oh. my. word.

disclaimer: i intend to do nothing but whine in this post....

i am exhausted. my students are wearing me out. their first test is tomorrow, so of course, that means you should start studying today, right?!  my office hours were 9-11.  from 8am-11:30am, i had a total of 16 students come to my office.  they were lined up in the hall and sitting on my office floor.  this after a 2 hour study session last night from 7-9 (which was supposed to end at 8:30).

side note- i really do encourage students to come to my office for help, and generally enjoy it...i'm just not sure that the day before the test is the best time to be doing it....

to say i'm a little crabby is an understatement. i was on my feet all day yesterday...even more than normal because of the study session. my back feels like someone beat me with 2x4's. and the little boy has decided that nighttime is a good time to wake up and give those limbs a workout......and THEN the flood of procrastination this morning has sent me over the edge.

i could go on and on (i've gotten some awesome emails as well this morning), but i won't. i need to walk across campus to get a snickers or something!

23 weeks and blanket progress

My 23 week belly has apparently reached the point where people feel safe asking if I'm pregnant. It's pretty obvious now! And I've almost exclusively switched to pregnant pants. That elastic waist band is a dream compared to unbuttoned regular pants. Amen for elastic!

I started the blanket with a pattern I've never used before.  I got two chevron rows done...

....but then I realized my stitch counts were off. So I ripped it all out and will have to start over.  The good news is I think I finally understand the pattern. If it gives me trouble again, I may revert to just plain ole stripes.  That would still be cute, right?

baby boy's room

We haven't gotten very far on baby boy's room yet. Painting is the biggest obstacle right now.  In the meantime, we have decided on some things.

We are planning to use the sunroom which is located right off of the living room and our bedroom.  It's not huge, but it has lots of windows with great light, and the wood/glass doors that close it off from the living room are so pretty. I'm hoping the small size keeps us from adding too much junk that we don't really need. However, it may make storage options interesting!

We have also decided that we are not theme people.  Instead, the walls will be gray and we have chosen navy blue and lime green as "colors" to decorate with. 

I fell in love with this chevron blanket by the Purl Bee. Can you imagine wrapping a sweet babe in this?  I can't knit, but I ordered the yarn (same colors except for navy blue in place of the dark charcoal) and will start a crochet version soon.

 

 I have also started gathering/ordering prints for the walls.  I really just want the room to be simple and sweet...but still obviously a little boy's room. I've been obsessed with prints from The Wheatfield for a while. Most of her prints would fit better in a little girl's room, but this turtle screamed LITTLE BOY to me...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74202153/magnificent-creatures-11x14-print

 Our friend Gina pinned this awesome print to one of her pinterest boards.  It was ordered this morning from Not Too Shabby Prints (Paypal is dangerous, isn't it!?). It is our favorite line from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

 And I bought this print during a Sandy Hook fundraiser sale from Maypole. I love its simplicity (and counter cultural message).

I am also planning to make these drop cloth curtains with lime green or navy blue pompoms...

via DesignSponge

 That's the game plan for now....we just need to get to work!

a little paint does wonders!

When we bought our house, we knew a little love in the paint department would go a long way toward making everything look clean and updated.  I don't think we were prepared for how awesome it would really look.

These are before pictures of the living room....even before we ripped up that nasty carpet and refinished the hardwoods. The light blue on the walls wasn't so bad, but the trim was terrible! The trim was painted white with the very edges of the trim a navy blue.  It was the most odd thing I've seen in a while. And there was water damage on the wall above the fireplace (the brown splotches), so plaster had to be repaired....

After plaster repairs and a few coats of fresh paint, the room looks incredible (in our humble opinions)!  This is a panoramic with all of the furniture still pushed into the center of the room....

We chose a Restoration Hardware color called Silver Sage (color matched by Sherwin Williams).  I have been thinking about this color ever since we started looking at homes. The trim is Sherwin Williams also...white right off the shelf. The ceiling is white too...looks darker in this picture.

Now to hang some things.....I don't know if I can bring myself to put holes in these pristine walls!

Monday: go away

You know that saying 'you learn something new every day'?

Today I learned that the belly band on maternity jeans does not breathe very well.

My car wouldn't start this morning, so I had to walk to work. I almost had a mini meltdown...my back was killing me this morning, on top of a few other lovely pregnancy ailments....but I held it together. It really isn't a bad walk.....about four blocks to the edge of campus and then halfway across campus (which is small).  It took me about 20 minutes.  It would have taken me maybe 10 minutes about 5 months ago.  Luckily, it had stopped raining. The exercise was probably good for me, but I had one too many layers on and now I just look and feel a mess....sweating like a youknowwhat in church. I'll have to ditch the belly band pants in the future and just wear some yoga pants. 

So, with that....Monday, feel free to just go away. I'll catch ya next week!

This is not me, but an example of the awesome pants I'm sweating in wearing today.  via gap.com

a quick fix

Little Boo is back to her normal self after surgery, except that she can't jump off of the bed by herself. She was absolutely pitiful the evening we brought her home...a big puddle in Brian's arms. She moaned all night and couldn't seem to find a comfortable position.

But the next morning was a different story. She was eating and barking and trying to run around like a crazy lady.  We moved a mattress into the living room so she has "steps" up onto the couch.

She has been giving us fits over her stitches though.  She licks them CONSTANTLY! As much as we yell and move her head away, she won't quit.  This morning, they did not look very good, and we don't have a cone to put on her.  So, she got a surprise that she was not excited about...

Don't trust that innocent looking face...she's rotten.

I put a tank top on her. I had to cut it here and there to tie it up so that it fit a little better, but it completely covers her stitches. And, she is so preoccupied with the tank top that she hasn't tried to lick anymore.  What are the odds there are tank top shreds all over the floor when we get home?

UPDATE: Brian checked on her at lunch.  The tank top was off and stitches were pulled out. She's at the vet again to get some new stitches and a snazzy cone to wear on her head for a week or so....that should produce some blog-worthy pictures/video!!!

chicken lettuce wraps

One of the things I REALLY miss about Raleigh is quick access to a PF Chang's when I have a hankerin'.  I could eat my weight in their chicken lettuce wraps. They are so yummy.

I have used copycat recipes before, which have come fairly close in flavor, but they take FOREVER to make. Over the break, my cousin Beth had Christmas dinner and served lettuce wraps as an appetizer.  Or I guess they were supposed to be an appetizer...no one told me that, because I acted a pig over them. What set them over the edge was a slaw that added just the right amount of crunch...without using the usual water chestnuts (which I hate)!  Beth filled me in on her secrets, and I made them for dinner last night.  Brian loved them (he didn't get any at Beth's because he was sick).

Here's the drill....

The chicken mixture is easy.  Saute onions and garlic. Add your chicken. Diced chicken is better, but the LAST thing I want to do on a weeknight is cut raw chicken -yuck!- so I used ground...just brown it up really good. Then I added some fresh grated ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and white balsamic vinegar (rice wine vinegar would be better, but I didn't have any).

I made the slaw the night before...red cabbage, carrots, apples, peanuts, freshly grated ginger, sesame oil, and white balsamic vinegar. I have no idea how much I used of any of these ingredients.  Just taste it as you go.

You MUST try these....even if you aren't a slaw/cabbage person.  I never eat slaw, but it is the perfect combo with the chicken. Must be the pregnancy.  Or maybe I'm just growing up.  Either way, we devoured them. All I got a picture of was the beautiful left over slaw.....

poor boo

I dropped Boo off at the vet's office this morning to be spayed.  She followed Brian around this morning and watched him like a hawk.  I'm sure she just couldn't understand why he wasn't feeding her or letting her drink anything.  She shook from the moment she got in the car till I handed her off.

....and then I proceeded to cry the whole way to work.  What am I going to be like with a CHILD!!???

I totally blame Brian for my tears though. About a month ago he said something about feeling bad for Boo....we are all she has and, if you think about it, she doesn't ever really know if we are coming home each day....or, if we leave her somewhere, if we are ever coming back to get her. So since then, I've been a big teary mess over this dog.

Or maybe it's the hormones.

She watches intently when I do my makeup...and then she tries to eat my mascara. Love her.

a new year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all in one post!

We spent a few days over break with my family eating, relaxing, visiting, and eating some more. Brian and I made Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls...this is our third year and is, I think, officially a Christmas tradition for us! 

via thepioneerwoman.com

My brother took a picture of my 20 week belly...yikes!  Everything is going great. The ultrasound showed us that all of baby boy's parts are good-to-go, he is growing like crazy, and has been throwing some dance parties in this bulging belly of mine. Mom and Dad got him an adorable WVU ball cap...oh my!

We also spent some time with Brian's family in Poca. Watching the nieces and nephew open gifts is so much fun...they couldn't wait! Baby boy also got some amazing things...which deserve their own post! We had so much fun eating, visiting, and playing with everyone....we don't get to do that enough!

I also got to see my college friends...Krista, Jess, and Lindsay. We got to catch up and talk all about baby things!

The end of break has been less than awesome.  When we got back from Poca, we discovered that our basement had flooded. We are pretty sure the DishNetwork installation dude unplugged our sump pump so he could use his drill. However, he plugged the wrong thing back in....so the sump pump was off the whole time we were gone.....as about 6 inches of snow melted.  We obviously have some drainage issues to work out when spring and summer roll around. Brian spent practically a full day with the ShopVac [anyone interested in that awesome chair in the background?...the previous owner left it, along with a TON of other crap....it's golf print...Jen and Andrew??? ;-) ]...

And to ring in the new year, we both got the stomach bug...YEAH! Luckily, I think we are both just about over it. Amen. Brian was back to school Thursday, and I go back on Monday!