A Worthwhile Journey

Just a recap on my recent adventure at the Minneapolis airport. I was supposed to leave for SLC at 9:40 last Saturday night.... Long story short but they delayed my flight 4 times because of freezing rain and I didn't go out until 10:45 a.m. on Sunday. I had to sleep at the airport even though my house is only 15 minutes away because they shut down all the freeways. Luckily, I made a friend from my flight, Kendall, who is also pregnant and due within days of me. We had quite the night and saw two mice (one at McDonalds and one when we were trying to sleep). It was GROSS! Here's a picture of us camping out at the airport.

We both learned that being nearly 7 months pregnant and camping at the airport is NOT fun. I think I'm still recovering...

Now these are all reasons to be upset at the airline, weather, airport, etc. But you want to know what upsets me the most? No Cafe Rio!!! I made my Dad go buy me a salad in preparation for my arrival and he had to put it in the fridge. I was so sad about no Cafe Rio that night, I nearly cried.

But 14 hours later, I came home to find my favorite things:

Cafe Rio Salad from my Dad

Hot waterbottle from my Mom

My Dad's famous meatloaf dinner

and, of course, FAMILY!

It is so nice to finally be home! I guess my long journey was well worth it :)  Now I'm just praying that Don will get here without problems tomorrow night. The blizzard is supposed to blow through Minneapolis tomorrow .... I hope he doesn't get stuck in the airport with my nasty mouse friends.

My Bobble

I think our tap water tastes disgusting... like moldy pond scum from a dirty hose. And in the spring it is even worse .... like FISHY, moldy, pond scum from a dirty hose. But then my life changed last week when I bought this Bobble water bottle.

The Bobble is AMAZING! I can now drink water with no nasty tastes or fear of contaminants. I think I found a new love .... Isn't Bobble beautiful?

Pumpkin Art

Question: What do you get when you add Don and Halloween festivities together?

Answer: A GREEN pumpkin, carved with fantastic dremel skills.

Don always surprises me with his unique interpretation of pumpkin carving. All in all, it was a fun last-minute carving night with a few friends. They had some unique pumpkin art interpretations as well. Check out this pumpkin by Reuben.... I don't know what to call it. A helmet?

 And it wouldn't be Halloween without roasting pumpkin seeds, right? DELICIOUS!

And here are the final pumpkin intrepretations from left to right: Smiley (Liz), B'Wo (B'Wo), Jolly Green Giant (Don), Spider Crack (Melanie), Helmet (Reuben), Smiley Tooth (Katie), George the Puppy (Tyler), and Skull Face a.k.a "nice bat" (Tyler).

So much to tell ya!

So much to say, and so little time ... so let's get started on a few updates from the last few weeks!

1. First and foremost, we found out last week that we're having a BABY BOY! And he wasn't afraid to show us :) We're already proud parents and think he's the cutest boy we've ever seen!

2. I've had many requests to post a belly shot. I've been hesitant because up until now, I've just looked like a chunk more than pregnant. I'm more than halfway through the pregnancy and am starting to feel a little better. I can finally feel the baby kick, which is lots of fun. Also, I'm starting to show more ... I mostly look chubby, but this picture makes me look slightly pregnant (probably the angle and the dress). This is one of the only belly shots you'll get, so enjoy!

3. My cute Mom came to visit me last week! We had a great time planning/making curtains for a few rooms in my house, shopping and cooking. She taught me how to make my Grandma Remund's famous Swiss bread ... I don't know if I'll ever be able to figure it out on my own since this is about the 5th time my mom has taught me how to do it. It was DELICIOUS, as you can see from these pictures.

And that about sums up the last few weeks!

A BBQ

Speaking of Christmas ... Santa (a.k.a Bill and Janet) came a little early this year and look what we got:

We've been grilling every night for dinner for the last week and LOVE it. Not only did they give us this great gift of deliciousness for years to come, but they also did A TON of house and yard work while they were here last week. I always feel so guilty when they come and slave away, but we appreciate all their help! Thanks so much, Bill and Janet--come again soon!

I'd like that with cheese, please...

I know what you are thinking, but this is not another crazy pregnancy story about food, although there are plenty I could tell. This posting is about the SUPER CHEESY widget that I've added to this blog, located under my B'Wo countdown (on the right hand side of this blog).

That's right, I've added a Christmas Countdown! If you know me at all, then you know I like Christmas. In fact, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas so much that I thought I better start counting down so I can keep track of the two things I'm looking forward to this winter--B'Wo is obviously first, but Christmas is a close contender.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to go home to Utah for Christmas this year because it is too close to my due date to travel. I have been super bummed to the point that I get teary eyed anytime I think about it. (But that could also be my crazy pregnancy hormones kicking in...sometimes I feel like the abominable snowman).

Anyway, I've already informed Don that there are MANY traditions that we will be doing on our own this year to make myself feel better. So watch out Minnesota--You're about to experience a super exciting Christmas celebration, complete with our first tree (my dream for the last 5 years)! So until then, you all have the pleasure of enjoying my CHEESY countdown.

The Injustice of Mayonnaise

So I hear that pregnant people can be crazy ... and tonight I was shocked after a little crazy came out of me.

The only thing that sounded good tonight was a delicious #12 from Milios (Roast turkey breast with double Provolone cheese, guacamole, fresh lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, red ripe tomatoes and mayonnaise on wheat).

Long story short, but they messed up both of our to-go orders.


Don hates tomatoes ... he got tomatoes.

I hate, hate, hate Mayonnaise ... I got mayonnaise.

By the time I realized it was smothered in crap, it was too late for me to take it back because Don had already dropped me off at our house on his way to a meeting. I was SO MAD that they put mayonnaise all over my delicious sub. How could they have done this injustice to me?


And then this crazy person inside of me picked up the phone and called Milios. I told them I was disappointed and wanted either a refund or for them to deliver me a new sandwich, hold the mayo and sprouts. I said I was sick, pregnant and home without a car and that they needed to meet one of those demands. Now this isn't like me at all. I usually just smile and let people walk all over me ... but not today!

And to my surprise, my crazy pregnant rant worked!!! I am currently eating a fresh, delicious, mayonnaise-free sub that was delivered to my door for FREE. Thanks, Milios! You know how to treat a crazy pregnant lady right. And you bet I'll be back for more :) Just make sure to get the order right, or you know who you'll be hearing from.


Now I'm slightly embarrassed about this story, but I had to feed the baby, right? What would you have done in such a mayonnaise-smothered situation?

Introducing B'Wo

The cat is out of the bag. The beans have been spilled. I'm sure this is no surprise to anyone, as you had to know this was coming. But we're excited to officially announce that ... WE'RE HAVING A BABY! Check out these cute pics of our little one at 12 weeks. If you look close, you can see he/she is waving. What a happy fellow/gal :)

Baby Wortley
(a.k.a. B'Wo, which is pronounced "Bee Woah")
due
February 5, 2011

Dad-to-be is happy as can be!

Mom-to-be is sick, tired and constantly craving chips and bean dip. Oh, and is SUPER excited!

NOTE: Don't worry, B'Wo is NOT the baby's official name. While it is awesomely cool, we feel such a name would inflict future ridicule on the babe. We don't know its gender yet and needed something to refer to it as in the meantime, hence the name B'Wo. Thanks to the Mulcocks for helping us come up with a gender-neutral nickname.  

Maiden Voyage

This is what I got Don for our anniversary (nearly 2 months ago) and it FINALLY arrived!

This week he took it out on its maiden voyage around Lake Calhoun. Since I have NO coordination to give it a try, I took the Xootr, which I'm sure you'll remember from our Chicago days (click here if you don't remember). Good times!

The Whole Famn Damily

It has been more than two years since the Jessop family has been all together. With my sister (Jennifer) moving to Malaysia and my brother (Aaron) moving to Houston, we decided to all meet together in Sun Valley for a quick family reunion before their big moves.

Everyone was there for a quick photo (Russ and Ali; Aaron, Leticia, Ben (orange shirt), Nathan (blue shirt), James (red shirt) and Joshua (white shirt); Liz and Don; Jennifer, Brent and Craig (yellow shirt); Mom and Dad Jessop)

Look at my adorable nephews! I'm glad I got to spend some quality time with all of them. They are growing up too fast and I don't see them often enough.

Bill, Janet, Rachel and Ian came too!

While we were there, Don saw a bear that needed attacking.
(Jeff, this picture is for you!)

After Don beat up the bear, Ben and Nathan weren't afraid anymore. What a good uncle!

We took MANY trips to the candy store. As a result, Nathan's teeth were a constant shade of blue for the entire weekend.

We also took a trip up the gondola for a delicious lunch on top of the mountain. Baby Joshua liked the ride.

On the 4th of July, Sun Valley held a small festival for the kids with free train rides. They were loving their lives! James wasn't too thrilled that I put him in the pink boxcar, but Craigy got over it pretty quickly. Look at his cute wave :)

We had a fantastic time and were sad that it ended so quickly. Who knows when we'll all be together again, but it was fun while it lasted. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a great weekend!

Good Times with the Wortley Family

Sorry it's been so long since our last post. This last month has been a whirlwind, with two family trips. The first trip was with the entire Wortley family on a Baltic cruise. We had an incredible time and took tons of pictures. Here is a recap of our adventure in pictures:

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This windmill is a house!

Cheesy ... literally! We were in front of a cheese factory.

There's always time for fun when Don is around.

Berlin, Germany

The whole gang in front of The Brandenburg Gate

A memorial

What remains of the Berlin Wall

Stockholm, Sweden

The Vasa

Helsinki, Finland

A cool church built into the rocks

St. Petersburg, Russia

The Hermitage Museum ... it was massive!

Talin, Estonia

All the ladies, up and at em' for shopping.

If you've traveled in Europe, you know that when you find a good bathroom, you better use it! These were my favorite bathroom signs.

Pictures on the Ship

Family

Rachel and Ian on "The Newly Wed" game.

We went under the 2nd largest bridge in the world

Copenhagen, Denmark

This is the original Christus statue. We were excited to find it because the LDS church has a replica of it at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The End!

Now you can see why it's taken me so long to blog! I'm exhausted! Thanks Grandma Wortley for such a fantastic trip!!!

Five days after getting back from this great trip, I took off for Utah to spend some time with my family. Don met me there later that week for the 4th of July weekend. I'll blog about our trip to Utah with the Jessop family soon.