The Incredibles

It has been hard to be apart from my hubby for six weeks with limited communication. However, I feel so grateful and fortunate to have such incredible women in my life... a handful of which I have gotten to spend the weekends with this July, making my time without Chip very fun and eventful. First, Mindy and her friend Kyra came into town to do a downhill race at Skibowl up around Mt Hood. I have never seen this stuff live before -insane. And, Mindy and Kyra BOTH were standing on the podium by the end of it. That's right, that's how I roll...with the winners. Seriously, their guts, beauty,and brawn are incredible.

Next up, Katy came into town from SLC for what has become her annual visit to Portland. We made our way to the coast where we found crab to eat (despite rough waters making harvest difficult and a serious search necessary), a spot to camp on the beach (barely though- let's just say we woke to the sound of the ocean being a little too close for comfort and only escaped flooding by about three feet), and beautiful flowers to photograph (as seen above). We also pledged most of our stomach space to berries and sent Katy home with enough to make smoothies for a week. It means so much to me that Katy visits every year. Seriously, incredible.

And then, I traveled to Eugene...two hours south of Portland to visit one of my college roommates from Montana. We picked up right where we left off about 10 years ago... gettin active, eating well (I have to give Dana props for keeping up with the pregnant-I-have-to-eat-every-hour girl- man, I am high maintenance these days), talking, and talking, and laughing, and of course, some shinanigans (as pictured above- at one point, the security lady told us we were being watch "from all angles"). I love how some relationships, even without being touched, age like a fine wine. Friendship itself, incredible.

Four months

Chip is still in Ecuador and I have been so fortunate to have my weekends full of fun, making the time apart easier. I will do an update about the action packed visits as soon as I finish gathering pictures.

For now, just an update about this incredible journey we are on...the one that never stops growing and changing even when I'm sleeping. I will update with pictures once Chip is home too, but for now, you will have to conjure your own. Like this one... I have been nauseous since about week 7 on and off throughout the day, forcing myself to eat most of the time, not actually throwing up often, but getting pretty close and going through all the motions daily. And I think finally, I have turned a corner at 16 weeks, but not without a grand finale.

I was busy at work and did not get the mandatory snack/meal in within the every two hour time frame. I attempted to calm the nausea with a banana and some pumpkin seeds I had in my desk before being able to get to lunch at home. As I am driving home, in a company van that someone else will be using within the half hour, I start to feel really sick. Thinking, "this too will pass" and trying some breathing, I keep driving. Only to figure out quickly that this is no false alarm. "I really don't want to clean this van out" I say to myself and quickly pull over, barely making it out of the car and to some landscaping to catch my snack from earlier. It was a rough go...probably worst one yet. Sweaty, sticky, and out of sorts, I look up from my delivery only to notice that I just helped a good handful of people work towards meeting their diet goals for the day as they pushed their food and drinks aside at the outdoor cafe seating in front of me. awesome. I waved, smiled, resisted the temptation to explain myself (they deserve to have a good story too after having to watch that- let them make up whatever they want!), hopped back in the van and drove home to clean up. How about I leave out any pictures of that one.

On a nicer note, the belly is growing, and it blows my mind that there are two people inside me. I have watched so many friends and family go through this process, but being in the driver's seat is a pretty different perspective. When people find out why I am getting fatter they ask, "Are you excited?" ...of course I am excited. But, it is true that you can not live in a constant state of excitement. However, I get these little intense moments of excitement. Like the other day, I was walking the dog on our usual route that we have been doing for over a year now. I know the houses, the kids that come out, the cracks in the sidewalk. It must be this familiarity with all the exterior stimulation that allowed some deeper sense of self all of a sudden because I looked down, saw my bulging front side through my now tight t-shirt, and literally, it took my breath away. I was in complete shock and awe of what is going on, what we are in for, what we did...as if I was noticing it for the first time. But really, that is the crazy part. I have thought about it a million times. Chip and I talked about "our kids" before we talked about getting married...something seemed safe about that, probably because it seemed so far off and unreal. And now, here we are, IN it. Whoa. Life just makes me dizzy sometimes. So, will update soon with some great pictures my guest photographers have taken while Chip is south of the border.

Hasta pronto!
Instead of a quote- a random thought.
Coolest thing in my opinion about the bunkers being 16 weeks old is that they can supposedly hear things now. Seems like a major mile stone to me- music, laughter, voices, music, Kessler's bark. Yeah!

Happy 4th!

I am avoiding pictures of my belly (on the blog) until Chip gets back. He wants to be surprised by the change. So, I'll do some catch up in August. Anyway, here are a few shots of our stupendous fourth of July weekend on the coast. The Erkkilas hosted another wonderful weekend, this time at their coastal flat. Incredible company, weather, and food filled our three days there.