Nobody Beats the King!

Just saw a great commercial for Burger King. It reminded me of how we used to get a Whopper on special occasions when my family first came to the U.S. They were the best deal around at only 99 cents on Wednesday and weekends. Nothing beats the flame-broiled taste of a whopper. So, a toast to the whopper!

Brilliant advertising! Check it out!
www.whopperfreakout.com

I'm going to get my whopper tomorrow!

6 more weeks!

I had a dream about Malone the other night. I was holding her and she was so tiny. She had darker hair. I remember being overwhelmed in the dream by how tiny she was. All her features were so small and petite. Its hard to believe that in only 6 weeks (hopefully less) we will finally get to meet her. We're looking forward to finally seeing what she looks like (will she have her mommy's curly hair or her daddy's straight- as- a- stick hair? Will she have darker or lighter eyes?) and what her personality will be like (Will she be sweet or spicy?). Both Cameron and I are so excited and literally cannot wait. I think I'm probably a little more anxious than Cameron just because I'm ready to not have a baby sitting on my bladder, kicking me in the ribs or moving my intestines around any more. But overall, the pregnancy has by far exceeded my expectations in every way.

I think we're pretty close to being ready (would we even know if we weren't?). Her pack-n-play is set up, I successfully set up her swing by myself the other night (if you've ever done it, you know what a feat it is) and her clothes are washed. I've compiled my list of what to take to the hospital, although I can't get myself to get the bag ready yet. In one of my books, they said to have it ready by 35 weeks, but that's a little too early for me. I even thought about making some freezable foods like soups and lasagna the other day and then decided that a) that's a bit crazy, b) we don't really eat soups and lasagna and c) 6 week frozen lasagna just sounded gross to me.

We also have been trying to prepare in other ways. We often talk about how different a certain situation will be when we have Malone. For example, a quiet evening at home with Cameron working on his blog or reading a book and me cooking dinner or folding laundry will certainly look a bit different once she makes her presence known. Contrary to Cameron, I try to imagine the worst possible situation to make sure that a) if reality is really as bad as I had imagined, I'm ready, or b) I'm surprised by how great it is compared to what I had imagined. Cameron just is as positive as one can be, and when reality isn't that way, still takes it all in stride. How does he do that? One thing that we do know, life will never be like it is now. Not that it will be better or worse, just different.

Every once in a while I get a little overwhelmed by all the big questions. How will we know what to do? What if we're terrible parents? What if she's sick and we are super la la land parents and never know until its too late? Will I be the awful woman that everyone uses as an example of what not to do in labor? Will she be healthy and safe? What if we're terrible teachers and botch her whole view on God? These questions have a way of creeping in at the strangest times. But like they creep in, I just remind myself that millions of people who are way worse off than us have gone through this and had successful, wonderful children. Plus, again, Cameron is Mr. Super Steady Positive Man, which most of the time is really helpful.

6 weeks. Not long. Not long at all.

We're headed to Tacoma, WA

Its official! Cameron and I (and baby Malone once she arrives) will be moving to beautiful Tacoma, WA. Friday night, Cameron's pilot training class had their Assignment Night. The room was packed. Everyone filled with excitement and I'm sure some anxiety as families were about to see their fate for at least the next four years. Its amazing how one moment can define your life for the next few years. They called each student up one by one, made a few witty remarks about all the stupid things the student did and then gave a few different choices of plane. One by one they disappeared until one is left with the plane they are going to fly for the next ten years and then the location for the next four years. CRAZY! My heart stopped when I saw, C-17 to McChord AFB, Tacoma, Washington. I wish I could have seen my face. Not because I was disappointed or upset, but because it was soooo unexpected for me. All that to say, both Cameron and I are so excited and can't wait. It really is the perfect assignment for us.


Tacoma is a city about 40 minutes south of Seattle. The city has a population of about 200,000 with lots of young, tech-savvy people. It has little bakeries and cafes, beautiful parks, antique stores, downtown condos, old Victorian houses that is completely remodeled, boutiques and lots of things to do outdoors. Need I say how excited we are to live in this environment??!!

Cameron gets to fly the C-17, the newest heavy plane in the Air Force. There's all kinds of really cool things about it, but to read all about that, look at his blog .

We're not quite sure yet as to the timeline of all the moves. We plan to start looking for houses soon (maybe a cute little townhouse downtown Tacoma?) and will keep you updated on the whole process. Maybe I'll even put up pictures of possible houses? We'll have to see....

WE'RE EXCITED!!!! YAY!!!!


PS: The plan is to put up the Christmas Tree today. But really, who knows? I planned on putting up the tree two weeks ago. If it actually goes up before Christmas, I'll make sure to put up pic. :)

Dumb Mac thats not working!!

Unfortunately, our prized Macbook Pro is broken! :( Oh yes friends, the unthinkable has happened. I am only managing to write this quick update from the library on base. So for now this is just to say that I will soon put up another post....Favorite Things to look forward to....my new iPod Nano, the Christmas tree adventure (which has NOT technically begun yet) and where we'll be going next in our great Air Force adventure (we'll find out Friday night). So don't give up on me. I promise I will make the next few blogs worth your time, which means LOTS of pictures. :) Until then...

Black Friday

Black Friday. Normally known for the mad shopping people (or is it mad people going shopping?) are doing today. Although I think that for some people it refers to the day of recovery after the stress of family, too much food and travel. But for us, none of the above applies.

This year was the first Thanksgiving that Cameron and I hosted. Our friends James and Sara Martin came from Colorado to spend the holiday with us. Its been a great few days, filled with lots of blogging (the boys are obsessed with the latest blogging technology, such as Google Analytics and Adsense), food and relaxing. I made my first turkey yesterday. I think it was a success. Unfortunately, I don't have any turkey leftovers...those were obliterated last night. Its also the last Thanksgiving without any children. I was trying to imagine yesterday as I was scurrying around making making turkey, stuffing and all the random fixings what it will be like next year with Baby Malone finally being with us. By then, she might be walking, and if Cameron's educational plan is working, she'll be reading Shakespeare as well. Oh, how different our lives are going to be?

Today, I think we're just going to continue relaxing. The boys are about to go play racquetball. Sara and I might go get a movie. Our goal is to definitely stay clear of any kind of mall, shop or crowd, not that there really is any of that here in the grand metropolis of Enid, OK.

Here's some pictures of our Thanksgiving escapades so far:


The turkey before it was cooked. Doesn't it look fabulous?



Our Thanksgiving table


The typical snapshot of what Cameron and James are doing all weekend long...working on their crazy blogs (I'm just a novice compared to them)



All the leftovers that is STILL in my kitchen. When you're hungry, you can just graze...how fun?



Happy Thanksgiving all! I'll continue with my favorite things later this weekend...ps: I think I'm going to put up the Christmas tree Saturday....I love it!!! It is my favorite thing this time of year. YAY!

Favorite Things #2: Oh Sweet Citrus

Oranges. Sweet, fruit from heaven, oranges. This, my friends, is another one of my favorite things...probably my absolute favorite right now. I've enjoyed oranges since I was a child growing up in the jungles of Africa (just kidding about the jungles). We like oranges so much in my family that we used to buy those enormous bags of oranges and every night after dinner my dad would carve the orange flesh out of the skin and the white bitter stuff (I'm sure there's a name for it) with skill.

Needless to say, I loved oranges then, but lately my love affair with this orange fruit has gone to a new level, obsession. You see, I'm about 8 months pregnant. Instead of craving crazy things like pickles with peanut butter smeared all over them, I crave oranges. I wake up thinking about how I'm going to peel it, make sure all the gross white stuff is carefully scraped off, pick each slice apart and take the thin skin off, and eat the nodules, one by one. I have to limit myself to only a few a day....either a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack and one after dinner. Otherwise, I would spend my entire day picking orange nodules apart like some lunatic. I even made Cameron run to Walmart (the base Commissary, where I prefer to get my drug...aka oranges, was closed at 9pm) the other night, because we were out. Is this not a sick obsession?

Oprah's favorite things include things like TiVo, Cashmere pajamas, and diamond encrusted watches but my favorite things so far is limited to Starbucks and oranges. I'm pretty cool.

Here's some pictures of latest victim:








I promise the next post will not be nearly as creepy :)

Belly Update

Here's just a quick update on the pregnancy:


Here I am in all of my glory at 30 weeks pregnant. Weird to think that we can now do the countdown, old-fashioned style....on our fingers!



We ordered some stuff off of our registries. Really boring stuff like a baby bath tub, bottles and the cutest little diapers EVER! Look how TINY they are!


We also got the pack 'n play from our friends Phil and Jill last weekend. It was one of the highlights of the weekend to set it up. Isn't it cute?



I'll continue my "Favorite Things" tomorrow. Time for dinner....Baby Malone needs some food!

My Favorite Things---Aahhhh !!!!!! (read: Crying and Screaming)

Yesterday, I saw a commercial for Oprah's upcoming "Favorite Things" Christmas show. Although I love seeing what Oprah deems worthy of the "Favorite" title, I can't stand the screaming, crying masses women in the audience. How do they all maintain that level of surprise and excitement through the whole show? Don't they get tired? Oh, wait....they are getting all that new, expensive, "favorite" stuff for the enormous price of $0--absolutely FREE! Plus, Oprah does this annoying yell when she announces every item. Oh, my friends, I'm sure you can hear her now. Its just all a little much for me.

So here I embark on a series of blogs entitled, "My Favorite Things....AHHHH!!". This list is sure to rival that of Oprah, except that most of you will actually be able to enjoy some of my favorite things. Oh and its in no specific order. Without further adieu,

My Favorite Things....AHHHH #1:



1. Starbucks. Cameron and I luuuuv Starbucks. We call it our faithful friend. Why? Although there's nothing quite as satisfying as an Upside-down Caramel Macchiato, we love Starbucks for more than the sweet coffee mixers they make. Somehow the atmosphere always makes me think of Christmastime, warm and cozy. They're always playing the best coffee house music, just loud enough to make you wonder who it is, but not loud enough to break conversation. The service is always good and the employees always happy. I have never met a Starbucks employee that hates their job. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they get awesome benefits (coffee, insurance and more!) and they get to be part of making my life better.

But most of all, we love that no matter what town we are in, we can walk into a Starbucks and have the comfort of home. When we are depressed about having nothing to do in the town we're in or feeling lonely with no friends, we know that Starbucks will be the faithful reminder of what we once had and what is still possible for us to have. Starbucks is reminiscent of the outside world, where there's cool music, smart people and intelligent conversation. It is our ever faithful friend.

Here's a few random facts about Starbucks:

- My favorite drink at Starbucks is a Upside- down Caramel Macchiato. Although, my friend Micky recently introduced me to the Peppermint White Mocha. It tastes just like a Andes Mint Chocolate! But for me, the Caramel Macchiato is where it is at.

- Starbucks was named after the first mate in the novel Moby Dick

- During the 1990's and into the 2000's, a new Starbucks store opened up every single work day domestically

- By November 2005, there were more Starbucks stores in London than Manhattan

- A Grande Caramel Macchiato has 270 calories. That means all I have to do is drink one of these puppies and I will fulfill my extra 300 calories to completely sustain the growth of my unborn child. Is that not crazy??




Here's my friends, Yami and Jill. We had a coffee date at STARBUCKS yesterday. It was fun.



Here is Ephrem and I. He didn't really want to take a picture with me. So we bought him some cookies and he was ok to take a picture. Don't I look weird in this picture?

My very first blog

Friends,

At the urging of my Uber Hot husband, I am starting this blog. See, he started this incredible blog about all the things that interests him (www.schaefersblog.com), like the latest pop-punk band, musings on his favorite financial tips, and his ponderings on the concepts like "Sunk Cost". So in an effort to not be bored while he is working on his work of art, and maintaining that I am just as smart as my husband (just in different areas) I am writing this blog.

As it is customary to make promises at the beginning of things (with all the intentions in the world of keeping, but probably won't), here are a few things to look forward to with my new blog:

1. Lots of updates on the preggo belly and baby Malone

2. All the research on new and interesting things mostly to be done by my Uber Hot Pilot husband and passed on to me

3. My favorite old and new recipes

4. Lots of pictures! Everyone always likes pictures, right?

So sit back and enjoy!