Thanksgiving Fun

I left Wednesday, hit some traffic but got to my parents in 4 hours 15 minutes.

We ran to the mall to say hi to my sister at Forever 21, then hung out at the house while daddy made cornbread and chili.

Thursday, my parents made dinner. My grandma came over at 1. My aunt and her boyfriend at 4 and we ate at 430. We had turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, broccoli salad, sweet potatoes, and I think that's it. It was DELICIOUS!

After dinner, Abigail and I went to see Breaking Dawn and it really was the best one! Surprise ending and all!

Friday, we went to a nearby park. Abigail and I walked around and our parents ran. Then we went to the mall for a few hours before Abigail had to work. Daddy and I played on the Wii before going back to the mall to get Abigail.

Saturday, we went to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens. It was super cold so only a handful of actual rides were open. But I really just wanted to walk around and look at the pretty lights anyway. We saw 2 of their musical shows, drank hot chocolate, had toasted, sweetened pecans and almonds and had dinner. We rode the train around the park to see different lights. We walked through most of the areas and one of them had a snow machine. Haha. You know you're in the south when you run into a snow machine. We went on the sky ride and saw more lights. It was a lot of fun. We froze. We sang Christmas songs. Then we froze some more.

 Santa's workshop. Santa was inside taking pictures with babies and such

This tree changed colors and lit up different areas every half hour to music.

One of the musical shows

This is the Pompeii Ride. They drained the water for winter, and covered it with lights. Those purple trees are 6 feet tall so you can get an idea of how many lights this really is. 

Not looking forward to...

comments... and Facebook when I get pregnant.

People annoy the crap out of me when they give unsolicited advice. And if a pregnant girl says something as simple as "I'm tired." Then here comes the "just wait" x 100 or "join the club."

Image from this Etsy shop

I will have a shirt just like that. It will also say, "I do not want your advice unless I ask for it."

And so, I'm thinking I may not announce to Facebook when I become pregnant. There might just suddenly be pictures of a newborn. Hahaha. Of course, I would announce to my blog as soon as both of our parents are made aware. :) 

Anyway, thoughts on Facebook and pregnancy? Thoughts on unsolicited advice?

Baby stuff on pinterest

Yeah, I've been pinning a lot of baby stuff haha. It's because it will be safe to start trying in 6 weeks if we want to and there's just so many awesome things out there (from photo ops, to nurseries, to practical advice). We might just stop trying to prevent a pregnancy at that point and whatever happens, happens. I don't know.

I feel like we are still teenagers and that it's crazy to even be thinking about this stuff. It's hard seeing myself as a mom or Steve as a dad, but at the same time... I can totally see it. It will be fun to watch Steve turn into a dad, too, I think.

I feel like we're ready because Steve obviously has a stable job with the Air Force with some of the best insurance. I could quit my job and we'd still be able to pay all our bills and put money into savings. At this point, I really would have to quit because day care costs what I make each week. Stupid retail. Why spend time away from my baby if it evens out? Maybe to socialize at work? I don't know. But I'm already considering quitting anyway because we call the police so much at my store (for perverts, pedophiles and of course theft). But I also really want to focus on my dreams of getting a degree in business, really learning photography and photoshop and of course, getting a nice camera.

So I feel like we're not ready because I want to get started on classes. There are big purchases we still want to make, and I feel like a baby would take those things away.

However, my parents are 4 hours away. My grandparents and aunt 12. One of my cousins, 2 hours. When the day comes, I call my dad to tell him I'm heading to the hospital and he can be here in a snap! I don't want him (or anyone, but Steve) in the room during delivery, but I want him to be the first person let in and able to hold him/her. Having a baby now before Steve gets orders somewhere else, will give me the best support during my pregnancy, and first few years.

And you know that whole ticking thing with the biological clock!

Puppy for Christmas!

Steve is letting me get a puppy for Christmas! Hooray! I'm going to start looking next month though, because I know it takes a while to find the perfect one! But there's a puppy somewhere that is about to be born who already has a forever home. I can't wait to meet her!

Jasmine doesn't know it yet, but she will have a play buddy soon and will hopefully get worn out during the day and leave me alone at 3 am, 4 am and 5 am.

She is frustrating me though. I have to keep our spare bedroom door shut because she's pooped in there twice and peed once. Now that she doesn't have access, I discovered last night she's been peeing on the spare bathroom rug. No pooping outside her box though! Although, I think I'd rather have that because it doesn't soak into the carpet the way pee does. I don't know what to do about it! I keep her litter box clean so I don't know what her problem is!

North Carolina

In case you haven't heard, we are moving to North Carolina. We will be 3 hours from the beach, but more importantly 4.5 hours from my parents. It makes me so super excited! I can go home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, my sister's recitals... and just whenever really. My sister can come visit me too during school breaks. I wanted Virginia, but this was on our dream list as well because it was close to my parents!

I'm not looking forward to the humidity... or getting to know a new city... making new friends... etc. I have some amazing friends that I have met through work and since Steve has been gone, I've been hanging out with them a lot. And it makes me sad. Sad that we didn't start hanging out sooner, and sad because I'm leaving them. But I have a reason to come back now.

I think Utah will remain on our dream list, because I really do like it here and wouldn't mind coming back.

As far as work goes, my last official day is this coming Saturday. I was told to go to NC, look at the store there and decide if I want to continue with the company. If I do, my current boss will call them and give me a "glowing recommendation." His words, not mine haha. Although, if they don't have any positions then I'm out of luck. If they don't, maybe they'll rehire me when they start hiring seasonally. Until we leave though, I'll sort of be on call. If someone calls out, I told them they could call me.

So when do we leave? I'm not sure. If he gets to stay and help his recruiter... we'll leave around the 26th of July. If he doesn't, then the latest we can leave is the 18th.

He still does not have his orders. This means we can't schedule the movers. Steve will be home in less than 3 weeks, and we'll be out of here in 4 or 5. I hate doing things last minute.

It sucks. I'm frustrated. I just want it to be over with, have a nice apartment and be settled in. And then go visit my parents for my birthday. :)

Weekend Adventures

So I've noticed for the most part you all really just look at my blog on Mondays. Probably because it's the only day I make sure to post haha. And then I randomly bombard with you a few posts. I should probably work on some sort of schedule... but eh.

Ha!

Steve's parents came down to visit me one last time before we more than likely move farther away, and to buy us a couch for his graduation.

We tried 3 places I've never eaten before... Si Chuan, a Chinese restaurant - it was good food, but bad service. La Puente, a Mexican restaurant - it was delicious! And then Romano's Macaroni Grill - Olive Garden is better haha. Although the bread was super delicious.

We also went to the zoo and saw lots of monkeys. Seriously. They were cool though. :) I wish the Polar Bear exhibit had been open. I'm hoping it will be by the time Steve gets back. I want to go before we move! And he likes zoos!

Other than that, just hanging out and watching TV.

Be bombarded with pictures now. K? These are all on Instagram, too. Follow me. jessicansteve

Steve's Graduation Present

This is his BMT graduation present from his parents. Our first new, real couch - still wrapped in plastic and everything when we brought it home. (We've had couches before, but they were used from friends and family.) My parents bought us a futon about a year ago, but it has now lost it's cushioning. Yeah, after a year. It sucks. Jasmine is currently sleeping under the futon... which she never did when it was against the other wall.

Steve and I took the lining stuff off the bottom of the futon to see if we could figure out how to restuff it, but couldn't see a way. So if you have any tips on that... please tell me! It's still great and pretty, it's just not cushy anymore. But I love our new couch and can't wait for him to see it!

Spring Break

What is that again? Oh, right. Time off from all responsibility. That would be nice right about now.

Abigail came to visit for her spring break. She arrived on Saturday the 31st and the lovely Denae accompanied me to the airport to pick her up. She got to meet Jasmine and loved her. But who doesn't? Besides non-cat people that is. :) Abigail arrived a few minutes early but was stuck on the plane for 25 minutes while they arrested someone and took his kids. The three of us then went to Burger Bar (a local walk-up restaurant type place) so that Abigail could get her beloved shake.

During Abigail's stay, we saw the Hunger Games (which she loved without reading the books), colored Easter eggs, watched movies and spongebob haha! and went swimming. We went window shopping with Charlotte at the new City Creek mall down in Salt Lake City. Charlotte bought a few things from a normal priced store (which there are very few of) because the mall is very high end. We found a men's argyle sweater that looked nice until we saw it was 200 bucks! Ouch. Walk the other way. We oogled the diamonds at Tiffany's and sat by the fountains for a little bit.

Once we got back, Charlotte had stuff to do and Abigail and I decided to go on the hunt for a graduation dress for me. Abigail wasn't in the best mood at City Creek because there were too many people. It wasn't as much fun, but she perked back up when we went out to the normal mall and some other stores. When we found the dress I wanted, we talked our dad into buying it for me. :) He's so generous. He also changed her plane ticket that day. She was supposed to leave that night at 1AM but let her stay another day and a half! I really love him! I needed my sister.

Anyway, as we were shopping, her phone started restarting and did it continually for about an hour. Finally, I decided to give her my old phone. We had our parents passcode and everything but couldn't get my phone to program to their account. We went to a verizon kiosk in the mall. They were no help. So then we decided to actually go to the verizon store and we finally got it set up. Yay for people who know what they're doing!

On her last day, we walked to an ice cream shop called Subzero. It's really cool. You pick your base (ice cream, yogurt, soy, custard or some rice mix) then you pick as many flavors as you want from about 30 choices (I did brownies and cheesecake) and then they mix it, and instantly freeze it with a nitrogen machine! Then you pick your mix ins and done! It was delicious and I highly recommend it if you have one near you!

It was nice to spend so much time with my sister and to have company the first week my husband was gone.

Brian is home!

He got out of the hospital on Monday. Hooray! He is still on oxygen, and not allowed to work for at least a week. I'm just so happy he's on the mend. I hope he stays healthy and lives to a ripe old age! The last 7 days have been stressful with him going into the hospital and Steve leaving. No more bad things please!

Baby talk

I've been on the birth control shot Depo Provera for about 2 years now. I have loved loved loved being on it! I haven't had a "time of the month" since I started it 2 years ago! It's been amazing! But I got my last shot in February. We're going to start trying to get pregnant in the Fall when we're settled wherever we go. This plan may change if we get sent overseas. I'm uncomfortable with the idea of having my child in another country, even if it is on a base.

While Steve is gone, I will be letting my body get back to its normal, natural state. I'm also on Methotrexate to manage my Psoriasis. I plan on stopping that in June. It's recommended you're off of it for 3 months before trying to get pregnant as it is known to cause birth defects. Which means I get to look like a freak until and throughout my pregnancy! Woo! <-- sarcasm.

I'm hoping I do get pregnant right away, but things never go my way so who knows. I really just wanted to document this and let our future child know when he/she started being planned. Of course, we've been thinking about this for about 6 months, but only seriously since December when we got a date for Steve to go to basic.

For the record, our child will be an only child. I'm already thinking about what to do after to prevent another pregnancy. There are a lot of options.

If it takes longer than 5 years, we're not having a child.

We already have a boy name picked, but I'm REALLY hoping for a girl.

Prayers, please?

My step-dad Brian is really sick. He went into the hospital yesterday after some breathing problems and a heart attack.

He has Influenza A and Pneumonia.  They're testing for swine flu. He had some kidney problems yesterday, but they seem to be better today.

His heart and breathing stopped for a minute last night, and he's now on a respirator in the ICU.

Please pray for him to recover quickly and to make the life changes he needs to make. Thank you.

I love you Brian.

Honored

Once again this is Steve. Around mid to late May I will be graduating BMT. I am honored yet again to be a part of something greater than myself. The first time I found something greater was when I was baptized. Now I'll be serving the world's greatest nation (proven fact!) and I have a graduation. I'm bummed my parents can't make it. But I am so happy others who are close to me can.

Jessica
Ken (Jessica's dad)
Sonja (Jessica's mom)
Abigail (Jessica's sister)
Vicky (Jessica's aunt)
Paul (Jessica's uncle)
Karen (Jessica's aunt)
Steve (Jessica's uncle)

That's 8 people I'm so happy to make time for me. I really appreciate it. There's still 4 spots left open and I hope to fill it up.

Is it weird that it's all her family coming? Probably. But they are the ones who can make it. I'm honored they're willing to go to Texas for something that is so very important to me. If it weren't for them, no one would be coming except Jessica.

Anyways I'm proud to be graduating into the military. My parents are proud of me, it's what any son wants. But to make it better I have in-laws whom I also dearly look up to that I want to make proud. Whom I never want to let down either. After all, I am married to their flesh and blood. I want to show my father-in-law and mother-in-law that I'm not a quitter. I've told them for a few years now that I was joining, and it's taken just longer than we've been married (3+ years) to get in. I just want to prove to them (being retired Air Force) and myself that I can do this, and now it's finally happening. Everything I am doing is for Jessica, me, us, and our future potential son or daughter. But it's good to have the support of family.

Nook Tablet

My daddy bought me a Nook tablet for Christmas! I'm so excited!!!

I got a double discount the 16th - 18th. He was debating between getting my mom (Sonja) a Nook or an iPad. The only real differences are size, and which market they are on. Nook is on the android, and iPad is obviously apple.

But I got such a good deal that I convinced him the Nook tablet was for her. She travels a lot for work. It runs on wi-fi and so when she's stuck in a hotel, she's not confined to what's on her tv. She can get on Netflix and watch a movie! She's a reader. So she can pick it up and read whenever she has time. And there are all kinds of tools she can use for work, too!

Nooks are on a specialized android market, but you can root them to have full access to the market without voiding your warranty. It's even in the user manual, haha.

Anyway, in the process of getting her Nook, I asked if he'd buy me one too. He asked why I don't have one, and I told him because they are too expensive normally and I'm poor. So he said yes! REALLY???? Yes!!!

So happy and excited. My daddy's generosity and love... priceless. He surprises me all the time. I thought for sure he'd say no. I'm a lucky girl.

I'll be beaming for a week!

(Written on the 18th, but Sonja hasn't opened hers yet so it is postponed 'til Christmas.)