I've been neglecting my blog

There are just so many more things I'd rather be doing than updating my blog. Like playing with this little one!

We've done some pretty fun things lately. Evie tried avocados, and loved it.

Figured out how to open the wipes.

And spent a weekend of two firsts at once: Camping at the beach

We had a ton of fun at the beach and Little Girl *LOVED* it. She couldn't get enough of it. Just like her mom. :)

I am boring right now

So right now, my life is pretty boring. I wake up with Evie, play with her all day and then go to bed and do it all again. I've had no motivation to do anything crafty or try to finish organizing my craft space downstairs. Currently it's a mess and I just can't seem to get motivated to do something about it. I think a large part of that comes from my tiredness (all I want to do is sleep... don't judge). And part of it comes from the fact that I just haven't figured out how to balance being a mom and loving on my little girl with the day to day upkeep on the house. Currently, the house gets progressively dirtier and dirtier until Matt starts really complaining about it or we have someone coming over and then I clean like crazy. I look at all the other moms who seem to have it all figure out and wonder how they got there. Part of me thinks I'll never get there and I'll just have to live in a dirty house, but part of me thinks there's some secret that I'm missing. Oh well, I suppose I'll figure it out eventually.

On an unrelated note, I noticed I haven't posted any recipes lately and thought I should share this one (it's a good one too!) that I got from my Uncle Scott. I love this salad! I would never have thought they herbs de provence would work in something like this, but it does. It's really scrumptious! I know you'll love it!

Avocado Black Bean Salad

Juice and zest 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
1 tsp herbs de provence
1/4 cup olive oil

2 avocados coarsley diced  (make dressing first, add avocados first to prevent browning)

1 - can black beans
1 - can whole corn
Drain and rinse  beans and corn. Allow to drain well.  ( should be as dry as possible)  Add to dressing.

1/4 to 1/2 red onion, sliced as thin as possible. Cover with water in shallow bowl, add 2 tbsp sugar,stir,let sit for at least 30 min. Drain,bot don,t rinse, fold into the rest.

 

PPD

So, at the risk of over-sharing (some people say I have a problem with this), I wanted to share with you my struggle with post-partum depression.

Around the first of the year, I was diagnosed with post-partum depression. The atmosphere in my house had not been good since I had the baby. I am NOT a crier. And yet I found myself crying all day long. And not just a few tears, I'm talking about body-wracking sobs accompanied by panic attacks and wishing I could give my baby away. I was not instantly in love with this little person who entered my life and I was definitely not sold on the idea of motherhood. And all of that made me feel so guilty that I cried all that much harder. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want to hold the baby. I fed her out of obligation (and Matt's persistent "nudging"), and I had trouble sleeping aside from the fact that baby girl never sleeps any way. In short, I ceased being able to function. I just felt so sad and helpless all the time and nothing anybody said could change that. And on top of everything, I was completely exhausted.

I'm on medication now and it's starting to get a lot better. I don't instantly dissolve into a puddle when I can't get Baby Girl to stop crying and I feel like I can handle my life now (mostly). It'll be a few weeks before the drugs fully kick in, but I feel good about the decision to call my doctor and get some help. I was choosing to be happy, even if the happy took a little while to kick in.

And the hero of this story is Matt. If he hadn't been there, I'm not sure both Baby Girl and I would have made it. He made sure I ate, bathed, put on clean under-roos, and took Baby Girl most of the time. If I wasn't feeding her, she was in his arms. He did everything and never complained once. Now I know why it is that Heavenly Father says that children need a mother AND and father. It's because some of us can't do it alone. I also have a greater respect for single parents. Their lives are rough.

All in all, even though I'm still exhausted, can't seem to get things done around the house and I generally feel like I'm trying to climb up the down escalator, I'm ok with it. I realize that this is just a phase and I'm trying to focus on the positives, rather than all the things that suck.

And now I can't seem to kiss Baby Girl's face enough (which she hates).

Photo by jadesweetdreams

Lack of posting due to lack of pictures

So I hate writing posts and not have pictures to go with them. I am a visual person and half the time I just like looking at pictures people have taken. Now, we've been remarkable busy the past two weeks, but believe it or not, we did not take ANY pictures!!

Our friends in Charlotte invited down for an Independence Day party and we were there for a long weekend! The party was fun, but I've developed some pretty intense allergies to EVERYTHING since I've been pregnant including dogs. I've never had a problem with dogs before in my life (other than not particularly caring for them as them jump all over you and lick you all the time), but the weekend was miserable due to the presence of a very large boxer in residence. Bella (pronounced in the spanish version: Be-ya) is an incredibly well behaved dog and I generally like her, but I had a running nose, congestion and itchy eyes the whole weekend. Top that off with a killer headache the day of the party and the weekend was pretty long.

Any way, we left their house on Tuesday and on Thursday night we left for Wadesboro. my father-in-law got married last weekend and it was the same story. The house is old and there are dogs there as well. It was great because the weekend was filled with family we don't see often, but between the allergies and lack of central AC (only window units in a ginormous house doesn't quite cut it) and the general stress of getting ready for a wedding made the weekend equally long.

And the whole time, we never got our cameras out! Any way, I'm recovering from seeing HPDHP2 this morning at 2:50 AM. Ugg... I am not as young as I used to be.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am so grateful for so many things this year! I'm thankful for my family, for our home, our jobs, for living in a country with so many freedoms, for my education, my kitty, the nice things I have, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This year for Thanksgiving Dinner, it was just me and Matt. We had baked salmon, with arugula salad, mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, roasted sweet potatoes and beets.

For dessert we had an apple and pear galette. I got the recipe for the galette on allrecipes and it was pretty good. My crust was a little dry and crumby, but it had a good flavor. Click here for the link to the recipe. I added some sugar and salt to the crust to give it more flavor. I also used pumpkin pie spice instead of the spice mixture (because cardamom was 10 bucks for a little bitty thing!). I just realized that I forgot to add the brown sugar in the mixture, but I didn't miss it at all! I also brushed the crust with some egg whites (because I had some left over from something else) and sprinkled the whole thing with a little sugar in the raw. Any way, it was Matt approved which for a pastry is incredible! Try it! You'll love it! Here how it turned out.

I survived!!

But, just barely. The concert was auh-mazing, the cruise was unbelievable and the surgery was awful (but necessary). I've only recently come off of the narcotics (which are frustratingly mind-addling. I think I may have had the same couple of conversations with Matt five of six times. Sorry honey.)

I'm in the process of sorting out our pictures, but here are my favorites from all three events. :) More to follow soon (most likely).

•  This was the beach we went to on St. John. By far, the most beautiful place we went on the cruise

•  Muse. Love it.

• This was taken soon after waking up. Considering what I looked like after waking up from my last surgery, I'm looking pretty hot!

I am NO longer depressed!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got a phone call from the lady at A Helping Hand and they offered me the fellowship position!!!! Hurray! I can't even tell you so very excited I am right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I think the gratuitous use of exclamation points might help though) It is such a relief to finally have employment prospects. And employment prospects that are pertinent to my field as well!

I just can't believe that I'm getting a real-person job! I'm just so happy!! :) Now I am going to celebrate by buying new work clothes (as it turns out I only have one pair of dress pants that fit). Hurray for me!! :)

On a totally unrelated noted, I think that all cities should install a "fast lane" in all stair wells.

I am depressed

I'm waiting to hear back about a job and the suspense is killing me. I'm pretty sure I got it, but still I'm nervous. Ugg... I think I need chocolate, ice cream *and* chic flick therapy. Hopefully, my fate will be decided by tomorrow or Monday at the latest. I really hope it's tomorrow.


*update* - I decided to go with retail therapy today instead, although I think I'm going to indulge in some milkshake book therapy in a second as well...
 

I've been robbed!

No, really, I was robbed! Matt got a sweet reward from RedHat for doing a great job to the tune of 500 dollars at amazon. I know right!? Apparently, he saved the company he's working for from certain doom, so I guess it was worth it. :)

Any way, he asked me if there was something I wanted. I thought about it and decided on a Kindle. I have been going back and forth on the e-reader fence and I can see pros and cons for both, like a Kindle won't have that musty smell that old books have and it won't be as easy to flip through pages, but I can bring several books with me (including my scriptures which weight a ton) in one convenient package.

So, we ordered it on Monday and it was supposed to arrive at my parent's house yesterday, as I'm visiting them for two weeks. The driver delivered the package at 2:47. I went out to check at about 3:45 and it was gone. We thought maybe it was at a neighbors house, so I walked around and checked. My mom called her friends to see if they have seen anything, but alas, my kindle was no where to be found.

I called Fed-Ex who had the driver drop by our house to make sure he delivered it to the correct address, and called amazon. Luckily, because I had gone through a lot of terrible muzak on the Fed-Ex phones, amazon said they'd ship me a new one right away. It was pretty painless and the people I talked to on the phone were very sympathetic.

This morning, I filed a police report. It's the first time I've ever done that. Weird. And I did it online. Weirder. I chatted with Officer Ryan Phillips of South Jordan's finest about the details, and that was that. I doubt they'll find it, but both Fed-ex and Amazon suggested that I file a report.

I wouldn't think my parent's neighborhood as being sketch, but apparently we live on the outskirts of polite society (read dripping with sarcasm).

Blogging hiatus etc.

Not that I've been a particularly consistent blogger, I will be taking the next two weeks off. Firstly, because my grandmother is not doing well and I'm going to the cold white north to be with my family and secondly, because it's our five year anniversary and we're going to Las Vegas for a full week.
However, I do plan on blogging about my Vegas trip when I get back. I want to find some funky (and cheap!) places to eat while we're there so we don't break the bank! I'm really looking forward to our vacay. It's been a long time since Matt and I went somewhere without visiting or being with family. Not that I have anything against our families, but it is nice to get some one on one time with the one you love without many distractions!

In other news, I think I may have found a new hobby. I have really enjoyed making and arranging floral designs. I was in the store the other day, looking for and buying flowers for my sister-in-law's wedding when I ran into a friend who was also looking for flowers. We chatted for a while and eventually, we worked out a floral arrangement for her coffee table! I then went home and made this.

•  

It's the groom's boutonniere. Her colors are black and white and she wanted something fairly simple, but still have some pizazz. I think the feathers really help with that. Let me tell you though, that floral tape is sticky stuff! And it's not actually sticky! Craziness! Any way, when I make some headway on the bouquet, I'll post it up here as well. She wanted peonies (which are gorgeous) and I picked out some beauts. I'm really excited to see how they turn out.

Alright, now I have to stop procrastinating the pre-vacation house cleaning.... *grumble*

Blogging as a form of procrastination

Now that I'm all learned and everything, you'd think that I'd have plenty of time to blog, but it turns out I'm not as motivated to check in on my blog when I don't have other, less desirable things to do. Hopefully this will change, but I'm not holding my breath. I've been look for jobs and there aren't as many as I thought there would be and I wasn't hopeful when I graduated. I've finally decided on a course of action so when people ask me what I'm going to do with my life now that I've graduated I can do more than have a funny look on my face as I tell them I have no clue what I want to do. I'm going to work for a few years and then apply to graduate schools in a health field (most likely public health or nutrition but I still really haven't let the PT dream die yet). But my plan requires me to actually be gainfully employed, so that is my mission as soon as I finish my project in the lab

Yes! I know what you're thinking! But Teri, you're not going to school anymore. Why are you still working (for free I might add) in that lab? That's a good question. I think I'm a glutton for punishment. Part of me really enjoys the seeing-the-results part of lab work, but everything that leads up to it (pipetting, calculating, labeling etc) is incredibly dull and tedious to me. But, apparently I'm an anomaly in the lab world. My sort-of-supervisor was introducing me to a few other coworkers and was explaining to them that she was pleasantly surprised that there are still people who have a strong work ethic (which is a term I would never apply to myself. I have great ambition accompanied by a dismal lack of follow-through) because even though I have nothing really forcing me to be in the lab, I returned to finish the project I was working on. They were mostly surprised that I wasn't getting paid and still came back. Any way, I (hopefully) finished my last assay on Friday and all I will have to do is come in and analyze the data. And then I will be done. Woo!

In other exciting news, my niece Eleanor is the most beautiful baby ever. I'm sure your nieces/nephews/kids have great personalities, but my niece Ella is the most beautiful ever. Period.

Update: Fair, Friends, Fun, & Family

So, I have been a bad, bad blogger. However, in my defense, I am finishing my final semester of my degree. I have a lot to do!! So, in the spirit of saving time, here's an update on everything that's been going on lately!!

• Fair: I went. I ate. I won!! :) I only went twice this year (kind of a bummer), but we had fun! I went with Megan and Greg and then again with Matt. In exciting news, I entered a candle into the state fair craft competition (in the rubber stamping, miscellaneous division) and I won second place!! I was really excited!
• Friends & Fun: We've had a plethora of house guests in the past month! We had our Charlotte friends come and visit for Halloween. We had such a great time! And one of our friends used her costume to tell us that she was preggo! Congrats Scarlett!! Last weekend we had our Virginia friends come visit and in the process we made new South Carolina friends! It's been so wonderful to have the space to have everybody over and even more wonderful to have the company! (And looking over this past paragraph, I have realized that I'm an exclamation point junkie. Sorry. No more exclamation points for the rest of this post. I promise.)
  
• Family: I'm an aunt again! (I'm sorry but I couldn't not use an exclamation point) My sister had her beautiful baby girl yesterday. Eleanor Ruth Wheatley was born 8 lbs 6 oz. I went up to see them yesterday and had a wonderful time seeing their family grow.

I don't have access to all the pictures yet, but as soon as I do, I will upload them. It's been a crazy month and I know it will only get worse until the end of exams, but I will make it. I am really excited to graduate in a month and two days. Wish me luck!!

Bad news then good news

So, Matt recently "lost" his job as level one support manager at RedHat. I put quotes around lost because he actually stepped down from the position due to differences with his boss, but all the same, they gave him 4 weeks to find another job within RedHat and then after that, he would be out of a job completely. Well, that occurred about 3 weeks ago, so we were starting to get a little anxious about not having income. We had some stock options etc. that we could've lived off of for a little while, but not for too long. Any way, today we got word that Matt has secured another position within RedHat. It's been a possibility for a while now, but today we got word that it was going to happen! I cannot express the emotions that I have felt and that I'm currently feeling. It's a terrifying thing to know that your income isn't always a constant. I am so grateful for this position and I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father who has looked after us and protects us. I am so grateful for everything He gives us, especially this job in the area (the other big possibility was a job in California). While I'm sad that I don't get to move to California, I'm relieved and happy that we've found something here. Any way, here's a reminder that anything could happen at any time and that you shouldn't take what you have for granted. Thanks to any of you who had been praying for us. I know that it helped.

Well, I've got to run to class! I just wanted to share the news!!

Graduation cannot come sooner

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like everybody else has all of these wonderful hobbies and activities, and all you ever seem to do is study? I am definitely having one of those days (especially after that awful biochem test Thursday that I studied about 45 hours for over the course of 4 or 5 days). I just can't figure out how to balance having a life with school. The two cannot possibly coexist. I'm going outside.

photo courtesy of graphjam.com

Spring Break : New Hampsire

*note: I'm sorry this has taken so long, but I seem to be getting busier and busier everyday. Bleh.

Once we were in New Hampshire, we set about deciding how to surprise our nephews Zach and Ryan. Adam and Jenny didn't tell their kids we were coming so we could surprise them when we got there. We ended up deciding on hiding behind their couch and then popping out and shooting them with nerf guns when they came downstairs. Jenny got a few pictures! It was great, at first, they boys weren't sure what was going on, but then it clicked! It was hilarious!


We then accompanied them to scouts that night and caught up with them and the kids. The next day, Adam had the day off from work, so we played outside in the snow. We made snowmen and had snowball fights with the kids! It was great!





The next day, we went back into Boston and went to the museum of science with the kids. We stayed for a while and then Adam took us back to the airport. It was great to see them and their kids. I haven't seen their whole family in a long time and I couldn't believe how big Ryan, Zach and Jessie were! They were so sweet and rambunctious! And of course it was lovely to get to know Wesley and Bryce better. It makes me wish that our families lived closer together. So, spring break was good and busy! Now, I'm going to go about keeping my head down and pushing through until the end of the semester. Wish me luck!!

Adventures in Paintland: The Room Saga (part deux)

This week is spring break!! I am ecstatic to have this time off. With all of this free time on my hands, I launched straight into project-mode. When we first bought the house, we bought a bunch of paint (because I couldn't stand the purple that was on the walls). We painted two rooms but then lost steam.

So, when spring break came 'round, I busted out the paint cans. Originally, I bought a blue-green paint for both the bathroom and the bedroom, but I decided that would be boring and re-purposed some tan (that was meant for another room) and decided to do two colors in the bedroom. We did tan on three walls and one accent wall with the blue-green color. It looks awesome.

And so, continuing in my effort to show more pictures of our house, I give you: the bedroom.

Late night ponderings

I hesitate to write this post, but I don't really have anything else to do. (Well, that's not true. I could always study. HA! yeah right!!)

Any way, I was wondering, why do guys slap each other on the bum to say good job? Why can't they just high five or perform a manly fist bump? I can understand why they don't want to hug (although I don't understand why hugging is such a girly thing to begin with), but why the butt slap?

Also, have you ever noticed that girls almost always instinctively walk through doors before guys do? If guys and gals arrive at a door at the same time, usually the girl will open the door (that is, of course, unless the guy was brought up right and opens the door for her) and walk through first. I'm pretty sure no one ever told me I was supposed to walk through a door first. So where did I learn this behavior? Also, is this a "Southern" thing? If I had been brought up in The Great North, would I still walk through doors before guys?

And finally, corn chowder is the most delicious of all soups. The end.

Image courtesy of bn.com

Things I suck at

After having reviewed several of my older blog posts, I have decided that I suck at proof-reading. I think I would be a terrible editor and it's a good thing I'm not an english major. That is all.

KKC

I am crazy. Certifiable, if you ask me. I decided a few days ago to run a race. And not just any race, mind you. I ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this spectacle, let me enlighten you. The Krispy Kreme Challenge, or KKC for short, was thought up by some drunk NCSU students a few years ago. They thought to themselves, wouldn't it be fun if we were to run from the belltower on campus to the Krispy Kreme two miles away, eat one dozen glazed donuts and then run back!? Well, needless to say, their inebriated idea came to life. 12 students ran it the first year. This year, in it's 5th go-round, more than 5000 people ran the race.


There are two categories that you can run the race in: Challenger (in which you have to eat ALL 12 donuts and then run back in under an hour) and Casual (in which you can eat as many donuts as you want, 12 being the limit, and finish whenever you can). I ran in the casual category. (I'm crazy, but not completely without some sense) I ran, ate on donut, then ran back. I finished the race in one hour and 22 minutes. I think I did alright for someone who hasn't run on a regular basis for a couple of months. :)

You can see the results here: http://www.krispykremechallenge.com/

People go all out for this race. They wear costumes and hats and even paint their bodies. It's craziness. This year I saw:

• people with inflatable tubes around their waists that were painted like donuts
• someone dressed as a cup of coffee
• a gorilla
• a viking
• several Evlis' (long live the King)
• Superman
• Supergirl
• Wonder Woman
• a team that ran without shirts and had painted letters on their chests to say Krispy Kreme
• someone that had a fake donut dangling in front of their head
• pirates
• pirates in a shopping cart
• guys in suits and tuxes
• girls in prom and wedding dresses (modified of course)
  
• and so many more
  

ESPN even covered the race. I don't know when the footage will air, but I'm sure it will be entertaining. The reporter covering the race actually ran it in his suit. It was pretty cool.

This was my very first road race and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. Yes, I am not in shape and had not trained whatsoever for the race (having decided 3 days prior that I would do it), but I had so much fun!! And the post race high was incredible! I am definitely hooked. I've been thinking I might eventually work my way up to running a marathon!! I told you, I'm crazy. :)

Snow? In Raleigh?!

As some of you are aware (having actually lived through the experience), it snowed today! School was canceled and all was right with the world! :) Truman actually ventured out into the snow. He got as far as the edge of our grill before turning tail and coming back inside. He wanted so badly to be outside, but couldn't stand being in the cold, wet snow. It was really funny to watch!! Here are some more pictures of our house in the snow. It's our first snow in our first house! (I know that it's super corney, but I'm excited. Don't rain on my snow, ok?)





I had some friends come over and we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix while I made cinnamon rolls. The movie was great! I cannot say the same about the rolls. They tasted fine, but were hard as a rock. I'm just not gifted as a baker. Oh well.

And, as promised, here are some pictures of our newly rearranged living room. I realize that I haven't posted too many photos of the inside of our house since we've moved (thank you Rachel) and so, occasionally, as the rooms are cleaned, I'll post some pictures of the house. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the living room (Husband and cat included).