time is a-flyin'

Holy cow, guys. I am 32 weeks pregnant today. That means that I'm going to have a baby really soon. I'm super scared, but (of course) excited to meet him. He sure does move around a lot. I'm constantly getting jabbed in the pelvic bones and the ribs. That's okay, though- at least I know he's okay.


Monte will begin applying to PA schools on April 18th. Here are some cities he's applying to, just to give you an idea of how much I'm freaking out:
- Toledo, OH
- SLC, UT
- Norfolk, VA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Elkins Park PA
- Wilkes-Barre, PA
- Midland, TX
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Loma Linda, CA
- Oakland, CA

Those are listed in order from cheapest to most expensive (tuition+rent), FYI. He probably will actually only apply to about 5 of them, but the ones I listed are all possibilities.

Did you notice that a lot of them are in Pennsylvania? PA has a TON of PA schools, oddly enough. I would be okay moving there for PA school because Teri is moving there for her husband's job in a few weeks! It would be scary, but at least I'd have a friend to visit.

Toledo is the closest one (besides SLC) to any of my family members. It's 5.5 hours away from Tye (by car).

as of late

Monte is growing a stache. Not sure why, but it's happening. I just roll with it.

28 weeks

27 weeks


Crazy goof head

first baby shower

A double baby shower for Heather and Nikki!





My coworkers threw me a super cute baby shower last Saturday. Kjirsten was in charge of it, but Elise helped a ton, as well. Here are (quite a) few pictures from it. Don't worry- if you weren't invited to this one, then you'll be invited to the one in March/April that my sister is throwing for me. This one occurred quite early for me because my coworker, Heather, is due March 15th and we wanted to have a double shower.

recently

I had a flower-making craft night at my house. It was super fun. Micquel, Teri, and Debbie came (Trisha also came, but had to leave before the crafting began). It's quite funny that I had a craft night as I am usually an anti-crafter.

Above is a view of my table with all of the supplies laid out (including some peanut butter M&Ms, of course).

Here's the book that Monte gave me for Christmas. It was a complete surprise and I LOVE it. The author has a blog (here). I can't wait to make more flowers. There are a million possibilities with 4 different petal shapes. I have only made the basic petal shape so far (first picture). I'll post pictures later of the other ones I make.
Here I am looking pregnant. I think I was 22 weeks when this was taken (now I'm 23 weeks). I got that dress at Old Navy for like $12! Sweet.

20.5 weeks

I think this one was taken at 19 weeks.


I am halfway through my first pregnancy! That is both horrifying and exciting. In case you didn't hear, we're having a boy. I was a lot more disappointed than I thought I would be. For some reason I just thought that I would have a girl. I didn't like tear up or anything, but I was sad for about 20 minutes. Monte wasn't sad at all, surprisingly. He's super excited to have a boy. Perhaps in like 5 years I'll try again for a girl, but no promises.

17 weeks

I have been horrible at taking pictures of my pregnant self. Here's the first one I've taken (sorry it's such a bad one). I would have had Monte take it but he was taking a nap. Poor thing just finished finals and was wasted. Anyway, I'll try to be better at taking pictures- mostly for myself so I can remember how awkward I looked!

some news

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted on here. Probably because my body has been working extra hard
MAKING A BABY!

That's right. I'm 12 weeks pregnant. Heard the heartbeat last week. Crazy.

I'm mostly still freaking out and nervous about it. Monte is beyond excited and wants to tell everyone he meets. It was REALLY hard to make him keep it a secret for 12 weeks, but he did very well (with some minor slip-ups a few days ago).

Gender? We will probably wait until about 19 weeks to find out. Monte will die if it's not a girl. I will be fine with either, but I'm leaning slightly toward wanting a girl more.

My first trimester was okay, not too rough. I felt nauseous everyday, but I only threw up twice (once at 7 week, once at 11 weeks). If I have small snacks throughout the day I tend to feel a lot better. Besides feeling sick, exhaustion was the hardest thing for me. I've never felt so tired in my life!

Oh, and I should probably tell you the due date: May 26, 2012.

circus

The Lion Tamer. I wish I had a better picture.

 Monte took me to my first ever circus on Saturday!  It was fun.  The ringmaster sang way too much and very off key. That's the only part I didn't like.

 There wasn't a trapeze act (which was disappointing), just these rope dancer people.

 These elephants aren't dead, they were just laying down because someone told them to. Don't worry.

Crazy jumpy dancers.

homemade shakes

Monte is pretty awesome at making homemake milkshakes. I provide the candy bars and ice cream and he produces a very unhealthy, delicious snack for me!  I had a Snickers shake, he had a Reese's shake.

Our blender broke, so he actually used a food processor this time (successful!).  The only part that was not successful was when Monte tried to put the lid on by himself. Very funny.

Thanks for being awesome, Monte.

front-loader

My parents' washer and dryer just broke. Both. At the same time. Bummer.

But now we get to try these fancy new ones! They're being delivered tomorrow and I am SO excited! Of course, these aren't the fanciest of the fanciest (at all) but they're way nicer than what I'm used to, so I'm thrilled. I need to do laundry pretty bad...on Saturday we washed our whites, then had to lay them everywhere in the basement to dry. Not so nice.

Puerto Aventuras, Mexico

The beach we went to everyday (this was a more rugged portion than we normally went to). This is where my iPod was stolen (broke my heart).

Iguanas everywhere! And Geckos. We also saw a little black monkey from our condo balcony!

(don't judge me--I didn't put on makeup or do my hair for the entire week)

K, guys, Monte and I have been back from our crazy Mexico vacation for a few weeks now. I guess I should post about it.

Bad things about the trip:
- Everyone but me got Montezuma's revenge! Seriously, everyone got sick for at least a couple of days. Sad.
- Our condo was brand new, but not quite ready for us. Leaky showers, leaky air conditioners, etc.
- The worst part about our condo: the water wasn't turned on when we got there! After traveling ALL day, we couldn't use the toilet or even wash our hands! The owner of the condo gave the Menas more than half the money back because of all of the issues we had, but Monte and I didn't pay for the condo...so it was just crappy for us.
- The golf cart batteries had to be charged after every single tiny trip to the marina during the last half of our trip! That golf cart needs some new batteries, for sure.
- Mosquitoes. Everywhere.

Good things about the trip:
- Going to the beach everyday! It was super warm water, but breezy weather, so you felt all cooled off when you'd get out of the water and just lounge in your wet swimsuit.
- Seeing dolphins, manatees, and sea lions at the marina everyday. They were super awesome.
- Getting slightly tanner (Monte got MUCH tanner after his severe sunburn--never thought he'd get burned like THAT).
- Getting my first stamp in my passport.
- Learning to appreciate free water that you can actually drink. I love living in the United States!
- Getting really good at converting from USD to Pesos.
- The golf cart that came with the condo was super fun to drive! I want one.

- I finally got to see some Mayan ruins, something I've always wanted to do (see pictures below).The Caribbean, seen from the Tulum (that's where these ruins are).

That's not sweat, it's water- we poured it on ourselves to keep cool.

a post by monte (trying to sound like me)

So as most of you already know I am super stoked about my impending trip to Cancun Mexico in a week from Tuesday. However, for those that are not in the constant know, my wonderful husband Monte and I are heading to Cancun Mexico where we are going to stay in a condo by the small suburb/neighboring resort town of Puerto Aventuras for a whole week! Basically, we are just going to take a long needed break from all things school and work. I am a little nervous because I don't speak Spanish super well but everyone else that is going are all completely bilingual and one is multilingual so it will be like traveling with 4 interpreters! Some activities we have planned are snorkeling, cave diving, eating at sketchy taco stands, shopping, exploring old Mayan ruins, and avoiding getting Montezuma's revenge! More about this awesome event and pictures coming soon so stay tuned!

Easters

My first ponytail in a year! Most exciting thing since...my graduation.

We painted eggs instead of dipping them in dyes. It would have been awesome, but the paint washed off completely with water. LAME. We'll never get that kind again.

My mom and I are sprouting vegetables for our garden! She does most of the work, but sprouting seeds was totally my idea and I helped her buy a bunch of stuff. I think watching seeds grow is so fun and fascinating.

Since I'm always the one that "does" holidays, Monte and I decided that this year he would do Easter. He got me this amazing Easter basket! I thought it was the cutest thing ever. EVER. I think he'll be in charge of holidays for a while now because he is clearly quite good at it.

I guess I should start acting like an adult now...

(the new dress that Monte bought me for graduation)

(Monte gave me this flower lei--I loved it!)

(yep, that's right--my dad has keys to the football stadium)

(at the Geography graduate luncheon a couple hours before the ceremony)


As you can tell from the pictures above, I decided to walk after all. I'm glad I did. It felt momentous. And I got a flower lei out of it--totally worth it.

Thanks to all of you who helped me get to this point: mom and dad for letting me live at their house when I ran out of rent money (and for raising me, of course); friends/roommates for listening to me complain about classes; everyone for helping me brainstorm the "perfect" major for me; and everyone else who made a difference to me during my college career.

I'm kind of sad to not be in college anymore. I hope I don't just turn in to a lazy bum. I could see myself doing that. Perhaps I'll volunteer at the temple, or something. Or hang out with all of you more! Or both.

Now I don't have an excuse about not exercising--before it was always "I'm too busy to exercise," but now I really DO have time, so everyone ask me how that's going for me and hopefully you'll all guilt me into doing it.