Babymoon

Recently there has been a lot of hype about "babymoons". It is just a new way for vacation hot spots to make money. A while back I saw a piece on the Today Show about Babymoons--vacations for expecting mom & dads to take before baby arrives. I thought it would be a great piece to watch to see some vacations they recommended--well, they were great vacations, but totally ridiculously priced. Let's just say, way out of our league. And who really wants to go to the Carribean when they are 6-7 months pregnant and sit in a swimsuit? No thanks.

Even before we knew about these said "baby- moons", Joel & I had decided to do a getaway weekend this summer--to celebrate our anniversary (#4) and to just get away. So, I guess we dubbed it our "babymoon". We just got back--what a great trip! I highly recommend a weekend away to all couples.

We ended up going downtown Denver & stayed at the hotel (The Magnolia) where we spent some time on our Honeymoon. We left Haiku in good hands with Joel's mom and headed off for a great adventure!

Here are the highlights:
*Hard Rock Cafe for dinner (just like on our Honeymoon)

*Movie (Get Smart) You can read Joel's comments about the movie on his blog.

* Sleeping in!! (Haiku has been getting us up at 6am every morning!)

*Room Service--we have never done this before & probably won't do it again--but it was lots of fun! Breakfast in bed!

*Watching cable TV (we don't have it at home)

*Eating hot dogs from a street vendor on 16th Street Mall

*Walking around Civic Center Park--it was a great day & Joel got to use his new camera to take pictures (see flower photo above)

*Going to a fancy steakhouse for dinner on Saturday night. A friend had given us a very generous gift certificate to this place in Parker (about an hour from our house) and we hadn't used it. So, we decided to go this weekend since we were already 1/2 way there...

*I finally had some good meat well-done. It's one thing I've missed being pregnant--having good beef well-done. This steak was awesome!

*We also took some time to drive by my old stomping grounds from high school--we were on that side of town. We drove by my high school & old house. It was fun to see what had changed and what had stayed the same.

*Relaxing & spending time together.

It was really the first time I didn't want to come home from a vacation. Usually I'm ready to get back in the grove of things, but I really didn't want to come home today. I guess reality is just a bit to real for me to face. Good thing I'm going on vacation again soon! One last trip away before Baby J comes...

Races Aren't for Sissies

A number of years ago (and by a number, I do mean a while ago--I was in preschool, so it had to be at least 25 years ago), my mom & dad went on a trip to Greece. This isn't too much of a stretch because we lived in Germany at the time.

I will say up front that I do not know the details of this trip, I will just share the memory that I have. I like it that way. I apologize if some of the details are hazy.

All I remember is that the time of the trip coincided with the running of the marathon. The Marathon. As in the one that follows the original running of the marathon back in ancient times. For more information about this great run (the original guy died at the end), you can read more here.

In my mind, one of the reasons my dad received the time off to go on the trip was because his CO (Commanding Officer) was assured that my dad (and maybe a friend of his that went with him on the trip?) were going to actually run in the race.

As the legend, um, story goes, my dad hadn't trained to actually run the marathon (he was running pretty regularly at the time, but not necessarily training for a marathon). In the end, it took my dad some long, obnoxious amount of time to finish the race. But, he had to--he couldn't go back and tell his boss he quit early. We're talking Army guys, here. His race bib hung in his office for years following this event. It might even hang there still; I'll have to check in a few weeks when I go to Wisconsin.

I don't know why, but I've always loved this story, even though I don't really know the details. The point of the story isn't in the details, though. The point is that he finished. I'm not sure how--I'm sure it wasn't pretty. But, he finished. And all these years later, I'm still proud to say that he did it.

I'm embarrassed to say there are a number of races in my lifetime that I've started and then quit early. There are a few I've actually finished. It might not have been a pretty site, but I finished none the less. I feel like I'm embarking on some new races here pretty soon. I hope I can finish and maybe even finish well.

Thanks for setting the example, dad.

90 Days

So, I'm more on the 90 Days+ plan, but that's not the point.

Our church is reading through the Bible in 90 days. It's about 12 chapters or so a day. The point is not to memorize the Bible or to fully understand everything written in it (is that even possible?). The point is to get an overview of the Bible. Our pastor is preaching through the Bible each week--last week it was an overview of the not-so-perfect dads found in Genesis & Exodus. I'm excited to see where he goes this week--through Leviticus & Numbers.

I'm a few days behind, but at least I've gotten started. I made it through the first 5 books of the Bible, and those have to be some of the hardest, right? My goal is to try to be done before Baby J appears, but we'll see how that goes!

If you are interested in trying it yourself, I highly recommend it. You can find the reading plan here.

Is it You?

A while back a set of friends we know were pregnant and began taking those delightful baby classes. They were telling us about the group they were in--turns out, it was a rather strange group of people. From what I remember there were one or two couples who were not married and the woman was quite upset with the spouse about being pregnant at all--and let everyone know it. One couple didn't speak the same language...how does that work? And, there were a number of other strange circumstances about the other couples in the group. Seems like our friends were the only "normal" ones in the bunch.

So, as we were talking we decided that there is always one weird couple in the bunch. At meetings, gatherings, etc...there always has to be at least one.

Yesterday it was our turn to attend the first of our baby classes--an all day marathon of breathing, labor techniques and basically an overload of information for an already tired and overwhelmed mom-to-be! Our group is really great--all of the couples are fairly young, seem to be married and seem to be very happy about having a baby. One couple is due on the same days as us.

So, it begs the question--if everyone else is normal, are we the weird ones?

08.08.2008

I love the Olympics. Ever since I can remember, I have loved watching the Olympics. I remember when you used to have to wait 4 years between games. Now it's only 2 and I'm glad I don't have to wait so long.

I love the athletes, the stories and even the way the anchors "cheese up" some of the competitions--you know, romanticizing the stories and playing with our heartstrings. I love the underdogs who come from behind, those who aren't supposed to win but do, and even those who are supposed to win and take the gold.

I love seeing the different countries represented with their athletes, their flag and I especially love hearing all of the National Anthem's being played. Obviously, the US has the best and I like hearing that the most, but the other ones are pretty cool, too.

I love learning about new sports--who knew that athletes tossing a large, round object on ice and sweeping it could be interesting (for those of you under-educated in Olympics, this sport is called Curling)? And who knew that the triathlon was just added as a sport in 2000? It's not like I have time to follow all of these random sports throughout the year--I just learn as I go during the Olympics.

There are two things I don't particularly like about the Olympics. The politics and the strange parts of the Opening Ceremony. I don't really get into all of the International Affairs of which country is attending and which is not. And, I don't usually like the crazy dancing and music and just plain weirdness that usually is the Opening Ceremony.

However, I do love watching the parade of athletes during the Opening Ceremony. There is something amazing about watching thousands of athletes, coaches and trainers from hundreds of countries marching in one stadium, united in one parade. Call me emotional, but I love it when our world can come together united.

This August is a potentially busy one for us. Baby J will be making his appearance at some point. My due date is August 21--three days before the Olympics are over. Here's to hoping he can wait until then so I can get my fill of Olympics.

Will you be watching?