Sunday, November 27, 2011

Loving Utah

Michael and I have spent the past week in Utah-hence the neglect on the blog.

Don't worry I'll be posting pics of our wonderful week soon!

It was great to see many of you and hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Hugs-
Jodi, Michael, and Baby

Monday, November 14, 2011

A short update with some GREAT pics!-check it out

This last week was crazy for Michael, and this week will be even more crazy in anticipation for Thanksgiving break.  Last week he was at school everyday from about 8:30am-9:30pm working hard on projects, attending seminars, meeting company representatives, etc.  This week he has to complete half a dozen large, difficult projects that are due before the break so he is feeling a little overwhelmed.  Hopefully after he turns in the projects however, it will allow him a little breathing room during the break.  After Thanksgiving there are 2 more weeks of classes, then finals!!  Not to mention he is supposed to be finalizing resumes and cover letters for several different companies in the next couple of weeks in anticipation for the summer internship.  He is busy, busy, busy and will be relieved when the semester is over.  However, then the little one will arrive and we will experience a different and new kind of busy!

As for our recent adventures, this weekend was pretty low key as a result of Michael's rigorous schedule.  We went on a date Friday night and hung out with some other couples from church .  Saturday morning Michael played soccer to release a little energy before studying most of the day.  In the evening we stopped by a party hosted by some friends, then invited our neighbors over for dinner .  There was a photographer at the party that took a few great pics of Michael and I .  The theme was: Awkward Family Photos...So we dressed up in matching denim on denim outfits.

I tried my best to make my bangs poofy, but this was the best I could do


Sunday was pretty uneventful.  The highlight: we made a divine dinner-spiced butternut squash pasta with browned garlic shrimp--mmmmmmmm!  We went for a drive around sun down and happened to catch a great sunset on film.

At the peak of the sunset

The colors were absolutely radiant

Seriously--no photoshop involved--the colors were amazing

In the fleeting light of the sunset

34/40 weeks along! (as of 11.13.11)

34 weeks along

I had a great day today (Monday).  I went for a bike ride this morning, then rushed off to a religion discussion class.  Following the class my friend, Michele and I went for a hike and explored West Rock Ridge State Park.  Take a look at our pics!


From my bike ride this morning-a top East Rock Park---I'm glad to know I can still make the hill climb on my bike

The rest of the pictures are from our adventurous hike around West Rock Ridge State Park:

Real swans! I had never seen them in person before!





My pal Michele is due on December 9th, just a few weeks before me!

We decided to take pregnancy glamour shots



Then we tried to do yoga poses, which were not so glamorous!

At least my tongue isn't sticking out in this attempt!

We settled on a peaceful meditation pose instead

Well, that's it for today's random ramblings.  I hope you enjoyed some of the pictures!

Hugs and Kisses-Jodi and Michael

Thursday, November 10, 2011

A fun filled week

I'm slow getting to the ol' blog this week because I have been waiting for some friends to email me some pics from the weekend.  I've received some, and I've given up on the others!

Last weekend was pretty laid back.  Friday we watched the women's volleyball team play Penn State.  The competition was stiff, but the lady Bulldogs pulled out the win (that's Yale by the way!).  We also went to dinner and found that very enjoyable.  We bumped into some missionaries on the street that tried to convince us that the Book of Mormon was a good read. (They recognized us from church :) )


Saturday we went to the Yale vs. Brown Football game.  We had a little car trouble and arrived late to find the Bulldogs were already behind.  They had some epic plays that kept us wondering if they were capable of the comeback (being down by as much as 20 points in the 3rd quarter).  Lucky chances kept presenting themselves like: Brown fumbling a kick on the 5 yard line; but we only got a field goal out of it.  Yale ended up losing by 7.  We are excited for the Yale vs Harvard game on the 19th.  It's kind of like BYU vs. Utah as far as rivals go.  Hopefully this game will have a better ending than the BYU/Utah game earlier this fall.

Sunday we were invited over for a dinner hosted by some friends i.e. other parents in the School of Management.  This dinner only included people in Michael's class of 2013, not the class of 2012.  There were 3 couples that hosted the dinner.  Michael and I, along with one other guy (named Jim) were invited as soon-to-be parents.  Jim's wife is due on December 20th, but is still living in Hong Kong so she can have the baby there since that's where they are from.  His plan is to fly home right after finals on Dec. 15th with the hope that she won't deliver early!  Then he will come back to CT for the Spring semester, with the goal of getting his summer internship in Hong Kong.  The plan is for his wife to move to CT next fall after the internship.  Crazy!!  I can't imagine not being on the same continent as Michael right now.  I am so grateful that Michael has gotten to see and feel the baby kick and move and be a part of the pregnancy.  And I would be so upset if he missed the birth of our first child!  Not to mention how hard it would be to raise the baby for the first 5 months alone!  I hope everything works out for them--he is a really nice guy and I look forward to meeting Winnie. 

Anyways, the dinner was awesome.  I felt grateful to be surrounded by such nice people with such diverse backgrounds!!  Let me tell you a little about the other couples:

The dinner was hosted in the home of Alejandra and Danish Shafi.  She is from Columbia and he is from Pakistan.  They each speak 3 languages.  Their little boy, Mikaal is about 9 months old.

Trevor and Audra Grange were also there.  I have mentioned them (maybe just her) a few times because they are a couple from Utah that live just down the street from us, so I have become good friends with her.  Their son, Andrew is 13 months old.

The third couple is from Indonesia and their names are Hans and Julia.  They also speak 3 languages a piece.  Their little girl, Bonica is 8 months old.

As for Jim and his wife Winnie: they are from Hong Kong and I believe they each speak 3 languages.  They are expecting a baby boy.

Needless to say, I felt grateful to spend such a delightful evening around such educated people!! I need to get on the ball and learn another language!  I don't even have 2 under my belt!  It was so nice of Alejandra to put the dinner together.  They even gave us a cute little Yale Bulldogs bib-it was so thoughtful!

 Me and the other gals: (L-R) Audra, Alejandra, and Julia
On Tuesday the weather was so nice, I convinced Audra Grange (and Andrew) to go to Lighthouse Point Park with me.  As the name suggests, it is at the beach!  We had such a fun time playing in the sand under the warm sun.  I chased the seagulls with Andrew and helped him play in the water, but only a little because the water was SO cold!

The weather was predicted to reach 68---I'm not sure if it actually got that high, but it still felt nice and sunny!!!
Here are some pics:

Touching the frigid water


This boy loves to dig in the sand!

With all that blonde hair, you'd think he was mine!

"Oooo" he says in amazement

This is Andrew's usual face when the camera comes out.  I can NEVER get a picture of him smiling and I've tried several different venues including : his 1 year birthday party, playing at different parks, including playing on the swings, playing in the dirt, on a hike, etc.  I think he senses the camera and is determined not to smile for me.

...But I finally caught him off guard.  I was so proud of myself.

Not bad for 7 1/2 months pregnant!



Well, we are almost to another weekend!  Time is flying by.  We will be visiting Utah before we know it!  We look forward to seeing family and friends.

XOXO