6 Years

Six years ago, I said "I do" to the man of my dreams. We dated for four years before that and were ready to get started on "our" life together. The past six years really has been bliss. We have grown up together.

Just in the first year, we bought a car, graduated from college, moved to a new city and got "grown up" jobs. Then came some fun vacations - camping in Big Sur, Hawaii and Europe. Then some domesticity - buying a house and buying a dog. Of course, just ten short months later, our lives were turned upside down with an international move. So, I wouldn't exactly call it a boring six years!

Through all the adventure, we have grown closer together. We truly enjoy being together on this adventure called life. And, to be honest, I am excited about the years ahead of us and what life will bring our way. And through it all, we have each other...and that's what matters the most.

21 Weeks

So I am officially more than halfway through my pregnancy! I kind of can't believe there is a 7", 11 ounce thing growing inside of me! I do have a belly, but it certainly doesn't look big enough to be to be housing 7". Speaking of growing, some days I swear I can actually feel my skin stretching. I have been lathering up my stomach twice a day, praying that tons of stretch marks don't appear! My pants still fit, as long as they aren't buttoned. Since the bump seems to be biggest around my belly button, this affects my shirts the most. I still am wearing regular ones, just looser, longer ones. Here is a pic of me and the little person for your enjoyment:


I am starting to get into the baby mindset too. Thinking of all the stuff I will need for baby...stuff that is all too expensive! I also don't want unnecessary stuff, given that we do live in a small place. But, I am excited. Like any new parent, I only want the best for my little one and am researching to see what exactly is the best. We all know how much that truly matters, ha, ha! So far, I have bought baby a little bear outfit to keep it warm during the Scottish winter.


Given that everything is so dang expensive, I am easing myself in slowly...one bear outfit at a time!

Cultural Differences

It never ceases to amaze me, some of the cultural differences between the UK and the US. One weird one is the almost acceptance of pornography over here. Magazines aren't hidden, blacked out or in a bag on the newsstand. Many times, they are front and center. And, to top it off, there are actually newspapers with pornography in them! I think this is quite degrading to women.

Needless to say, pornography does turn up at Starbucks once in a while. We have a basket where people can toss their old newspapers and magazines for others to enjoy and both pornographic newspapers and magazines have turned up in there. I personally find this completely unacceptable. I even find it unacceptable for people to look at that kind of garbage at a place like Starbucks. But, I guess that is just my opinion.

There is a guy who frequents my store every day. And every day he has one of his special newspapers with him. He is kind of dirty looking, in his 30s. Ian thinks there is something wrong with him, but that isn't the point. He has been caught by various workers with his hand down his pants...no joke! So recently, he came up to the counter, ordered a drink and when he went to pay, there was a pubic hair included in the money he handed the girl at the register! And, I kid you not, this is true. Now none of us want to take money directly from him. We try to get him to put it on the counter first. It is just totally gross. We work at a coffee shop for Pete's sake! We shouldn't have to deal with things like this!

I think I can say this with confidence...

Only in the UK!

Want to Change Your Life?

Sometimes life changes are planned, are expected. Sometimes, they come when we least expect it, from places we NEVER would have expected it. Last week was one of these such incidences for me.

Ian bought a new toothpaste. I know, not too exciting. There have been ads on tv over here about ISO-active toothpaste. It shows the toothpaste getting all foamy and cleaning where no other toothpaste will clean. So, Ian decided to try it out. He landed on the Aquafresh version. My life will never be the same!

I have never been loyal to any toothpaste. I didn't really care how my teeth got cleaned. I didn't even care that much how often they got cleaned. Insert Aquafresh ISO-action toothpaste. I look forward to brushing my teeth. The foaming action is just so exciting. And, the clean feeling afterward, UNBELIEVABLE! This toothpaste has truly changed my life! Are you ready for a change? I think its time you go get some as well.

Seriously Funny

So, I ran across this link on someone else's blog. Nothing in a while has made my day like this. Honestly, a blog dissecting what Christians like!?! It's ingenious! Anyone who has been raised in the church will get a laugh out of it, so check it out!

Stuff Christian Culture Likes

There's a Dog on My Toilet Paper!

So, I buy toilet paper at the store the other day. Nothing exciting; just a pack that was on sale. I was grabbing some off the roll when I noticed there are puppies "quilted" into the toilet paper. Now, I find this kind of odd. Normally you see flowers or some type of square pattern on toilet paper, but not puppies. It kind of weirded me out. These poor puppies...think of what they have to face every day!

The Pregnancy Takeover

I know I haven't talked much about my pregnancy on here, but here is your catch up...

Up until this point, I really haven't had any bad symptoms. Sure I stopped eating most foods (and began to and still do refuse to handle chicken...it's all nasty and slimy!) and switched to fruit cups, but I never threw up and didn't walk around sick all the time...that is, until now. All the sudden, the sickness seems to have struck, which is weird, given that I am 19 weeks along tomorrow. But, I am now greeted daily by an upset stomach and throw up. In fact, it actually woke me up and quickly got me out of bed yesterday! Then there are the nosebleeds. How this is a side effect of pregnancy, I don't know...but its in the book, so it must be legit, right?!? And the rashes (which have actually been around for a while now...since closer to the beginning). Apparently pregnant women have really sensitive skin. Well, my neck has a rash and so do my legs and I can tell you that it isn't very becoming. And on top of all this, I have a new wave of tiredness. It could be lingering jet lag, it could be the baby telling me to slow down. Either way, I am sleeping much more than I used to and am getting much less done around the house than I used to!

Then there is work. I can no longer lift furniture at work, which I totally understand. It just makes me a burden for whoever I work with, but I guess they will have to get over it! I was also noticing yesterday that I don't think I will be able to carry the dishwasher trays of clean dishes for much longer easier. To carry them, they either have to dig into your stomach or your hip (and I choose the hip), but the bump is starting to come and with me becoming protective and all, I don't like the thought of a bunch of dishes smooshing the side of it. Just one more thing for my coworkers to add to the list of things they have to do for me!

Oh well. I guess this whole life-making process isn't as glamorous as people make it seem. At least in the end there will be a baby, and that is all that really matters.

Home Sweet Home

I was greeted back in Scotland with weather in the 50's and tons of rain. People are swearing to me that there were a couple nice days of weather here while I was gone, but I am not sure if I believe it! Though it's nice to be back home and back in the swing of things, I can't help but miss some of the great conveniences of America...you know, cars, wide open roads, big box retailers, friends, family, fast food...things like that! It's funny to me how easily I can adapt back to America each time I go visit and when I get back to Scotland, it is like I have to "re-miss" all those things again. Oh well. At least I have Starbucks...ha, ha!

Disneyland

Still trying to catch up on the blogs! Ian and I went to Disneyland on Thursday. When we lived in SoCal it was a popular destination of ours. We were able to get a reservation for Club 33 and enjoy a day at the park. Even though I was unable to enjoy the likes of Space Mountain, I was able to enjoy rides like Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters and Pirates of the Caribbean. And, being the rebel that I am, I even went on Autopia even though it said preggos aren’t meant to ride on it. But, our car wasn’t bumped, so no harm was done! During the day, I was able to enjoy a ginormous pickle that I swear was the best tasting pickle ever! And in case you are wondering, I have had a love of pickles my whole life, so it definitely isn’t a pregnancy side effect for me. While at California Adventure, I was able to visit the winery of my favorite family, the Walker Family. I think Ian thought I was a bit of a dork for making him take a picture, but I am way into Brothers & Sisters, so was happy to see the little set up at Disneyland. We capped the day off with a nice dinner at Club 33, where I showed the waiters just how fast I can suck down a glass of root beer (I think they were secretly impressed).