Happy Anniversary!

Last week, we celebrated 3 whole years of marriage. I'll admit we are a little spoiled in the sense that we have taken a trip every year for our anniversary. I guess that means we spoiled ourselves? We said we wanted to travel a lot before we had kids so I guess we did just that. We decided to go back to Montego Bay, Jamaica where we went on our honeymoon. My biggest problem with travelling is that there are so many cool places I want to see, yet so many cool places I have yet to see that it's hard to pick a spot some times. Does anyone else struggle with this? Well, we decoded to go back to Jamaica but this time we tried Secrets St. James. For our honeymoon, we stayed at Sandals. Honestly, they were pretty equal. I can't really say which one was better or which one I liked more. Wince our last 2 anniversaries were more active trips instead of vacays, we decided for our last anniversary trip as a family of 2 we wanted a relaxing trip whee we could just lay around and literally wouldn't have to worry about anything. That's exactly what we did. 

First night there, we met this guy. Couldn't resist getting a pic. How can you really be rivals when you're in such an awesome location!

Who ended up being our favorite bartender, got me this coconut to drink coconut water out of when we were waiting for our room. The background is the view from our room. Not too shabby!

First day on the beach. Tankini: Motherhood Maternity

This guy decided to jump in the ocean in his wife/girlfriend/whoever's bikini. Too funny!

I was too chicken to hold the parrot (and figured he'd scratch my shoulder). His name was. Bob. 

Cover up: Pea in the Pod Hat: Target

Had fun tie dying tee shirts!

Climbed up on this for a photo op. Beautiful view!

Pretty much how we spent the whole trip. And how cute is this guy? The past three years have been so much fun being married to him.

What a relaxing vacation! So nice to switch off our phones and have no contact with the outside world for 5 days. And thank goodness for Kindles! I read two books over the trip. Have any of y'all read "The Husband's Secret?" So good!!!! I couldn't put it down.

I'll leave you with some Flashback Friday pics of that wonderful Friday the 13th back in 2012. Here's to at least 73 more years!

All photo credit to Kevin Barre.

Cakes: Aunt Donna's Cakes

Church: Collierville United Methodist

Reception Venue: Heartwood Hall

Nesting

I'm not sure if this is nesting, or just me being my normal, neurotic, OCD self. Remember back in September when I posted this about my fall cleaning list? Well, not all of it got done. Work got busy, then I got pregnant and it all went out the window. A few months ago, I decided to make the "Hardy List." Everything to get done before his birth. Some of it is stuff that is just for baby (i.e. get the nursery ready, pack hospital bag, find childcare, etc.), but the majority of it is stuff I've been wanting to get done and know that if I don't do it before his arrival it won't happen after. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, while Christopher painted the nursery (he's much better at painting than me, he can free hand trim and never gets paint on himself!) I decided to work on some list items. One of these items (probably the biggest one) was clean the grout. I did this almost 2 years ago and was amazed by how the grout was actually not supposed to be that color. Gross, right? Last time, I used a Clorox bleach pen. This time I found a hint on Pinterest that said to use Clorox toilet bowl cleaner. It was genius! Worked just as well as the pen, but easier since it was a bigger bottle. 

My weapons of choice:

I didn't have a mask (you'd think I would since I'm in hospitals all the time), so I resorted to using a bandana like a guy about to rob a stage coach.

I lined the grout with the cleaner and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then I scrubbed it with a toothbrush and let sit for another 5.

After that, I mopped it up with an old, wet wash cloth. Then ran a dry paper towel over it. Once I got all the cleaner off the floor, I mopped it with the wet cloth on my Swiffer. Then, I actually Swiffered it. Lastly, I mopped it with a combo of white vinegar and warm water. 

The top is a section after cleaning (you have to do it in sections) and the bottom is the before. I know it looks disgusting, but that was the grout color when I moved in. I thought it was SUPPOSED to look like that. 

Completely done:

I did this on the powder room floor and in our shower. Our bathroom floor will have to wait as I couldn't spend any more time on my hands and knees. Let's just say me and my heating lad have become REALLY close lately.

I also organized my magazines. This entailed going through all my old Southern Livings and ripping out the recipes I plan to try (this may help answer "What's for dinner?"), organized the kitchen cabinets, and downstairs bathroom cabinet (aka medicine cabinet).


I forgot to take a before picture, but here is the Tupperware cabinet after. All the dishes have their coordinating lids with them and I got rid of the stuff we don't use.

Another project we did on Saturday was moving the stuff from the guest room (now nursery) closet to the downstairs closet and the stuff from the downstairs closet to the attic. We have this AMAZING coat closet that runs under our stairs. It has shelved that go under the stairs that can hold 4 Rubbermaid bins on each shelf. This is where I have kept all my holiday decorations. It has been really convenient. The guestroom closet has had my sewing machine, craft supplies, material, etc in it. So, we moved all the Christmas stuff to the attic. I kept the fall décor down since there isn't that much of it. It won't be too much of a pain to get the Christmas out of the attic (isn't that what most people do anyway?) All the craft supplies went downstairs and the nursery closet is officially empty. I never thought I'd see that day. I should've taken pics of that, but I forgot.

Here is the coat closet after:

I know it's hard to tell, but trust me it looks awesome. I also went through all our coats and donated the old ones to Goodwill.

What's for Dinner?

Does anyone else struggle with answering this question? For awhile there, I was doing really good. I had my staple recipes, and was also trying 1-2 new recipes a week. Then, I got pregnant. I know it's different for everyone, but my first trimester was rough. I never threw up (ok, once or twice) but I was nauseated all day long. Certain foods sounded disgusting to me. The thought of meat? Vomit. Which is totally bizarre considering I love bacon! Oh, and smells? Same reaction. I actually hid my husband's cologne from him for about 6 weeks. But, I digress. I have to give my husband some mad props. He was/is very accommodating in making sure my cravings are met. He also never complained when he'd come home and all I'd want for dinner was a bowl of cereal to be followed by going to bed at 7. Poor guy, I'm pretty sure he had Spaghettio's and Ramen on several occasions for dinner. This was only because I was either too nauseated or too tired to cook. Bless him!




Now that I'm well into my second trimester (heck, I'm almost into my third), I have more energy and very little nausea. I still have cravings so dinner is still subjective to what I want (I promise, honey once he's out you can decide what we eat). Because of this I haven't really been venturing out and trying new recipes. Until the other night. The weather has finally gotten warm (praise the Lord!) and warm weather makes me want salads for dinner. Something about it being hot out, makes me want a lighter dinner. Also, I've been craving salads throughout the whole pregnancy. There were a few weeks where I went to Panera every day to get the Thai Chicken salad. I ran across this recipe on fellow blogger, Leslie's blog and it sounded so yummy I had to try it. It did not disappoint!




Really Good Salad:
spring mix lettuce
rotisserie chicken, shredded
sliced strawberries
sliced Granny Smith apples
feta cheese - I do not care for feta, so I used goat cheese. Yum!
golden raisins (optional)  - left these out
slivered almonds (optional) - love almonds, so there was no option.
poppyseed dressing - Per Leslie's suggestion, I used Newman's Own.

After a day of painting the nursery (husband) and lots of nesting (me) - more on that later, this was a perfect dinner. Easy to make, yet so delicious and filling! It was a huge hit. Will definitely be making it again, and if you come over for dinner one night, this quite possibly be on the menu. After all that hard work, we relaxed by eating our dinner and cheering on our beloved Grizzlies. Which is why we had to eat on coordinating blue and gold dishes. Hey, they won! So we will be eating on these dishes every night they play. It's only crazy if it doesn't work, right?

Woah, baby!

In case you haven't heard, the Wilsons will be a family of three this summer. We are expecting a bouncing baby boy August 4th. Obviously, we are beyond thrilled. We absolutely cannot wait to meet him. I won't give you all the nitty gritty details (I've decided if I don't want to hear all that from other people. why would they want to hear it from me?) But we found out the week before Thanksgiving and told our families at Christmas. This is the first grandchild on both sides, so needless to say the grandparents are ecstatic.




People always ask me how I'm feeling. I'm the kind of person where you shouldn't ask how I am unless you really want to know. The first trimester was rough. I never really got sick, but I felt nauseated all. day. long. What is this morning sickness they speak of? It doesn't go away at noon!
However, second trimester I feel really good. A lot more energy, don't feel sick anymore and aside from heartburn (shout out to my friend Carey who shared with me the best heartburn remedy ever: apple juice mixed with 2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar. Cures it instantly!) I feel good.




The only thing that I don't think ever goes away throughout pregnancy is irritability. It is amazing what people will say to you pregnant. Here is a sampling of things you should NEVER say to a pregnant woman:


- "Wow! You've gotten so big."
Yes, I know this. I am reminded of this every time I get in the shower and see myself naked. I am reminded of this every time I put on my underwear and realize it does not fit right anymore and I need to succumb to maternity undies. I am reminded of this every time I put on my jeans, albeit they're maternity, and huff and puff to pull them on.




- "You don't even look pregnant!"
Seriously?! I mean, I realize it's supposed to be a compliment but are you saying I always look like this?!




- "I was never sick during my pregnancy."
Good for you. Everyone handles pregnancy differently. But as someone who just told you how nauseated they are/were, why the hell would you tell me that? That does not make me feel better. That makes me want to kick you in the shins.




- "I only gained _____ pounds during my pregnancy."
Again, good for you. Same goes as for not being sick during pregnancy. I don't want to hear that. Why would you tell me that? That makes me feel worse than the never feeling sick comment. Except this one makes me want to punch you in the face.




- "You should/shouldn't do this or that."
This advice has been anything from why I shouldn't eat fish or lunchmeat to why I shouldn't have caffeine to why I should/shouldn't breastfeed and so on. I'm sure you're just trying to be helpful, but guess what? Having a kid does not make you Dr. Spock. I do not want your unsolicited advice. I have a doctor, thank you. I will stick with that she tells me to do. I also find the unsolicited advice really funny, especially from strangers. For some reason it is socially acceptable to go up to a pregnant person and start telling them what you think they need to do. Yet, no one would do this if you weren't pregnant. If I walked up to an overweight person that I don't know and started telling them all about what work out and diet they should have they would not only find me incredibly rude, they'd think I was nuts! Why is it all social graces go out the window for pregnant ladies?




-"Are you going to breastfeed?"
Why, are you hungry? I'm sorry but my breasts are none of your business.




"Were you trying?"
As if the boob question isn't personal enough, let's ask about my sex life! What if I went up to someone not pregnant and said "Do you use condoms or the pill or do you just pull and pray?" Not ok for the non-pregnant, not ok for the pregnant.




And the last thing that you should NEVER do to a pregnant woman...
DO NOT TOUCH HER BELLY!
I mean really, you would never do that to a non-pregnant person so again not ok for anyone. So weird, so intrusive, so rude.

I will say, that all of this can be chalked up to pregnant lady irritability. BUT, I do find it so weird that people think that all social norms and barriers are null and void when it comes to us preggos. I will also say that this doesn't apply to my girlfriends and close (female) family members. But to the strangers and any men out there follow this rule: If you didn't put it in there, it is not yours to touch, comment on or ask about.


On a positive note, here is what my fellow blogger Leslie had to say on what you SHOULD say to pregnant women.

Easter and Christianity What does it mean?

I have felt compelled to write to for awhile, and I figure today is the most appropriate. To all my fellow Christians, Happy Easter! To all of those who aren't Christian, don't know exactly what that means, etc, I'd like to offer you an explanation. Lately in the news, there have been so many negative things about Christianity. With all the talk about the businesses and bakeries, the true meaning of our faith gets skipped over. So let me explain. We celebrate Easter because it is the resurrection if Jesus Christ our savior (He can be yours, too!) We believe that Jesus Christ was born, and at age 33, He was crucified to take on ALL of our (yes, that includes you) sins so we can have life after death. Three days later, he rose again. This fulfilled 33 prophecies that were made throughout history before he was crucified. That's all there is to it. You just have to believe He died for you. That's it. I had a friend tell me once that her boyfriend said he couldn't be a Christian because there were too many rules to follow. That breaks my heart. No matter what you hear, this isn't about rules. It's about a relationship, a relationship with Christ. There is nothing so bad that He will not forgive you!! Isn't that awesome? I normally screw up before my feet ever hit the floor in the morning, and while I try to do my best to be as good of a person I can be, I know I am not perfect. Thankfully, He is and He can forgive me repeatedly. 

So, please. As you ponder Christianity, don't let the things on the news be the representation of what you think our faith is. It is not a faith to breed hate and discrimination. Jesus commands us to love one another and not to judge, less we be judged. Do not think of us as a group of people who follow rules, and think we are better tha everyone because we are all sinners. Everyone in this world, yet because of Him we can be washed clean of these sins. If you have ever considered excepting Jesus in your life, just know all it takes is to believe He died for your sins. You don't have to worry about measuring up to some big list of rules and regulations because that would be impossible. 

If you ever want to talk, ask me more about what I believe, get into the nitty gritty deep conversations about what's going on in the news with bakeries and pizzerias, anything at all. Please contact me. I'd love to talk to you. Jenniferwilson413@yahoo.com

Here's a few videos that might explain a little more:

https://vimeo.com/123981984

https://vimeo.com/123310971