32 weeks 5 days

Here's a photo from December 20th at our small group bible study's Christmas party.

28 weeks 3 days

Last night I went to a dinner party with the boat wives. I had a wife take my picture. My smile is pretty fake-we had just taken several group shots with all the wives and I was all smiled out.

They aren't kidding when they say the 2nd trimester is the best. Just a couple of weeks ago I felt great and had energy. Now I feel like I've just ran full force into the third trimester and it's no fun. I'm larger, slow moving and tired all the time. It does beat the 1st trimester morning sickness.

pregnancy photos 26 weeks 4 days

I finally had some preggo photos taken. I went to lunch with a friend today who's moving off of Guam. We had our cameras and of course my friends were willing to take some pics of my growing belly. They know that I am not being as proactive as I should be at taking photos on a regular basis. I am growing larger and not just in the belly but everywhere else too. My friend was tickled pink when I allowed her to rub my tummy.

Anyways here they are:

Blessings for Baby

A fellow Navy wife gave me an awesome high chair today. It's solid wood, attractive and very unique. I really like it-plus it was free. She purchased the high chair from a Swedish company called Svan. I've been searching online for the chair because it's so different and I wanted to read an instruction manual of some sort. The chair can be modified as the baby get's older to become a "regular" chair. It also came with an extra seat cushion and the rubber guard on the tray to keep the wood protected and make clean up easy.

Ohhh I'm so excited!

She has a 4 year old boy and now that he's growing out of the baby/toddler stage she's blessing me with his baby items. She also gave me two safety gates, a training potty, and an umbrella stroller. She's a very nice lady with good taste in "stuff" and I'm feeling blessed by her generosity.

Gorgeous pics of Guam

Yesterday was my last day of class at PIU. The school had a retreat this weekend (I didn't go but I heard all about it) One of the guests was an amazing photographer. I just checked out his blog and he took some pictures of Guam that are AMAZING. Who knew this island could be so beautiful?

The church I attend allowed PIU to have the retreat on their campus so in the pictures you'll see some interior shots of our church.

Anyways go to danfieldsphotographyblog.com and take a look at some pretty awesome photos. The first few posts are pictures of people but if you scroll down you'll see the Guam pics. There are quite a few from Chammorro Village-which happens every Wednesday night.

23 weeks and 2 days

Here they are (about a month late considering my last preggo photo was taken at 17 weeks)

mmmmm....Zuppa Toscana Soup

I get my soup fix while Greg is gone. I love to eat soup -Greg doesn't. Soup is healthy (usually) and freezes well. I make a big pot and eat soup until I'm tired of it and freeze the rest. My neighbor came over to use my stand mixer to make butter cream frosting for a birthday cake she was making. In return for letting her use my stand mixer she left me a pint of cream and some sugar (I love free food)

I was tempted to make ice cream with the cream but when I saw kale on sale for 97 cents a bunch I thought of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup. I read a few recipes online and than decided to just wing it and make my own-it turned out so yummy. This was my first time adding cream to soup-I usually make a roux or add milk to make a creamy soup. I wouldn't put this soup on the top of my healthy foods list but it sure is yummy. It's been a while since I've been to Olive Garden so I can't really compare flavors but I think my version is pretty good. It's heavy on the kale and light on the sausage-to make me feel better about eating it. It's delicious!

I think if I served it as a first course to a meal-Greg would like it (he just hates soup as "the meal")

I'm so happy-I got e-mails from my hubby!

After 3 weeks I have finally heard from Greg. I received about a half dozen e-mails today-none of them were in order and there were some gaps in days but I didn't care- just to read something from Greg was a joy. And now I can rest assured that Greg knows we are having a boy and he's happy!

getting the nutrition I need

I've been concerned about eating healthy.. I think for the most part I eat well but as of late I've been concerned about eating enough vegetables (meat too but baby steps..baby steps) I've been eating LOTS of fruit but vegetables not so much. With just me at home I hate to buy produce and have it go to waste before I eat it-lettuce especially because it seems to have a shelf life of about 2 days once I bring it home. Well today a light bulb went off-I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner (there's more to vegetables than just salad-aka lettuce)
I had cut up some bell pepper, cucumber and carrots into sticks to munch on. I was making a sandwich and I didn't have my usually lettuce/tomato/onion accompaniments
I wasn't feeling up to just turkey, cheese and bread so I threw on some colorful bell pepper and cucumber sticks. It was so good-crunchy and refreshing! I think I may have found an enticing way for me to eat more vegetables-inside a sandwich-no more wilted lettuce for me. I would have taken a picture of my yummy vegetabley sandwich but I just scarfed it down.

It's a boy!

On Monday I had my 20 week ultra sound. I was told there were no guarantees on identifying the gender but it's pretty obvious that we are having a boy (my baby is not real modest-his legs were spread wide apart. I was given a cd copy of the ultra sound photos unfortunately there are no "full baby" shots just pictures of limbs and such. There is one shot where the baby's nose and lips can be identified along with his arm covering the rest of his face. I can view the pictures on the disc but I can't figure out how to transfer the pictures from the disc to my computer so that I can share them with others. I'll keep trying-it's times like these when I wish Greg were home to help me with my computer tech challenges.

I can hardly wait until I talk to Greg again-I know he's waiting to hear about our BIG news! Hopefully it won't be much longer before he finds out.

I'm sure our son will be just as cute and adorable as his daddy:

New Testament Survey Class

I'm taking a class at Pacific Island University. I'm auditing the New Testament Survey Class. I decided to take the class to help me develop some solid biblical knowledge and to give me something to do while Greg is gone. I'm very much enjoying the discussions and class meetings. Last week we met at Dave Owen's (our teacher) house. It was a good time.
Our class is very small with only 5 students. Last night we had class-I was a few minutes early and had a chance to visit with the other students. The diversity of Guam really shines among the students. In our class there is a man from Bangladesh, a lady from Korea, a lady from China, and two Americans-myself and another 20-something girl who came to Guam to teach English at the college. We all have a common desire for the Lord. I just love how so many different people can come together with different customs and culture and yet we are the same in our love for Jesus. There is something uplifting about knowing there are Christians all over the world. There is also a sense of gratitude developing inside of me over the fact that I grew up in a Christian home and in America where we have religious freedoms.

happy/sad

Today I am happy/sad about:

1. my job
2. my car
3. mowing the lawn
4. my favorite shorts

My job:
I'm happy because:
1. Today was my last day as the 8th grade math teacher
2. When I get home from work I won't be thinking about work or my students or lesson planning. My work day will be done when the school day is done. ahhhh a clear and free mind
3. My homeroom class won September's 8th grade competition! This month's 8th grade team contest was to design a bulletin board and create a presentation/drama to the entire 8th grade class. And MY class was 1st place (out of 6 classes.) I was so proud of them. The winners were announced today at lunch.
I'm sad because:
1. Today was my last day and I'm going to miss having the same kids each day and the all the relationships that were forming
2. I'm going to miss that extra $5 an hour (although I still felt underpaid)

My Car:
I'm happy that my check engine light is no longer on
I'm sad that my check engine light was on. (this always happens when Greg is gone)

Mowing the lawn:
I'm happy because:
1. There was finally a day with no rain and I was able to mow the lawn
2. The lawn is finally mowed
3. Fresh cut grass smells sweet
I'm sad because:
1. I have to mow the lawn
2. I allowed the grass to grow for far too long
3. Lawn mower exhaust smells bad and makes me worry about my pregnancy (and I know in my head it's an unnecessary worry-but I worry all the same)

My favorite shorts:
I'm happy because:
1. Well truth be told I'm only sad about my favorite shorts.
I'm sad because:
1. They should be in the trash-they are so old, frayed, and worn out and they can't even be given away. I've had them since 2002. I even remember when I bought them with my old room mates at the Gap Outlet.
2. They don't fit me anymore. I put them on to mow the lawn and I could hardly get them buttoned up.
3.My waist is long gone. And by the time I get it back my favorite shorts will have long been in the trash. Today was their last day.

baby kicks

I'm eating ice cream and baby is responding with lots of movement. Not sure if my baby likes or dislikes ice cream. I'd like to think that it's a like. Every time I take a bite of ice cream I feel movements. I giggled out loud after the first few bites and then thought this would be a good thing to share-something small yet very exciting for me at the moment.

When doing the right thing is a real pain in the neck

About two weeks ago I was at the grocery store, buying groceries for a big dinner party we were having with our small group bible study. Instead of a pot-luck everyone gave me $5 and I purchased and prepared food for the party. When I got to the checkout I had spent more money than I had cash for and I had to use my card to cover the difference. The cashier entered in $10 more cash than I had given him. I noticed it immediately and brought it to his attention. He was confused but I tried to explain to him that I should be charged $10 more dollars to my card. He called over a supervisor who called over another supervisor and all three employees were totally confused about what was going on (it was not that complicated)They couldn't "cancel" the transaction so they had me run my card through for the amount that the computer said but I still owed them $10. I offered to write a check to cover the difference which seemed like a logical and quick solution. The two supervisor's were stumped on what to do next. They charged my card and than refunded my card. The order was rung up again and than refunded again. I must have swiped my card 3 or 4 times. I offered again to write a check. Meanwhile the line is growing larger and time is passing (I was in a little bit of a hurry to get back home because Greg and I had plans to go out later)Finally they call a manager over and all three employees try to explian what happened but none of them are getting it quite right. I wait for them to stop talking and as the manager studies the receipt I say "I simply owe you $10, can I write a check for the difference?" They still seem all confused on how to fix it after refunding my card for the 3rd time they ask me very apologetically if it would be alright if I wrote a check (in my head I'm throwing my hands up in the air in frustration wishing I could have done that to begin with)
With check writing more problems start because now the original transaction is gone and the cashier must guess and check the amount to enter in the computer so that the 5% surcharge (like a tax) is included in the total. After entering in 6 different amounts and voiding 6 different amounts they finally get the amount within a penny of my original total and decided to take it. I was standing there for 25 minutes before it was all said and done. I was mad and frustrated but I knew in my heart of hearts that if I had not said anything I would have been eaten alive with guilt.

Well just before Greg left he reviewed the bank accounts and asked me "what's this charge at the grocery store?" (we use cash for all grocery shopping)

After the entire fiasco at the grocery store my card was still charged!

I went in to the store the other day and talked to the manager about the charge. She kind of remembered it but was certain that my bank just hadn't shown the refund yet (after 2 weeks?)she said I would have to print out a statement and bring it in for her to see and than she would contact the bank. So that's what I did today and supposedly they will get back to me. I'll be calling my bank in a few days if I don't hear back. All of this for a mere $10

What a pain in the neck!

long overdue preggo photo

The hubby is gone and unavailable to take my picture. We never got around to having him take a decent picture of me earlier. I tried taking my picture solo in front of the bathroom mirror which is incredibly difficult and doesn't produce a nice picture at all. but a bad picture is better than no picture. This photo was taken at 17 weeks and 4 days.

As of today I am 18 weeks and 2 days.

Perhaps I can recruit my neighbor to take my next picture

16 week doctor's appointment

On Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment. It was not a "major" appointment just a check up of sorts. I had a list of questions, mostly just weird quirks and pains with my body that I wanted to make sure was normal and related to pregnancy. Things like hair loss (I've been shedding and clogging up the bathtub drain-but I still have plenty of hair it's more annoying than anything else) and back aches (my doctor said it will only get worse as I get bigger.) I went over my "list" of strange symptoms and questions of what I can and can't do with my doctor. His final response to me was "You are not sick, you can do anything you would normally do" not really the response I was looking for but I suppose I am being overly worried about too many things.

I was so happy when the nurse found a heart beat with the Doppler, I had such a reassurance that everything is alright and a baby is growing inside me. The heart rate was in the 140's. I was shocked when my doctor said my weight gain was on the low side, only 3 pounds. I thought for sure I had gained 10 pounds or more I feel so heavy already. Of course it doesn't help that my jeans are a little snug and Greg makes it a point to "point" and chuckle at my growing stomach. Greg's comments/notice of my weight gain is all in good spirits.

After my appointment I had to head to the Radiology Dept. to schedule an ultra sound. I didn't know I was going to have my next ultra sound in a special department but I'm pretty excited about it. At my 20 week mark I'll have the ultra sound and hopefully we'll know if we are having a boy or a girl. A week later I have an appointment with my regular doctor to go over the results.

I had plans to head to the insurance office while at the hospital and have a chat about possibly having the baby in Washington State. The day of my appointment I had a flat tire. My friend drove me to my doctor's appointment and I didn't want her to have to wait any longer. I'll head back to the hospital another day to gather information for such a venture.

So many exciting things are ahead.

For my family patiently waiting-there will be a pregnancy photo posted soon.

House warming gift

A couple of guys from our small group bible study recently got a new apartment. They invited the gang over to help break in their new place. We have a tight gift giving budget. We only set aside money for Christmas and immediate family member's birthdays. So all other unexpected gift giving occasions have to be on the cheap and are typically homemade. I baked some brownies and snicker doodles and dressed them up with some scrap ribbon and a paper covered box. I raided our pantry for some extra items to round out the gift-some microwave popcorn and a can of air freshener seemed to do the trick. A quick hand stamped card completed the gift. This gift was made up of stuff I already had at home and in my pantry. I love it when I can create something without spending money.

First Trimester Photo-12.5 weeks pregnant

Ok here it is. I really REALLY wanted a picture retake but my husband was not being cooperative. He thinks the above photo is just fine and quite cute-I could hardly bring myself to post it. But if I wait any longer for a retake I'll lose out on a 1st trimester photo. (2 more days and I am at 14 weeks) So here it is embarrassing cheesy face and all.

pregnancy photo coming soon

A few days ago (Sunday) I asked my hubby to take a photo of me (the first of many showing the stages of my pregnancy) On a side note I'm exactly 13 weeks today! He took two pictures and both sported my ultra cheesy picture-taking smile (my eyes are even slightly popped out) I know my family has witnessed my cheesy face many a times but I can not possibly post the pictures online so there will be a retake and a picture will be posted soon.

A good and perfect gift.

We're expecting! We've known for a while but kept it to ourselves (not an easy task) until we had an ultrasound and heard/saw a heartbeat. Now the word's out and we couldn't be happier. After seeing our baby moving around inside of me it all seems so real. (The morning sickness and all day queasiness told me it was real weeks ago) I feel like I have this precious gift of life growing inside of me and I'm in awe.

I pray that God will prepare us for the MANY changes ahead and that our baby will continue to grow and be healthy.

BBQ...MMMM

We ate hamburgers last Monday....they were so yummy....they always are. I saw Greg eating his burger so I grabbed the camera in hopes of a few candid shots. Later Greg took a few pictures of me eating which was most unflattering. (to get back at me?) He was quick to blog about our grilling adventures. I tell you it was my idea to write up a post about our great meal. Oh well I'm sure our parents will get a kick out of reading our two different perspectives on the same topic.
I love to grill. It's one thing that Greg and I do great together and it is so fun to make dinner as a team. There's a real celebratory atmosphere when we grill.
We fire up the grill every time Greg goes out to sea and every time he returns. It's a tradition we started a few months ago. If I plan ahead and the grocery budget allows for it we have steak-which is sublime-I think Greg knows how to cook a piece of meat to perfection. Usually we have hamburgers and they are Fabulous! Our hamburgers include the following:

a homemade bun (grilled and toasty)
juicy beef patty
crispy bacon
American cheese (the only time I ever buy American cheese is for hamburgers)
lettuce
tomato
red onion (sometimes we grill these)
dill pickle chips
ketchup
mustard
real mayo

Our burgers are a work of art. They are so tall they topple over but that doesn't matter because we just laugh at the unstable burgers then we claim to each other how absurdly good they are before we gobble them up! YUM!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July! This is the first year I don't have anything planned. I'm missing family a little bit extra today as I think of all the fun that's going to be had with BBQ's, fellowship and fireworks.

Yesterday I went to the beach with a few boat wives. It was a fun day. We grilled hotdogs on a tiny hibachi grill and ate a hodgepodge of finger foods which made for a very nice picnic on the beach. I wore plenty of sunscreen which paid off and today as I see no signs of sun burn, which is
rare for me with 6 hours in the sun.

I've been spending a couple of week days working at our church helping to prep for Vacation Bible School. I had no idea so much work and effort was done behind the scenes to make VBS happen. I have such fond memories of going to VBS as a kid and I really want to pass that along to kids today. Of course VBS is more than a time for fun memories it is a ministery for kids and I hope to see many little hearts coming to Jesus. I'm working in the "snacks dept." but for now I'm helping decorate the chuch and it's starting to look great.

FYI....

Greg has a blog. He's been talking about starting one for a while. I told him he could use mine but after reading his first posts it's clear that he needed a blog of his own. I never thought he would actually start a blog but he has and I'm sure friends and family will get a kick out of reading his posts which are uniquely "Greg."

Color Inspiration #54

This post goes out to my mom who has politely asked me on several occasions to post more often. My jump back into blogging begins with a little Color Inspiration.

This challenge was indeed a challenge as I don't usually make cards with such bright colors. I had my heart set on using Stampin Up's Always stamp set as it seems to have been neglected just sitting on my shelf of stamps and I just love the little bird.

I used the colors Taken with Teal, Green Galore, Pumpkin Pie, and Bashful Blue.

My picture taking skills aren't the greatest, you'll have to trust me when I say this card looks better in real life.

Pencil Toppers

I'm substituting for the same 2nd grade class for the month of May (I love it! 2nd grade may be a favorite grade for me) I'm giving my students a treat next week for their good behavior in class, I've bought a pack of pencils and decorated them with paper pencil toppers. Butterflies for the girls and frogs for the boys.





PS: A quick note about the espresso mod post by Greg. The video was taken at 6 am this morning and I sound very sleepy (I also talked way to much). There is a LOT of annoying background noise, I would skip to 1:45 in the video to see the coffee action and avoid all the noise.

Espresso mods


This is Greg posing as Rachel. I modified the portafilter in our espresso machine and Rachel took a video of me making a shot of espresso early in the morning. This is the second shot in the morning. The first one didn't have any of that splatter at the very end of this shot. The splatter is from channeling water through the puck. It was still a tasty shot.

My First Color Inspiration Challenge

I've been a long time reader of KWernerDesign This is my very first Color Inspiration Challenge. I was lured into participation by all the awesome prizes available. I had fun with the whole process and I just may participate again.

For this card I used mostly Stamping Up products.
Stamp Sets-All Holidays and Pun Fun
Colors-Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, and Whisper White.
Sorry I can't tell you where my accessories came from. The ribbon was salvaged from my "scraps" pile and the buttons came from my jar of random buttons collected over the years.

Boonie Stomping

With both our husbands gone, my neighbor/friend and I have been keeping each other company and exploring Guam to boot! The very top picture was taken on Mt Lam Lam-the highest point on Guam. The pictures below were taken at Fonte's Dam which we discovered by accident as we were looking for an old radio station site (we never did find it)The very bottom picture is taken at the "top" of the dam. We were both very surprised and impressed by Fonte's Dam and we are taking our husbands to see it once they return.

Bell Peppers!

I love bell peppers. I think I might love them because they are so expensive. Today I was pleasantly surprised to find some produce mark downs at the commissary. Usually if the produce is mark downed it is rotten and moldy but I must have been the first person to eye the peppers. They were all in decent shape (perhaps a bit past their prime but still very edible)For $1.25 I got 4 large green peppers and 3 large orange peppers, WOOT! orange peppers costs nearly $5 a pound, green are a little cheaper at $3 a pound. There were a couple bags marked down but it's just little ol me eating so I only picked up the one bag. Tonight it's roasted pepper and tomato soup and tomorrow night I'm calling my neighbors up and trying my hand at stuffed bell peppers.

I love a bargain and I love food!

Marriage via e-mail

Greg has not been receiving e-mails from me -making him very sad and concerned. I just received an e-mail from him letting me know that he has finally received an e-mail from me (it was sent it ages ago but at least he got it)

His short note made my heart so glad that I had to share it with you all. His "voice" may seem a little strange but keep in mind his e-mails are reviewed by others and have a size limit for security reasons.

Rachel,
I have gotten your #1 and #2 emails. I'm glad you are not dead/in the hospital/left me. I am glad you got your bind it all. I know you will make nice things with it. Plus, you don't have to say in your email you'll clean it up. Your very responsible and you don't have to convince me you are. I am also glad you have it to be creative with and have an outlet to work. I can't wait to see the things you made with it.

What hyundai parts came in?

I miss you and we are almost done here.

I love you.
Greg

Ahhhhh (my heart flutters) he wants to see what I've made! I didn't think he cared about my crafting hobby. In my prior e-mails I told him the house was a disaster and you could hardly see the dining table amongst my craft supplies, it's nice to know he's not concerned about the mess I've made either.

Crafting....

I have gone off the deep end and have become an addict to paper crafting. It could be that my hubby's gone, hopefully I'll still know how to cook a decent meal and the house won't be a complete disaster when Greg returns. My latest project (among many) is a calendar with all the family birthdays marked inside. I've made it into a little book using my newest toy the bind-it-all (which I LOVE) I'm going to give it to my new sister-in-law (actually have two new sisters-in-law.) This is going to the one who has a birthday this month.