septiembre!!

oh september... one of my favorite months!! although chris denies the existence of season changes in southern california (chris: it's warm all year long here! it doesn't even snow! the leaves don't even turn colors! you have no idea what seasons ARE miss born-and-raised-in-san-diego!), i happen to enjoy the subtle changes that happen with the commencement of autumn over here in this part of the country... it's all the autumn i've ever known. ;)

so many happenings this month... and they all seemed to happen in the first week too:

#1: chris returned from his marathon detail out in arizona (yay)! those were the longest six weeks of all time!! it was nice to have him back home again. lucky for him, he got a week's reprieve before going back to work.

#2: 1 year anniversary of our engagement (september 7)! to celebrate, we were going to revisit the proposal spot at the scripps birch aquarium in la jolla.... buuuut i ended up being way more nauseated than i anticipated and so instead we enjoyed eachother's company at home. mmm, pregnancy sickness. so romantic.

#3: my brother, ross returned from his 2 year long mission in zimbabwe, africa. SO exciting!! chris met ross for a grand total of 30 minutes while we were watching the summer olympics together back in 2008. it's kind of funny, because i don't think ross anticipated coming home to another brother by the time he got off his mission. but he did, and amid all the hugs at the airport, there was a friendly handshake between the two boys. (handshake. honestly?)

#4: baby doctor appointment... and chris accompanied me this time. it was really neat to hear the little fetus's heartbeat... although it didn't like the doppler too much so it kept moving away from it. chris' commentary on the subject: "aw, sounds like there's a real baby in there!"

#5: on the last day of september (today!), chris and i took a day trip to julian. good little adventure for my grumpy pregnant butt (i am still dealing with pregnancy sickness... but it's limited itself to just mornings now, thank goodness. still, after a particularly rough a.m., i am not the happiest rabbit in the hutch, that's for sure). we walked around, found some crazy little shops, found some restrooms, drank some cherry phosphate, and ate some pie. i perked up after the pie. :) we had a grand little time. and took pictures of me trying to look prego. see following paragraph:

about halfway through september i started... not fitting into my clothes anymore... oh soooo awkward. because it's not like i look manifestly pregnant at this time at all, it just looks like i have the worst case of super-bloat ever known to man... and the size 4 jeans ain't cuttin' it anymore. so, my dear mother in her abundance of wisdom got me some maternity pants, which are actually pretty comfortable with their expandable waists. but still, like i said... no one would guess i'm pregnant at this point just by looking at me. i can still blend in and look like a bloton (we all know how much a girl loves to look like a bloton. right?).

attempting to look pregnant here. i'm 16 weeks.

no braces!! see how happy i am??

announcement- then august update.

ah, the monthly blog-date. but first. an announcement: we're expecting!! the little one is due on march 17, 2011.

that being said, the august update is as follows:

during the entirety of the month of august, chris was in tucson, arizona for work. also during the entirety of the month of august, i happened to be in the vicious throws of pregnancy sickness (so, SO not fun). i DID have an opportunity to visit mister workaholic about 2 weeks into his stay there, for about 3 days- which was nice.  tucson was actually quite pretty during my visit, and as it is far more air-conditioned than san diego is, the stay was quite pleasant temperature-wise. chris was working the night shift, so he was able to escape the heat of the day for the most part. however, this also meant that he needed to sleep during the morning hours... which just happened to coincide with the time when the worst of my pregnancy sickness would rear it's awful head. needless to say, by the time i left for home, chris was a tired, tired boy, and i am sure that he enjoyed his subsequent quiet mornings for the remainder of his time there.

also noteworthy for august- i finally got my braces off! HOORAY!!! now i look like an adult again! just in time too... according to chris, "braces are fine, and being pregnant is fine, but not together. no wife of mine is going to walk around looking like a pregnant teenager." haha, i love my husband- he is my favorite comedian. :)

regrettably, this month's blog has no pictures. my apologies. i couldn't quite find the energy to wield my camera around this month. perhaps i will have better luck over the next few weeks. ;) stay tuned for next time!!

july:

here's a monthly update of happenings, posted on time! i hope you like my less-gab-to-more-picture ratio.

july 4: independence day at my grandparents. chris and my brothers get along so well, it's kind of concerning to me.

 The boy's rendition of "the haka"

july 12: return to sea world to see sharks. and sharks only.

july 19: san diego zoo!

little pea-hen and her baby chicks. :)

july 25: chris leaves to arizona for 45 days for work. that's 6 1/2 weeks of separation (sad face from me). hey, at least we live in an age of cell phones and email. that makes things much more bearable. :)

june happenings.

greetings to bloglandia. a place rarely visited by this writer, except for once a month, apparently.
want an update anyone? here you go:

so the month of june here was relatively uneventful as far as our lives were concerned. it was nice. one of our goals for this month was to work on going on date nights- since up till now we had both been so busy we were barely finding time for eachother! luckily, summertime in san diego offers a plethora of events that are perfect for dates.

#1: we went to the del mar fair (er, "san diego county fair" if we want to be politically correct here), wherein we walked around looking at pigs, roosters, cows, and pregnant women (a lot of them! everywhere!). but lets get to the real reason for visiting the fair: THE FOOD. of which we sampled an awful array: fried avocado, fried oreos, fried kirspy kreme chicken sandwich, hamburgers, fries... oh, there was another thing, what was it....? oh yes. BBQ'd corn (almost forgot the healthy thing. who goes to the fair for the healthy things?). rest assured that someone also had a draft of alka-seltzer upon arriving back home for the evening, as he had seemed to have acquired some indigestion (i was fine).

ugh. this is exactly how i felt after the fair.

#2: a couple weeks later, chris and i had an opportunity to go downtown for dinner and a visit to seaport villiage for some touristing, after a lovely dinner at McCormick & Schmick's (thanks to phil velsor & co). it was a little damp and chilly down there at sunset, but the mist gave the lights at the village a rather whimsical twinkle. chris is still very awed by san diego, which strikes me as kinda cute. :) i guess i've never fully appreciated the city because it's all i've really known my whole life.

this dude balanced rocks for real at seaport village.

chris pretends he's got one of these on all the time. haha! :)

#3: the infamous sea world. because chris really really wanted to go. turns out that sea world isn't all that i remember it to be 17 years ago... i think the amount of kiosks and rides and such things now outnumber the amount of sea animal exhibits- which is somewhat disappointing. but i guess people like that nowadays, because the place was crowded.  anyhow, we didn't stay for very long. the shark encounter was closed and the stinging let-down was too much for both of us to handle. ;)

these guys are fun to watch.

 

piranhas anyone? they looked hungry...

other mention-worthy things that happened this month: jury duty for chris and high school graduation for my little brother grant (i'm proud of that kid).

all my sibs (except 1) at grant's graduation!

may blog update

the month of may was a grand month. here are some of the highlights:

first week of may:
chris came home from 3 1/2 weeks of training in west virginia... hooray! this was actually the longest time we've been away from eachother since we first got together, so needless to say, we were both pretty stoked when he finally got to come home. i am not a solitary person by nature, so being all alone was somewhat of an unpleasant experience for me... albeit a good one, because for some reason i was able to be more efficient with chris gone (don't know what that's all about). chris maintains that he is better at "being independent" than i am, because he's had "more practice at it". he says he enjoyed three days of his "freedom" before getting lonely.

mid-may:
chris's parents generously hosted a little family wedding celebration for us at their house in arizona. it was nice to be able to meet more of chris's family, and to spend time getting to know them better. it was a fantastic experience, and a fantastic little weekend vacation for us. the drive from alpine, CA to prescott, AZ is around seven hours... chris was a doll for enduring my incessant chattering (i think i nearly drove him crazy).

                                                              dowtown prescott, AZ

last week o' may:
i finished my finals. and completed the semester. thank goodness. now i am free to find something else at my leisure to stress out about. chris says "are you excited because now instead of class and schoolwork you can make me dinner more often?" yes chris. absolutely.

memorial day:
chris and i finally had an unscheduled day off together... what?! so we spent it gallivanting about balboa park like little kids. it was a blast. we also stopped by the spanish landing to take a little stroll  before returning home.

happy birthday chris!!

at a ripe old age of 27 years, he's still lookin good. ;)

christopher actually happens to be away on business in west virginia until may 6th. therefore, in order to celebrate, the family had a teeny little party for him last week before he left.  here are some of the highlights:

 choco cake and presents...

mom: "the blue candles are worth ten". 

drinking milk after cake. jeeez....

here's to many more birthdays to come. i love you honey!

survey says.

chris and i attempt a couples survey. thank goodness the US census isn't open to interpretation.

How long have you been together?
-chris: "i don't know, 3 years or something?"
  noel: "no, we didn't even meet until, like, april of 2008. that would make two years."
  chris: "so ok. 2 years then. feels long enough."

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
-chris: "like, two months"
  noel: "more like, six months"
  chris: "no. more like two weeks. should have been two weeks. i knew you wanted me."
  noel: "oh brother."

Who asked who out?
-chris: "that would definitely be me"

Whose siblings do you see the most?
-noel: "mine. there is no contest here"

Do you have any children together?
-noel: "no way, not yet."

What about pets?
-chris: "uuuummmm, we have a lot of plants"
  noel: "no we don't have pets"

Who is the most sensitive?
-chris: "uh.... i think that would be you... although i'm not sure."

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
-chris: "probably the medeterannio if you look at all the times we've ever gone out".
  noel: "are you sure it's not rubios or submarina?"
  chris: "it's becoming more often i guess."

Where is the furthest you have ever traveled as a couple?
-chris: "um... uh... to my parents. probably. that's gotta be it"
  noel: "yeah, that was a lot of miles of travel in a car together"

Who has the worst temper?
-chris: "i'm pretty sure that's you, because i really don't have a temper"
 noel: "ha. don't stereotype me because i'm italian and irish."

Who does the cooking?
-chris: "that would be you"
 noel: "well of course."

Who is more social?
-noel: "not me. so that would mean that you are by default. you little social butterfly you."
 chris: "oh yeah?..... hmm...."

Who is the most stubborn?
-chris: "eh... i think i might be a little bit more stubborn that you"
 noel: "yeah, i suppose you're right"

Who hogs the bed?
-chris: "uhh, that would be me."
 noel: "yup. i absolutely agree."

Who wakes up earlier?
-chris: "me"
 noel: "what?!"
 chris: "what. i do"
 noel: "i don't think so."
 chris: "oh yeah? what time did you get up this morning hm?"
 noel: "this morning? on my only day off? my only day to sleep in?"
 chris: "ok fine. what about yesterday?"
 noel: "i woke up 15 minutes before you did."
 chris: "you did not."
 noel: "as if you would have known. you were still sleeping"
 chris: "whatever."

Where was your first date?
-chris: "uhhh... when was our first date?"
 noel: "i really don't know. when did we really start dating?"
 chris: "i don't know... did we go to panda machi or something? but i don't know if i would call that a date..."
 noel: "how about we go with 'i don't know' on this one then"


Does she get flowers often?
-chris: "haha. you used to!"
 noel: "i know. back before i started dating you. funny how that changed..."
 chris: "what about those flowers over there?" gesturing to the potted orchids on the table
 noel: "whose idea was that?"
 chris: "well, i said they looked nice... well. you got flowers. so there!"

Who eats more?
-chris: "uh, that would definitely be me. that would be weird if the girl ate more. i guess. i mean, kinda..."
 noel: "yeah, well, i would hope it would be the dude. i think there'd be a problem if i started eating more than you do."

Who sings better?
-chris: "that would be you for sure. i don't think there is any doubt about that... except i have beat you like, a few times at that karioke xbox game. don't you forget it!"
 noel: "psh. that stupid xbox game."

Who does the laundry?
-noel: "i would say that i do it 90% of the time."
 chris: "whaaaaat. no, i did laundry last week."
 noel: "oh ok. so... how much would you say you've done it since we got married?"
 chris: "uh....ok fine. well if you get that then i get dishes."
 noel: "ok, so how often would you say you do dishes?"
 chris: "like... 50% of the time"
 noel: "haaa. ok. so apparently that means you do them 'all the time'?"
chris: "yes."

Who is better with the computer?
-noel: "i'll say you're better with the computer honey. i don't really even think there is any comparison"
 chris: "yeah... i'm handy with computers."

Who drives when you are together?
-chris: "it's like, 50/50."
  noel: "yeah, pretty much. who decides who's drivin though?"
  chris: "eehhh... probably me"

Who picks where you go to dinner?
-chris: "....me"
  noel: "mmhm. see how compliant i am, doing everything you feel like doing?"
  chris: "ha. yeah right."

Who is the first one to admit when they are wrong?
-chris: "probably me."
  noel: "really.....? are you sure about that?"
  chris: "ha, yeah. i'm just never wrong so i never have to admit it"

Who wears the pants in the relationship?
-chris: "i think i wear my pants".
 noel: "ok. so what does that mean chris?"
 chris: "pshhhhhh.... oh i don't know it's just a figure of speech. i don't think anyone knows."
 noel: "ah. ok then."

Who eats more sweets?
-chris: "i think you like your sweets."
 noel: "you know, you'd like to lead me to believe that, but i've been watching you lately mister."
 chris: "ha. what're you talkin about."
 noel: "you like your cookies and your chocolate and your donuts at work"
 chris (distracted): "i definitely like my cookies......."

Who cries more?
-chris: "i would... say that's you."
  noel: "ok. you sure it's not you?"
 chris: "no, it's definiely not me"

What's your best day together?
-noel: "probably sunday."
 chris: "psh. it's our only day together".

Favorite TV show to watch together?
-chris: "either dexter or the office"
noel: "well we dont really watch dexter anymore..."
chris: "well that's because you decided you didn't like dexter anymore"
noel: "well... i do... he just... stresses me out..."

What couple would you imagine growing old like?
chris: "like ummm.... wilford brimley. and his wife"
noel: "what! that is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard you say."
chris: "hahaha! we're going to die of beetus"

"hmmmmm...."

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