The Great Smoky Mountains Day 1

We thought that we would NEVER see San Angelo again, but Paul has been sent here on a TDY (temporary assignment) and now we're here.  For 7 weeks.  But, like we always do, we took advantage of the long drive (24 hours) to see some of the country we've never seen.  This time it was the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.

Our first day was a half day so we only had time to see a little bit of the park.  We stopped at the visitor's center and the ranger said it would be a good idea to go up to Clingman's Dome, the highest peak in the park, to see the views before some clouds rolled in.  So we did.  The views were spectacular!  Of course they would be at 6600 feet.  We got caught in a little bit of fog but were still able to see pretty far.  Mountains are awesome.

On our way back down to the parking lot from the observation tower we saw a black bear and her baby cub!  They moved behind the bushes before we could get a good picture though.  We also started our search for birds . . . we bought a birding book at the visitor's center and spent the next few days pretending to be birders.  Birding is so nerdy and so fun.

Then we drove to Bryson City, NC to check out our cabin.  We found this gem on VRBO.com and it was exactly what we wanted.  The views from the deck were gorgeous!  Paul sat out on the deck every morning reading and watching for birds.  It was basically paradise.

That night we went to dinner at Jimmy Mac's in Bryson City and got huge hamburgers and key lime pie.  We planned out our next day and went to sleep.

It's a boy!

and I totally had Paul convinced it was a girl.

and we no longer have to call the baby "it"!

The ultrasound was more fun than I expected.  He (hehe) was positioned with his feet up by his head so we got a clear shot of his tiny baby feet (that will soon wear tiny baby socks.  baby socks are SO CUTE).  He was also holding his tiny hands in tiny fists.  He has all his fingers and toes.

We also saw his heart (all 4 chambers) beating at 150 bpm, his brain, spine, stomach, and yes, his parts.  We also got a nice view of his face and he looked like a creepy alien.  I'm sure he'll turn out cuter after a few more weeks.  He is 15 oz, so a little ahead of schedule, but everything looks good!

I feel very lucky and super excited!  Hopefully 19 weeks will be enough time to pick out a name!  In the meantime I'm painting his room blue!

moives

Hello!  Let me tell you about some movies!

The Hunger Games.  Very good!  I liked how they adapted the book for film, by adding scenes with the gamemakers, for example.  I also liked that the acting wasn't horrible.  Except maybe Gale, but he did have that whole gloomy/jealous face down when he didn't have to talk.  (on a semi-related note: I went to a Hunger Games party and won a Hunger Games cookbook because I unscrambled the most Hunger-Games-related words.  There are some good looking bread recipes in there but then there's also some squirrel recipes . . . I think I'll skip those).

The Big Year.  Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black are all birders trying to set the record for the most birds seen in 1 year.  It was funny and oh so wholesome.  It makes me want to be a birder, and I would recommend it if you are craving something PG.

Pirates.  Ya know, the latest one.  Last week when we went to get a movie I suggested this one and Paul told me that we had already seen it.  Ha, it was that good, was it?

This Means War.  We went to this in Virginia instead of The Vow.  I still haven't seen The Vow, but I kind of wish we had seen it instead because it couldn't have been any worse than this one.  and I even like Reese Witherspoon.  Not worth the money.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  My only problem with this movie was the ending.  I was hoping for some kind of world take-over where the apes kill off the human race, so when they all just run away to the forest I was a little disappointed.  The rest of the movie was good though.

Moneyball.  Super interesting.  Paul read the book before we saw it and offered a little more insight on the characters, which made it fun . . . do you still call them characters even when they are real people?  Baseball is a very complex and fascinating game and I enjoyed the new perspective this movie offered.  Too bad it didn't snag any Oscars.

Downton Abbey.  Not a movie, but an awesome mini-series!  British scandal and British accents, what more could you ask for?  It did take me a while to really sympathize with a lot of the characters, but by the end of the second season I was hooked.  Oh Mary and Matthew.

Suffolk, VA

We were in Suffolk, VA from February 20th to March 3rd on another TDY (temporary assignment).  This TDY was a little more pleasant than Florida for a few reasons.  First, I didn't have morning sickness.  Second, we had a kitchen in our hotel room.  Third, my friend Shera brought her dog along so I got to take her out on walks around a nearby lake.  The dog's name is Fancy; how cute is that? 

Shera and I had fun walking her around and chatting while Paul was at work.  There were some amazing houses/neighborhoods to gawk at!  When I'm a multimillionaire I might go back to Suffolk to find a house. 

Paul got stuck with a 1 pm to 1 am shift and it took me almost to the last day to be able to still be awake when he got home.  I don't think work was too bad though . . . he had enough free time to reread The Hunger Games.

Overall, we had a good time in Suffolk.  We met up for lunch a few times and went out to the movies.  I went maternity shopping but didn't buy anything.  (Although I really need to . . . now I'm using a rubber band to give my jeans a little more room.)  Still, I think the best place to be is home.  And we have 5 more weeks here before we leave for another TDY!

Killer III

We finally went camping again after an almost two-year hiatus!  I think the last time we went was the summer of 2010 when we went with Tyler to Zion's National Park . . . if you don't count the time we set the tent up in the backyard.

This time we went to Poinsett State Park, just a 30 minute drive from our house.  We went mountain biking there in the fall and thought it was gorgeous.  And last weekend we went there for a little hike and freaked ourselves out by imagining menacing alligators around every corner (for the full story check out Paul's dream blog).  Now we've probably done everything there is to do at this particular state park.

Camping was a great time, like it always is.  We gathered wood and built a killer fire to roast our hot dogs and JUMBO mallows.  JUMBO mallows are delicious but require a little different roasting technique since they're so huge.  I think we got the hang of it though.

After the cold, cold night we packed up our gear and drove to the nearby Manchester State Forest to do some mountain biking.  We rode a 10 mile trail named "Killer III" and boy was it killer.  After a few miles of riding we ran into this creepy guy who looks like he might actually kill you.

Creepy right?  I was pretty weirded out by him until later we ran into this guy:

And then this guy:

And then this shivering kid with goggles on his head:

And on and on it went . . .

I didn't realize how many creepy statues there would be on the trail!  My favorite is probably the purple alien at Ridge Ride, with Indian Mound, Watermelon Field, and Twistys following close behind.  It was nice to have some "company" and especially nice to have reasons to rest!

We had so much fun.  Mountain biking is hard and exhausting but worth it when you have a great riding buddy and a beautiful day to enjoy!

Baby News

Well, since I posted it on Facebook I guess it has been officially announced: I'm pregnant!  There's a baby in the oven!  Alert!  Alert!

I am 16 weeks now, due on August 16th.  And for those of you who want TMI on how I'm feeling, read on!

Morning sickness was a big fat bother until about week 14, and since it's over let's just forget about it.

Now that the nausea/vomiting has subsided and I'm into trimester 2 my only complaints are that I have to go to the bathroom all the time (all the time, people) and that my arms fall completely asleep (completely) when I sleep on my back.  Also, I have fiery heartburn.  And I feel like I'm hungry all the time, but that's not really a complaint, eating is fun.  Other than all that I feel awesome.  There's a baby in me.  It's weird.  and exciting.

My bump isn't quite a bump yet.  I can tell it's there and my jeans can tell it's there but I'm sure no one else can tell if I don't want them to.  So no "bump" pictures yet.  I'm actually still at my pre-pregnancy weight because of the morning sickness.

At about week 7 we got an ultrasound and got to see the tiny speck that was the baby.  That was when I finally understood why people like to post their ultrasound pictures online for everyone to see.  To anyone else it's just another weird, black and white baby profile, but to the parents it's a weird, black and white baby profile of their baby.  So yeah, I sent that picture of my speck baby to its grandparents ASAP.

The internet says the baby is an avocado now.  or a starfruit.  and I'm thinking we should pick a name out of all the fruits it becomes when it's growing.  I personally like Prune for a boy and Rutabaga for a girl.  Or maybe the other way around?

Yes, we are going to find out the baby's gender around 20 weeks.  I'm not sure what I think it is though.  At first I thought it might be a girl, then Paul convinced me it was going to be a boy, but now I'm back to thinking it's a girl.  But it doesn't really matter to me.  What do you think?

If we didn't find out the gender I don't think the baby would have a name for months.  We're having a tough time coming up with names we actually like.  Mostly we just come up with names we know we won't use and laugh about how funny it would be to use them.  Top picks include Champion, Thor, Boonter, Zarblat, Leonard, and Sheldon.  If you have any suggestions (real or funny) we'd be happy to hear!

And, well, that's that.  The alert has been sounded!

Charleston, SC

After our trip to Fort Sumter we decided to head to downtown Charleston to see the sights.  We had a tourist map that we used that to navigate through the historic district and to help us find the cool buildings.

First we walked along the water and found this cool fountain.  The weather was perfect.  If I lived in Charleston I would just sit at the waterfront and people watch.  Say cheese!

Then we wandered through the streets and spotted these neat buildings.  I thought the area was lovely and would like to go back again sometime.

We had a delightful dinner and then drove home.  I'm glad we could give my parents a little taste of the south (that isn't Sumter).

Fort Sumter, SC

While my parents were visiting we decided to go to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  The fort is located on a man made sandbar in Charleston Harbor.

To get to the fort you have to ride a ferry about 30 minutes across the harbor.  We departed from Patriot's Point where the USS Yorktown is housed.  We decided not to go in and see her, but she looked pretty cool from the outside.

On our ferry ride across the harbor we saw some pretty cool birds.  You know, pelicans and the like.  Then there were these seagulls that followed the boat the whole way there (and back).  Probably they were looking for fish in the wake, but I did see a Dorrito or two tossed from one of the upper decks.  I did have a video, but I'll have to work on getting it uploaded later.

The fort itself was pretty cool.  There was all kinds of artillery, shell fragments, and historical memorabilia, like the flag.  Lots of information to take in and facts and tidbits to remember, which I'm never very good at.  Paul and I had a good time looking at the canons and imagining ourselves firing bombs at the enemy. 

A good time was had by all!