Milkshakes are on my mind lately.  Actually, anything to do with ice cream. I decided to try out Chick-fil-A’s Banana Pudding Milkshake, and it was yum. It’s like drinking a piece of banana cream pie. Its popular, so don’t be surprised if you go to order one and they are all out.  Yeah, its that good.  If you order a large, make sure you share it so you don’t feel too guilty. That’s what I did…three of us total :)

Random fact: Inodoro means toilet in Spanish.  That was one of my vocab words this week with the Rosetta Stone. How fitting…

Today I realized that I only have 11 more days of working left.  I used to think I was retiring, but reality is that I’m simply changing professions.  My official last day is July 1st, but it just so happens that we are taking a trip to Florida with Fernando’s family before then.

Anyway, today I was thinking: “Gosh I need to blog,” while walking into the bathroom at work. (Bad combination I know.) Anywho, I walk into our office’s restroom only to find that the toilet seat has been left up.  I know you’re probably thinking, “What’s the big deal?” Right? Well, I have been a very lucky wife. In my three years of marriage, my husband has never once left the toilet seat up. In fact, the toilet lid always remains closed. I absolutely hate seeing the inside of the toilet, or having the toilet bowl right out in the open waiting for some unsuspecting thing to fall in it.  So to have this happen on a daily basis, 2-4 times a day at work, is just obnoxious. I mean, in our dental office, all staff members are female, except the doc (who’s privacy shall remain hidden). He’s the one who supplies the air freshener, so I know he has some consideration for the next user of the restroom… Besides, the door and light are always on and the toilet is in direct view for all our patients to see when they walk in our hallway.

So again its time to leave for the day, and as pregnant women do, I entered the restroom, this time, directly after my boss leaves it.  It’s a miracle, for the first time ever the toilet seat is down. Now as I write this, the thought just crossed my mind: I should have taken that as a clear sign to choose a different restroom to use.  But, I enter, and to my dismay there is pee all over the toilet seat and a little on the floor. Not just one or two drops, but several! Disgusting. My only explanation is that the man is not married.

Fernando is back, after spending almost a month in Nigeria. Which is partly why I’ve been so terrible posting lately.  I’m just loving having him home! He had flowers on the table with dinner waiting when I came home from work that day.  It was heaven. Then we spent the whole weekend together just the two of us-walking to the park, sitting on a bench eating ice cream (my favorite thing to do lately), attending our first Houston Dynamo soccer game, shopping, and going to the movies-Rio (not my favorite animation, but still cute). Since he was away for our 3rd anniversary, he brought me home the Rosetta Stone language learning software so I could learn Spanish.  I’ve been wanting this for a while now.  So far it’s really easy to understand, and fun.

While in Nigeria, Fernando decided that he would like to train for a triathalon. He’s really been into working out lately.  This all started when he dropped 10lbs with the HCG diet which was a great motivator.  There’s a sprint triathalon coming up in August that he’s planning on doing.  Hopefully he doesn’t get heat stroke. Since our bikes got stolen, we’ve been toying with the idea of getting road bikes.  Thankfully, we have some super nice friends who are going away for the summer who decided to lend us their totally awesome road bikes to use.

Although I doubt I will get my booty on a bike anytime soon…

week 16

Week 14 hit and my nausea was cured! I feel like a whole new person.  The problem is I’m very limited in what clothes I can wear now. Everything is going good. I may or may not have felt something move inside. I can’t be sure these days. So many strange sensations going on.

I recently discovered fiber reactive dyes for dyeing fabric.  They are 100% way better than Rit dyes.  I get mine from Dharma Trading. They have bright bold colors and don’t bleed or fade.  I’ve been having so much fun with dying onesies and burp cloths.

(sorry about the iphone pics)

This past weekend we went to our new favorite beach- Surfside. There was a lot more sea weed this time around, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal.  The sand was super soft and the water was the perfect temperature.  We flew kites, soaked up the sun, and played in the sand.  We were sure to re apply SPF 50 every two hours or so, but alas, I was fried. Fernando too.  I guess our fair skin isn’t ready for summer yet…

9 weeks (getting hard to keep it a secret)

12 weeks

The next one won’t be for a while since my photographer is in Nigeria, unless I figure out how to do it myself…

Back in March, we went with some friends to the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show. We started off the night by going to the petting area where they had some very interesting animals like pigs, donkeys, deer, lamas, sheep, and goats.  Definitely the highlight of the night!

Some of the animals decided that my shirt was a very good looking treat

My friend Heidi didn’t seem to mind the big teeth of some of the animals.

This poor kangaroo seemed like he was misplaced

My attempt to get Fernando with the donkey

The food was great as usual. This is a deep fried Snickers. Which didn’t rate as well as deep fried Oreos. Roasted corn and cowboy burritos were also must haves.

We watched a little bull riding, mutton busting, and wagon races, then Tim McGraw performed. He was really good live! But it’s a bummer that the acoustics were so poor in the arena. A patient of mine gave me a tip for next year, saying that the best way to hear the concert in Reliant Stadium is in the bathroom. We shall see next year.

I haven’t been very crafty or fun lately. Mainly because I haven’t had any energy and don’t feel all that great due to this bit of news: We’re going to have twins! So far 11 weeks and counting, but practically everybody (including work) knew I was prego since I can’t hide my belly. We’re hoping that this one will be the one that sticks! Official due date is October 17th.

Before: our garage

After: our new epoxy’d garage

For a two car garage, we bought two epoxy kits at Lowes

It was a great deal. We enlisted the help of our friend’s husband and fed them dinner in return. The guys got to work while the girls watched Cars upstairs with the kiddos.

The specs up close

Why was it so hard to find decent Valentines decorations this year? Even Hobby Lobby disappointed me.

Thanks to The Idea Room, I was able to make my own out of Styrofoam, felt, and party streamers.

Tutorial found here

The Idea Room’s Valentines Topiary Tutorial

Fernando asked what I was making and I said, “A topiary tree”.  He was like, “What’s a topiary?” I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking in my head, ‘um, where were you in the 90′s?’

Did you notice The Work and The Glory series in the background of her photos at the Idea Room?

It reminds me of this article about Mormon housewife blogs and their subtle widgets of temples and Families are Forever slogans. Speaking of which, that is my temple picture in the background.  haha.

The Idea Room’s Heart Felt wreath Tutorial

I will definitely be making more of these, maybe in a round shape and non-Valentinesy color. Easy Peasy.

On a side note, I’ve been making more ties. I happened to stumble upon a JoAnn’s that was closing and had everything on clearance.  I bought a bunch of gingham and seersucker colors that will make perfect ties.

I was so excited that someone is already doing this on etsy

Her shop is called Babybystevie and she sells gorgeous ties made from seersucker, houndstooth, polka-dots, gingham, and other cute cottons.

Seriously cute right?

There’s also Bubalooandco which has seriously cute designer print ties for sale like these:

Why am I telling you this? Because I cannot do an Etsy store of my own.  At least not while I am still working full time.

For now, everything I make is to keep or to give away.

I have a hard enough time keeping this blog updated as it is. I have yet to master the skill of multitasking.

I want to encourage you to get your own craft on.  This is beginner level sewing. Better yet, buy this pattern from the Butterflytree and make your own!

A quick preview of the next project. This one is proving to be extremely tedious!

The other day, we picked up some heart molds from Crate & Barrel. This morning, Diane made me some delicious buttermilk pancakes in these molds…and we ate them on out heart shaped placemats. Expect a repeat tomorrow morning.

Yum!

Fresh fruit would go great with this

A while back, I heard about this place called the Forbidden Gardens. It’s located in Katy, TX and has been around for nearly two decades. Well, the other week, I was reading Swamplot and noticed that the gardens were shutting down to make way to for the Grand Parkway expansion (this will become the 3rd loop around the greater Houston area connecting Katy to The Woodlands on over to Baytown and back). I told Diane that we should go see it before it was gone forever. Overall, it was a semi interesting visit — a little past its prime, though. I’m sure if it was a little bit warmer (it was a cold Saturday morning when we went), we would have enjoyed it more –especially if it were during spring.

Terracotta Warriors

Lots of them

Detailed replicas of those found in China

Lots of horses too

These seemed a little weathered…

Diane strutting her stuff

I like to read pamphlets, signs, etc.

A village near the Forbidden City

Your guess is as good as mine

The “Venice” of China

Forbidden City model

Sneak preview of the real deal