I Always Keep My Promises

So, here it is. Finally. A new post.

I can't tell you how many times I've looked at this blessed thing and made up some lame excuse as to why I couldn't post yet. "The apartment isn't done enough." "I haven't uploaded the pictures off my camera yet." "My ankles are too swollen." Whatever. But here it is in all it's glory: the last 2 months in a nutshell.

Apartment

Our little apartment here in Orlando is finally starting to feel "homey" for Taylor and I. We've hung up pictures, put together furniture, and have spent a little bit of time each weekend making little improvements here and there. Let's take a look at what I'm currently most proud of:

Photo Collage in the Living Room/Entryway

Close-up of photos

Our cute little living room!

The bookshelves that took us FoReVeR to finally put up..

My favorite shelf. tee-hee

Family photo collage between bookshelves.

This is the cute shower curtain for the bathroom in the baby's room. :)

And the adorable painting hanging in the bathroom. 

This is baby's room all cleaned out & ready to be furnished! FINALLY!

It has taken a lot of time & energy on mine & Taylor's part just to get the baby's room cleaned out finally and it is seriously our greatest accomplishment since moving in here. Our bedroom walls are still bare, but who cares. As long as that room is ready for my little man, I'll be one happy momma. :)

Baby

Speaking of our little man, he's not so little anymore... and neither am I!

Halloween-20 weeks along.

I'm even bigger now at 23 weeks, if you can believe it. But this is the best picture I have of 'the bump'. My nausea has finally decided to let up and I'm starting to put back on some of the 20ish pounds that I lost in the 1st Trimester. I only have a handful of clothes that still fit me, so hopefully Santa shops at the maternity store. :) But, overall things are going well. Little man has become more and more active as the weeks progress and I can feel him kicking around pretty regularly. He finally gave a good swift kick strong enough that Taylor could feel it from the outside and I have never seen his face light up so much! It was fantastic. :)

Does is get much better than baby Nike high-tops?!

I'm getting more and more excited about having a little boy. A girl at work brought me a huge bag of hand-me-downs from her son (including the absolute treasures shown above) and I have to say that I am loving the idea of having the little guy running around. I'm stoked to be the crazy mom yelling at the refs... helping him paint his Pinewood Derby car... and sending him on a mission to who-knows-where.  It still doesn't seem real, but I'm definitely getting more excited as the time gets closer. And, in case you're wondering... and I know that you are... We have chosen a name for our little guy but will not be sharing until he's born. But, for now, we'll call him B. ;)

And speaking of babies, MY NIECE ARRIVED!! Madison Marie Pizza was born on 11/10/11, 5 lb. 12 oz, 18". She is such a doll! I hate that I can't afford to go meet her in person, but my mom and sister-in-law keep the photos coming regularly, so that'll hold me over for now. 

I still can't believe my big brother's a Daddy! So cute!

Well, I think that pretty much colors me caught up. Taylor & I are just working hard, saving up as much as we can. I'm excited for the upcoming holidays, even though I won't be able to be with my family. But, my in-laws and my FL family are just wonderful and I'm sure will make the season just as bright. :)

Until next time... ciao!

Promises, Promises

I'm gonna kinda give you an 'Obama' post here and promise you all the stuff that I'm going to be updating in the near future. (But, there's also a promise for actual delivery on those promises... unlike some people I know *cough cough*)

1. I promise to upload pictures of the new apartment as soon as it reaches a standard of presentable-ness that I find satisfactory. You know very well that that could mean months, but I'm trying to push it along, I promise.
2. I promise to upload at least one photo of my baby bump as soon as I remember to do it when I'm not lounging around in my scrubby clothes and I actually look cute. This occurs almost more rarely than a unicorn sighting, so I'll do my best, but that's as good as it gets. 
3. I promise to be a better blogger once I actually feel settled here. And by "here" I mean the apartment, Florida, marriage... etc... I am still really struggling with this incredible up-rooted feeling. So, as soon as I can manage to feel like my feet are somewhat planted on the ground, I will be far more regular in my updates.

So... with all that said, I know you'll all be waiting by your personal computing devices, just drooling for my next post... which will come as soon as I can manage. As promised. :)

Bambino!

OK, I can FINALLY update this blog without getting yelled at!

Since I've known for the last 3 weeks that I was pregnant, it has been so hard to talk to people! Taylor and I decided to keep the news to ourselves and our close family until we had our first doctor's appointment and things were further along. Wise? Yes. Responsible? Yes. Easy? HECK NO! We have both been dying to tell the world that there's a little Smithlet growing in my belly, but kept mum as best we could.

Hence the lack of updates on the blog. I thought about posting 100 times, but the only thing that felt newsworthy was the one thing I wasn't allowed to tell. But now I can. So tell I will.

I actually realized that I was 'late' because of work. The three girls I work with, and myself, had all synched our cycles pretty fast and when I realized that I had missed my turn on the P-train, I got a little nervous. (Let me preface this with the fact that Taylor and I want nothing more in this world than to be parents, but we are also aware of the fact that our life situation right now is not the best to bring a baby into; but we'll discuss that more later). So I stopped at Publix on the way home from work and bought a pregnancy test (First Response, to be exact, because they claim to detect the slightest amount of pregnancy hormone). I had even debated not telling Taylor that I was going to take the test until I knew the results, but he knew something was up as soon as I got home. It was pretty late by the time I arrived and I had to get up early the next morning, so I decided that no matter how anxious I was, I was going to wait until tomorrow to take the test so I could get a good night's rest. Yeah... that didn't happen. At about 3:45am I had to pee and what better time to take a pregnancy test than when you already have to pee, right? So, me and that funny little stick took a trip to the bathroom and to my absolute shock there were not one, but TWO pink lines! I very calmly (and in a bit of a daze) walked back into our bedroom and turned on the light. Taylor shot up out of bed trying to decide if he had to shoot someone or run from a fire, when I showed him the funny little stick with the TWO pink lines on it. He replies "Sooo.. what does that mean?" After we both realized what was happening I finally said, "Ya know, that second line is pretty faint. I bet it's a fluke. I'll take another test in the morning to be sure." And, sure enough, the rest is history...

I can't tell you how excited I am to be preparing to be a mother. If you know me AT ALL, you know that this is what I have spent my whole life preparing for. Some people are called to this earth to be musicians... or businessmen... or world leaders... I can honestly tell you that I have been called to this earth to raise up a generation of gods and goddesses to serve my Lord in these perilous latter days. I have done everything I can to do that up to this point: being active with the youth in the church, doing my best to be a good example, and being the best darn EFY counselor I knew how to be. But I have been limited, up to this point, in my ability to truly shape and uplift this next generation. Here is where my real task begins. Building a home conducive to raising up a family of righteous, loving, selfless disciples who will be eager and prepared to do the Lord's work.

How blessed I am to be joining the ranks of the most amazing women across the world who are responsible for the raising of the gods. I am honored, nervous, excited, and scared. But, in all things, knowing that my Father in Heaven is mindful of me, of my family, and of this little angel rapidly developing in my body.

On a less "preachy" note, I go to the doctor tomorrow to go over the results of my ultrasound. Little peanut is about 1/2 inch long with a heart rate of 161.. and literally looks like a peanut. Mama has been feeling super gross so far, but some of the nausea is subsiding (at least, for now). We will definitely keep you all updated as things develop and we are so grateful for all the outpouring of well wishes from our family and friends. You are all amazing!

Update? Sure, why not!

So... to answer your question: Yes, we're still alive.

It's been ages since I've blogged. (mostly because of how busy we've been... and a little bit because I'm just that lazy) But allow me to catch you up to speed.

I am currently the Assistant Manager at the Amazing Pictures location in Disney's Hollywood Studios' AFI. I was promoted after only two weeks of working there, with zero experience in their line of business. *Yes, this would be me patting myself on the back.* I LOVE my job. The people I work with are amazing and, short of being the Mouse himself, I'm pretty sure I have the funnest job at Disney. What do I do, you ask? Allow me to show you:

This is me as Moe, Curly, & Larry's "dummies"  (one of my all time fave pics b/c I didn't even know which picture I was being put in and made those faces randomly. awesome, right?)

This is me as (from L to R) Anakin, Padme, Luke, and Leia

This is me and Annette as Jack Sparrow... excuse me, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow (thank you, Taylor)... and his .. uh... wench. ;)

So, yeah. Needless to say, my job is awesome. Taylor does quite the opposite. He has been doing demo on houses and tearing apart sheet rock with his dad's restoration company. He's pretty much like a kid in a candy store... with a sledge hammer. You're jealous, I know. 

Other than work, we have just been living a normal life. We're still residing with Mama and Papa Smith here in Windermere as we save up for our own place. They are awesome to let us mooch off of them while we get on our feet and I could not be more grateful for such amazing in-laws. In recent news, we had some Fourth of July festivities with a family in our ward. The boys shot off a pretty impressive fireworks display while we all watched. Except I got a little more than I bargained for when one of the "shrapnel" from a roman candle landed on the back of neck. (see exhibit A below) It is now beautifully peeling and scabbing and getting in the way of pretty much every daily task from washing my hair to dressing myself. I guess I need to learn to be more patriotic or something... Whatever.

All in all, life is grande in it's own complicated, trial-filled, sorta way. But we are very blessed to have each other, a roof over our heads, and the gospel in our lives. Can't really ask for more. All our love to our family & friends out in cyber space!        

- The Smiths

M-I-C... K-E-Y... Employment here we come!

Sing the title to the tune of the Mickey Mouse Club song... trust me. :P

So allow me to briefly update you on the last month. (There's a reason why I haven't updated) We spent about 4 weeks in Gainesville, in which time: business was EXTREMELY slow, I got attacked by BED BUGS, and we moved hotel rooms 3 times in 36 hours. We had been praying fervently for our situation to improve, and we thought our prayers had been answered: Taylor's manager came into our room one night and asked us if we'd be willing to pack up first thing in the morning and transfer down to Lakeland. They were short on technicians and business was booming. So we eagerly packed and took the 2 hour ride. We were shown to our BEAUTIFUL luxury apartment and I hastily unpacked and revelled in our bug-free home (complete with washer/dryer, patio, and breakfast nook). Taylor even had a job the very first night we were there! Hallelujiah! Sounds great, right? Ready for the curveball? The next day we get a phone call from the manager in Lakeland. It basically goes like this: "We aren't feeling like you're exactly 'Vivint' material. We're going to let you go."

And just like that we were jobless, homeless, and basically hopeless.

After a lot of crying (on my part) and a lot of praying (heaven bless my husband for keeping his cool) we called our parents for some sage advice. Long story, short: we are now residing in the upper room of Motel Smith. Taylor's parents have been so good to us in our time of need and I could not be more grateful to them. They have not only extended to us their home and their kitchen, but their love and support in this mess of a situation.

On the bright side, things are looking up! Both Taylor and I were hired to work in DISNEY WORLD!! We're working for a third-party company called Colorvision who runs Amazing Pictures. The VP of the company actually interviewed us personally and basically told us that if we work hard and pay our dues, she'll see us in management in the very near future. Sounds good to me! So now we're looking for apartments in Orlando and enjoying Florida the best we can. We went to Cocoa Beach this weekend and got some sun!

I am seriously in love with this neon orange nail polish. :)

So, to sum it all up: bed bugs=bad, disney jobs=good, orange polish=awesome.