Birthday Adventures

Don't worry. I'm alive. I just had a blogger vacation of sorts. Well... Not really one that I wanted. The day after my birthday I got sick. I'm pretty sure it was because of something I ate the night before, but it took me out of commission for a good couple days. Thankfully, I'm back to myself again... Minus the ever-increasingly-uncomfortable prego belly. haha. Speaking of which... For the last 4 or 5 days in a row this child had not stopped moving! It's constantly flinching and kicking and doing all sorts of weird things that makes my belly look like there's a legit alien in there. Ray loves it. He's convinced we've got a soccer player on our hands, and I'm convinced we've got a mini version of rambunctious childhood Ray coming along. I'm mentally preparing myself for a handful who I know I'll love beyond anything, but will also be the source of endless stories for the rest of my life. I suppose that's what being a parent is all about though. haha.

So my birthday. It started out at the midnight showing of X-Men Origins. haha. Don't judge me. Remember. I love Marvel comic book movies and this was no exception. It just so happened that the crew we made the Mario Cart video with was there too, so that was a nice surprise. I was pleased with the movie. I was also pleased when I got to finally go to bed when it was all over and by 3:00 AM, I was sound asleep.

In the morning, Ray let me sleep in. He knows me so well. I love my sleep and if there's an opportunity to get more, I'm all for it. So when I eventually got up and got ready, he took me out for lunch at Panera Bread, which is a delicious cafe type place that needs to be in Canada. Ray had some meetings to go to, so he dropped me off at DSW, aka shoe heaven. I found an amazing pair of glittery gold heels that were on sale and so it pretty much took away my agency and I bought them. haha. A girl can never have too many pairs of shoes. There's a poster in the store that'll back me up on that one.

Afterwards, I went to the nearby mall to kill a couple hours until Ray would be done, and I found myself inside a store full of baby things. I realized as I was looking at all the stuff that up until then I hadn't actually ever looked at baby things. It was a strange realization because I feel like I've already been pregnant forever and that looking at cute little things would have already happened. But it didn't, and as I was wandering around I realized how good of a job Ray has done at getting as much stuff as he can for the baby already. Turns out the only things we really need are clothes, a playpen, and diaper changing things. We've already got a bassinet, a crib, a high chair, a dresser, most all of the essential furniture. My husband is the best at getting things second hand. haha. All the power to him. It's saving us a lot of money! So that was an enjoyable experience. I think it made me even more excited to meet our little boy. Like I said before, I feel him in there constantly, so getting to hold him and dress him and learn his personality will be such a joy. And seriously. Newborn clothes are so adorably small!

I also found a place in the mall that sold bubble tea. Now. I LOVE bubble tea, but I have never had a successful experience with it anywhere outside of Canada, so each time I try a new place here I get nervous. This place looked like it had potential. An Asian dude was running the place and there were posters up that I couldn't understand. They even had lychee flavors, so that's what I got. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, I was disappointed. The drink was okay. It definitely had the right flavor, but it just wasn't right. It was too concentrated or something. The bubbles were also a disappointment. They were too big to fit in the straw. It's a problem I've never encountered before, but should have anticipated considering my previous experiences with bubble tea in the US. Oh well.. You live and you learn. Maybe one day I'll find a place that's as amazing as Dream Tea House...

By the time Ray picked me up, it was the middle of the afternoon, and I was beat! I just don't have the same strength I used to, so walking around a mall is far more taxing on me now. So surprise, surprise... I napped. haha.

That evening Ray had some sort of training meeting type thing to go to that he was asked to speak at, so he wanted me there to support him. I enjoy watching him speak in front of people to motivate them and help them do better. He's a natural at that type of stuff and people gravitate towards his enthusiasm. It makes me all proud and stuff to be his wife. haha.

There was an after party type thing at the big boss-man's house that we went to as well. This guy is living it up too. His house is huge, and we were only in the "basement". Complete with a pool table, ping pong table, bar, flat screen TV, and oh yeah... a theater room with two rows of reclining chairs. Yeesh. There was an x-box kinect hooked up to it too, so the boys were having lots of fun with that. I pretty much just chatted with other women that were there, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I think the tacos I ate at Chipotle right before the after party were what made me sick though. I'm just glad to be better again.

The day after my birthday was also the 17th anniversary of my own baptism. I had to triple count to make sure that number was correct because I still don't think I'm old enough to have a 17th anniversary for anything. But alas... I'm 25 now and it's definitely a real thing.

Sunday was Stake Conference here. I still wasn't feeling super great, but I really wanted to go. Elder Neal Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve was there to speak to us. It was definitely an opportunity I didn't wanna pass on. It was too hot for me to sit in the main area with all the people and it just made me feel even more sick, so I ended up sitting in the foyer on the couch for pretty much the entirety of the conference. After I didn't come back to sit next to Ray for a while, he came out to check on me and sat with me for the rest of it. I have the best husband ever. He shows his love for me so often and in such wonderful ways. I hope I show him as much appreciation as he deserves.

Since I was mostly just concentrating on not throwing up at conference, I didn't really get much out of it... I think I just need to be thankful that I was in the presence of an Apostle of the Lord, and I'm sure the spirit he has with him helped me more than I realize.

Afterwards, Ray took me on a drive up through the nearby mountains, which on any other day I would have loved. I appreciate the thought behind the gesture though. He knows how much I love mountains, and he even took me to a waterfall, which I love even more than mountains. But I wasn't feeling my best, so the drive was kind of painful since it was bumpy and it was stupid hot outside, and having the windows down offered no relief. A for effort though for Ray.

After a lengthy nap, I felt semi normal, and I knew that as long as I didn't push myself to do anything major I'd be fine. Good thing, because we'd been invited to dinner at the home Ray was staying at before he got his apartment here. The family is huge, but they're amazing. I guess the family is like a yours, mine, ours, and theirs type situation. It's a mixed family in every sense of the word, but they all seem to get along well and understand their place in that household. I was impressed. We stayed for a long time afterwards chatting and playing, and I think I needed that. Having something to take my mind off of feeling like crap is always a welcome event.

So now things are pretty much back to normal. Ray and I have to buckle down and get some paperwork finished up this week which will help the immigration process to move forward, and we'll go from there. Yeah... So things continue to be happy. I think this has been a relatively decent start to my 25th year. A quarter century as my loving husband constantly reminds me now. haha...