We Made It...

Hey all. So I started to write this huge long blog about our trip over here but then thought about it and figured no one really cares about the long, stupid plane rides or the fact that we almost got lost in the Chicago airport so I thought I'd just skip to the part when we got here.

We Arrived in Nuremberg on Wednesday afternoon. It was rainy but still very warm compared to Utah, which is nice. Daniel Auras (the elders quorum pres. of the ward in Erlangen) picked us up from the airport (and has been our guide to Germany so far) and took us straight to Ikea to buy bedding for our apartment. Even Ikea is different here! Not by much but there is more variety in the foods they serve in the food court and everything is written in German.

Then he drove us to our apartment. Its tiny. I haven't taken pictures yet but I guess its a typical apartment here for just two people. Being here makes me realized how spoiled and wasteful Americans really are; with our huge cars, people drive literally everywhere even if your destination is within five minutes walking distance, kitchen appliances are huge, no one recycles, toilets and washing machines use way too much water, and everyone has a clothes dryer! Here: everyone either walks or rides a bike, almost all the cars are compact/fuel efficient, none of the apartments/houses have AC, everywhere we go there are dumpsters for paper (yellow) plastic (blue) food waste (green) and everything else (black), clothing dryers are a new thing in German (very few people have them), and the washing machine we have in our apartment is about half the size of the one my parents have. I'm learning that I can, indeed, use my own legs to take me somewhere, even if its across town. The bishop from the ward gave us a few bikes to use while we're here because he and his wife now have three kids and their trailer that hooks onto the back of one of the bikes can only hold two kids. So that was really nice. I'm not saying that Americans are bad and totally wasteful, I am grateful to have a car to take me places and a nice big apartment/house to sprawl out in, but I am learning to be more conscious of the things around me and rely more on myself than the luxuries of life.

Anyway, Erlangen is a beautiful city. Its so fun to see the old buildings and history behind everything. On our second day here we went exploring. There is a mall called Erlangen Arcada right near where we live and lots of shops down the main street. We went wondering down the main street past a lot of bakeries, chocolate shops, book stores, cafes, and clothing stores. There is a small market by a huge old university building where they sell vegetables, plants, and cheese. On Thursday we went to the "berg" or the beer festival a lot of people call it. We tried our first German bratwurst and even bought a stein (don't worry though... we filled it with orange Fanta). The later it got at the berg, the more drunk and loud people became andwe started seeing people dancing on tables (a band was playing 'YMCA' and it was hilarious seeing all these drunk Germans dancing on tables and singing along). So far we've also had lunch with Daniels brother as his house and breakfast with the bishop and his family this morning.

Everyone here has been so nice to us and its really been comforting to know that we have people looking out for us here. Today was a rough day for me. I've been really home sick, feeling like no one understands what I'm going through; being pregnant for the first time and always tired from all the walking and riding a bike, not knowing the language and being in a completely new city/country, and being away from my family and my Buster. But in the middle of a break down and feeling completely alone, the missionaries stopped by to introduce themselves. They were both from Utah (one of them was even from Highland, where I'm originally from) and they just talked with us and gave us a short spiritual message. Its amazing to me how God works; at my lowest point, missionaries come and let us know we're not alone here.

Jordan has also been a huge support to me. I'm glad he's here or else I don't know what I would do. Coming here has helped me learn that all I really need is my husband, the gospel, and food to eat and everything will be ok.

Tonight we've made plans to go to Nuremberg with Daniel, Mark (the bishop), and an America friend of theirs to see Prince of Persia in English. It should be a lot of fun. Tomorrow we'll take the bus to church and I'm really excited to go and meet some new friends; I guess there are a lot of wifes that don't have much to do during the day except watch kids at home so I hope I can make friends with some of them and be able to have people to hang out with instead of being a lone all day, everyday.

I know this will be a really good, once in a lifetime experience for me so I'm trying not to get too down and homesick. I know things will get better (its only the first week) and I really am grateful to be here. Now I think I'll go get some gelato (amazing by the way... WAY better than gelato in the states) and try to get used to everything here!

And its a.....

Went in for the ultrasound today and we're having a....


BOY!!!!!

I'll post the ultrasound pictures when I get them scanned in. All I have to say is, it was incredible. I totally cried and so did Jordan... it was a very happy moment. I can't wait to start buying little boy clothes. :-)

Two year Anniversary...

So like I said in my last post, yesterday May 17th, was our anniversary!! It was such a fun date night with Jordan. He came home around 4:45 with flowers for me and said he's going to buy me another charm for my necklace... LOVE that! I gave him a cute card with a home-made coupon for a customized fish tank for him (some of you may know that Jordan is a little obsessed with salt water aquariums, and he'll be getting one when we get back from Germany :D). So then we went to the Gateway to see Iron Man 2... It was an OK movie, but we liked the first one better. After the movie we went to Rodizio at Trolley Square for dinner and it was AMAZING!! Oh man... I ate way too much but it was very worth it. I feel like we get the full treatment when we go there; it was delicious. Then we went to Smiths to get some essentials for our house and Jordan let me buy the movie Donnie Darko; if you haven't seen it, you should... its really good and a classic in my opinion. It reminds me a lot of Edward Scissorhands (a dark comedy with a sad ending) which is another movie I LOVE! Anyway, overall it was a really great day and I can't wait to have MANY more anniversaries with my awesome husband!

Running out of time...

Now that we only have a week left until we are leaving for Germany, I'm starting to panic a little bit. I feel like we have SO much to do but then when I really sit down and think about it, I guess we don't have THAT much to do... I feel so disorganized! We still have...

~Pack up the rest of our apartment. We've packed the major things like the bookcase and our two closets but still have the kitchen, bathroom, and large furniture to take care of. I hate living in this chaos!
~The little things. Canceling phones, car insurance, last minute shopping, packing suit cases laundry, etc.

Ok... so thats only a few things to do but still... It feels like a lot. I guess I'm just overwhelmed by not knowing what I can take (clothes don't exactly fit me like they used to...) and living in this apartment is starting to drive me crazy. I have a week off of work because I thought I'd need that much time to prepare but then I think about how I hate going out and running errands by myself and really theres not much I can do while Jordan's not here. I can't move boxes on my own because I'm not supposed to lift anything heavy. Ugh... its very frustrating.

On a happier note, its our two year anniversary today! Very exciting. We're planning on going to Rodizio Grill for dinner and then go see Iron Man 2 (yes, we still haven't seen it). It'll be really fun to have on night out with Jordan... I'll post pictures soon. So, I'm totally against publicizing relationships on the internet (aka, proclaiming your love for your significant other for everyone to see.. etc.) but I just have to gush about my husband for a second. He's amazing. I'm amazed everyday by how much he puts up with and still loves me no matter what at the end of the day. Being pregnant, I've become even more crazy and manic than I was before and he is so patient with me. He really is my rock and I think I would have lost my sanity a long time ago if it wasn't for him. He also has so much drive. After spending nearly six years of schooling at BYU, he decided to spend another four at the U getting a higher degree. Have I mentioned what he's getting his phd in? Biomedical Informatics. Yes, my husband is a genius. He always disagrees with me when I tell him he is one; but really, he is. He's currently doing research on MRI machines and thats what he'll be doing while we're in Germany for the summer. Anyway... I'm sorry if you're reading this and totally grossed out but I had to do it; it is my anniversary after all. :)

The Joys of Pregnancy....

So I'm almost 16 weeks now! When I first found out I was pregnant (Feb. 23 to be exact...) I thought the time would just slow waaaaay down.. nope. Here I am at almost 16 weeks and I found out what I'm having in just a week from this coming Monday! YAY! So excited. I thought I'd share some of the crazy that has come along with this pregnancy...
**Insane mood swings. You think you're moody on your period... haha you have no idea. I've gone from hysterical laughter to bawling in literally two seconds. Leaves my husband saying "whats wrong!?!? What did I do?!? Are you ok?!?" Lol I'm just glad he hasn't just given up on me. Today he called and I started crying for no real reason except to say that I just wasn't feeling well and he listened quietly and let me cry until I apologized and told him I'd call him back. He puts up with so much.
**Feeling exhausted all the time. It was way worse from about week three to week 14. So I'm feeling better now. But I used to come home from work and crash on the couch and not move until my husband got home or even later.
**Bloating and gassy. There really isn't a need to explain that one.
**Stuffy nose. I wake up around three every night and can't get back to sleep because of my stuffy nose. You may not think this is a symptom of pregnancy but it is! Its because of the increase of blood flow throughout your body. So when I finally do fall asleep again I wake up every ten minutes because my mouth and throat are dry. So annoying.
**Aversion to foods I used to love. At during my first trimester I went from being able to eat a whole half pound hamburger (ask my sister... I did it twice.), to not being able to eat red meat at all. Everytime I saw a carls jr. commercial I wanted to gag myself... but really, who likes carls jr. anyway? I'm ok with red meat now though so its ok... good thing too because we're going to Rodizio for our anniversary. :)
**Increased appetite. Its pretty much doubled. And I'm always hungry.
**Either freezing or burning up. I find myself turning on the AC in the car when its raining outside. Or in the coldest room down in the spa where I work, I sweat during my massages. Now I'm sitting in my parents supposedly warm house with a coat on and my feet are turning into icicles.
So I didn't mention morning sickness or soreness... symptoms you almost always hear about with pregnant women. Well I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I never threw up. I even worried for the first few weeks because I wasn't having any of the major symptoms. But here I am, very pregnant and I can't wait to find out what we're having.