Here are a couple of my pix I have documenting my growing little bundle of joy!!
Before I got preggo :)
7 weeks 2 days
14 weeks and 6 days
22 weeks 2 days
31 weeks 3 days
Friday, January 29
Thursday, January 29, 2010
Today is the first nice day in a while... nice enough for a plane to fly at least, all of the town people who were stuck over in Dutch Harbor made it home today. CB was nice enough to send me over grapes on the last plane we had (which was over a week ago), both baby and I appreciated it!! Red grapes has been one of the only things I've really been craving, mostly any kind of nice crunchy fruit. Apples are another fruit that I've munching on, I can pick up apples up at Trident.
I've taken new belly pix this past Tuesday, the 26th @ Week 31 day 3. which I will post at the end of this post! I still don't really have a big preggo belly unless I really push it out and try to make it look big, but then my little girl starts to kick and move around! I had a prenatal check-up yesterday, I am measuring in at 33CM and put on about 20lbs so far! Not too much longer before I head to Anchorage to await the arrival of our new little bundle of joy! I finally picked out and purchased a car seat and stroller... hard to pick just one with so such a selection out there!!!
I felt what I think was my first braxton hicks contraction on the 24th.. I don't really know what it supposed to feel like but it definitely didn't have the same feeling as when she kicks or moves. It's so exciting that I only have 2 months left to go, but yet the experience of having this little baby growing inside you is amazing and I'm relishing every moment because we don't really want to have too a big family or having our kids too close in age - at least that's our plan. I'm hoping that maybe when Veronika turns 2 we'll try again... but for now I'm loving the feeling of being preggo!
Well I finally got my female chihuahua Cali registered, took forever to get the paperwork in the mail from the breeder. She is now officially named "Dreaming of California Sunshine". And I am so thankful that she's finally getting off her first heat. Roscoe and Dante have been little pains in the butt while we've been trying to keep them separated from her. I've never heard them bark so loud before or cry/whine so much. It started to worry me because Roscoe stopped eating for like 3 days and didn't want to do anything but be as close to her as possible. Of course we didn't let them mate with her, I'm waiting for her second heat before thinking about that :) I'm still excited about getting a puppy out of her from one of my little boys one day! At least I know they will be able to come with their registration papers if the new owner wants them! All my dogs are registered and micro chipped!
Oh speaking of dogs, the Westminster Dog show will be on the USA Ch on Feb 15 & 16 @ 8/7central!! You know for sure I'll be watching that, even if I have to go someone else place to watch it. Did I forget to mention that the City cable TV is out down to the East end of Akutan (where I live).... I don't even know what's on TV or what's going on in the news (I don't really have time to look it all up online).... so hopefully they get whatever fixed and get it going again here soon!! The Miss America Pageant is on tomorrow on TCL too, I'm not going to miss that either!!
The weather has been pretty normal for winter time. Cold and blowing snow for a week then we get a clear day and the planes fly, then another week or so of cold wind and snow. We don't really have too much snow on the ground, but it's a couple inches at least!! A couple days the temps got down to 19F without the wind chill!! That felt sooo cold for here! We had a medivac the other day, we had one of those huge Coast Guard choppers come in and airlift an employee from Trident because of heart problems. I feel so thankful to live in a country where we have people like the Coast Guard who can come in and help us out like that when it's needed! Especially when the weather isn't decent enough for the plane to make it in!
Well I hope that this first month of the new year has treated everyone great and I hope all of you that did make New Year's resolutions kept to your promise to yourselves! Until sometime, TTFN!!
OMG, So I just noticed I never posted any belly pix.. I will make a post of the pix that we did take showing my growing lil bundle of joy :) But here are the 2 I took on Tuesday...
I've taken new belly pix this past Tuesday, the 26th @ Week 31 day 3. which I will post at the end of this post! I still don't really have a big preggo belly unless I really push it out and try to make it look big, but then my little girl starts to kick and move around! I had a prenatal check-up yesterday, I am measuring in at 33CM and put on about 20lbs so far! Not too much longer before I head to Anchorage to await the arrival of our new little bundle of joy! I finally picked out and purchased a car seat and stroller... hard to pick just one with so such a selection out there!!!
I felt what I think was my first braxton hicks contraction on the 24th.. I don't really know what it supposed to feel like but it definitely didn't have the same feeling as when she kicks or moves. It's so exciting that I only have 2 months left to go, but yet the experience of having this little baby growing inside you is amazing and I'm relishing every moment because we don't really want to have too a big family or having our kids too close in age - at least that's our plan. I'm hoping that maybe when Veronika turns 2 we'll try again... but for now I'm loving the feeling of being preggo!
Well I finally got my female chihuahua Cali registered, took forever to get the paperwork in the mail from the breeder. She is now officially named "Dreaming of California Sunshine". And I am so thankful that she's finally getting off her first heat. Roscoe and Dante have been little pains in the butt while we've been trying to keep them separated from her. I've never heard them bark so loud before or cry/whine so much. It started to worry me because Roscoe stopped eating for like 3 days and didn't want to do anything but be as close to her as possible. Of course we didn't let them mate with her, I'm waiting for her second heat before thinking about that :) I'm still excited about getting a puppy out of her from one of my little boys one day! At least I know they will be able to come with their registration papers if the new owner wants them! All my dogs are registered and micro chipped!
Oh speaking of dogs, the Westminster Dog show will be on the USA Ch on Feb 15 & 16 @ 8/7central!! You know for sure I'll be watching that, even if I have to go someone else place to watch it. Did I forget to mention that the City cable TV is out down to the East end of Akutan (where I live).... I don't even know what's on TV or what's going on in the news (I don't really have time to look it all up online).... so hopefully they get whatever fixed and get it going again here soon!! The Miss America Pageant is on tomorrow on TCL too, I'm not going to miss that either!!
The weather has been pretty normal for winter time. Cold and blowing snow for a week then we get a clear day and the planes fly, then another week or so of cold wind and snow. We don't really have too much snow on the ground, but it's a couple inches at least!! A couple days the temps got down to 19F without the wind chill!! That felt sooo cold for here! We had a medivac the other day, we had one of those huge Coast Guard choppers come in and airlift an employee from Trident because of heart problems. I feel so thankful to live in a country where we have people like the Coast Guard who can come in and help us out like that when it's needed! Especially when the weather isn't decent enough for the plane to make it in!
Well I hope that this first month of the new year has treated everyone great and I hope all of you that did make New Year's resolutions kept to your promise to yourselves! Until sometime, TTFN!!
OMG, So I just noticed I never posted any belly pix.. I will make a post of the pix that we did take showing my growing lil bundle of joy :) But here are the 2 I took on Tuesday...
Belly Pix!! 31 weeks 3 days!
Standing normal :)
Pushing her out as much as I can!! LOL,
she kept kicking and I was laughing the whole time
she kept kicking and I was laughing the whole time
Thursday, January 21
Save the Bunnies on Tangik and Poe!!
Hey Everyone!! I am trying to spread the word so people can contact the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and let them know that we don't want evasive action taken against the rabbits on Tangik and Poe islands, they want to ERADICATE all the bunnies off both islands... I am totally against the eradication of the bunnies and would like for anyone else who cares to contact the AMNWR and let them know we don't want any action taken against the bunnies who call those 2 little islands (which are practically rocks with some land on them) they call home.
Tangik and Poe island are about a 20-25 skiff ride from the village of Akutan. We go there in the summertime's to catch bunnies and bring them back for "pets". They do no harm to the 2 little rocks they call home, we DO NOT want them ERADICATED!! Please write to the people below and protest the Eradication of the Rabbits from Tangik and Poe islands!!! We dont' want our bunnies killed off!!! They aren't doing any harm to anyone or anything on those 2 little islands!!! Please help us keep our rabbits!! Thank you for your help!! We have until the 10th of Feb to comment on this situation!!
Here is a copy of a letter I recieved. Here click HERE to go to the AMNWR web site.
Dear Reader:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is seeking public comments on the Environmental Assessment of Invasive Species Eradication for Habitat Restoration on Tangik, Poa, and Sud Islands . This Assessment analyzes the consequences of two alternatives, a no action alternative and the proposed action of eradicating introduced European rabbits from Tangik and Poa Islands and introduced hoary marmots from Sud Island to allow the native ecosystems to recover. Introduced hoary marmots and European rabbits compete with native burrow-nesting seabirds for burrows, disturb seabirds during egg laying and incubation causing nest abandonment, and alter native plant communities. The proposed project would restore ecosystems for the benefit of native seabirds and vegetation. Uninhabited Tangik and Poa are in the eastern Aleutian Island chain about 12 miles from Akutan and 750 miles west of Anchorage . Sud is in the Barren Islands 60 miles south of Homer.
The Environmental Assessment and other informational materials can be viewed or downloaded at http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov/rabbits.htm
If you need a paper copy of the Assessment or have trouble opening it, contact us at the e-mail below or call us at (907) 235-6546. Written comments will be accepted on the Environmental Assessment through February 10, 2010, and can be submitted by e-mail to alaskamaritime@fws.gov or by fax to (907) 235-7783 or by mail to Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, 95 Sterling Hwy., Suite 1 , Homer, AK 99603.
If you have any questions, please contact me at alaskamaritime@fws.gov or 907-235-6546. Thank you for your interest in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
Steven J. Delehanty
Refuge ManagerAlaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
95 Sterling Hwy., Suite 1
Homer, AK 99603
Phone: (907) 235-6546; FAX: (907) 235-7783
steve_delehanty@fws.gov
http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Conserving Alaska 's wildlife and wild lands since 1909
Tangik and Poe island are about a 20-25 skiff ride from the village of Akutan. We go there in the summertime's to catch bunnies and bring them back for "pets". They do no harm to the 2 little rocks they call home, we DO NOT want them ERADICATED!! Please write to the people below and protest the Eradication of the Rabbits from Tangik and Poe islands!!! We dont' want our bunnies killed off!!! They aren't doing any harm to anyone or anything on those 2 little islands!!! Please help us keep our rabbits!! Thank you for your help!! We have until the 10th of Feb to comment on this situation!!
Here is a copy of a letter I recieved. Here click HERE to go to the AMNWR web site.
Dear Reader:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is seeking public comments on the Environmental Assessment of Invasive Species Eradication for Habitat Restoration on Tangik, Poa, and Sud Islands . This Assessment analyzes the consequences of two alternatives, a no action alternative and the proposed action of eradicating introduced European rabbits from Tangik and Poa Islands and introduced hoary marmots from Sud Island to allow the native ecosystems to recover. Introduced hoary marmots and European rabbits compete with native burrow-nesting seabirds for burrows, disturb seabirds during egg laying and incubation causing nest abandonment, and alter native plant communities. The proposed project would restore ecosystems for the benefit of native seabirds and vegetation. Uninhabited Tangik and Poa are in the eastern Aleutian Island chain about 12 miles from Akutan and 750 miles west of Anchorage . Sud is in the Barren Islands 60 miles south of Homer.
The Environmental Assessment and other informational materials can be viewed or downloaded at http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov/rabbits.htm
If you need a paper copy of the Assessment or have trouble opening it, contact us at the e-mail below or call us at (907) 235-6546. Written comments will be accepted on the Environmental Assessment through February 10, 2010, and can be submitted by e-mail to alaskamaritime@fws.gov or by fax to (907) 235-7783 or by mail to Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, 95 Sterling Hwy., Suite 1 , Homer, AK 99603.
If you have any questions, please contact me at alaskamaritime@fws.gov or 907-235-6546. Thank you for your interest in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
Steven J. Delehanty
Refuge ManagerAlaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
95 Sterling Hwy., Suite 1
Homer, AK 99603
Phone: (907) 235-6546; FAX: (907) 235-7783
steve_delehanty@fws.gov
http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Conserving Alaska 's wildlife and wild lands since 1909
Thursday, January 14
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Happy New Year Everyone!! Well according to the Julian calendar, today is New Years, which we here in Akutan Celebrate as Russian New Years! Last night we had church (which I wasn't able to attend because I wasn't feeling great, but my hubby went!). At midnight my hubby, brother-in-law and father-in-law were blasting shells from their shotguns, ringing in the new year!!
From the 7-9th we celebrated Russian Christmas - a celebration that includes taking a star (made of wood, glass and decorations) from house to house singing Russian Christmas Carols. After singing most houses provide food or snacks. I served halibut fish pie (which is just pie dough filled in layers starting with rice, boiled eggs, onions, fish, onions, boiled eggs, more rice and covered with a layer of pie dough and baked for 1.5 hrs) with angel food cake for dessert. There was alot of great food served up in those 3 days!!! Thanks to everyone who cooked and fed us and thanks to everyone who shared their voices singing!!
Veronika has been growing and her punches and kicks are getting stronger and stronger everyday!! It's such a blessing to know that she's growing inside me and to feel her move! The whole process of how we grow from an egg and sperm to a newborn baby facinates me! I can't believe how much they change and grow in 9 months!! Then how time goes by fast and next thing we know we're at graduation or their wedding!!! I've been getting some gifts from people, thanks alot! I don't really have a registry and not sure about a baby shower... I'm not setting up my own shower that's for sure!! :P But I do have a baby registry that I started @ JCPenny.com. We're going to order the crib, changer and the rest of the nursery furniture from JCP here hopefully before we leave to Anchorage to give birth!! Only thing I've been missing/craving is red grapes... I asked my in-laws to see if they can have the pilots get some and bring them over for me... so hopefully whenever we get nice enough weather for a plane I should be getting some!!! hopefully....
Speaking of the weather, it has been goofy latey.... warm then cold then warm.. but we have no snow - well today there is a little trying to fall but I doubt it will stick. It's been raining lately with temps in the 40's. Just yesterday and today the temps finally fell to freezing with a little bit of wind (which always makes it feel colder out). I'm still wishing for snow... like we used to have back when I was a teen!! I miss those days when we had 4-5 feet of snow on the ground and more falling down upon us... oh well....
Ok well I hope everyone is doing great!! Take care and Happy New Year!! Until sometime in the future, TTFN!!
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that yesterday the Bayview Cafe re-opened!! Welcome home Lisa and Duy!!! Missed you guys and your cooking!! :D Yay, French Dips!!! :D
From the 7-9th we celebrated Russian Christmas - a celebration that includes taking a star (made of wood, glass and decorations) from house to house singing Russian Christmas Carols. After singing most houses provide food or snacks. I served halibut fish pie (which is just pie dough filled in layers starting with rice, boiled eggs, onions, fish, onions, boiled eggs, more rice and covered with a layer of pie dough and baked for 1.5 hrs) with angel food cake for dessert. There was alot of great food served up in those 3 days!!! Thanks to everyone who cooked and fed us and thanks to everyone who shared their voices singing!!
Veronika has been growing and her punches and kicks are getting stronger and stronger everyday!! It's such a blessing to know that she's growing inside me and to feel her move! The whole process of how we grow from an egg and sperm to a newborn baby facinates me! I can't believe how much they change and grow in 9 months!! Then how time goes by fast and next thing we know we're at graduation or their wedding!!! I've been getting some gifts from people, thanks alot! I don't really have a registry and not sure about a baby shower... I'm not setting up my own shower that's for sure!! :P But I do have a baby registry that I started @ JCPenny.com. We're going to order the crib, changer and the rest of the nursery furniture from JCP here hopefully before we leave to Anchorage to give birth!! Only thing I've been missing/craving is red grapes... I asked my in-laws to see if they can have the pilots get some and bring them over for me... so hopefully whenever we get nice enough weather for a plane I should be getting some!!! hopefully....
Speaking of the weather, it has been goofy latey.... warm then cold then warm.. but we have no snow - well today there is a little trying to fall but I doubt it will stick. It's been raining lately with temps in the 40's. Just yesterday and today the temps finally fell to freezing with a little bit of wind (which always makes it feel colder out). I'm still wishing for snow... like we used to have back when I was a teen!! I miss those days when we had 4-5 feet of snow on the ground and more falling down upon us... oh well....
Ok well I hope everyone is doing great!! Take care and Happy New Year!! Until sometime in the future, TTFN!!
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that yesterday the Bayview Cafe re-opened!! Welcome home Lisa and Duy!!! Missed you guys and your cooking!! :D Yay, French Dips!!! :D
Tuesday, January 5
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Wow I didn't realize that it's been over a month since I've last checked in....
Well we went on vacation in December - we spent about 25 days off the "Rock". I missed my pups so much, it was hard to get on the plane and leave them behind with my brother Tommy... But I knew they would be ok and I was off to enjoy ourselves one last time before our baby is born!
We ended up leaving on the 2nd of Dec - 4 days before we were scheduled to leave. We weren't able to get on stand-by on any of the flights and the one they did get us on ended up having a mechanical and we were still stuck in fabulous Dutch Harbor! A huge storm hit us while we were stuck - winds in excess of 100 MPH causing some damage around the island - for example the huge Gantry crane that loads the huge containers ships over at APL succombed to the wind and ended up crashing to the ground. A mess they are still getting cleaned up. Finally Mother Nature gave us a one day opening where we were able to get on a flight to Anchorage (all on the scheduled day we were supposed to leave!). After spending the night in Anchorage we happily boarded our flight to SoCal!
Lots of walking, sight-seeing, driving around and soaking in what sun we could (it rained a lot when we were down there). We went to all the usual theme parks: Disneyland, Disneyland's California Adventure, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios and 6 Flags Magic Mountain. I had fun on what rides I was able to get on!! My lucky hubby getting to go on all of them, I made him get on a couple twice (Once for himself and once for me!!). I'm going to miss driving around in Beverly Hills and Hollywood - so many expensive cars to be found on the roads in those parts of town! OH, and we got to go spend a little over 4 hours at the L.A. Auto show!! That was so cool getting to sit in all those cars and check them out!! Not to mention see some of the concept cars that might never be put into production, but hey I got to see them!!! I got to sit in a couple of the last of the VW Bugs for sale this year - sat in the droptop version and the hard top version. I liked the droptop!! But the main vehicle I see working great here in Akutan that I really really really want to get is the Smart Car!! OMG those are so cute!! I like the convertible version, gives the feeling of more head space! But hopefully I'll be driving one of those here soon, hell with an ATV... I'ma get me a SmartCar!! :D
After 10 days hanging out in LA, we made our way over to Vegas for the wedding we came down for. My hubby ended up being asked to be a groomsman - he couldn't be any more excited about the wedding after getting asked to be a part of it!! We went and got him fitted at the Tux rental place - 1st time getting fitted or wearing a tux!! He looked so good in it too!! Before heading to Vegas I found the perfect black dress for me to wear, now to just find some cute heels to go with it, yay that means shoe shopping in Vegas!! :D The wedding was a blast, the whole time in Vegas was a blast!! Except for that one time that I went to get the drinks and I didn't get handed back my ID and I didn't notice until the next day when I needed it again. Talk about a panic attack wondering where I used it last and where my ID could be!! Luckiy security at the hotel where everyone was staying had it and I just had to pick it up! See we ended up having wedding rehersals (which everyone was late too.... sorry Sandra).. then after rehersal we all met up at the bride and groom's suite for dinner and drinks... Vegas is awesome and always will be - but me feet hate it there!! Doesn't help that I spent 10 days walking around in LA before walking around in Vegas for 3 more days!! You don't even want to know about the blisters that I got from all that walking... I got blisters on the tips of my toes... WTF? How do I get blisters there?!?!?! Well I know a couple are from the new super cute shoes I bought to go with the dress I got back in LA, what can I say they were super cute... but my feet definately were paying for it later that night and for the next couple days!! It was so much fun spending time with my fellow Akutan residents and showing some of them around Vegas (this was our 3rd time in SinCity). We even drove 30 mins to the Hoover Dam, giggling about crossing not only state lines but time zones! My first time in Arizona and my first time in the Mountain time Zone!! LOL!!!
After the wedding wrapped up we stole my hubby's cousin and drove back to LA for a couple more days of fun in the sun before returning to Alaska. I know we crammed a lot into Darren's head trying to show him as much as we could and get him on as many rides as we could in the 48 hr period that we were in SoCal for! We took him to both Disneyland parks the first day - I don't think I've ever seen that many people in the park any of the times I've ever been there before. I definately don't recommend going during xmas break... OMG there were soo many people!! The next day we drove up to 6 Flags and the guys got on almost every ride in the park in the 7 hrs that we spend there. Then we got to show Darren what real "rush hour" traffic is... 2 hours worth of it to get back to our hotel from the park, bumper to bumper!! The last day we were there we drove to the Hollywood sign, then went to Muhulland Dr to view the city, went to the La Brea Tar pits and Santa Monica Pier. Walked Hollywood Blvd, went to Manns Chinese Theater and Maddame Tussades Hollywood, drove by LA Ink and Pinks Hot Dog Stand, drove up and down Rodeo Dr - all before rushing back to the airport to get checked in for our flight back to AK. We did a lot our last day, not to mention find a post office and get the box of crap that didn't fit in our suitcases mailed back home!! At least the line was short, I was expecting a long long line! Traveling was a pain in the butt... for some reason we got bumped from our original flight and put on the next flight that left about an hour later. Which ticked me off, but what can you do? I'm not going to start fighting and arguing or I might not be able to fly at all.... LOL....
We spent Christmas in Anchorage with my younger sis Ivy and my sweet Cupcake (my neice Aaliyah)... we cooked up a huge spiral ham dinner for the 4 of us... I missed being in a kitchen and cooking!! For a gift to my sister we scrubbed her house down and got it nice and super clean for her!! My hubby did most of the cleaning, I mostly did dishes and vacuum :P I love being able to spend time with my sisters and their babies when ever I can, and being able to spend xmas with my little sis (since who knows when...) is something I'll always cherish! We ended up getting some pretty pink paint for the nursery and shipping it home thru PenAir Cargo the day we were flying to Dutch. We spent the night like we planned and caught the first flight to Akutan in the AM.
All in all our trip was awesome and I'd love to do it all over again... except for the aching feet part and all the rain we endured... I even had to buy an umbrella when we were down there, something I thought I'd never do in The Land of Sun!! But I guess it is their winter and I've never been down there in December... so not like I knew what to expect from the weather other than sunshine!! Only thing that got to me bad was some how losing all our pix off my computer... at least I uploaded most of them online and I was able to get them back (all except a handful that I didn't post). I swear when we flew back from Anchorage to Akutan that my suitcases were full of nothing but stuff for my spoiled pups!! I even brought Tug home a 40lb bag of dog food in one of my suitcases (I didn't trust mailing it, don't know when we'll get it... but I know my bags will make it with me!!), not to mention we picked up all our pups a doggy stocking filled with assorted dog toys then to pick up all the usual chew stuff they like to enjoy - milkbones and rawhide sticks. Spoiled pups, they were so happy to see us come home... I don't know who was more excited - them or me!!! You don't know how good it felt to sleep in my own bed and wake up to my loving pups!!
So I've been home for about 9 days now, the weather is in the 40's - which feels a lot warmer than the teens-20's they were having in Anchorage... but much much cooler than the 70's I was enjoying in California!! For a week after we got home the weather stayed pretty nice, letting us get our 2 flights a day in (or more if there are cannery workers waiting to fly over, that time of the year again... they call it "A" Season). The last day or two we've been getting a little bit of rain and fog with a little bit of wind - bad enough for the plane not to fly that's for sure. New Year's was fun, spending it cuddled on the couch with my hubby and pups watching all the New years coverage on TV, getting up every hour on the hour mark to shoot a couple shells out of the 12ga shot gun.
Work has been great since I've been back, getting back into the routine again... I missed my usual routine!!
I'm already 28 weeks preggo. Baby kicks hard now, then sleeps and wakes up to kick me some more!! LOL... I can't believe I have 12 weeks left to go or so!!! Baby is growing good, I'm still not as big as I expected to be, but that's ok I guess! I've put on about 18lbs or so already though!! I can't wait to hold her in my arms and stare into her eyes and wonder what she thinks of the world!! Her daddy is painting her room pink today!! Should be done with it by the time I get home!! Yay!! Sexy Pink is the name of the color... nice bright pink!! :D We'll paint our bathroom if we have enough left over paint! :D
Ok well I hope everyone is having a great 2010 so far!! Much luv to you all!! Take care of yourselves and keep in touch, as I will try to do so more myself!! Until sometime, TTFN
Well we went on vacation in December - we spent about 25 days off the "Rock". I missed my pups so much, it was hard to get on the plane and leave them behind with my brother Tommy... But I knew they would be ok and I was off to enjoy ourselves one last time before our baby is born!
We ended up leaving on the 2nd of Dec - 4 days before we were scheduled to leave. We weren't able to get on stand-by on any of the flights and the one they did get us on ended up having a mechanical and we were still stuck in fabulous Dutch Harbor! A huge storm hit us while we were stuck - winds in excess of 100 MPH causing some damage around the island - for example the huge Gantry crane that loads the huge containers ships over at APL succombed to the wind and ended up crashing to the ground. A mess they are still getting cleaned up. Finally Mother Nature gave us a one day opening where we were able to get on a flight to Anchorage (all on the scheduled day we were supposed to leave!). After spending the night in Anchorage we happily boarded our flight to SoCal!
Lots of walking, sight-seeing, driving around and soaking in what sun we could (it rained a lot when we were down there). We went to all the usual theme parks: Disneyland, Disneyland's California Adventure, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios and 6 Flags Magic Mountain. I had fun on what rides I was able to get on!! My lucky hubby getting to go on all of them, I made him get on a couple twice (Once for himself and once for me!!). I'm going to miss driving around in Beverly Hills and Hollywood - so many expensive cars to be found on the roads in those parts of town! OH, and we got to go spend a little over 4 hours at the L.A. Auto show!! That was so cool getting to sit in all those cars and check them out!! Not to mention see some of the concept cars that might never be put into production, but hey I got to see them!!! I got to sit in a couple of the last of the VW Bugs for sale this year - sat in the droptop version and the hard top version. I liked the droptop!! But the main vehicle I see working great here in Akutan that I really really really want to get is the Smart Car!! OMG those are so cute!! I like the convertible version, gives the feeling of more head space! But hopefully I'll be driving one of those here soon, hell with an ATV... I'ma get me a SmartCar!! :D
After 10 days hanging out in LA, we made our way over to Vegas for the wedding we came down for. My hubby ended up being asked to be a groomsman - he couldn't be any more excited about the wedding after getting asked to be a part of it!! We went and got him fitted at the Tux rental place - 1st time getting fitted or wearing a tux!! He looked so good in it too!! Before heading to Vegas I found the perfect black dress for me to wear, now to just find some cute heels to go with it, yay that means shoe shopping in Vegas!! :D The wedding was a blast, the whole time in Vegas was a blast!! Except for that one time that I went to get the drinks and I didn't get handed back my ID and I didn't notice until the next day when I needed it again. Talk about a panic attack wondering where I used it last and where my ID could be!! Luckiy security at the hotel where everyone was staying had it and I just had to pick it up! See we ended up having wedding rehersals (which everyone was late too.... sorry Sandra).. then after rehersal we all met up at the bride and groom's suite for dinner and drinks... Vegas is awesome and always will be - but me feet hate it there!! Doesn't help that I spent 10 days walking around in LA before walking around in Vegas for 3 more days!! You don't even want to know about the blisters that I got from all that walking... I got blisters on the tips of my toes... WTF? How do I get blisters there?!?!?! Well I know a couple are from the new super cute shoes I bought to go with the dress I got back in LA, what can I say they were super cute... but my feet definately were paying for it later that night and for the next couple days!! It was so much fun spending time with my fellow Akutan residents and showing some of them around Vegas (this was our 3rd time in SinCity). We even drove 30 mins to the Hoover Dam, giggling about crossing not only state lines but time zones! My first time in Arizona and my first time in the Mountain time Zone!! LOL!!!
After the wedding wrapped up we stole my hubby's cousin and drove back to LA for a couple more days of fun in the sun before returning to Alaska. I know we crammed a lot into Darren's head trying to show him as much as we could and get him on as many rides as we could in the 48 hr period that we were in SoCal for! We took him to both Disneyland parks the first day - I don't think I've ever seen that many people in the park any of the times I've ever been there before. I definately don't recommend going during xmas break... OMG there were soo many people!! The next day we drove up to 6 Flags and the guys got on almost every ride in the park in the 7 hrs that we spend there. Then we got to show Darren what real "rush hour" traffic is... 2 hours worth of it to get back to our hotel from the park, bumper to bumper!! The last day we were there we drove to the Hollywood sign, then went to Muhulland Dr to view the city, went to the La Brea Tar pits and Santa Monica Pier. Walked Hollywood Blvd, went to Manns Chinese Theater and Maddame Tussades Hollywood, drove by LA Ink and Pinks Hot Dog Stand, drove up and down Rodeo Dr - all before rushing back to the airport to get checked in for our flight back to AK. We did a lot our last day, not to mention find a post office and get the box of crap that didn't fit in our suitcases mailed back home!! At least the line was short, I was expecting a long long line! Traveling was a pain in the butt... for some reason we got bumped from our original flight and put on the next flight that left about an hour later. Which ticked me off, but what can you do? I'm not going to start fighting and arguing or I might not be able to fly at all.... LOL....
We spent Christmas in Anchorage with my younger sis Ivy and my sweet Cupcake (my neice Aaliyah)... we cooked up a huge spiral ham dinner for the 4 of us... I missed being in a kitchen and cooking!! For a gift to my sister we scrubbed her house down and got it nice and super clean for her!! My hubby did most of the cleaning, I mostly did dishes and vacuum :P I love being able to spend time with my sisters and their babies when ever I can, and being able to spend xmas with my little sis (since who knows when...) is something I'll always cherish! We ended up getting some pretty pink paint for the nursery and shipping it home thru PenAir Cargo the day we were flying to Dutch. We spent the night like we planned and caught the first flight to Akutan in the AM.
All in all our trip was awesome and I'd love to do it all over again... except for the aching feet part and all the rain we endured... I even had to buy an umbrella when we were down there, something I thought I'd never do in The Land of Sun!! But I guess it is their winter and I've never been down there in December... so not like I knew what to expect from the weather other than sunshine!! Only thing that got to me bad was some how losing all our pix off my computer... at least I uploaded most of them online and I was able to get them back (all except a handful that I didn't post). I swear when we flew back from Anchorage to Akutan that my suitcases were full of nothing but stuff for my spoiled pups!! I even brought Tug home a 40lb bag of dog food in one of my suitcases (I didn't trust mailing it, don't know when we'll get it... but I know my bags will make it with me!!), not to mention we picked up all our pups a doggy stocking filled with assorted dog toys then to pick up all the usual chew stuff they like to enjoy - milkbones and rawhide sticks. Spoiled pups, they were so happy to see us come home... I don't know who was more excited - them or me!!! You don't know how good it felt to sleep in my own bed and wake up to my loving pups!!
So I've been home for about 9 days now, the weather is in the 40's - which feels a lot warmer than the teens-20's they were having in Anchorage... but much much cooler than the 70's I was enjoying in California!! For a week after we got home the weather stayed pretty nice, letting us get our 2 flights a day in (or more if there are cannery workers waiting to fly over, that time of the year again... they call it "A" Season). The last day or two we've been getting a little bit of rain and fog with a little bit of wind - bad enough for the plane not to fly that's for sure. New Year's was fun, spending it cuddled on the couch with my hubby and pups watching all the New years coverage on TV, getting up every hour on the hour mark to shoot a couple shells out of the 12ga shot gun.
Work has been great since I've been back, getting back into the routine again... I missed my usual routine!!
I'm already 28 weeks preggo. Baby kicks hard now, then sleeps and wakes up to kick me some more!! LOL... I can't believe I have 12 weeks left to go or so!!! Baby is growing good, I'm still not as big as I expected to be, but that's ok I guess! I've put on about 18lbs or so already though!! I can't wait to hold her in my arms and stare into her eyes and wonder what she thinks of the world!! Her daddy is painting her room pink today!! Should be done with it by the time I get home!! Yay!! Sexy Pink is the name of the color... nice bright pink!! :D We'll paint our bathroom if we have enough left over paint! :D
Ok well I hope everyone is having a great 2010 so far!! Much luv to you all!! Take care of yourselves and keep in touch, as I will try to do so more myself!! Until sometime, TTFN
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