You know you're from Idaho when...

Pregnancy is the most bizarre thing I will probably ever experience in my whole life. Now that we are out of the first trimester (15 weeks today!), I actually am feeling pretty normal. Sometimes I actually even forget that I'm pregnant! Then this little pooch that hangs over my pants reminds me, but anyway. The first trimester was weird because I just felt like the laziest person in all of America. I was too tired to do literally anything, so I just came to work, then went home and immediately changed into sweats, then spent the rest of the night watching tv until it was time for bed. Brandon did so much cleaning and cooking, and I felt so bad! Besides growing a tiny human inside of me (which is still weird to think about), I hardly did anything at all. SO glad the fatigue is gone!!

The actual weirdest thing to me though has been the food cravings. I didn't have cravings very often-that ice cream and pickle juice phase is still to come-but when I did have a craving it was all I could focus on. It was so frustrating, because I usually am very good about what I eat and having control of my appetite and all that, but with cravings, all self control was gone. I wanted something and I needed it right then. The worst one I remember was for Jamba Juice at eight thirty at night on a Sunday. Of course they close at eight on a Sunday, and of course I was already in bed, but still. I wanted a smoothie!!

Anyway, the prominent craving for about the past month or so has been tater tots or hashbrowns. It's all I want to eat. When we were at my parents' house a couple weeks ago, I had three hashbrown patties for lunch. That's it. This morning, someone set a tray of tots down on my desk and it took all I had not to steal one off their tray. It's bad. I know they say that lots of women crave fried food when they are pregnant, I feel a sort of pride with this one. Even though the baby is in Utah (with me, obviously), it knows its true Idaho roots. So you just keep craving those potatoes, baby. I will happily oblige. 

Mind Control.

So, long story short, we are doing this thing at my school in which we are divided into teams, and then are given different tasks that we have to do, all in an effort to gain the admiration of Pat Turkbayer (an alias for our principal, who has apparently been in hiding because she knew too much) so that she will pass on all her secrets regarding mind control. So that we can use it for good, of course.  It's kind of strange, but we're rolling with it because we only have three and a half weeks left of school, we have to have something to get us through this last stretch.

Anyway, today's task was to do something nice for another team. One team brought us bagels, which was fantastic timing because I was starving, but another team did this:

Isn't that so nice? I saw it and just started crying. It doesn't take much to make me cry lately (or ever, really, but I'm blaming the hormones) but seriously how sweet is that?! It's fun for me that other people are excited about the baby too, not just me and Brandon.

It also was just really nice because I have been missing the kids and staff at my old school so much. It was nice to feel like I'm actually a part of the community. The teachers are all really close because there are so many of them that work in one classroom together, but being stuck down here in the office makes it harder for me to get to know them. Even though they did it in an attempt to win the mind control secrets, it still made my whole day!

Graduation.

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Yesterday morning we woke up bright and early to drive to Logan so we could watch our sister-in-law, Candis, graduate! We pulled into town a few hours early, and were able to stop in Wellsville and watch one of our (many) favorite cousins dominate in her soccer game. Brandon's family has the oldest of the cousins, and the youngest on that side of the family is four, so it's way fun for us to be able to watch all their games, and do all the fun, kid things with them (like take them to movies, load them up on sugar, then send them home to their parents; that's our favorite). 

We got to the Spectrum early so we could get good seats, and sat only a few rows back, which was nice, especially because Candis ended up sitting/walking on the complete opposite side. Maybe it's just all the baby hormones, but graduation made me super emotional! Brandon and I didn't get to walk at our own graduation, because we technically graduated in December and moved to Boise in March, but also because Brandon was in Denver for training the weekend of our graduation in the spring. It was a ton of fun to be there and support Candis, along with the rest of Brandon's family and her family. She didn't even trip, and we also got free Aggie Ice Cream afterward! Later, we had a nice little family picnic-indoors, due to the rain-and watched her and Brandon open presents. Brandon's for his birthday, of course.

After the picnic, I went to my friend Jennika's house to meet her new baby! Jenn used to live in Salt Lake, but they moved to Logan not too long ago, and after being at her house for two hours last night, I really wish they would just move back down here!! This is her second baby, so she told me all the best things to get for our little nugget.

This was just one of the three graduation's our families have happening this month. Austin, Brandon's brother, graduated on Friday, Candis yesterday, and my baby bro the first weekend in June! All these people are growing up so fast!!

Boise.

This past weekend, we finally had an open weekend and were able to go back to Boise. This was our first visit back since we moved to Utah at the end of January, and even now I think it was too soon. The memories are still so fresh. It was weird to sleep at my parents' house and not at our own, and I definitely didn't like the part where driving back to Utah was considered "the drive home." There are just so many good things about Boise, it's like the world's best kept secret. It was hard to be there and think about all the good things we are missing now.

It was a great weekend, though! We went to a bunch of houses that were open for the Home Show, did some shopping, and of course, ate a ton of food. Because we aren't able to be there for Mother's Day, I took my mom to see the movie Mother's Day on Saturday so we could have a little mother daughter time. The next day, she, Brandon, and I went to Babies R Us to look at a few things, and I think that was a treat for her too. She's not a grandma just yet, technically speaking, but she sure seems excited about it!

We both took the day off on Monday so we could spend the two full days with my family, which meant that I was able to go back to the school I worked at and visit the students and teachers. You don't ever really forget how incredible some people are, but being back near them made is so much harder to leave. By the end of my hour there I was pretty determined to jump back to the eighth grade and just stay at school all day. I sure do love that entire school! 

We are going back to Boise the first weekend in June to watch my baby brother graduate, and I already can't wait. I'm thinking that, since I'm not working this summer, I might just have to pick a week and stay in Boise, but if I did that, there's a good chance I probably wouldn't leave.

A grand adventure.

We are only four hours into the day, and already it has been an exciting morning! Today marks thirteen weeks into our pregnancy, and we were finally able to break the news over social media. Family and a few of our closest friends have known for a few weeks now, but it feels great to not have it be this huge secret anymore! I honestly am so overwhelmed with the love I feel pouring in through Facebook, Instagram, and texts. I know how much Brandon and I love the babe already, but to know that there are all these other people that are just as excited and ready to love him/her as we are, it really just makes my heart so full.

Baby is due November 2nd, and I'm really hoping that he/she sticks to that date. I don't love the idea of being pregnant for longer than forty weeks, and I'm not even that pregnant right now! All I know is that I'm looking forward to getting my energy back during the second trimester, and also loving the fact that my second trimester falls over the summer months so I will be able to able to enjoy the warmth!

I am excited to share this journey with you! I'm not the type of person to post weekly updates and bump pictures, but I do know that a lot of new things will be happening over the next few months and after baby is born, and I'm looking forward to sharing these new home and life changes with you. Not much will be happening in the baby portion of the blog until we find out the gender in early June, but stay tuned!

28.

This handsome guy is 28 today!! He thinks that 28 is super old, but I feel like it is a good, solid age. Like, maybe 28 is the age where you are an actual adult. You have your crap together, have a good job, and have a pretty good feel of the person you are. At least those are some of the things Brandon has at 28. Maybe he is just trying really hard to set the bar high for the rest of us. 

I feel like 28 is going to be a good year for Brandon. He has a good job that is going to kick butt at, he's going to become a dad, and pretty much overall he is just the best human, so really, how could 28 not be a good year for him? I'm so lucky to have been able to know him since around the time he turned 22, and it has been incredible watching him grow into the man he is today. I can't wait to see what this year brings for him, and all the years after that. Love you, B!!

Birth of the blog.

Welcome world, to my little corner of the internet. I feel like this blog is long overdue, honestly. With my own personal posts and the 112,000 words (and counting) I'm putting toward my novel, I needed a place to share my life with you, the readers, limited though you may be at this point.

This blog is going to encompass all aspects of my life: food, travel, home, love, my sweet husband and our two crazy cats, and this tiny little nugget growing inside of me. Welcome to Freckle Eye Fancy. I can't wait for you to see what we have in store.