We're down to the single digits!

Um, let's just talk about the fact that the countdown is at 6 days. SIX DAYS! In December, one of the women I visit teach was 8 months pregnant and she told me that when you are going along being pregnant, your due date always seems so far away, until you get the end and you realize that it actually went by so fast. That is so, so true. I can't believe it's already about time to be done with this! Now every time I have an appt with the midwives, they say "we'll see you next week if you're still pregnant." I don't mind if she comes late, early, or right on time, but I just want to know when it will be! The suspense is driving me batty.

My last day of work was Wednesday (!!!!) and my birthday was on Thursday (I'll admit, I'm glad the baby didn't come then. I like to have my own special day), so this has been a fun week! My co-workers had a birthday party/baby shower/farewell party for me on my last day-- it was great. Here is a picture of me with my friends from work. I don't think I could have gotten through the past six months without them!
My birthday was very fun. Sam and I spent (almost) the whole day together. First thing in the morning, we had an appt with the midwives. Then Sam took me to a salon where I got a pedicure. Then we went to the mall and Sam bought me some fun new makeup. And then we went to lunch at P.F. Chang's. Sam had a job interview, and then class, so I hung out at home for a little bit. When Sam got home, we went to my sister Lindsay's house and watched The Office and ate ice cream cake (my favorite thing in the whole world). It was really a great birthday!
Today we went out to lunch with my parents and my sister Lindsay's family (her son, Hunter, turned two on Tuesday). I didn't realize quite how huge I have gotten until I saw these pictures! Standing by my mom, my belly extends halfway past her! Well, my mom's really small, so that might not be so impressive. One thing I love having in common with my mom is that she also was due with her first child about a week after her 23rd birthday.
So, stay tuned! Either the next post will be from an impatient-and-still-pregnant me, or from Sam telling you the exciting news about the new arrival!

Of Babies and Baklava (and a few other things too)

Since I am home sick today with a vicious cold, I thought I could update the blog with a real post. The past few mornings, I have woken up with a sinus headache and a sore throat. I thought I was just getting too hot at night (despite Sam being in a phase of stealing ALL the blankets), but then I woke up this morning and knew this was no too-hot-at-night thing. I have a cold. I am not so happy about it. So I decided to cash in one of the sick days I was storing up and stay at home. It's amazing how much faster the day goes when I am just hanging out at home with Sam than when I am sitting at my desk at work, staring at a computer screen. I guess that's the theory of relativity for you.

In exciting news, The Adventures of Food Boy will be premiering at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 26! We are so thrilled to have it showing in a festival! We are hoping that Sam will get to go out for the big premiere, but it all depends on when the baby decides to arrive. Sadly enough, no matter when the baby comes, I won't get to go. I think they discourage taking days-old infants on trips. :) I am pretty disappointed that I will miss the exciting event, but I do hope she comes in time for Sam to go-- I would be even more disappointed if he had to miss it too.

We are really getting close on the countdown. My oldest sister, who is pregnant with her fourth, is going in to have her water broken tonight, so that means I'm next! I finish work next Wednesday, and we even got to take a dry run to the hospital two weeks ago. Here's the story on that one: around lunch time, I was at work when I suddenly started having this excruciating back pain. I had know idea what it was, and it was really freaking me out. It came on very suddenly, and it would come and go. I wasn't having any regular contractions, but I really wasn't sure what to do. By the time I got home from work, Sam was starting to get concerned. We called the on-call midwife and since she couldn't really tell what was going on just from talking on the phone, she had me go in to the hospital. We were there for about three hours while they ran some tests, including checking for kidney stones. In the end, the figured it was just some muscle problem-- the baby was probably positioned weirdly and was causing some odd pain with some pinched nerve or muscle spasms or something. So, they gave me some percocet and sent me on my way. I had never taken percocet before, and let me tell you, I certainly enjoyed that! It took a few days for the pain to go completely away, but now I am feeling great! Well, as great as you can feel when you are just about 9 months pregnant. :) But now I know what it's like in the hospital, so that's one good thing!

So, we are slowly but surely getting ready. On that note, I think there is nothing better than some homemade baklava. If you are in the mood for a mediterranean treat, try this recipe that I made yesterday. It's insanely delicious. (I suggest increasing the sauce by 50%)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baklava/Detail.aspx?prop31=3

I Get Bored at Work . . .

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Because I know you're interested . . .

I think I should report on how Daylight Savings Time went, since I made such a big deal of it a while ago. It wasn't horrible. We have church at 12:30, so I didn't really feel like I was getting up much earlier. Sam sure felt it though: we were up late the night before and then he had a church meeting bright and early the next morning. Actually, I don't know if it was the Daylight Saving Time that did him in-- he's always tired and a little (or a lot) grumpy when he wakes up. (Oh I'm sure he loves that I'm publishing that on our blog.) The rest of the week wasn't so bad. On Monday, after DST, everyone in my office was late to work, so I didn't feel so bad about being late. I think I'm still getting used to the time change. One thing I read said that some people can take up to six weeks or even more to fully adjust. But I do love, love, LOVE the longer days. They make me so happy. Now, if only it weren't gloomy and snowy today.

On the pregnancy front, I have started my weekly doctor visits, which means I really am on the home stretch! We are getting very excited. We are going to be moving to a two-bedroom apartment at the end of April, one week after the baby is due. Yes, we are crazy. We are only moving about a block away from our current apartment. We just realized that we really would be crazy to try and stay in our current apartment with a baby-- there's just not enough room. So, we will try to have everything packed before my due date and just see what happens. Lucky Sam. He knows he's going to be the one doing all work. What a champ. On that note, anyone who will be in Provo on April 26th is more than welcome to help us move!

I promise I took American Heritage!

I saw a link to this article on my friend Alicia's blog. It talks about a study done where they asked 556 seniors at 55 leading colleges and universities 34 questions about U.S. history. Only one of the students answered every question correctly, and the average score was 53%. At first I thought it was ridiculous . . . until I took the quiz. Let me just tell you, I am not even going to let my score be known publicly. I am horrified at how poorly I did!
So, go read the article (it's short) and then you can take the quiz at the end. I hope you fare better than I did! I shouldn't be allowed to call myself an American.

Twice!

I got tagged again, and since I didn't have anything new to write, I thought I would do this one too. Oh how exciting!


1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:00
3. What was the last film you saw at the theater? Sam took me to see Definitely, Maybe on Valentines Day. We don't recommend it. It was stupid. But we are going to see Enchanted tonight at the dollar theater!
4. What is your favorite TV show? I don't watch a lot of tv lately, but I would probably say Friends or The Office.
7. What food do you dislike? canned vegetables and cooked fruit
11. What characteristic do you despise? pretention
17. Favorite sport to watch? I think I actually enjoy watching college football with Sam.
19. Are you a morning person or a night person? I just realized that I am not a morning person. I am not the best night person either, so really, I am a day person.
20. What is your shoe size? 6
23. What did you want to be when you were little? an artist-- I wanted to wear a beret.
25. What is your favorite candy? Milky Way
26. What is your favorite flower? calla lilies
33. Favorite soft drink? Shirley Temple
34. Favorite food? Massaman curry
35 . What was your favorite toy as a child? I'm not really sure. I know I loved dress-ups and I thought Barbies were ok. I don't really know what I played with. Probably whatever left over toys my brother left out for me.
36. Summer or winter? Definitely, definitely summer.
42 . What did you do last night? I dozed off on the couch, but was awakened by a phone call from my mom. I drank orange juice and ate cheese for dinner. I picked up bread, eggs, and milk from the grocery store. I picked up Sam from work and then went to bed. Thrilling, I know.
43 . What are you afraid of? Having a baby!
45 . How many keys on your keyring? 5
46 . How many years at your current job? almost 6 months (and only 4 1/2 weeks left!!!!!!)
48 . How many towns have you lived in? Seattle, Denver, London, Salt Lake, Provo -- 5

I'd like to point out that these questions are numbered, but it seems that someone who did it before me got bored or something and cut out a lot of questions. I'm glad I didn't really have to answer 48!

I've BeenTagged!

Thanks for tagging me Maranda, now I can spice up my blog a little bit (instead of the usual post that says our lives are pretty uneventful, but look at pictures of us anyway).

1. Two Names You Go By:
Cookie (by Sam)
Gerta (by my family, mostly my dad and my brother)

2. Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
Comfy, comfy J. Crew pajamas
A very old white shirt I got when I was a senior in high school. It is also about 10 sizes too small for my 7.5-months-pregnant body. Oh well. I'm comfy.

3. Two of Your Favorite Things to Do:
Eat ice cream
Try new recipes for cookies, Thai food, Indian food, cakes-- well, I guess just try new recipes!

4. Two Things You Want Very Badly at the Moment:
The Adventures of Food Boy to sell so we can move to Virginia in June
The baby to keep growing and be healthy (and to stop getting up under my ribs)

5. Two Favorite Pets You Have or Have Had:
Buck, my golden retriever, was the world's best pet. We got him when I was 3 and he died when I was 14. No other pet can compare to Buck, which is why I don't like any other animals. It's true. I don't like animals, and I never want to have another pet.

6. Two Things You Ate Today:
Oatmeal
A glass of milk (I just had breakfast, so my options of answers for this question are limited)

7. Two People You Last Talked To:
Sam
Ashley

8. Two Things You Are Doing Tomorrow:
Going to church
Probably making cookies-- since I can't seem to go a day without eating them

9. Two Longest Car Rides
Mesa to Provo. You wouldn't think it was so long, but we missed the turn onto the freeway and extended the drive by like three hours.
St. George to Denver. There was some bad accident and a really bad storm, so we were stuck in stopped traffic on the road in Nowhere, Colorado for hours. I was grumpy.
OK, I know none of these are that impressive, but I HATE long car rides. I refuse to take road trips if they exceed 8 hours (10 for VERY special occasions).

Well, that was fun! So, now I tag Jen (or Matt) and Jenna. And anyone else who wants to do it.