Throw Back Thursday: First Picture

Well believe it or not, this post has nothing to do with the baby. (Although I can’t promise I won’t mention her once or twice!) This one is a blast from the not so distant past…
This is one of the first pictures that Brian and I took together. To be exact, it was the third one.

These were the first two:


We couldn’t get the lighting quite right…

But anyway, this was in January 2010, shortly after we had started dating.We went to the Griffith Observatory to star gaze. He was easy to talk to and we had a ton of fun from the day we met, but this was when we were really just starting to become completely at ease with each other. Like we had known each other for years.

And that’s why I love that first picture. (Well, all of them- aside from the lighting!) We were so genuinely happy to be there with each other and it's so easy to read that on our faces! We’re not only smiling with our mouths, but also with our eyes. I can look back at these pictures and remember exactly how I felt- a slight flutter in my stomach that accompanies a new love, giddiness at the jokes and one-liners we playfully bounced off of each other, contentment at spending quality time with someone I was growing more and more in love with.

The amazing thing is that, other than some extra weight and a few more wrinkles, we are still that happy, smiling couple posing on top of a Los Angeles hillside. I still feel that flutter when he walks in the door after he comes home from work. We still crack each other up with jokes that only we would understand. I feel contentment in the best possible way when I see him pick up our daughter and pat our dog on the head and then lean down to give me a kiss.

Although these pictures weren’t taken that long ago, we have gone through so much together. I cherish being able to look back at these snapshots of the beginning of this crazy adventure of ours and reflect on how far we’ve come. Who would have guessed that the goofy, bearded boy that took me to the observatory that night would become my entire world and the love of my life. ♥

Dear Giuliana: Month 2

My beautiful little Giuliana,
I’m writing this late- two weeks late, actually. But I’ve been spending almost all of my time with you, and it’s precious time better spent enjoying you rather than blogging about you. But I have been taking more pictures than I can count and when I have the time, I jot down little notes so I can make sure to remember as much as I can. I didn’t know it before you came into our lives, but so much happens within the first months of life. You amaze me everyday with how strong you’re growing and how beautiful you’re becoming- and that’s pretty spectacular because you were such a strong and gorgeous baby from the minute I met you.

You like to grunt. It’s really cute. You and I accompanied daddy to his dentist appointment and a lady in the waiting room overheard your grunting and told me that you’re going to be a talker. Considering the family you’re coming from, she’ll probably be right! And I’m excited to hear everything you have to say!

You’re starting to smile more and more. You smiled last month, but as difficult as it was to admit, we all knew they were gassy smiles. Now they’re real. You respond to us and our facial expressions. And when you smile back at me, it’s one of the best feelings in the world. ♥

You really are a strong baby. You’re getting bigger- at your 2 month check up they said you were 10 pounds, 10 ounces and 24.5 inches… average weight and 97th percentile for height! It will be nice if you continue on that trend. I told the doctor that maybe you’ll be a volleyball player. He replied, “yeah. Or a model.” (See, even your doctor thinks you’re beautiful!)

You’ve started to roll- well, trying to roll, at least. In that picture to the right- of you and dad sleeping- you rolled to your side on your own right there. I had to snap that picture with my phone because you and daddy were sleeping the same way, and it was adorable. I love you both so much!
You’ve rolled to your side multiple times now and it makes me so proud and I can’t help but cheer you on. Like, I literally startle you because I get so excited and loud. I’m warning you now- whether you become a volleyball player or a model, a dancer or a pianist- I will be at every game, recital, and/or show and I will be cheering you on. Always. I will be your biggest fan.

I know this is probably going to embarrass future teenage-Giuliana, but I couldn’t help but post another PJ picture because you are so. darn. cute. I can’t get over it. And especially cuddled up with Kevin. He loves you and is so protective of you. In fact, whenever someone new is holding you, he will go and lay down in front of them. And you got to meet a lot of friends this month! Pretty much the whole gang. And let me tell you, you are a loved baby! What a lucky way to enter the world- so many people to love you and teach you and look after you! We are a lucky family!

But I need to go back to the PJs… you are so cuddly in pajamas. You’re cuddly all the time, but even more so in long sleeves and footies. And since you were born right smack in the middle of summer, the only time I get to hold you in so much clothing is at night or early morning in your pajamas. You seem to like cuddling as much as I do and I hope that continues because it brightens my day. Sometimes my arm starts to fall asleep or I really want that diet Dr. Pepper that’s just out of my reach, but cuddling you relaxes me and there is no better feeling than holding you and feeling you squeeze me back.

You’re not always sleeping though. You were the first month, but now you’re awake A LOT more. So we have dance parties. You really like music. Disney and LMFAO songs to be exact. As far as I can tell, your favorite song is a tie between Part of Your World and Sexy and I Know It… what can I say, you like to wiggle.

Usually, you’re laying on your back while I move your arms and legs around. When you were smaller, I had to do most of the movements but now, you’re doing a lot on your own. You like to kick and punch now! And you always keep your little fists and toes all clenched up! I think music is going to play a very important role in your life. When we’re in the car and you start to cry, we pop in turn on some Disney and you’re a happy camper. Good thing daddy LOVES the Disney, right?? It’s been a lot of fun- we all sing and laugh together. They’re songs that bring back happy memories from childhood, and I hope they’ll do the same for you.

In such a short time, we’ve already had so much fun….

We go on walks. Sometimes they’re just quick ones to take Kevin out. We’d stay out  longer, but it’s hot outside! Sometimes it’s with Daddy and Kevin in the evening. You love your Ergo carrier. And you love nature. You like to watch tree branches blow in the breeze. You like to look at flowers. When we’re outside, it’s like you’re in constant awe and your eyes constantly scan back and forth. When we’re stuck inside because of the heat, you love to look out of the widows.


We watched the MLB All-Star game together. I hope you like sports because you’re going to be watching them a lot. At the very least, I think you will definitely grow up with a healthy respect for athleticism and competition.


We took a family trip to the zoo! You slept through a lot of it, but when you were awake, there were tons of trees to look at. :) And Daddy and I had a fun day too. It was our first real family adventure- just the three of us, and we all handled ourselves quite well. Then you even let me and dad eat a nice lunch and go Costco shopping. A perfect trifecta of a day! And Miss Giuliana, you are quite the monkey lover!


We celebrated Grandpa Howie’s birthday! You let us go out to a nice dinner that night too! There were other babies in the restaurant that got fussy and their parents had to switch off taking them outside. YOU, however, slept through the entire meal and allowed me and daddy to feel all nice and smug. Keep up the good work baby!


And finally, in some of my favorite pictures to date, you and I had a photo shoot while daddy and Kevin slept… you started off asleep and I was taking pictures of the 3 of you on the bed, but then little Miss Personality woke up and now these pictures make me smile every time I see them!
Giuliana, I have loved watching you grow these last couple of months. You have brought me so much joy and although my life is 100% different than it was at the beginning of summer, I wouldn’t trade any of it. You  delight me, frustrate me, teach me, and amaze me. I love you so, so much!
Love,
Mom

San Diego Babymoon Day 1

Now that it's almost been a month, I figured I should recap our little "babymoon" vacation. We debated where to go. Ideally, we wanted to go to Hawaii. It's one of our favorite places to visit, it's not that long of a plane ride, and who knows when we'll be able to make it back after the baby is born.

But it was still a little nerve wracking to be so far from home at 26 weeks. Plus we were planning our vacation for spring break and it would have been more expensive to go for a couple of days than it was to go for our honeymoon.

We decided that San Diego was a perfect location for what we wanted to accomplish (relax) and what we wanted to spend (not much).

On the drive down, I asked Brian if we could stop in Temecula for a couple of hours. That's where I went with Alexis and Rachael for my bachelorette party, and I thought Brian would enjoy it there. 

I was right! We had some awesome cheeseburgers for lunch and walked up and down Old Town antique shopping. We found a gift for my brother and some awesome old Golden Books (remember those??) for 69 cents each! Baby has quite the book collection started! Then we were on our way.

It was kind of like coming full circle because our first little vacation together was in San Diego.

San Diego Zoo, April 2010

The last time we were in San Diego, we went to the zoo, Little Italy, some museums... it was awesome, but we wanted to do some different things this time around.

We decided to spend more time in the downtown area- the Gaslamp District. So that's where we stayed! We spent the first two nights at the Gaslamp Plaza Suites Hotel.

Our view

It was an awesome location, right in the middle of the downtown area, within walking distance to all kinds of restaurants and shops.

The hotel itself was a new kind of experience! It's a historical site that was built in 1913 and at 11 stories, it was the city's first skyscraper! It used to be an office building and it was converted into a hotel in the 80s. Each room is a suite with a little kitchen and living area. They served breakfast each morning on the rooftop. It was quaint and unique!

After we checked in that first day, we explored the hotel and then decided to go for a walk around the city. We made our way down past the convention center and over to Seaport Village to explore their shops. 

I got really excited when I spotted a duck and her ducklings. Motherly instinct kicking in?

 

We walked, shopped, and people watched. Some of our favorite things to do!

We walked back towards the hotel and we passed Petco Park, where the Padres play. We had tickets for later in the trip, but it was cool walking around the stadium. It's so much more fan-friendly than Dodger Stadium. (Another reason not to like the Dodgers??)

We started discussing dinner. We were both still pretty full from lunch, but we had noticed a Ghiradelli chocolate shop near our hotel. So we split a chocolate banana sundae. Perfection! By this point, it was past my bedtime after 8:00 and we were tired from walking around all day, so we decided to call it a night. 

We had an early wake up call the next day anyway... Sea World!

To Be Continued...

Week 23

This whole last week has been kind of lame. The weather's been kind of cold and crappy, work was dragging on all week, and Brian had to work a lot of overtime. Kind of the opposite of perfect. All of the down time led me to try something new- attempting to crossover to a self-hosted blog. Turns out it was a little bit more complicated than what I was expecting and my patience was just too short to try to deal with it. And for as much crap as people talk about Blogger, I've really liked it. That's kind of all that really matters. I'm sticking with this for now. Enough of that.

This is what I'm looking like now:

Pretty hefty, huh?

I think the camera may have added those 10 (or 20) pounds though. I mean, obviously I'm getting bigger, but I look like a cow in the 23 week picture. In my own defense I ate a pretty big burger for lunch and I had just downed a cup of almond milk.

Or maybe it was a bad angle.

Or maybe I'm just that effing big now. I don't know... more pictures to come soon though.

On a positive note, I managed to squeeze into my old jeans last night (which I hadn't tried in a couple of weeks, so that's a good thing, I guess).


On another positive note, the baby is definitely getting bigger and stronger. She's kicking a lot more, which is very reassuring. And now, not only can Brian feel her, but we can see her moving! It's nothing too crazy yet, but if I lay down, all of a sudden my stomach will twitch. Right now it just kind of looks like a muscle spasm, but it's neat. :)
Saturday
Brian had to work all day yesterday, so that kind of sucked, but I got to spend some time with my family, so it worked out. My mom and I went to our step class in the morning. I noticed that although my energy level is back up, my dexterity level is down. Like, if I make the wrong move in class (which happens more frequently than I'd like to admit), I can't adjust my body in time to catch up anymore, so I have to stop and figure out where the class is, and then join them again. It's kind of frustrating, but if I concentrate, I think I can manage. Or I could just look like an idiot. Either way.

After class, we went to Joann Fabric to get some quilting supplies so we can finally begin our project. While I was there, I got a canvas to I could make an art project...

A Kevin silhouette for the nursery! I'll post a tutorial tomorrow- it's super easy. And Kevin-approved!

That night after Brian got home, we went over to our friend Rachael's house for some corned beef and cabbage. It was St. Patrick's day, after all! It was nice to get to spend good quality time with our buddies.

Sunday
Today was a good day. We rounded up the moms and went to Buy Buy Baby to start our gift registry! Buy Buy Baby is affiliated with Bed Bath and Beyond and it's basically laid out the exact same way- a huge store filled with baby stuff. We've been in there 4 or 5 times now and each time, I get super overwhelmed. Like, I don't even know where to begin to shop for things.

Brian put up with me pretty well because I was kind of being a jerk. Not to him, but in general. The long week caught up with me, I was exhausted, and being in a huge store and not knowing what's what was making me feel like a pretty inadequate mom-to-be. But the moms were patient with me and Brian calmed me down. So between us, the moms, and a very helpful saleswoman, I think we made some pretty good decisions about what we want to get for the baby. Oh, and we bought a crib, so that was pretty exciting! Things are starting to come together and I'm feeling a lot better. And I got to spend more time with this guy today,

and what could be better than that? :)

Soooo... I'm supposed to be working on my thesis right now. I gave myself a goal for the weekend to finish all of the edits my adviser has given me so far. It's been difficult to focus recently, but I put off finishing my degree last year because of the wedding, and I definitely want to be done with now so I don't have to worry about it once the baby is born. There is so much that I have going on right now- exciting, fun things that I'm actually looking forward to doing, so I decided to do a thesis-writing break to write an exciting-things-post...

Short Term

• A nice, quiet night at home cuddling my boys and watching some Netflix.
• Step class tomorrow morning- I've been feeling pretty good during workouts lately. Definitely not working out as hard as I used to, but I'm feeling pretty good when I consider my new size. (belly is currently having over the lap top, BTW. That would be it to your right!)
• Picking up the guys right after class and heading over to watch my old softball girls play a game. I miss them and I miss watching them play, so it will be nice.
• Date night (I think Friends with Kids- I have high hopes since Bridesmaids!)
• Working on projects with my mom and dad... my mom and I need to get some supplies for our quilt and my dad and I are putting the finishing trim on the bookcase, then sanding, then painting! :)

Trim!

 Long Term

• We're planning a Babymoon... spring break is coming up in 3 weeks, and I'll be about 26 weeks along, so it would be perfect timing because I won't be huge and I'll still feel comfortable walking around. We're planning on going to San Diego. Not too far, but relaxing and fun!

 Which brings me to...

• Spring Break! Who wouldn't look forward to a week of no work?!
• I want to sign up for a short race while I still can. Just because I want to try. Not to PR, obviously. Just to say that I did. I found this one...

 Proceeds go towards victims of abuse (it has nothing to do with cats) and it's like, 20 minutes from my house. win-win.

•  I signed up for two online classes yesterday through mu old community college. They're six weeks long and I'm pretty stoked about them- a photography class based on how to shoot human subjects and a photoshop class. Photography has always been interesting to me. And photographers are so expensive these days, I figure if I learn more about this art, I can take my own portraits of the baby on a regular basis... something like that!
• A possible role change at work, but it's still hush-hush so that's all I'll say for now!
• I'm having a baby, duh!

There's probably more, but those are the big things on my mind lately. Time to get back to work before Brian gets home so I can enjoy more weekend fun-time with him! :)

Have a great weekend!

Valentine's Day

So I was thinking about it today and I realized that I never actually wrote about how the rest of Valentine's Day went... and that wouldn't be right because it was the BEST Valentine's Day in the history of Valentine's Days!

So we found out that Buzz is a girl around 9:30 in the morning. Like, I said in my last post, Brian made that discovery by accident because the original plan was to have the ultrasound tech write the gender down, we were going to keep it folded up, and then open it with all of the parents at dinner. Brian felt horrible about accidentally noticing the gender on the screen, but I was thrilled. It would have been the longest day knowing that the answer is right there, but I couldn't check it for like, 9 hours! It was an extremely exciting morning to say the least!

But then I had to go back to work. Boo.

Actually, the work day wasn't that bad because I missed about half of it, and my students all knew what I was doing that morning, so they were all excited to find out. Of course, Kyle think I should name her Kylie, Jonathan came up with Jonathina... the kids are goofy, but they're full of questions and actually pretty helpful for 9th graders, so I told them I will accept any and all suggestions for names. I think they like being involved. :)

Brian didn't have to work, so he picked me up and brought me home to a nice, clean house that smelled fantastic. And wouldn't you know it, the smell was coming from a huge bouquet of flowers filled with roses and daisies in my favorite color!

They are so pretty and I love looking at them and smelling them! He also got me the sweetest card, some chocolate covered almonds, and an hour long pregnancy massage. It's like he knows me or something!

I made him a card...

On a funny side note- I obviously made the card before Valentine's Day, but the colors I used are exactly the colors I wanted to use for a nursery if we were having a girl. So I've already been in touch with my mom about helping me make a quilt that looks as similar to the card as I can get it... updates to follow!

I kind of splurged on Brian's gift this year. I got him a tool chest that's pretty much identical to this one:

Clearly, it cost more than a box of chocolates, but it's something we needed and Brian deserves the chance to make the garage more of a "dad" space now, right?

And the excitement of the day wasn't over yet. The parents came over around 5:30-6 for dinner. Brian and I made lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. My day was so hectic that I didn't get a chance to eat much throughout the day and I was so hungry. But I couldn't wait to share the news, so we spilled the beans before we even started eating.

I forgot to take pictures of it, but I put the print outs from the ultrasound that said "Hi!!! I'm a girl!!!" into an envelope for each of the parents so that they would have something to open.

Once they opened it and read it, they were all so thrilled! And then we ate some awesome Italian food, followed by some awesome red velvet cake and good conversation with the people we love most. Truly the best day we could ask for!

Wicked Awesome

Wicked
Apparently I was the only person on earth (or at least in LA) to have never seen the musical Wicked. Well as of Saturday, that's all changed!

Brian got tickets for me for my birthday- which was October 6th... December 17th was the first available show, tickets were scarce, and he ordered them almost right when they became available. No joke, this show is popular. (No pun intended. Really.)

Well, no wonder! The show is so cute, the characters are adorable, the songs are catchy, and I really like how they incorporate the actual Wizard of Oz story into the plot. Oh, and this will probably make me sound like a total dork, but I loved the set- how the scenery moved and the lighting changed. It actually distracted me a little bit because I was watching the scenes change and thinking about the props more than I was watching the actors. Maybe I missed my calling as a stage hand? Set designer? It was an all-around fun show and it actually had a deeper message than I was expecting. I'd see it again in a heart beat. (No wonder Alexis has seen it like, 86 times. Ok, maybe only 3.)

I only took 2 pictures though...
One outside the theater...

And one inside the theater...

Sorry for the crappy picture quality... I took them with my phone. Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera...


Wickedly Delicious
Soooo this whole pregnancy thing... is silly.

I've never needed to gain weight. That has never been a problem for me. In fact, for most of my life, I have struggled with my weight. Prior to becoming pregnant, I weighed the most I ever have in my entire life. Once I found out I was pregnant, I was concerned about being on the heftier side. You know, things like gestational diabetes and other various complications can occur the higher your BMI is. The average women gains 2-5 pounds in the first trimester, but I've read stories about people that have gained 13 pounds right away because they're "eating for two" now. I was worried that I might face that scenario just because, let's face it, I love to eat. Add in a couple of holidays where you engorge yourself with calories upon calories, I was nervous.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning. My weight is exactly the same. This is where I am conflicted and feel silly- On one hand I'm glad that I haven't gained weight, but on the other hand, I actually want to start gaining weight. Not just to gain it, that's not my style. But I would love to see this little baby bump start to come in for some reassurance. I don't really feel pregnant yet, and sometimes that scares me just a little. Other than being tired and lacking a period, (and a couple of positive pregnancy tests) I don't really have any symptoms.


Then today, while doing some holiday baking, I had an epiphany. Usually, I am a sucker for anything sweet, especially chocolate. Well while I was knee deep in sugary goodness, I couldn't stand the smell of any of the treats I was working with.

Sugar cookies and fudge? Gross. Wait- what??

I haven't been feeling sick at all. But there has definitely been some changes in my eating habits. First, I can't eat nearly the portions I used to eat. Second, the deliciousness with which I once had no self-control now grosses me out. Like, there has been an opened bag of chocolate chips in my fridge, untouched for a couple of weeks now. That would have been unheard of a couple of months ago.

So that makes me feel better. It still makes me chuckle that I am looking forward to gaining weight though. It's definitely a new way of thinking for me. But there will be a lot of transitions and thing to look forward to in the next 29 weeks!

PS... 29 weeks?!?! Why does that sound so soon??

And the award goes to...

ME!!!

What award, you ask?

Why, it's for something that I am better at than anyone else. I can confidently say that I am extremely proficient in this matter. I truly believe no one else is better than I am at this particular skill.

I can, wait for it...

Procrastinate better. Than anyone. In the world universe.

It's a skill that I've honed over many years filled with long nights, early mornings, cramped typing fingers, and puffy bags under my eyes. 

I've always gotten good grades- mostly A's with a couple of B's sprinkled in here and there- but I've never been a particularly good student. Things have always come easy for me. I can take a test and ace it without studying. I can write a solid book report without ever having read the book. I'm pretty sure I don't remember anything I learned in high school.

I got a little bit better in college. Just a little. But once I entered graduate school, all bets were off. I'll give myself this- I've been working full time and coaching year round the entire time I've been in graduate school. My free time was precious, so I reached the peak of my talent in grad school.

I thought I had peaked when I had to write a paper for my Sport Psych class that I didn't even start until 9:00 pm the night before it was due. (America's Next Top Model was on, so sue me!) Now I'm pretty sure my record is when I didn't even start a take home final for my Sport Nutrition until 4:00 am the morning it was due. That one was Brian's fault- it was when we first met and we were talking on the phone until like 2:00 or something... and I needed to get a couple hours of sleep. I may be breaking this record soon. And on a whole new level.

I put off my last semester (the thesis writing semester) because I had things that I felt were higher on my priority list. Like getting married. But in the meantime, tuition is going up (like, more than doubled since I started my degree) and I want this off my mind to move up on the pay scale. It's now or never.

So a year since I last picked up any of my research and I'm finally in my last semester of this dang program, totally lost on where I left off. I've been trying to get organized so I can in turn get to writing. But as we're heading closer to the end of October and I've done close to nothing towards completion, I felt today was the day I needed to light a fire under my own butt.

I tried emailing my advisers to get some kind of direction, but that of course didn't help anything. So I looked at the website to find that I need to make an appointment for something called a Thesis Preliminary Formatting. WTF is this and why has nobody mentioned it to me before??? I have until November 18th to complete this. Freakin' fabulous.

So I call the number they give and reach a very nice and helpful lady who helped me make an appointment and gave me clear guidelines on what I would need to have ready for that date. A stranger, with nothing invested in me or my education, helped me in less than 5 minutes. The people who are supposed to be helping me are vague and anti-helpful. 

Anyway, when the nice lady asked what date I had in mind, I decided to do it on November 7th. That's like, 2 weeks away. 17 days, to be exact. I picked that date because I have some pretty exciting things going on in November and I want to just enjoy them stress-free.

Oh, and by the time I go to this appointment, I'm supposed to have my thesis written. Like, finished and ready for final corrections. Hmmmphghsahjvcalasoichoivco.

So my dining room table currently looks like this:

  The carrots are for Kevin. I prefer chocolate.

Coffee might be my savior for the next couple of weeks. Basically, I'm combining 3 years of research and classes and articles and literature reviews and power points into the longest paper of my life in two weeks. And obviously, I've currently pushed all of that to the side while I write this. (Procrastination at it's finest! Because Facebook is so 2010.)

The anxiety makes my skin crawl. I apologize in advance to anyone I come across in the next 2 weeks because my bitchiness may go off the scale.

********************************************

On a lighter note, BFF/Maid of Honor Alexis got me a pretty rad birthday gift.

Isn't that the cutest?? I was so excited when I opened it. I wanted to hang it in the perfect spot. I was thinking here:

because it's the first thing you see when you walk through the front door. Unfortunately, it was too tall to fit there, so it settled into a spot over the front door.

I love it. It makes me smile every time I see it! Thank you Alexis!

Off to go write while the husband watches Thor cuddle with Brian and Kevin while we watch Thor together!

Meatballs with a Side of Catch Up

Sooooooooo....

It's been exactly a month since my last post. Bad, bad blogger. But there has been good reason for my absence. Full time work, softball tryouts, thesis writing er, planning, camping, MY BIRTHDAY, and some laundry sprinkled in here and there has made my days plenty full. I'm making a come back today though... Here's what's been going on:

I'm trying to cook more often and eat healthier. It doesn't seem like it should be so difficult, but I'm away from the house from 5:45 am to 5:30ish pm right now and by the time I get home, I just want to sit down and relax. But one of my goals is to be the best wife and healthiest person I can be. So I attempted to make spaghetti and homemade turkey meatballs. This is what my meatballs looked like pre-oven:

 See the sogginess? Yeah. I didn't know what to expect. They looked ridiculous, but they ended up being pretty good.

I've still been going to the gym every morning with my mom. She's doing a great job! Actually, last week I had to take a little break because my left knee was killing me. It was so bad I thought I had torn a ligament or something serious. But I iced it every night (11 minutes on, 11 minutes off x2) and took a 5 day break and it feels great now! And even on the days I didn't go, my mom still went. I'm so proud of her!

As far as other everyday things go, I'm getting kind of annoyed at work. For reasons I shouldn't just throw out on the internet. The only thing keeping me sane is my own insanity. Like when I saw this:

I wanted to get all Dwight Shrute on my coworker's desk. 

 And then I just start laughing at my ridiculousness and I feel good again.

***********************

In the spirit of catching up, one highlight of the last month was my birthday. Brian took me out to a very nice dinner at Gladstones in Malibu. Right on the beach during sunset. Perfection!

 I love this guy!

Also that weekend, we went camping with a group of our besties. The camping wasn't for my birthday, it just happened to be the same weekend. A weekend that was filled with carne asada, camp fires, s'mores, and bocce ball... sounds like a good time to me!

 See how close we were to the water?? For the last several years, I have had a recurring dream that a wave crashes over me. Sometimes it's been a rushing wave, like what we've seen tsunamis looking like in more recent times. Sometimes it's a tidal wave. Sometimes I'm in the water and I just float through it and sometimes I'll be driving along side of it. It's different every time. But the fact that I have had dreams like this more than once gave me pause once I realized how close our campsite was to the water.

 But we were obviously safe and it was really nice to fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the shore.

I took this picture of Brian and my brother because they were both wearing blue shirts, gray shorts, and hats. So cute of them to dress alike. I'm jealous. :)

 On the way home, we went to Ventura for some fish and chips in what has become a tradition to conclude our camping trips. And we had to reenact one of my favorite pictures from last year:

Be still, my heart!

The whole last month hasn't been all fun and games though- the day before my birthday, we actually had a break from all the So Cal heat and there was actually rain. Unfortunately, since it only rains like, twice a year here, any weather that isn't sunny tends to bring out the crazy in drivers. Brian got into an accident on his way to work. He was fine, but his car didn't fare as well.

 The bad news- his Ford Explorer was totaled. But some good did come out of it. We bought a new car. It's our first major purchase together, it was a great find, and although this wasn't how we wanted to go about it, we had been talking about getting a newer car.

Brian loves it and I'm happy that he's safe.

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On a creative front, I've been doing some projects around the house. I finally finished decorating the eat-in area of the kitchen.

I went from my usual beach theme to a more world traveler theme. On one wall, I put up pictures that I had taken in Europe two years ago and on the other wall, I just put up some art and decor that I had been collecting. I also took a note from Young House Love and put up a map with pins that signify all of the places that Brian and I have traveled together.

Hard to see, I know. But they're there! And we're planning on adding more!

With the "new" kitchen, I felt inspired to try some stuff in the kitchen. I made some cake pops!

Long story short, they're delicious! Recipe coming soon!

In other creative news, I've made these:

To help keep us organize. I'll let you know if they help.

And this:

It looks better when it's not in cell phone picture form. I'm actually pretty excited about it!

FINALLY, I really want to do this but Kevin needs a costume... what should Kevin be for Howl-o-ween???