Our first project of the summer was to get our pool resurfaced. We ended up deciding on pebble-sheen and putting in a vacuum. It took longer, and cost more (
of course) than was planned. It looks much nicer, and is definitely easier to keep clean. We still have a few things that we need the pool people to fix up, and eventually we will need to redo the deck, and one of these days we will actually pull the weeds, but it's getting there. 
:)Over Memorial weekend we went camping with my brothers Taylor and Tanner, and Tanner's girlfriend Jenn. We arrived at the campsite late Friday night, only to find that all of the sites were taken (which we figured might happen). Instead we found a place off the road that jetted out over a valley that led down to the creek. We
set up our tents and crashed for the night. We woke to it starting to rain in the morning, so the boys got to work setting up the tarp. It ended up being quite a project since all of the holes were torn up in the large tarp we brought. Eventually we got a smaller tarp hung up, and we all huddled underneath there and ate some fruit and muffins for breakfast (since we couldn't have a fire). When we got up, we also were a bit surprised that the campsite we picked out was part of the forest that was burned however many years ago. It was still quite a pretty spot, and we were completely by ourselves, so it was still nice. It continued to rain on us all day long, so we sat underneath the tarp and played games. Luckily we brought along our emergency ponchos
to keep dry. The rain let up for awhile in the afternoon, so we decided to take a hike up to the top of a hill/mountain nearby. We followed a trail through the mud for awhile, which was quite strenuous since all of the mud we stepped in decided to come along for the ride, and ma
de our shoes weigh 3x as much. We eventually got to the top, enjoyed the view and decided to make our way back down the front side, thinking we wouldn't have to climb over as many fallen trees. Wrong. We also thought the section of prickly bushes was only for the first little bit down. Wrong. It was prickly bushes and fallen trees almost all the way down. It was quite treacherous and you had no idea where you were stepping, and so we (myself at least) would miss our footing and then fall in prickly bushes. Oh so fun. We did make it down just in time before it started raining again. Cooking dinner in the dutch oven was very difficult when it was too wet to build a fire. So we dug a pit underneath the tarp, and used coals. It took forever since they kept blowing out, but eventually we had a nice thoroughly cooked chicken and veggie dinner. After that we were tired and done with rain for the day, so we crashed for the night. The next morning the weather was bright and sunny, so we packed up the tents, and hung around camp for a few more hours, playing games and enjoying the weather, then we packed up and headed home. A short, quick camping trip, and a little frustrating due to the rain, but fun nonetheless.A few days after our camping trip, we got this surprise...
And shortly thereafter the nausea started coming on. I know it could have been worse. I think the most times I threw up in one week was maybe 5. It wasn't every day, in fact some days I would mostly feel fine and I would start to get a little nervous that something was wrong. But then the next day the nausea would be back full force and I was miserable. My 10-hour work days have been quite difficult. I get the worst when I get hungry, but it usually hits before I realize I'm hungry, and the last thing you want to do when you feel like throwing up, is eating. I'm no vegetarian, but meat has been much less appetizing to me these days, which makes it difficult to get enough protein. The worst has been the pre-natal vitamins. Within half an hour of taking them my stomach starts to hurt, and several times have caused me to throw up. The size and smell does not help either. My doctor had me try some whole-food vitamins that are smaller, and you take them more often. I bought them during my lunch at work, so I got back to work and took my first dosage. The smell when I opened the bottle was very over-powering and they were not as small as she promised. I had to take 3. I gagged on the second one and lost my lunch as I was heading into the bathroom. I threw up as I was opening the door, so it was all over the carpet outside the door, and somehow got spread all over the bathroom. As I was running to the toilet, I slipped in it and fell. As if that wasn't fun enough, everyone else was already back from lunch and saw the beauty, but of course they all disappeared when I got to work cleaning it up (although I don't blame them). Needless to say, I haven't taken them since. I feel like a horrible mother not taking my vitamins, but if I lose them AND my food, the baby is getting less nutrients, right?Luckily David has been patient with me, and my lack of cooking and cleaning the house. We have eaten out more, and he has picked up the slack with some of the cooking. Other days we just scrounge. I think today was the first time I cooked dinner in over a month. I have slowly been starting to feel better, and although I'm not 100%, I have a lot more energy and am not nearly as disgusted by food. I have gained a lot more respect for mothers now. Like I said, I know I haven't been nearly as sick as some people get (including my mother), and it has been pretty miserable for me. I try to be grateful that it's not any worse, and know that it will be worth it when we have our little baby.
We have recently concluded our trips for the summer, and I will update on those another time. This catching up takes a little while. Signing out for now...
