101 in 1001: #98-99

In an attempt to update my 101 in 1001 page, I realized that I never wrote about mine and Ryan's trips into Boston to cash in our 2nd anniversary gift from my parents, tickets to the New England Aquarium and a Duck Boat tour! 

Our original plan was to do both things on the same day, but we chose to go on the Friday during Spring Break as a reward for finishing my PPA binder for my Master's degree. We didn't have much problem getting into the city, but parking was a pain and the line to get INTO the aquarium was IN-sane. I guess going during spring break wasn't the best idea... We ran out of time to do both activities in the same day, so we came back the next week before we moved to go on the duck boat tour! I'm glad we got to do both of these things before we moved away from New England, but I would only recommend the duck boat tour to people visiting the city. Ryan and I liked the aquarium okay, but taking a ride on the duck boats was awesome! We loved listening to the witty remarks from our tour guide while riding around the city before plopping down into the Charles for a mini boat ride. 

Thanks Mom and Dad for a very clever and thoughtful anniversary gift!!

June Goals

Hello and happy June!! 

Ryan and I have officially been Georgians again for just about three weeks. Crazy. While it's still a daily adjustment (all good- but an adjustment none the less) living with my mom, dad, and brother again, I feel like Ryan and I are finding our groove and getting back to a normal-ish life. To keep the normalcy going, I thought it about time to finally start setting some monthly goals for myself again! 

JUNE GOALS

1. Read two new books

Now that I'm finally finished with my masters degree and getting settled into my new life back in Georgia, I have really been missing getting lost in a good book by the pool or at the end of the day. I KNOW I want to read "The Husband's Secret" by Liane Moriarty because I love her work and have heard great things, but I'm not sure what else I want to read! Any suggestions?! 

2. Exercise for at least thirty minutes every day

Well, I'm officially in my third trimester (27 & 28 week post coming soon)! Now that I'm in the final stretch, I think it's really important to continue to move around and exercise as much as possible to make sure my body stays strong. While I am definitely not running anymore, I did join a pretty awesome gym and hope to continue to do some sort of physical activity every day. 

3. Find a new church to attend 

It's definitely not a secret that Ryan and I miss our friends and our church up in Boston. I think a big reason why felt so much like home is because of the community we surrounded ourselves with. Even though we grew up in Georgia, this area feels kind of foreign to me and I think it's important that Ryan and I find a new church community to continue our journey with. 

4. Research and put together my "hospital bag" 
I realize it may be a little early to pack a bag for the hospital, but I have been itching to get organized and prepared for itty bitty Smitty's arrival. Since Ryan and I don't have a place of our own just yet, there isn't much I can do on the home front to get ready for her. We've already transitioned to the new OB office, chosen a hospital, and registered for three classes (labor and delivery, newborn care, and breastfeeding), so I feel like this is one of the only things I can realistically do this month. Plus... now that I'm in my third trimester, things are starting to feel more real and you just never really know when the time will come that I do need to go to the hospital. For now, I will pack a bag, store it under the bed, and keep my little legs crossed for a few more months.

Alright, the goals are written and documented. I'm off to the gym to keep Goal # 2 alive!

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 weeks and 6 days (whoops) 

Gender: Girl

Baby is the size of a(n)...: head of lettuce. She still weighs somewhere between 1.5-2.5 lbs. and is 13.6-14.8 inches long!  

Maternity clothes? I found out this week that I can still fit into most of my dresses, especially the flowier ones, but other than that I'm fully in maternity clothes. 

Best moment this week: Spending the weekend in Bowling Green with my family to celebrate my brother's graduation! Also, I'm starting to be able to see #ittybittysmitty move around, which is pretty cool. I've been feeling her kicks for a while now, but seeing her move inside my belly is new! 

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, and probably should have last week, but #ittybittysmitty officially has a full name! I'm not going to share it on the blog until after she enters the world, but it has been pretty great filling our parents and close friends in on the name! And luckily, nobody has given us any negative feedback yet...except for the woman at the storage facility that I made the mistake of sharing the name with. Her opinion was definitely not welcome. 

Worst Moment this week: I can't really think of a worst moment this week...I'm still missing my friends up North...but I don't think that's going to change! 

Miss Anything?: food related....I'm definitely missing eating red meat that is still RED.  

Cravings: Chicken salad, watermelon, fresh vegetables

Symptoms: Heartburn still and random pressure in my rib cage which starts if I sit for a while and goes away once I move around a bit. The ankle swelling has gone down tremendously this week though, which is great!! 

Looking forward to: Getting settled into our new life, my doctor's appointment at the new office on Tuesday, house hunting, and preparing for #ittybittysmitty 

Waving Goodbye to Weymouth

Writing that title may have made me tear up a bit. I can't believe that we've already been in Georgia for 7 days. I can't believe that we have moved out of our apartment already. I can't believe that the U-Haul has been packed, driven 1,152 miles, and unpacked into a storage unit. I can't believe that my student teaching and grad school have come to an end. I can't believe that we've left the place that we've called home for two and a half years and are starting new...with a baby on the way!

Ryan and I threw all normal routines out the window these past few weeks in favor of spending as much time as possible with our amazing friends up North. We went out to dinners and had our friends over as much as possible before we packed everything up.

Those last few weeks in Weymouth were such a whirlwind...I tried to capture as much as possible in pictures but I didn't do a very good job of documenting the things we did. To reminisce and play a bit of catch-up, I just thought I would throw the hodge-podge of pictures together in this post to look back on.

Thank you to all of our friends up North for just being our friends. We wouldn't be who we are today without you all.

Mine and Marybeth's graduation cake from the wonderful staff at Murphy! 

Ryan's last softball game with Life! This was his first home run of the night! 

Our going-away dinner at the Ale house:

Packing up the U-Haul:

...because who can really pack a U-Haul without pans of baked ziti and some Boston Lager?!?!

Acrobatics in an empty apartment...

Right before we handed our keys back in... 

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

25 Weeks

You may notice that this weeks picture looks just a little bit different the pictures of the past. This picture was taken last Sunday after our entire apartment had been stuffed into a 17 foot U-Haul truck and my Jeep. If you think I had any idea where my burlap banner got placed, you're crazy! For week 25, the paper plate and sharpie worked just fine. I did have to include Rach though to class the white trash picture up a bit in front of said U-Haul. 

How far along? 25 weeks (and 5 days if we're being exact) 

Gender: Girl

Baby is the size of a(n)...: Cauliflower! Apparently she's not a fruit anymore... she weighs somewhere between 1.5-2.5 lbs. and is 13.6-14.8 inches long!  

Maternity clothes? YUP. As soon as we got to Georgia, Susan gave me bags full of maternity clothes so I'm pretty much all set at this point for summer... minus a few pairs of shorts. 

Best moment this week: Pulling up to my parents house and realizing our trek down the East Coast was finally over.... 26 hours of driving later! That same day, we met up with Brad, Susan, Brandon, Rachel, Leah, Tim, and Elise at my favorite mexican restaurant (La Parilla) for a welcome home dinner! 

Worst Moment this week: Hands down, saying goodbye to our friends up North was not only the worst moment of the week, but probably one of the worst moments of my life. All ya'll up there are very sorely missed already. 

Miss Anything?: Our friends. 

Cravings: Grilled chicken and salmon, watermelon, anything cold to help combat this heat that I'm just not used to anymore. I'm also STILL craving Trolli gummy Strawberry Puffs. Every gas station we stopped at on the way down to Georgia (we made 16 stops) was scoured for strawberry puffs but they were nowhere to be found. AGH! 

Symptoms: Heartburn, ankle swelling, and rib pressure 

Looking forward to: Getting fully unpacked before repacking to head to Kentucky tomorrow morning to celebrate my little brother's graduation!!! Go Jake! 

24 Weeks and a Moving Update

How far along? 24 weeks! 16 Weeks to go! 

Gender: Girl

Baby is the size of a(n)...: Cantaloupe! She is about 1 foot long and weighs a little over a pound! 

Maternity clothes? All day, every day. My mother-in-law has been scoring some amazing clothes from sales and what not that are all waiting for me back in Georgia! Thanks to Susan I think I'm all set on maternity wear for the rest of this pregnancy! 

Best moment this week: Yesterday, Ryan and I got to hear itty bitty Smitty's heartbeat again. Other than feeling her move around in there, that is the best part of all of this! Her heartbeat is strong and around 150 bpm. Also, I have really been reminded this past week how wonderful our friends are. We have been given so much support with packing everything up and Ryan and I are so grateful. We've also just been enjoying meals and time together with our friends up here. Kristen and Stephen came out for the weekend, so we got to spend some quality time with them! Heidi, Corey, Janelle, Sheila, and Rachel F. (and Melissa)  have all helped a ton with helping us pack and bringing us boxes!

Worst Moment this week: Living in the chaos that is our apartment right now.... Everything is getting packed slowly, but there is just STUFF everywhere. The best part about packing though is that we can go back through all of the things we've collected over the years and downsize again, getting rid of the junk we don't need anymore.

Miss Anything?: With the weather getting to be so nice our during our last week in Massachusetts, we've been grilling out and spending a lot of time outside. I'm missing cold beer this week and good medium-ish steaks. I'm also missing coming home to an organized, neat apartment!!

Cravings: I've been craving Mexican food lately... enchiladas, tacos, guacamole, salsa.... Lucky for me Cinco De Mayo was this week so this craving will hopefully be satisfied after that!

Symptoms: Heartburn, back aches, and lots of ankle swelling at the end of the day.

Looking forward to: Watching the softball team play tonight for a bit since it is Ryan's last appearance on the softball team and then heading over to Sheila's for an old LG get together! I'm also looking forward to a mini "going away" party we're having on Friday night... not because we're going away but because it's one more opportunity to spend some time with our amazing friends up here before we load up the U-haul on Saturday morning. Lots of fun times in the next few days with friends! 

While we're on the subject of moving, I thought I would give a quick update on how that process is going. Ryan and I have moved four times in the last three and a half years (From Georgia to Michigan, back to Georgia, up to New Jersey, and up to Massachusetts), so you would think we would be experts by now. However, every time we've moved we've had help from a professional moving company. And by help, I mean a group of men came into our home, packed everything up, loaded it up on to a truck, drove it to our new home, and unpacked everything for us. Needless to say, this experience has been totally different. For about a month now, Ryan and I have been driving all over the place collecting boxes from stores like Marshalls and Whole Foods. On Saturday, we sold our second bedroom set and some other odds and ends, finally clearing some space in our apartment and mini storage unit to really start packing some boxes up. We made some great progress this weekend but I still can't believe how much is left to do!! This way of moving is WAY more difficult than our past moves!

Here's our progress after a solid week of moving. 5 days to go!

Our storage unit on our floor....boxes are 3 deep and still getting piled in!  

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!!