Giving Thanks

Since I plan to take the rest of the week off blogging so that I can focus on family time over the holiday, I figured I would put my normal "Wedding Wednesday" on hold and spend a moment giving thanks instead.

And while I could rattle off the "standard" list of things I'm thankful for, which really hasn't changed since last year or the year before (except, of course, that I'm thankful this year for the baby growing in my belly), I'm going to focus instead on a specific thing that I'm thankful for--namely, a specific group of people that I'm thankful for, and especially thankful for the fact that I got to spend some quality time with them last night.

I have known these girls (separately and together) for the better part of my life. KWills, on the far left, lived just down the street from the house my family moved into when I was five. She and her mom brought us cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood, and we've been friends ever since. Eddy, to my left, and I have gone to church together since, well, about as long as I can remember. I met Jen (to my right) in seventh grade through the other two. Seventh grade was also the year I joined these three on a club soccer team, and we spent many fun years playing together and traveling to tournaments together. In fact, for most of our years on the team, these girls and I were the defense of the team--I was the keeper, Jen was my sweeper/center back, and Eddy and KWills were my outside backs. So many good times.

Countless years later, we still get together whenever we have the opportunity, and it's like we've never missed a beat. While I could go on about why I love spending time with these girls, the best way I can think of to sum up why I these girls are so important to me is to say that last night while we were hanging out, we (unintentionally) had discussions on all three of the "taboo" conversation topics: sex, religion, and politics. And I don't mean that as a bragging point that we all share the same views and perspectives on those topics and subsequently have no problem discussing those issues; in fact, quite the opposite is true. But these are all girls who will never judge you for having an opinion different from theirs, and are always open to engage in conversation with people of different opinions to widen their own knowledge, not to push their opinion on others. There's no right or wrong, just open-mindedness and acceptance of who you are. And for that, I am thankful.

"I'm Not Drinking" Decoy #3

I promise to have some non-pregnancy related posts later this week/next week (yay for getting to do baking over the holiday!), but for now, here's another useful strategy for hiding your pregnancy at a bar or social event.

Order a beer (or drink of some sort), but don't really drink it. If/When someone asks, claim to not like it very much and pawn it off on a significant other (or friend).

I'll be honest, this was a challenging guise . We were at JL Beers with a friend, and I knowingly ordered a beer that was a little bit more up Darrell's alley than mine so that it would be easy for me to claim that I didn't like it. But let me tell you--it's really hard to sit there and eat a delicious burger with a full beer in front of you and Not. Drink. Any of it. Regardless of the fact that it was a beer I didn't particularly care for anyway.

The ploy worked well, though, because when the guys were ready to order their second round and my friend realized how much beer I still had left I sheepishly admitted that it was a little "too hoppy" for me so I was having to drink it slowly. And he shrugged it off without an issue (actually, he may have called me an amateur, but given the circumstances I suppose I can handle a little bit of an insult).

I will say, though, to "sell" this decoy a little bit, you might want to take occasional "sips" of the beer. If you aren't comfortable taking tiny sips and ingesting even a small amount of alcohol, you might be able to get away with just raising your drink to your lips and tilting it backwards and having it hit your lips a little bit. And then, if there's the opportunity, have your significant other take a swallow out of it to help make it look like something is actually being consumed. And unless you have really astute friends (in which case, maybe make sure they are a few drinks ahead of you by this point), you should be able to slip this decoy under their nose without much issue.

Our New Guest "Room"

Since we've started telling people that we're expecting, Darrell and I have been fielding questions right and left. Many of them I expected--When are you due? (April 13th is the "official" date.) How have you been feeling? (Pretty good, actually.) Are you going to find out what you are having? (No.) Some I was a little surprised by--Were you trying? (Not that it is any of your business, but yes, we were trying, it was not an accident.) How long had you been trying for? (Again, a little personal, but if you've been paying attention to the posts you'll know we started trying in May and were pregnant by the end of July.) There has been one question, though, that made me laugh a little bit--Have you decided which room you are going to turn into the nursery?

Here's why that question is humorous--our house only has two finished bedrooms. Obviously the person who asked us that question did not know that (and clearly thinks we are well-off enough to be able to afford a house with a multitude of bedrooms), but for someone privy to the facts, it's a comical question. Because there was really no debate about it--we were going to be turning our guest bedroom into the nursery, and subsequently be without a guest bedroom (at least until we finish the basement--if we finish the basement).

Now, while I knew that this had to be the arrangement, the hostess in me did not like eliminating the guest bedroom. I want to be able to invite company to our house, and when they come, I want to be able to offer them a nice place to stay, not expect them to get a hotel room (or make arrangements for them to stay at my parent's house). So, we did some cleaning and rearranging and moved the guest room to the basement.

It isn't exactly five-star or anything, but it's a start. We've even run some extension cords into the area so that our guests will have access to electricity. I'm still hoping to find a few rugs or something for the floor because, well, cement can be cold and uncomfortable to walk on. And you know, maybe some window treatments. After that, all we'll need are guests! Any takers?

Breaking the Baby News to Darrell

One of my favorite moments so far in this pregnancy was telling Darrell that he was going to be a dad. As you read yesterday, Darrell was out of town until after dinner the day I peed on a stick. Rather than break the news over the phone, I decided to wait until he was home, which gave me ample time to plan something a little on the elaborate side (and, well, keep me occupied so I didn't go completely stir-crazy waiting for him to get home).

As you may recall, Darrell has sent me on a scavenger hunt or two for presents in the past. And, nerd that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed the scavenger hunts. Well, since I know that Darrell is as much of a nerd as I am, I decided to send him on a little scavenger hunt of his own. Except I wasn't nice enough to give him just word clues; instead, he had to solve Sudoku puzzles, pair the highlighted number in each row up with a letter in the alphabet, and then unscramble the letters to find the location of the next clue.

It was totally nerdy. But awesome. And to reward him for his efforts, I had a small gift certificate placed with each clue.

Harold's Photo because Darrell has always talked about buying a flash for his camera so that he'll be able to take better indoor shots (definitely important with a newborn), Barnes and Noble so we could buy our first pregnancy book (we went with What to Expect when You're Expecting), and Target because, well, Target is awesome and has everything you would ever need (baby on the way or not). For his final clue, the letters unscrambled to spell the word "pregnant", although it didn't take him solving the puzzle for all eight letters to figure out what the word was. This revelation was naturally followed by lots of jumping and hugging and general excitement (mostly on his end--I was still a little bit in a state of disbelief). And then because Darrell decided he wouldn't possibly be able to settle down and go to bed anytime soon he insisted we head out to Target and Barnes and Noble and redeem our gift cards (thank goodness for stores open until 10:00).

We were pretty disappointed in the gender-neutral clothing selection at Target, so we settled for getting a blanket instead--still just as cute, and still pretty weird to think in a mere five months we'll have a little baby to wrap in the blanket!

Disbelief

(11 August 2012)

Just peed on a stick.

Just got a positive pregnancy test.

Kind of having a hard time believing it.

Which is stupid. Because we were trying. Because for the past few months I've been hoping to miss my period and get pregnant. And this time it happened. And I'm pretty much shocked. Maybe the excitement will set in once I tell Darrell. But he's out of town until 9:00 tonight.....

Pregnant? Me? That's going to take some getting used to.


Just peed on another stick twenty minutes later. 

Still positive.

Gulp.

Ready or not..... 

Wedding Wednesday: On Dieting

Shortly after getting engaged, I had a few different people ask me what "wedding diet" I was going to go on. My initial reaction was to be upset by their question and the implication that I even needed to go on a diet prior to getting married. However, the question was usually followed up by the statement "not that you need to go on a diet or anything, but I just figured you would since everyone else does".

Here's my two cents on that. "Diets" are terrible ideas (sorry if you thought you were going to be getting an analysis of the different, popular wedding diets in this post. You aren't). Most diets produce results that are difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. And long-term, constantly going on and off diets can actually be bad for your body.

Now, that isn't to say I'm against people wanting to look their best at their wedding. I totally understand that these are pictures that you will (hopefully) cherish for the rest of your life and you want to look good in them. But ideally, you'll want to look good after them as well. Personally, I think I would get upset looking at my wedding photos if they were images of a much slimmer me that I had lost shortly after getting married. I feel like the pictures would "taunt" me with an image of what I could look like, and make me feel guilty for how I currently looked.

The solution? (Yes, I do have one. This isn't going to be a total Debbie-Downer kind of post. Although I'm sort of in that mood today which maybe explains my choice of topic.) Find a lifestyle change that will work for you. Lifestyle changes aren't easy--but the results and benefits are much longer lasting than a 30-day juice cleanse diet. Start small if you need to--cut out one fast food meal per week. Go for a 30 minute walk one night per week. Switch your afternoon soda to a glass of water. Pack a handful of carrots with your lunch. Sure, you may not see results as immediately as you would if you jumped on board with an extreme diet plan, but trust me, you will see results. And they will be much easier to maintain because you've built the habits into your daily life--not into some crazy liquid diet that you'll drop immediately after the wedding.

It's one thing to look your best on your wedding day. But to be able to maintain that change and continue to look your best (and even continue to fit into your wedding dress) five, ten, even fifteen years down the road? Now that's an accomplishment to be proud of.

Food for thought.

Chunky Pecan Pie Bars

To me, the biggest indicator of a successful recipe is one that people request the recipe for. Sure, it's always flattering when people look at a picture of a recipe or the ingredients of a recipe and say "wow, that sounds so good, I can't wait to try it". But when I'm actually sharing my food with others and after sampling it they request the recipe for their own collection, I know I've found a winner.

Such was the case for this recipe. I was in charge of preparing a dessert for a lunch with some extended family this past weekend, and with Darrell's input, decided on this recipe that I had torn out of a magazine quite a few years ago (actually--the decision was pretty quick. This was the first recipe I showed Darrell, and when he saw the photo he said "make that one" and refused to look at any more recipes). Then at the lunch, I had two different people request the recipe (and Darrell--who was quite pleased with his decision--may have eaten three pieces).

It certainly mimics the flavors of a pecan pie (but with chocolate!), but has a crust that is much less fussy than a pie crust (if you are in to making those on your own and not just buying a frozen one). Plus, you definitely get more servings out of this than you would a pie, so it's more bang for your buck. Definitely one to keep in mind for the holidays!

Chunky Pecan Pie Bars
(from a Nestle ad in a magazine)

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar

Filling:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (11.5 oz pkg) semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. Beat flour, butter, and brown sugar in a small mixer bowl until crumbly. Press into pan. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes or until lightly browned. In a medium bowl with a wire whisk, beat eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chunks and pecans. Pour evenly over baked crust. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Enjoy!