Cool Discovery in the Garden

Yesterday as I was finishing up putting some organic soil in my flower garden when I encountered the strangest thing. I dug up a section of soil, and with it came a huge bee! This was seriously the biggest bee I've seen in a long time. It couldn't fly, so I managed to get it onto my shovel to take over and show Scott. Then I put it out on the grass. I went back to digging, and when I did, I found 2 more bees! Crazy! They were down under the dirt. I've never seen this before. That time, Scott was nearby so he came over and looked, and I ran in to get my camera. I am now trying to figure out what kind of bees these are. I think it's between a bumblebee and a carpenter bee. If anyone knows based on these photos, feel free to let me know!

Nearing the End of the First Trimester

Well I am now 13 weeks along, and I am looking forward to the end of the first trimester, which is officially after the 14th week. So confusing, I know. I am still learning. Anyway, this morning I was hit with some morning sickness and I decided to stay home for the morning. I am going to head into work in a few minutes, and thankfully I am feeling a bit better now.

Yesterday I went into Burlington Coat Factory to check out their "Baby Depot." WOW do they have a lot of stuff in there! It was fun to look through everything, but it was also overwhelming. I haven't the slightest clue what I'm going to need, other than a crib, changing table, and some clothes... Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit, but I definitely need some help on figuring out what the essentials are. I am thinking we will register at the Baby Depot and at Target, since they both have a lot of great stuff. Although, I am a little frustrated that practically everything is made in China. I don't want lead going into my little baby's mouth!

Well anyway, I still don't look very pregnant, although I want to start taking photos because I want to compare the various stages. I guess I'll sign off for now. Nothing else very exciting to report here, but feel free to post comments on what some of the "essentials" for having a newborn.

Gardening

Today I spent some time working in my flower garden. I am determined to not let it go unattended like it did last year. So I've been adding some organic top soil to the current soil, and then I'll be putting some fresh mulch. I've also moved a few plants and been pulling out a lot of weeds. Here are a few photos of how things are going so far:

Nursery Update

Well I decided that the best way to make my decision was to order something from each set so that I can see the colors in the room. It's too hard to tell online. Plus, I can return the items right to a Target store, so I don't have to worry about shipping back what I don't want. So, once I get the items I'll let you know what I've decided! Scott likes both sets so it really comes down to the color scheme and which one I like better...

Nursery Options

So I am starting to think about how to decorate our baby nursery. I have been thinking of an ocean theme, but I'm open to other ideas. We already have the room painted a nice aqua color - perfect for a boy or girl. Since I can't get the photos into my blog, I'll link to my top two favorite bedding sets. Please comment on which you like better!

Ocean Set

Safari Set

Sunny Days

I love sunshine. I love warm weather. This week, we've had both. We started the week a little cool, but then each day it got warmer and warmer. It topped out yesterday with 75 degrees!!! Yes, on April 18th in Bangor, Maine, we had 75 degrees. That is insane! Scott and I took Mia and Moxie for a walk up the road across the street, and they had a great time. We were both sweating because it was so hot, and the dogs were panting and couldn't wait until they got to the stream. The only bad part was when they met some other dogs near the end of the walk and it became very noisy because of all the barking!

Anyway, today is not going to be as warm, but it is still sunny and nice. Mia and Moxie are both outside right now and they are totally content. Ahhh, summer! I love it!

Today I have lots to do, since this week has been really busy. My house is a MESS, so this morning is going to be filled with lots of CLEANING. Last night, I encountered an ant infestation, so I need to really clean all the food off the counter and wash all the dishes and also locate where the ants are coming in and try to block them off. ICK! I vacuumed like 50 of them last night, and then sprayed some stuff to kill the ones that were continuing to come in.

Well I'm off to start laundry, one of the 700 tasks for the day...

The Big News

Well I suspect if you read my blog, you probably already know this. But now it's officially public: I am pregnant! Scott and I are expecting a baby and we are very excited. We have waited quite a while before doing this, but we finally decided to take the plunge.

So, our baby is due on November 3rd, so right now I am about 11 weeks along. It is all a new experience, but one I am trying to enjoy and be patient with. So far the side effects have been primarily fatigue (frequent naps and going to bed early) and a little bit of nausea. I am hoping that will pass soon, after I'm through my first trimester. But we shall see.

Anyway, to those of you who were keeping my secret, feel free to share!

Spring Is Coming!!!

Well I think Spring is on it's way. This past week, we had 3 days of close to 60 degrees! Woohoo! On Tuesday I came home and took a nice walk/jog with Mia. She loved it, and I enjoyed breathing in the fresh spring air. Then Friday morning I got up and it was beautiful, so I took her for another walk/jog in the morning. It was great, except this time, she decided to bark like crazy at the neighborhood dogs. She also spotted a pair of ducks in the stream near the end of the road, and she was quite interested in going after them. Thankfully, she did not decide to lunge for them, and they ended up flying away. Don't worry, I didn't forget about Moxie - he's just not that good at going for walks. But, he does love to play stick, so I spent quite a bit of time outside with him throwing sticks over and over. He's much better at fetch than Mia.

Here are some photos proving that Spring is on the way. My flower beds are not in very good shape, and I really didn't take care of them last year, but things are still pushing through the dirt!

Beginner's Luck

Yesterday I was introduced to a new experience: Basket Bingo. Now I want to preface this with two statements: 1. I don't generally support the concept of gambling and 2. I went because it was a fundraiser for my place of work, and given that I'd like to keep my job, I decided to support it. I also feel that playing Bingo to win some free Longaberger baskets is not necessarily wrong - basically I see it as giving a donation to a good cause (i.e. my workplace) and having the opportunity to get something free.

Anyway, for any of you who know me, you know that I am very competitive (watch out Amy and Sarah), but Bingo is a game of chance. There is really no strategy involved at all. However, it is still easy to get caught up in the excitement, especially when you are down to needing only one or two numbers. After I was informed of all the rules and how to actually play (it was confusing at first, but I caught on), I ended up getting into it. The first few games went slowly, and I didn't even get close. Then came the game where I just had a good feeling. I got down to needing two numbers left to make a Bingo. Then, both of my numbers were called. So I called out "bingo" and ended up winning a beautiful Longaberger Pot Luck Basket and a cream colored dish that went with it (valued at $93.00). Yay for beginner's luck.

Therein lies the reason that I have always chosen not to gamble - I can see how easily I could get addicted. Once you win, you just keep thinking, oh, maybe I'll win the next one. Or, if you're not winning, you keep getting excited that you might win. It's an interesting experience. So I probably won't play Bingo again until next year, if we have another fundraiser. But I was very pleased to come home with something nice that I never would have purchased for myself...

Scrapbooking Retreat

This weekend I had the opportunity to do something I haven't done in quite some time... going on a scrapbooking retreat. My friends Sheila and Julie were organizing it, and it was a "no frills" retreat - aka cheap! So on Friday afternoon I headed down to the Bar Harbor Inn, scrapbooking bags packed in the back. Once at the Inn, I met up with Sheila and the other ladies, and they helped me carry all my junk upstairs. Sheila then told me that the room we were supposed to stay in ended up having a pipe burst, so they had to change our room.... this could be really good or really bad. Well, it turned out to be wonderful! We had a 2-story room! You walk in and see the bed, sitting area, bathroom (with a tub with jacuzzi jets), and desk. Then, you go to the left, and there's stairs leading up to the next level, where there is a king-size bed, another sitting area, another bathroom, and an 0cean-view deck. We had a sweet suite!

After getting settled, we headed to the scrapbooking room to get started. I had not been able to get as many photos developed as I wanted to, but I did have enough to get to work. On Friday night I completed 20 pages (without journaling). Woohoo! That night I went to bed later than usual, but still early for a retreat weekend. Saturday we had a lovely breakfast and then headed back to the room where we were working on our albums. We had a great time working Saturday, and I completed another 18 pages in my Heritage album (no journaling). Then I got caught up on my journaling in my family album and also worked on journaling in my youth group album. I realized on Friday night that I had forgotten something very important - my paper!! Thankfully I had thrown in a few new packs which allowed me to do the heritage album, and I was also able to mooch off a few friends. But I didn't get caught up on the youth group album since I really wanted my brighter papers for that. Finally, today I completed a little gifty album for someone and caught up on last touches of journaling.

It was a very productive weekend, with lots of laughter, fun, but also scrapping. I told the girls when I got there that I was going to be serious, and I was! In total, I completed 38 pages (20 with journaling), caught up on journaling in 2 albums, and completed a small gift album. Plus we went out to dinner Saturday night at Geddy's, which was very yummy. And I took a bath both Friday and Saturday nights since I never get to take baths at home. Yay!

On the way home, I drove back with Vernelia and Sheila, and amazingly we fit all of our stuff in my car! We stopped for lunch in Ellsworth at the new KFC/Taco Bell. We probably waited 20 minutes for our "fast food". But it turned out okay, because we finally got to eat. I was really happy to finally be home, and Mia and Moxie were extremely excited to see me. It was quite cute. Then I snuggled on the couch with Scott while he watched a movie, and I ended up falling asleep. Finally, I woke up and did a few things around the house. Now I'm ending the evening watching "Extreme Home Makeover". Overall, a great weekend.

Blah

That is how I'm feeling today. I started the day by going to the dentist's office waaaay too early. Upon returning home, I read a little bit and then curled up for a nap. Then I was up to do some business for a few hours, although I don't feel that I accomplished very much. Then I ate some food, followed by some surfing the net. After this I convinced Scott to watch a movie with me, so we watched "Enchanted" which I got on netflix today. That was very cute, but I did start to drift off to sleep at the end.

I wasn't feeling that great today either, so I had to eat things that were pretty bland - oatmeal, soup, chicken and rice. Now I'm sitting here on my couch - I opted out of going to the Good Friday service with Scott cause I wasn't feeling well. I'm feeling quite lazy, but when I get up and move around, I feel pretty icky. So now I'm watching Jeopardy, which I don't even like, but there's nothing else on. Urgh.

So that's about it... blah. Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but my most recent posts didn't get many comments, so I was punishing you all! Just kidding. But come on, comment people!

Snow Camp Recap Part 2

Ok, I am a bit more awake than I was last night, so I'll try to finish this. I think I left off with Night Sledding, which was so much fun. We finally got done sledding at 11:30pm, so we didn't actually have lights out until 12pm. The next morning we were up for devos at 8am, followed by breakfast at 8:30am. After that, we had some time to get ready (for those who were still in pjs) and then we had our group worship and devotion at 9:45. I actually spoke this year for the first time, which was a little scary, but I think it went okay. Thankfully I've gotten a bit better at public speaking than when I was in high school.

After that, it was time for some more sledding outside!!! This time, we went on a trail through the woods instead of the road, because the road was getting very slushy due to the warm temps and sunshine. The sledding was tons of fun, as usual - I thought it was actually quite fast, and the trail was much narrower which made it harder to pass other people. I took some video of everyone on the last run, which you can check out at my facebook site. It started to rain and it was lunchtime, so we finally went inside (much to some of the kids' chagrin).

Lunch was great, and then we had some free time. I took a nap, or attempted to, during free time. Then some people went outside for snow soccer in the pouring rain (crazy!) and others stayed inside for a game of "Honey if you love me, smile". It was so fun watching the kids play the game - as usual, they were reluctant to play at first, but then they got really into it. This was followed by more free time, and then dinner. After dinner we had another devotional time with Kevin Smith speaking. Then we did another group game which DJ taught us - Signs. It was great fun, and people continued playing for hours (yes, hours) after it was officially "free time". Others did other games such as Cranium.

Saturday night we went to bed a bit earlier, but we lost an hour of sleep. All the girls slept in a bit more the next morning, and we started off again with personal devos. Then we had a breakfast of baked oatmeal - yummy! Then there was time to get ready/pack, and then we had our final worship time together. My wonderful hubby spoke and closed out the weekend. Then everyone got their stuff together, and then we had lunch. After lunch it was a bit of a waiting game, waiting to get everyone down the hill to the vans. The van ride home was filled with lots of mafia playing, which is quite funny to listen to in a van. Once back at the church, the students disappeared faster than I've ever seen - I think they were tired!! Scott and I returned the vans to Ford, and then went back to the church to get my car. Then Scott went to get Mia and I picked up Chinese food on the way home. Finally, at about 7pm, we settled in and had dinner and watched a movie. The end.

Snow Camp Recap Part 1

We are back. I know I've been kind of MIA in the blogosphere, but hopefully I'll do better soon. We left on Friday afternoon for Snow Camp with 33 teenagers and 6 leaders. We had 3 15 passenger vans plus a trailer for all the STUFF. We had a bit of a slow start, but finally got on the road by about 4:15. We arrived at Blueberry Mtn. Bible Camp by about 6:45, and then we had to park the vans and ride up with the staff to the lodge. Once inside, we had dinner which was wonderful - we were all so hungry!! Then we got our bags and took them to the rooms, and then we had our first worship and devotional time. After that was over, it was about 10pm. Time for Night Sledding!!! Let me just say, that is one of the craziest, funnest things I have ever done. Going down a hill in COMPLETE darkness (no moonlight or even stars out) at crazy speeds and not knowing when the next turn will come... yeah, crazy. There was a lot of crashing, a lot of screaming, and just overall fun. Scott and I went down together once, and I got so much snow on my face because everytime he'd use his feet to slow down, it would cause the snow to fly into my face. And we went super-fast when we were together.

Well I am so exhausted so I'll have to sign off for now. More to come soon...

Tag!

Ok, Amy started this so I figured I'd do it as well. You're supposed to take the letters of your middle name and tell everyone something about yourself. Mine is easy cause my middle name is short. And then you're supposed to tag the same number of people as letters in your middle name. But Amy tagged everyone that I would've tagged, so oh well. Here we go:

D - Daring. Yes, some people might say that I am daring, and I would also agree. I enjoy the adrenaline rush of jumping off a bridge into the water or rappelling off a cliff. Within reason, of course, but I do love a good dare.

A - Adventurous. This kind of goes along with the first one, but I love going on adventures. Traveling to exotic places, adventuring around Maine, or driving just for the fun of driving.

W - Worker. Ok, this is kind of a silly one, but I guess I am someone who works hard. If I am committed to something, then I will put my all into it in order to succeed.

N - Non-Conformist. I had to stretch on this one, as none of these words seemed to fit - nice, nifty, naughty, or normal. But I am definitely not a conformist. I don't like to just do what everyone else does - I try to be myself and encourage others to also be themselves.

Well I guess that's it for now!

Dunkin' Donuts

I recently got a gift card to Dunkin' Donuts from my boss for my exemplary performance at work. Ok, that's an exaggeration. She did give me a gift card, but it was just for what I consider doing my job. Anyway, I was SUPER excited because I love free stuff! Especially free donuts, coffee, and bagels. So today I headed to work and wanted to use my gift card. I drove up the drive thru, ordered my cinnamon raisin bagel, toasted, with cream cheese on the side and a french vanilla coffee - just sugar, no cream. I got my order, paid with my gift card, and pulled up a few feet to make sure they got my bagel right. Then I turned out onto Broadway and headed to work. That's when I looked down at my coffee, and saw a little "C" on the top. Then I looked and saw that they had put creamer in the coffee. ICK. And not just a little creamer, apparently it was EXTRA CREAM. So then I took a sip. NO SUGAR!

What the heck? Why can't they just get a simple order right. ALWAYS, always, check your order before driving away. I honestly almost drove back to complain and get my correct coffee. But I decided if I couldn't handle it, I would just get coffee at work. That was the nastiest cup of coffee I've had in a while - the creamer literally drowns out the taste of the coffee.

So, that was quite a frustrating experience. Thankfully, it didn't totally ruin my day. I had to drive a lot today but it was a beautiful drive - down by the coast and it was just beautiful! Anyway, now I'm gonna eat some yummy chocolate eggs that I bought at Target - that will DEFINITELY make up for the coffee escapade!

14 Things I Love

Ok, Amy did this so I feel that I should too. It's a fun little game. Since today is Valentine's Day, and it's the 14th of the month, you write out 14 things you love. So here I go:

1. My hubby! He is super-awesome and I am so blessed to have him. Tonight he warmed up a hot pocket for me and it was just so sweet. (We're going out to dinner tomorrow night so as to avoid the crazy Valentine's crowd).
2. My doggies. Yes, I do love Moxie and Mia. They add a lot of fun to our lives, and even though they (mostly Moxie) can be incredibly naughty, I still love 'em. It's funny to see them play together as well as get jealous of each other when we give one of them attention.
3. Can't forget my sweet kitty - Kira. She is snuggly and I love how she usually curls up against my legs at night to sleep.
4. Friends - Shan, Jess, Amy, Sarah, and many many more. I love the fact that each of you have impacted my life in one way or another. I feel blessed to have such awesome friends.
5. My family - Mom, Naomi, and all my other extended family. I am glad that me and my sister get along a lot better now. And my mom is a friend and business partner, and I love her!
6. Our youth group kids - I love all the students that come to Beyond Existence! They teach me a lot about life, about what's important, and about how to keep my life in balance.
7. My business - I have been so blessed to have been introduced to my company and business in November of 2006. It has been a lot of fun not only achieving my own wellness goals but also helping others achieve theirs. I also love my support team who have helped me achieve these goals and the fact that Sheila promoted to Senior Director today!
8. Being outdoors. I love going for hikes, spending time by the ocean, camping under the stars, and seeing all the beautiful sights.
9. Traveling. I love going to new places and old favorites as well. Particularly Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Cuba. I'd love to go to Colombia sometime, as well as Europe, New Zealand, the Caribbean, and Hawaii.
10. Playing games. Current faves are "Settlers of Catan", "Cranium", and "Scrabble." I also love "Mafia" which I was first introduced to on LASP.
11. My job. I really enjoy my foster care job - I love the flexible schedule, working only part-time, and my supervisor and boss. On Friday, I had to go in and help with a crisis, and that is usually my day off. My boss gave me a card on Tuesday that said "Queen of Everything" : ) and also gave me a gift card to Dunkin Donuts. It's nice to be appreciated!
12. Reminiscing. Sometimes it's fun to look back at the past and realize how much you've changed. Or just watching old tv shows, such as "Saved by the Bell" on netflix. Ah, the late '80s, early '90s. Those were some crazy years.
13. Yummy food. Yes, I am in love with food. I am trying to eat healthier nowadays, but I still love pizza, tacos, Italian food, and Mexican food (On the Border!). It's fun to eat. ; )
14. Life in general. I am thankful for the life God has given me. Although there have been some hard times, I feel that the good has far outweighed the bad. I am looking forward to continuing to live life to the fullest!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! And what a day it has been... Let me share. I started out this morning by getting up at a decent time and getting ready for work. I had everything ready to go last night, so that helped. Then I started driving to work, and had to drive slowly on our road because it was covered in ice. People were tailing me but I didn't care as I wanted to be safe. Once I got out onto Broadway and it was much better - mostly wet. So then I was coming up on the Pushaw Road and realized that the car in front of me was braking. So I started braking, and then slipping, sliding, and swerving ensued. NOT FUN. All I could do was pray that I was not going to hit the back of the car in front of me. I came about 6" from hitting that car. I ended up sideways facing the stupid snowbank. Gosh, not a good way to start Valentine's Day.

At work, I had a crazy day that involved prepping for a team meeting that I was not looking forward to. Then I had an appointment, followed by the team meeting. That actually went better than I thought. But then I had to make tons of phone calls and my phone kept ringing, and yet it seemed that I didn't really get much accomplished. So after that, I finally got all my stuff ready to go and head home. As I was walking down the hallway, I realized that I forgot to call someone I was supposed to. So then I turned around to make the call, which lasted over 20 minutes - argh!

Finally I got to come home, and that drive home was much safer than the one to work. At home, Moxie jumped on me and snagged my coat, which was annoying. But then I saw Scott and he hugged me. Yay! Then I went to turn on my computer, and I found a lovely card from Scott inside. The card directed me to look under my pillow, where I found some lovely socks which look very cozy. Now, I am sitting next to him on the couch, being lazy and relaxing my evening away. We plan to celebrate Valentine's tomorrow by going out to dinner somewhere... any suggestions?

Update on Politics

I'm sure this is not news to you, but Romney has "suspended" his campaign. Which means McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. Unless, of course, something crazy happens. But there is no way that Huckabee is gonna get the delegates he would need. I know there's a lot of Christians out there who would like to see Huckabee get the nomination, but I believe you have to look not only at someone's religion, but also their political background and choices. Anyway, even though Romney won Maine with more than 50% of the vote, he's out.

So now I am faced with the same dilemma as many other conservative voters. Vote for McCain, vote for the 3rd party, or not vote at all? I would probably be leaning towards voting for McCain, simply because I don't feel that Clinton or Obama would be the right choice. Time will tell...

Good Movie

Scott and I watched "License to Wed" tonight. I had a free rental at the Movie Gallery, so I choose a chick flick of course. But Scott agreed to watch it with me. It turned out to be very cute and funny as well. I thought it was great - and Scott said it was the only movie he had seen with Robin Williams that he could actually stand - which is code for him thinking it was good.

Anyway, it's hard to find decent movies out there and I thought this one actually was quite good.

Politics, Politics, So Confusing!

As a child and teenager, I really wasn't into politics. I didn't understand it, and I didn't care. But once I got to college and then especially during my time in Central America, I realized that politics were important. Even so, I still agree with MXPX - Politics are so confusing!

On Saturday, I attended my first caucus. I went because I wanted to make my voice heard. With the Republican race so tight, I wanted to do my best to keep McCain off the Republican ticket. It was a very interesting experience. It started at 1pm, and much of the time was spent with announcements and people running for state office asking for our support. Anyway, once it finally came to do the caucus, we were supposed to be with our town. However, what ended up happening was a lot of standing around and waiting for someone to tell us where to go. Finally, I found the other Glenburnites and we all sat down. We realized that none of us had ever been at a caucus before, and therefore none of us knew what we were doing. Somehow I was elected secretary of the caucus, and therefore I ended up taking notes and I still have to type them up and send them in.

Well, after all was said and done, Glenburn actually had a majority for Huckabee (not me - I went for Romney), but Romney took the state with 52%. Of course, we get no national media coverage since we are such a small state, but I was still surprised with the vote, given that we are a very independent state with very "moderate" Republican Senators.

So now I'm sitting here on Super Tuesday waiting to find out who will end up with the nomination. Of course, it might not be decided tonight - in fact I hope it's not! It's looking good since Huckabee has actually taken a few of the southern states, with McCain even losing West Virginia with only 1% of the vote! Many people were ready to hand McCain the nomination, but perhaps the conservative voters are getting out and voting for Romney or Huckabee instead of the non-conservative McCain.

Well I think that's all the politics my brain can handle today. I am hoping that tomorrow will bring good news that McCain is not necessarily the nominee on the Republican side.