Monday, September 23, 2013

Back on the grid!

It is time that we get back on the grid!! Life has been well..... kinda crazy this last year. So here is a recap and a few pictures:

December: Eric graduated chiropractic school, we moved to Charlotte on christmas eve, had a wonderful christmas with the Thomas Empire, drove to Washington DC for my sister Mariah's weeding then back the next day for a reception, and the next day we flew to Hawaii.



January: We spent the last part of December and the month of January in Hawaii. Happy graduation to US!!!! We did some island hopping and spent some time on Oahu and Kawai. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!  It was so fun going back to the places that we lived, and hitting all of our favorite spots where we fell in love. We spent everyday falling more in love with each other and the islands. We soaked up all the sun, sand, salt water, and island spirit that we could. 




February: We finally got back to the mainland and got the best news ever. WE ARE PREGNANT! As most of you know already we had been trying to get pregnant for 3 years trying all kinds of fertility treatments. We stopped everything back in November knowing that life was just to crazy with graduation, moving and vacations to make it to the doctors all the time. So I guess all this time the things we needed most was some sun, salt water, and relaxing. (I have always told Eric that salt water cures everything. We should have taken a trip to Hawaii a long time ago!) We are so beyond excited!


March/April: Eric studied his brains out for the last part of National Boards and the NC State exam. (Which he passed all of them with great scores might I add... so proud of him!) As for me.... I was just pucking my brains out. Morning sickness (or in my case all freaking day sickness) hit me like a ton of bricks. I was sooooooo beyond sick it was all I could do just to sit on the couch and on the bathroom floor. I was doing really well if I could take a shower, and keep down my prenatal vitamin for more than an hour. I lost about 20lbs because I couldn't keep anything down it really sucked. At about 21 weeks I started to feel better and feel human again and got re-excited about the pregnancy. We also celebrated 7 years of marriage this month!! ( We really just sat on the couch and watched a movie and Eric gave me the best present ever.... he scrubbed the bathroom and toilet really really good.)

May: Eric was still waiting for all of his test scores and state license number so we decided because I was feeling better to go to California for a  month and spend time with family. We were able to spend some time with Kara (Eric's sister) before she left for her mission in the Philippines. It was really nice to be there for a month and visit with everyone and not feel rushed. I got to spend my birthday there too which we so fun! The ladies in the family threw me a super cute baby shower. My awesome sister in law Sarah got me these amazing cakes for my birthday and shower!!! I have never had cakes that looked and tasted sooo good! We also spent a week in Las Vegas. I spent a lot of time at the pool and it was amazing. It was bitter sweet coming home we miss our family in CA so much and wish that we could see them more often.



June: Finally after waiting what seemed like forever Eric got his state license and everything that he needed to start work! He started work at the beginning of the month. (Way to go Dr. Strebel I am so proud of you!!) We took another vacation up in the Smoky Mountains with my family it was a ton of fun. When we got back I it took me like a week to unpack all our bags from all our trips!! 

{Fontana}
July/ August: Eric is working hard doing his doctor thing and I am working hard making a baby. The original plan was that I would get a job when we moved to Charlotte, but I was so sick and we went out of town so much time just passed and before we knew it here I am 7 months pregnant!! So knowing that not many people were going to hire me at this point and Eric is such a good husband working so hard I get to be a "lady of leisure" for a while. I have just been able to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy going to pregnancy classes, lots of walking, reading my pregnancy and parenting books, getting some extra rest, organizing the babies room, and doing all the crafts I want. 

{28 weeks}
So that brings us to September: So here were are baby due on the 27th and time is flying by. Last week we spent a week at the beach and it was heavenly!! I guess we kinda started the whole baby journey at the beach so it was only appropriate to end it the same way (although I was rocking a 9 month baby bump on the beach this time). Eric carved a hole in the sand for my belly so I could lay on my stomach for a while and it felt ohh sooo good. Again there is something about the sun, sand, and salt water that cures everything I almost forgot about being pregnant and uncomfortable.  We got home and I have just a little over a week until this baby boy is here... so it is time to get everything in order and actually pack my hospital bag. 



                                                              

That's the update of whats been going on with us. We feel so blessed in so many ways and are excited for each day and all the future has in store for us. 




Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Suffering from PED (Post-Election Depression)


So I know that it has been a week and I should just accept the tragic out come of the presidantail  election, but I think that I still may be suffering from PED Post Election Depression. This election was the first election that Eric and I felt really was going to mean something for us. We are adults going in to the working world in a bad economy we really though that this election could get America back on track if the right man was elected. Billions of dollars and hours of time and resources spent -- and here we are in the same boat as we were in 11 days ago. EPIC FAIL!

Eric showed a great deal of passion and had lots of political enthusiasm I even made an "election exception" to my strict no bumper sticker policy and allowed him to put stickers on the cars.


We were watching the election results as they came in with some friends, when Obama was announced the winner I was done watching the TV. I could not bring my self to stay up and watch his "acceptance speech". I could not watch the confetti fall on people celebrating in their ignorance and Oprah crying on camera. I still have that image burned into my mind from 4 years ago and did not need a repeat memory.

 I am so thankful for my faith and understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is comforting to know that the gospel is a constant, the scriptures will guide us through it all, and the prophet will never lead us astray.   I will continue to pray for the leaders of this country that they will make correct choices for the people in this country.






Friday, October 5, 2012

It's not just a game it's... Cardinals Baseball!!



As most of you know St. Louis is CRAZY about baseball. It is the definition of a "baseball town".  Although we have a NFL team the Rams,  the NHL team the Blues, the Cardinals are by far the most popular. When you move in to town they practically give you a cardinals t-shirt and bumper sticker. If you say you are new in town, people say "Welcome to St Louis... We love the Cardinals!!" It dose not take very long to find out that they are really not kidding. We have been very lucky to attend LOTS of games while we have lived here. We have sat way up in the top levels of the stadium and in the second row. They say there is not a bad seat in the  stadium and it is kinda true. Up high you can see the arch that is cut in the grass and the field seems so big and people so small. Down low you can hear the players talk and the field seems so small and the player so big.  I would have to argue that although the higher seats still provide a good time you really can't beat the experience of the second row! The stadium is very beautiful, red brick pillars, great view of the arch and dowtown, and everything always looks new. 



We have been there in 100* weather, rain and even 2:00 in the morning. 

We have made some really great memories there with great fiends!!!

{With the Anthons in the green seats 2nd row}

{Smile we are on TV!!}


{Fireworks always followed every home run!}


The Cardinals won the World Series last year and it was CRAZY around here. EVERYONE young and old sported their cardinal gear and colors for weeks and even months after. It was an exciting world series we were definitely on the edge of our seats for a few of the games.  

One thing that has been a lot of fun is going to a Sports Bar/Grill ordering appetizers and watching the game. Everyone there gets way into it and will cheer and clap when good plays are made, and with a win you will get hi-fives and hugs from random people. Its been really fun to be a part of it all and we will forever be cardinal fans. 




Monday, October 1, 2012

Operation: Half Marathon!

So I did it on Saturday September 22nd 2012 I ran my first Half Marathon! It was the Roots n Blues n BBQ Half Marathon in Colombia, MO on the MIZZOU campus.


{After the Race with my metal}

The actual race was amazing and I will give you all the juicy details, but that is not where the journey started. It all started 10 weeks before the race when Tawny called me and said some ladies in the ward have been running together and training for a half marathon and she thought that I may be interested it training with them. I was interested,  maybe even a little intimated some of them had been training for months and I had never run anything close to 13.1 miles.  She said they run together on saturdays for  the "long runs" at 6:00am and she would send me a running schedule, so I told her I would think about it. Well a whole week went by and I though about it a lot, but did not run a single mile. Friday night rolled around and it was decision time was I going to get up at 5:30am to go running? They were only running 5 miles that morning so I decided to just give it a try. I thought I was going to DIE! I keep up with them (barely) for the 5 miles and felt dead tired after. That night I sat on the couch with an ice pack on each knee looking at the running schedule with the miles I needed to run each week to be prepared and decided I was going to do it no matter how hard it would be!! So there I was 9 weeks from race day it was time to get moving and that is exactly what I did. I ran 4 days a week M, TU, TH and SAT. During the week it was impossible for me to get up before work to go running, I already get up at 5:30am so all my runs had to be after work, meetings, church, and errands. Some times I didn't get home until 11:00 or 12:00 at night from running.  Every saturday morning we would meet at a park at 6:00am to do our "long runs" we increased a mile every saturday until 12 miles a week before the race. It was nice on the weekends to run with friends and know that we were all working hard for the same thing.  That helped get me through some of the weekdays. Although I HATED getting out of bed on a saturday morning (because most of the time I was up WAY to late on friday night) it was so beautiful to see the sun rise and feel the cool morning air. I ran in all conditions 105* heat, rain, the air conditioned gym on the treadmill, and toward the end, even 50* mornings. I saw lots of people come and go at the gym, trails, sidewalks, sun rises and sun sets.  Eric would often call me Forest Gump and in a way I actually did start to feel like him. Ice packs, stretching, biofreeze, and my miracle worker chiropractor (Eric) were my best friends.  About 4 weeks into my training I got a cold and it was miserable it turned into a horrible cough that I still have! Then about 7 weeks in I pulled a muscle in my hip and that did not feel so good either.  I toughed  it out and ran through it all. Overall I ran over 200 miles in 9 weeks!!

 The day before the race I was so nervous and anxious thinking about all the possible scenarios (good and bad) that may arise in the race. I started to calm down when I met up with the ladies to drive down to Colombia.  It was then I started to get excited. We met everyone (some went down earlier that day) at Olive Garden for a great dinner. There were 13 of us all together (including 2 husbands). When we got there they had out packets (they had picked up for us earlier that day) laid out and ready for us. I almost got emotional holding the racing bib in my hands thinking of all the hard work that I had put in. I was able to hold it together though, so don't worry. After eating, visiting, lots of laughing, and talking about race day, 2 hours had past and we left the restaurant only to continue at the hotel room. We had some GREAT girl time, everyone painted their nails pink and we got our cloths laid out for the next day. It was then time to go to sleep, the room was silent but no one could fall asleep. Our minds "raced" in anticipation for the "race day".
The morning came and we got our things together and headed out for the corse. It was cold and in the forties. We got some pictures and started warming up the best we could. At 7:00am, it was time to start. We muscled our way through the crowd of people to get where we wanted to start.


The first 3 miles were awesome! Although we had to start the race running up a hill that was  brick/cobblestone and all the people running up at the same time some how made it easier to run. We watched as the sun came over the horizon  and although you could still see your breath you could start to feel the warm rays of sun hitting your face. There were some that were long gone but at this distance it seemed that the runners were still somewhat packed together,  you could see lots of people in front and back of you that is an exciting feeling. I started to feel my body working, my muscles flexing with every stride, my heart beating and my lungs taking larger breaths of air. I often started to feel this phenomenon a few miles into a run and it made me so thankful for my body and its ability to have things that work together.

I kept up with some of the ladies for the first 5.5 miles running 2 miles/min faster than my normal pace until my knee started to feel it and I knew I had to back off a little. So I slowed up some, still running a min over normal speed.

At mile 6 I smiled and laughed to myself.  Before training 6.2 miles or a 10K was the furthest I had EVER run and that was back in high school. I was half way and felling great!!

Mile 7 there was a sweet surprise, Eric was there cheering me on! He had a Gatorade drink to give me a boost.  I was in a good running groove and didn't want to stop so he ran with me for a second while I took a drink I gave him a quick kiss and said "see you at the finish line!".

 Miles 8 and 9 were great!  It was mostly trails that were somewhat flat which was nice.

Mile 10 my cold/cough cought up with me and I started coughing like crazy! I am pretty sure that I hacked up part of my lungs and left them there.

Miles 11-12 it started into the neighborhood and the hills. There was a sign that someone put up that said "someday you will not be able to do this, but today is not that day" that made me smile knowing that it was true and I was able to rise to the challenge today.  So I gave my self a little pep talk ya know, "you can do it"! I thought of all the family and friends who supported me all along and pushed for the finish line.

I hit mile 13 and rounded the corner and heard all my friends and Eric cheering, clapping and waving for me! I then sprinted across the finish line!!!! It was emotional knowing that I accomplished the goal that I made for myself and had so much support. My official chip time was 2:47. It was faster than I thought I would do, so I was happy with that.
                                                 

   {This is my "Rocky" pose}                                                     {Sprint to the end}

After I meet up with my friends and Eric, and we ate some BBQ. I though that I would not eat anything after for a while, but my southern blood was still pumping and I could not turn down BBQ. It was an amazing experience!


{Yumm}


   
 {The whole gang from L to R 9 (top) Natile, April, Jessica C., Davina, Rachel, Leia, ME, Charity
 ( bottom) Meghan, Tawny and Karissa}


So you ask if I would do it again? I would answer.... Absolutely! I now have a time that I need to beat.

{My biggest  fan!!}

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Welcome to Las Vegas

   
  This month we meet Eric's family in Las Vegas for Nana's (his grandmother) 75th Birthday. She wanted to see Donnie and Marie Osmond (they have a show at the Flamingo) so the whole family went.  Most of us were not too excited for the pick, but tried not to make it to obvious.  Sitting in our seats before the show started most of us had to pull out our phones and ask google to bring us up to speed on who Donnie and Marie are. The show was actually really good and we all enjoyed it, but we also tried not to make that too obvious either.

    We spent a lot of time in the lazy river and pool just soaking up some sun and it was so wonderful!! I can't remember the last time I just relaxed at the pool.  I got to visit with my college roommate Jana for a while. She lives in Vegas so it was nice to get together and catch up. We went to the outlets and I got some KILLER deals as usual. We also went to the Pawn Stars pawn shop they have the show on TLC. They had some really awesome things in there. Eric's favorite was the Patriots Super Bowl ring. 

  


We had an awesome time and loved spending time with family. Hope we can do it again soon.