matrimony

I went to Utah for a long weekend to attend DJ's beautiful wedding. It was a quick trip, but I really enjoyed it and Zola Jane got buried in attention from all her Cousins and Aunts/Uncles. I started calling Roger her "Dad away from Dad" because he is definitely her favorite person in Utah (no offense to everyone else... it's just a fact. Ha ha.)

Zola Jane got her pictures taken with Jailyn, her cousin who was due on the same day but born three weeks or so apart. It was so interesting to see how much different the two girls are... and look at all of Jailyn's hair! How wonderful. She is also much taller than ZJ.




How did this cute one taken at home get in here? Oh, because it's so cute who can resist. She's grabbing at those feet constantly. And so am I. They're irresistible.


Marilyn looked lovely. She had little strands of golden tinsel sparkling in her side-swept hair and a contagious smile all day. The evening before the wedding we got to hang at her bachelorette party where we dipped strawberries into a chocolate fondue fountain and talked about how exhausted we all were. What work weddings are!


I hijacked the rings for a few shots with their beautiful cake. I just loved the figurines. Such a fun touch to the fireman theme.



The cousin in the middle is Wyatt. He is a few months older than the girls.

belt buckle and groin of america

What you see behind me is the belt-buckle of middle america. We liked St. Louis so much more than we expected to. They had Hardees and White Castle and protesters at the local planned parenthood and a disproportionate amount of overweight people (I could be heard telling Mark, "this is nothing. Just wait until we get to Texas.")

Josh and Anna's wedding extravaganza was beautiful, opulent, and over the top. We ate and drank well. (No, of course I did not embibe. What? You think I want a baby with eyes too far apart?) Probably the best part for me was chilling with Nick and Tanya at the Botanical Garden.

On to Texas... Hanging with McBro and Evan. So good to see those guys. We did way too much and a lot of nothing. Another botanical garden, a trip to Galveston Island to see the hurricane damage, take a Duck Tour of the downtown & bay, tour the police station and jail where McBro works, Nasa Space Center, and lots and lots of driveway chillin, barbequeing, and delicious food. No one can ever claim to be a better cook than Kim. I'm sorry. That chick has a monopoly on the title "best ever."

This is Nasa.

This is port-side on the Duck. I have a fetish for boats on vacation, so I am seriously elated in this picture for getting Mark on the water.

There is my little bump. I think it really started to pop out on this trip, because when I got home, I had only two shirts that could still conceal it. I guess it's safe to assume that it no longer looks like a failed diet.

Once swaddled safely back into my own bed, I slept 15 hours and then 10 hours the next day. Ah, the vacation after the vacation. My body was tired, but my mind was so relaxed.

I bought a maternity swim suit so I can feel the precious sense of weightlessness next time I go to the gym... which has been a weekly on Sunday routine for the past few weeks. I'm looking forward to trying it out. The heaviness is surprising (compared to what I expected this early on.)

In related news, I almost threw a pepperocini in my mouth and washed it down with chocolate milk. It sounded awesome. Luckily, somewhere between the refridgerator and my mouth, sanity kicked in just in time to stop me. Thank God.

weekend wonderful

We took a quick trip up the coast overnight and got a hotel in Morro Bay outside San Luis Obispo. It was so relaxing and incredible to be able to spend so much time with my husband.

We had some nice conversations on the scenic drive, saw some vineyards, and stopped for chocolate milkshakes.

This little country restaurant was so good that we went there for BOTH dinner the night we arrived AND breakfast the day we departed. I bet they have other good restaurants, but we obviously don't care. I ordered the meat loaf sandwich and Mark thought it sounded nasty... and then heartily helped me eat it. It was amazing.

This beach was walking distance from our hotel. I walked down while Mark took a nap the first day and we went together the morning we left... and that time, there was so much beautiful fog that you couldn't see the haystack at all. It was a nice, kind of isolated beach. I found FOUR perfect sand dollars just laying on the beach within 5 feet of each other. A great place for treasure hunting.

welcome to sunny california

Jennifer, Stephanie, Lindsey, the doggie-dog Annabelle and Brittany were all here with us last week. Our guests enjoyed a flurry of Six Flags, beach sand castles, and everyone stayed in a hotel in San Diego to go to Sea World one day.


Doesn't this look wonderful? This hotel was reasonable and had a kitchen, living room with pull-out couch and double beds to sleep six. But no one guessed it would have this view! Everyone loves the eels.

I much appreciate Jennifer and Lindsey making sure that Brittany had a chance to do a lot of fun stuff while I was at work or unable to hang out.

Houston, we have lift off

I'm home from my sweet vacation. I could totally move there. We went to the space center, had a pre-4th warm up party on the 3rd, and then had a blast and drank ourselves silly at McKay's big party. It was awesome!

houston, can you read me?

I've been hanging in Texas with McKay, Kim and his crew for the past couple of days. It has been quite a vacation thus far. We spend 90% of our time hanging out in the garage, which doubles as an open-air living room when the door is up. The neighbors are all members of the family, like one big block-wide household, they come and go from each other's houses, exchanging kids, pantry items, and gossip freely. It's such a change of pace, relaxed and mellow. I've jammed guitar with the neighbors, taken walks with the kids, enjoyed the paths of the local arboretum, and dare-deviled the local water park the whole family (all the neighbors too, of course.)

I have gotten acquaited with McKay's kids, and we've had a really fun time. I really love sitting with coffee in the morning in the garage. All the neighbors come, have their coffee and start their days with you... and it's real nice. I don't even know my neighbors names (or faces.) It's a big contrast.