This is what I've been doing

It's moving week!

Mark drove down to Colorado Springs Sunday night and has completed 2 of his days at orientation. Monday and Tuesday were district training days (very boring) and the next 3 days he is at his school in his classroom planning and meeting his "team". This is the first time in like 3 years that I have not had to attend Teacher orientation/training. Its a total role reversal so I feel for Mark and any other teachers now training because it really is pretty boring. We did get some great news from the apartment people. I was filling out the lease and it had our rent listed at 650 instead of 699 and it had the move in date as July 23rd instead of August 01. We are super excited about the rent but sort of confused about the move in date so we called them and they said since they had originally told us 650 then raised the price they were giving it to us at 650 so that was fantastic. They also let us know that we could move in Monday if we wanted without having to pay for any days in July. While that was really nice of them it would have been nicer if they told us like a week ago so we would have changed the pick up date for our moving truck and I would have moved down with Mark Monday instead of him being there and me here packing by myself. Oh well. I have had plenty of time to pack which is what I have been doing all day so far this week. I am about done so now its time to clean the only problem is that there is stuff in the way and I am still living here. Oh well.

My Sweet Greeley Friends

Thanks fabulous U2 ladies!

On Wednesday some oh so kind friends threw a baby shower for Jared and me. It was very thoughtful of them. About 6 weeks ago the ward Mark and I were attending was dissolved so there went most of our associations with some really fun people. I was like 19 weeks along then and hadn't really told anybody that we were expecting, mostly just because I was paranoid and wanted to save myself from being asked how I was feeling... So I figured I wouldn't be having a shower since nobody really knew we were going to have a baby and we would most likely be moving. So that was a bummer but I figured we would probably survive, its just one of those things that you always (well I did) look forward to having one day. My mom really wanted me to fly out to California so she could throw me one but that just wasn't practical. (She was so sweet though (of course) and sent Jared a fun package that I had Mark open the night before the shower, its his child too so why shouldn't he get to open some presents?) Since school has been out I have been walking in the park each day with some girls from the old ward and one day two of them offered to throw a shower for me. (Thanks again Canide and Lindsay!)It was super nice of them and I really appreciated it. It was so fun to see everyone again and we got some cute stuff for Jared. It was sort of like a going away party as well because quite a few of us are moving away from good old Greeley in the next few weeks. Most of the people who came have children so there was a little box that they could put helpful advice in which I am sure I will use. There is so much to learn and I am pretty sure that it will mostly just be trial and error but I definitely appreciate the tips so if you have any ones that saved your life with your kids please feel free to leave them here.

Cute little boy stuff!



27 weeks



28 weeks today!

My mom also sent me some oh so cute maternity clothes which I have had fun wearing. I seriously don't realize how pregnant I look until I see a picture of myself. I swear I look totally different in our bathroom mirror. But I am feeling pretty good and at my Doctor's appointment Monday Jared and I were given a thumbs up! Everything is going well. I also did my Glucose test a few weeks ago and the results were fine. Hooray!

Rocky Mountain High...Colorado

Can you name the artist who sings that song?

That song sort of became the theme song for our camping trip this past weekend.

The view from Grand Mesa, elevation 10,500 feet where we camped.
You can see the nice green area we were at and then out to the West it is all dry and desert like.

We drove over to Western Colorado to meet up with some friends and check out the other side of Colorado. I was amazed at the contrast we saw in the scenery. We drove up through Vail and saw beautiful pine forests and well known ski resorts and then over towards Grand Junction it turned all desert and Nevada like. I will always prefer the green pine tree mountain look to the dry sage brush mountain look. As well as the scenery I will also take the cooler temperatures. We stopped in a small town called Palisade for lunch. It was 103 degrees and I was pretty apprehensive about camping near there (because it wasn't pretty and was so so so hot!) but then we drove up the mountain to our campground and found ourselves in a 70 degree Oasis. It might have had something to do with the 5,000 foot change in elevation as well. At Palisade we went to a BBQ place for lunch but unfortunately they were out of pork and we totally wanted a pulled pork sandwich but they did have huckleberry sodas and Mark loves huckleberry anything so at least that part of lunch was a success. We also got some of the famous Palisade Peaches and I will say I was impressed. As I have mentioned in other posts, I have really missed all the California produce stands so getting some delicious peaches was a plus.

What we drove though to get to the campground



Ta-Da! Little Bear Campground



Beautiful Colorado, I loved all the purple flowers.

The water was so pretty and refreshing

Mark really likes this picture. He says it looks like he is standing in front of some fake scenery but it is the real deal. It would have been super fun to have a canoe or kayak to take on the lake. As we were driving over we saw lots of people out rafting/kayaking and it made me realize why people love Colorado so much. There is so much outdoor stuff to do. I was pretty impressed with all the cyclist we saw riding up these huge mountains too!

Just 3 more hours.
This is what I was thinking as I laid awake and uncomfortable from about 4:30 on. This night was like one long nap where I kept waking up.

So when we go camping we are not really roughing it. We have our queen size air mattress and always camp somewhere that has at least 4 walls for a bathroom. We open up our sleeping bags so we can warm each other up if someone gets cold so its not even like we are in sleeping bags and generally this arrangement works really well but now we know that when I am 27 weeks pregnant it does not work. So neither of us had a great nights sleep but the campground was super pretty and it was nice to go somewhere new. My favorite part about camping is always the campfire anways and we had that and it was perfect. We have some friends here who want to go camping in August but I am very much doubting that I could handle that.

* John Denver is the one who sings that song. We felt pretty cool listening to it as we drove through the Rocky Mountains and watched people raft down the rivers and do all the things Colorado is famous for.

Sunburns, sneezes and squito bites sounds like summer

These are some of the words I associate with summer. I could also add a lot of positive words too but since I currently have all three of the above I am going with them. I have never been a huge summer person. Most people would tend to think I was a huge fan of the summer because I chose to be a teacher and could have a nice long break well that really had nothing to do with why I chose to be a teacher. I actually think summer break is too long for kids (it puts them way behind in their school work and drops their reading levels and I think it often drives parents crazy) to be out of school and way outdated. Before kids needed to be out for the summer because they had to work on the farm not so much now but that is not the point of these thoughts.
I know this title sounds negative and I do not hate summertime, I just don't think it is all that great. When school ended in May I was nervous about what on earth we would do to stay busy because I love having things to keep me busy and going to work is great for that. But we have done a good job staying fairly busy. The library is a life saver for me I think I have read over 20 books since the end of May! I know I should really enjoy all this free independent time because soon enough it will be really hard to find. So I have been keeping that in mind and by so doing have learned that I love hanging out by the pool! This really was a revelation to me. Growing up in California one generally thinks that being poolside is a favorite past time but since my parents did not have a pool growing up I never knew how enjoyable it could be. I love going out after my morning walk and taking a book and reading for awhile then swimming some laps and reading some more while I dry off. It is so funny to me that I never realized that I could enjoy it. Unfortunately, our new apartment complex in Colorado Springs does not have a pool so I won't be able to enjoy this new found way to pass the time.
I am actually quite impressed that I haven't gotten more sunburns than I have. The mosquitoes are eating me alive but that is pretty normal anytime there are mosquitoes around. We went to a movie night in the park Friday (a summer activity that I love!) and I got tons of bites with mosquito repellent on. I never ever had allergies growing up in California, where everything grows but ever since we moved to Utah for that one fateful summer in 2005 I get summer allergies. I swear I am allergic to hot weather. Luckily Greeley has had a very mild summer so they haven't started kicking in but this week they did and I am sneezing all the time. It makes me feel so bad for people who have lots of allergies.
Whats crazy is that for us summer is almost over especially for Mark. He basically has 2 weeks of summer left. His new teacher orientation starts July 26th and continues through the 31st and then he starts teaching on August 04th. This is actually something we think we will really like about his school district. They go to school for 9 weeks and then have 2 off. They still get out the same time as other schools in the area (the end of May) but they get three 2 week long breaks throughout the year to make up for starting sooner. (October, December and March)
We have a few more fun activities planned and then its time to pack up and start the next phase of our lives. I can't wait for the end of this summer and the changes it will bring but I am definitely making the most of my free time while I can!

Estes Park Colorado

We decided to head up to Estes Park yesterday which is the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Its a lot like Jackson Hole WY if you have been out there. We have some friends who moved up there so we wanted to see them again before we move farther away and to spend a day in the mountains. We went out to eat and then took the "River Walk" around town. It was a beautiful day and so nice to be up in the mountains.

Mark on the River Walk
The water was completely freezing, pretty much snow melt off from the mountains.

We went on a short walk up to some falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. I am glad the "walk" to the falls wasn't any longer then it was. Its interesting to see what I can do and what I can't do. I am always a little nervous because I have a tendency to become lightheaded pregnant or not.

The bridge before the falls.
It is still really strange to see myself pregnant. (25 1/2 weeks) I am so used to seeing myself pre-pregnancy that when I do see myself I always think, "that's what I look like?" Its not a bad thing just weird.

It felt so cool and nice by the water.

I love being outside. Nature is so pretty we are lucky the we live just an hour and 10 minutes away from such beautiful places. When we move down to Colorado Springs we will be even closer.