bling and cheesecake

Today is holiday pay. WOOT!  Andy had the day off and took my rings and earrings in to get cleaned and checked.  I'm sparkly now :)  He also took my pearls in to get fixed because Sawyer pulled them and finally broke them.  Here's the thing.  Last time they broke, Andy paid like $200 to get them fixed.  Destiny told us that everything comes with a warranty at Kay's though.  He asked them today and they were completely confused as to why they charged him last time to fix them!  They didn't know what to do about it!  Hopefully they can do SOMETHING because that isn't fair to pay for something that came with the warranty.  They said they'd try to figure something out before we go pick them up next time.  Maybe we'll just get $200 in more jewelry but that is still annoying to have had to pay for it! I hope we don't have to get on the phone with customer service :(

After work and the bling incident, we went to Bellevue Square because some of our favorite cousins, Megan and Andrew spontaneously decided to drive up from Salt Lake (he is from here originally).  We went to dinner with them at Cheesecake Factory....awesome!!!

Hi mama!

 The first thing our server did was bring Sawyer a plate of snacks- and we didn't even ask for them! :)

Little chubs ate it all :) lol.  Then we got some dang good dinner.  Sawyer started getting so sleepy that he kept laying his head down on the table, it was pretty cute.

Then we had the most delicious cheesecake ever.  Banana cream.  Sawyer sat up enough to have his own little dessert- the server brought him a plate with whipped cream on it!

I realize my awful flash on my camera doesn't make it easy to see, but it was so dark in there you can't see if I didnt use it :-/

We had fun and hope Megan and Andrew decided to spontaneously drive up again soon!

work work work

Andy had to work all day today :(  He left super early (6am) and didn't get home until 5:00.  He had to go in a few hours yesterday as well since someone called out of gas in Kirkland and he was on call this weekend.  At least it is all time and a half!  It was just me and The Bean all day.

What a goofy picture, eh?

Let me tell you, it is not easy entertaining an 11 month old in a small space.  He whined and crawled up me and pulled my hair while I tried to clean up my room.  He played with the downstairs TV so I didn't want to hang out downstairs (not that it is any bigger than our room anyway) because I didn't know how to fix that one. He got a few naps though so I guess it is good I cleaned my room and his room!  Not very exciting time as everyone else goes camping for this memorial weekend.  Two highlights were our friend Tyrell came over Friday to use us for our internet (lol) but it is still fun to talk to her, then my brother and sister in law came over after.  We also went to my parents' house with Erik and Destiny Saturday to watch the Sounders game (WOO beat Real Salt Lake which if you don't remember is about 5 houses away from Andy's childhood home in Sandy, Utah lol).

Random cute things that Sawyer does now:
-When he says "mama" it sounds like he is hyperventilating
-If you wave or say bye-bye he now will definitely do the open-and-close hand wave instead of it being hit-or-miss
-When music comes on, he bounces...or "dances" I guess
-If you give him a hair brush, he will brush his hair
-He tries to make step-stools out of everything...including baby cheeto cans and rugby balls (very dangerous)
-He tries to grab the soccer players on the TV
-He can walk pretty good on his walker now:

-When I am on the computer he comes over and types really quick before I can catch him (annoying, but cute he tries to type)
- He doesn't like the feel of hard or grass on his knees so he crawls like this when he is outside:

Photo courtesy of Tyrell

Rucking off the flab

I love sports.  Playing them anyway- the last thing I would want to do is sit around and watch a basketball game on TV even though I played through elementary and junior high (go Stahl Storm lol).   I think they kept me in shape most of my life.  I have never enjoyed going to the gym.  It takes so long when you lift weights since you can only target one area at a time.  I also cannot stand running...I was not built for it at all.  I was hitting up the zumba classes at LA Fitness for awhile, but the gym started getting really expensive for the amount we used it, and decided to cancel.  I was starting to really get out of shape around the time I got pregnant with Sawyer.

Some people exercise when they are pregnant, but not me.  From about a couple weeks after I found out at 8 weeks until around week 19 ish, I just felt crappy.  I didnt throw up much, but the only thing I wanted to do was lay on the couch.  It took a lot of effort to even walk around the house after working 8 hour days on my feet.  After I started to feel better, it was time to actually feel pregnant, and I could not do anything to bounce a baby around.  He just felt so heavy there and I didnt want to do anything to hurt him.  Later along I started needing ice cream pretty much daily.  By the time Sawyer was born, I was not happy how much weight gain total I had, but I also didnt really care at the same time.  If there is any time you are allowed to get fat, it is then lol.

Sawyer was born and I wasn't happy where I was (as is everyone I have ever met).  I don't do diets, nor will I ever do diets.  I don't like most healthy food.  I didn't know what I was going to do. I was not wanting to get any larger, because I have not really lived that way before.  I didn't want to try running because I knew where that would end up...me not going through with it.  I tried Andy's indoor soccer team, but it was only for like 40 minutes once a week and it just wasn't my sport.  I was glad to hear my friend's rugby team was looking for people, and Andy's excitement about the sport (it is his sport, and he would be playing in a heartbeat if he didn't have a labor job that requires no injuries) made me want to try.

I am happy to say that I am shrinking!  My work pants (that were snug when I bought them a couple years ago) almost fell off my bum when I stuck my heavy phone in the pocket yesterday.  I still have that stupid pooch that is 50% loose skin from Sawyer.  I hope that disappears in time.  My legs are looking a lot smoother, and you can see my abs again (above the pooch zone).  I received the best compliments last week when a co-worker said "you are getting so skinny", and today when I had to show 4 people my pants to prove that I was wearing size 10 pants because I looked half that size. (Apparently people don't realize the size of the booty lol)  I have never cared about numbers, it was just good to hear that people thought I was in better shape lol.

I still have a hard time with motivation.  People aren't consistent at practice which makes it harder for me.  Every day I make up excuses as to how I can stay home, but then I realize that if i want to see a difference, I have to move my buns.  Today it was windy, rainy, and a bit cold.  I really didn't want to go, but I remembered how much fun I had last practice, and how it is helping me and I got my butt there.  There were 5 people at practice.  My first thought was "i could have stayed home too", but my second thought was "well i guess it makes ME look better to the coaches and I will improve."  I have come so far in the 2 months I have been playing, and it feels good to come home with every muscle in my body worn out but having fun doing it.  I also am starting to get more compliments from the coaches.  I love the sport now, how it has a place for everyone.  Fat and skinny, short and tall, and even old and young (we have people 18-45) are all welcome there.  How you ruck and shove and tackle and tear apart people on the field, but there is always a social afterwards with the other team to keep the rivalry on the fields.  Hopefully I can stay in this sport for awhile.  It is tough- you get bruises and sore muscles and sprains, but it is fun and I feel like a warrior afterwards.

Here was practice today (we had to mix with the men for half of it).  You might not be able to see the rain, but it is hard to have motivation on days like this! 

The end of the world

There was a lot of talk all week about the "end of the world".  A Christian radio host thought he had figured out all of the numbers in the Bible, and claimed the rapture would be (or start) on May 21st.  I thought it was a bunch of baloney, but it really got me thinking about a few things.

First of all, I was thinking what I would do if i KNEW it was my last day.  Would I spend all my money? I don't have a lot.  What would I do?  We were talking at work and me and a friend realized that what we would want would be attainable every day.  The day of May 20th was warm, and we went to some friends house for a fire and s'mores.  I think a funny conversation, family, friends, and Sawyer falling asleep on my lap would have been a very good last day on earth.

I also got to thinking about what exactly they were talking about, and what I believe. I like to think that there is a being bigger than us, that wants what is best for us.  I put myself in that position, and do not see how I could possibly create something so horrible for people that I created and love.  I would want my children to be happy. I wouldn't make earthquakes and pain because they didn't worship me.  I think all I would ask for is for them to be happy and appreciate what they have.  That is all I want for my children. I could not see a loving father causing pain.  I could not see a loving father send people to "hell" because they had never heard of me, or were not given the means to believe, or just straight up not choosing to believe in something that wasn't laid out for them.  I could not see a loving father separating a family or friends who love each other in death because they didn't believe something.  What kind of love is that?  Eternal Punishment?   I know I want everything good for Sawyer, and I think that if there is a loving father out there for us, he would take in everyone.  He wouldn't take some people while others suffered pain and horror for five months, he would take us all in, be forgiving as he is said to be, and teach us all how to be better for the rest of eternity.  I have to admit, there was a small bit of me hoping that something would happen that day, because I knew it wouldn't be anything bad.  I think if the man's numbers all added up, we would all be taken in.

Lastly, I was thinking about the people that followed him.  I am all for freedom.  I don't think anyone should prevent others from believing what they want, loving who they want, or doing what they want (as long as it doesn't cause harm to others not involved.)  I thought at first it would be funny to see what they all said as the time came and passed, but as it did, I started to feel bad for them.  Most put their life savings into this.  They sold their houses, gave away their things, etc. because they KNEW it was going to happen.  I know people that would have done the same thing if it was another person telling them what Harold Camping was telling his followers.  I can't imagine the disappointment they must have felt.  I read a story that night about a guy that was trying to spread the word until the very last minute,spreading the word to save his fellow people, in Times Square, and as the time came and went, he just looked at his watch and said "I don't...I don't understand..."  The confusion/pain/disappointment he must have felt along with everyone else makes me just feel sorry.  I am anxious to see what happens of these people in the coming days, not to see how they explain themselves and to laugh, but to see how someone recovers from a situation where something you believe to the point that you know it is true, is brought down.

I guess all-in-all, I am glad we are all where we are.  I like the place I am at (though it is nice to hope for better someday), I like the ups and downs, and appreciate what I have.  It is cool to have some excitement, but I guess just thinking about it all was excitement enough for now.

3 years

3 years ago today, Andy and I started "officially" dating.  It was kind of an easy transition.  We were best friends the year before.  It is kind of hard to explain how it is working at Student Programs at Pierce unless you were there and were part of a team like our year.  You kind of start to know everyone else better than they know themselves.  Besides the fact that we are constantly discussing topics that bring out everyone's true selves, we would spend pretty much all day every day together.  You have classes, and in between you are in the office (working or doing homework), then we have events, then we would all hang out together every day pretty much.  Andy and I spent most of the year dating other people, but we were still best friends  We always agreed on everything.  At the end of the year we had both separated from our exes and we were 'allowed' to date so we tried it out.

 Best decision ever!  I am not going to lie, I didn't think relationships could be so effortless until I dated Andy.  My exes and I would have a couple arguments a week.  It got tiring after a couple of years. I think Andy and I have argued about twice in the four years we have known each other.  I think it is good we both had long-term relationships before so we knew what worked and didn't work for us,  and we both know how to compromise and we not get angry.  He just makes life easier.  If I am angry he calms me down, he reassures me when someone has a different opinion, he is someone to talk to, he makes our food and cleans the kitchen since I don't like homemaker tasks lol, takes care of our Beany, still opens the car door for me (unless I sneak in first while he loads Sawyer), we have pretty similar tastes in most things, he always drives, he pours my drinks because I spill, and he has the best intelligent conversations!  I love that I am never alone :)

Though there were certainly ups and downs in our life, thanks for the best 3 years Andrew! Love you!

This is one of my favorite pictures a couple months after we started dating. Jumping off the boat while camping with my family at Banks Lake.

This is us at skate night about the time (or right before) we started dating :)

ESPN

Our article was published.  Well, our pictures anyway.  Here is the link:

 http://w.espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6541735/rugby-sevens-attracts-us-females

If you look at the bottom picture, look at the ball and my small head is poking up to the left side over it lol. Here it is with an arrow so you can find me LOL

 We also got our team picture done by the fotog, and I think we look pretty Bad A:

I'm the 3rd one in (not hard to find). They told us not to smile, but some people failed.  I was glad because I didn't want my braces in the picture :)

Rivals

Saturday morning was awesome weather.  I was really excited because the Sounders vs Timbers game was that night so I was hoping it would stick around.

We decided to go throw the ball around at the park.  I haven't played catch in awhile but I wasnt too bad after a little warming up. I probably looked funny in my skirt and flowery shirt but it was fun.  We stuck Sawyer in his stroller with some snacks.  I dont know if I have mentioned it before, but Sawyer LOVES the baby cheetos (gerber brand). He inhales them.  You bring out the can and he flips out.  We left him with some puffs and baby cheetos and he was good :)

We got some ice cream and tank tops in celebration of the weather, but then it started to get cloudy :( Sawyer got a new "rad like dad" romper.

We dropped Sawyer off with Erik and Destiny over at my parent's house and headed to the game.  The march to the match was crazy.  There were more people than ever, and they had a ton of green smoke and explosion of flares.

The smoke is actually green (my phone camera didnt capture it too well)

The ECS also had the craziest tifo display yet.  The banners just kept coming!  The timbers army had some dumb "we are timbers army who are you?" little signs, and we busted out this (i love the Levesque at the end):

Can you believe ESPN didnt show that?

It poured the whole time, and we tied. Here is the problem though, they had an OBVIOUS handball in the box at the end of the game....which should result in a pk....but they didnt call it!  We were all furious and we should have won!  He missed about 3 other handballs also so I was not happy with the ref anyway.  UGH.  You can't do things like that on such a big game.

On the way out there was an alice in wonderland rave next door at the WaMu theater and it was funny seeing all the people dressed up in fishnets and fuzzy leg warmers getting all wet and mixed in with sounders fans :)  It was cold but one of the best games I've been to!

Sawyer also got a present from his Grandma Smith.  She made him a quilt!

Me and Andy have been using it lately because it is the right size for one person on the couch laying down lol. It is so cute- it is monkey patterns. Thanks!!!

Scholarly

I think I have decided to "finish" school.  My issue is that I cannot pick something that I like enough to spend a lot of money and time on.  I looked at all the schools in the state and found that WSU has an awesome online school with a lot of options on degrees.  Other schools only had a couple options, or else just random classes online, not entire degrees.  I found that you can pick "social sciences" where you can pick 3 different disciplines to study within, along with other elective requirements to go along with them.  I think I might like anthropology, business admin, and political science...a wide variety so I hopefully won't get bored in one topic.  They also have things like sociology and history to take electives in which I like too.  I have passed all the financial deadlines so I might wait for the following fall.  I emailed the people to make sure, but it looks like my associates degree will straight up transfer and i can jump right into those classes so I might not have any rush.  If i do need to go now, AT&T should be able to reimburse for it all as long as I take only half-time classes (which, I wouldn't want any more with a baby and a full time job) but not sure I am ready to go in the fall.  I'd kind of like Andy to be done first anyway.  I am just excited to have some sort of a plan again!

After high school graduation

After Pierce Graduation

Me at UNLV (far right standing)

Spring

The rain may make it look otherwise, but spring is definitely here.  We went for a walk last night and it was light out from 7-8 while we were there.  I also only needed a light sweatshirt! Woot!  This is good news because all of our clothes in the next sizes up for Sawyer are all rompers from Cooper.  We have like 100 of them, and I would like to have him wear them soon before he grows out of them haha.  We are lucky that Cooper was a little more of a chunkeroo than Beany and the heat came sooner last year so that Sawyer would fit in them at the right time even though he was 7 months older than Sawyer :)

While we were by the ballfields, we saw my old fastpitch team, Emerald Ridge, playing their rivals Rogers. I am happy to report that we were ahead at the time we left (I dont need to know the final score if it was opposite lol).

I have also started planning Sawyer's birthday party.  My biggest dilemma is who to invite.  My mom's side of the family is huge and I know some of them would want to come.  We also want friends of our family (like w/ kids), and other close friends of ours.  I dont know if I want as many people as the baby shower brought, but I think that might be the MINIMUM.  I mean, we invited only our closest friends and family (which upset some people) to our wedding, and we had 250 people at least...though a lot of people flew in from out of town so obviously we wont have that many people at the birthday.  The first birthday is a pretty big one though, and it is the one that is mostly for the parents so I will have to figure this out.  If anyone has any pointers, be sure to share :) I don't want to offend anyone in the process.  I am pretty excited as I am finding the decorations though!

The last trip to Pullman and back

Friday I took a day off and headed to Pullman with my parents.  I dropped Beany off with his buddy Everett (THANKS TYRELL) and hit the road around 9.  We stopped in Cle Elum for breakfast, and got to Pullman around 3.

At 6, we headed to campus for the Honors College commencement.  If you don't know what that is, most Universities have a special college for students with good GPA's that you apply to before you get to the school.  Basically, they risk their college GPA's to take extra challenging courses for the general classes.  They even have special dorms set aside and everything.  They had a special dinner and it was delicious.  That was the good part because there were about 100 graduates, and we had to listed to bios of everyone.  Pretty much it was all the volunteer experiences, awards, internships, inventions, research projects, study abroads, etc that every single person did. When you are talking about the Honors College, each person has a HUGE listl lol. It took like 2 hours. I was proud of my brother though :)

There's Erik getting his recognition

We got back late and went to bed.  Saturday we went to Erik's graduation (the real one).  He is graduating Magna Cum Laude (3.7-3.89) for now...though he will be Summa Cum Laude (3.9-4.0) if he gets all A's this semester which may happen in Materials Science and Engineering.  His college graduated with all the other nerdy science kids and farm boys (WSU is a big agricultural school), my brother being the former ;). Since the school is so big, they have a few different graduations.  The business school got to have the secretary of defense speak- I was kind of jealous.  Anyway, it was pretty exciting and I liked to see all the bedazzled hats.  It makes me want to graduate lol.  We sang the Alma Mater and fight song and listened to speeches and a lengthy list of names.  I am so proud of him!!!

He is about 3 behind the Materials science and engineering sign

He's getting his diploma holder.

CONGRATS!

The rest of Saturday we got ice cream at the famous "Ferdinand's" (it is NEVER open so it was my first time) and kind of hung around the apartment...apart from one last trip to the famous Denny's. It was funny because all the landmarks at WSU (the sign, cougar statue..) all had HUGE lines to take a picture by, but luckily Erik's friend had his dad take their pics a few days earlier.

I would just like to point out that I think WSU is awesome.  There is no other college around that has the pride in their school that they have. EVERYONE wears WSU clothes daily.  Every time someone makes a speech no matter how professional, they always end with "GO COUGS!".  I am glad I got to have the college  experience one year (dorms, homecoming floats, football and basketball games, parties, eating at the dining commons) or I would be incredibly jealous right about now :) I wish I could have attended a school with that kind of spirit though- everyone was pretty much just hammered at all of our events at UNLV lol.

On Sunday we had to pack all of Erik's stuff up.  It wasnt too hard because he has no stuff and he doesn't eat so the tough part was just loading everything into the tuck in its awkward shape and try to rain proof for when we hit the west side.  It was a task, and our tarp ripped a ton on the trip back.  We also went from big open fields to snow lol.  Funny Washington.  The traffic sucked though and I was super stressed to miss my first mother's day.

Loading up the truck

We had to pull over in the middle of nowhere to fix the tarp

Windy rest area!

The tarp was super ripped up!

We finally got back about 7 hours later (I told you the traffic was bad), and Sawyer has never looked so cute.  I missed him so much and I was afraid I'd miss him on my first Mother's Day.  He surprised me by cleaning the house, making me a cake, got the fixings for my favorite drinks, and picked out a super cute dress (he actually picked out the last one; the others he had help with).

These were waiting when I opened the door

My new dress

Beany is proud he picked out such a good present

It was a great weekend and was actually motivating to me.  It made me want to try to find some online classes to try to finish and get a degree while I am still fresh.  My work pays tuition reimbursement so I think I will start looking a little more into some degrees I might enjoy.  I kind of gave up after trying Hotel Management, Elementary Education, and Business and not liking any of them, but hopefully this new found motivation will lead me where I want to go.  I am leaning towards communications right now :)

Quatro de Mayo

Today was awesome!  I looove nice weather.  It just puts me in a good mood that is hard to break.  The one good thing about living in Vegas was that it was always sunny so I was usually in a good mood.  The downside is that always sunny= ugly desert and I hated it, so I am fine with our less than nice weather because it makes the beautiful western WA scenery :)

We tend to celebrate Cinco de Mayo on the Quatro.  I dont really want to deal with the crowds plus we were both off super early so we took a super sleepy Beany to Mis Tres Amigos for some Mexican.  I had some delicious chimichanga and pina colada while Beany fought sleep.  He was asleep for a couple minutes, but then we saw him peek out of his carseat.  He was feeling really warm so we had to give him some Tylenol :(

Afterwards, we went to the usual park.  Sawyer slept for another 20 or so minutes and he looked so cute and snuggly.  It wasnt long before I saw his little eyeballs looking up at me from the stroller.  I love when he does that!  We stopped at the playfields because Rogers was playing Federal Way and I realize it is annoying to watch a sport you know a lot about because you critique everything happening. I now know how Andy feels at my rugby games lol!  I couldnt resist taking a few more pictures of him on the side of the trail.  All the strangers stopped to talk to him including a little boy on one of those skateboards with only 2 wheels.

I'm awake mama!

Eating a pinecone

OH! Before i forget to blog about it, our photoshoot for ESPN went pretty good last night.  The team shot looked really cool and dramatic, and I can't wait to see how they all turn out.  It was annoying having to share the spotlight with all the people that don't ever come to practices and only some of the games though.  I feel like those of us that actually committed should have got more pictures, but oh well.  They said they should be up in about a week on espnW.com so I will post a link when it is up if I am in any of them :)

Tomorrow I have practice, then I leave for Pullman Friday morning!  Andy couldn't get the day off, and I am missing a big rugby festival in Montana, but I am a good sister and so proud of my brother and will go support him!  He is graduating from WSU in mechanical science and engineering.  I don't even know most of what he studies it is that impressive lol. I know he went to Georgia Tech to do a research project on nanotubes and I am hoping his good grades and impressive projects get him a good job.  We get to go to a dinner on Friday night for the honors college (yup, he was in that) and he will graduate Saturday morning!  We will move him back and I am hoping we get back at an OK time on Sunday so I can still see my little baby for my first mother's day!

Things to come

There are 2 exciting things on the horizon.

First, ESPN (yes!) is supposed to come take pictures of my rugby team tomorrow for the new ESPN Women's site.  They are doing the article on Seattle rugby, but since they have finished practices up there, they are coming down to take pictures of us :D  I don't really know anything about it except that there, but hopefully it all works out and I will have an update tomorrow night on how it went.  I am hoping that I will get in some of the pics they post.

Second (and more importantly) Andy had a great day in school today.  He got back one of his stories today with a personalized letter from one of his English professors saying that he thinks he needs to get it published and will help him do so.  Then later tonight, his OTHER teacher in his night class pulled him aside and asked if he was interested in getting any stories published because they are really good.  I am sooo proud of him!

April-May weekend

Is it just me or does the sunny weather make everyone in a great mood?

Friday we went to a girl on my team's house to make signs for the car wash the next day. Everyone was making fun because I am such a "perfectionist" when it comes to things, but I think it made my sign a lot better :)

Saturday, we did not make it to the car wash, but apparently we made a lot of money which is good.  We were all just tired and needed family time.  We went to Safeway because they mail out a bunch of coupons for free stuff.  We went to go get our tortillas, chips, salsa, vegetables, and a few other things they hand out for free, or have a huge percentage off.  There was also a coupon for if you spend $50 you get $10 off, but we only spend $40 and she still gave us the $10 off!  We also had a card in the mail from Sports Authority that was just straight-up free $20.  I got socks and cleat straps for free! We dropped Sawyer off at Destiny's and headed up to the sounders game.  AWESOME game! ...and they scored 3 goals so we get a free haircut from Great Clips :)

They had a few of these GIANT get well soon cards for Zakuani

Andy and the Sounders' 2 US Open Cup trophies

The stadium-wide tribute to Zakuani.  

On Sunday it was REALLY sunny :)  Andy is starting his "everyday in May" thing where he runs every single day.  Last year when he did it he even ran when he was terribly sick and said "you might have to come pick me up" but he was dedicated!  We started off at a barbecue at my parents

Grandpa walking him around the yard

Grandma sings him "the ants go marching" and he loves it

The grass was itchy on his legs so he crawled around bear-style

Then we all took a nap

After, we used one of Andy's BOGO coldstone coupons

Next, we went for a walk at the park

We took some back-light pictures so i could practice editing them

Here is the before

Here is another extreme one:

Overall, a GREAT weekend!