October16
Here are some updates:
* Last week I could feel the baby kick for the first time.
* I had my first ultrasound, and everything looks good and healthy.
* This baby girl is kicking and moving like crazy. For 30 minutes Ryan and I watched her jump on my bladder, and then she curled her legs up and kicked other random organs.
* Yes we have names, and no we’re not telling. Sorry 
Here she is sucking her thumb and then her profile. The ultrasound technician printed out about 10 pictures, but this is all you get.
She was really good (besides kicking me constantly) and moved all around so we could see her from every angle.
And, by popular demand…the belly shot. I didn’t have much to show before, but I will please the masses and give you this profile picture of me at 18 1/2 weeks.
October3
There is now a poll on that sticky note to the right. Guess if our baby is a boy or girl. We have two weeks until we find out, so guess soon!
September28
We are totally behind on our posts. Here is one leg of our summer adventure. Ryan was crazy and climbed over the safety railing and down to a cliff’s edge. He’s a mad man.
September28
After much back and forth, my work decided not to hire me back for my last few months before the baby comes. At first I didn’t know what to do with myself. I have been working since I was 15, and now I might never work again!?
I got over that pretty quick.
I basically have been goofing off since I got back this summer. I downloaded a bunch of old DOS computer games. It’s amazing! So old and cheesy. This one is actually a remake, so it’s pretty good:
The others are pixelated masterpieces:
I have been doing somewhat worthy things with my time, but who wants to hear about that, right?
September10
It didn’t seem completely real until we got this taken. The first thing we got to see during the ultrasound was our baby waving its arms around. It moves! It’s alive! Then it sat still for the picture. Our baby is due March 16, 2010. We find out October 16 if it’s a boy or girl (if the baby will cooperate of course).
July23
I have one week left of classes, and I can’t wait. This year at Hollins has been fun, but I am ready for it to be over. We are headed out to Ryan’s family reunion at the beginning Aug, then off to San Diego for a few days, then to my family reunion, and finally back home so Ryan can start school again. Hahaha, I love going to school for 6 weeks. Ryan is such a sucker.
We can’t wait to be back with all our friends.
June9
Ryan and I have been searching around Roanoke, VA for the past few months trying to find someone willing to rent to us for only 6 weeks while I go to school. No apartment complexes were accommodating, so we had to think creatively. We found a few motels, extended stay hotels, corporate housing, and vacation rentals. Our first trip to VA was very disheartening and disgusting. The weekly rental motels were something out of a horror movie. The “kitchen” area of the room had creepy little critters waiting to greet us. They were just hanging out on their backs with their legs kicking in the air on the linoleum floor.
Gag.
We ran out of there and decided to do some more searching for our next trip up. Last Saturday we had some good prospects lined up, and we struck gold. We found a beautiful, quite, serene, relaxing lake house that is fully furnished. The owner agreed to rent to us for just 6 weeks. There are 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a hot tub, plus dishes and a washer and dryer.
We saw this dream house in the afternoon and still had a few appointments. But even our next stop at a creepy man’s house could not sway us with the grand tour of his basement (that Ryan couldn’t even stand up in) with no walls in the “bathroom,” two nasty cats roaming around, and a sheet hanging up as a divider; his mom (yes he lives with his mom) tried to seal the deal with Ryan by scratching her boobs while she was smoking in our faces and giving us a wary eye. It was a tough call, but the lake house won.
We are so excited not to be staying in a skeevy motel for my time at grad school. This place will definitely help me as I take on my first creative writing class. Hopefully we can send more pictures of the place as we live there for the next month. Now all we need is to get our hands on some kind of boat. Anyone have a canoe? 
June2
My friend invited me and a few other girls over to do some ab exercises at her house the other day. We followed a 15 minute DVD routine called Ab Ripper X. It was intense! I love the burn when working out abs, and this routine provides serious burnage.
I have been doing the 15 minutes every other day for maybe 3 weeks now and can say there is a definite difference. Try it out. Who doesn’t have 15 minutes
I don’t own the DVDs, so I found the ab section of the video online; here are the links below:
Part 1
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2445079873095200471
Part 2
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6584463388003516309
May26
Someone told me yesterday that my old house from when I grew up is for sale. I checked out some pictures of it online. Way weird! Funny how things seem so big when you are little. Check it out: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/17-Meadow-Rd_East-Brunswick_NJ_08816_1105265479?mp=1
May21
Another summer at Hollins. Hooray for me. I am taking my first creative writing course this semester and a Tomboy’s in Children’s Lit. course. It is so nice taking only two courses a semester, and both classes are in the afternoon. I am going to be one lazy dude this summer. Here is my list of books for the semester:
- Little House on the Prairie
- Little Women
- The Secret of Shadow Ranch (the old and new versions)
- What Have You Lost?
- What Katy Did
- Deliver Us from Evie
- Caddie Woodlawn
- The Hidden Hand or, Capitola the Madcap (American Women Writer’s Series)
- Lost in the Tunnel of Time (Ziggy and the Black Dinosaur)
- Uncle Elephant
- Canto Familiar
- On the Fringe
- Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush
- I am the Messenger
- Bud, Not Buddy
- Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers
- Rattletrap Car
- Water Steps
- When I Was Young in the Mountains
- And whatever scholarly articles, last minute books, blogs or whatever my teachers decide fits the mood of the moment.
I only have 4 weeks to complete the list, and then I’m off.
