that knows me knows that calling a doctor or anyone else for that matter for an appointment isn’t something I’m very good at and try to avoid at all costs. I’m hoping for a positive experience! Guess I’ll find out tomorrow!

5.) All the work The Hubs did over the weekend! He cleaned up the house while I was at church since we were having company and went out to the store when I had forgotten something. He definitely filled my emotional “love tank” by catering to my love languages. 🙂

The Return of Thankful Thursday

Image Source: jeffgunn

I haven’t done a Thankful Thursday post in awhile and after the week I’ve had, I think I should make a point of looking at my life and the plethora of things I have to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for…

1.) Living in a gorgeous place that is having unseasonably warm weather and the means with which to enjoy it (evidence in the picture above). In this vein, I think a fun adventure this weekend might be just what the doctor ordered. I’ll have to see what I can come up with that doesn’t cost too much (perhaps a picnic lunch at the winery we are members), but if you have any suggestions let me know! 🙂

2.) Excellent Kindle books that take my mind somewhere else. I’m currently reading Under the Never Sky, a sci-fi young adult book written by an up and coming author who just happens to be great friends with my friend Bret. So far I’m really enjoying it as it has some Hunger Games aspects, but it is definitely different and has it’s own feel.

3.) Our Vegas trip which I am SO looking forward too! I know that it was a lot of money for the flight, hotel and tickets to see Garth and Brad, plus more money once we get there, but I think The Hubs and I need this getaway. So we’re going to take it and ENJOY it! And at this point (a couple of weeks out), I’m not even that worried about the flight, which I know is likely to be bumpy (a sacrifice EVERYONE makes to fly to Sin City!)

4.) Trash TV that also takes my mind somewhere else. Can we say The Bachelor anyone?? I love that Ben is from Sonoma so we get to see places that I could conceivably visit in like less than an hour! Next week is in San Francisco, so I’m excited to see where they explore!  I’m not so excited about some of his choices so far (ugh on Courtney and Blakely – I do NOT think they are cute AT ALL!), but I’m really like Kaci and Nicki so far.  🙂 I liked Jaime at the beginning too, but it seems like she’s a bit awkward, so I’m not counting on her making it that far anymore!

5.) Friends and Family both online and in real life. Encouraging words are always much appreciated especially when I’m in a downer mood and know I’m not fun to be around (virtually or otherwise). Empathy is not one of my strong suits, as I’m not one to know the right thing to say at the right time, but I SO SO appreciate in those who do have it. It’s one of my ongoing personal endeavors to try to emulate those I see with this trait, although I know that some of  it just comes inherently to these people! 🙂 

What are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday – FINALLY Finished Gratitude Photo Challenge!

I know this is a bit late in coming, but I really wanted to finish the Gratitude Photo Challenge I started in November. I got a bit sidetracked with all the Weverb11 posts, so this project took a back seat.

But without further ado…

Day 25: Artwork

 

Saw these at Crate and Barrel and really liked them. I’m not much into abstract art, but I really like these different patterns. Wish they were smaller so I could put them in the bathroom. Guess I could always try to DIY it!

Day 26: Transportation

I had to use The Hubs car for the last two weeks while mine was in the shop. While I was very grateful to have it, I’m happy that today I finally got to pick my car up!

Day 27: Daily Routine

My daily morning routine once consists of catching up on blogs from the day before with a bowl of dry cereal and either tea or coffee. Probably one of my favorite parts of the day.

Days 28 & 29: Nighttime and Light

I combined these two because I really wanted to share a picture of how cute our house looks at night with all of the holiday lights on it! The Hubs did an awesome job of decorating the outside! Love him

Day 30: Self Portrait

I’m cheating here…. This isn’t really self portrait, but it was a spontaenous picture that The Hubs took of me at a friend’s 30th birthday at Campo di Bocce. I was quite surprise with how good it came out and it has some artistic flare! :-)

Thankful Thursday – Photo Challenge Catch Up! :-)

Even more behind in the Gratitude Photo Challenge. I think I may have to finish up next week! 🙂

Day 18: Something New

I know you already saw this in a previous post this week, but I still am in LOVE with it so you get to see it again! I’m thankful that we had the means and willpower to actually bite the bullet and buy it (not to mention the fact that both The Hubs and I agreed on it!)! 🙂

Day 19: Best Friends

I have three best friends who I couldn’t live without. The first two are best friends too, so we’re a best friend trio! I don’t see my bestie Sarah as much as I would like too. She’s the mommy of an almost one year old (my how time flies…) and with another one on the way, she is more than busy! I do get to see my bestie Lisa every.single.day! She started work at my company in May and it is amazing how much better work is with her here. She’s also expecting so I only have a few more months before I have to suffer through her maternity leave without her at work! I love them both lots!

My sister is also my best friend. Even though she is 8 years younger than me, we’ve gotten a lot closer as we’ve gotten older. It’s amazing how that happens! She’s the nicer of the two of us, but we both have our quirky anxiety ridden issues.

Day 20: Seasonal
 

The Tree! (fake, but still pretty!)

My new little snow village! The Hubs made “snow” (aka glitter on white paper!)

Improvising!

Again another creation of The Hubs! First time we’ve done this!

I LOVE Christmas and all the decorations that go with it. The Hubs and I got all of our decorations together over the weekend so the Christmas spirit is in full swing (for the most part – see tomorrow’s post for more!). These are a couple of pictures of our fun holiday spread!

Day 21: Where you Sleep

This is a lie of a picture. I made the bed just to snap this shot, but on a regular basis I’m not good about keeping up with it. It was totally one of the things that I was going to try to get better about this year and I did really well for awhile, but then I got lazy… Maybe this will jump start my motivation again!

Day 22:Clothing

My favorite outfit of all time??? Yoga pants and a Cal or Cal Poly shirt (alma mater PRIDE!). In fact, I’m going to take a piece from Michelle’s book at See Michelle Blog and sleep in this tonight as I plan on waking up early and doing my new Yoga for Fertility DVD that I borrowed from a friend.

Day 23: In Your Closet

Well, here’s a picture of my closet. There in the middle are the four sweaters I wear MOST of the time. I’m thankful that I typically don’t have to “dress up” for work much, so it is perfectly acceptable to rotate these sweaters and a couple of pairs of jeans throughout the week. It’s no secret I hate shopping, so I’m also grateful for a small closet that is already full!

Day 24: Gratitude

Alas, I know I’m cheating here, but here are two pictures featuring most of The Hubs and I’s close family and friends at our wedding. HAPPINESS! So grateful for all of them!

I’ll finish up this photo challenge in next week’s Thankful Thursday post! 🙂

 

Are you participating in the Gratitude Photo Challenge? Are you all caught up??

Thankful Thursday – Gratitude Photo Challenge Edition Part Deux

Still behind in the Gratitude Photo Challenge, and still catching up!

Day 10: Nature

This is the avocado tree The Hubs bought a few months back. He thought it would be a great idea to have avocados at the ready since we go through them so fast. Well apparently, it takes a few months for the tree to mature, so for now, it’s sitting in a pot on our porch. We haven’t killed it yet! So far so good!

Day 11: Something Old

I have two something olds that I’m grateful for since both are sentimental items associated with The Hubs and I’s courtship. On top, is a picture of the ticket stub from our first date (look how cheap! $7)! Kinda crazy, but I found it in a stack of old letters that I had stashed away in a box. Little did I know at the time, that the boy I went on my first real date with would be my husband 11 years later! On the bottom, is a picture of the garter The Hubs got me for Junior Prom. It ended up also being my “Something Old” at our wedding!

Day 12: Hands

This is a picture of my hands (or one hand) that I’m definitely grateful for, but I really wanted to take picture of The Hubs’s hand. This week The Hubs had a Jeremy Affeldt moment (for those of you non-SF Giants fans, you can click the link to find out what he did!). While I was at the gym, he was trying to speed up the thawing of some ground beef by cutting the frozen meat into smaller pieces. In the process, he cut his thumb. Apparently, it was bad enough for him to feel the need to drive himself to the doctor to check it out. It ended up being minor, even though there was a lot of blood. I’m grateful though that all five of his fingers are still in tact and that I wasn’t there when it happened (This girl would have freaked out!).

Day 13: Written Words

I LOVE written lists. I love physically checking each item off the list as I complete them. I don’t get the same satisfaction from checking things off a digital list. Here is my latest list of things I need to remember to do now that the Internet is back on!

Day 14: Movement

I wasn’t really sure how to take a picture of movement, but after a little bit of a downer evening, a nice warm shower was in order. The movement of the warm water from our NEW shower head was so relaxing and actually made me feel a little better.

Day 15: Technology

We’ve been without the internet at work all week and although I have my handy Smartphone, it still isn’t the same as typing out an email on the computer or checking a coworkers schedule. I’ve never been SO HAPPY to see the Google page as when I took this picture!  Being without technology for a week made me appreciate it that much more. I don’t know how people got any work done before the internet!

Day 16: Animals

We’ve only got one and he is very rambunctious! This is a picture of Rusty completing his latest trick – “Bang! Bang!”. It’s the more fun way of teaching him the old play dead trick!

Day 17: Memories

This is the scrapbook I kept of The Hubs and I pre-marriage days. I just looked through it for the first time in awhile and WOW what great memories! I was so good about keeping up with the scrapbook until the wedding, when wedding planning took over. I never really got back into it. I guess you could say this blog is a bit of a digital scrapbook, but it’s not quite the same. Maybe sometimes I’ll start up again. I still have a TON of supplies around!

 

Are you participating in the Gratitude Photo Challenge? Are you all caught up??

Thankful Thursday – Gratitude Photo Challenge Edition

I’m a bit behind in my Gratitude Photo Challenge, what with Anniversary Week in full swing, so I thought I would take this week’s Thankful Thursday to catch up a bit!

Day 4: Leaves

In California, not all of the trees’ leaves change to pretty fall reds, oranges and yellow, but I set out to find some anyways. Leaves changing color are one of my favorite parts of fall, so I definitely appreciate it when I see them.

Day 5: Morning Sky

Now that the days are lighter earlier, I was able to snap this dawn photo. If this had been last week, I would have been either driving or inside my cubical dungeon and wouldn’t have been able to see this lovely sight. I try to take time to look at the sky every morning now as we’re leaving the house (since I won’t be able to appreciate the light in the evening when I get home!).

Day 6: Books

So I LOVE reading and I LOVE reading on my Kindle, but I also sometimes like to read actual books. I found the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barabara Kingsolver in our work library and read the first few pages while I was waiting for my food to warm. I was instantly drawn in. So starting last night, I’m trying to set aside 15-20 minutes of SSR (sustained silent reading – did anybody else have to do this in elementary school after recess to calm us down?? I LOVED SSR! 🙂 ) every night before bed.

Day 7: Something Funny

I think that The Hubs is pretty funny (most of the time…sometimes he means to be funny and I get annoyed!). I took a couple of these pictures and told him that it was because he was funny. He says he’s not funny and proceeded to give me a few unintentional funny faces!

Day 8: Favorite Color

My favorite color has been and I think will always be purple. My dorm room was covered in it in college. I don’t have it around the house as much anymore (The Hubs wouldn’t appreciate it like I do!), but I do have a few pieces of purple clothing, including this fun scarf that has purple glitter thread running through it!

Day 9: Inspiring Person

This obviously isn’t a photo that I took, but I think that Oprah’s teachings are pretty inspiring. As I’ve said before, I’ve been enjoying her Life Class and think that a lot of what she is teaching based on her own experiences are important lessons to remember. I’m A LOT of episodes behind, but I want to make sure I make time to watch them and fully engage in what I’m watching, so I’ve been putting it off! I need to find some time to catch up on that too!

Thankful Thursday & Gratitude Photo Challenge Day 2

This week I’m thankful for,

1.) Being able to spend time with friends, enjoying delicious food and good conversation.

2.) That colder weather is a comin’. (I’m looking forward to sweaters and snuggling.)

3.) Exciting sports events that gets me excited! (Go Cardinals! Both St. Louis and Stanford! Even though Stanford is a mortal enemy, I still like them better than USC!)

4.) For a stable job that I’ve enjoyed more than normal (could be because I have a friend at work now!)

5.) My favorite little one’s smile (even if it is a bit blurry). Can anyone resist it??

Day Two: Smile