back in SA

Between a wedding, Christmas and juggling time with BOTH of our families since our wedding, to say we had an eventful vacation is an understatement. I don't know how we managed to cram so much into 12 days, but we did it and I even lived to tell about it. {Michael did too, but he's not pregnant, so it's not as miraculous an accomplishment} Its good to be home, although I do wish 'home' wasn't so far away.

This is us at the Allsop Christmas Eve party. My new year's resolution is to try to NOT look Asian when I smile. Wish me luck. Michael's favorite Chrismas gift was the Snuggie, and Snuggie for dogs. No, we currently don't own a dog but are thinking it may fit the baby. . . . . .

My favorite gift was Madagascar 2 (as prefaced by my previous post) and tickets to BRAD PAISLEY!!!! yea!! i wonder who i should take? {apparently Santa hasn't learned the 'only give ONE ticket' trick . . . . ha ha}

my theme song

"Had a nice Thanksgiving did we?"

That's what my Dr said after seeing this months weight gain. So, I like pie ok?? LAY-OFF!!! and excuse me for finally getting to a point where I can be friends with food again. Therefore, I have dubbed "I like em big and chunky" as my new theme song.

btw I DID have a nice thanksgiving.

Go Cougars!!!!

GO BYU!!!! Well here in San Antonio I don't get to hear the pre-week banter between fans of both of the teams. So I thought I would post a few favorite pictures for all of you!


And my personal favorite....

Go Cougars!!!!!!!!!

its only going to get worse

What is it about a protruding belly that makes perfect strangers want to touch and talk? I didn't realize the baby bump came with a sign saying "ask me inappropriate questions" or "tell me your horror stories". Although I DO like receiving advise and parenting tips - just from someone whose opinions on the subject I actually trust OR whose name I actually know. And, I don't really feel like the register at a quilt shop is the proper place to talk birthing plans. Maybe its just me. Either way I should get used to it - it's only going to get worse.

Wish I was your BFF??

You will now. . . . I made this for a friend who recently had a baby. I was SO excited about it!!! Lucky for her, I work at a quilt shop and am often looking for excuses to try new techniques. Unluckily, I don't have time to make EVERYONE I love a quilt.

**stay warm baby S**

No Michael, I CAN'T wait til Christmas.

Yes, I love surprises. No, I don't like waiting.

(not for weezer that is)

Thank you Rivers. You are a musical genious.

busy busy busy

To say we've been busy is kindof an understatement. To sum up:

Michaels BFF from HS (grade school for that matter) came to visit- we did the usual tour . . . one more alamo pic to add to the collection!! (have I mentioned we LOVE visitors???)

Thanks Ryan Becky and Peyton for coming to stay with us . . . . and hooray for FINALLY getting to meet you!! Not long after I received a call from my costume-co boss. I used to work in the warehouse and they were SWAMPED with work and offered to fly me out to work "as soon as I want, for as long as I want" I couldn't resist the chance to see my fam and the job i miss so much. I worked crazy hours but had a blast. There are many things I've missed about my old job. . . . but I got a fill for just over two weeks! it was awesome!!! We even went to Witch-fest up at Gardner Village- Our personal theme of the year was 'troll witches'. so much fun!!!

**I'm the witch with the blue hair**

While in Utah I was also able to:
spend time with family, eat delicious food (which I didn't have to cook thank you mom and costa vida) see my friends BRAND new baby (which may have made me both very excited and very scared for my own)-



attend a dear friends wedding reception,

and stand for about twenty seconds in the snow!! (notice the beautiful fall leaves in the background . . . miss that)

It was a long time to be gone but me and my sweetie survived. I doubled the luggage I took- suitcases filled with apples, apple juice, 'fat-chick' clothes, and various other baby items (lucky for me, I have four older sisters who have all had babies and are very generous)

this years Halloween pumpkins:

very excited to get some actual trick-or-treaters since we're in a neighborhood now.

Happy Halloween!!

ugh

so, I thought the whole 'not being able to sleep' thing was supposed to happen AFTER the baby gets here?

not cool child. . . . not cool.

seriously mis-informed about pregnancy.

Ode to Alon Market

I love HEB. It's true. But why does the one closest to my house have to be the size of Rhode Island?

and it's not even the BIGGEST? why does heb plus think they need to take over the world?

Oh how I miss the 'simple' HEB's . . . I mean, who REALLY just picks up a couch along with their groceries anyway? so HEB at Alon market & blanco/west ave - I miss you. If it weren't for traffic and frozen products. . . . . . I would STILL bless you with my shopping presence.

Michael might be rubbing off on me

So, I normally don't like to get too political. . . . .mostly because I don't know anything. But, having Michael as a roommate is making that more and more difficult. {the not knowing anything about politics part} Anyway this was too interesting to me to not share-

About 2 weeks ago I had a Dr apt (not w my normal dr but nonetheless). When I filled out all the necessary (or unnecessary, you choose) paperwork I was given a packet of information. The not-feeling-like-reading part of me put this packet away assuming it was a "what to expect. . . . . /your nutrition . . ." blah blah blah. Well tonight while organizing some of the mail I came across said packet and read a little.

To my surprise it was a letter from the Doctor asking his patients to "let your Senator and House of Representatives know your concern over your healthcare rights" He stated that the healthcare proposal will "irrevocably damage the ability of physicians to provide the best care possible for their patients. . . . we regret the necessity of interjecting politics into your medical care, but without the efforts of patients like you our ability to continue this care may be lost."

The remainder of the packet included a list of Freedoms you'd lose in health care reform, as well as segments from the actual bill.

Interesting? I think so. I'm not going to lie, I am a little sckeptical of the whole thing, and rather intriqued by my own interest in the matter. Maybe I've just been hearing it for too long now. Maybe I'm scared with the government in charge of my health they would MAKE me find out what I'm having (this may or may not have been a dream of mine). Maybe I don't like waiting an hour and a half for a 5 minute appointment and don't want to share my time with the rest of south Texas. Maybe it's the fact that half of Michaels genes are growing and multiplying inside of me. . . . who knows.

5 down, 2 to go

Last weekend my sister and her family came to visit . . . . making 5 out of my 7 siblings to vacation in San Antonio to see us!!! Wow, are we lucky! {as for the other two. . . . I avoid that drive too} Some days its hard being so far away from home/family - but having visitors makes it that much easier. . . . plus we didn't have to bottle a single item of food {we don't get to eat it either so there}

ANYWAY. . . .

We loved that Sara and Jason rented a mini-van so we could all ride together! Although the boys "never got to sit in my seat." We started off the vacation with Sea World I swear I couldn't get sick of watching animals do tricks. I love it!
Colby "that was fun, but not really fun" give him a few years and five inches and he'll be ALL OVER the rides.

Then of course took a tour of the Alamo and the riverwalk.

Monday we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns. We hadn't been there before and I was kindof excited. They turned out to be pretty cool. Pretty similar to Timp Caves- without the hike- which lil ol me LOVED.

There was of course football watching {the boys WISH they'd made the drive up to Dallas- the gals, not so much} and game playing which are always fun- as well as a trip to some of our favorite restaurants. We love showing people around what little we/I know of San Antonio and it was fun to have our First visitors to stay in our house!! I'm grateful those few days were the only days this past week we haven't had a downporing rain! Realizing the vacation is over is always a little difficult but we managed. . . . not without Michael getting strep throat but somehow I escaped THAT {thankfuly}

Come see us again, we miss you!!

I don't live in Mexico

Ok, so we recently hooked up our TV antena and the converter box {remember we cancelled our cable service a few months ago - boo} and we have tv again. yay, right? Except, why are most of the channels in a language I don't understand? I realize I have a nephew that THINKS we live in Mexico . . . . . . rest assured, we don't. Or at least I thought we didn't. I find this rather annoying, seeing how I don't speak or understand the Spanish language.

We're In!

A few days late on the post, but we are in the house! Can I just tell you I LOVE it! (minus the barking dogs and the fact that our brand new trash can was ALREADY stolen -ugh I guess the Allsops and filling out police reports is an ongoing event)

I would have DIED if it weren't for my parents. My mom basically packed and unpacked my entire kitchen, cleaned the house AND apartment, all the while telling me to sit down and rest. She saved my life! {seriously} Thanks to her, the remainder of the unpacking can be done in 'shifts' and we can actually live- ie sleep and eat.

My dad was a huge help too. For starters he brought half the garden with him in an extra suit case filled with the likes of home-grown peaches, nectarines, cucumbers, tomato's and the BEST CORN EVER!! {we've been rationing it} Dad spent half his visit to Texas at The Home Depot. and the other half sweating in the heat. While here he built me a garden box. We already had bees- YAY (remember this was my problem with apartment gardening) and a BUNCH of shelving in our garage! Not to mention pack the Uhaul like a professional.

My mom and I spent our fair share of time at The Home Depot as well {which mind you would have been cut in half if a male were with us} we were in the car and had to stick all sorts of shovel handles and wire racks out the sun roof. We died laughing (as did everyone who passed us) we may be the only Texan who don't own a truck. oh well, it worked!

Luckily for Michael he has a lot of friends and the move itself didn't take very long. Now to the getting settled part-

On a side note: I cry every time I drive by Sea World (which is everyday) knowing that it'll be another 6 months before I can ride a roller coaster again. and for what? feeling like I should be throwing up- not cool. We have family coming to visit and go to sea world and I already asked Michael if HE would be pregnant that day. (anybody know where I might be able to get an operation like this done?) see you in 6 months steel eel.

I'm convinced that the baby is a girl because no male would cause this much pain to a woman. Then a friend came back with the counter argument that no woman would do this to her own kind so who knows- either way this baby is SO grounded. No TV for a week. and I am SOO hoping the nausea ends soon.

Keys!

Yea, we have keys to the house now! We bought a house and now we can acctually get into it whenever we want!! Here are a few things I will NOT miss about renting:

Parking a mile away from my front door
Walking even further to take out the trash
Parking in direct sunlight
Cat crap on my doorstep
Hauling groceries up a full flight of stairs
Downstairs/upstairs neighbors
Paper thin walls
A laundry 'closet'
No pantry
NO cupboard space
Wasting money in rent
No yard
The inability to grow plants (veggetables/flowers) on our balcony
Ice trays (as opposed to the ice MAKER and water filter on the fridge-YAY)

and that's to name a few. . . .
although we still aren't moving our stuff for another week and a half . . . . so excited!

in case you haven't heard-

Rummor confirmed.
I'm PREGNANT!! We couldn't be more excited! . . . .Although the longer I go feeling like I wish I were dead, the liklihood of this child coming into this world being grounded greatly increases.

A few other points of interest:
-Baby due March 1, 2010
-We're NOT finding out the gender until birth (we like green)
-Grandchild #14 Wright, Allsop #3
Hooray for us!!

The House

The classic pic in front of the house the day of closing. So we're predictable- big deal, I don't care we're HOME-OWNERS now!!! YAY!
kindof scary and my hand has a cramp from signing my name so many times but we couldn't be happier with the biggest purchase of our lives! One day we'll post pics of the inside but the only way for you to guarantee seeing it is to visit! So many great people helped along the way, and we are so grateful for everyone's advise, encouragement and support- even if it was listening to me vent my stress/anxiety away! We love it and can hardly wait to move in!!

Attempting to catch up = long post

Utah {week 2}
My second week in Utah was much more relaxing than the first. It was nice to see some good friends I haven't seen for a LONG time, as well as get more quality one-on-one time with family members. gotta love it. I found myself staring at the mountains quite regularly. I was surprised how quickly I forgot the view from my parents back yard. I also miss how it acctually cools down at night in UT- our lows in SA are like 75. . . . not all that cool but this isn't a "things I miss about Utah" post {which may come at a later date} so I'll continue:

Saturday we hiked to a waterfall in Pleasant Grove.

I think somebody missed me. . . cuz this is what I found in the apartment when I got home. {ok, somebody might have missed him too} -a week is a long time to be a 'batchelor' after you've been married to me for three years!

To 'celebrate' my birthday we took a little {well, long, really} day trip to Waco, TX. as seen in the next photo home of Dr Pepper!

Ah, that special goodness. I don't know how we've lived here for a year and a half and hadn't been yet. Since that WAS one of the deciding factors on me moving here to begin with. Oh, I know why. . . . . they have weird hours! {they close at like 4}

Besides the quite lengthy drive, we had a blast! I loved reading all about the 2nd love of my life and something about an old soda fountain w a soda jerk just makes drinking it that much more enjoyable! A few of my favorites were:

-the old commercials

-it used to be called "waco" and if you wanted one you would say "shoot me a waco"

-a pharmacist "Morrison" concocted it. . . in a pharmacy

-the myth of Dr Pepper is made w prune juice {the rumor started by a competitor to get people to STOP drinking Dr Pepper. . . . which obviously didn't work} the secret of the 23 fuit flavors is STILL a mystery

-the 10 2 4 campaign {you should drink a dr pepper three times a day: at 10 2 & 4 because that is the time of day when your blood sugar is low and people tend to get hunger pains/headaches of which having a tasty soda would remedy}

-All the speculations as to 'how' it got its name {possibly as a 'dowry' to get a Dr. Pepper {a REAL Dr {like MD} in England, to let Morrison to marry his daughter} and of course:

-the gift shop. thank you sugar cane!

We finished the day by going to IKEA in Austin and was TOTALLY bummed the cafe was under construction. . . .stupid making it bigger.

As for my ACTUAL birthday I was totally spoiled with gifts from Michael and had a lovely time at dinner {minus the crappy service. . . . i'm much more picky since i've been a waitress myself} with friends. I have a feeling 26 is going to be a good year! Thank you to all who wished, or tried to wish {I only purposely missed SOME of your calls lol} me a lovely day, which it was! and I'll try to post more than once in the next month.

Not to get too political....

I thought this was pretty good.

Best Day EVER!

ok, maybe not TODAY. But, three years ago today may have been. Namely because of this:

Today's the anniversary of the day I married my best friend! And, I'd do it again anytime, anyplace.

Utah! {week 1}

Week one of my stay in Utah is offically over. To say it was jam-packed is an understatement! Here's a run-down of the trip thus far:
-fly circles around utah lake for and hour waiting for a 'storm' to pass
-See previously mentioned missionary brother
-get family pictures taken {that's right, ALL 30 of us!}
-attend the 'non-welcome home talk'
-baby blessing
-Temple open house-Shop {Texas doesn't believe in modest church attire}
-Play with nieces and nephews
-Camping for four days equiped with rain and HAIL, {we were the smart ones who chose the tent with a hole in it. that part, not so fun} rope swinging, hiking, canoeing, swiming, four-wheeling, gaming, zip-lining, party island-ing, eating, golfing, laughing, freezing. basically everything but sleeping. {mostly by choice}
-Freedom Run {well, walk} most of us did the 5K but a few did the 10K some of which went above and beyond and ran 11k's :) {It actually was kindof cool - something I never thought I would admit.}

-Parade

-Swimming {Lindon has a pretty cool new "aquatic center"}

-BBQ's

-Fireworks

-Plenty of "baby-holding"

We basically decided that showering was taking too much time away from hanging out with family members we haven't seen in way too long. {and soon began to avoid confined spaces}

The debut of baby Avenlee and the 'newest' Wright: Isn't she just the sweetest thing?

Well, now that the "main event" is over and most family members have returned to their homes I'm feeling a little dejavu- Home with my little bro and mom and dad. I feel like I'm 17 again.

Here's to a relaxing week two! Michael, you're on your own!

two years already?

This is my 'little' bro Shaun, and the former Elder Wright. Shaun returned from his mission today!! It was great to talk to him {stupid 1400 miles} and I can't wait to see him! The members in the California Santa Rosa Mission were lucky to have him. . . . I'm just glad we got him back!. . . . now to convince him to live in San Antonio. . . . . out of state tuition isn't that expensive right? we'll see.

Crazy San Antonio and home shopping!!!

So it has been awhile since I (Michael) have posted anything. So I thought i would bring everyone up to date of what we have been doing lately.

The Young Men in the ward have been preparing to go to Scout Camp. Thanks to Scott Paul and Steve Seago they will have enough adult leadership there that being said, that doesn't mean I didn't help out. A couple of weeks before i showed the Young Men how to cook effectively over an open flame. I also had to teach them as well how to provide for themselves....they thought that I was cooking for them. Please I downed all these in two minutes!



So we have been playing a lot of games with some friends of ours and they have a "special daughter" only one that Satan can appreciate. She tears through everything, so they have found a great way to put her in "time out". The nice thing is that she has her favorite duck with her!



These friends we play cards with have a small apartment and so they have to double up on somethings, the restroom and gameroom (pretty sweet surround sound while playing Wii on the can. They complain I take too long, but what can you expect when you keep winning at Mario Cart. Also you have to be somewhat cordinated and able to multi-task otherwise you will fall off the toilet, a lot). They also combine the Master Bedroom and Living Room (it gets a little akward when you underwear all over the place, but i'm used to it now) and of course the washing machine and a cooler!

Our lease on our apartment expires end of August so we are in the process of looking for a home. Another couple in the ward wanted us to stay in the ward and said we could have their cellar. I was up for it but apparently Trish had some reservations about us moving in. I can only imagine she had a horrific experience involving a bus as a child.

The nice thing about this place is that they already have a garden going which is so nice. We were going to plant a vegtable garden, so all we would have to do is find some more unused toilets. If anyone has any would you please let me know? Thanks.

Also another selling point is that at this location they recycle. So we would be doing our part to save the world. We would probably put our "tidy cat mail box right below theirs".

We also looked at a few other options. This one was at the top of my list as well. Unfortunately, Trish and I could not agree on this house or any of the ones I liked. How awesome would that be to have swing in your front yard!

Eventually i found my favorite house or I should say "mobile" house. You know the decorations are already there for each Christmas. The house comes with the car. Also when we have different holidays all you would need to do is dress up the car and/or the reindeer accordingly. So if any of you can encourage Trish, tell her we should get this place!!!! Thanks for you help.

Well we are doing great here in San Antonio! We will talk to you all later.

30-something

But who's counting right? Even amung all the jokes about arthritis and depends Michael took actually turning 30 rather well. considering. :) Mostly because we all had so much fun in the process. We threw Michael a party Sat which, if I might say so myself, was a success-

We had a number of friends over to eat, rock out, and 'what if' to their hearts content. The only set back, besides not taking many pictures, was the lack of AC workage (which I might add is about the 5th episode we've had since we've lived here. . . . maybe it's time to move.) Michael skipped out on the festivities long enough to purchase another fan so we didn't all melt.

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us, (some of which drove a LONG way- ahem Scott and Paige) and thank you even more for your friendships! We hope everyone else had a Happy Flag Day, cuz we sure did!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!!

I Love You!

No one mourns the wicked

Except for ME! I'm definately in mourning since it's OVER! We saw Wicked last night and can I just say. . . .A-MAZING! I was in LOVE!! I've been wanting to see this for a VERY long time (thanks to a certain boss of mine). I must say all the hype about it had me slightly worried I was going to be let down- rest assured I was VERY pleased!

Its such a cute/fun story and it was really nice to get all dressed up (by dressed up I mean I didn't wear jeans) and go out! Lucky for Mike there was an empty seat next to us and he even had leg room! Maybe the next time we see it we won't buy the cheapest tickets available. maybe.

What the June!?

hmm. June already? seriously? whoa.

We have a BUSY month ahead of us and I can hardly wait for it to get started! But first off "Happy 100th Post to me!!" ok, US {Michael is randomly here somewhere}

2nd- a couple weeks ago we went up to the Lyndon B Johnson ranch and home. . . it was kinda interesting-even for my history-hating self. The coolest part (in my opinion) was that he spent 25% of his presidency on his ranch (more time away from the dc white house than any other president before, or since). He and other cabinet members would sit on the front lawn looking at the river when they signed some of the most important documents (many of which dealing with education). We were even able to see his office which they've kept the original decor.

*editors note* although I LOOK pregnant, rest assured I am not- I've either gained weight, am standing weird or both.

Then, over Memorial Day we met up with Scott and Paige in Dallas at lake Kiowa.

Their neighbors had a little luau, so we watched from the deck- I even cheered.

Michael took about half a million pictures of Paige and I talking- which is kindof annoying because the little button on our camera is broken and we have to upload the pics to the computer to delete them. ugh. . . . . . Although we did pretty much talk the entire weekend. but, give us warning and we'll pose or go put make-up on or SOMETHING!! When we weren't playing games or sleeping we were doing this:

Anyway, thanks to my adopted Texan Mom and Dad Krauss and Scott and Paige for the wonderful, too short, weekend. If it wasn't for the 6 hr drive we would crash their parties more often! Next up: Wicked, Michael's Birthday, Scout camp, Girls camp and UTAH {i told you it was going to be a busy month!}

My technical woes are OVER!!

So we've had computer issues the last two + weeks and I almost died. On Mother's day after I made that lovely post honoring and singing praises to the women in my life I tried to get back on the computer to do various other things and to my dismay the computer decided it didn't want to turn on. Lucky for us, we had an extended warranty on the computer and we saved ourselves over $700 (thus the cost of a computer). We now have a new motherboard and other various computer parts I know nothing about, along with a virus being removed and now, it works like a dream. Its amazing how much of our lives is spent in front of the computer. I mean, I've acctually had to call people for directions instead of using google.

One good AND bad thing about no computer is that I wasn't able to work. Frustrating at times yes, but I'll be honest it was kindof nice to only work one part time job for a couple weeks. I really enjoyed the extra trish time and got some good crafting in. (of which I'll post pictures of later).

I've missed the wonderful world of blogging and I'll just say it's good to be back :)

Near Death Experience

So I had a near death experience the other day. I was able to get the video from the city, luckly. Trish and I were driging and she was talking about how a terrible driver I was because I was on my phone playing solitaire while driving with my knees and rocking out to Bon Jovi. Apparently she doesn't think i'm capable of multi-tasking! What women are the only ones who can multi-task?!? Well sure enough she got me distracted, I can only do sooo much. And you can see what happened next.

Because of my superior driving skills I was able to avoid any wreck. Thank you very much!

(If anyone believes this, please make sure that you leave your credit card number and expiration date as a comment!)

Pay it Forward

I've seen others do this and thought it would be fun!

How it works: The FIRST THREE people to leave a comment on this post will receive at some point during this year a hand-made gift from ME. What it will be and when it will arrive will be a total surprise. The CATCH is that YOU MUST PLAY TOO! Before you leave your comment here, write a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (you can cut and paste these instructions). Then come back and let me know that you are going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift.

Love These Ladies!

Happy Mother's Day!! Or as some of us may call it "Female Appreciation Day!" I am very grateful for all the AMAZING women in my life. . . if you are reading this, be 100% positive you are one of them (even if your pretty face itsn't in one of the pictures below). I've learned so much from each woman in my life and you all make me want to be a better wife and friend! Thank You!! and I Love You!!