Lindsey

I've had this livejournal account since before blogging was a hot thing, so it's high time for a change of venue.  This one has served me well for several years, but I'm ready for a fresh start.  If you would like the address for my new blog, please email me at lindseypotts711@gmail.com

So long and thanks for all the fish!

I LOVE being done with work!!  I never pictured myself as the stay-at-home domestic type, but I am really enjoying it.  I definitely overdid it yesterday - I spent the WHOLE day doing laundry, and by the time James got home last night, my back was KILLING me.  So today I am relaxing.  I will have to learn my limits now that I won't be sitting behind a desk every day.  Hopefully I can find a good balance.  I am so used to getting in this work zone where I do nothing but work for 9 hours - it's just that the work was never physically exerting before, and yesterday after I was done with my 9 hour laundry shift, my body was NOT happy with me.

Today I went out for lunch with my cousins Jessica and Wes and then Jess and I got pedicures while Wes got his hair cut.  It was so nice and relaxing!

Yesterday at my doctor's appointment they said it looks like Jem is going to be overdue.  He just wants to take his time.  The doctor's guess was May 25th or 26th, and he thinks Jem will be about 8 1/2 pounds.  Oh goody.

It is 3:18 am and I am wide awake, thanks to this son of mine.  My hips ache, my back aches, and I have horrible horrible heartburn.

**whines**


That is all.

James got his first law school acceptance letter today!!!  I am so proud of him.  It was from Nova Southeastern, a school in Miami.  We are still waiting to hear back from all the other ones.  But it is a great feeling to be accepted somewhere.  And I definitely wouldn't mind living in Miami!

Also, we have a new (old) car - it's a 1992 Nissan Sentra that we bought from our neighbor for a great price.  It's definitely showing it's age, but it still runs just fine.  We are still waiting on the settlement from the insurance company and we are planning to eventually buy something bigger/newer/more baby-friendly, but this little car is suiting us just fine for now.

I also have only 2 weeks of work left.  Hooray!!

Our car was totaled yesterday!  So now we are in the market for a new one.  This will be the first time that James and I have ever purchased a car together, and I am sure it will be an adventure.  Lots of decisions.  Right now we are thinking about something a little bigger and a little more family-friendly than the Civic.  Maybe a Honda CRV or a Toyota Rav4.  And then we have to decide if we want to get something older that we could pay off quicker (but could potentially have more maintenance problems sooner) or if we want to get something newer that would take us longer to pay off.  Decisions, decisions.

Any advice?  James is a car expert, so I am sure we will make a good decision in the end, but I like hearing all y'all's feedback.  :)

  (This could be our car soon!)

Yesterday was James' 26th birthday.  So of course, while he was on his way to work, he got in a car accident.  How awful is that?!

Our car is at the repair shop right now and we are waiting to hear the estimate.  It may or may not be totaled.  Someone two cars ahead of James slammed on their brakes, so the woman in front of James slammed on her brakes, and so did James, but the guy behind James did not.  He hit James at 35 mph which was hard enough to make James hit the woman in front of him.  So both the front and the rear end of our car are crunched.  I went with James to the repair shop to see the car, and the front isn't too bad - definitely needs a new bumper and one of the headlights is completely ruined.  But the whole trunk is totally crushed - the guy who hit him was driving an Escalade. 

After we got a rental car, James and I went out for lunch at Tucano's to try and enjoy his birthday.  It was yummy, but James' back was hurting.  So after lunch he went to the doctor where they took all kinds of x-rays for an hour and told him that 5 of his vertebrae are sprained.  They gave him muscle relaxers and pain killers, but he still had a hard time sleeping last night.  :(  I hope he feels better soon.  Now he can relate to all of my back pain, but I wish he didn't have to!

After the doctor, we both went to work for the rest of the day, but after work last night we went shopping and bought the new Silversun Pickups album that came out a few days ago (Ethan - I will burn you a copy - it's really good!) and we bought 2 dozen krispy creme doughnuts (I got a discount card at work!).  Then we took a quick trip to the grocery store because my morning sickness has been creeping up on me again and I needed to buy some food that would settle my stomach.

We came home and ate doughnuts and watched Wait Until Dark, which was so suspenseful - it made me jump and yelp a few times and James made fun of me.  :)

I hope we get everything sorted out with our car before the baby comes.  What an unpleasant hassle.  Last night we started fantasizing about the type of car we'd get if we have to get a new one - but I think we would both be happy to have our car back.  I am praying a lot for James' back to feel better, but I know that he's still the same old James because he started telling me Chuck Norris jokes in his sleep at 5am this morning.  :)

I have a lot to catch you all up on! First of all, I would like to publicly thank two people who made a really bad week slightly better. My dad sent me a box of snickerdoodles, which was a pleasant and delicious surprise. And my dear friend Stephanie surprised me with a potted Easter Lily at work. Stephanie came in on a day that she wasn’t even working just to chat with me and deliver a beautiful surprise. I have really enjoyed having that plant on my desk – five blossoms so far! Thanks to all the people who help me press onward especially when I am feeling weary.

My mom came down for a weeklong visit, and we had a lot of fun. We spent every morning doing something related to the baby, and now that she’s gone I feel a lot more prepared for this little guy’s arrival. One day, Aunt Jewel and Mom came over and we watched the dvd of our 20 week ultrasound (which I never did figure out how to upload on here – sorry, I wish you all could watch it) and we went out for lunch. On Tuesday, Mom and I went to get pedicures together. We picked out each other’s colors, and mine still looks great. Another day, Aunt Jewel and Mom took me shopping for all the things that I didn’t know I’d need. My favorite purchase was a new bathrobe from Gap Body – it is sooooo soft. We also found some really cute onesies and they treated me to an Orange Julius. On Saturday, James and I spent the whole day in Alpine. We watched general conference, had a big family meal with everyone, and went on a really fun easter egg treasure hunt that Aunt Jewel planned – she is so clever and creative. That night, while all the men went to the priesthood session of conference, us girls had a really fun baby shower. I got so many wonderful gifts – thanks to everyone who came and who helped plan it!! The decorations were especially cute – tons of matching umbrellas hanging from the ceiling, with matching M&M’s and dinnerware. I am so thankful for all my fun female family members.

On Sunday James and I watched general conference together at home. My very favorite talks from this general conference were Elder Hales’ talk, “Becoming Provident Providers: Temporally and Spiritually,” Elder Pino’s talk, “Faith in Adversity,” and Elder Holland’s talk, “None Were with Him.” General conference is always so enjoyable for me. I always hear something that I really need to hear. I missed our primary class, but I love cuddling with James on the couch in my pajamas and being spiritually fed.

This week, James’ parents and little sister are in town for spring break. On Wednesday and Thursday, we took a road trip up to Rexburg to visit BYU Idaho, where Jenny will be going to school this fall.  We had a lot of fun. My favorite parts of the trip were hanging out at the hot tub with James (I just stuck in my feet), seeing the Rexburg temple for the first time, eating dinner at The Olive Garden, and especially visiting with my cousin Elaine – she was SO helpful – she took us to several different apartment complexes and we got to tour the apartments and figure out where Jenny might want to live this fall. And she answered tons of our questions. Thanks Elaine for all your help!

I had another couple of doctor’s appointments this week – I was very relieved to find out that I won’t need a C-section after all, and that Jem is looking healthy and strong. He weighs about 5 pounds now. I am getting more and more uncomfortable, which I’m sure is a good sign. Now when he kicks, it’s not so cute and endearing anymore, it’s actually very physically painful. I am so glad I have a job where I can just sit at a desk all day. I really have no idea how the pioneers did it. I feel like an old lady most of the time – my muscles and joints always ache, and I can barely get up without help. They gave me yet another date this week – now they are saying based on his measurements that it looks like he could come as early as May 18^th – which is only five weeks away! Also, I asked my doctor which hospital she recommends. We are lucky to have good insurance that allows us to go to any hospital we want. My doctor recommended Orem Community Hospital, which I was a little skeptical of at first – it’s a very small hospital and I always thought that I would be more comfortable in a larger hospital, but now that I have given it some thought, I think my doctor might be right. She said at Orem Community there are 3 patients per nurse instead of 8 like at Timpanogos and Utah Valley. I also talked to a coworker who used to work in housekeeping at all three hospitals – she said Orem Community is a much cleaner hospital. Also, my doctor said that in the larger hospitals, after the birth, they move you to a smaller room, but at Orem Community you get to stay in the same room the whole time, and there is a pull-out bed in the couch for the dad. I like that part.

I am excited to celebrate James’ birthday this week – did you know, he was originally due at the same time as Jem, but he was born six weeks early? I hope Jem doesn’t come so early.

I had a doctor's appointment last week, and I have them every two weeks now.  Soon it'll be once a week.  Can you believe Jem will be here in two months?  I can't - we are so excited - James dreams about him almost every night, and tells me that he wants Jem to hurry up and come out to play.  James is going to be an awesome dad.

Well, I talked to the doctor about lots of different things and as always she gave me good advice.  I really like her.  She always gives me a hug at every appointment.  This was the first appointment that I had to attend without James because of his new job, and I was a little nervous - James always comes with me to the doctor for everything.  He's a trooper.  I had to wait in the waiting room for an hour and a half because one of the other doctors was gone on a delivery so my doctor had to take all of his appointments as well as her own.  By the time they called my name, I felt like I was going to cry.  I think it was just the pregnancy hormones, but I was feeling very emotional and impatient.

And then they weighed me. I have gained 30 (thirty!) pounds since the beginning of this pregnancy.  At least I can hide it better than some people because of my height - but it still makes me feel a little glum.  I asked the doctor, and she said it's normal.  Well, anyway, I am going to start going to the gym after the little guy is born (if I can ever find the time) - that's another perk of my job - all APX employees get a free gym membership.  James tries really hard to convince me that I'm still gorgeous, but it's hard to believe when I feel like a blimp.  I'll be totally honest, I have no idea how obese people get through life.  I can't imagine having this be permanent - it takes soooo much effort to roll over in bed, bend over, tie shoes, even walk.  Blech.

At least I was able to get a solution for the heartburn - Heather, my doctor-lady, told me that I need to take Zantac every night before I go to bed - not just when the heartburn starts.  So I have been doing that, and the heartburn has gone away.  Hooray!

James and I signed up for a childbirth class at the hospital in a few weeks.  But I'm starting to think that maybe I don't want to know about it ahead of time.  I have been reading all of my pregnancy books, and recently I have been reading the parts about birth itself, and the more informed I become, the more nervous I feel (one word:  stitches.  no - make that two words:  catheter and stitches).  I know that this is what my body was built for, but I can't help but think sometimes, hey!  this is not normal!  my body is not supposed to be doing this!  I'm sure by the time baby number four comes around someday I'll be a pro at this and none of these things will even phase me, but this is all very new and kinda scary to me.

Let's talk about something besides pregnancy, shall we?  We shall.  I had a fun weekend.  On Friday night Stephanie and I went out for chinese food and then we watched a movie at her place.  The main plot of the movie centered around a wedding, and I was really struck by how different LDS temple weddings are from secular ones.  As much as the world beautifies their weddings will lavish decorations and flowers and wordy vows, none of it even comes close to comparing to the beauty of a temple marriage.  I am so grateful for my eternal marriage.  I told Stephanie, "If only the rest of the world knew what they're missing."

On Saturday James and I both had the day off so we took a trip up to Tooele to visit Julie and Logan.  Luke stayed with us for a few nights this past week because he was working in Orem and it was fun to have him around.  But Julie was excited to have him home.  Logan is still so so so cute.  He crawls everywhere now, and he has started pulling himself up on the edge of the coffee table.  He's becoming very wiggly, and he has learned to use his lungs!  We had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner and watched "Night at the Museum," which was actually pretty good.  And we brought home a bassinett that they are loaning us for a few months until we move.  Every day the reality of motherhood becomes a little clearer to me.

Sunday we only had one hour of church because of the Draper temple dedication.  No primary.  :(  Our class was very sad - a few of them ran up to give us hugs and give us pictures they had colored for us after sacrament meeting.  They are SO MUCH FUN.
We have a new bishop as of last week, and this week in sacrament every family was asked to fill out a get-to-know-you survey, and I was surprised that the vast majority of the questions had to do with emergency preparedness and self-reliance.  I am proud to say that James and I have quite a food storage set up.  We always stock up on non-perishables when they are on sale, and we always buy bottled water because tap water tastes nasty.

I'm very thankful that the church teaches us about self reliance and living within your means.  A few weeks ago, all of the talks in sacrament meeting were about those very subjects, and I have been pondering those principles.  Sometimes I wish I had minored in something other than business (it turned out to be a very boring and difficult minor), but other times I am glad that I did.  Having taken economics and finance classes helps me understand more about what is happening with our economy, and James likes to avoid the subject with me because I tend to get very riled up if we start talking about it too deeply, lol.  I won't talk too much about my opinions here because that would make this already lengthy post twice as long.  Essentially I am very angry about people not taking responsibility for their financial situations.  I am very glad that the prophets started teaching us to avoid debt years ago.  And I am very grateful to my parents for teaching me to manage money.  Thanks, Mom and Dad.

I am so hungry all the time now.  Last night I went with my friend Stephanie to The Village Inn, and I ordered the crepes lorraine, which was seriously delicious (crepes filled with scrambled eggs, bacon and onions, topped with swiss cheese and hollandaise sauce) - I finished off the entire platter and I was STILL starving, so I stopped for McDonald's fries and a shake on the way home.  I have also eaten five boxes of girl scout cookies in the past week.  I feel like a total pig.

At work they are having a 'Biggest Loser' contest to see who can lose the most weight between now and the beginning of June.  I asked my boss if I was allowed to participate, since I will probably lose about 20 pounds when this little guy is born and shortly thereafter, and she said anyone can participate.  I think I'm a shoein.  I am soooooo going to win the first place prize - a Wii Fit. 

Jem is SO ACTIVE all the time now.  I swear he does somersaults in there.  And he kicks a lot.  But more than kicking, his favorite thing is to push outward really hard and hold it there for a few minutes.  It reminds me of little kids pushing on the back of their parents' seats in the car.  I think he's asking me for more room, and I always explain to him that he's not done cooking yet - 2 months and 1 week left.  It's coming so quick!

James and I had a long discussion last night.  He has sent off all his law school applications, and we are waiting on the results.  But this new job of his is turning out so well, and it's certainly lucrative enough to support a family, so it's tempting us to rethink the law school thing.  We haven't made any decisions yet - we'll wait to see what law schools accept James.  Being an attorney is still James' first choice, but we are weighing all the options of what it would cost financially, etc.  I think we'll probably still end up at a law school somewhere this fall, but it's interesting to have another option.  It certainly would be ironic if we decided against law school - Utah is the one place I never thought I would end up living permanently.  I'll keep you all posted!

My heart is a little sad this morning.  I woke up this morning and started running through my daily internet routine... check email.... check google reader.... check facebook.  When I got to facebook, I had a new invitation to join a group called "Stop HBO from showing LDS temple ceremonies!"  This is the group's description:

"Many of you may have heard of HBO's television show, Big Love. It came out a couple of years ago, and it shows polygamous families. When it first came out, the church came out with a strong statement against Big Love and Polygamy. You can see the statement here:

http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/church-responds-to-questions-on-hbo-s-big-love

"However, as if the polygamy weren't bad enough, HBO has taken their unscrupulousness to new heights.
On Sunday, March 15, 2009, HBO will be airing a segment of their Big Love series that will show individuals dressed in full temple clothing (you can see the picture right in the TV guideitself), and they are planning on recreating the temple ordinances on public television. They have an ex-member of the church that is helping them make this ceremony as authentic as possible (you can see even from the pictures they have posted how closely they have replicated the clothing).

"Please help stop HBO from airing such an offensive show! You can go to the link below to submit a comment to HBO.

http://www.hbo.com/apps/submitinfo/contactus/submit.do?title=GeneralInformation&questiontype=generalInformation&questiontype=general

"It's imperative that we get as many people to voice their complaints as possible before HBO airs the show. Please pass this information on to as many people as you can!

"If you are not a member of the LDS church, we invite you to learn about our church and our temples from a true source: www.mormon.org."



I was invited to a group just like this one when Big Love first premiered on HBO.  I sent HBO a complaint, and I just got some generic mass email response.  And the show is still on the air.  Honestly, networks like it when their shows are controversial - it's like Rush Limbaugh - he's so controversial that even liberals listen to him so they have something to argue about.  He has millions of listeners.  The more controversial a topic, the more likely the media will use it as subject matter.  It will get an audience.

So unfortunately, I really don't think my sending a complaint to HBO will make one bit of difference in their decision to air the episode.  But it does make me very sad.  Temple marriage is something I consider to be very sacred and holy, and I wish people would respect my beliefs and religion.

I've been thinking a lot about tolerance this weekend.  I am a very tolerant person - I respect people of all backgrounds and lifestyle choices.  Sadly, there are a lot of members of my faith who are not as tolerant or respectful.  I have friends here in Utah who have been ostracized because of their choices.  I know LDS people who will only associate with other LDS people who are just as 'righteous' as they are.  It's unfortunate.  To those people, I say this:

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

That's doctrine.  I have a lot of friends from high school who are openly gay and in relationships - and I still think the world of them.  I myself know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be the true church.  But I will never think less of someone else for choosing to believe something else.

In the case of HBO's show Big Love, I find myself on the other side of this unfortunate lack of respect and understanding.  Now I am the one whose beliefs are being disrespected.  I can't claim to understand HBO's agenda in airing this show.  But it really saddens me.  In a day and age when members of my faith are commonly called bigotted, I think this is a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black.  I respect all beliefs, and I lament that a liberal world (which claims to be so evolved, tolerant, and forward-thinking) won't do the same for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

So my dad found a great deal on airfare and decided to come visit for the weekend.  It was so good to see him.  I had a really bad week at work last week, and I was really in need of a break.  Some of the fun stuff we did while he was here:
- Went to Costco (James and I don't have a costco membership, so it was an adventure.  We came home with potstickers, tortellini, and croissants - all my favorite things - and a rotisserie chicken for dinner.)
- Registered for baby gifts at Target and Babies R Us
- Listened to old records
- Played Scrabble
- Ate at lots of fun restaurants
- Visited family in Ogden
- Went to the movies
- He even came to primary with us and helped us teach our four-year-olds.  They loved him!  And the sharing time was all about fathers, so he got to talk to the whole junior primary about being a dad.
But more than all of that, I just had fun running errands and hanging out at home with Dad.  He still makes the best breakfasts.  :)

In other news, it snowed last night.  Not much, but a little bit.  I was hoping we were all done for the year, but I had a sneaking suspicion it would snow again.  I was right.  Hopefully this is the last of it.  Last week was so nice and warm - it was a small taste of spring.
I went back to work yesterday after my nice long weekend.  The long weekend made me realize how excited I am to be a stay-at-home mom.  Due to recent events, I really dislike going to work at the moment and I am just going to grin and bear it for another 2.5 months. 
Jem is doing well.  At my last doctor's appointment they said he looks really healthy, but there is a 30% chance I will need a c-section.  Let's hope that doesn't happen.  Right now I am trying to find a solution to the heartburn problem.  Tums and Zantac don't work at all.  Mostly I'm okay if I eat small portions and don't drink anything besides milk with my food.  But sometimes I get really bad heartburn from unlikely foods (like plain chicken, pasta, and even cold cereal) that keeps me awake until 1am.  But I know it's normal, so as long as everything is normal I won't be too upset.  I just want our little guy to be healthy.  He'll be here in less than 3 months - it's crazy!  I hope we'll be ready by then.
James has submitted 2 law school applications, with four more to go.  Start crossing your fingers!

Today Jem found my ribs.  I think someday he is going to be a professional kickboxer.  Having your ribs kicked is not a very pleasant sensation.  I love the little guy, but I really wish he'd cut it out.  Someday I will find a way to get back at him.  Maybe I will put shaving cream on his face while he is asleep (not when he's a baby, of course, but in fifteen years or so).

Also, there is a mysterious, weird, unpleasant odor in our apartment.  We can't figure out what it is, or where it's coming from.  We have taken out all the garbage, done all the dishes, and everything is nearly spotless, but something still smells really nasty.  Any ideas?

James is currently laying next to me completely sound asleep.  He just started muttering about watching a movie on a green laptop.  He's so funny.  Today he ran out of gas on I-15.  He is so sweet to let me have the car and ride his motorcycle in this bitter cold.  Nearly all of the snow has melted, but it's still freezing.  Anyway, his motorcycle doesn't have a gas gauge and he tries to judge it by the sound of the gas sloshing around in the tank.  Today he judged wrong.  Luckily, a nice old woman stopped to help him.  She was a heavy smoker (James said she smoked 3 cigarettes between his motorcycle and the gas station) who said that she probably believed in the 'Mormon God' but she'd had a rough life.  She was having a bad day and she decided the only way she could make her day better was to help someone else.  I am grateful for people like her.  I hope she will be blessed for helping James today.  I am very grateful he didn't have to walk a mile to the gas station.

P.S.  James is now muttering about something coinciding with the lights in the house going dark.  He's not very coherent when he's asleep.  I love it.

I had such a wonderful Valentine's Day.  I have the greatest husband ever.  On Friday night, we went straight from work to see a movie (we saw 'He's Just Not That Into You,' which was hilarious and brutally honest).  When we got home from the movie, I got my first surprise - the whole house was clean - even our bed was made!  And he surprised me with flowers (not just one, but two bouquets, for different rooms of the house).

Yesterday, we both had to work until 8pm, but after we got off work, we came home and changed into dressy clothes and went out for a delicious dinner at The Bombay House, one of our most favorite restaurants.  Even though it is an Indian restaurant, there is one waiter that we always get whose name tag says 'Johnny,' but his name is actually Rafael, and he is from Peru.  We always talk to him in Spanish, which seems ironic in an Indian restaurant, but we have fun.  Last night we ended up talking to him for so long that he asked for our phone number so he and his wife can have us over for dinner and family home evening.  :)

1)  Yesterday I went to the doctor, and hallelujah, they gave me a pregancy-safe antibiotic to get rid of this nasty beast of a cold.  My voice still hasn't returned, but I'm really happy that there is something I can take to get better.

2)  Would you believe that a certain someone asked me for a third letter of recommendation because the office never received either of the first two?  Something tells me he wasn't giving me the right address.  Anyway, I found a polite, non-confrontational way to tell him to get someone else to do it.  I was proud of myself.  Some people just don't understand the etiquette of asking favors.

Here's another random fact about me:  No matter how sick I am, or how much I scream at a football game, I never, ever lose my voice.  I have only ever lost my voice once before, and I was in sixth grade.  But it's completely gone right now.  Which is bad news when you work in a call center.  I'm headed into work in a few hours, and I hope there aren't any angry customers who want to talk to me today, because I can't talk back.  The best I've got is a loud whisper.  I guess I shouldn't have participated in singing time at primary yesterday (oh, for those of you who didn't know, James and I teach the five-year-old primary class together, and we love it!).

I'm really disappointed that this cold isn't going away.  James gave me a blessing last night, so I thought I would wake up back to normal today.  Every time he has given me a blessing in the past, I automatically get better within a very short amount of time - his blessings definitely work miracles.  I love him so much.  But this time it looks like I might have to take some extreme measures - I made an appointment to go to the doctor tomorrow morning.  And those of you who have lived with me know I always wait until it's really bad before I resign myself to seeing a doctor.  I don't know why this particular cold is so difficult to beat.

I don't have a fever, which is good, but my sinuses are still completely congested, and my throat feels awful.  Worse than how I remember strep throat, but it has been a few years since I had strep.

There are three things you can take when you are pregnant:  Tylenol, Robitussin, and Sudafed.  I've tried all three and none of them have made even a slight dent.  And cough drops seem to make my throat feel worse rather than better.  I feel worried about the impact this is having on the baby.  I know everything will be okay, but I'm just frustrated about the whole situation.

I'm not seeking pity or chicken soup or anything.  James does a great job of taking care of me.  But I just felt the strong need to whine a little bit.  Thanks for listening.

1) I'm having a baby boy in May! They've given me four different due dates, ranging from May 21st to May 27th. We are naming him James Marshall Potts, Jr.

2) I speak Spanish, even though I have never lived outside of the US. It was my best subject in high school, so I decided to major in Spanish in college. I've taken seven years of Spanish classes.

3) I really hate snow. All the novelty wears off after ten minutes, and then it's just cold and miserable. When I moved to Utah, I decided that I'd better find a way to enjoy the snow since we have it for four months of the year, so I started snowboarding.

4) I met my husband snowboarding. I crashed into him. Yep. It was really cool.

5) Originally I thought there was absolutely no potential for a relationship with James, because he is four inches shorter than me. But his personality was too fun to pass up, so we got over the height issue. Now we just joke about it a lot.

6) A dolphin bit me at Sea World when I was nine or ten. I was feeding it fish, and it apparently thought my finger was part of the fish. There was no blood, but I was totally traumatized.

7) It's a good thing that we don't have cable TV, because I would waste all my time watching HGTV. I can't wait to have a house of our own!

8) I love to travel - I have been to 25 states and seven foreign countries. Someday James and I will travel the world together.

9) My biggest pet peeves are bad grammar and poor spelling. I'm a snob about English. I will think little of you if you misspell the word 'button.' (You have to have a high school diploma to work where I work, but I have no idea how half of the employees managed to graduate. Seriously. Buttun.)

10) I'm an adrenaline junkie. I love riding motorcycles, skydiving, and riding roller coasters.

11) For the longest time I couldn't really identify with either political party. I felt like a political orphan. Eventually I figured out that I'm a libertarian. And then a few months later, James realized that he is a libertarian too. We're going to indoctrinate our children, haha.

12) I love everything about baseball. Baseball means good summer weather, delicious barbeque foods, green grass, sunshine, and competition.

13) My favorite holiday is Independence Day, for most of the same reasons that I like baseball. And it is exactly a week before my birthday.

14) I can eat an entire carton of Ben & Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace ice cream in one sitting. It's good stuff.

15) I can tie a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue.

16) I was born with extra bones in my feet, and I had to have corrective surgery when I was in middle school. I have big screws in both of my ankles, but I never set off the metal detectors at the airport.

17) I love the ocean. The beach was 20 minutes away from my house growing up (even though it was a cold, rocky, Washington beach). I feel miserable in this desert climate sometimes.

18) I'm pretty sure this is all sorts of sacreligious, but I think President Uchtdorf is a silver fox. There, I said it. You know you were thinking it.

19) I love peach-flavored Propel water.

20) My favorite food is and always has been cold cereal. It's quick, easy, and delicious. Oh, and cheap. James loves that part.

21) I'm not a naturally organized person. I appreciate a clean room, but a messy room doesn't bother me. Sometimes we invite people over just so we'll have a reason to clean.

22) I used to wear a lot of jewelry, but I never do anymore. I'm not sure why - I just lost interest.

23) I wore flip-flops on my wedding day.

24) I never, ever wear sweaters, and I rarely wear long-sleeved shirts, no matter how cold it is. I feel a lot more comfortable in a t-shirt.

25) I love libraries. I wanted to live at the local library when I was young, literally. I was really sad when my mom explained that it wasn't a possibility.

I was kind-of rude to a telemarketer yesterday morning.  Here is the story:

Last week, James had a nasty cold.  And of course, I caught it.  For the past four days I haven't been able to breathe through my nose at all.  I have a very sore throat and a cough.  I wake up several times a night because I can't breathe and my tongue feels like sandpaper after breathing through my mouth for several hours.  I stayed home from work on Wednesday, but for the past three days I've just been toughing it out, hoping it will go away.  It hasn't yet, but I have faith that it will soon.

Anyway, on Friday while I was at work, I received three phone calls from this phone number I didn't recognize.  It was a local Utah number, so I thought maybe it was someone from our ward or something.  They never left a message or anything, so I didn't stress about it, but I was definitely curious.

Saturday morning at 9:03am, I received a phone call from the same number.  Even though I was still in bed and still pretty groggy, I figured it must be something uber-important for them to be calling me yet again, on a Saturday morning.  So I answered.  Here is the conversation that ensued:

Lindsey:  Hello?
Telemarketer:  Hi, my name is Joseph, and I'm calling on behalf of Chase Bank.  We would like to conduct a quick customer satisfaction survey.  Could I have 90 seconds of your time?
Lindsey:  Tell me something, Joseph.  Do you think that it is a good business practice to be calling a sick, pregnant woman at NINE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING ON A SATURDAY???
Telemarketer:  Uh.... uh... um... I'm sorry to have bothered you.
Lindsey:  Right.  Please put me on your 'Do Not Call' list.
***hangs up***

Yeah, don't mess with us pregnant women and our hormones.  You won't come out alive.  James calls it my Mama Bear instinct.

I need to vent.  Strictly hypothetically speaking, what would you do if you were faced with this situation:

Someone asks you for a letter of recommendation.  You agree to write one.

The next day, they say “Oh, never mind, I found out that I only need one letter of recommendation and ______  already wrote one for me, so I am just going to use you as a reference if that’s okay.  Since ______ is higher up in the company I figured her letter would look better on my application.”

A week later, they say “So I took in that letter of recommendation that _______wrote for me and I found out that she was supposed to mail it in.  I don’t want to ask her again because I don’t want to irritate her.  And the letter she wrote for me was really short and it would be good if it was a longer letter.  So will you write me one?”  You agree to write one.  They say, “Thanks, and by the way, the deadline is in two days so if you could mail it tomorrow that would be great.”  They verbally tell you the vague location of where it is supposed to be sent, and you ask for a concrete address.

Three days later they give you the address.  You send the letter the next day, using your own stamp and envelope. 

A week later they say, “They still haven’t received your letter and my application is on hold.  Can you send another one?”

Keep in mind that the person asking you for all of this is a pretty mediocre employee.  And they dated your best friend and didn't treat her very well.

What would you do???

(P.S.  Keep in mind that this is all totally hypothetical, and relates in no way to anything I might have experienced in the recent past.)

(P.P.S.  The hypothetical person who this is hypothetically about has absolutely no access to this website, so I don't really feel bad about posting this.)

(P.P.P.S.  I am such a non-confrontational person. I sent the letter again.  Hypothetically.  Grr.)
 

We don't own a scale.  I've never been particularly concerned with my weight.  My take on it is, eat healthy and exercise.  I've never deprived myself of foods I wanted to eat, and I've never been completely obsessed with working out a ton, but I consider myself to be reasonably healthy.  All things in moderation.

Today I had my routine monthly check-up for me and baby Jem.  We are both healthy.  But I definitely did a double-take when they weighed me.  I know it's perfectly normal for me to be gaining all this weight, but I weigh more than I ever have in my entire life.  It was slightly disconcerting.  James says I still look completely normal, the only difference being the large belly.  He knows all the right things to say.



I also get to do a fun test within the next couple of weeks.  They want to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes.  It's another procedural thing.  James says that it's silly, and that we would know if I had diabetes.  Regardless, one night I have to stop eating at 10pm and go the whole night without eating anything (which might be difficult because I always wake up at 4am feeling hungry).  Then when I wake up in the morning, I have to drink this special soda they gave me, which is chock-full of sugar.  It's a large drink, and I have to drink it all within 5 minutes.  I'm sure it will make my empty stomach feel wonderful.  Then I have to go in and have them test my blood.  Hooray!