"I think I might be able to become a fan . . ."

Sweet words out of Rob's mouth the other day . . . a past post noted both in word and photo Rob's tolerance (I think that's the best word) of football. To my utter shock and amazement, the other day I was pleased to hear Rob subtly admit that he has actually enjoyed BYU football this season. Yea! . . . He did say he prefers to watch it from the couch (and after another year in the student section, I can't say I blame him)--by the end of the season he WAS watching away games on the couch, and enjoying it. He's also not a blue-bleeding football fan, but I'll take baby steps.

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I'd have to say Rob and I don't have a lot in common, in fact, I think our most common ground is agreeing to disagree. It works for us, and we're happy. At the same time, I do enjoy and am very grateful that he's made an effort to take interest and learn about things I like, and I, in turn, try to do the same.

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Another example - last Christmas Eve we stayed home and spent the day completing a 500+ piece puzzle and cooking. Rob's not interested in puzzles, but he did it for me, and even liked it more than he thought he would. I loved our first Christmas Eve together.

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I feel that Rob and I are pretty good proof that common interests aren't a necessity in relationships - just wanting to be together and spend time together is more than enough to help our relationship develop and progress. . . differing interests create great learning opportunities or at least some new experiences, an added bonus.

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Who knows, maybe one day Rob will actually learn the cougars' fight song . . . I can always hope, can't I? :)

Christmas Project

For the past three years I've been giving the same Christmas gift to the sibling I have each year (we rotate in our family). Growing up, we had a nativity story board set that my mom made when I was really young. I'm not sure I can keep it up four more times (and I don't even have one for myself yet), but I always feel pretty accomplished each time I finish a new set (it takes over 35 hours to get the set done). Sometimes I just sit and look at it for a while. :) This year, I actually finished the set in October (amazing, for me), which was a nice change from December the previous 2 years, so I gave it to Dominic & Jen Thanksgiving weekend to enjoy it for the whole season.

There are 12 boards (that are 11" by 11"):

This is Mary. This is Joseph.

This is the donkey gray. This is the town of Bethlehem where they have come to stay.This is a stable. This is a manger by the cattle stall. This is the Baby Jesus, the Savior of us all. This is an angel.This is a shepherd.This is a brand new star. Later would come the wise men traveling from afar. This is the very first Christmas that anyone did keep. In honor of Baby Jesus . . . shh! . . . He's falling asleep!

I have a job!

Okay, so it isn't the greatest thing in the world, but late last week I started working as a part-time secretary. Wahoo! I get about 32 hours in a week (including work on Saturday), so it'll bring some money in, and that's exciting in itself.

The good news is, it's also helped me get into more of a routine. I've actually been exercising more often (before I get ready for work), and I'm using my time better than I have for the past month or two. Juggling our one car is a little tricky, but things could be much worse.

I'm still waiting to hear on one PR job, but I'm not holding my breath.

The baby is kicking like crazy, and that's kind of fun (except when I'm trying to fall asleep). Two Sundays ago Rob actually felt it for the first time, and this past Sunday morning he was kicking enough that we were just watching my stomach bounce around with his movement. :)

"30, Flirty, & Thriving" . . . or not

For some reason that movie line has been running through my head quite often this week . . . probably because on Monday I entered my 30's (and I'm grateful that my life isn't like the 30's portrayed in most of the movie). Between that movie line, and thinking "holy cow, I'm gettin' old" running through my head, I've also been thinking God is kind and life is good.

Last Friday we had a little get together with friends I had yet to see since moving here--a bonfire and s'mores in the backyard.

Monday Rob only had one class, so he came home early and we had a laid back afternoon. Early evening Rob made me a dark chocolate birthday cake from scratch (yum!), and we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

And still, my birthday present (season tickets to the football games) have three more games to come-yea!

The move to Utah's been good. Rob's doing really well in school (and enjoying it). Though I'm not "thriving" by the world's standards (still unemployed), I've had more time to walk, read, and rest and I'm enjoying all of that plenty. This week I've felt the baby kicking many times a day, too--I'm excited for the day to come when Rob can feel him, too.

Stained Glass

Since I'm still unemployed, and sick of job hunting, I've decided to see if I can start selling stained glass suncatchers and luminaries. I've been making them for years, but mostly just for gifts. So for the past couple of days I've been masked and gloved (to keep fumes and chemicals from harming the baby) . . . fun times!

Here are photos of some of the the things I'm hoping to get into botiques and on Etsy, maybe. Anyone tried selling or buying on there?

Go Cougars!

For my birthday I decided that I wanted season football tickets to the BYU games. While in school and between my undergrad and grad school I only missed one home game the whole time (and that's because I was sick at home, watching the game on the couch). And, well, Rob's not a big football fan, but I figured if I asked for the tickets for my birthday, how could he say no?

Here's our first photo at our first football game together

And then there was a little coercion . . .

Actually, he's been very pleasant at the games . . . and I'm really grateful he's been a good sport. I guess it works pretty well, I go to all his superhero movies (well, most. . . I put my foot down at Hellboy 2). :)

It's a BOY!

I'm 18 weeks pregnant without a new doctor in Utah (we're still settling in and figuring everything out). Last week we went to an ultra sound studio in the mall to find out the gender.

Still lots of time to pass before the baby comes, but at least now Rob is ready to talk names (before we learned the gender, he didn't see the point).

Welcome to our (my) blog!

Just the other day Rob said, "Blogs are for people that THINK other people are interested in their lives." . . . So, here's me . . . hoping. Little did he know that about a month ago, right before we made the big cross-country move, I had made it a goal to get a blog going in September.

I'm surprised it's so early in the month and that I'm actually working on it (but then I'm also surprised that I'm still jobless, and that we're still living in my parents' house), really, it's probably procrastination, as there are many other things that I really do need to get working on.

For a while I've been a blog junkie--reading many friends'--my 9-year old niece even has a blog (though she hasn't updated it for a while), so it feels like everybody was ahead of me on this one.

I figured I'd get this going before the baby comes in the beginning of February--that way updates will be more more habitual already.

Happy reading!