Just wanted to let you know..

We are heading out to Gabe's mom and dad's tomorrow, so we will be gone for a couple of days. Not that you will notice a break in my blogging or anything, because I still am not blooging regularly. Just in case you wonder, though, that's where we are.

What's been going on....

I apologize for not blogging lately. Things have been pretty crazy around here.

Yesterday, I had to cater two events. The first thing we catered was a funeral. The woman who had passed away was only 44 years old! She had died of cancer, but how horrible! She was from a small town and the funeral was in a small town, but there was almost 1000 people there.
I actually never knew until I got there, but I had gone to college with the lady who passed away's son. I never knew him well, but I did recognize him. Such a young age to die!

The second even I catered was a wedding. They were a pretty interesting couple. They were very artsy and the bride had made the dress herself. It was a pretty funky dress.

I have to cater another funeral on Tuesday. What is up with all the funerals?

Gabe and I are headed to the bank on Tuesday afternoon to see how big of a mortgage we will be approved of. I am a little nervous. I don't know why. We have a pretty Yost credit history, just a few bills that have been paid a couple days late. That is the worse thing.

We just already have a lot of debt. We both have good sized students loans and our car loan. Ugghhh. It feels as if I will spend my whole life paying loans. Stupid student loans. I will be paying mine off for 10 years, and for the first 5 years, I am not even touching the balance. I am just paying interest. I guess ten years isn't that bad. I only have 8 left to go. That is bad. Well, our car payments, we only have 3 years left and then it is completely paid off. However, we are probably going to be needing a new car. We were stupid when we bought our car, and only bought a two door, to find out that our family is extending to three people one short year later. What can you do?

Loans are fun. Yeah right. I guess now with a mortgage, we will be owing a whole lot more money on a house. Whatever, though. At least we are investing in something instead of just paying out a whole lot of money in rent that we will never see again.

Until next time....

This is a good day...

Well, this is my 100th post. Cool. I am fairly excited about that.

Also, it is looking like we may not have to move, which is so awesome. Nevertheless, we went through the whole house and stripped most things that are not necessity and packed them up. My house is so barren. I have taken some pictures to show you how empty is it right now. It feels like no one lives here, sort of.


Here is our totally empty bedroom. Our bed (on the floor), Buddy's kennel (can you see him sleeping in there?), and our alarm clock. That is not our normal bedding. It is just a very light quilt which is so nice and cool during the summer.


Here is my office/spare bedroom. All that is in here in my computer and a fan. The bed is gone, everything is gone. Can you tell I am working on my blog right now?


Here is our living room. It is probably the room left with the most stuff in it. You can see my poor, injured husband on the couch watching TV. We have two couches and two chairs in this living room, but you can only see one in the picture.


Here is a picture of Gabe's foot. You can't see the swelling, but you can see the bruise. There is greenish/purpleish bruising all the way to his toes and all the way up to his knees. The injury is now a week old and is still causing him massive pain.


Here is a picture of our dining room. Not a whole lot here.


Here is a picture of our kitchen. Did I forget to mention that our house has a whole "1975" look to it? The flooring and the fridge are updated, but that is all. The cupboards and the oven are horrible! What can I say, it's a rental. We aren't allowed to make any changes. I will be the first to admit it is ugly.

I won't bother showing the laundry room or the bathrooms, because there is not a whole lot you can take out of those that aren't necessities. I won't show the other two bedrooms either, because they are completely empty. The garage is not emptied yet, because their is no place to put Gabe's car and I would rather keep all the tools and stuff in the garage. And the basement? That is full of boxes with everything that are not necessities. Also, the basement is totally 70's. The carpet is honestly the ugliest carpet I have ever seen in my life. I am more embarrassed of that basement then I am of my kitchen.

So there is a little tour of my empty house. It feels so weird, but it also feels good. All the closets, cupboards, and drawers have all been cleaned and all are almost completely empty.

One more picture for all of you. I just recently started showing a little! Especially when I have to go pee. I took this picture of myself in the mirror, so it is not that great of quality. I know it is early for me to show (I will be three months on Friday) but I don't care. I am happy and I love my belly. I also know that a lot of it could be fat, but it is hard when I poke it. It is pretty cool.

THIS SUCKS

Gabe and I are in a tough situation right now. Gabe just sprained (or broke- we are still waiting to hear the results from the x-rays) his ankle yesterday. He is off work for at least 2 weeks because his injury presents more of a hazard at work. He would not be able to escape an unsafe situation quick enough on his crutches. He is in a lot of pain and is pretty much immobile.

Now, to make situations worse. Gabe and I rent a house that is reserved for the doctor. We signed a contract saying that we would move out if a doctor ever wanted this house (keep in mind we live in a small town that no longer has a hospital). We thought there was no chance that a doctor would ever come. WRONG. We got a phone call that a doctor is coming in September, but they may need us out earlier, because they want to do renovations on the house.

We have nowhere to go. There is never anything available in this town. So we are pretty stressed. I have already started packing, and I already feel completely overwhelmed.

UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

This is not for the weak of stomach

To answer Crystal's question, "What are saskatoon berries?" I am providing this answer.

The saskatoon is a fruit bearing shrub native to the southern Yukon and Northwest Territories, the Canadian prairies and the northern plains of the United States. It is extremely adaptable and grows under a wide range of environmental conditions. Saskatoon berries were originally used as a major food source by the native people and early settlers of the North American prairies and, until recently, could be picked only in the wild.

No, they are not like blueberries, they are like saskatoon's. I don't know how else to explain it. We have a lot of blueberries here too. In fact, we are located just 20 minutes away from Canada's only "Blueberry Festival" Saskatoon's are pretty famous as well. The city beside where Gabe grew up is named after the berry, Saskatoon.

Now, for the part of which I started this blog. This is the part that you only dare to enter if you have a tough stomach.

Apparently, my baby does not like saskatoon's. I awoke this morning, hungry for the berries and thinking about the large bag I had in my fridge. I went and got myself a large bowl and I ate the whole bowl. (A large soup bowl size.) Anyway, I started thinking, "I think I am still hungry" and I suddenly projectile vomited across my (carpeted) living room floor. I ran to the bathroom and made it to the sink, where I vomited four more times. I at last made it to the toilet, and proceeded to vomit another four more times. I thought I had all the saskatoon's out, when in five more minutes, I was back at the toilet. I vomited eight more times. I now feel completely fine.

The most bizarre part--I feel like going and eating more saskatoon's. I am not grossed out at all by them. The only thing that grosses me out is the giant purple stain on my beige carpet.

I apologize to everyone who I have made sick by reading this. Remember, I warned you.

Berry Picking

Today, Mom and I, along with my nephew, K.C., and my niece, Alli, went saskatoon berry picking. I am a huge berry fan. I have a large patch of raspberries in my backyard, which I can get fresh raspberries off of every day. The saskatoon's were unreal where we were picking, they were growing in large clumps, like grapes.

Here is a picture of one stem of the saskatoon's.

I picked about 5 pounds, which is enough for us for now. Mom and I are going to head back picking again soon. Mom wants to get started making pies. (My mom is one of those ladies who makes at least 100 pies at once) I prefer all my berries raw, plus I make a lot of smoothies. I am looking forward to my raspberry, saskatoon berry smoothies. They will be so good!

Here are the saskatoon's I picked. They are all wet and shiny from being in the fridge.

I am sorry for all the complaining that follows

So I guess I didn't have to cater today. I am kind of annoyed at the lady I cater for. She is horrible disorganized and it is so annoying. She told me that I needed to cater today, and then neglected to phone me and tell me that she didn't need me tonight. We were supposed to be preparing food today, not an actual event. I had to call her, and she was like, "oh, I am sorry. I just need you tomorrow" Now it turns out its an event almost 2 hours from my house. She tells me that she will reimburse me for gas, but what about wear and tear on my vehicle? Now she wants me to go a half hour out of my way to pick up two other girls who are catering and she asked me to bring Gabe to help. Come on woman, get your stuff together. It is pathetic. I know I am complaining, but hey, the pay isn't that great, and I do it just to help her out. She does this to everyone who helps her. She starts out really awesome, and it is so fun to help her, then slowly, she tries to milk more and more out of you (and even tries ripping you off on how much she pays you). Whatever, though. I guess I can say no anytime. I am going to tell her tomorrow that I am pregnant. I am really going to miss catering for her during Christmas holidays. We rake in a lot of cash because there are so many events, and the cash is awesome to have when buying gifts for our massive families.

Okay, now another topic for me to complain about. I am sick of eating. I am hungry so often, and I am just getting tired of eating. I don't want to eat anything. I am so bored with it. I have to eat small meals throughout the day. So it kind of feels like I am snacking all day long. I am so sick of eating. I never, ever thought that I would find no pleasure in eating.

Yeah, so that is my day. Angry at my employer and angry at food. My life is really starting to sound boring.

The Rambler

Well, I made it through another day, which seems like a huge accomplishment, but also seems so small.

I have been hacking up my lungs now for 3 days, which does not feel good at all when you feel like you are going to throw up all the time. The only thing that makes my throat feel better is to gargle salt water, and gargling salt water makes me want to throw up. Vicious circle!!!

I watched "So You Think You Can Dance" tonight, and this song that is playing right now, "Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice was on. I was deeply in love with Damien Rice's music last year, and I have forgotten about how much that I loved it.

My poor baby. It will either be born extremely crazy about music, or plugging it's ears. I sing all the time. Not stop. That is how Gabe can tell when I am mad, because it is the only time I am not singing/humming/whistling. I also listen to music all the time, and play my guitar a lot. I wonder how long it will be until my guitar will no longer fit on my lap because my belly is so big. So exciting and frightening at the same time.

I have to go cater tomorrow and Saturday. I am not looking forward to it at all. I am still sick with this cold or whatever it is, and I am still having bouts of morning sickness all day. I need to help though. I bailed on catering last weekend to go see my grandma, and she really needs my help this weekend. That means a busy weekend.

Meat totally makes me nauseous, and I have to serve people plates of steamin' roast beef. I am just praying I don't vomit and ruin the happy couple's wedding. Wouldn't that be sad?

I can hear the thunder rolling outside, and my power already started to dim. I should wrap this up before the power goes out. Have a great night!

Well, along with the horrible morning sickness that I have been suffering from for entire days, I now have some sort of illness that makes me feel as if I am hacking up my lungs every few minutes. I would like to beat up the idiot who coined the term "morning sickness". He is probably the same idiot who invented high heels.

I have spent the entire last couple of days stuck between my couch and my bed, so needless to say, I am starting to go stir crazy. All I can say is thank goodness I work at a school and get the summer off. I don't know how women can work through this.

I am so thankful that God didn't allow me to get pregnant until I would be able to spend a majority of my first trimester at home. The last month at school, I experienced very little morning sickness.

I thought that I was going to be one of those fortunate few who wasn't going to have morning sickness. I mean, I was thinking that I deserved it. After all, I have gotten cramps that are some of the worst I have known my whole life. I am one of those people who vomits and passes out from the pain that I get from my cramps.

I guess I just should be thankful that I no longer have those oh-so-painful cramps.

Or more so, be thankful that at the end of this, I get a baby.

I feel like a jerk complaining now.

My Grandma

This weekend, we went to go see my grandma in the hospital. She will be 86 in 3 days. Mother of eleven; eight boys and three girls. Grandmother of twenty-nine, Great-Grandmother of twenty. (2 of those are in utero!)

She has a cancerous growth in her colon that is the size of 2 grapefruits. She has a leaky valve in her heart and pulmonary fibrosis, her doctor gives her 8 weeks to live at maximum.

She is in great spirits, exclaiming that she has not missed a thing in life.

My grandma is an amazing woman who has so much strength and so much faith. She has left such a legacy that all of her family is so proud to follow. It is no wonder that all of us are who we are today, because of her. My grandmother is the most amazing woman I have ever met.

We are so fortunate to know that her time is ending. It is so awesome that we will not have any regrets, any "I should haves". We are able to go spend the time with her to tell her that we love her and to soak in as much of her as we can.

I love my grandma so much and I am going to miss her so badly.



This is a picture of my Grandma and baby Serena. She hates getting her picture taken, but she let me because she was holding Serena. I am so happy I got these pictures for my brother.

Please take a minute to say a prayer for my grandma and my family.

This is so sweet!

When we were in Edmonton, Gabe and I went to Old Navy and picked out this super cute toque (I have no idea what you call these in the US, beanies?) for his brother's baby that is due August 17. Gabe's brother always wears funky toques. If his baby is a boy (and I am pretty sure it is) this will be so perfect for him. If he doesn't have a boy, my brother's baby is due August 13, and we know for sure that it is a boy.

What is that all about?

Okay, so now that I feel like I am over it, the weird thing was all the talk about miscarriages. Honestly. It was bizarre. Why would you continuously bring up a topic like that with a women who is in her first trimester? When you worry the most about those things?
Anyway, I was in a total panic. There was even a comment made "your baby could be dead inside of you and you wouldn't even know it."
What is that about?
Seriously?
So, I was freaking out, because that day I didn't have any morning sickness. I have been told that if you don't have any of the usual symtoms, that could be sign that something is wrong.
I went home feeling upset and completely freaked out.
The conversation battled between the miscarriages and the fact that I was going to be a bad mother. That wasn't said exactly, but the one girl. The one who was making all of the comments is so bitter.
She has one child and another one on the way. She was telling me how I was going to have no clue what to do and how everything I was reading or planning was wrong. Even the fact that I wanted to use cloth diapers instead of disposable ones was badmouthed by her.
That all of the books in the world would never prepare me.
Don't get me wrong. I know that having kids is going to be tough. Really tough.
I have, however, spent my whole life around babies and kids. That is just my life. I have changed more diapers then any childless person I know. I have rocked more babies to sleep.
And you know what? It's my baby. If I want to use cloth diapers, that my choice. If I was to make my own baby food, that's my choice. If I want to breast feed longer then six months, that's my choice.
Why would someone look down on you because you eat healthy? Isn't that what you are supposed to do?
By the end of that day, I did have morning sickness.
I need to learn to leave it with God.

My Camping Trip

My camping trip was weird and uncomfortable the whole time.

At least I had Buddy. He is always good for a laugh.

This is a picture of him after he went under the deck to get his ball. Apparently there are a lot of spider webs under there.



What a dog!

So tired...

I am still feeling so tired all the time. Not to mention the fact that I am constantly feeling as if I am going to throw up. Not that much fun at all. My boobs seem to be the only thing growing. I have already outgrown all of my bras and I can only fit in my sports bras, which are starting to get a bit tight. I have giant, sore boobs and I feel sick and tired all the time. I don't mean to sound that whiney. It's just that I am so tired right now.

Tomorrow I am going camping with a few of my girl friends from school. It will be great to see them. I just hope my stomach behaves itself, which it probably won't. We are headed out to the lake for a couple of days.

Yesterday I got to have breakfast with one of my best friends from college. It was great. She and I were incredibly close, and then made the stupid decision to live with each other. We had a stupid argument and never talked to each other for 2 years! Last summer, we made amends and it has been great. I missed her a lot. She is moving a lot closer to here (right now she is about 18 hours away--we never see each other).
She never even came to my wedding, which is really sad to both of us. She is super excited that she gets to be involved with me now during the pregnancy of my first child.

My grandma is not doing well. She has cancer which is spreading rapidly through her body. They will not do surgery to remove the cancer, because she has only a 20-30% chance of living through the surgery. When I get home from camping, we are going to go see her in the hospital. She also has a leaking valve in her heart. The doctors have said that if she didn't have cancer, she would have 18 months left to live. With the cancer, it is a lot shorter.

I am so happy that I have gotten the chance to tell her that I will be having a baby. She has lived a full life. She has watched all of her children grow up healthy and strong, all of her grandchildren grow up healthy and strong, and she had met so many of her great grand children. My grandma had 11 kids, so we are a biggg family. I am looking forward to going to spend some time with her.

That's my life for now. I will more after the weekend.