The Latest

I guess it's time for an update!

My AmeriCorps term has come to an end, so today is my first official day without a job. I'm really glad I decided to serve with AmeriCorps. No, I didn't make a lot of money ($12,300 living stipend over 11 months + $5,000 education award), but I met tons of cool people and learned a lot about water quality and other environmental issues.

Now that I have tons of free time on my hands, I started watching The Vampire Diaries. It's so cheesy, but it's fun. There are 7 seasons with about 22 or so episodes each, so this will fill my free time quite nicely. :) If you have any other show recommendations for me, let me know!

I am 35 weeks now and will hit 36 on Thursday. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday. Not sure if the doc will check to see how far I'm dilated and effaced or not. I do know they'll do the strep b test. Vaginal and butt. :oP Wonderful. If I'm positive, I have to go on antibiotics so I don't pass it to the baby when I deliver. After Thursday I'll be going to the doctor weekly. I'm due September 3rd - we're ridiculously close. Sometimes I'm excited and anxious for the big day(s) and other times I freak out a little and just want time to suspend. I'm hoping those are normal feelings to have!

I'm feeling pretty good. I can't sleep on my right side anymore because my hip will hurt for several days afterward, so I'm strictly left side sleeping now. TMI FOREWARNING: I started having diarrhea yesterday. It's like anything I eat is immediately...let go. I think if it continues into tomorrow, I'll call my OB.

Here's my latest picture:

35 weeks

 It's pretty crazy to look back and see how skinny I was in the beginning:

5 weeks

We had our family baby shower at my grandmother's house the other day:

Isn't this frog so fun?!

We had red velvet, coconut, and peanut butter/chocolate cakes.

I think 'boy' won.

We also took some maternity photos after the shower. This is my favorite:

I need to crop Chris' Fitbit out. :)

Another thing I wanted to share because I think it's so cute (and I love that Chris thought of it) is what we decided to do above the crib. By the way, we got the crib at our shower and Chris was so excited he put it together that night. Love him. My mom made the crocheted mobile (sun, moon, stars, cloud), those are leftover "clouds" from our wedding, and from the clouds we hung the dragonfly finger puppets that my aunt gave us. In case you're curious, my grandmother made the quilt hanging over the back of the crib and my mom made the crib bedding.

And that's what's going on in my life right now. Many thanks to my mom, aunt, and grandmother for their tireless work on the shower. It was very fun and emotional for me since it's been a long road to this point.

Love,

Empowerment

Anybody read any good books about female empowerment/finding oneself? 

C took over my running endeavor since my ankle injury and now I feel like I need to find a 'thing'.  Right now my list consists of swimming and gardening.  Ultimately I think it's probably that I'd just like to belong to a group outside of anything I do with my husband.  Guess I'll need to do some networking. 

Visit my Pages!

Don't forget to check out my other Pages I post to: 

• All Things Food where I blog about recipes I make whether or not I ultimately like them
• Books, Books, & More Books where my "expert" opinion on books I read are jotted down
• Crafty Things where my current & finished projects are outlined
• Playing in the Soil will be seasonal due to my lack of fall/winter gardening skills
• Run Like Hell where I am documenting my progress in my hobby: running

String of thoughts

I got a guy kicked out of my place of work today.  Pretty stoked about it.  I knew he had been coming in without a membership or guest pass, but was finally able to catch him today.  I'm a stickler for rules.

Have lots planned tomorrow including shopping for fridge part 2.

My friend posted pics of her baby nursery she just finished.  Looks straight out of a magazine.  Pretty cool! 

I used to really want an awesome kitchen...now I think I'd be satisfied with a craft room.  Maybe it's time to do some Fall organizing.  I'm to the point where I'm even saving old clothes with the idea that I'll tear them up and crochet a rag rug.  Hm.  Wonder if that'll ever happen!!

Watched the season premieres of Biggest Loser yesterday & Grey's this evening.  I'm still amazed I get a kick out of BL because I know it's a crap show.  Grey's, however, I still love.  The season finale was cah-ray-zy!  I think I might actually go & rewatch it. 

On to the thesis...my deadline for "something" is today.

Crocheted Hat

Check out my latest project here!

Crocheted headband

Check out my latest project here!

Sink or Swim

First of all, I need to thank Cassandra for giving me the inspiration to attempt this.

I've held off blogging about this because it's so new, but I've since become comfortable enough with the idea to let people know what's swirling around in my head.

I have decided to start a small (very small) business selling my crocheted items. Because I've never done anything like this before and felt like I needed someone to partner up with, I contacted my sister and she has agreed (quite willingly I think) to be a part of the business. I plan to start small, selling online and possibly at craft fairs. This is still in the very beginning stages...as of right now I'm just doing research (reading craft business books) and bouncing ideas back and forth with my sister.

Believe me, I definitely have a realistic outlook on this. It can be hard to sell crocheted items and the economy definitely doesn't help. I plan on specializing in just a few items (instead of crocheted anything and everything under the sun) and using high quality yarn. If it turns out the business is successful and there's a demand for more items, I will definitely branch out and add more things. I have more ideas, but I won't divulge them here in fear someone might steal them. I don't have high hopes of selling enough to earn a living just from this business. It's more something to earn extra money while working elsewhere.

I started with Cassandra and so I'll end with Cassandra: I need tips on how to take really good pictures of the crocheted items!