furniture changes

Allen had  an older 70's dresser that he wanted to keep and thought his wife was crazy when I suggested painting it. He now likes it even more and it looks updated in black with satin nickel knobs!! 

Our next project almost done!!

The best part was two weeks later going shopping for home decor with my good friend Michelle. Allen had a little bit of shopping bag/bill shock. He didn't realize how many things "we needed" but was an awesome sport hanging things in difficult to reach places and adding his own touch!!

New Year's

We celebrate New Year's Eve according to Eastern Standard Time, since we had an early morning wake up on New Year's Day.

We went out to dinner then to the Santa Monica Pier, where we had our first kiss a year ago!! Then ended the evening with an amazing brownie sundae from Cafe 50's and called it an early night.

We woke up by 5am on Saturday morning to meet friends at the Union Station to take the Gold Line to Pasadena for the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game!! Allen was really excited about going to a Bowl Game (he's from TX and has football in the blood). He was impressed with the parade and enjoyed it a lot more than he thought he would, except the tight bleachers.

I was really glad that our seats in the stadium had backs, opposed to the bleacher game seats we had two years ago. I only had some back pain for about an hour until the Tylenol kicked in. I was exhausted the next day but so glad we went. When I told my brother that we're pregnant he said to take advantage of having no kids and go out and do everything you want. He just had his third and realizes how much harder it to go out with kids.

I knew it would be a long and tiring day for me but we ended the day with Roast Beef Sandwiches from Phillipes and we were both in bed by 8pm.

I've been told that we'll be back at the Rose Bowl on Sept 17th when the Texas Longhorns beat UCLA.

Monterey

We celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my parents house. It was Allen's first time celebrating Christmas with the Chambers; he was shocked at how busy and loud my family can be. He was able to escape to the garage to experience some quietness and talk to his family.

My parents live in Central CA and we decided to go to Monterey as a side trip. My cousin gave us tickets to the Monterey Aquarium as part of our wedding gift. We had a great time and really enjoyed having an extra day together.

We had an amazing view of the ocean when we sat down to dinner!!

Pizza Pizza Pizza

When your husband suggest taking a picture of the pizza we've made; I have to blog it!! We use the Trader Joe's refrigerated crust, along with their Trader Giotto's (TJ brand??)pizza sauce. We've made calzones with the same dough in the past.

One of the best things about making pizza, Allen loves rolling out the dough and adding the sauce. It's fun when he's excited to come home and help with dinner.

It was so yummy we might of made another the next night!!

It's a BOY!!

I'm 4 1/2 months pregnant and due on May 2nd!!!

It took us less than 30 days to get pregnant. We had no idea that we're as fertile as 20 year olds when we look a lot older!! We took a home pregnancy test and it said positive. The Monday prior to the test I noticed our dog, Hobo, was acting extra protective of me. I went to Kaiser to take the pregnancy test a week after I missed my period the test came back negative. We were shocked but the same thing happened to a friend from work that is due in January. We returned the following week and it was positive.

I was shocked to find out that once I'm pregnant they add several weeks to my pregnancy. It has gone by so fast. I've had about three weeks when I would get extra exhausted, nauseated and sick in the evening. I only threw up once. Most of the time I feel good and I go to bed a lot earlier than normal. Some nights I fall asleep as early as 8:30 otherwise my normal bedtime is 9:30. I'm feeling better now in my second trimester but I still get sick, just less nausea.

I've been sick several times with nausea and with two UTI's. I've never have been as sick as I am now being pregnant. I'm normally really healthy with lots of energy but with this pregnancy. I've learned to depend on my husband a lot to get things done and to help me.

I have no idea which baby products we need to get, so if you have any suggestions, let us know.

Life is Good

Life has been great!! It has been an easier adjustment to married life than I originally thought. Both of us have lived by ourselves for several years and I thought it would be more difficult. It has been having someone else do some of the chores!!

We were able to see Phantom of Opera before it left LA. It was my favorite show when I was in high school and it is still one of my favorite shows, many years later.

Two of my favorite little people.

My mom and grandma wearing the same shirt!! My mom bought the shirt for her and they both wore it on the same day. So cute, little twins, only a couple of years apart.

We're off to Texas for Turkey Week; Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

Havasupai/Grand Canyon

Last April my good friend Lori asked if we wanted to backpack down to Havasupai in the Grand Canyon. I asked Allen and he agreed. We bought a backpacking tent, boots and a backpack for myself. I enjoyed the first 8 miles to the Indian Village, called Havasupai. The last two miles to the campground was brutal. The trail wasn't any harder, I was just mentally and physically done. I think stopping in the village for a cold gatorade and an ice cream sandwich might have helped with the being done attitude.

Our campsite was gorgeous and close to the stream. The water was aqua blue and beautiful. It was very refreshing to soak our feet and legs in the cool stream after hiking. We spent the next two days enjoying the beautiful waterfalls and day hikes.

Allen has a new perspective about camping and hiking with girls, or at least my friends and I. He was a surprised at our willingness to climb down cliffs with chains and ladders. Allen demonstrated great restraint by not petting and playing with every dog that came by our campsite or we encountered on hikes. I was not in favor of dogs following us around or hanging out in our camp once you played with or fed them. I really appreciated my husband's self control.

Since we didn't enjoy the last two miles hiking in; we probably would only enjoy two miles hiking out, so we took a helicopter ride to the top. It was a short trip to the parking lot but so worth it!!

It was an awesome trip that was really worthwhile and enjoyable for everyone!!

PS There's lots of pictures and I don't care that they are out of order!!