Ski Aspen

I love that Justin's company SenseCorp includes family in their annual meeting trips. We've been fortunate enough to travel to Vail, San Diego, Austin, and now Aspen, Colorado together. I think that in the last four years, since we've been out of college and on our own, we've taken one other true vacation together outside of these trips.

That being said, we decided to head to the mountains early so that we could get some quality skiing in before Justin had meetings. Well, Justin got in some quality skiing (of course with no proof since he doesn't take pictures). My days consisted of hydrating, sleeping, and snacking to avoid getting sick. We did get one good day out together, though. Here are some pictures of the beautiful mountains:

We took a gondola to the top to eat lunch and walk around. 

At the mountain-top restaurant. 

I love the mountain air! 

We went on a sleigh ride through the woods! 

Bundled up - it was pretty chilly!! 

At least we got some hot chocolate.  

Our horses for the afternoon. 

We saw someone at the hotel order these, and had to try it ourselves... tableside s'mores!

Our First Appointment

If you've ever been pregnant or have tried to get pregnant, you know that there is a lot of time, especially at the beginning, when you anxiously await the next "big" moment. Or maybe it's just with the first baby. Or maybe it's just me. :)

Waiting to find out officially whether you're pregnant or not is the first thing. Then, you have to wait for your first appointment with the doctor. We had ours at 6 weeks where we got to see the first picture of our little one!

The cutest thing you've ever seen, right??? It really is amazing how they can see something so tiny. 

Baby is the size of a pea or something even smaller probably at this point. Half a centimeter I believe was the official measurement. And you might think, "Yes, I can see how that could be a little baby in there," but then I tell you that the part that kind of resembles a head -- nope, not part of the baby. Baby P is in between the two crosshairs. That's it! Just a little bean.

But it was SO sweet to be able to see an even tinier little heartbeat on the ultrasound, although we didn't get to listen to it quite yet. We can't wait to start making a place for our little bundle at home! But more waiting was yet to come... what will it be?!?!? 

The BIG News

Well, halfway through your pregnancy isn't TOO bad of a time to update the blog, right? I thought it was time to start giving some official updates, so let's start at the beginning!

It all started in Illinois over Christmas. Justin and I, along with my parents, Krista and Collin, were visiting family and I got a hankering for some old fashioned tomato juice. And that is an understatement. We got home and I bought a whole big bottle of it, just for me. It was gone in a week. I thought it was really strange at the time, but when I saw THIS it all made sense:

Justin was back at work and I wanted to tell him in person so I had to sit on this big news for a few hours. THAT was hard. I went out to run errands, with my Clearblue stick, trying to kill time. I almost told the cashier at Target but decided against it. When Justin came home for lunch, I FINALLY got to share the news! I think he knew what was up before hand. I may have made an incredibly awkward phone call to him that morning suggesting there was something to "talk about". :) After work that day he brought home some "Happy Pregnancy" flowers.

We decided to wait to share the news with family and friends until I was further along, but ever since about 10 weeks, we've been SUPER happy to share with everyone that we're expecting!!

Rangers Love

One thing I really love is Rangers baseball. I know I mentioned it last time, but I DO!!

Justin doesn't seem to share this passion with me, though he usually goes along to the games with me and puts on a good face. He mostly doesn't enjoy sitting outside in the heat for a three-plus hour game in the middle of summer in Texas. Also, he tends to feel sleepy after eating lots of food, which usually happens at the games we attend. Nothing beats a ballpark hot dog!

Luckily, the Rangers made it to the World Series this year. The games are much more interesting and happen to fall in October so the weather is AWESOME! My dad scored us some tickets to game four and we went with Krista and Collin.

Throughout the series I had my bear claw on the mantle, propped up on my upside down Yankees cup. When game four came around, we were ready!

The game was SO much fun - an experience we will remember forever!! There is something pretty special about 50,000 people swinging their rally towels and cheering; the crowd chanting Na-po-li in unison until he come out of the dugout to tip his hat; a standing ovation for Derek Holland after pitching 8 1/3 shutout innings... I want to go every year!!

I'm so happy my parents got to have an equally great experience at game five, even though the series didn't end with a championship for the Rangers. We had a great time watching the games with family and friends this year, whether at the ballpark or at Red Dog Right. I still love my Rangers!!

My Favorite FALL Things

FINALLY my favorite season out of the year is here! We've kept pretty busy since "fall" arrived. After I started back up at school, time has simply disappeared. And here we are, looking at the middle of October this coming weekend!

We've really taken to the spirit of the season by doing some of my favorite fall things, including...

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
In September, we got to go to our first longhorn football game since a couple of seasons ago - SO fun! I felt silly because I almost cried I was so happy to be back and listen to the beautiful sound of the longhorn band. Thanks to the Greens for the awesome opportunity to go to a game!!

HOMECOMING ANNIVERSARY

We have made it a tradition to celebrate our "original" anniversary (high school homecoming!!!) since we did it for so many years before we got married. We enjoy being creative and thinking of gifts or things to do that correlate with the number of years we are celebrating. This year we celebrated eight years! After a couple of weeks of thinking and me suggesting that I get Justin an octopus as a gift, we decided it would be fun to go eat eight-legged creatures. So on September 18th, we went to Joe's Crab Shack. We stuffed ourselves and had a fantastic time!

BASEBALL

With fall comes baseball (which I REALLY love) and we've been to a couple games this season, including one of the ALDS games against Tampa Bay. As I am sitting here, I am watching the Rangers, tied going into extra innings and hoping for a win so that they can (possibly) go to the World Series. I've canceled my America's Next Top Model and CSI recordings for this game, so hopefully it works out!

Okay, I think I have to wait on the boots and sweaters that I get excited about in the fall. It's still in the eighties. BUT I think this weekend I will be making pumpkin cookies or possibly some apple pie!

What are your favorite fall things??

Tuesday Ten: Travel Destinations

One time awhile back, Justin and I made a list of all the different places we'd LOVE to travel to some day. We are continuously adding to the list and really enjoy checking off the places as we explore them. Some are cities/countries one or both of us have traveled to before and others are places neither of us has ever been to. When we travel, we like to go somewhere we can relax a bit and also take in a little bit of culture. Although there are more, I've picked the top ten destinations we'd like to travel to share with you. So in no particular order...

SANTORINI, GREECE:

Justin and I went here on our honeymoon and it was amazing. We can't wait until we can go back again!

SCOTLAND/IRELAND:

We can't decide on one or the other, but Scotland and/or Ireland is high on our list.  

AUSTRALIA:

Neither of us have been to Australia and would love to take an extended stay here!

TAHITI:

Ahhhhhh... Just put us in one of those little water huts.

ALASKA:

Okay, it's not super exotic but it's SO gorgeous and neither of us have been. Would be a fun summer trip!

LAS VEGAS:

We just think this is something that every adult should experience at least once in their lifetime! So much fun!

BRAZIL:

Anywhere in South America would be a beautiful vacation spot, but Brazil would be our pick!

TOKYO, JAPAN:

This is one of Justin's top picks. It would be quite the experience!

INDONESIA:

We love the mix of exotic palm trees and amazing architecture. What a beautiful place!

SOUTH AFRICA:

Africa has so much to offer and I love elephants!

Well, we've got a lot of saving to do! What would be your top pick for a travel destination?

July

Well, it's July 31st and I have an hour and a half or so until the month is technically over. I am determined to get a post in! Needless to say, it's been a busy month for us (well, me) and I suppose it's as they say, "Time flies when you're having fun!"

I started the month out in New York City with a group of teachers from my school. I had a lot of fun learning about reading instruction at Teachers College of Columbia University while experiencing what NYC has to offer. I was able to see ground zero, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, check out Rockefeller Center on the 4th (the flags were awesome!!), watch fireworks over the Hudson, and of course, walk through Central Park. The last photo in this collage is a picture from Columbia's campus.

But that's not all...

Don't get me wrong here. I am SO not a Yankees fan. I LOVE the Rangers. But we got to go to new Yankee stadium for the game Derek Jeter hit his 3,000th and it was so much fun. If it was A. Rod. I may not feel the same way... 

So I got back from New York and tried to get back into routine before leaving yet again for a week, this time with my family to Branson, Missouri. I had fun spending time with them and getting to see my older sister, Amy and her husband, Joel, too. We saw a couple of shows, rented a pontoon boat on Table Rock Lake and went ziplining. I know what you're thinking and I have pictures to prove it. We also ventured to Springfield to see a Civil War battlefield and a cave! For a little town in a state I frequently reference as "misery" (no offense to any Missourians, I usually just drive through) it was pretty fun!

After getting back from Missouri, we spent some time with our families and celebrated my 25th birthday which I am sad to report that I have no pictures of other than the brownies Justin and I made in our brand spankin' new oven! On a side note, I have wanted this oven for MONTHS and it was on clearance at Best Buy (shout out!) while we were there randomly so we splurged! This is an excitement one can only understand as a first time homebuyer, I imagine. On top of the oven, my parents gave me the piano from their house (YESSSS!!!) and Justin got me the Michael Kors watch that I've been eyeing for some time now. It was a wonderful day!

Well, that's what I've been up to. If you're wondering where Justin was this whole time, it was at work. He's being the responsible one, as usual, and I appreciate it. I will appreciate it even more when he can take time off at the holidays. As much as I hate to admit it, I am getting ready to get back to work/school. So bring on August!