This week's cravings

Everyone keeps asking me what I am craving while expecting. I know they are secretly hoping to hear something absurd like chocolate covered grilled cheese sandwiches or pickles and ice cream drizzled with barbecue sauce (eww! That one made me gag a little.) Sadly for them and luckily for me, I haven't had any off-the-wall cravings as of yet. I have experienced more of the food I can't eat than the ones I can. I can't eat chicken, eggs, or anything spicy (and if you know me very well, you know I love the spicy food!). Anything with strong flavor, the hint of spice, or red sauce gives me heartburn from my nose to my knees. So, I feel a little limited. However, someone recently asked me if I was having cravings, and I said no, but then I told them what I had been eating over the past few days, and it was confirmed. I am having some not-so-unusual food cravings. And here they are:)

• Peaches--not just any peaches. They must be locally grown. They just taste better. And since I live in peach country, they are easy to find.  In a 2 day period, I ate 5 of them. Apparently, that constitutes a craving:)

• Buttermilk Ranch Dressing--and of course, it is a very specific kind as well. It must be the Hidden Valley Ranch powder pack made with real buttermilk. SO DELICIOUS! I have had it almost every day this week. This one is not really my fault. While I was in Indianapolis, we had it at a lunch and it changed my life. 

• Salads--big ones. Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, cheese, turkey, radishes, carrots, cabbage....mmmmm! Super healthy and a super effective method of getting the buttermilk ranch into my belly:)

• Lemonade--I have been drinking what feels like gallons of water over the past few months, but recently, all I want is lemonade. Chick-fil-a has awesome lemonade and I really like Simply Lemonade too. But to be more cost effective, I got some of the powdered stuff I can mix up myself. So yummy, and I like the tartness. 

• Bagels--I know you were thinking that there must be some intensely bad food on this list of cravings, but bagels are about as bad as it gets. I like it toasted with butter. Or toasted with peanut butter. Or toasted with honey nut cream cheese. This morning I had one half with peanut butter and one half with honey nut cream cheese. Deeee-lightful!

That is really it for now. Maybe I will post these from time to time to see how it changes from now till October. Thankfully, this baby likes fruits and veggies and mostly healthy foods. It sure beats needing giant burritos or pizzas. 

Bruschetta

Today we are home together celebrating Memorial Day. I love a lazy day. We stayed in bed late, warmed some cinnamon rolls, and snoozed on the couch. I love days like this. Spending time with my husband is always one of my favorite things to do. Today we planned on making bruschetta for lunch. This is one of the only meatless meals my husband will let me fix. And we LOVE it.

What you need:

French bread--the skinny loaf, sliced about 3/4 of an inch thick
olive oil
salt
fresh basil (about 1 tablespoon, chopped)
tomatoes (I used some cluster tomatoes from the grocery store today, and they were delicious, but any kind you like will do. For the 2 of us, I chopped 3 tomatoes.)
fresh garlic, 1 clove, peeled and chopped in half

What you do:

Seed and dice the tomatoes. Chop the basil. Put them in a bowl, give them a sprinkle of salt and a splash of olive oil. Then put in the fridge until its time to eat.

Ready to refrigerate. 

While the tomato mix is in the fridge, slice the French bread.

Then put some olive oil in a little dish. I used a silicone brush to add it to the bread.

Heat up a skillet until it is hot. Then brush bread with the olive oil and add to the pan. Be sure to brush both sides. I like them pretty golden brown. Flip them often or they will burn.

Once the bread is toasted, rub the garlic across the top of the bread. It adds just a hint of garlic to this already delicious bread.

The bread was hot, so hubby used a fork to rub the garlic onto the bread. 

Finally, assemble the bruschetta and dig in! Have lots of napkins handy, because it is so messy. Worth it, but so messy!

YUM!

Birthday surprise

No, not for my birthday, but for my best friend. This weekend hubby and I sneaked to Indianapolis to surprise my best friend and also attend the graduation of the first students I ever taught.

Friday night I met my husband at his work and we left from there. Our plan was to drive the 8 hours straight through and arrive at around 2 or 230 in the morning. Well, the highway in Tennessee had other plans for us. At about 8 in the evening, traffic suddenly stopped and the road became a parking lot. After looking online, we realized that there had been a semi in an accident and the road was going to be closed until 11. Well, 11 came and went, and we were still stuck. Finally, at a little after midnight we started moving. Hubby decided to drive for a while and then we decided to stop and find a place to sleep for the night. Apparently that was everyone else's plan as well. We went to 5 hotels before we got a room.

Our room was as lovely as any roach motel could be, but we were only going to be there for about 4 hours to sleep and shower and get on the road again. The next morning we went to get some breakfast and some gas and we set off again.

We arrived at 12 noon. My plan was just to show up at my best friend's house and surprise her, but she was out running errands so we had to track her down. When we realized she was at the church, we headed there and all the doors were locked. I tried calling her but she didn't answer. Then she happened to walk by the door we were at. It was an awesome moment! She was completely surprised!!! I gave her the present we had driven so far to give her and then we hung out until graduation started.

The graduation was perfect. The speaker was excellent. My best friend and another teacher sang one of my favorite songs from Wicked and I cried through the entire thing. I'm blaming it on the pregnancy hormones and my short night of sleep.

After graduation, we went to my best friend's house for a while and then had some sweet fellowship at one of the graduate's open house. Afterwards we sat around talking and catching up. Then after a late night dinner at Fazoli's, we went straight to sleep.

Then this morning was church at my home church. I LOVE getting to come back to my church. I love love love these people. It is always so refreshing to come back home and see these people who always welcome us back. AND another of my closest friends came to our church this morning to see us.

After church, we had a birthday lunch for my best friend. Delicious food and awesome company. It was just like old times.

Then sadly it was time to hit the road again. After a whopping 26 hours in my favorite city with so many of my favorite people. It did my soul good to be home even for just a short time.

Now just 2 and 1/2 days of school and we are out for the summer. Then the real relaxing can begin:)

What not to say to a pregnant woman

As you know, I am expecting our first baby in October. Along with the excitement that comes with expecting a baby, there is a lot of anxiety. All of the thoughts...what if something goes wrong...is this symptom normal....should I be feeling the baby yet...all sorts of other questions. And with all of my own worries, there are the questions and comments from others that bother me too. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to hear other women's stories and advice and well wishes. Especially the well wishes. But there are certain things that a pregnant woman doesn't need to hear.

• Can I touch your belly? My response to this one is going to be, "only if I can touch yours first." I don't mind if my husband touches my baby bump, but I feel like anyone else doing it is inappropriate. At least now. I am only 4 months along and am a total freak show under my shirt, and touching it makes me even more uncomfortable. I don't think I will mind people touching my belly when it has its own zip code, but for now, hands off please. 
• I just named my new puppy _________ (insert FAVORITE name for new baby) Really, people? Do you have to name your dogs people names? And must they be the one name I am completely in love with for our baby? This has happened twice now! This is one of the reasons we won't be sharing our names until the baby arrives. 
• I know someone who had ___________ complication. I don't know why people only share the worst possible things that can happen in pregnancy, but that seems to be the only things they share with me. The last thing I want to hear is all the ways something can go wrong. I need positive comments. 
• Oh, ______________ happened? It's probably the worst case scenario. The baby was on the right? There's something wrong. You've been sick? There's something wrong. You haven't been sick? There's something wrong. I have learned that no pregnancy will go exactly as the book says it will. And I know that if I get anxious and stressed that it can't be good for the baby. So I try to stay positive. I try not to jump to the worst case scenario. 
• WOW! You're huge! No woman likes to hear this any time, but especially when your body is being taken over by another human being. My regular clothes won't button. Maternity clothes don't fit well. I don't feel like a cute pregnant woman, but rather a blob of blubber. 
• You should name the baby ______________.  I really don't mind hearing suggestions from people on great baby names, but when people won't back down on a name they love, I get a little frustrated. It's like they feel as though it's their baby, and if I don't choose their name, they get offended. We have some rules about names. No J's. Nothing like Banjo or Wingspan or Zoolander. And really, it's our choice. 
• How much weight have you gained? This is a completely inappropriate question to ask any woman at any time, but when I am a hormonal disaster, it is the worst question ever. 

Got any positive stories? Got any compliments? No? Then lie to me! Please:) 

God's Great Goodness

I don't even really know where to begin with this. I am not usually an overly personal sharer. I am by nature a very private person. So much so that people generally don't know what's going on with me until it is over. This is one of those times.

My husband and I have been married for two and a half years. We knew that when we got married that we wanted to have kids. We decided to wait a year and then start trying. Well that came and went, and nothing. Months and months and months passed, and if you have ever been through that, you know just how difficult that can be. Getting your hopes up every month and then nothing. I really struggled with this. Really, really struggled. I questioned why God would give me such a desire, if He wasn't going to fulfill it. My husband, however, has been my rock. His faith in God and God's timing has been what has gotten us through this experience.

After a year of this roller coaster of emotions, we asked for some advice and help from my doctor. My doctor is amazing. He is a Christian man who has prayed with us on a number of occasions. He scheduled all sorts of tests to see if there was anything wrong and then we began the waiting. When we finally saw him a month later, we were so excited. But our excitement quickly turned to disappointment when he told us that we probably could not have a baby on our own. I had a really difficult time accepting this news. I cannot tell you how often I cried and begged God for answers. The doctor referred us to a reproductive clinic and we decided to wait until after the holidays to go. Honestly, I just needed some time. I didn't want to hear the bad news all over again. I didn't feel like I could bear it.

Then in February, out of nowhere, we found out we were expecting! Leave it to God to show that He is more powerful than anything we could put our trust in. We never went to the clinic that we had been referred to. We shared that with our doctor today, and his words were, "I just love when God shows off like that!" We know that this is a special little blessing that God has given us and we are so incredibly thankful and humbled by what He has done.

In December, when I was in the depths of despair, I heard this song and it really put things in perspective for me. God knows what He is doing. His timing is perfect. I need to not only trust Him, but trust in His timing as well.


Blessings
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise


We saw the baby today. Heard a heartbeat and everything and the doctor said everything looks perfect. So, my friends and fellow bloggers, join me in this celebration! We are welcoming a baby to our home in October! 

Our family is growing by 2 feet :)

My Love/Hate Relationship with Spring Break

As I have said so many times, I love being a teacher for the time off. Of course, I love teaching for a variety of other reasons as well. I love helping students grasp something that they never thought they could. I love opening their minds to new concepts and ideas. I love that no two days are ever the same. But, I love, Love, LOVE the time off. Well, now I have realized that I have a very complicated love/hate relationship with this particular time off.

I love that I have a week to enjoy the sunshine. I hate that I only have a week to enjoy the sunshine.

I love that my BFF came to visit for a whole week. I hate that she can only visit for a week.

I love that I haven't done any school work all week. I hate that I procrastinated on my school work and now I have to use the weekend to get caught up.

I love that I have been so lazy all week. I hate that I can't keep doing this.

I love that I got to go to the beach. I hate that my skin is so sizzled.

I love that I got to wake up later every day. I hate that I can't do that every day.

I love this little taste of summer vacation. I hate that it's only a tease, 8 more weeks till summer vacation.

I guess if I had to make a choice, I would rather have the time off than still be in school. I just really dislike the part of my personality that constantly counts down to the end of whatever break/vacation/fun time I am enjoying. I have always been like that and it makes it hard to relax and simply enjoy my time off. So, I will be forcing myself (which I hate) to relax and enjoy (which I love) this last day and the weekend before I go back to school.

Great is the Mystery

Here is a new set of questions that make me go HMMMMMMMM.

1. Why does the chicken at Walmart smell so good, but taste so bad? Seriously, they pump this intoxicating aroma into the parking lot and immediately I want to eat fried chicken, but every time I have had it, it is terrible. Perhaps all of the good stuff is burned off in the cooking process. I'll stick to smelling it from now on. 
2. Why do skinny jeans come in plus-sizes? Honestly, this one should be a no-brainer. Just because they are called "skinny" and because you can squeeze into them does not make you skinny. You look ridiculous. And not skinny. Personally, I don't think skinny jeans look good on anyone. 
3. Why are people fooled into believing that leggings are pants? I am sure you have seen that girl who is wearing leggings with just a shirt, and not a very long one at that. Leggings are there to keep you warm, and are meant to accessorize your outfit. They are not pants.
4. Why don't people have a personal space bubble? Perhaps it is just me, but I have a personal bubble that is about arm's length in any direction from my body. If you get inside that and you aren't my husband, then our conversation is over. I really like my personal space. I don't want to smell your breath or feel any more awkward than necessary. This also applies to seats at a movie theater. It is not unreasonable for my purse to get it's own seat. It keeps you a seat further from me. 
5. Why is it ok to post things on Facebook that you would never say in real life? Maybe it is a picture with a quote that has a bad word in it. Maybe a set of completely inappropriate song lyrics. This is probably the dumbest. Would you just go around saying song lyrics? I understand when a song gets stuck in your head, but when your status says "Jill is...first I was afraid, I was petrified". It doesn't make sense. Also, stop trying to post things that you think only your group of close friends is smart enough to figure out. We aren't dumb, we get it too. 

There. These are the randoms that are roaming through my head these days. Hope you enjoy!