it's friday

(pic i took a few years back in bermuda of my ladies- loves it)

i have so been looking forward to this weekend. my bff, shannon, is coming for a few days. we have big plans to take her to twillingate, go whale watching, check out fogo, and eat some good seafood. i am hoping my back will stay strong so we can do some extra small hikes. also looking forward to eating some ice cream! can't stop. 

on the weekend (in st john's)

(at the memorial university campus to watch the country's largest road hockey tournament)

(our new living room is currently j's guitar room) 

(really beautiful flowers welcoming us to our new job) 

 (baby's room thus far)

(coffee at signal hill sunday morning) 

(wearing my husband's clothes and loving it) 

(signal hill)

notes:

- living 1.5 hours away from your husband for 1 month is not fun. i really feel for all those long distance couples out there. we only have 2 weeks left, and i can't wait. 

- we got the coolest glider for baby feeding times. i am so excited to sit in it with our little bubba

- we had brunch at hungry heart in st john's. so good. 

- back pain. wow. i have never experienced any back pain ever, so when it hit me on the weekend, i was surprised. i think many pregnant women experience it. it will definitely force me to slow way down for this last 5 or 6 weeks. 

hotel review: fairfield inn, st john's, NL

we stayed at the fairfield inn this past weekend when we went in to st john's for a little relaxation and shopping. this hotel is super new, and it has a pool.

price: pretty expensive. around $200 plus tax per night. i wasn't able to find any deals
bathroom: really nice. no tub, but the shower was big. also, paul mitchell hair care products
pool: tiny pool with a water slide. full to the brim with kids at the rare time it is open
breakfast: included. so good for continental. cereal, waffles, fruit, yogurt, toast, oatmeal, juice, coffee, eggs, bacon, hash browns.
wifi: yes, awesome. also, computers and printers in the lobby
tv: good. we watched office space
location: really close to the big shopping mall and starbucks, and a bunch of other things. though jon and i prefer to be downtown.
parking: free
notes:
- i had one really big issue with this hotel. the pool was closed most of our stay. it opened for just a few hours after supper, but then closed right back down again until checkout the next day. since floating around in a pool is one of the main reasons j and i even go to hotels( especially now that i am super pregnant), it was a major let down. we totally would have gone to a different hotel had we known the pool would be closed. when we checked out, i explained the situation to the reception desk lady. she just smiled really weird and said there was nothing she could do. i think she was playing a game on her computer maybe? i emailed my complaint the next day, and they did get back to me with a small discount for my next stay and an upgraded room. so we will definitely give them a second chance.
- the lobby is really nice. it is decorated really cool with this huge oversized double sided sofa in the centre.
-this hotel was packed with kids. i'm not sure if it is always like that, and it really wasn't a big deal to j and i, but it's good to know.

7.5 month bump!

wow, i am feeling large. time is flying. notes on this past month of pregnancy:

- baby's movements are so different now. i sometimes feel an elbow (or foot or bum, not sure) jutting out, and it will stay there for 5 minutes, then go back in. so cute. sometimes it feels like baby is pushing on my ribs. i wouldn't call it painful, but definitely uncomfortable.

- clothing. i have 2 pairs of pants, 2 sweaters, 2 t-shirts that still fit. i just started raiding jon's closet for t-shirts and sweaters. since it is still pretty cold around here, i can't break out the easy maxi dresses yet. also, my work uniforms are becoming a problem. i am thinking of switching to j's, or maybe abandoning the scrubs altogether.

- because j and i are on the go so much, i was really concerned that when my due date comes, i could go in to labour hours away from our hospital. our specialist assured me that first time mothers are usually in labour for 12 hours or so. wow.

- i just realized a couple days ago that no one has mentioned prenatal classes to me. maybe they aren't really done much anymore? there is no way we will have time to take any classes now, so hopefully they aren't super essential

- we installed the infant baby seat in the SUV. looks so cute back there!

the island debate

i have never cared much about home decor. we have always lived in a rental, and always felt my time and money was better spent on other things. but. now we own a house. we know that most social gatherings end up around the island in the kitchen. and we want one. 

our kitchen is exactly the same as every kitchen in our subdivision. the contractor used identical cabinets and colours in every house. the first picture is our kitchen. yes, the walls are sorta lime green. we don't love a lot of overhead cabinets, so we want to remove the entire cabinet unit to the right of the sink. i am not in love with the cheap stock lighting, but i can live with it for a while. 

(our kitchen- so needs an island) 

(dark kitchen cabinets, light island cabinets) 

 (kitchen island from home depot-maybe add a granite countertop?)

(stainless steel prep table/island)

the company who supplied our kitchen cabinets can make us a custom matching island with the identical cabinet stain, hardware and countertop. or we can do the stock off-white island with granite countertop. or we can go with a stainless steel prep table, which has no storage, but looks cool. or we could go a different direction with a butcher block top. 

i am thinking we will get all the appliances and our furniture in, then rethink. i feel like such an adult these days!

more from the weekend

(stopped for hot dogs at joey's lookout near gambo) 

(our only bit of furniture in the new house) 

(chilling in the milk chocolate master bedroom) 

(insane double rainbow) 

we had a really good weekend, though it involved many, many hours of driving, as we are now juggling two homes.

some weekend highlights:

-stopped at joey's lookout for hot dogs. i have wanted to stop there for years, so we finally did. if i'm honest, the hot dogs did not live up to the hype.

-we had our first sleep in our new red house. i spent hours frog taping the master, because i am really not a fan of that chocolatey brown colour.

-we went to the movies in our new town. we hadn't been to a movie since christmastime. it was such a great date night

-we saw a double rainbow!! this is the second one we've seen, and i feel it's so lucky, like it's a good omen.

-the appleton run/walk. so nice. followed by a big brunch with out-of-town friends.

i walked 5K

(finish line)

(coffee and number 9) 

(swag)

when we signed up for a run/walk last weekend, we figured i would just walk a few k. i get out of breath these days after a stroll to the grocery store, which is about 50 feet from our apartment. but when we got to the race, the weather was so cool and drizzly, perfect for me. and the mayor of the little town of appleton decided to walk with the pregnant lady. he gave me a history of the town while we walked, and we stopped for a quick chat with lots of volunteers along the way.

i finished dead last, and j finished way, way ahead of me, even though he had run double the distance (he came in third in the 10 k). it felt really good though. we talked about how cool it will be to jog with the stroller in these kind of community runs next year. we are so excited for this baby we get to meet in about 8 weeks!

after the run (walk) i totally ate a ton of french toast with syrup, ice cream, chocolate, etc. perfect sunday.

it's friday

this has been a blur of a week. j and i are taking possession of our new house today. although buying a house was never in our game plan, i am super excited. this weekend we'll be moving a few things in, and basically camping out at the new house. we won't be moving most of our stuff for another month or so. i'm hoping for a little good weather and maybe a little ice cream.

nice things my husband has done for me lately

i was listening to the radio the other day, and they were talking about how it's hard to remember kindnesses you have experienced. it's much easier to remember times that someone has hurt your feelings. doesn't seem right. anyway, my husband has been amazing lately. really. tiny, tiny sample of what he is like all the time:

- he takes me to mcdonald's every single day so i can get a mcflurry or burger. it's not his fav place ever, but he gets a coffee anyway, and never acts like it's a hassle
- he carries all my bags all the time. i just walk beside him with free arms. he even happily carries my purse. he usually did this even before i was pregnant, but now it's all the time
- he heard me telling my mom on the phone the other night that i was worried my new tomato plants would be too chilly overnight. he brought them inside before i was even off the phone
- he cut my hair the other day. i really wanted a trim, so i brought him some scissors. he thought he might mess it up, but it looks awesome.
- he also painted my toenails a few days ago. i can still do it, but i find it really uncomfortable to bend over my belly like that. he did a great job. my toes look great

i could go on and on, really. these are just the things that i am especially grateful for lately.

library list

i am starting to feel really greedy whenever we go to the gander public library since i know we are leaving soon. man, i love libraries.

so i read battle hymn of the tiger mom in seriously about 5 hours. i couldn't put it down. so good. i always love memoir-style books.

i perused through my ideal bookshelf, and ended up with a huge list of books i want to read. they include:

A movable feast by Hemingway
Flappers and philosophers by Fitzgerald
A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again by David Foster Wallace
Heartburn by Nora Roberts

and i am currently reading eckhart tolle because i am such a sucker for that oprah book club sticker. can't resist. i also weirdly like self-help books.

life lately

(tomato plants) 

(new cushions) 

(nutella ice pops from here) 

(latte and muffins from the "coffee shop")

life has been pretty laid back lately. since things are about to be crazy for us, we have been trying to enjoy the slow pace while we can. 

notes:

even though we are moving in a month or two, i still want to have a little success with some tomato plants. the weather here has been freezing (actually below zero, no joke), so i had to bring the plants inside. whenever warm weather wants to come to newfoundland, i think we are all ready. 

i have been making my own ice cream treats lately. i am forever making the banana ice cream, which in my mind can be eaten with a healthy breakfast. the fudge pops shown above were awesome too. and i make the coconut ice cream sometimes too. i also still love drumstick mcflurries, and peanut butter fudge crunch ice cream. this whole ice cream thing could be getting out of hand.