What's for dinner?

Hugh and I are pretty big on budgeting and saving, but with a baby on the way there is always room for improvement. I started calling area daycare centers and in my research I’ve discovered that infant daycare costs run anywhere from $850-$1350 a month. Wowza!! That’s a lot of money. This made me realize two things: A) Why am I not in the daycare business? And B) We need to start adjusting our budget now so we aren’t surprised when we have to start parting with this amount of money each month.

In the past two years, Hugh and I have been the victims of multiple identity theft occurrences. From these instances we realized that using our debit cards is something that we no longer want to do. We started using a credit card to make all of our monthly purchases and we simply pay off the bill every month. The great thing about this (other than the cash back) is the online tools. It takes our purchases for the month and divides them into type. After looking at our last statement we realized a little problem. THE GROCERY STORE! It’s evil. We spend so much money there that it’s embarrassing. For three weeks, we managed to stop at the store every three days. UGH! Even worse, I can’t tell you how often we end up having to throw stuff out that goes bad.

The solution?

A monthly menu plan and one trip a week to the store.

I went through both of our freezers and made a list of all the meat we had available. We frequently “forget” about things we buy and put in the freezer. From this list I came up with several different dinner options. I then used a calendar to write down all of the dates that we knew ahead of time that we wouldn’t be home for dinner in December. Then, I simply filled in the dates. I know that we can typically get away with cooking two or three times a week. I took a list of the recipes that we would be using and made a list of all ingredients. Then, we spent some time going through our pantry to see what we already had and what we needed to purchase. It’s amazing what you can find when you actually LOOK through your pantry. After crossing out all of the things we already had, we had a staples list for the grocery store. Now, we’ll have to go to the store once a week for things like bread, milk, fruit and yogurt but the stuff we need to actually cook our meals will already be purchased for the month.

Is this going to work? Will this help us cut back even more on our spending? I really don’t know, but I do think it’s going to make us feel like we’re wasting less food. I’ll keep you updated on how it works for us.

Baby McCrea 12 Weeks, 4 Days

Time is flying by with this pregnancy! I had my second OB appointment last week and everything went well. Hugh and I had a first trimester screening done yesterday. The screening includes a painless ultrasound and some blood work. The point of the screening is to look for any neural tube defects. Everything on the ultrasound came back great! The baby is in the 64^th percentile of growth for its age and very active! My nausea and overall feeling of yucky-ness seems to be going away. However, this past week I’ve been completely exhausted in the evenings. It’s hard to explain the tired feeling that’s come with my pregnancy, but it feels a bit more like narcolepsy than just being tired. It’s just not something that you can push through or ignore.

Since we’re not finding out the sex of the baby Hugh and I have been having a hard time coming up with nursery ideas. We picked out about 40 paint sample cards and currently have them all taped on one of the walls in the nursery. I think we’re just going to wait until we have our furniture in the room to make a decision.

We’ve started to do some serious kid-equipment research. I honestly had NO CLUE that children needed so many different things. Our first items to tackle will be a car seat and stroller decision. They are so EXPENSIVE that we want to make sure that we choose something that will be a good investment and that we’ll be happy with. It’s funny to think that just 6 months ago we were doing crazy research on our European vacation and now we’re talking about strollers and car seats! I’ll keep you guys updated as we make our decisions on baby stuff, nursery decorating ideas and baby names.

Christmas Card Photoshoot

Last year Hugh and I did our first Christmas card together. It was our first “married Christmas” so we thought it was finally appropriate to send out cards together…Shhh…don’t tell anyone that we lived together before we got married…we’re heathens.

Anyways, we ordered our cards this past weekend from a design company that’s new to me but has been around for a while. I am 100% impressed with their work and I can’t WAIT to get our cards in. We decided to use a few of our photos from our European vacation but we wanted a photo of the dogs as well. We have tons of photos of our dogs, but Sunday afternoon I decided to pull out the camera to see if we could get the dogs to pose in front of the fireplace. You’ll notice by our outfits that this was a last minute idea and that Hugh and I never had any intention of being in the photos. I wouldn’t choose to wear my pajama pants and fat unicorn shirt for a Christmas card photo op. The chaos of the next few photos should explain how successful we were.

 Camera? You want me to look at the camera?

 Here, Tobey is wondering why Cassie is posing when this is obviously a painful experience.

 Tobey is tired of our game.

 We thought it might be easier if we helped by getting in the photo. LOL.

 Tobey isn't submissive at all and I wasn't going to be spread-eagle in a Christmas photo.

 Both dogs want their bellies rubbed.

 This is my favorite. Hugh had to carry Cassie over after he hit the timer so she's being flopped around a bit and Tobey is biting her ear. HAHAHAHA!

 If this one had been in focus I might have used it. It's too cute!

The photo shoot was a disaster but we laughed so hard that I might have cried a little. It was hilarious. Our dogs are very sweet and well-behaved, but that does NOT make them models. I think their true personalities came through in the photos and I’ll probably use a few of these in frames around the house. We ended up choosing a photo from an outside shoot that makes the dogs look much more majestic.

We can be crafty!

Thank goodness I married a man that is very mechanically-inclined. I tell Hugh all the time that his true talent is engineering. He can take anything apart and actually put it back together! He’s very good at figuring things out and this can truly come in handy. Several months ago my parents decided to downsize their residence and Hugh and I were the new lucky owners of their dining table. We decided that we could take on the task of recovering the chairs and making it our own.

First off- minor repairs. This table had been through quite a bit in its lifetime. It’s an antique and it had to survive all four of us children not treating it with the respect that antiques deserve. Hugh had to reinforce several of the corners of the chairs where the seams were coming apart. All that took was some time, wood glue and a nice set of clamps. Some of the chairs had to have the plywood under the cushions replaced as well, but soon we were ready for the fun part: picking out fabric!

A good friend recommended that we look go to High Fashion downtown to find the fabrics we wanted. What an awesome store! They have very eclectic furniture and miles upon miles of fabric. We probably spent two hours going from aisle to aisle trying to decide what we wanted. Hugh suggested that we use three different types of fabric and have mixed and matched chairs. YAY!!! Great idea. Here’s what we chose:

A few measurements and several hundred staples later we had a finished product! We love them, and I know that we both appreciate the fact that we did it ourselves.



Just what the Dr. ordered...

I realize that this might seem like a strange post topic, but with all of the "thankful" posts and such I thought I'd throw in something of my own.

Hugh and I both see the same “regular” Dr. He’s a family practice doctor with a specialty in Sports Medicine. Hugh and I both just LOVE him. He’s very smart, cost-conscious and he’s just an overall nice guy. Let me share with you some of the reasons we think he’s so great.

Hugh went in once for what he thought was a broken foot. We’d gone on an 8 mile hike and he was having some excruciating pain in one of his feet. We get in the exam room and after listening to Hugh describe the issue he has him take off his shoe.

Dr. Awesome: “HA! Brother-you’re flat footed as a duck! No wonder your foot is killing you.”

The solution: He used some athletic tape to bind Hugh’s arch and told him that he needed to switch to a running shoe that has serious arch support. He also suggested that he get orthotics- but not the $600 ones that you get from a podiatrist. “If you’re going to get them let me know, I’ll send you to a friend that will make them for $100.” Hugh’s foot was 100% better in two days. We didn’t have to pay for an x-ray or a boot. Hugh started buying better arch support running shoes and he’s had no issues since.

He will EMAIL you. Seriously. Here are some of my favorite email exchanges:

Jenn: Hey Doc. Should Hugh and I get flu shots? I mean, do they really work or are they just some government conspiracy designed to make us give more money to the pharmaceutical companies?

Dr. Awesome: That’s just dumb. Get a flu shot.

Recently, I broke out with some fever blisters (fun pregnancy stuff!) and I wanted them GONE! So, I emailed my dr.

Jenn: So, I have fever blisters and they are disgusting. If I were a hooker, I’d be eligible for disability. I want them GONE! Please help.

Dr. Awesome: You’re hilarious. Send me your pharmacy number.

Can you see why we think he’s so incredible? I feel like our doc is one of those “throw-backs” that you don’t see any more. He’s a genuine, smart doctor that truly cares for his patients. Hugh and I consider ourselves very lucky to have such a great doctor. J

The McCrea house is growing!

We’re having a baby!!

YAY!

Hugh and I are thrilled to announce that we’re expecting our first child in June. My official due date is 6/10/12, one day before our anniversary and three days before my birthday. I’m currently 10 weeks along and doing well. Hugh and I were able to see and hear the baby’s heartbeat at our appointment when I was 7 weeks along. My heart rate was 77, the baby’s was 154 and on the ultrasound our little June bug looked a bit like a dinosaur.

We told our families this past Saturday at a lunch for Hugh’s birthday. I’d ordered a little onesie that says “PSU Tiny Lion” on the front and “McCrea” with a number 1 on the back. Hugh opened it as his last gift. Everyone was surprised and excited for us. We’ve decided to not find out the sex of the baby, and I think that makes it even more exciting.

Kudos to Maegan for taking such a great picture!

One thing I must say is this: Hugh has been hands-down the best husband ever. He has been so supportive and sweet. I’ve been very sick with this baby for the past 7 weeks. He’s done everything! He’s cooked, cleaned, made me grilled cheese sandwiches after he’s already made a meal that I suddenly can’t stand the smell of. There has been no limit to his kindness and understanding. I had to sit out of a 10k obstacle course race that I’d been looking forward to for months and I literally sat on the floor and cried about it. For an hour. He just sat there holding me and telling me that he’ll run it with me next year. I love him so much and I’m very thankful that I’ve been blessed with such an incredible partner in life.

I’ve had a bit of a hard time adjusting to pregnancy. I guess I just had this thought in my head that I would deal with it like I deal with everything else; take it in, process it, compartmentalize it and then go about my usual life. Umm, not so much. First off, I’ve been exhausted. I’ve discovered this entire new level of tired that I didn’t even know existed. I would come home from work with dinner plans in my head and my work out planned out and I wouldn’t make it past the couch. I would just lie down and pass out. Then, I would wake up and Hugh would try and make me eat dinner. Here’s a recap of about 300 conversations that we had:

Hugh: “What do you want for dinner?”

Jenn: “Nothing. I feel nauseous and I didn’t make it to the gym. I don’t need calories at the moment.”

Hugh: “You’re going to eat dinner. The baby wants to eat.”

Jenn: “Did the baby tell you that?”

Hugh: “You talk too much. What do you want to eat?

Jenn: “FINE! Grilled Cheese.”

Hugh goes into the kitchen and begins to make grilled cheese. Jenn sits in a chair and watches.

Jenn: “You’re making it wrong.”

Hugh: “No, I’m not.”

Jenn: “I’m not eating that.”

Hugh: “Yes, you are.”
Jenn: “Fine!”

Jenn then proceeds to eat the entire grilled cheese.

Jenn: “Thank you for making me a grilled cheese. We’re going to have to discuss how we’re going to teach our child how to properly make a grilled cheese.”

Hugh: “You talk too much. Now you can go back to sleep.”

Isn’t he amazing? I would have left me a long, long time ago.

The other adjustment I’ve struggled with is my work out routine. Because of my asthma, I’m being treated jointly by my regular sports medicine physician and my OB. Originally, my OB told me that I needed to keep my heart rate under 140 when I work out. That pretty much means that I have to spend my entire time at the gym on an elliptical climber. BORING! My other Dr. and my OB discussed this (he basically explained to her that I would go nutso if I was that restricted) and I have much more leniency with my work outs. I still can’t go to spin class, or ride my bike but I’m much happier being able to lift weights and swim to my heart’s content.

We go back to the doctor on November 22^nd, where we’ll have first trimester screening ultrasound and a check-up. I’ll post more when we know more!

This is my ultrasound from when I was 7 weeks and 3 days along. The baby looks more like a dinosaur than anything else to me.

Until then,



Friday Stream of Conscience

·         If you’re going to drive 50mph, don’t get on the beltway. It’s just silly and I’m going to have to run you over.

·         I wore a scarf today and it’s just AWESOME! I’m loving this weather. And my heated seats in the car. Ahhhh.

·         Fountain coke tastes better than canned or bottled coke. It’s a mystery.

·         Hugh informed me the other day that I’ve been misspelling Tobey’s name. It’s Tobey with an “E”. Ugh. It only took him 4.5 years to tell me.

·         I want to find someone that will do ironing for me in my neighborhood and I have idea where to start with that. We got a new washer and dryer that are magical. We can wash “dry clean only” stuff in there, but Hugh’s ghetto work shirts still wrinkle enough to need a pressing. I’m not doing it. Neither is Hugh. I know our dogs are gifted, but there’s a limit to that.

·         Cassie can open our back doors. The hardware is handles instead of knobs and she’s figured out how to pull it down and push the door open. TobEy has not.

·         Somehow I’m down to two long sleeve shirts that I can wear under t-shirts in the winter. They both have stains on them so I’m going to have to break down and go to Old Navy.

·         I’m really looking forward to my sister’s bachelorette party this weekend. Champagne, Chick-fil-a nuggets and a spa day. I’m not really sure life can get any better.

·         If you want to feel overwhelmed and confused, just go to any Michael’s craft store and walk around in the scrapbooking section. It’s crazy. They have their own vocabulary that is secret and will make NO sense to people that don’t belong. It took me 30 minutes to find 15 sheets of open paper stock and an adhesive roller thing.

·         I found out last night that Hugh and I disagree on how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Apparently we come from different types of grilled cheese households. Our parents really raised us differently in this aspect. We may need counseling.

·         Coconut water may be a “super food” but it’s disgusting. I would prefer to drink tap water from the City of Tomball (and that’s REALLY saying something).

·         Cassie’s hair is starting to make her look like a homeless dog. She’s a shaggy-haired dog and she’s currently in the “in-between” stage from her summer shave cut to her winter coat. She looks fierce.

·         I forgot to bring my lunch to work today. L

·         I’ve been dragging my feet on getting my dress for another wedding altered to fit me. It’s HUGE (it’s an oddly cut dress for my body type) and the alterations are going to be pretty intense. I’m not excited about paying for it or listening to the alterations lady telling me that I’m small chested. I also need to find a strapless bra that doesn’t make me look like I have deformed boobs.

·         I’m heading up to College Station this afternoon and I’m excited about getting to stay with my parents.

·         Choosing photos to use on Christmas cards is harder than it sounds.

·         I love my husband, even though he doesn’t know how to make a grilled cheese correctly.

Have a great weekend!

November Ramblings...

For those of you that prefer a more thought-out organized writing style: This entry is not for you. I’m warning you beforehand that I’m all over the place today.

Things have settled down a bit for us here lately. After my month of medical crap (I have no other words for it) things are finally getting back to normal for us. After being out of a gym for two months Hugh and decided to join the local LA Fitness near our house. It’s very convenient and we’re both much happier with a steady work out schedule. I had been running outside and getting plenty of the cardio that I need but I was missing my weight work outs.

The dogs.

Since we’ve moved in, Tobey and Cassie have had complete personality changes. Cassie used to be the most loving dog. She would do anything to be inside and in your lap. Tobey was the one that could care less. He would lay out in the grass for the entire day and most likely ignore you if you opened the door and told him he could come in. Well, now that they have a little over a half acre of fun to run around in all day, things have changed a bit. Cassie has a squirrel obsession. She spends the entire day in the backyard chasing squirrels. When she’s inside, she’s at the backdoor looking for squirrels. She was waking Hugh up twice a night to go outside and look for night squirrels. Tobey has become the one that is seeking attention and sleeping his entire day away. Don’t get me wrong; he spends most of his day running after squirrels and playing but the minute you open that back door he’s inside and done.

Well, Cassie caught a squirrel the other day. Caught it and um ate a bit of it. She left it on one of our stepping stones where the courtyard goes out into the backyard. I saw it when we came in one day and simply informed Hugh that he needed to take care of it and went inside. Ewww…. The reason I’m telling this story is that BECAUSE she killed a squirrel she has settled down. She’s become more like her old self and doesn’t seem to obsess about the squirrels any longer. At least, that’s what this doggie psychologist thinks.

Wedding(s)

My sister and Hugh’s brother are both getting married in the next two months. My sister Chelsey is getting married in a week and the other wedding is in December. Needless to say, Hugh and I have been spending a lot of time hosting/attending various wedding activities. Showers, Parties, Fittings, Meetings, Bachelor and Bachelorette parties….whew!! We’ve been busy. Oh, and then my other brother is getting married in Colorado this summer. I guess that only leaves Jordan as the “non-married” sibling. Hint. Hint. Hint. As the wedding festivities commence I’ll make posts about them.

Facebook

I’m really torn about Facebook. I enjoy getting to see pictures of my nephew and other family members. I like keeping up with old friends and such, but what I don’t like is the snarkyness of a few people. I don’t think it’s healthy and I’ve been wrestling with deleting my account for a while. Every time I go to delete it Hugh urges me not to because of all the positives. I think it would be a good thing. My life was fine before Facebook and it’ll be fine without it. I’ve been on G+ and I like it better, but to be honest I just feel like I have better things to do with my time that aren’t Facebook related. The more I type the easier the decision seems to be. I think it’s time for Facebook to go. If I’m stressing to see pictures of my nephew I can always have Hugh log in and look for me. OR…maybe my silly sister could email them to me.

Hugh’s Birthday

Hugh turns 32 next Sunday! We’re going to celebrate with our families the day after Chelsey and Eddie’s wedding in College Station. We’re going to eat lunch at Chicken Oil Company, which is awesome. Delicious. We used to go there after softball games in high school. Of course, this was back when I could eat a cheeseburger and Tijuana fries and it not end up on my butt. We’ll celebrate with our friends that night with sushi in Houston. And maybe a nap on Sunday.

Thanksgiving!

Originally, Hugh and I were going to spend Thanksgiving this year in Indiana with our favorite Aunt Anna and Uncle Paul. Ianthe (Anna) is Hugh’s aunt and Paul is her husband. We just LOVE getting to spend time with them. They’re great people, very interesting and educated, and we never fail to have a blast when we’re together. Unfortunately, the plane tickets are outrageous this year. As in, crazy expensive. So, instead we’re going to host Thanksgiving for the family at our house. While we’d love to be in Indiana, we’re both excited to be hosting a family meal in our new place. We’re going to attempt to decorate the house some and cook a turkey. Hopefully, our plan to visit Indiana over Spring Break will work out.

There….this is what’s been going on in our world. Nothing too exciting, but it’s our life and it’s real.

Love always,

Stat Laugh...

I was spending a few minutes looking at my blog stats and I just happened to notice that someone found my blog by googling, "feelingstowardsplants" with no spaces. It's just been one of those days where it made me laugh out loud. :)

Have a great day!

Good News! Update!

I went to the neurologist last week and got some great news; all I need to do is take some medication and watch my dang tumor. My tumor is called a micro adenoma and it’s very small. I started some medication that’s supposed to help keep it small and I’ll be getting MRI’s once a year to make sure that it isn’t growing. I will also be getting blood work done frequently to make sure that my hormone levels are staying in the normal range. If the blood work gets wacky then I get an MRI sooner. The concern for growths like this is that they are close to the optic nerve and if they grow large enough they can press on it causing vision problems and headaches. So, deep breath and relax! I’ve dealt with a ton of stress over this for a few weeks and I’m finally starting to feel better about all of it.

Now, my doctor told me that there’s no way to know how long I’ve had this growth or what caused it to decide that my head was a good place to live. However, this whole scare did make me realize that I need to make some changes for the better. I realize that I didn’t cause this tumor to happen, but I do think that I can do a better job of taking care of myself. Hugh and I are both healthy people. We work out and are in healthy ranges for our weight/cholesterol/blood pressure, etc. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement (ok, the only person that really needs improvement is me. Hugh has almost no body fat so let’s just stop pretending that any of this applies to him). I do a great job of maintaining my weight, but I don’t eat consistently. There may be times when I eat too much and then times when I don’t eat much at all.

Changes:

·         No more caffeine/cokes. I go through phases with coke. There will be times when I could drink two in a day and then I go through periods where I’ll not have them for a while. In the past, I’ve stopped drinking regular coke only to start sucking down the diet cokes. No more. I’m sure whatever is in them isn’t good for you.

·         Less processed food. Now I’m not going to go to the extreme and say that I won’t eat any processed foods, but I think I should significantly cut down on the amount of processed food that I consume. This includes processed sugar.

·         More fruit! I’ve tended to stay away from fruit because so much of it has a really high amount of sugar in it. No more. Fruit is healthy, and I like it.

·         Take vitamins. Ugh. I’m the worlds worst about taking vitamins. Maybe I need gummies.

While I know that these things may have no affect on my pituitary growth, I think they will do wonders to help me feel better overall. I want to be healthier and I think this will help me achieve that.

Thanks again to everyone that said prayers for me. I know it helped!

Love,

A hard week.....

I’ve had a tough week. Not since Monday. More of a Tuesday through Wednesday kind of thing.

About two weeks ago I had to have my blood drawn. I take medication for my thyroid and needed to have it checked. My Dr. decided to run a full hormone panel on me just to make sure that I wasn’t having any other types of issues. (Thyroid is a hormone) Last Tuesday I got a phone call at home from my Dr. calling to let me know that one of my hormone levels was high and that I needed to have an MRI of my brain done. I was really confused. She explained to me that in some cases if that particular hormone level is high that it can mean there is a tumor on the pituitary gland causing it to secrete too much hormone.

I was in shock. I never in a million years expected to get a phone call like that. The hospital called me and set up my MRI for last Friday. The MRI itself sucked. It took a few tries to get my IV in since they had to do it with and without contrast. They put these sandbag type things around your head and a cage that looks like something Darth Vader wore over your face. They kept asking me if I was claustrophobic, and I have to say that I was starting to feel a tiny bit closed in. Bleh.

I spent the next few days stressed beyond belief with worry about what the results would be. I got the call today at work. I have a small tumor in my brain on my pituitary gland. I’m being referred to a neurologist to be evaluated. The good news is that IT’S NOT CANCER! I’m happy about that. Thrilled, in fact. However; I’m still not exactly excited to know that I have a tumor in my head. I feel violated just knowing it’s there. Yuck.

As much as I love the internet it can also be a little TOO much information. From what I’ve read the type of tumor that I have is usually treated either with a life-long medication regimen or by having it surgically removed. I think the best thing is to just stop reading about it and wait to see what the neurologist suggests. 

When it all comes down to it I’m thankful that it’s not cancerous. I know that it’s going to be ok. BUT, it’s scary as hell. It’s hard to go through my normal day and to try and not think about it. I’m just ready to get with the neurologist and get some more answers. I’m happy knowing that Hugh will be by my side. He does a good job of keeping me from allowing my imagination to run wild. 

I’ll keep you guys posted on what I learn. If you’re the praying type I’d appreciate you sending some my way.

Love,

Running Conversations...

I’ve been working very hard at getting ready for the MUDRUN that’s coming up in less than two weeks. I essentially picked up my Couch 2 5k app up at week 4 (ouch!) and I’ve been pounding the pavement ever since. I’m doing well. I’ve stopped staring at the ground when I run and I’m now happily moving along at 17 minute increments. Anything more than that and I’m an unhappy camper. However; if I will slow down and walk for only a minute I can get right back into running mode and do another long installment. CRAZY! I’m the most MENTAL person when it comes to running. I’m working as hard as I can to become a “runner” but I’m starting to wonder if it’s ever going to be something that I really and truly enjoy.

Hugh is a great runner. He has the build of a long distance runner but he doesn’t enjoy it. In fact, let me share with you a conversation we had while walking around the lake in our subdivision Sunday morning.

Jenn: “As hard as I’m working with the running thing I’m just not sure that I’ll ever love it. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be a runner.”

Hugh: “I hate running.”

Jenn: “I know you hate it, but you’re good at it. Do you even keep track? How do you know how far you’re going?”

Hugh: “I don’t. I just run until I’m tired and then I stop.”

Jenn: “Um. Yeah. If I did that I wouldn’t make it past the mailbox.”

We changed subjects for a minute because I was busy looking at someone’s amazing backyard and almost stepped on a fish head that had been left on the sidewalk (we’re walking on the sidewalk between the houses and their docks) and Hugh thought I was having a seizure when I was simply attempting to not step on said fish head.

Jenn: “So you have no desire to ever become a marathon runner?”

Hugh: “No. In fact; my worst nightmare involves me having to run a long distance with someone following me and brushing their teeth the entire time.”

Jenn: “Hmm….I think my worst nightmare would be running a long distance with someone NOT brushing their teeth behind me. Dirty teeth are so gross.”

So there you have it. An insider’s look to what Hugh and I spend our time discussing while we’re out and about. Also, you now know that Hugh hates the sound of someone brushing their teeth.

I know that I’ll be ready for the MUDRUN on October 8^th. It’ll be fun and I know we will both enjoy it. I’m just going to keep at it with the running and focus on what I’m going to wear instead of worrying about the run.

Love,

Jenn

Today I co-hosted a Jack & Jill shower for my sister Chelsey and future brother-in-law Eddie. We held the shower at the Wings & More Party Room in College Station and it was great! The shower was for all of their friends and family in the B/CS area and we all had a good time. We had all of the yummy food from Wings & More and we even let had the Texans game on for entertainment. I think Chelsey and Eddie had fun and we made it as painless as possible for two people that particularly care to be in the spotlight. We are all excited about the upcoming wedding festivities! Check out some of the pictures from the afternoon.

 The cake! My mom got this from Kroger and it was delicious. She bought the ornament at Michael's and designed the cake around it. 

 The bridal party!

 Melissa Jo and Chelsey

 The bride and groom!!!! Chelsey and Eddie

 My parents with Chelsey and Eddie. Oh, and Jackson too. 

 The party room. We all had a great time.

Me with my cutie sister the bride! I don't think we look alike, but I think we both clean up pretty well. ;)

A big thanks goes out to Hugh for taking such great pictures.

Epic European Adventure, Volume 7

After Hugh and I had been up for 3.5 hours (with about 3 hours of sleep) we met up with our free tour and headed out towards the Highlands. The day promptly turned from cold and sunny to cold and rainy. We started out of town and but first stopped to take pictures of a bridge. It’s a cool bridge, and if I could recall the name I would tell you. It is very cool looking, though.

Hugh spent the majority of our travel time during this tour sleeping. I might have dozed a little myself, but who can blame us? We’d been up for hours and then sat in a small tour bus for a long drive. The weather was gloomy and we were SLEEPY! Hugh and I probably spent $25 this day on hot drinks and coke. Every time we stopped we were looking for something to help keep us awake.

The highlights of the day trip would have to be the William Wallace monument, meeting Hamish the famous cow, the pretty “drunken” loch, and the Monty Python castle. The William Wallace monument is really interesting. The structure is beautiful and it’s high up on a hill. It took us about a 10 minute hike in the rain, but it was worth it for the view. Unfortunately the rain was coming down at a pretty quick rate so we didn’t pull the camera out. Hugh did manage to get a few pictures from the bottom of the hill looking up at the monument, but there’s condensation on the lens. At this particular location we both drank some hot tea to try and wake up.

Hairy Coo’s!!! I know in a previous post I mentioned that the name of the tour was called The Hairy Coo. (Coo=Cow when you have a brogue) Did I mention that the bus was actually painted to look like one? It was orange, had a smile face and two ears hanging off the side. We stopped in a small town where we got to meet Hamish the famous bull. Hamish is a bull that had spent his life on the roadside where people would stop and feed him. According to our tour guide he’d even starred in a few movies. He’s quite large and had the required Justin Bieber hair cut. A few years ago England was struck with a spreading case of Mad Cow Disease. All cattle that were under the age of 7 would get a vaccine, but any cattle that were older would have to be put to death. At this time Hamish was 10. The woman that owned Hamish started a petition to have his life spared. Apparently he gets thousands of visitors a day so she was able to rack up a large amount of signatures. The petition ended up on the Queen’s desk and she granted him a royal pardon. She even came out and visited him one day. YAY!!! Hamish was saved! I do have to say that the cows were cute. Much cuter than our cows. You can buy parsnips to feed them, but if you touch a cow when you’re overseas you can get into trouble with the customs people. Humans can transfer Mad Cow Disease (aka Foot & Mouth disease) and they don’t take that very lightly when you’re coming through customs in Houston. Hugh and I just took pictures and let the Scottish guide get his hands slobbery. Oh, I think we had a coke on this stop.

I love, love, LOVE Monty Python. Hilarious. Simply hilarious. If you’ve never watched Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail you must correct this oversight. It’s awesome. We stopped at the castle where the movie was filmed. It was fun to walk around and hear the story of how it was the comedy troupe’s only option for a castle. Apparently they’d been trying to rent a castle for a while but nobody wanted to rent out their castle to them. Our guide had some coconuts on a string that we walked around with while we were there so we could sound like the “horses” in the movie. This is also where Hugh decided to pull out our new lens and take a few photos of the flowers on the property. He did a great job!

Our last stop for the day was at some various lochs through the Highlands. They were all gorgeous. It’s hard to put into words the beauty of the land. Hugh and I decided that if we ever make it back to Scotland we’d like to spend some extended time out in the Highlands. You can hike forever and all of the water you see is crystal clear (and cold!). My only wish would have been for it to have rained a little less. We were prepared with our raincoats; but it’s still a hindrance. However, as green as Scotland is I have a feeling that the rain is a common occurrence.

We finished our day by coming home and going to bed! We were exhausted but happy that we took the tour and see the Highlands.

 This is the really cool bridge on the way out of town.

 The William Wallace Monument from the bottom of the hill. Now that I look at it I see that it kind of looks like a penis. Hmmm..

 Loch Drunkie: Its name comes from a time when bootleggers would toss barrels of whisky into the lake to hide from the authorities. There's a small wall on the right side that is actually ruins from the Normans.

 Oh yeah...we rode around in this.

 Hairy Coo!!! Notice the bangs?

 Hugh and the Hairy Coo. It sounds like a great name for a children's book....or one of those shows that require a subscription to watch.

 The Monty Python castle. 

 Hugh's practice with the fixed 50mm lens. Love the flowers!

Alright guys...I've only got London and Stonehenge left to write. I might break London down into two parts so I can give the British Museum its own post. :)

Love,