Full Term - Come On, Baby!

This Saturday I will be in my 38th week of pregnancy. And no end in sight.

Well, the end HAS to be in sight, right? I'm not showing any signs of going into labor any time soon. And my doctor good as said that inducing probably won't happen until I'm 41 weeks, unless the conditions are right.

That sounds like I'm whining, doesn't it? I really have been blessed with this pregnancy. The worst thing that has happened to me was getting sick with bronchitis early on, and then a slight cold later. Other than that, I have been able to function pretty normal (or as normal as you can with a stomach that is 10+ inches larger than it used to be). As far as we can tell, our baby is as healthy as can be. I hope it stays that way.

After our appointment today, my husband and I (but mostly he) vacuumed out and washed the exterior of our car. Then we but the base for the car seat in, and the car seat itself. So if, perchance, I do go into labor, that's one less thing anyone has to worry about.

My husband has been wanting to go see a movie with some friends, but all of our friends tend to be busy when we're available. So I went with him to see one of the movies he wanted to see, "The Book of Eli." Now, I don't really do Rated R movies. Since I am LDS, our religious culture advises us to stay away from them, and for good reason. So my husband knew it was a big deal for me to offer to go with him. I actually really liked the movie--I didn't realize what it was about before we saw it. And I could see many religious parallels between it and my own religion. We even discussed how at one point, Denzel Washington's character was like Samuel the Lamanite (for those of you who don't know, in the Book of Mormon Samuel was a Lamanite (descendant of a man named Laman) who preached and prophesied about the birth of Christ to a wicked city from a wall. The wicked people didn't like what Samuel was saying to them, and tried to shoot him down from the wall--however, Samuel was protected by the hand of God, and none of the arrows harmed him). I'm glad of the movies my husband wanted to see, we saw that one. And really, if they just took out those "F"-words and toned down the violence a little, it would not have been Rated R.

Ahh, now I'm just rambling. Probably because I'm sleepy again, as I always am every few hours these days, heh heh. And yes, I know it will just get worse with a newborn baby--but I can't wait to hold, cuddle, and kiss that baby. It's going to be wonderful...

ぺらぺらぺらぺらぺら Rambling on and on and on and on...

I don't know that I really have much to post... My life really is not so exciting. ☻

For the last little while I have been trying to tackle projects with my new sewing machine. I love it, and I love learning new crafts. Since getting married, I have taken up beading jewelry, crochet, scrapbooking, knitting, and now sewing crafts. My husband is so supportive that every time I find a new hobby I want to try, he buys me pretty much literally EVERYTHING I would need to do that hobby professionally. Yeah, I'm spoiled.♥

The last couple of days have not been so productive. We visited my eldest sister last weekend, and got to see my little sister as well. After we returned home, I came down with some sort of weird cross between allergies and a cold. That knocked me off my feet for about a day and a half, and though I am more or less on the mend now, I am still exhausted and my nose switches between being stuffed up and runny. *sigh*

☂The power went off for a half-hour yesterday. THAT was exciting! It almost reminded me of being back in LC during those classic winter storms. Those were so much fun. You don't get that really out here. Plus they are so productive that they had our power back on in no time, lol. Although I must admit, some of the most fun I've had with storms out here were the summers we spent at Bear Lake, living in a tent. Now THAT was fun and scary, being in a tent in the middle of a lightning/rainstorm. ^_^

Hmmm... On a last note, just because I've been thinking of writing this up for a while, I thought I should point out what I know about my neighbors upstairs...
1. I know they both LOVE to sing, sometimes operatic, sometimes pop music, but many times Disney (I know I've heard music from the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Beauty and the Beast).
2. I know that they wake up early (about 6:00 a.m.) and go to bed late (anywhere from 2:00-3:00 a.m.).
3. I know that they really love watching movies on the weekend late into the night with the sound turned way up...or with surround sound.
4. I know the wife really likes to laugh...or gets tickle-tackled by her husband quite a bit, as her screeching laughter permeates our closet vent from time to time.

And I know all this having never met them face-to-face or spoken a word to them. And our walls are not thin. I still don't think they are as bad as the Heavy-Walkers we had before them. We've lived her for over 4 years now, and they are only the second set of neighbors we might classify as "annoying." (That's pretty good, considering there is such a high turn-over in these apartments every 4-8 months.

Wow, this post ended up being way longer than I intended. And it really is about nothing, isn't it? In case you're wondering, baby is doing well. Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks! No sign yet that this baby is planning on coming anytime soon, though..... ☆

Changes

It's amazing how life changes, and so quickly.

About a year ago, I was looking at life in Texas and being far away from friends. But things change, and we are not in Texas. It's a little bit of a relief, I think. I'm done with school (Master's Diploma is now hanging on our wall along with a Graduate Certificate in TESOL) and I don't know what to do with my time...

But the biggest change of all? February or March, when our first baby will be born. And that's one of the most life-altering changes I can think of.

For now, I'm trying to enjoy every moment I have with my husband. He is my best friend, and I feel so lost and empty without him. I suppose that's what makes me so clingy to him, but he's a part of me--indeed, my heart. I think a baby will only bring us closer together, although I know I will miss all the "alone" time we've had for the past 4 years.

4 years. We are celebrating our 4th Anniversary this month. And with each passing day, I know more and more that I couldn't have picked a more perfect man for me.

All the change that has happened, all the change that will come... I'm so grateful I get to experience it with him, my Eternal Companion.

Merry Christmas, everyone! And hold tight to the ones you love!

The Hurting Heel and Other Such Nonsense

Just when I thought I couldn't get more tired...

But I'm just about half-way through one of my classes. Yeah, the good news about that class is that it actually ends a whole month early compared to other classes at BYU, and it's my teaching class, so that should open up my schedule a LOT.

Just wish I had that time NOW to finish up my thesis! But that is coming along as well.

Funny story: It snowed again Provo (No, that's not what's funny). So there are these boots that I wear when there is a lot of snow on the ground because they keep my feet 100% dry, even though they aren't the most comfortable boots in the world. I've had them for 6 years now. Well, the day after I wore them, my left heel was KILLING me. And today? It's even WORSE. I say heel, but it's more toward the middle of the bottom of my foot while still being on the heel. And it's swollen now, too.
Interestingly enough, Sam is taking a Running Class this semester. And today, they talked about exactly what I was experiencing! Talk about perfect timing. The remedy?

.....Foot rub!! So I get a foot rub when Sam comes home today. :) Yep, I've got the best husband in the world. And I'm waiting for Wii Fit to arrive... (The UPS guy came yesterday while we were out).
You know what I think? Sometimes I wonder if some UPS drivers sit and watch your door. And then, as soon as you leave, they attempt to deliver your package--which they can't--so you end up with a note that they tried to deliver it, and it doesn't even say when they will be back! (Even though they are supposed to circle the next time they will attempt to deliver). With my luck? They won't even come today, even though I'm at home waiting. Does anyone else ever feel this way?

So that's what's going on with me. I am tired. I have so many things to do! All I want to do is sleep......

I Will Survive!

So, I survived my first week of teaching Japanese.

....Okay, so I only teach twice a week, but my nerves just about killed me. I feel so self-conscious, not sure if I'm making sense to the class. Can I really answer their questions? I may have graduated with a BA in Japanese, but I haven't had a Japanese class in nearly 2 years. And this is my first teaching experience EVER. Luckily, I have the best TAs in the world, and I managed to get by with only one student making a mistake with a written sentence on the board that I failed to correct (Granted, we were out of time, so I didn't have any time to really, but that's just me making up excuses).

And next week, the ELC classes start. And I get to do... the 8:15 a.m. class for five weeks, lol. I will survive!

I'm excited for my other classes, though, especially my Contrastive Analysis of Japanese and English. That should be fun! My Phonology class, though.... I got so lost on Wednesday with all the talk of dorsal sounds, high-low-back vowels (this is coming back to me, though), and how to describe words that I am very scared of this class. I have scraped by in my graduate career with As in everything except one class (where I got a B+), and this is the first class to truly frighten me. Because I just don't understand it. When I took my Linguistics Survey course 2 years ago, I'm pretty sure Phonology was one of my worst areas. *sigh*

But things are not going as badly as I thought. I have more time now, especially since I'm not working at night, and I'm trying to make sure I have "sacred thesis time." It still scares me that if I want to be done by April, my thesis has to be ready in 1.5 months. *slow, deep breaths*

I will survive!

毎クラス学生たちに日本語の音楽を聞かせる。まあ、私は米倉千尋さんが好きだから、ほとんど米倉千尋さんの歌ばかりです！誰かがすすめがありますか。もちろん、きれいな音楽のほうがいいです。

まだまだ緊張してる！来週のクラスはただ復習だけど、再来週は...

まあ、頑張らないと、ネ！

Not Enough

I am sitting here in my parents' living room wishing there weren't so many pressing issues hanging over my head, tugging and pulling for me to return to Utah. I just want to stay here a while longer...even though we've already extended our stay for 2 extra days.

I don't update this blog nearly enough, but I probably will in the future. Although...it is not easy when you're nearly certain that nobody reads it. But no one reads it because I don't update it, I suppose.

Sam and I will be moving out to Texas next September for him to do some National Guard AIT training. I will definitely update while we're out there.

For now...Happy New Year! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and that this New Year brings lots of happiness and many good memories.

I would write in Japanese, but I am using my parents' mac and I do not know how to manipulate it to type in Japanese yet. I'll have to figure that out one of these days.

A Little Bit Productive

I feel I've been lazy, but then again....I guess I haven't been.



I finally typed up my Thesis Prospectus--GO ME! But actually, the real celebration is that I have managed to sell 3 baby-hooded afghans on e-bay. Ones that I crocheted MYSELF! Yay! And I got some nice compliments about them. That boosts my confidence a bit. The afghans look a bit like this:

But I'm going to raise the price if I sell anymore. They just take so long to make... But they are fun. And it's hand-made. You can't beat that.

日本に行った友達は　まだ帰ってこない。ちょっと心配してるけど、きっとだいじょうぶ。　日本のぼうけんのことを　聞きたいな~!　写真やプリクラも　見たいと思う。　ふふふ、わくわくしてる!!

I'm excited to read my friends' blogs, too. Keep up with the posting, guys!