Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Our New Home

This is for those of you who have asked for pictures of our new place, well here you go.  We are living in the very cute town of Campbell, CA, population 39,200. Campbell has San Jose to the north and east, Los Gatos to the south and Saratoga to the west, for those familiar with the area.
This water tower you can see from our windows, we are within walking distance of downtown, which is fun since they have lots of cute restaurants downtown and lots of fun events always happening


Part of Downtown Campbell
Oh hello, thanks for visiting, let me give you the grand tour...
When you first walk in, this is the hallway you see (it needs a rug), the living room is directly to your right, the baby's room and spare bathroom are down a hall way to your right, the dining room, kitchen and laundry room are to your left and our bedroom is straight ahead to the right, got it, ok lets move on
Baby's room, when you first walk in and look to the right, our sweet baby boy will be sleeping here soon, we can't wait!
Baby's room looking to the left
Oh did I mention the baby's room doubles as a office/guest bedroom (imagine the Aerobed blown up) so this is where you will sleep when you come to visit (don't worry the baby will sleep in our room).
This is the bathroom that will be yours during your visit with us
Ok so this is from the front door looking to the left (I also need to get a rug for under the dining room table).  I wanted a bigger kitchen than we had before, I think I have more cupboard space, but the kitchen is still pretty tiny, its ok, someday!
Right side of kitchen, that closed door is the laundry room
Here is the laundry room, pretty standard
Ok this is from the front door looking to the right
This is from the hall looking back on the living room
At the end of the hall to the right is our bedroom, this is what you see when you first walk in
This is looking from the window with the fan
Jason's side of the bed (we are looking for a big, bold piece of artwork to put above our bed)
The master bath is off the left side of the room, this is looking at it from our bed, there are closets on both sides of the mini hallway to the bathroom
From the shower looking back into the room
Ok this is our little patio/deck, you can access the deck from any of the bedrooms, this is looking from the baby's room
From our room
From the living room
From the outside


This is the apartment community pool you can swim in when you come visit

This is the 10 mile Los Gatos Creek Trail that our apartment complex has direct access to, when you come visit we will go on walks on it!
Anyway, there you go, the grand tour.  We really like our little place, the town we live in, the area and especially the weather (we rarely hit temps above 85 degrees, we hang out at about 75 all summer long).  We don't love the high prices but we recognize we are paying for all the wonderful things I mentioned above and for now it is worth it.  We love visitors, so if you are ever in the area please call us, even if you just need a place to crash for a night, you are more than welcome!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Just Waiting

So in case anyone is wondering, we have not had our baby yet :(  Jason keeps reminding me he is a lot easier to take care of in my belly, but that doesn't help my anxiousness.  I want to meet this little guy and I want to get labor/childbirth over with, I'm scared!  My due date is in two days, I have my 40 week appointment tomorrow, hopefully I have made some progress, but I'm not sure.  I don't really know if I have had contractions.   Sometimes my stomach gets really tight and it is hard to breath, is that a contraction?  I really have no idea.  I would love to hear advice!  I think we are ready.  I went out today and picked up some last minute baby/mommy stuff (thanks again for the tips Lori) so now I just wait.  I will be sure to update the blog as soon as something happens.  And please pray for me, I'm scared about the whole birthing process!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

My Cousin's Wedding

This weekend we headed home for my cousin Stephanie's wedding.  I drove up Thursday afternoon so I could attend the wedding on Friday.  Jason couldn't take work off (he only started 3 weeks ago), so he took Amtrak up on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately he got a flat tire biking home and ended up missing the train he was suppose to be on, so by the time he made it he missed the reception.  I was really sad since there was dancing and I love dancing with my hubby, but at least he made it later.  Saturday we just hung out with my family and Sunday we went to church with my family because my Dad was speaking.  He did a great job and we were glad we stayed.  It was a nice weekend, and I know I have said it before but it is so great being closer to family (too bad Jason's parents are out of town so we didn't get to see them).  

P.S. Our place is now fully furnished (minus rugs and pictures) so pics will be coming soon, but don't get your hopes up, it is just a normal apartment, nothing special.

Sisters
The happy couple
The beautiful McIntosh girls
Alyssa
This girl loves her olives (Letty and Dave wanted a piece of the action)
The Wursten girls
My grandparents and parents dancing, they slowly had the couples leave the floor depending on how long they had been married, my grandparents were the last ones on the floor...52 years!!
Someday a bride
The bunny hop, I did it for about half the song then thought I might go into labor so I sat down
Alyssa with Matt and Steph
We went swimming Saturday night at a friends house, it felt so good!
38 weeks, I have an appt tomorrow so I will post my stats after that (to see all the pregnancy pics click here)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Fun Times With Family

This weekend my family came up and visited us.  They wanted to see our new place (even though we are still in transition) and my sister came up to assist me during my dental hygiene boards, which are now over and went really well, I think.  So I will break the weekend down.  I'm sorry I have been so long winded lately, there is just lots going on and I want to be thorough so I remember it all!!

Boards:  I found a patient on Tuesday (in the Home Depot parking lot) and he was the nicest guy.  He is from Guatemala and has 6 kids and a wife still over there.  Those of you who have taken any kind of clinical board exam know that finding a reliable patient is hard to do.  Well this guy was reliable, he called me the day before the exam(I was planning on having Jason call him when he got home) to make sure I was still coming the next morning.  Then after my test on Saturday he called and thanked me, so basically I love him.  The test went well, he qualified on my first submission and another girl in my class used him as well, so he made lots of money and got half his mouth cleaned.  Jason and my sister made the trip to SF with us, Jason to translate, and Chrissy to be my assistant. I really appreciate them being there for me, it meant a lot.  Now I just have to wait 6-8 weeks to find out if I passed.  I spend so much of my life waiting, but I'm OK with it, I have a baby coming to take my mind off of it.

Baby:  I will be 38 weeks this week, so I am full term.  I have an appointment tomorrow and I will post any serious progress I am making.  With all the stress I have been under with the move and boards, you would think I would have gone into labor by now, and I haven't, so I think this little guy will hang out as long as possible, which is fine by me, I want him to be big, fat and healthy.  We had a consult with a very highly recommended pediatrician on Friday.  We REALLY liked him.  He is a big Apple guy, so he and Jason hit it off right away, and that was the talk for a majority of our visit :)  I'm glad to have that taken care of, I think we are pretty much set.

Family:  We had my entire family here this weekend, which I loved.  There were nine of us total since my brother decided to come at the last minute (he is living in Reno), and since Chrissy brought her boyfriend Dave.  My parents came Friday afternoon, so we hung out and made dinner at home with them.  Everyone else came later and we pretty much went straight to bed since a lot of us had to get up at 4:30am for my test.  The rest of them went to Santa Cruz for the day (while we were in SF) and had a great time.  Saturday night Campbell (our new town) had a "Bands and BBQ" event downtown, so we walked down to that.  We had dinner and enjoyed the festivities.  We came back and played games, it was great.  Chrissy, Dave and Alyssa left Sunday morning and the rest of them stayed, went to church, ate lunch and hung out with us most of the afternoon. It was a great weekend.  I love my family, and it is such a fun time because we are all old enough to get along really well and enjoy each others company.  We are loving living so close to family.  Here are some pics from the weekend.
This isn't from the weekend but I thought it was cute.  Since I have become hugely pregnant, Jason puts my shoes on for me so I don't have to bend down, this is him caught in the act
Dad and Lys on the beach in Santa Cruz
Letty, Dave and Jack, so excited to be in Santa Cruz
Jack, Alyssa and Jason on the way to the Bands and BBQ event
Me and my sisters
Us
The fam
Letty has been teaching Lys how to make ugly faces, I think she has done a pretty good job
All the kids
Jason and Lys dancing

My parents are cute!

Lys fell asleep like this, it looked like she was kissing her bicep, so Letty imitated  
Everyone wanted cookies but I didn't feel like making them, so my Dad took on the job and they were delicious, he is now the designated cookie maker at home

Playing nertz like always

Monday, July 07, 2008

Fourth of July and more!

Our fourth of July was not very exciting this year.  We basically spent the entire day unpacking all of our boxes from the move, a service that the movers would have provided but I wasn't prepared to tell the movers where I wanted everything, I just wanted them to drop it off and let me deal with it, weird I know.  Anyway, we didn't watch a parade or go to any BBQ's, but I insisted that we watch fireworks, seriously, the fourth without fireworks????  So Jason stopped some random people in our complex and asked them where good fireworks were.  They said the best were in Mountain View at the Shoreline Amphitheater.  I jumped online and found that it is a concert by the San Francisco Symphony with huge fireworks/symphonic show at the end.  Tickets ranged from $25-75 a piece and the show started at 8pm and it was currently 7:30pm.  In a last ditch effort I jumped on Craigslist (oh how I love Craigslist) and found tickets for $15 each, I called the lady and offered her $20 for the pair, she accepted.  We picked them up and (after a quick 1/2-1 mile walk, which was really fun being 9 months pregnant :) by 8:30pm we were set up in our lawn chairs enjoying the show.  The fireworks were awesome and I loved the symphony playing patriotic music during the show.  We only have one (in my opinion disgusting) picture but here you go.  


An update on the rest of our lives.  We are almost completely moved in.  The couch people accidently brought us two different color couches (they are barely different), so that should be taken care of today, along with our coffee and end tables.  We are still waiting for our mattress and recliner.  And now all we need is an entertainment center.  We spent a good deal of time, and money, at Costco on Saturday purchasing an Aerobed (that means you should come visit us), lamps, an LCD HDTV, and an up-converting DVD player, not to mention lots of groceries, I almost cried when we got to the register, but we knew it would be this way at first. 

Update on boards:  I thought I had found a patient on Thursday.  Out here lots of Mexicans, hang out outside Home Depot hoping for work each day.  In a last ditch effort to find a patient I showed up Thursday with flyers explaining my needs and leaving my phone number.  There were probably about 30 of them and they were all VERY interested (at the time).  But having dealt with people like this I knew I had to act right then or I may never hear from them, so I laid the seat back in my car and performed 4 screenings (I only had enough instruments for 4, about 15 more people wanted to be screened).  I thought I found 2 that might work, so I had Jason call the younger of the two (calculus is easier to get off younger people) and explain the situation.  He was game (after all I am paying $250).  So today I brought him into the office of a dentist in our new ward (we became fast friends), and took x-rays, unfortunately the calculus I had felt was not as heavy as I would have liked so I don't think he will work.  So I have 4 days to find another patient.  I know if I go back to Home Depot I could find another one, I just really wanted this guy to work out.  Oh well. 

Lastly, I had my 37 week appointment today.  I am now going in every week.  My cervix is softening, so that is good, and I am almost 1 cm dilated.  Things have progressed since my last appointment, but we still have time, thank goodness.  I am getting anxious to meet and hold our little guy, I am just really stressed about the whole birthing part...wish me luck!!

One last picture I forgot to post last time. Yes we really are this ghetto. We bought our bed frame from IKEA, and since we no longer have our ugly, but awesome rental car which was able to carry lots of big things, and we didn't want to pay IKEA $80 to deliver it...my genius husband ran across the street to Home Depot and configured this get up.  We got some looks, but it worked.  I am so lucky to have such a creative and handy husband. 

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Busy Busy

This post is a random selection of what we have been up to this past week. We are slowing getting completly moved into our apartment (pics will come soon), which is in Campbell, a nice little town about 8 miles from Apple.  Jason is really looking forward to his "commute", 16 miles a day on a bike doesn't sound like too much fun to me but he is looking forward to it. I am currently waiting for the delivery of our couches and dining room set. Tomorrow the movers come with all the rest of our stuff. Then next week we should get our mattress and recliner. After that we just need a TV, coffee table, end tables, lamps and our bedroom dresser to get in at IKEA. We avoided purchasing any furniture for almost 5 years of marriage so now we are hitting it hard and getting lots. I think it is fun, minus the large amounts of money being spent.

Jason is really liking his job. He is in the same area he was in last summer so he gets to see all his friends a lot. He is doing project management right now, and really likes it. In 6 months he will switch to another department of his choice, since he is part of a program where you get to explore different areas of the company to see where you fit in best. It is a really neat opportunity. He saw Steve Jobs yesterday at Cafe Macs, I don't know if he will ever get used to that, he is kind of like a celebrity.  Last night we had dinner with a couple other couples from BYU doing internships at Apple.  Apple now recruits at BYU, which they didn't do when Jason got his internship.  I like to think it has to do with the awesomeness of my husband and the other BYU intern from last summer.

Last weekend I went home again and left Jason here. I got to go to my cousin Mary's little boy Jake's 1st birthday party, and my cousin Stephanie's bridal shower. I also screened some patients for possible board candidates (neither of which are going to work unfortunately). Boards are coming up quick and I still don't have a patient but I'm not as stressed as I should be, partly because I'm stressed that if I'm too stressed it will cause stress to the baby...got it? Plus we have way too many other things going on to focus on it. I'm just praying it all works out.

Lastly, two weekends ago when we were up in Auburn/Lincoln, Jason visited a bike shop with his Mom, where he found the bike he has been wanting for me (for quite a while now) on a good sale, as well as a commuter bike for him. When he called me I promptly told him they would have to wait, and that diapers and wipes were of more importance right now. Well Jan really loves her son and this past weekend when I was up there she surprised us by getting us both of the bikes he was drooling over, as early birthday presents. I love mine, it is so cute. I haven't ridden much due to my current state, but I can't wait to get a little bike trailer for our little guy. Our apartment is right along the Los Gatos trail, which is kind of like the Provo River trail, so hopefully I will get out there and get my butt back in shape. Jason is excited for his bike because he can keep his nice bike in pristine condition and use this bike for his everyday commute to work. Jan is so sweet and we totally appreciate her getting them for us. Now for some pictures.

Jason on his first day of work, notice the project management book courtesy of the Santa Clara library, he is prepared.
My Mom, Chrissy and me at Jake's party
The birthday boy enjoying his cake
This is my friend Megan's adorable daughter Willow, she was so happy and fun!  I love her dark eyes and adorable cheeks!
Alyssa was really good at getting her to smile
Me and the bride-to-be Stephanie
Me and Chrissy
Steph and Lys
Oh I threw this random 36 week pic in, we are in the home stretch, I can't believe it!!!
Jason with his sweet single speed
Both of us with our new bikes

Me with my Bianchi Milano, isn't it cute!