Testing. . .testing. . .

So this is it! Tomorrow is the day I am finally going to take my NCLEX. It has been a long time in coming and I couldn't be more nervous or feel more unprepared. I'm also nervous about having to drive there, which is probably a little silly since it is only an hour and a half away, but I'm worried I will get lost or have car trouble or traffic will be bad or something else will happen to make me be late for my test. If I am 30 minutes late then I have to reschedule and pay the 200 dollars all over again which would be a mess! I'm also worried that I will forget to bring the right paperwork and they won't let me in. I'm nervous about the test itself. What if I fail! What if I get sick and throw up in the middle. What if, what if, what if. . . All of these thoughts are racing through my mind and I know it is silly to dwell on. Whatever happens happens. I just hope everything goes okay and that I pass. Something rude though, this week I came down with a rude cold that I was hoping would go away by tomorrow, but everyday it just seems to have gotten worse. Jacob is going to give me a blessing tonight so hopefully I can be calm and not quite so nervous for tomorrow! Wish me luck everyone! I'm going to need it!

Braided Bread!

So here is how I spent my Saturday morning! I found some fun recipes online that I decided to try, and when I first saw this one my reaction was there is no way I could ever make that! Then I got to looking at the recipe some more and I said to myself, why couldn't I make that? So, I tried it and. . . ta da! It worked. Isn't it so pretty?

Here is a closer look at it!

It is a BBQ chicken braid. Actually the recipe makes two loaves and so I made one BBQ chicken braid and the other one I made into a pizza braid and they not only looked impressive, but they were so yummy! Jacob and I got stuffed and we still have enough leftovers for another meal. If anyone wants to try to make one the link is right here. http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/03/bbq-chicken-braid.html

I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part for me was probably just standing in the hot kitchen for so long! I get hot pretty easy these days so it doesn't help when I am standing right next to the oven when it is on!

I like to cook, but the hardest part for me is deciding what to make, and lately I've been in a cooking rut, sick of making the same old things over and over so I've been looking for new recipes to try and I'm so glad I found this one and tried it!

32 Weeks

Yay! I am now in my 8th month! Only 8 more weeks to go until we can meet this little girl! At my doctors appointment yesterday afternoon, my doctor said my tummy is measuring big (like he has said every single time) by about two weeks! If only, if only that meant she was going to come two weeks early! Although that would give me two less weeks to get ready for her arrival, but it would be fun! It is okay though, I will willingly put in the time so that my little Rachel girl will be healthy! In fact I would be willing to let her be up to three days late if it meant I got to go see Harry Potter in the theaters when it first came out! Although on the other hand if she was three days late there would be almost no chance of us making to trip to St. George to see our family for Thanksgiving, and I would much rather go to St. George than see Harry Potter in the theaters! That just goes to show how much I love my family, because I like Harry Potter a lot!

Today for some reason I have really wanted chicken noodle soup, so that is what I decided to make for dinner which is pretty silly because it is actually a pretty warm day for Monterey. It is about 65 degrees but it feels a little warmer because the sun has actually been out all day long which almost never happens here. So today on our warm day we are having chicken noodle soup and rolls inside instead of partying and having a picnic outside. Oh well, one day I'll get things straight (hopefully).

Today I have been especially wishing I was in St. George because it is my sister Caralee's birthday. I think it is especially lonely being away from family on birthdays! Phone calls just aren't the same as actually being there and getting to play and party in person!

Well I better go, it is time to go take Jacob to pt!

Pregnant pictures

Wow! My tummy feels so huge! I look down at it and it surprises me how big it is every time I look and it is getting bigger! I love this cute red shirt that I am wearing though! It was a present from Jacob's mom! It makes me happy every time I wear it. It reminds me of summer and picnics! Here is my tummy at 31 weeks and 4 days along.

So I finally made some pumpkin things! On Thursday to celebrate the birth of my cute new nephew Brigham Duke Keith, I made pumpkin pecan pancakes. It was my first time making them but they were a success! Jacob really liked them which I count as the real success since he doesn't generally like pumpkin stuff. Then last night I made some pumpkin chocolate chip bread which we didn't get to try til this morning because it was pretty late when it got done last night, and we had success again. Jacob says he really likes it, and I think it is delicious and according to my sister it is healthy for me because it has the pumpkin in it which is a vegetable! Awesome! Well I better get going because I have to teach at the Relief Society meeting our ward is having today and I am super nervous! Wish me luck! I really don't know what I am doing!

Life at 31 Weeks

Yay! I am 31 weeks along! My countdown has finally reached a single digit of weeks! Only 9 more weeks til my due date! I'm so excited to see this little girl! I'm also getting a little anxious! I've never been mom before! What if I don't know how to be one? I keep having these dreams that I have had my baby and that I either forget to feed her for days or I forget that changing diapers is something that moms are supposed to do. I hope I will know how to be a good mom to my little Rachel girl!

This week our baby weighs 3+ pounds and is probably about 18 inches long. She gets the hiccups almost everyday and I think it is so cute! Something I think is not so cute is that she has started kicking up into my ribs which is so uncomfortable! She is definitely starting to have certain times of the day when she is more wiggly than others. She always gets really wiggly between 8 and 9 at night which I love because then Jacob can feel how wiggly our little girl is.

I am getting so excited for the holidays coming up! (I would have said I was excited for the change in seasons, but the seasons don't really change here in Monterey.) I have been wanting all things pumpkin, but alas I have not had anything yet. I was told that Target had pumpkin spice kisses and that sounded so good to me, I had to go and check, but was painfully disappointed to find that there were none at my Target yet. I did buy a couple of cans of pumpkin to make something yummy with today though. I'm not exactly sure what to make though because Jacob is not the biggest fan of things with pumpkin in things which makes me sad because I don't want to make a fun treat that he won't even like or eat. I guess I'll just have to make some really yummy treats and convert him to liking pumpkin!

Jacob only has 3 weeks til he takes his final speaking test, and 4 weeks until he takes his listening and reading tests. His teachers have been piling on the homework trying to prepare him for the test, but I think what they are doing is just making him (and me) more and more sick of Korean! It will be nice when his tests are over with and he won't have to have so much homework! I love that boy of mine! He is just so good to me! He always tells me how cute I am even when I feel very un-cute! I'm not sure how I got so lucky to get him as a husband, but I couldn't have asked for anyone better!