Belly!

I have to laugh when think about how I felt "huge" in the beginning of this pregnancy when my bump began to stick out.  Maybe it's the fact that so many people were guessing that I was pregnant before I was ready to tell them. Something had to be making it obvious...unless it was just the wiped out look on my face as I tried to finish the school year in a way that did all my 1st graders justice.  I was thankful for a summer to enjoy my 2nd trimester!

So far my mom and my sister are the only ones who've gotten the belly pics, but for those who are interested...here they are!

                                           A 14 week and 35 week comparison!                                                        

 18 weeks

21 weeks

  22 weeks

28 weeks

 30 weeks                                                               31 weeks

33 Weeks

The trip in which we choose to go cold places during a beautiful summer.

We don't want our traveling to stop but we know that it WILL change drastically as our lives move forward.  It already has (in a minor way.)  We chose a cruise this summer because of the easy factor.  No packing up to go to a new city, no desperate searching for a bathroom to use, no deciding where to eat, no worries about food being nearby when I am hungry RIGHT NOW!  At the same time, a cruise holds the adventure we crave, with new cities to explore, on board culinary events, high tea and yummy 4 course dinners. This was the perfect way to travel while pregnant (minus missing out on the awesome happy hour deals!)  Luckily, since it was mostly cool and rainy, my raincoat, puffy jacket and snuggly vest could all still zip, which I won't be able to say in the next couple of months here!

 

We took a $7 Bolt bus up to our embarkment location, Vancouver, BC which has had the same gorgeous summer that Bellingham has enjoyed.

If you get a chance, look up Lisa Maxwell and George Newall.  They were two of the table mates that were assigned to us for the week.  They live in New York and they're practically FAMOUS! Lisa is a jazz singer (they gave us a copy of her CD at the end!) and George was a producer of School House Rock for years and years.  You know "Conjunction junction" and "Multiplication Rock," right?  That's him!  He entertained us with stories from the "biz" along with juicy tidbits about the real character of certain other unnamed famous people.  What a treat!

                                                          My favorite towel animal.

We "parked" in Glacier Bay for about an hour and listened as the the glacier pieces cracked like thunder and tumbled into the ocean with a splash. This was our favorite stop in the whole trip.

      

    

Tea time!

We took a train up into the mountains of Skagway to see the route used by people hoping to strike it rich during the Klondike GoldRush.

Having our own porch was totally worth it!

The "Crow's Nest" is a bar at the top of the ship that is surrounded by windows.  It's the best place to relax with an amazing view.  We enjoyed some trivia and line dancing (way to go Nate) up there as well.

In Juneau we saw a glacier, hiked to a waterfall and enjoyed some rich and delicious overpriced crab.

                     

Those legs aren't messin' around.

Ketchikan has one of the highest number of days of rain in the entire US...and we got a gorgeous, warm and sunny day to end our trip.  We ended up walking through the city and going back onto the boat to sit by the pool and bask in the sunshine!

At first I was sad to miss out on some beautiful Bellingham summer for drippy cool Alaska but in the end the stunning views and relaxation were totally worth it.

Driving down the 101....Califooornniiiaaa! Part One.

This trip happened in December but I guess I'm terrible at blogging during the school year.  As soon as summer comes around I need this creative outlet again!

Nate and I subscribe to Sunset magazine and we read it cover to cover!  It's that one about the "best in the west." I had always thought Sunset was meant for gardeners, or people who wanted to spend a lot of money redecorating their back porch or living areas.  Instead, we discovered a whole wealth of information on the ultimate road trips and weekends away.  It has hundreds of ideas on food, drink and sights in cities up and down the West Coast.  So perfect for our life right now!  We have so many pages that are turned down on corners marking places we hope to get to someday.  

It was Sunset that inspired us to do the stunning Highway 101 road trip.  We drove from SanFrancisco to Santa Monica and were met with such a beautiful assortment of coastal views.  This area of California can be a bit of a gamble weather-wise in December but it was sunny and 70s for us! 

 We mostly just stopped in SanFran so we could go to the two restaurants we LOVED the last time we were there.  Zunis, which cooks up a whole chicken with a grease-soaked bread salad stuffing, and Kate's kitchen which makes "french toast orgy": a huge platter of french toast with yogurt, granola and fruit. 

We went on to Santa Cruz and walked the boardwalk, full of people, carnival games, rides, mini-golf and beach volleyball. 

We stayed near Carmel. It was easy to forget it was Christmas-time except for the subtle reminders such as the one in the tree...

                                         Carmel's Mission

Big Sur was GORGEOUS!  It winds its way past breathtaking cliffs, rock formations, and twisting trees.

                                               My favorite.

Sunset shadow pictures inspired by our good friends, Brandon and Lesley White.

We are the 12th man.

WE are the 12th man.

 I did not know that the number 12 was retired with the Seahawks until this year when I asked a Young Life girl with a cute Seahawks beanie who number 12 belonged to and she gave me a "you've got to be kidding me" look and said something like "The fan! You idiot!"  So, maybe I wasn't well-informed on the happenings of our local football team.  I always wanted them to win over any other team but my watching of football was really a matter of convenience. Meaning, if it was already on in the room I would glance at it while reading...doing dishes...messing on the computer...whatever.  Well, here I am, happy to jump on the 12th man bandwagon.  I know there are TONS of Seahawks fans that are tried and true through the years.  They have stuck by them through thick and thin, cheering wildly whether there was a world record to beat or not. I feel especially happy for those kinds of fans who have been faithfully watching this team develop into what it is. 

I cannot claim to be one of them.

However, there are a few thousand Seattle-ite/Washingtonians that are like me who have been swept into the excitement of this season. We quickly learned who all the important players are, read up on the back-stories (skittles, injuries, chips-on-shoulders, etc.) and refreshed our knowledge of the intricacies of football rules.  I think this is ok.  

 Nate always chuckles lovingly at me because I get super excited about anything that is a "community event."  I love it when everyone gathers together with a similar purpose and we connect because we all care about SOMETHING! This is one of those ultimate community experiences and I have loooved it.  Suddenly everyone at work is participating in blue Friday, sometimes even blue-every-day-of-the-week.  We wave flags proudly.  We project 12s on everything we can. We are eating blue and green dyed bread.  

We are coloring everything blue and green.

We are closing Seattle Icons so we can watch the Super Bowl.

                                   

When walking down the streets of Seattle you can yell "Sea" from anywhere and expect the echo of "hawks" to quickly follow behind.  

We think we are absolutely necessary for the Seahawks to win and they encourage us by speaking of the 12th man every time they are interviewed. We   ARE necessary.  We are the 12th man.