This week Daniel has been really busy at work since Tuesday, so I'm going to tell you all about his birthday. First, I think you should know that, I'm pretty sure he had a great time, and that he really appreciated all your birthday well wishes!
In the morning, we went to a neighborhood garage sale. I would say that it was pretty informal. If you wanted to participate, you just set up on your driveway, and the people would come around and see what you had. The neighborhood association advertised so there would actually be people that would come buy all the stuff.
We managed to bring home a lot more than we expected. For $25 we got all this stuff! For his birthday, Daniel got a rotary cutting mat (for puzzles), the last two Harry Potter books, and a new game (Literati). We also got a rocking chair, a jewelry box (for me), a shower curtain for upstairs, a coffee table, and a couple of boat pictures. Added bonus not pictured: We also got to meet some neighbors around the neighborhood!
Then we watched all the sessions of conference. It can be easy to forget how amazing it is that we have prophets and apostles who talk to us every six months! Perhaps small consolation for Daniel because conference weekend means no time for parties!
Since then, Daniel has been pretty busy. Besides just working on his regular "super secret" project this week, he is also preparing to co-presenting two different presentations at NI Tech next week. (NI Tech is basically an employee seminar put on by Daniel's company. Employees put together presentations about the cool things that they found, learned or engineered during the year. The other engineers come sit in and learn new techniques and ideas for future projects.) So, Daniel has been busy preparing his presentations this week. As his favorite (and I assume cutest) guinea pig, I can tell you that the presentations are getting better all the time! I think he'll be glad once they are over with though!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Easter Treats
I know this post is on my birthday, and I'm not mentioning anything about it. Don't worry, Elissa will tell you all about it next week.
This last week we each had our book groups. I decided to host for the boys' group this month, and since it was close to Easter, we decided we'd make our birds' nests a little early and make a big one for treats that night. We talked about The Prodigal God, which was a thought-provoking take on Grace which contrasts with the way we LDS folk tend to think of it.
We also decided to go ice skating (we originally planned to go before we got sick earlier this month) as part of our pre-planned 'Christmas' dates. We had fun but wished we'd asked specifically for hockey skates, because we didn't realize they had those to rent at all and I don't like figure skates.
Easter was also good -- we did a "fancy" dinner with ham steaks and au gratin potatoes (Elissa's family style -- which is cubed instead of scalloped). It was a good meal and we had lots of leftovers. Hope you all had a good Easter!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Benefits of Cleaning the House
Sometimes we do chores around the house because we are trying to be mature and not live in a mess. This week we decided to rearrange some furniture -- that required some cleaning. Usually the only reward for cleaning that I get is the satisfaction of having a clean house, but this time I found a surprise! (Daniel will tell you that I should have found this before now, but that is okay.) I only tell you all this because I think you will like the surprise too. New ultrasound pictures from our last doctor's visit!
- Little Baby Feet - We have two pictures of baby feet. Probably because our baby was stubborn.
- Whole Little Baby - regular ultrasound picture
- 3D baby - This is our baby with her hand at her face.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
A Healthy Family
So toward the end of this week, we've finally started feeling better. We both had residual congestion and got prescription stuff to try to get it all cleared out before we get infections.
The other interesting thing that happened this week is that we had another ultrasound and found out that our baby girl is growing exactly how they expect. We also learned that she could be incredibly stubborn, but we had a good technician that eventually got all the shots they needed.
On another note, we've got a couple of pictures for you. We want to find a way to post pictures only for people we know but keep the blog public, so we're trying something new this week. If you email Elissa or I, we'll get you added to the permissions to see the pictures. This last week we had our Christmas Cactus start blossoming. Also, Elissa got dressed up in some of her nice maternity clothes so we got a picture of her here too.
Let us know what you think of the new way of doing pictures.
The other interesting thing that happened this week is that we had another ultrasound and found out that our baby girl is growing exactly how they expect. We also learned that she could be incredibly stubborn, but we had a good technician that eventually got all the shots they needed.
On another note, we've got a couple of pictures for you. We want to find a way to post pictures only for people we know but keep the blog public, so we're trying something new this week. If you email Elissa or I, we'll get you added to the permissions to see the pictures. This last week we had our Christmas Cactus start blossoming. Also, Elissa got dressed up in some of her nice maternity clothes so we got a picture of her here too.
Let us know what you think of the new way of doing pictures.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Sick Not Dying
So, we don't have much news this week because first I caught a cold (last Thursday) and then Daniel got my cold yesterday. We have been busy watching Neflix and getting lots of liquids. So, that was pretty much our last couple of days. Fortunately, Tuesday I made a big pot of soup so I didn't have to cook for the two days that Daniel was home. Unfortunately, our kitchen looked like a disaster area until tonight when I felt well enough to do some cleaning.
Daniel stayed home from work yesterday and today to try and get better. So far I think that plan (getting better) is working. I'm just hoping he doesn't get the cough part. For this cold the "bark" (coughing) was way worse than the "bite" (everything else!)
I've been feeling better-ish, so yesterday I went to the store to stock up on supplies. I forgot that our near by grocery store is probably the worst place to pick up over the counter medicines. They don't stock things in a way that makes sense, and often they don't have generic versions of things that I think that they should. (Like a box of nighttime cold medicine. They had the daytime just not the nighttime. I ended up getting the last combination box) I also needed some decongestant, so I went to the counter to get it too. After three trips through the register, I got all the things I came for at the store, and the knowledge that if I'm not sick and dying I should shop elsewhere for my pharmaceuticals.
I'm excited because I was able to sleep last night. I wasn't coughing violently all night for the first time in a week. I am taking sleeping at night as a sign that we are not dying, but just sick. Seriously, I think I might have pulled a muscle I was coughing so hard and so often. Fortunately, my baby should be okay because babies are generally pretty safe even when they are inside the same body that is sick. I have to imagine that the baby didn't like all the coughing though --Too much shaking! We are going to see the doctor next Thursday, so she'll be able to tell us more about our baby then!
Daniel stayed home from work yesterday and today to try and get better. So far I think that plan (getting better) is working. I'm just hoping he doesn't get the cough part. For this cold the "bark" (coughing) was way worse than the "bite" (everything else!)
I've been feeling better-ish, so yesterday I went to the store to stock up on supplies. I forgot that our near by grocery store is probably the worst place to pick up over the counter medicines. They don't stock things in a way that makes sense, and often they don't have generic versions of things that I think that they should. (Like a box of nighttime cold medicine. They had the daytime just not the nighttime. I ended up getting the last combination box) I also needed some decongestant, so I went to the counter to get it too. After three trips through the register, I got all the things I came for at the store, and the knowledge that if I'm not sick and dying I should shop elsewhere for my pharmaceuticals.
I'm excited because I was able to sleep last night. I wasn't coughing violently all night for the first time in a week. I am taking sleeping at night as a sign that we are not dying, but just sick. Seriously, I think I might have pulled a muscle I was coughing so hard and so often. Fortunately, my baby should be okay because babies are generally pretty safe even when they are inside the same body that is sick. I have to imagine that the baby didn't like all the coughing though --Too much shaking! We are going to see the doctor next Thursday, so she'll be able to tell us more about our baby then!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Forgotten Past
So I have to tease Elissa a little because she completely left out the date I planned from our last post. This was one of the ones we planned for Christmas. This is what Elissa saw when she opened it (more or less):
It may be too hard to read, but the idea is that we were going to the Symphony. (Elissa helped plan some of this, but she didn't know what was bringing us downtown -- she picked out a very good restaurant). When the day came for our date, we got tickets for the metro rail to take us downtown, and for the first time got to enjoy downtown without trying to park. We ate at The Backspace, which is a 'traditional' italian pizza place (I have no idea if it's actually traditional or not, since I haven't been to Italy). We arrived early at the Symphony, and found that they had a little pre-concert lecture, helping to explain the music. It told us that the Symphony would feature Jennifer Frautschi playing a concerto by Bartok. They then explained that it reflected the impending World War II. It was intense -- Elissa described it by saying you could definitely tell that he was depicting a Nazi invasion. I really liked the second movement, which was a lot more peaceful (Violin Concerto No. 2, BB 117 -- movement II).
And now, for this week: Elissa's been battling a cold all week, and today she got a terrible cough to go along with it. About the only real interesting thing I can think of that happened this week was at work. NI negotiates with other companies to get training for their employees. My manager suggested that I should take a particular training class and so I signed up, and it was this last week. I got to the class, and immediately things started sounding familiar. By the time they had a short break in the morning, I was about 95% sure I had taken this training already. So, I walked back to my desk and found the book that they had given us last time as proof that I'd already taken the class (and not just something really similar). It was really embarrassing telling my coworkers/manager that I had managed to sign up for and attend a class that I'd already taken without realizing it. In the end, they got someone else enrolled who was waiting to take the class, so...hopefully no harm done. I'll be more careful next time. On a positive note, my week at work was much more productive than my original estimate suggested (because I had 3 more days' worth of time to work).
And now, for this week: Elissa's been battling a cold all week, and today she got a terrible cough to go along with it. About the only real interesting thing I can think of that happened this week was at work. NI negotiates with other companies to get training for their employees. My manager suggested that I should take a particular training class and so I signed up, and it was this last week. I got to the class, and immediately things started sounding familiar. By the time they had a short break in the morning, I was about 95% sure I had taken this training already. So, I walked back to my desk and found the book that they had given us last time as proof that I'd already taken the class (and not just something really similar). It was really embarrassing telling my coworkers/manager that I had managed to sign up for and attend a class that I'd already taken without realizing it. In the end, they got someone else enrolled who was waiting to take the class, so...hopefully no harm done. I'll be more careful next time. On a positive note, my week at work was much more productive than my original estimate suggested (because I had 3 more days' worth of time to work).
Friday, March 1, 2013
Good News and Bad News
Baby Update: We went to the doctor yesterday and everything seemed good there. Daniel was a good sport to come with me for the doctors appointment. We got to hear the heart beat on the Doppler and everything. It was good to know that our baby was still in there!
We also got to set up our anatomy scan ultrasound for 3 weeks from now. We decided to find out what the baby is at the scan -- if our baby will cooperate when the day comes. Daniel described our decision making process best when he told me, "Everyone says, 'but I want it to be a surprise.' It will still be a surprise just a surprise that comes earlier than when the baby comes." So, hurry for surprises on the journey.
We also got to set up our anatomy scan ultrasound for 3 weeks from now. We decided to find out what the baby is at the scan -- if our baby will cooperate when the day comes. Daniel described our decision making process best when he told me, "Everyone says, 'but I want it to be a surprise.' It will still be a surprise just a surprise that comes earlier than when the baby comes." So, hurry for surprises on the journey.
In other good news, the doctor did not veto our vacation plans! We can finally make some definite plans to come and see our Utah and Idaho friends! It is fun to make vacation plans!
Bad News:
We had a strong wind storm here earlier this week. (Wind gusts up to 50 mph. Strong winds for most of the day.) Our old roof didn't like that, and we lost a few shingles. We had a roofer come out and give us an estimate. Fortunately, to patch it up won't cost too much money. Unfortunately, our roof is old, so we'll need to start saving now to get a new one. Such are the (un) joys of home ownership I suppose. Fortunately, the joys of home ownership are better than the unpleasant parts so far.
Bad News:
We had a strong wind storm here earlier this week. (Wind gusts up to 50 mph. Strong winds for most of the day.) Our old roof didn't like that, and we lost a few shingles. We had a roofer come out and give us an estimate. Fortunately, to patch it up won't cost too much money. Unfortunately, our roof is old, so we'll need to start saving now to get a new one. Such are the (un) joys of home ownership I suppose. Fortunately, the joys of home ownership are better than the unpleasant parts so far.
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