The Beautiful Bahamas

Peter and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary in style last month--we flew down to the Bahamas for three days and three nights. I'd been looking forward to this trip very much since the winter when we booked it. It was just the two of us who went--John was happy to stay with my family in Massachusetts while we were gone (he loves it there). I missed him terribly at first, but I got over it soon enough. It was a wonderful trip to a beautiful place and I've been wanting to document it here on my blog. So consider this Part 1 of what will probably be a three-part series!

We stayed in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, at the British Colonial Hilton, a big lovely hotel right on the ocean that looks like a grand castle from the back. The only disappointment was that our room faced the street instead of the water. Bummer!

I've always taken pictures of the interiors at the places we stay so that I can remember the trip better. This was our room:

And this was the hotel lobby. I snapped this picture wistfully on the morning we left, just before we got into the taxi that took us to the airport. Even though I was eager to get home to my little boy, it's still depressing when vacations end!

These were the lovely views from the balcony on our floor the first evening we were there.

Peter, checking out the view.

Don't these hammocks look very relaxing?

I took this picture down by the pool at sunset. Even though I'm a New Englander, I love palm trees and tropical places.

Next time, I'll write about one of the most famous resorts in the world...the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. It was an amazing place and I got some great pictures there. Stay tuned!

MIA...A Short Explanation!

Hi! It's hard for me to believe that my last post was a month ago. I don't think I've gone that long without posting on my blog ever since I started it about a year-and-a-half ago, not even when I was enduring the woes of first-trimester exhaustion this past winter. There are a lot of things I want to write about, I just haven't had any free time to do so. I also haven't had time lately to read my friend's blogs, and I'm missing that. I will be back soon to reading your blogs and writing on my own, if not this week, then next. It still won't be as frequent as normal, probably not until the end of summer. (But then my baby is due in September, so...we'll see what happens!) I hope you're all doing well and having a nice summer. I miss you! See you soon!

June 15th is a Special Day!

Today is our seventh wedding anniversary. I can't believe I'm old enough to have been married for seven years! I was 21, almost 22, at the time, and Peter was 23. It seems like so long ago now. We had just graduated from Penn together a month earlier. We got married in Boston, honeymooned in Prince Edward Island, and then moved to New Jersey and started our new life together as young married working professionals. It's been a good seven years (mostly!), and I'm looking forward to the next seven.

These are a few of my favorite photos from our wedding. Sweet memories!

We had a ring ceremony at our reception because none of Peter's family are members of the (Mormon) church.

The beautiful bridesmaids.

Cutting the cake. It was such a delicious cake!

Those crazy groomsmen!

How cute is this woman!?

New Moon Trailer!

This Made My Day!

I saw the official movie poster for New Moon for the first time today, along with the trailer. (Thanks Cheryl!) I'm one of those people who loved the series, so I'm looking forward to the movie, which comes out in November. I think the poster captures the essence of New Moon really well, and from the trailer it looks like the movie will follow the book pretty well. I have a little crush on that guy Taylor Lautner who plays Jacob. He's HOT!! So's Edward, of course.

Another thing that made me happy today? The weather forecast was wrong! Instead of rain and clouds it was sunny and beautiful, so we weren't stuck inside again. Sometimes, (often), the weather can make all the difference in the world, especially when you have an active little boy on your hands!

Summertime, and the Blogging is...Harder

Today I wanted to do a post about a fun day I recently spent with my friend Alyson and our 4-year-old boys at a place that we all love, but my carefully planned week didn't work out, so I didn't have the time to put the post together. John got a bad case of poison ivy, couldn't go to preschool, and has needed much more of my time and attention than usual, and I've been really tired due to sleeping troubles that have cropped up again. Needless to say, I haven't been able to get very much done at all this week! This has led me to think about summer, when John will be home more, and about how life in general changes (often for the better!) in the summertime.

These are my summer plans: relax, read books, and spend good quality time with John and Peter and my friends and family. I also need to get some projects done before the baby arrives in September. We're going on two vacations: two weeks at Cape Cod, Massachusetts in August and a couple of days in the Bahamas in June. And I'm probably going to be fairly tired from the heat and the last trimester of my pregnancy this summer.

In short, I know I won't be able to do blogging as much, so I probably won't be posting as frequently and checking friend's blogs as often. If you're one of my blogging friends, don't worry, I'll still be visiting you because I really do enjoy reading your blogs, it just probably won't be as often during the summer months.

I hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend to kick off what to me is the best season of the year!

A Little Q & A

We get a lot of catalogs in the mail, and one that I enjoy looking through is the Boden catalog, not only for the cute clothes, but also because on each page that has a model on it, a random question is asked of her, and it's kind of fun to see how the women answer. These are a few of my favorite questions with my answers.

1. What makes you feel glamorous: Wearing high heels and/or lipstick.

2. What's your driving style: Slightly aggressive and usually a little too fast (but I've never been pulled over!).

3. Recent discovery: Prenatal yoga. It's great!

4. I've never mastered: Cooking.

5. If I had a year off I would: Travel all over the place, read lots of books, and become skilled in photography.

6. Never underestimate the power of: your spirit.

7. I wish I had a dollar for every time I'd: made a fool of myself.

8. To feel better after a bad day: I like to lay on the couch, read whatever book I'm reading, and eat something sweet.

9. I'm told I look like: Uma Thurman!

10. I'd love to be able to: Paint beautiful pictures.

11. I'm surprisingly good at: Keeping my house clean and organized.

12. I'm notorious for: Not answering the phone.

There are a lot of other questions from the catalog that I like, but I'll do separate posts on them sometime in the future!

A Sure Sign of Spring

Ever since we moved to Connecticut three years ago in the spring of 2006, we've been greeted each year by what has become a sure sign of spring in our backyard. This lovely bush blooms in mid-April and lasts for about three weeks before returning to just a green bush again. I really enjoy it while it lasts, and every April when I see those tiny purple buds start to appear, I know that spring is in the air.


Can you see the bumble bee?

I love the combination of the yellow flower buds on the trees and the lavender flowers in front of them.

At just about the time the lavender flower bush is starting to wane, another flower bush picks up the pace and starts to bloom. This one is next to the front door. Fortunately, these vibrant flowers stick around until summer's end!

And finally, also at about this time, the big lilac bush that borders one side of our patio comes into bloom. The lilacs are simply beautiful and they have such a wonderful light scent. They're in bloom right now and I love them. After roses they're my second-favorite flower. I wish they could last all summer too, but they only stick around for a few weeks.

A few other signs of spring that I've been enjoying:

-My son John can once again wear shorts and sandals and go to the playground and climb trees and do all of those good classic outdoor childhood activities. No more being stuck inside!

-Great photo opps like this:

-The sunlight shines down through canopies of green leaves rather than bare branches.


-Mother's Day and the simple, sweet pleasures that it brings.

I hope you're enjoying the beauties of spring too!

Little Break

Hi everyone! I'll be back to blogging next week after taking a little break from the blogosphere this week. I've been tired and not feeling the greatest, plus I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with a lot of things to take care of, so I'm going to rest up and try to get those things done this week. I'll be back to posting and reading your wonderful blogs next week!

We're Having A...

BABY BOY!! We found out yesterday and I'm so excited! We had guessed that it was a girl because this pregnancy has been pretty different from my last one, but in the back of my mind I suspected a boy because we thought it was a girl, if that makes any sense. Everything looks healthy and normal with this baby, which is a relief. It's good that we're having a boy because John wanted a brother (he doesn't care much for girls yet), and we'll save a lot of money since we already have boy things. Plus I just love baby boys. I've been intensely curious as to what I'm carrying and it's so good to know now.

So far, I've gained about 12 pounds and my tummy is getting progressively bigger (duh), although I haven't had to start wearing maternity shirts yet, just jeans and pants. In the last two weeks I've started feeling the baby move, which is one of my favorite things about being pregnant. I've been tired a lot, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as the first trimester. My appetite has been BIG and my nose is always stuffy. My hair hasn't been looking so hot lately (not that it ever looks particularly hot) but my skin has cleared up pretty well. I'm 19 weeks now--halfway there!

Here are my "pregnancy progress" photos so far. I'll post more as the weeks and months go by. I have Peter take my profile picture every four weeks to track my tummy's/baby's growth. We did that when I was pregnant with John and it's really fun to go back and see the growth month-by-month.

8 weeks in January. Peter was traveling, so I had to take the picture myself. I did the best I could, but I still ended up headless.

12 weeks in February. There was more of a baby bump by this point.

16 weeks/4 months in March.

One more note: We don't know what we're going to name this baby! We had a girl's name picked out, but we're stumped as to what this child's name will be. I want to choose an original but still kind of classic name. Peter is letting me choose as long as he agrees with it. It's a fun challenge to have and I may need your help with it!

10 Random Things I Love

1. Clinique Happy perfume












2. Chocolate-covered strawberries. (Especially dark chocolate)

3. The Hallmark Channel. It has some great movies, and of course, my good old Murder, She Wrote re-runs. (Don't laugh at me! It's one of my favorite shows!)

4. Mitt Romney. Sigh. We were in the same church stake in Boston when I was growing up, so I've admired him from afar for a long time. I knew he was presidential material back in the mid-90s. I really did!


5. Colonial times in America A cool sign in Salem, Mass.

6. Lemonade. My favorite brand is Simply Lemonade. It's authentic, all-natural, and VERY good!

7. The Body Shop. Excellent-quality natural beauty products that are ethically made! Their Tea Tree Oil face wash has saved my complexion, and their orange Satsuma scent is the best.
8. Being organized

9. Ballet






10. Fireflies in summer

Easter Best!

We spent our Easter weekend up in Massachusetts with my family, and it was a good time! In the vein of high school senior superlatives, here are the "best of" moments of the weekend...

Best way we made lemonade from lemons...
-On Saturday morning when we were still home in Connecticut we were going to take John to the town Easter Egg Hunt. It would have been his first. But the weather wasn't very good, so we went out to breakfast at our favorite local restaurant instead (even though we'd just eaten dinner there the night before!).

The newest experiences...
-John decorated Easter eggs for the first time ever. I hadn't dyed eggs in many years myself. It was fun and kind of nostalgic. And MESSY!


















-John's had an Easter basket in years past, but this year he understood it all better and was excited about it. I think it reminded him a little of Christmas.

"Wow. The Easter Bunny is AWESOME."

-First Easter Egg Hunt! (Held in the family room. Yeah!!) John's likes the game of Hide & Seek, so he loved this, especially when he discovered that there were actual treats in the eggs.

Biggest thing to work on for next year...
-Learn how to open those tricky eggs!

Two biggest "Oops" moments...
-I didn't pack a maternity skirt because I thought I'd still be able to fit into one of my regular-sized skirts. I was wrong. I had to wear the skirt I brought with the zipper halfway down so that it would fit around my belly. Oops. Good thing my sweater covered it!
-I brought a huge jar of Jelly Belly jelly beans to share with everyone. The lid wasn't screwed on all the way when my brother Nathan picked it up. OOPS!


Best food...
-The potato salad and strawberry shortcake. I made up for the lack of solid food I've gotten in the days after my surgery and ate many servings of both! Sooo delicious.

Cutest Baby...
-My new nephew Rocco, five weeks old! I love him!

Me with Rocco, and Elizabeth with him (she's the mommy)

Best family photos...
-We took some great pictures of the three cousins/grandkids. I was tempted to stick my belly into the side of one of the pictures since there's a fourth cousin/grandkid in there, but I didn't.

-And the cute new family: my sister Elizabeth, Justin, and Rocco.

I hope those of you who celebrate Easter had a good one as well!

Recovering from Surgery

Yesterday at this time I was enduring surgery in my mouth while fully conscious, and it was not fun. I guess that goes without saying! Four implants were drilled and screwed into my gums, right up in the front of my mouth, two on the top and two on the bottom. The surgery was originally going to take place at the beginning of January, but when I found out I was pregnant it had to be postponed until the first trimester was over.

I wasn't able to have the anesthesia to put me out like we'd originally planned on since it's not safe for the fetus. Instead, I had several shots of Novocaine and was fully conscious and aware of everything as it was happening. I would have much preferred being knocked out if it were only me I had to worry about. The surgery was kind of scary and painful at times. But I'm relieved that it's done and that I'm on the path to getting the permanent teeth and hopefully beautiful smile that I've wanted for so long! (Some of my teeth never came in, so I've had a bridge for about ten years. Before that, I had a retainer with the missing teeth attached to it. Kinda weird, but it worked!)

The recovery is going well, too. My mouth is a little sore and uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt nearly as much as I feared it would. I don't even have to take the Vicodin that was prescribed; Extra Strength Tylenol seems to be doing the trick (plus anti-swelling medicine, plus penicillin). And for the next few weeks I get to eat a soft diet of smoothies, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and things that are cut up very small, making sure not to let it touch the front area of my mouth. That's going to be fun!

Anyhow, I just wanted to fill you in on what's going on. When the work is all done in a couple of months, I'll post pictures!

I Subscribe to Too Many Magazines

It's April and I've got the spring-cleaning bug! Partly because of that, I've been motivated recently to simplify my life in a number of ways. One of these is that I've decided to cut down on the number of magazines I subscribe to. I subscribe to way too many and it's hard/impossible to find the time to read them all. Organizing experts say to subscribe to no more than three. For now, I'm going to whittle mine down to five. Baby steps! These are the magazines I currently subscribe to:

1. Parents (a good parenting magazine with fun stuff for moms thrown in)

2. Cookie (an upscale (snobby) Manhattan-centric parenting magazine that sells practical things like $500 Burberry coats for your infant)

3. Good Housekeeping (I like it but I think I'm a bit young for its demographic...I don't really need to be reading articles about menopause and hormone replacement therapy yet.)

4. All You (a fun women's magazine that is the complete opposite of #2 above)

5. Time (it helps me to stay on top of the news--when I get a chance to read it, which isn't all that often. It comes every week, and some of the articles are long and boring.)

6. Family Fun (a good family magazine with crafts that I'll never do but some fun ideas and articles anyway)

7. Brain, Child (an intellectual magazine for mothers. Some of the articles are written by very liberal women whose viewpoints sometimes make me mad but also make me think. This magazine requires me to use my brainpower more than most of the others. And that's a good thing, right?)

8. The Ensign (my church's monthly magazine. This one's not going anywhere! It's by far the most valuable to me.)

9. Plus the free extras--like our alumni magazine and other magazines and newsletters for various organizations that we belong to (like AAA, which has some great travel articles)

So, I've decided that these ones are getting cut: Time (too time-consuming--no pun intended), Good Housekeeping (too old for me right now), and All You (too repetitive and basic). If I'm really missing one of them after awhile, I'll re-subscribe but end my subscription to another one. This leaves me with mostly parenting and family magazines, but that's okay because that's the stage of life I'm in right now. Aaaah, that felt good!

Do you have a favorite magazine? And are you doing anything to simplify your life this spring?