Floating babies are creepy

I really love countdowns. I had the floating baby on my blog simply for the countdown. Thank goodness I found this baby ticker so I could get rid of the creepy floating fetus!

And for those who are concerned, dinner didn't burn when the cop pulled me over. However, Eric did not have time to eat it until it was cold because he had to go to mutual.

And now, my grateful list for March:

1. SPRING!!! We've had our fair share of beautiful sunny breezy days. I love the April showers that are just around the corner and March promises to be lovely as well!

2. Wal-Mart. Seriously, you just can't beat those prices. I'm not ashamed to be a Wal-Mart customer.

3. My new cute flowery mousepad. It's the little things in life that make it fun!

4. The squirmy little boy growing in me! He's gonna be a cutie, I can just feel it.

5. Saturdays. Can't beat a full day of sleeping in, cleaning, organizing, playing, hugging, running errands, going on dates, finally checking my email... I wish I had more Saturdays. They really are so lovely.

6. Easy recipes. Gotta love it when dinner is a snap and tasty to boot. (Thanks to Brittany for the stroganoff recipe that is always a hit).

It's not fair to talk about a recipe and not share it, so here you go:

1/2 lb ground beef (I use turkey)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. italian dressing mix
1 c. sour cream
Rice or pasta

Brown the meat. Add soups and dressing packet, let simmer while cooking your rice or pasta. Add sour cream in the last few minutes before serving til heated through. Serve stroganoff over rice or pasta--whichever you prefer.

Seriously, so easy and always tasty.

7. St. Patrick's Day!! My favorite holiday is just around the corner! Be sure to wear green and dye something green. Get festive!

8. Food in the cupboards. I saw a commercial today about a kid going to bed hungry-- the commercial was urging us to donate to local food banks. I'm so grateful there is food on my shelves.

9. Prayer. Isn't it wonderful to know that we have a loving Father in Heaven that listens to our needs and responds to us with open arms?

10. Family and a loving husband. How wonderful to have supportive parents and siblings and the cutest husband in the world. Who could ask for anything more?

Have a beautiful March! This month I've been thinking about cherishing every moment. Lately we hear all about how terrible life is and the awful state of the economy and on and on. I can't help but ponder how it's the hard times that shape our lives and refine our character. So for me, I'm cherishing this time when I can work full-time at a great job, grow a baby, and support Eric in gaining his education. Cherish the little things and love the moment. That's my March Mantra.

Provo Cops are LAME

I wanted this to be a grateful blog and not a venty blog. I can't help myself. Homeboy just ruined my day.

So on Wednesdays, I come home from work take care of a list-full of things that are awaiting me, make dinner, go pick up Eric from school around 6:30 and get him back home in time for him to eat and then head out to Young Men's. Tonight I had put dinner in the oven right when Eric called me and said he was ready to be picked up. Perfect! I head out to get him knowing dinner should be just about ready when we get home and the timing should all work out.

I'm driving along and all of a sudden there are cop lights behind me. Seriously? I wasn't speeding and I had just safely proceeded through a green light. Maybe he's headed somewhere important and needs me to get out of the way. I fully expected him to drive by as I pulled over. No such luck. He prances up and asks for my license and registration. I say, "Sure, is there a problem?" Usually I say that when I get pulled over for going 15 over or something and pretend like I can't possibly imagine what they are going to say. This time it was legit. I really had NO clue why I was being stopped. He explains that he doesn't think I completely stopped at the stop sign about 5 blocks away. I was genuinely baffled. "Really?" I say. "I remember stopping." He says it looked like I slowed down, but didn't exactly stop. Wow. He must be REALLY bored tonight.

I ended up digging around a while for the registration which I KNEW was in the glove box, but I couldn't find. As I was searching I made some small talk which involved dropping in, "Yeah, I'm pregnant and seem to lose everything nowadays!" C'mon... who gives tickets to a pregnant lady!! And he says, "Oh yeah? My wife just had a baby 2 months ago!" I'm like, oh yeah I'm so safe. Eventually I find the necessary paperwork and he goes back to his car. Meanwhile I call Eric to explain the delay, all the while hoping dinner isn't burning.

He comes back and says words I've never heard: "I'm going to give you a citation for a stop sign violation." WHAT?? Ughhhhh. He asks if I've ever had a traffic ticket before and I say no... although I think I should have said yes after thinking about it because one time I did get a ticket for speeding... it was a few years ago and it didn't go on my record so I'm not sure if I have to consider that a ticket or not. Whatever. Anyway, he explains that I'll probably qualify for traffic school and go to the court and blah blah blah waste of my time. Totally ruined my night. It was made worse when Eric informed me that traffic school isn't usually free. FOR REAL?!?! I don't want to PAY to have to sit in some dumb lecture about putting your blinker on! Geeeez.

I guess this is the danger of living in an area with extremely low crime rates. Cops with nothing to focus on but the stop signs. I guess I should have put the grateful spin on this that way, that the cop didn't have to be somewhere more important and could focus on little things. But I've met too many useless cops to believe that. (Sorry to the actual hard-working, non-jerky ones). And mostly I think it was just a big waste of time.

So there. Hopefully I've gotten the rant out of my system and can once again return to being positive.

A new month already?

Ok, because my mom has been begging me for them, here are some belly pictures. Here's me at 23 weeks: And then here's me a mere 2 weeks later at 25 weeks. Baby had a growth spurt! Don't you think I look significantly larger here than in the previous picture?

Well, maybe it just looks like that to me. Whatever. I feel sort of giant. 15 weeks to go... oh boy.

The Grateful List:

1. Finally having an opportunity to speak

They say the two most universal fears are death and public speaking. I actually really like public speaking. I think it's fun and invigorating. Weird I know, but I guess it's like people who really like skydiving or cliff jumping or something. Same idea. I had the opportunity to speak in church today for the first time in about 3 or 4 years. I loved it! I really like preparing talks and then I have even more fun giving them.

2. Couple friends

It took us a while to figure it out and find any, but I have to say some of the most satisfying friendships are when you find a girl you really connect with and seeing your husbands connect too. Or connecting with the wife of one of your husband's good friends. So a shout out for friendships

3. AWESOMEly mild winter weather

I've probably cursed myself now, but I have to say that RAIN in January and February really makes my heart sing. I love rain. Snow is scary. I'm so glad we've only had a few gnarly snowstorms and a lot of beautiful cold days.

4. The Ensign

I set a goal to read that magazine cover to cover before I can read my BHG for the month, and I'm totally lovin it. Good stuff.

5. BHG

Better Homes and Gardens. Best. Magazine. Ever.

6. A seriously cute husband that makes me laugh and smile and loves me and thinks my giant belly is cute.

It's an older picture... but seriously. He's the cutest.

Need I say more?

7. A belly filled with a really sweet little boy that I can't wait to meet and snuggle.

8. Sunflower Farmer's Market

This new grocery store opened up in Orem recently. They have amazing sales on produce and on Wednesdays, they have twice as many sales! Best store ever. Thanks for helping us prevent scurvy.

9. Coupons

So I'm totally turning into my mom, but I can't help myself here. How else can you stock your food storage on a budget? Honestly? I now understand why my mom never bought anything unless it was on sale and she had a coupon. I sometimes feel like I'm robbing the grocery store with all the savings!

10. My personal space heater

I'm usually always cold. I plan to always have a jacket with me because I'm usually cold when everyone else is comfortable. Thanks to the joys of pregnancy, I'm now toasty when everyone else is chilly! I never thought I would see that day. I knew it had come when I woke up in the middle of the night roasting and sweaty and looked over to see Eric with ALL the covers (including the heavy comforter) pulled right up to his chin. Usually that's absolutely the opposite.

Shout out for random acts of kindness

The other day after work I needed to pick up a few things for dinner so I swung by the grocery store on my way home. I was pretty hungry and had been craving red Gatorade for a few days, but that's beside the point. I had just a little bit more than I could carry to the car, so I took the cart out and put the groceries in the car. Naturally, I had purchased my red Gatorade and so I pulled it out of the bag to consume on my way home. I was holding that and my keys in one hand and trying to maneuver my cart back to the cart return with the other. Just then a guy walked past me, returning his own cart, and said, "Here, let me take that for you," and returned my cart for me!

It really was such a small thing for him to do, but I was cold, hungry and feeling a little harried. That small gesture meant a lot. So to the random grocery store guy: Thanks! and keep up the good work. This world needs all the random acts of kindness it can get.

A New Year, a New Post

Okay, okay, okay. I admit, blogging is not my thing. But I know that all my loyal fans out there want to know all the details of my extra-exciting life so I will try to post at least once a month in 2009. I was inspired by my cousin Brooke's "thankful" blog so I'm going to try that route. I think we could all spend a little bit more time focused on the things we are grateful for anyway, so here's my grateful list for January.

I'm grateful for:

1. The little baby BOY growing so well within me! We found out the end of last month that we have a very healthy little boy on the way. We couldn't be happier-- we both wanted a little boy first. We've decided to name him: Wesley Eric Avarell.

2. Snow boots and a snow/ice scraper/brush with a really long handle. At the beginning of the month, we got some SERIOUS snow in Provo and I was very grateful to have something to push it away with, even just a little.

3. My cat-like reflexes. Yesterday morning as I was rushing out to my car to go to work, I slipped (and went flying) on some sneaky black ice. It could have been much, much worse, but I landed on my hands and knees like a cat instead of on my face, belly, hip, etc. I came back inside and Eric helped me bandage up my skinned knee and wipe the blood off my pants. He's gonna be a good daddy. :)

4. My yoga class. I get to teach every Monday and Wednesday night. Not only does it keep me in shape, but I've made some great friends and gotten great advice from some veteran mothers.

5. The extra cute Moses basket I found for only $30. I saw the exact same one online elsewhere for $90. Gotta love a bargain.

6. Friends that let me hold their sweet one-month-old baby boy for about 3 hours. I can't wait to hold my own!

7. Trident Tropical Twist gum. Nothing else beats a sugar craving quite like it.
8. A stable job with non-crazy co-workers. Mostly anyway... we all have our moments. Eric and I have gotten really into The Office lately and I'm constantly grateful for the lack of drama/craziness in my BYU office. Relatively, of course.

9. Grocery stores-- particularly the fact that I don't have to milk my own cows and butcher my own meat.

So there you have it. My first post of the year. I even tried to go the extra mile, what with pictures and all. We'll see if I can keep up the blog ambition. And maybe if you're lucky, I'll even think about taking/posting a belly picture one of these days!

You should try this sometime...

Tonight I didn't feel like cooking, I didn't want leftovers, and Wendy's just wasn't callin my name. Thanks to my big sis, we had a little leftover on a Macaroni Grill gift card she gave me for my birthday and that seemed to be just right.

So we get there and are promptly greeted by our friendly server. We took a ridiculously long time trying to figure out what the heck we should order and whatnot, but the server was prompt with our bread and water and not at all pushy or invasive about when/what we should order. The food came out quickly and the server was really nice the whole time. I must note that nothing was out of the ordinary, just plain old good service.

So here's the part you should all try. As we were leaving we stopped at the host stand and I asked to speak with a manager. She got that terrified look in her eyes and went to fetch him. He came out a minute later with that "I'm ready to put out the fire" look in his eyes and asked what he could do for us. I told him who our server was and that he had done an excellent job and that we were very pleased with our overall service tonight. He was grateful, relieved, and entirely thrown off. Let's face it, we live in a time when people are silent when things are fine and throw fits when anything is wrong. Having worked in restaurants, I know firsthand that it's a big deal when a customer talks to a manager about your service. When it's negative, you are in the dog house. When it's positive you are praised and rewarded. At one particular restaurant I worked in, the rewards were often more than just a "good job." They'd give prizes like gift cards!

Anyway, so the next time you go to a restaurant, take the time to tell the manager that your server did a good job. It will definitely make the server's day and it will be fun to see that terrified look in the face of the hostess because she assumes you will complain. And you'll feel good about yourself too. If the service is bad, let's just try to remember that those who work in customer service are people too. Regardless of whatever sleight you may have received, it's not the fault of the worker in the call center at your credit card company, the cashier at the store, or the deliverer of your plate. They are people too and we all have ropes that fray and sometimes we find ourselves at the end of. So let's do more to tighten one another's ropes instead of making them fray more, shall we?

There's my soapbox for the night. Maybe it was inspired by the lady who nearly drove my coworker to quit today and made another girl in a different office cry because she was so rude. She was furious because she had misunderstood directions that said: Send one copy of your portfolio to this office and another copy of your portfolio to that office. Because she had sent 2 copies to one office instead of one to both, it then became everyone else's fault that her life was now ruined and she'd never graduate. At that point name-calling and belittling ensued. Interesting. I find it interesting that when we make errors, we blame others instead of swallowing our pride, admitting our error and working out a new solution. I've definitely been guilty of this before, but the longer I work in customer service fields, the more aware I am of this occurance.

So let's be nice to each other and compliment strangers at any opportunity! Happy holidays and happy shopping. And best of luck all you customer servers out there!

Tagged, eh?

Alright alright alright. I'm new to this whole BLOG thing... A lot of times I feel awkward blogging because I never take pictures and I don't have kids to gloat or complain about and for the most part my life involves the same boring thing every single day. It bores me most of the time, why would anyone else find it interesting? Well, all that is about to change. Well, I'm not sure necessarily about ALL of it changing, but the kids part definitely will. I've been sick for a few months now, so I went to the doctor and they found a heartbeat in my abdomen. I wondered if maybe my heart had shifted down a foot, but they say it's a BABY!! So I guess technically I'm already a mom but I'll have real proof of that May 22. (And hopefully not a day later. Or a day sooner really, because I don't have enough sick days at work...)

So there you go. The news is out. People who read my blog probably knew anyway but now you all have free reign to tell your friends and talk about how many people are pregnant in Provo.

Back to this tagging business. Let me quote from my loving sister's blog:

PS--I blog tag LadyCarma, Staci (because she NEVER blogs and she's lame), Brittney, and Jenny.

I didn't know you were allowed to tag multiple people, but apparently I'm the only one lucky enough to get called lame. :)


Tag Rules: Go to the 3rd folder of your pictures and select the 3rd picture in. BLOG!

Wow, I can't believe I actually followed the rules. What a weirdo picture. I'm kind of dissappointed, because when I went into the My Pictures folder a different way, the third pic in the third folder was this really cute engagement picture of Eric and I. But when I went to upload the picture to the blog, they were in a different order. So here you go. And because it is only one pic in a pair, I'll post the other to be fair.

So here's the scoop. This is when Eric and I were dating when he was first back from his mission in Russia. We were at Cameron and Makena's place in Orem, where we were often in the early days... I think this picture was taken in March when Eric surprised me by coming out to visit with only 20 hours notice. :) He had come home in February, so he was still very post-mission skinny!! He had this GIANT chapka-- Russian hat, that I think is his most prized possession to this day. He just wore it for Halloween, actually. He thought the picture of me in that enormous hat was just the cutest thing ever. So there you have it.



And because I thought I was going to get to blog about this pic originally, I'll post it for you too:

Thanks to Gwen for taking all these cute engagement pictures for us. We felt a little awkward about the whole photo shoot, but it was still fun. My reactions to this picture: Awww, we're so cute and giddy! Eric's hair was kind of long... So was mine for that matter. And HEY!! Where the heck is that shirt!?!? I seem to have lost both that t-shirt and the undershirt... 2 of my favorite items. Don't you hate that?? And also, it's different to see me wearing just the engagement ring without the wedding band.

So there you have it all you blog critics. I have BLOGGED!

Oh yeah, and I blog tag: Erlynne, Brittany, Allison and Makena!