Pregnancy - Holy Moly!

As most of you probably know by now, I'm pregnant! Just over 4 months which puts me with a due date of December 1st! HAHAHAHA Right?! I know that's what you're more than likely thinking, because that's exactly what I thought. August is still pretty much our busiest month: Alex (Sullivan), Drew (Sullivan) AND Chris' birthdays. Not to mention, Chris and I's anniversary, the start of school and a host of good friend's birthdays and special days! NOW December is trying to vie for that spotlight - as it's likely going to be when this kiddo is born. [At least he/she will never be able to use the "You don't know what it's like to have a winter birthday and compete with Christmas!" - Been there and done that ;)] SO in any case, a few more details for anyone who cares to know: *When we found out (and consequently when we told our parents) = April Fools Day... which also happened to be just before Chris began Finals. (Like he wasn't already stressing!) *How Chris' mom reacted = she GUESSED!! Kinda took the wind out of Chris' sails for a minute, but he recovered. ;) *The "Uncles" have already started campaigning for "Best/Coolest Uncle" to which Chris told them, it's probably going to end up being the youngest Sullivan, Alex, due to his being the closest in age and doing all the things this little person wishes they could... (Who knows though right?) *I've been blessedly relaxed about the whole thing so far. A little nausea, a few cravings (but nothing crazy), nothing to worry about really. The BIGGEST thing was I was SUPER-DUPER-RIDICULOUS kind of tired. Like Chris got a good amount of x-box live time in while I slept in the evenings. It was not unknown for me to get home from work, eat and then fall asleep on the couch or futon by 7 or 8 and sleep for several hours, only to wake up around 11pm or midnight and fall back asleep within the hour. * My supervisor at work is hilarious. We moved our offices to a smaller unit in the same building and she would not let me do much at all. I went to pick up one of those folding tables from like Costco or something (you know, the long ones??) with the help of another girl in our office and Brenda almost took my end of the table from me. When I told her not to bother that I had it and we were almost done, she just gave me this glare. :) It made me laugh. Plus she's super excited about me being pregnant. When we got the first ultrasound done, I brought in the pictures because I thought she might want to see and she clapped and drew enough attention to bring Eric - the attorney - into her office. For now, Life is GREAT! Been super busy, but it's working itself out. Chris has a paid internship at the law office I work in now. He's finished his first year of Law School!!!! I've got a job with a great supervisor and employer who seem to like having me around and sound like they want me back as soon as I want to come back after having the baby. :) I've got AMAZING FAMILY who are super supportive about everything! Plus friends all over who make life so fun! AND Chris and I found an apartment in a complex within our current ward boundaries (and closer to the Feldmann's) and with several couples we already hang out with currently. Pictures with the growing baby belly to come...

Kentuckiana

Life is good.

I know there are a lot of things in life that can go wrong and a lot that can go right, but one of the things my dad and I say when we talk is when we ask how things/life are/is going, we say "life is good" because we are in good health, have jobs and great family.

SO quick update for those of you who may not know:
1) Chris and I moved to J-Town - Louisville 2nd Ward
2) Chris started law school at the University of Louisville
3) I started work at a law firm in Downtown Louisville - Hayden Craig & Grant, PLLC
4) Chris lived through the first semester :)
5) Chris got called to Scouts
6) I got called to be in the Library and to be the music director in Relief Society
7) Routine: Work/school, home, eat, sleep, traffic, and begin again.

More than I'm sure some of you care for, but what can I say, easily amused by little things.

Chris and I are predictable in our hobbies: video games and books ;) Missy, my mother-in-law, likes to tease us about how we tend to spend our evenings (when we don't have other things) because he usually ends up playing some video game and I end up curled in a chair reading a book/my kindle...

We have a great ward and have made a great group of new friends. Plus there's the benefit of old friends as well(cough cough ** Chris and Adrienne Feldmann ** cough cough).

So that's our life in a nutshell.

Life and thoughts

So life has brought about some changes this year for Chris and I. :) We are so excited that those changes have brought us back into the Tri-State area. Currently in Ohio, soon to be in Kentucky! Law School, here we come! I know it's been forever but I just have been thinking lately... First, I'm amazed and blessed in my family! They are my heroes and some of my best friends. I learn daily from them. Second, I have got some of the MOST AMAZING friends and I don't do enough to keep up with them. Amazing milestones for so many of them and I cheer daily for them from afar usually. I think often of the song about finding out who your friends are for they are the ones who will drop anything and who you would drop anything for. I hope I never forget to let you know that my friends. Thank you for being there and all the lessons we learn and have learned together. Third, I'm blessed every day of my life by my testimony and belief in a loving Heavenly Father and Savior. Fourth, I am grateful for a family who believes in serving and protecting our family, our country and our freedoms. Stay Safe Ty, Nate and Uncle Brian.

Supposedly Spring

Calendars, Holidays and School terms among other things indicate that it should be spring. However, I think they're lying. It has snowed much too recently and currently we are in the middle of a rain spell that will only briefly be lifted (for approximately half a day on Saturday) and will last until about a week from now. It makes not having a car and usually relying on public transportation slightly annoying. The plus side is I can read or relax on the bus and zone out until my stop comes or I have to switch buses. However, walking and carrying groceries has been my make up time for not exercising more before that.

On to other news, Chris is finally done with the Junior core of the Accounting Program at BYU. Next on the list is studying for and taking the LSAT to prep for law school applications this coming fall. It's hard keeping up with what exactly he wants to do with the Law stuff at any given time but more than likely, it will involve moving. I am still working at the same place. My English friend and coworker, Denise, is leaving in about a month and I'm totally jealous. Life there has been a constant state of "What?! When did that change?" or so it seems to me most of the time. I can honestly say I've learned a lot at this company.

Our washer FINALLY got fixed after being out of commission (once we got little rivers running away from it a couple times we just stopped) for almost THREE weeks! I'm just lucky Nicole and Thomas are super nice and close and let me use their washer. All in all, our little place is really nice and convenient, plus we have a nice big kitchen.

So after all the other random updates on us, I just got to thinking about how I've got some of the best friends out there. Not to mention that two of them are pregnant at the moment and I am SUPER excited! I feel like life is flying by and that looking at where we are and who we are now is amazing. I wish we all were closer sure, but I hope they know I'm super proud of who we've all become and what we're doing now. Family and friends are some of the best ways to tell how blessed we are. I know I am. Thanks my friends for being who you are and the examples you set, even if I'm not so great at letting you know I think so and am thinking about you. Hope you see this.

KINDLE!!!

With not having a ton of ideas for people for Christmas, I started telling people, and having Chris tell people (specifically his family) that I wouldn't be against starting to get money together for a Kindle since when I travel I usually take 2-3.... or more books with me.

I held on to my self-control for a few days after Chris got home but on Monday I caved. Thanks to his family and my awesome grandparents and such I got enough to cover the cost of a 3G Kindle with a cover for it!!!! We thought it wasn't going to end up making it for whatever reason until next monday.... but it came today and the cover is coming later. Who knows!?

I am super excited!! It's slim and pretty and I can't wait to dig into it. I've spent the last hour prior to this looking at the instructions that come with it and looking online at the Kindle store on Amazon. Not to mention pricing things and just generally getting super excited about the things I can do.

Funny story(ies) - First, as I was leaving work to head home, Chris sent a text saying, "So just so you know there is an Amazon box that I picked up... Just thought you'd like to know." I jumped up and down and got super excited and my supervisor jokingly called over the wall of cubicles that there was way too much excitement over there and I needed to tone it down. Then promptly asked me why I was excited and when I told him, he agreed that was cool and said how they'd gotten his mom one for Christmas. Second, when I plugged it in, it said "Christopher's Kindle" to personalize it and I immediately burst out with, "It is definitely NOT 'Christopher's Kindle'..." Chris just looked at me like I was nuts. Though once I got on Amazon, it was easy enough to fix. So now I've got it charging up and will let you know how I enjoy it. And I know, I'm a total dork, no wait.. we decided at work it was nerd, but I love it!
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

DECEMBER.. My favorite month!

SO yes. I am lame. I hardly ever get a chance to borrow the one computer that is still working in our home (aka Chris' computer). My screen is dead or dying, so yeah, with school and needing the computer, I hardly bother to get online except occasionally on my phone. (Quick aside to dad - Thank you for the phone that lets me get on the internet!) Now for an update:

Life is good. Same as normal... Busy but good. Work is getting better. It has been insane(!) at times or most of the time, and now that we've recently switched our shipping (!?!), it's been interesting to say the least. I'm coming up on a year with Myler Disability. Which is kind of shocking, but I'll get paid vacation days soon! I've gotten more face-to-face time with Brad Myler himself in the last few weeks than I have in the entire 9 months prior. No joke!
I've been trying more recipes in my cookbooks, all with good reviews according to my guinea pigs - Chris, Josh and Abby. Josh and Abby are our new friends from this semester - the first semester of the BYU Accounting Program. Chris got into that this past year. He was a little torn between the Accounting program and the IT program when he applied in July. So it's been an interesting semester, but tomorrow is the LAST FINAL!! YEAH! Abby is also from OHIO, although they lived more in the north when they were there. Josh and Chris have spent as much or more time with each other than with us this semester with how much time they spent studying or working as a group. LOL, good thing Abby and I get along so well when she's not working on homework or working with her business - Photography. P.S. She's really good. She's in the Photography program at BYU. So if you need pictures taken, she's available and she travels! www.AlgerPhoto.com or www.AbbyAlgerPhotography.blogspot.com

Anyway, we get to go home to OHIO in ONE WEEK!!!!! I AM SO FAMILY DEPRIVED!!!! Now I've just got to work out a time to see some very important other people I haven't seen in WAAYY too long! Countdown starts now!

My birthday was earlier this month and it came after, and excuse me for this, but there is no other way to say this without lots of explaining, the week from hell. Although it was good for the paycheck. Learned a lot and now it's settling down. We went out to Texas. Texas Roadhouse, that is, since they put one right in Orem! (I now have 3 different numbers for that place, all in different states. 3 guesses what states they are...) Chris got me a combined birthday/Christmas present - all the rest of the NCIS TV series!!! I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, spending time with Chris and I even donated plasma.

My car is still alive and loud. It was whiny for awhile but an oil change and check up helped it significantly! Hopefully it won't die on me again while I'm driving....

Other than that, I think that's it. See you soon OHIO!

Update!

So for all those of you who don't yet know... I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!

So exciting! Now Chris can relax a little and focus on school and I can not be bored out of my mind some days by lack of ideas of things (productive or not) to do. Of course, little did I realize just how INSANE life would become when I work 8am to 5pm. I am SLOWLY learning the ropes at work which I get rather frustrated with on a somewhat regular basis, but I'm getting there. I work at a law firm called Myler Disability as a legal assistant. It's not too far away but I've hit traffic a couple times that just annoys me to no end after the craziness of work. I feel like I don't really see Chris some days which is slightly annoying, but you win some, you lose some right?!

Case in point, last night. Left work an hour late because I was helping someone, which gave me 30 minutes to get home, hopefully eat and then run to meet my V.T. companion to go teach one of our girls in the 30 minutes before the craft night/book review we were all going to. I almost made it. BUT I hit traffic partway up University Parkway and ka-blooie, I didn't get home til 15 minutes after we were supposed to be at our visiting teachee's place. Figures. Then after the craft night which I got home around 9pm, chris was gone. I was like "what the heck? where'd he go?" He forgot to remind me he had work. I then proceeded to lock myself out of the apartment not long after he left when I went to see if he took the car (He did.) and had to figure out what the heck I was going to do. Decided to go ask my "new" friend Cathy two floors up because we finally introduced ourselves at the craft night.Got up there and we started talking about books and life and all that fun "get to know you" stuff. Finally we realized it was almost 10 and that's when we thought the Community Aides people would stop helping people and I'd end up having to call the po-po to come unlock my door and pay $50 to do it! So FINALLY after midnight Chris and I were both home, both ready for bed, and able to talk. Bless Chris - he helped me release some stress about work!!!

Whew. So life is no longer so uneventful that I am running out of books at the library to read. :-) My brain hurts most days but life is good. Heavenly Father (and Chris) help keep me sane and I am constantly thinking of people I need to get in touch with and things I need to do when I am in no position to do a dang thing about it! And it's how close to being March?! Say what!?!?!?!

Ha Ha!

I DID IT!
Okay I know you don't know what I'm talking about yet, but this is great fun for me! And it comes with these words from Chris, "You should start a bakery or something."

So explaining:
I look up recipes all the time and you know those moments when you crave things and then go "oh wait! too much money." There in lies the problem... with donuts!! I looked up how to make granola and ended up finding recipes for other breakfast stuff and donuts (obviously!) came to mind. So I have recipes for homemade donuts and baked donuts and other stuff but that takes time and sometimes you just want the easy steps, you know?! So I don't remember where I heard it or if it's something that popped into my head watching Food Network one day or what but I tried something new today with DONUTS!

Super Simple Super Yummy Donuts (and Donutholes!!)

1 package of Pillsbury grand biscuits (or similar store brand)
1 small pot with canola oil (or your preferred oil)
2/3 sugar + 1/3 cinnamon (mixed together in a tupperware or baking pan or whatever)

Heat pan with approximately 1 inch of oil on the stove med/medium-high heat. Separate the biscuits on a cutting board. Pat so they are semi-flat. Take anything about the size of a quarter (lid, teaspoon measurer, whatever) and take out the middle of the biscuits. Roll into little balls and drop into oil. (Kind of a way to test the oil.) Wait til just a touch past golden brown all over and then pull out onto a plate covered with paper towels to absorb some of the extra oil. Then roll until completely covered in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Repeat with the biscuits themselves, flipping to evenly cook/bake (only about a minute to a minute and a half max.) They don't take long at all to brown up and get done. Shake in tupperware or pan to cover your 'donuts' with the mixture and you're done.

All said maybe 30 minutes start to finish. Now Chris wants to start experimenting with jellies in the donuts.... :) Fun! Enjoy!!

I TRY I PROMISE!

I really do! I try to write at least one post a month. Whoops! Guess I messed that up with forgetting December... So I'll recap now.
Nov 30 - Chris and I celebrate my birthday early with Olive Garden. (A first for him!)
Dec 2 - I fly back to Cincinnati. Two reasons: Easier for me to fly standby farther away from holiday travel and because I was able to work the month I was home at the Zoo instead of sitting on my bum in the apartment here while Chris took finals and did projects.
Dec 4 - Mom, Dad and I go to Cancun for birthday dinner! (The restaurant not the town.)
Dec 5 - First day back at the zoo. I kinda missed the people there. Gotta admit it!
Dec 5-19 - I work, sleep, hang out with family. Procrastinating visiting people (I know I know I'm bad about that sometimes.
Dec 19 - Chris flies in to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport.
Thus ensues lots of traveling back and forth between my parents and his parents homes :) As well as working and FINALLY finishing Thank You's.
Christmas Eve - (Morning) late start at Striebeck's; (Afternoon/Evening) Helped Chris' mom cook dinner, Went to Chris' grandparents house and got my first memory with them that I'll keep forever... aka scar... LOL, I didn't realize the broiler on the counter was on and brushed my elbow up against it.
Christmas morning - EARLY gift exchange with Chris' parents and siblings and then drove to Indy for my side of the family get-togethers. First Gma Striebeck and then the Bronnenberg clan :) Tyler was back for the holidays from California and the Marines. (My other cousin left this past Tuesday for basic in Cali.)
Day after Christmas - Grandpa Striebeck and Pat came to visit us in Ohio.
After this, more going back and forth, packing and deciding when Chris actually needs to and can fly back out to Utah without missing too much football and not missing any school. ;)
New Years Eve - I worked until 10pm. Played games with Chris's parents (Mine were out early for various reasons.)
New Years Day - Football, football, football. OSU vs Oregon Ducks (1/2 of it anyway) at Jackie's and then back to Chris's parents for the rest of that and then the UC Bearcats game that we watched with MY parents who came over too. And the Sullivan family picture we took before we left for Jackie's.
Then Last day of work Jan 2 at the Zoo!
Jan 4 - Spent the day with my twin in Hillsboro and got to meet my super cute niece, Kate!!!!!!!!!!!! So fun!
Jan 5 - Mom drove me to the airport (super early!) and I (barely) made the plane. Chris picked me up and then we took our time getting home: Wendy's, Ikea, Wal-Mart (CHAIRS!!! WE can sit at our table now!) and later that night back out for restock on groceries.

So I know that's alot but it's an update at least! More to come later.

Life: Unscripted

Lately it seems like we (especially me) are living life unscripted. Also coming to mind the quote "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." I mean it could be worse. It almost always could, but this is just one little twist or fork in the path we weren't planning for/on after another. Now my/ our car is "hospitalized" getting fixed up. And I'm still applying to more jobs than I can remember. Mail that we need to get quickly comes almost triple the amount of time what was said. And on and on, but you know what I think strikes me most about it... I'm not worrying about it too much. I'm sitting back and saying "okay now what can we do to make sure this part works out the best we can?" Aka learning to always have a Plan B, plan c, and so on.

There's also the things that seem to be going completely backwards from how you first think, but weirdly enough, it works. Makes it easier because you worry about the new stuff popping up and not the things that you first assumed would be things to work on or get used to.

Course I've been going recipe and cooking happy since we got here and I'm enjoying the new challenges. A month or so ago, good thick steak fries (thick wedges) homemade and golden brown (Chris even learned this one. We've got it down.) Monday was Pork Loin Roast (GREAT!) and Today was homemade granola! Which smells really good, but the real test will be eating it. We'll see... especially since I took a couple recipes, picked and choose and mixed and added my own personal flair (some might call them food quirks.) :D It helps that the one enrichment activity I consistently attend is a cooking class "What's for dinner?" Swapping recipes, making roll mixes, this week learning different pies... I think Sweet potato, Key Lime, and maybe a Pumpkin cheesecake. Should be interesting.

Not to mention another unexpected twist is the fact that it is November 19th and it has only snowed around 3 times and every time it has been gone before noon sometimes even sooner. I mean, not that that's necessarily bad, but it's definitely NOT expected. I kind of miss the treacherous walks around campus and to and from my apartment that were notorious in Rexburg.

So life continues to surprise, but continues to remind me of how much I have, no matter how tight we live.

Too close to home

So today has been a busy day in general for Chris and I... well for Chris it has been a crazy week, but that another story. I guess I just want to talk a little now about some very horrible, tragic news I discovered after taking Chris to the testing center so he'd have the most amount of time he could. I got on Facebook and noticed a good friend of Chris' had an unusual post "hurt.." That's it. So I admit I clicked on his name and tried to see what had happened....
I was shocked to see posts from who I found out were his mother-in-law talking about funeral plans and remembrances of her daughter. I looked at an article from a newspaper that she mentioned and figured out that something Chris and I had seen in one of the only times we've had the news on about a tragic accidental shooting of a young woman, fairly newly married, in a 7-11 parking lot, from a gun that is so old it has no safety falling and discharging on its own, was in fact the tragic incident that took Chris' friend's wife from him.
I was/am shocked and stunned that it's someone we've got a connection to. I can't imagine being in that position. I can't imagine the feelings, the pain! I broke down and cried for him and their families and there are no words available for me who barely knew this young man except for through Chris and his high regard for him. I remember when I first heard of him and Chris told me stories of him I was excited to get to know him and the girl he was at the time so serious about and then they became engaged and got married and I thought the same of her. It'd be fun to meet people who Chris was so fond of.

I couldn't imagine losing Chris so soon or being in that situation. So right now, I'm praying - for him, their families and for us and everyone I know to remember how precious our time is and that we don't always know what could happen. So don't waste time on stupid things if you can help it. Remember what a blessing it is for the people we have in our lives, especially our spouses. God Bless.

Labor Day... or in our case, the not so Labor day

So this weekend is Labor Day weekend....
Sales, picnics, parks, stores, ads... all of that comes to mind in reference to this weekend. (OH and did I mention, fireworks, great music, traffic and Cincinnati??) However this year, in Provo, it's a whole new, slightly less exciting ballgame (minus the being together and married part.. ;) ..) I mean, we're still meeting people in our ward and we're still trying to catch up with the friends we already have here to hang out and get out of the apartment and do something fun OUTSIDE, but it's hard. Especially with school just starting. So we celebrated by being a little lazy. Playing Madden for Chris and reading books for me along with other random things... lol like watching George Lopez on TV. I'm getting to cook a lot and trying out new recipes has proved a good idea.. (gotta love cheap cookbooks from D.I.!!)
I must admit when I think about this weekend I picture WEBN fireworks on the Ohio river in Cincinnati... and all the experiences from many past Labor Day weekends. Also the many picnics that go along with it. It's a little weird to not be either in Cincinnati where I'm completely familiar with most things and people.. or in Rexburg, where I've spent the majority of the last 4+ years of my life. I don't know where the parks are, which are closest, or until this afternoon where a Post Office was. I passed by the Provo Library a while ago with Chris, but haven't been back to get a card because I didn't even have proof of residency yet. (Though I finally got a piece of mail the other day.. woot!!) It's just weird, but I'm getting a little more used to it. :)

Finally did it!

I joined the world of blogging... (partly because of much reminding and hinting and outright demnads from my twin!)
I've got some time and I thought it'd be a good way to use it and keep in touch with people. So I told Sarah I'd get it done this weekend. Hah! I did it the same day!
Life in Provo is getting into a routine. Of course who thought I'd be living in Provo... not me really, but then I guess I'll be here for a few more years ;) We have Car and renter's insurance now! Woot!
For now, I think I'll leave it at this and come back later once I've been a little more productive and fed us.