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Hair, abbreviated

About a month ago, at the end of spring break, I chopped off my hair. I had been growing out my hair for over two years, and it was time. I donated the proceeds to Pantene Beautiful Lengths because their hair donations get used to make wigs for the American Cancer Society.

This is my long "before" hair (and what you'll also see in spring break photos I'm still hoping to share):

Making the cut:

My donated locks:

And the after!

I'm enjoying short hair; it's easy to take care of and doesn't get in my way. I'm still not sure if I'll grow out my hair again or just keep it short.

For good measure, here's a 29 weeks picture of my belly:

Ultrasound pics

I have put this off far too long because I have wanted to write a longer post. A few thoughts instead:

- I can feel the baby kick! It's crazy weird.
- I'm feeling mostly healthy, but when I don't, I have a new sense of anxiety about not feeling well.
- Everything is exciting and scary, all at once.

Approximately two weeks ago, we had the 19 week ultrasound. We did not find out the gender. Everything looks good, so as long as there are no issues that crop up, I shouldn't need another ultrasound. It's hard to believe I am halfway there, because I am just now starting to feel pregnant more often than not.

For the record, this week, I finally started wearing maternity pants on a regular basis. I have given up on my normal work pants. They can button, but they are not comfortable. Thus, this week, I am feeling especially grateful for the stylish friend that loaned me an entire tub of maternity clothes. The shot of me shows her clothes.

Below is a profile shot of the baby. I think you can also see the heart. Side note: during the ultrasound, we could clearly see all four chambers of the heart beating. Amazing!

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The face picture I have affectionately dubbed "Skeletor Baby":

Finally, my favorite picture of our little offspring:

For good measure, a gratuitous shot of me. It was so warm today (around 40F) that I didn't need a jacket, and I felt okay eating a popsicle while walking outside. There is over a foot of snow on the ground, but some melted today. I am excited for spring and warmer temperatures but will miss the snow. With the pregnancy and working to finish my master's thesis, I have not gotten outside enough this winter. I am hoping to squeeze in one cross-country ski outing or a little snowshoe trip before everything melts.

Rama-lama-ding-dong

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but part of my blogging reticence has been my awful computer. While I loved my first macbook, I've had a love-hate relationship with this current one. My macbook worked fine at first, but I had issues doing things that took a lot of work, like making videos. It's been a long time since I made a video on my computer (looks like it's been 3 years since I posted anything other than iphone videos on my youtube account). Then, I had issues if too many programs were open. In the past 6 months (or 8 . . . or more), I have had issues typing in MS word and doing work on the internet.

I've taken my computer in to the mac store multiple times, and each time I get the non-helpful "well, maybe you have too many tabs open. You know, you can't have so many programs open." I was frustrated because I wasn't doing anything I couldn't have done on my old macbook. In fact, I could still do those things on my old macbook except that it now resides with my mother.

Finally, I took matters into my own hands. Over Christmas, I ordered new RAM (computer memory) from Crucial. I have been busy, so I finally installed the memory this weekend. Instead of 4 dinky gigs, which was fine in my past macbook, I now have a screaming 16 gigs of joyfulness. I can surf the web! I can see myself typing! I don't lose whole sentences! I am ebullient.

Don't ask me why the same amount of memory didn't suffice in my new computer with a better processor. I don't have an answer. And definitely don't ask me why I waited so long when I suspected from the get-go that this was an issue. I don't know why either.

All I know is that I have a functioning computer now, and life is good. I'm even listening to itunes while I type! One of these days, I'll try to put together another video for everyone.

This does have me wondering: would more memory be good in me? Sometimes, I procrastinate, or I stall out on simple tasks. What if I could upgrade myself? Ah, if only. For now, I will have to resort to the old tried and true: got to go. I've got papers to grade.

Checking in

I was going to call this the baby report, and then the scientist in me kicked in. And then I thought "fetus report" or "the parasite status" are a little weirder as title. Side note: yes, I do affectionately refer to my parasite.

We had the 16 week appointment last week, and everything looks great. I'm not really showing yet, but I am a little thicker. The heartbeat was nice and strong. My doctor is really pleased with the progress. I know something can happen any time, but I'm starting to breathe a little easier about everything.

Home preparations have slowly begun. We're starting to clean out the room we will use for the baby. A friend is kindly gifting us her crib and changing table (she's all done), so we'll pick that up this weekend. We still have to paint, but that is going to wait for nicer weather. It's no good painting when it's too cold to open up the house and air everything out.

In short, all is going well. We have our ultrasound in two weeks, and I am excited to see this little parasite moving around. We aren't planning to find out the gender (no pink-a-palooza or bluesplosion), so that will be a fun surprise waiting for us at the end.

A little cleaning

One of the first things I did when we got back was go a little crazy on parts of our apartment. Now that we've settled in, we have a better idea of flow and organization. I noticed areas where I kept walking past items we never use to inconveniently get items we use all the time. There were other inefficiencies and just plain poor organization.

Matt and I tackled the pantry first. No before pictures (it was that shameful -- just imagine stuff all over the floor and lots of tripping to reach oft-used items in the back). Here's our new organization:

All the beer stuff used to be on the bottom left, but we don't use the beer items that often. Matt's brewing barrels used to be in our master closet (blegh) taking up lots of real estate. Tools are now at eye level (third shelf up). And I have a floor!

Perhaps the best change was moving all the cat stuff. We have a small bin we keep food in for daily scooping, but this is where we keep the big bags and her litter. This ans trash bags used to be scattered and behind stuff in the back of the pantry. No more!

We reorganized part of our bedroom too, but that's still a work in progress. We are inching ever closer to finally being able to show off a tour of our new place. One of these days *fingers crossed.*

Anyone else organizing to ring in the new year?

2013 year-end survey

I'm not sure if I've ever done one of these. If so, it's not been for a number of years. I thought I'd jump on this blogger bandwagon. I'm using a modified set of questions from Definitely RA.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 31 this past fall. My birthday happened to fall on our family weekend. While I thankfully didn't have conferences on my birthday, I was pretty tuckered out. Matt and I got fro-yo instead of doing a cake. Then, we went to see the Sandra Bullock movie Gravity. We probably got dinner at Applebee's because Matt's mom always sends me Applebee's giftcards for my birthday.

What are your strongest memories from this year, and why?
This year was rough for me. A lot of work stress and adjustment to being a teacher coupled with commuting, which I really dislike. The summer was the most memorable. We drove out west, like we did two years ago. There are lots of memorable moments from the trip, but I think the most exciting ones are all the osprey sitings. This truly was the summer of the osprey. Matt and I saw 6 or 7 osprey. One was carrying a fish as it flew over our car (!), and we even got to see an osprey catch a fish in the waters off of Alki in West Seattle.

What did you do this year that you’d never done before?
Lots of things -- went on a 6 night back packing trip, went to a Mariner's baseball game with Matt, and got pregnant. Yes, I totally buried the lede there. More details soon! (PS if you know me on facebook, this is something we're not bringing up there for the time being)

What did you want and get?
I wanted a new job, and I got it! I also got a new washer and dryer (our old one broke).

What did you want and not get?
A new camera? Lenses for my camera? Cleaning my camera? I can't think of anything major that we didn't get. We had moments of stress, but everything seemed to work out. My only bummer from this year is that I don't use my camera much because it should be really deep-cleaned, and I haven't had the time to either do it myself or send it out.

What would you like to have next year that you didn’t have this year?
Curriculum planned out for my classes. This is totally my weak spot. I'm good at making vague plans, and I think I can do better next year.

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Year's resolutions, per se. I did not keep up my goal of running a 5k every month for a variety of reasons, including work stress and laziness (but mostly work stress at the start).

My "resolutions" for this next year just include streamlining my life, making room for a new family member, and planning curriculum for next year.

What was your biggest achievement of this year?
Getting my awesome new job! Oh, and I was proud of carrying my backpack the whole whoever-many-miles (30ish?) we backpacked. That sucker was heavy. I even did stream crossings on my own.

What was your biggest failure?
I had some notable classroom management issues in one of my classes, but I prefer to think of that as water under the bridge. The running this was also a big fail. I never really got back into the gym after March this past year.

What did you rely on when you were overwhelmed?
Matt and sugar. The latter was probably my downfall.

What are your strongest recommendations for entertainment from this year? (books, television, movies, music, etc)
We started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation this year on Netflix, and I really love that show. We're also enjoying the end of How I Met Your Mother.

My favorite book from the year was Code Name Verity, but I also think I need to read more.

I didn't watch enough movies to really recommend one. I think we saw two -- Star Trek: Into Darkness (my husband is a trekkie), and Gravity. Both were good. I'd like to go to more movies or at least watch more at home, since we have a decent collection of ones we haven't seen.

What song will remind you of this year?
I am almost embarrassed to say this on the internet, but country music will remind me of this year. My students at my last school really liked it, so I played a fair amount on Pandora during student work time. Matt and I also listened to a good chunk of country on the radio while we were in Wyoming. There's this interesting song about a guy with skoal rings in his best jeans that is pretty catchy.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year (not necessarily from the song that reminds you of the year).
This is not my strong point. I'm going to have to skip until I think of something.

What was your most enjoyable purchase?
Even though we haven't gone yet, I am ridiculously excited about our spring break plans. We did not have a spring break together last year (my school just didn't have one). This year, we are going to Florida to see Twins Spring Training (Matt's pick) and manatees (my pick).

Oh, and I how can I forget the washer and dryer? That totally wins for most awesome purchase. I love my new machines.

Did you travel? If so, where?
The year started out slow but finished okay. We didn't do as much traveling as we'd like. We visited Iowa a lot to see Matt's family. We drove out to Oregon via Fargo and Montana to see friends & family. We drove back via Wyoming for backpacking and South Dakota. I got to see the Corn Palace!

Once we got back to Minnesota, we moved into our new place then flew immediately back to Portland for a conference for Matt. Other traveling was back to Iowa for Thanksgiving and back to Portland for Christmas. So, it was a family-centric year. I hope we can add some other destinations (hopefully foreign one of these days!) for the upcoming years.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Running and/or working out would be great. I also wish I'd done more planning last summer.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Procrastinating.

Compared to this time last year, how are you different?
Well, there's the obvious -- I'm pregnant. I am 15 weeks along right now and trying not to worry. I'm at the stage where I feel better but don't look/feel obviously pregnant. I never felt too poorly -- mostly just nausea and being really tired. Everything has looked good so far, so I'm hopeful. I am due in late late June, so I've still got plenty of time to get ready.

I also feel more centered this year. I am not perfect. I struggle with grading (my least favorite teaching task) and planning in advance. But I really love my job, and I like not having to commute at all. I'm confident in my marriage. And I'm really excited to start a family.

Compared to this time last year, how are you the same?
I was pretty confident in my marriage last year, so that is still good. Honestly, for all the little changes that happened this year (new apartment, new job, new life), I don't feel all that much different.

What’s a life lesson you learned this year?
I am now significantly better at peeing in the woods. Not perfect; just better.

Black Friday

I have mixed feelings about Black Friday. As a teen, I avoided the shopping on principle. Then again, I was also much better at shopping locally, seeking out unique items, and shopping throughout the year. I don't know if it was more time or more opportunity to shop from living in a big city. I was really anti-conglomerate as a teen.

Years later, I have moved all around the country. And, like it or not, the continuity of chain stores has made it easier to shop there than locally. In my own small town, the stores have fairly limited hours, and I just don't make it in much other than during the summer.

Side note: I try to avoid Walmart on principle, even though it's the only big-box in my town. I usually try to combine trips to Target with other trips out of town to save gas.

These days, I do a little casual Black Friday shopping. We spend each Thanksgiving in Iowa with Matt's family, so I see Black Friday as a chance for some bonding with my mother in law. We wait until "late" to head out; we usually leave between 9.30 and 10 am. By then, most of the stores aren't too crowded. Kohls is more busy than usual, but Target was just fine today.

My other benefit from doing Black Friday down here is that I can pick up Christmas and birthday presents for my nieces and nephew, wrap them up, and leave them here so there is no shipping here for Christmas. Plus, I get to see what the kids are into before I go spend money on them. This year, purchases were Home Alone (the movie) and a puzzle for the 7 year old, tumbling classes for the 5 year old (so excited for this!), and a Little People set for the 1 year old.

I always am sure to thank the employees for working. I appreciate them being there for the day. I do refuse to shop on Thanksgiving, and I don't like the 3 am shopping either. I would like for people to spend at least some of the holidays with their family. But I am glad to have this opportunity to get a little shopping done and know I picked up items the kids will like.

Some day, I hope to know my area well enough (and the kids) to get back into more meaningful local shopping. But in the mean time, this tradition is working well.

Best-worst gift

I'm loving the post at Planting Our Pennies today about the Best-Worst Present ever. In the post, both Mr. and Mrs. PoP describe the best present they've ever received that seemed awful at the time.

My story isn't quite as extreme as theirs, but I do remember one present that disappointed me but has since become something I adore. As a college graduation present, one of our family friends gave me an electric tea kettle with some loose leaf tea. I wasn't super sure about the gift; I drank tea, but I didn't do so often.

I was headed off to college, and I proudly brought my little pot (enclosed coils, so it was allowed in the dorm) to show I was a grown-up. Then, I promptly became jealous because everyone else had open hot pots, so they could cook noodle, make soup, etc. I was limited to heating up water, which was definitely not as flexible.

Since I liked my friend, I hung on to that electric tea kettle. It moved with me a variety of places, including across the country to Michigan. And then it came with me to Minnesota, where I met Matt. One of our regular traditions in the winter has been enjoying a cup of tea or cocoa as we wind down for the evening. We have frequently used this electric tea kettle over the last several years. Every time, I have fond memories of my family friend. I'm so glad I own the tea kettle, and I look forward to more years of warm beverages.

What about you? What's the best-worst present you've ever received?

Throwback Thursday

Wherein I check out an old photograph . . .

This is a picture from spring of 2002. The lovely lady is a friend who was studying abroad at my college that term. We met formally after a few weeks of smiling in the communal bathroom. She asked for help with an English assignment: "what are you doing for spring break?" I tried to explain, then said, "heck, why not come with me? Then you can see for yourself!" It was all over; we became fast friends.

She went with me on spring break, which included a medieval recreation, sailing on a yacht in Lake Washington (cold!), hiking, and spending time with my family and friends. Fall semester, she returned to my university, and we roomed together.

I haven't seen her in years, but we still keep in touch via Facebook. This picture reminds me of all the happy times we spent together.

Chipotle at home

As a kid, my family ate a lot of fajitas. Especially during my teen years, that was a popular go-to meal that everyone enjoyed. We each took a part in preparing the meal, so it was a great way to bond in the evening as well.

I fell off the fajita bandwagon when living alone. Cooking meat for one is no fun, and I couldn't justify paying restaurant prices for fajitas when it was just as easy (and tastier) to make them myself at home.

Since getting together with Matt, we've made fajitas from time to time. My favorite ever was when we had been dating for three months. I sent Matt to the store for beef before a double-date night with friends. He bought a pricy steak. Most delicious fajitas ever.

The title comes in with my recent experiences with Chipotle and at-home cooking adventures. I had never really liked eating at Chipotle; giant burritos stuffed with rice and beans aren't my thing. I'm not a fan of beans, and I also don't like to feel overstuffed after eating. However, this year, I've eaten at Chipotle more than ever before. One of my activities at school was being a volleyball coach. We had a lot of away games, and the girls loved to stop at Chipotle for dinner on the way home. Thankfully, I discovered the soft taco.

The soft taco took some finessing for me. It was still too burrito-like, even when I asked for no beans. I finally had the brain wave to ask for no rice, no beans, and extra veggies, thus making the soft taco into more of a fajita. Delicious!

The volleyball season is done. But we had extra steak the other night, so I ran out for tortillas. And, delightfully, all the veggies I want with no rice or beans to mar the beauty of the fajita. Takes me back to my teen years in Washington state!