The Ovards

making peace with your birth experience

2012-02-07T12:20:00.001-08:00

that was the title of an article that my instructor handed me a few weeks ago as we left our bradley method birthing class. i quickly glanced at the title, felt a pit in my stomach and hurried to the car. after a few minutes of silence odie asked what was wrong and i burst into tears.

"i'm most definitely not at peace with my birth experience." i said.

when i gave birth to drew i was no where near prepared for what birthing would be like. odie and i had happily sat through our oh-so-extensive 4-hour hospital class where the best advice they gave for dealing with pain was "pick a focal point."

nice.

when my contractions started, i didn't know what to do. i didn't know how to handle them or how to have odie help me. i paced our apartment and cried.

by the time we got to the hospital i was for sure the baby was almost here to find out i was only dilated to a 2. a non-working epidural, two hours of pushing, an episiotomy and a 4th degree tear later and we had our sweet boy. nothing went as i had imagined.

when we found out we were expecting number 2, i knew i wanted something different. something else other than monitors and IVs and a doctor that i didn't really know. i wanted freedom to move, eat and do basically whatever felt right at the time.

but more than that, i wanted freedom from my fears.

the pain and experience of drew's birth has haunted me and since deciding to go natural at a birthing center with this one, i've spent many an hour wondering if i can deal with the pain and how i will cope. when you have something traumatic happen in your life the easiest response is to not think about it.

that's what i did with drew's birth. i tucked the whole experience away and tried to focus on the fact that out of the whole ordeal we got our beautiful baby boy.

expecting another child has brought everything to the fore front for which i am grateful. i've spent a lot of time in prayer since that night to be able to let go of any negative emotion and fear i've felt. i'm feeling a lot more at peace about the whole experience and about my upcoming birth in general. i'll never be able to relive drew's birth (thank goodness!) but i'm feeling more whole about the whole thing. sometimes things don't go as planned. and that's okay.

this time when i'm in labor and my contractions start i'll try to remember the wise advice to pick a focal point and try to laugh instead of cry. i'm fairly confident that can be added to my list of awesome birthing techniques.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2011-10-31T05:51:00.000-07:00

love,
de, one bored looking monkey and the pregnant lady

exciting news!!!

2011-10-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

what, you may ask, would possess me to
FINALLY
update my blog months later?

a NEW BABY of course!

we're so happy to announce that
baby #2
is on the way!

i'm due april 28th and feeling great
we find out in 3 weeks what we're having
we both think it's a girl
we're so excited!

drew's first steps!!!

2011-05-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

Yet Another Cute Video of Drew

2011-04-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

an essay

2011-03-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

here's an essay i wrote for a writing contest recently.
the contest is sponsored by the county library and is titled
"the curious case of YOU" your life through the library.
enjoy!

“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!”

My green tassel on my graduation cap bobbed slightly as I looked up from reading those well-memorized words.

“We’re so proud of you!” my mother cried as she hugged me close. “We can’t wait to see where life takes you!”

I smiled and stood up from the couch secretly brushing aside a few tears that had escaped. “We should probably head out” I said as my parents stood to follow me to the car. My high school graduation waited. “Oh, the places you’ll go” I thought over and over in my mind as I gazed out the backseat window.

As we drove along my mind flashed back to the first time I read Dr. Seuss. I was at our local library, six-years-old, and wearing my favorite Yo-Yo-A-Saurus shirt, complete with a pink dinosaur and hearts. I loved that shirt and I loved the library just as much. Each trip was an escape into a world of princes, adventures and happy endings.

I bounced down the aisle glancing left and right looking for a new treasure to read. When I looked up I saw “Oh the Places You’ll Go” proudly on display. I grabbed the book, went and huddled in my usual corner, and started to read. Even at a young age, I felt motivated by this story. It felt like it was written just for me. I just knew Dr. Seuss was trying to tell me I had my own adventures and happy endings ahead of me. The possibilities seemed endless.

It was only fitting for my parents to gift me with that book for graduation. When I received my diploma I proudly walked across the stage, smiled for the camera and that was it. I was officially graduated.

Just like Dr. Seuss promised, I had places to go. I was off to college. I could barely wait for my freshman semester to begin. Walking around campus the energy of learning and doing was palpable to me. Early on I decided to study broadcast journalism where I had dreams of becoming the next Katie Couric. My path changed a bit when I stumbled upon the world of Public Relations. The combination of writing and event planning was perfect for me. I knew I had found my path.

After college, that path found its way to Washington, D.C. where I found the perfect job writing and event planning. City life suited me and I loved feeling single, independent and for the most part, happy. Life was working out just as I had imagined.

And then I met DeWayne. Smart, cute and sincere, I knew when I first met him that I no longer wanted single to be an adjective to describe me. We were soon inseparable and in love. We married shortly thereafter. Nine months later I found out I was pregnant.

When we found out I was pregnant, I experienced a kind of happiness and excitement previously unknown to me. When my newborn son was placed in my arms that happiness and excitement manifested itself in a deep-seeded love. I could fully understand what true love and selflessness felt like as I gazed into my son’s eyes.

My heart grew three sizes that day.

Now, I thought to myself, all is right in the world and I am complete. When we took our new bundle home I was riding a new mom high. I had just brought a child into this world and felt invincible.

Three weeks later we moved back to my small hometown. And then it all came crashing down.

The new high gave way to feelings of exhaustion, loneliness and depression. I felt so lost in my new role as a mother. I had given up my career, time and life I knew to have my son. Hours turned to days and days turned to weeks of being completely devoted to taking care of my baby. I loved this child of mine, but searched and longed to remember who I was. I was officially in a new mom slump.

And Dr. Seuss was right. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

When my son was three months olds, I decided one day that it was time he experienced his first trip to the library. I knew the trip out would be good for both of us. It was a bright summer day as we walked up to the familiar building. His bright blue eyes gazed up at mine as we walked the aisles and I told him about my favorite books.

As we turned a corner I saw it, “Oh the Places You’ll Go.” A wave of nostalgia washed over me. The book beckoned to me to read it’s pages once more. It had been years since I had picked up my own copy.

It was the first book my son and I checked out together.

Once home, I plopped my baby on my lap, opened the book and began to read. My mind still remembered the words. I found my thoughts drifting as I read. All of the places I’d been in my life flooded my mind. I looked down at my son and tried to imagine what places he has yet to go.

I read the last page and closed my eyes. Reading that book was like talking to an old friend. The words motivated me just as they did when I was a little girl.

I smiled, realizing that my life thus far can be summed up through the words of a Dr. Seuss book. Bang ups and hang ups, games that are won, games that are lost, waiting places, riding high, it’s all there. But my story has not ended. Becoming a mom is just part of my journey. I looked down at my beautiful son on my lap. Oh, the places we’ll both go I thought.

I’m still working on the un-slumping part. My son turns one next month and I continue to take it a day at a time. Luckily for me, my good days now far outweigh the bad ones. When I need a break, we still head to the library for some Dr. Seuss.

And will I succeed? Yes, yes I will indeed, 98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.

drew waving!

2011-03-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

happy valentines day!!!

2011-02-15T13:25:00.001-08:00

happy valentine's day!
i had a little party at our house for some girlfriends.
so fun!
we had bags with our names and filled out valentines for each other.
and naturally there was good food.

and here's our sweet valentine!!!
xoxo

Drew, 0-10 months

2011-02-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

my sweet husband put this together and i LOVE it.
mainly because i could sit and look at photos of drew
ALL DAY LONG.
i wish it was my day job.
here's to the last ten months with our little man!

Drew at 9 Months

2011-01-11T05:34:00.000-08:00

closet clean out

2011-01-01T13:15:00.001-08:00

it's time for some spring cleaning in this here closet of mine!
everything below is for sale with the price, details, etc.
minus the adorable kid with two front teeth.
he's not for sale.
if you're interested in anything but don't like the price, let me know.

1-banana republic shirt $10
size-XS
black and white print, short sleeves
73% cotton/28% silk

2-headband $1.50

3-gap blazer, new with tags $10
size 8
dark denim color, one button

4-black headband $1.50

5-floral headband $1.50

6- cream headband $1.50

7-stripped headband $1.50

8-downeast teared teal dress $10
size large
hits at knee, cap sleeves

9-gap shirt $10
size small
3/4 sleeves, sleeves roll up and can be buttoned
long length

10-gap vest $8
size small
dark maroon in color

11-express dress shirt $5
size small, plum color, v-neck

12-shade clothing vest -$7
grey and white stripes, long length

13-target blazer $8
size 4
black and white houndstooth pattern

what a difference a year makes

2010-11-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

same outfit (for me).

same husband.

new baby.

i loved halloween this year

with our cute little tiger!

Drew-PreCrawling

2010-10-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

Drew is THIS close to crawling.

Right now he's rocking the well, rocking motion.

Drew Laughing

2010-10-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

Who knew that a blanket could be so fun?

Or that my kid could be so cute?

He was laughing like this for a good five minutes BEFORE

and AFTER this video was taken.

6 Months

2010-10-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Drewbie is 6 months old!
He's weighing in at 18 lbs 4 oz and he's 26 1/2 inches long.
We love our little boy!

we did it!!!!

2010-10-04T04:30:00.001-07:00

i have a dora the explorer sound book.

i'm such a mom, i know.

there's a sound button you press and it yells

"we did it!"

of course i press it as i help azul the little blue train up the mountain

when odie and i actually woke up TOGETHER at 6 A.M. this morning

i secretly yelled to myself

"WE DID IT!!!"

here's to a week full of meeting goals!

and if you're needing a pick me-up this here monday morning,

listen to this song.

and if you're not motivated, press play again.

if that doesn't work, maybe you should stay home today.

and once you're motivated from listening to that song,

maybe you should think about wearing a pop-collar.

my six-month-old SLEEPS with pop-collars.

i'm just sayin'.

HAPPY MONDAY

bloom where you're planted

2010-09-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

it's been a month since we moved to kansas and i am
STRUGGLING.

the excitement of moving to a new place is starting to die down.
thank heavens we have some family here or i'd be completely lost.

in the month that we've been here i've made a handful of friends but it is so SLOW going.
painfully so. so far they're the friends that you say hey to at church but don't hang out with.
and when you're a stay-at-home mom, you HAVE to have friends to hang out with during the day. or your sister. but let's not get started on how many times i cry missing my sister.

so i try making friends. i try outreaching. but it just takes time and on days like today, i cry at least 18.7 times and tell odie

"i want to go home."

when i was in young women's, we had a lesson called "bloom where you're planted."
it's always stuck with me.
i tell myself that quote over and over and over during the day to help me stay positive.

bloom where you're planted...

i really hope i start blooming here sometime soon.

here's looking at you!

2010-09-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

my son is adorable and he knows it.
when he wakes up from a nap, the first thing he likes to do is look at himself in the mirror.
you know, just to make sure he still is as cute as the last time he looked.

yep, still got it.

once he sees himself in the mirror he has to make sure he looks just as good on film.
luckily for him he does.

we love our little boy!

5 Months

2010-09-07T18:30:00.001-07:00

my sweet angel baby is 5 months old today.
these months seem to keep flying by.
the fact that he'll be six months soon boggles me.

he's growing so much, everyday.
his new tricks include standing really well (when held of course)
GRUNTING like crazy (i blame his dad for teaching him :)
he is sleeping 11-12 hours at night (thank you drew!)
and he's as alert as ever

we are so blessed to be his parents.

oh, and we made it to kansas.
and odie started school and loves it.
and i'm going crazy on craigslist buying and repainting things.
the end.

slight change to the change

2010-08-12T04:11:00.001-07:00

when i feel the need for the change, it's often in the morning. i wake up and an idea hits me full-force. i try to run with it as best i can. i'll admit that SOMETIMES i don't think them through enough.

that's what happened when i woke up and thought that i needed to delete this here blog.
but then the blog started stalking me and crying to me, begging to not be deleted. it reminded me of all the times we've shared, pictures we've posted and writing we've expressed.

and really, delete my blog? i seriously can't be that extreme.

so i've decided to make a slight change on my previous change.
aren't i just a typical girl changing my mind?

i'm going to leave this here blog up. and i'll keep updating it. but i'll be removing my blog roll and comment section so this is solely a forum for my writing.

phew. that feels better.

sincerely,
the girl who likes change but likes to make change on her changes

time for a change

2010-08-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

i love blogs.
personal blogs, cooking blogs, design blogs, you name it.
any given day i'll check my blog several times to see my blog roll and who just MIGHT have updated since the last time i checked.
don't be fooled to think that i only check my blog on the times i update my own.
tis not so.

as i access my life and look for ways to improve, i am yet again reminded that my blog is more often than not a time killer.
and what i get out of reading others blogs doesn't outweigh what i would get to be doing something more productive with my time.

like, you know, kissing my child for the 1,000th time that day.
that, by the way, is a daily occurrence as well.

so it's with that note that i've decided to stop updating this blog.
gasp, i know.
but that doesn't mean we can't still be BFFs and keep in touch.

i've decided to put together a monthly newsletter to email to friends.
that way i can still keep in touch with those of you i actually know and hopefully same some time as well.

if you'd like to keep up with our delightful family and be added to the newsletter list, leave me your email address below or email it to me. i'll be deleting this blog this friday, august 13th.

xoxo
tracy

drew laughing

2010-07-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

we're in dc and LOVING it.
my favorite part so far is what happened when drew saw my sister's dog.
prepare for an insane amount of cuteness.

2010-07-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

the definition of a perfect evening:

my love swimming in the water
+
my babe in my arms

testimony thursday

2010-07-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

i have a strong testimony of the book of mormon. it continues to bring peace, clarity and guidance to my life as i continue to pour through its pages.

yesterday i had a touching experience as i was reading.

as background, i've had something weighing on my heart lately. when we moved to dc we had to pay a $1,300 security deposit to our landlord. that's how much rent we paid per month for our 495 square-foot apartment. ridiculous, i know. when we moved out and came to georgia we were hopeful, and somewhat assuming, we'd get all of our deposit back.

a few days ago i got an email from our landlady stating that due to my wearing high heels in our apartment (we had hard wood floors) and the "damage" it caused, she would have to refurnish the floors and we would receive NONE of our deposit back. WHAT? suffice it to say, i was furious when i read the email. i have no clue how wearing shoes, even high heels, in my own apartment doesn't fall under "normal wear and tear" that is listed in our lease.

i've considered several options of what to do next. i've looked into a small claims court and what we could possibly do under virginia law. i've drafted several nasty emails in my mind. but as i've thought about what to do, it's as if it's just solidifying how mad i feel about the whole situation. brewing over it hasn't brought me a lot of peace.

yesterday morning i was reading in 2 nephi 26 and came across these verses:

30 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have ^acharity, which ^bcharity is ^clove. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.

31 But the ^alaborer in ^bZion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for ^cmoney they shall perish.

32 And again, the Lord God hath ^acommanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not ^bsteal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in ^cvain; that they should not ^denvy; that they should not have ^emalice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit ^fwhoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish.

malice toward none. ah, i was definitely feeling malice. have love and charity for all. ah, definitely was not feeling charity for my landlady. i felt a peace come over me reminding me that anger and malice burn holes into our hearts unnecessarily. i felt strongly that i need to let go of these hurt feelings.

i'm still not sure what i'll end up doing with the situation and what is the most christlike and right way to respond. what does one do in a situation like this? but for the time being, i feel that the best thing i can do it just work on letting go of the negative feelings before i can move forward on any action. i'm grateful for the guidance this inspired book continues to bring to me.

3 months

2010-07-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

three months ago i birthed this child.
three months!

i just love, love being his mom.
he is learning new tricks all the time.
today he started blowing bubbles for the first time.
where did he figure that out?
other tricks he has: holding his neck up, flipping over from stomach to back,
eating like a champ, smiling freely, starring at his hands and figuring them out, just to name a few.

and let's not forget that this child is
SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT.
sweet mercy, life is great when you return to getting a full night's sleep again.

i rocked drew to sleep tonight and felt such gratitude that i get to be his mom. he is such a great baby.

happy 3 months drew!!!

PS-WE'RE COMING TO DC JULY 28-AUGUST 9th!
Oh boy are we excited!

Family Home Evening with Mr. T

2010-06-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is our son.

He has an awesome hairdo.

Odie says it's Mr. T wearing a yamaka.

It's pretty sweet.

Here's the front.

And it just gets better in the back.

It just makes our little man that much cooler.

And this is what we did for FHE last night.

Odie did a dance.

And I walked the babe in a stroller.

Life is good.

who doesn't love a nap?

2010-06-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

apparently my son doesn't love naps, that's who.
we were moving along fantastically with naps and then BAM!
this last week naps have become such a struggle.

we read the baby wise book and have been trying out some of the principals.
we feed him, keep him up about an hour, and then put him down when he's getting sleepy.
crying then ensues. which turns to screaming. i'll let him go for 5-10 minutes and then pick him up. i whisper sweet nothings in his ear such as "it's okay" over and over again until he's calm.
then i put him down again and the process repeats itself. i'll only do this twice until i give up and just hold him so he falls asleep and gets some kind of a nap.

please let me know if you have any tips or suggestions on how you get your little one down for naps. it would be much appreciated!!!

this is what my son normally looks like.
happy and cute.

but when nap time rolls around, it turns to this.
still cute, but so sad!

big news!!!

2010-06-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

drew was so excited to tell you the big news we have that he couldn't stop grinning.

ok, here it is, i lost a pound last week!
that may not seem amazing, but when your post-baby weight somehow got SUPERGLUED to your body, ANY weight lost is exciting.

ok, but that still isn't THE big news.

we moved to georgia!
ok, that's somewhat old news as we moved when drew was 3 weeks old, but just in case you didn't know or wondered why we went MIA at church.

and HERE is the big news.

Odie got into UMKC for his MBA!!!!
That's right folks, Kansas City here we come!

best present ever

2010-06-01T03:54:00.001-07:00

it's my birthday today.

and when you have a sweet boy like drew in your life,

you pretty much have everything you could ask for.

except for maybe a good night's sleep.

my little guy is so sweet that for my birthday he granted me just that.

a good night's sleep.

last night he ate at 10 and didn't eat again until 6 this morning.

that's 8 hours folks! the longest he's gone yet.

thanks drew for making this my best birthday yet!

six wonderful weeks

2010-05-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

six weeks ago today our dear drew joined our little family.

my last post was FIVE, count em, FIVE weeks ago.

and yet it feels like yesterday.

i'm amazed at how fast the last six weeks have gone by. i've heard about the "mom fog" before and now i understand. i used to wonder how stay at home moms stayed busy (naive, i know). now i don't know how moms can manage more than one child. being able to find time to write this meager blog post feels like i'm stealing time.

i love that i am able to spend all my time with drew.

my heart is his.

i live for his smiles and ache when he cries.

each day we bond more together as mother and child.

i love learning all his habits and traits.

he is such a great baby.

we are so blessed to have him in our family.

enjoy the photo log of our last six weeks.

tummy time is so funny with this kid.

he lays there and is content until he realizes he's on his stomach and then begins to cry.

drew has THE cutest sad faces.

is it bad that i think they're so cute?

there's nothing more attractive than a handsome husband carrying your darling child.

oh the illusive smiles!

so darling.

this is still my favorite position with drew.

blessing day.

drew wore the same outfit odie did.

darling, i know.

this was probably three weeks.

he's changed so much since then.

i love this photo.

odie likes to mimic drew's moves.

these last photos are taken by cute hollie.

they're drew at about two weeks.

i am a mother

2010-04-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

i am a mother.

it's been a week now since drew spencer ovard entered this great big world.

every routine and habit i had has been turned upside down. i no longer have any concept of what time it is, who has called me or what my inbox is like. but i can tell you the last time my child ate, cried, and had a dirty diaper. this last week has easily had the most all-time highs for me. the most pain i've ever felt, the most joy i've ever felt, the most hormonal i've ever felt and so on. i'm amazed at the birthing process and everything that follows.

last tuesday that process began for me at 3 a.m. when i woke up with contractions. they didn't hurt and remained steady through the morning. when i went to my 11 a.m. appointment i was a 2 and my doctor when ahead and scheduled an induction for monday just in case. i went home and the contractions continued as the pain increased. everything i read about focus points and breathing flew out the window as i struggled to just remain calm as each contraction came. by 7 a.m. and lots of tears later we knew it was time to go to the hospital. i expected at least a 3-4 dilation but was only a 2. for the pain i felt i was shocked and so ready for my epidural. that brought needed relief and i went pretty quickly to an 8. next thing i knew i was feeling a ton of pressure and beginning to feel the urge to push. and oh, the pain. it hurt so badly. it seriously felt like i had no epidural. i'm honestly not sure if my epidural was working or not. either way, i pushed for two hours and one 4th degree tear later and our little guy was out.

this little one is so precious and it brings me to tears often to feel the awesomeness that is motherhood. i am trying my best to be a good mom. it is hard. and it does not come naturally for me. i have faith that it will come as time passes. the learning curve for my new employment is incredibly high. i spend a lot of time second guessing myself. is he too hot? too cold? too hungry? too lonely? words are not exchanged between us but i am slowly starting to understand his language. i can't wait to learn everything about my little drew. he is perfect in every way. he has brought us such joy. it's been amazing to watch odie in his role as father. it suits him so well. parenthood has brought us so much closer and i love it.

i still can't believe it though but i am a mom.

and i love it.

due date come and gone

2010-04-05T03:59:00.000-07:00

i learned a valuable lesson yesterday.
due dates are highly anti-climatic.
from the moment you find out you're pregnant you look up when your due date is.
that date is then etched in your mind as THE DAY that you meet your little one.
you plan for that date, tell others to plan for that date and secretly hope he'll come by then.

my sister was awakened the morning of her due date with the "this is it"
feeling that i have yet to experience.
we're pretty similar, so i just KNEW going to bed saturday night that our little guy would be waking me to make his appearance.
sunday morning came and no such luck.

yesterday i ate spicy food and pineapple.
i went for a walk.
i got a foot massage.
odie even sent our baby a message via morris code on my belly telling him to come out.
maybe that was the problem.
odie doesn't actually know morris code.

so here i am, monday morning.
wondering when this kid will come.
i'm fine waiting.
i'm fine because it's making me move from the scared of labor realm to the
i just want him here realm.
and that's great for my psyche.

we still can't wait to meet him.

37 weeks = Full Term

2010-03-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

that's right folks, i'm officially full term.

this baby can come any day now and that'll be fine by me.
which translates to he'll most likely NOT come on his due date, he'll wait a week, and then have to be induced.

we shall see.

we finally purchased a car seat and crib last week, as well as all the other essentials. i think i stressed more about which brand/version of car seat and crib to buy than i did over any other major decision IN MY LIFE. i've come to the conclusion that no matter what brands i may buy, our baby will be just fine.

THANK YOU for the comments left about nursing. i feel less stressed about it. as a friend at church told me today, breastfeeding is no magic bullet, and if it doesn't work out, i think our baby will be just fine.

do you see the reoccurring theme of telling myself that my baby will be just fine?

it helps me not to freak out that i'll be in charge of an actual, live baby soon.

we all have our coping techniques.

and in other news, we've narrowed our name list down to four names. we think.

i've put them conveniently in a poll on the left side of the page.

please vote on your favorite.

this is hard business deciding on a name.

ok, i take back the above statement that our baby can come any day.

we have to figure out a name first.

then he can come.

dreams do come true

2010-03-09T04:16:00.001-08:00

it's well known in our household that being pregnant equates to crazy dreams.
crazy as in full-length movies in my mind, most of which are weird and make absolutely NO sense.

when i went to the store saturday night, passed by the cadbury easter eggs, debated getting them and DIDN'T, i should have known they'd find a way into my dreams. any food item a pregnant woman craves and doesn't get does not leave her alone for long.

sunday afternoon's nap came and in my dream i found myself at trader joe's with my cute friend blythe. i was raving about the goodness that is cadbury and she informed me she'd never had any. SHOCK! much to my happiness they had a whole aisle of cadbury eggs (seriously trader joe's, think about doing this). i ran up and down the aisles in glee and grabbed as many as i could. until one crashed and broke on the floor and i debated what to do. i guess every dream should have some moral dilemma. don't worry, i picked it up.

i woke up, smiled that for once i had a nice dream, and called blythe leaving her a message about my dream.

when i came home last night from work to my surprise there was a cute pink bag on my front porch. i peeked inside and it was full of CADBURY EGGS. the note inside said

"dear tracy, sweet dreams. xoxo, blythe"

i love it when dreams come true!

nursing 101

2010-03-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

someone asked me the other day what i was most scared about in reference to having a child.

that's easy.

NURSING.

i'm terrified that it won't work. that my baby won't ever latch on or that we won't get the swing of things. i've watched others struggle with it and it can be so frustrating.

i plan to nurse. i want to nurse.

i'm really excited for the experience and for the bonding that comes along with it.

i'm trying to do all i can before the little one comes to be prepared for the adventure that is nursing. we are down to the wire, you know.

so, in preparing, let me know what advice you have on nursing.

what books did you read that helped?

what products do you recommend?

any advice would be beyond appreciated.

sincerely,

the pregnant one

2010-02-23T04:14:00.000-08:00

i love being pregnant.
that does not always equate to loving my pregnant body.
naturally i love my ever-growing belly.
i touch it, talk to it, moisturize it.
but the extra padding that comes with being pregnant?
i don't love that so much.
i'm working on loving it.

when we decided to do some maternity photos i was a slight bit apprehensive,

not sure of how they would turn out.
but of course sweet hollie did not disappoint.
she is so good.
seriously.
if you're in the dc area, book her now.

she just knows all the right angles and poses.

thanks hollie, i can't thank you enough for these photos!

and then there were three

2010-02-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

my sister and i are close.

very close.

when she got pregnant i rejoiced and secretly dreamed of getting pregnant and sharing that experience with her. and then i did.

we were the pregnant sisters.

we were grumpy together during our first trimesters,

enjoyed the second and complained about the third.

as her due date grew closer i was secretly glad that she was eight weeks ahead of me. i liked that she had to figure out the whole birthing process first. i was scared of labor, had heard too many birthing stories and was in need of someone to guide me through the experience.

when i got the "this is it" call on monday it all seemed so surreal.

her time had come and our shared pregnant experience was coming to an end.

my sister reassured me several times that if labor got to be too much to watch, i could quietly exit. as everything started unfolding, i considered it. yet the more it went on i found myself enraptured in this beautiful experience. it was all part of a process of bringing this perfect soul into this world and i couldn't stop watching. my sister handled everything so well.

i cried when the baby came out and i saw him for the first time.

he is perfect.

as i watched my sister hold and feed him she had never looked more beautiful.

i sat and held all 10 pounds of baby Henry today.

as he rested on my belly my own baby kicked inside.

a gentle reminder that my time is drawing near to be holding my own one.

and thanks to my sister, i'm no longer scared.

this is what you do with two feet of snow

2010-02-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

some of you may know that my husband's name is odie.

some of you may know that his birthday is february 2nd (happy birthday babe!)

some of you may know that he LOVES sports.

some of you may know that he's afraid of spiders.

just kidding on that last one.

but what you may not know is how much this kid loves him some film making.

we had a CRAZY snowstorm this weekend.

20+ inches = lots of time to play in the snow. and make a movie.

and so, i give you odie's mountain de snow.

enjoy.

p.s. isn't my husband darling?

p.s.s. i don't have to work tomorrow. thanks snow.

photo essay of a saturday

2010-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

yesterday we went to the national portrait gallery.
they have the most amazing portraits there.
including this crowning jewel below of ll cool j.
shouldn't every art gallery have a picture of him somewhere?

this is odie explaining to a guy who told us that we couldn't take a photo that we could in fact take one (odie's pointing to the lady who had originally told him that).
i am looking to the left of the photo where there was in fact a no photo sign.
drama.
i'm fairly confident the painting escaped unharmed.

this is a civil war portrait (very descriptive, i know)
look how amazing odie made it look.
that boy.
pure, raw talent there.

this is john brown.
as odie describes it, he apparently had a hatred for red-heads.
we're just kidding.
but he does look like he hates me.

ah yes, and for those of you wondering just how big el belly has gotten, here you go.
this is me in my 28 week glory.
hello third trimester.

the last 24 hours

2010-01-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

here's how the last 24 hours of my life have gone:

last night:

8:10 p.m. odie goes to watch football and do man things with friends. i love having a manly husband.

8:30 p.m. the cough i've had for the last week gets worse. i feel ten shades of crummy.

9:00 p.m. i talked to taylor for a long time. highlight of the night. nay, week.

10:42 p.m. i get in bed. odie's not home. too used to be him being next to me. can't fall asleep.

12:30 a.m. still awake. odie comes home and proceeds to give me one of his infamous head massages. man they are great.

1:00 a.m. odie falls asleep. i continue to lay there. i try repeating the mantra "you're falling asleep" several times.

2:00 a.m. check my clock. the pressure in my nasal passages is killing me. my whole head feels like 20 pounds.

3:00 a.m. no rest for the weary. i climb out of bed and try to gingerly find the list of medications i can take while pregnancy.

3:30 a.m. find the list. debate what to do next. head pounds.

4:00 a.m. tears start to flow. i get back in bed and wake odie up to my sobs.

4:30 a.m. odie gives me a blessing. i love those. they work miracles.

5:00 a.m. i fall asleep.

today:

8:45 a.m. take odie to work.

11:00 a.m. go to doctor's appointment. diagnosis: sinus infection. awesome. given medicine.

12:30-2:30 p.m. sleep.

rest of the day: lounge, lounge, lounge. after i'm done with that, lounge so more. and try unsuccessfully to sleep some more.

and here i am at 9:00 p.m. i still feel a lot of pressure in my head.and i don't feel the least bit sleepy.

here's hoping and praying that i get some sleep tonight. being sick and pregnant is oodles of fun.

merry christmas

2009-12-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

from our family to yours.

we're off next week to kansas city to spend the holidays with odie's family.
i can't wait.
i absolutely love the holiday season.

and i also love that odie felt the baby kick last week for the first time.
it was heavenly.

life is good.
happy holidays!

23 weeks

2009-12-05T09:03:00.001-08:00

checking out at office depot this week the male cashier looked at me and said

"you look pregnant, are you?"

to which i replied

"you are a bold man for asking that, and yes, i am pregnant"

i also had a woman from the peruvian embassy tell me that i was "blossoming."

is that a good thing?

either way, here i am.

23 weeks and all.

gender results

2009-11-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

i've always known that i HAD to find out whether or not we were having a boy or girl. even before i got married i always knew i'd find out. yellow and green are just not my colors.

when my sister got pregnant and we sat around the dinner table we all guessed what she was having. "a girl!" everyone exclaimed, and my sister, hoping she was having one as well,agreed.

"most definitely!" she answered.

"you're having a boy." i solemnly declared. it wasn't what she wanted, but i thought it was right.

and it was. she's having a boy.

when we made the appointment to do the 20-week ultrasound it seemed forever away and gave me plenty of time to think about what i thought we were having.

my initial thoughts were that i WANTED a girl. what girl doesn't want a girl to begin with? ruffles and bows and pink. oh! the pink!

but a girl just didn't fit.

and so i knew. we were having a boy.

as i laid on the table this morning anxious and excited the nurse asked if i wanted to know what it is. "yes!!" i exclaimed. and so she told me. odie smiled and kissed my forehead. i squeezed his hand and it all made sense. i thought we were having a little boy.

and i was right.

the great break-up

2009-11-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

dear cable,

i'm sorry we had to break-up on such short notice.

you've always been there for me, ESPECIALLY during my morning sickness phase where all i did was stare blankly as you projected tons and tons of great channels for me. for hours on end. that was fun.

once i was out of my haze i realized that there was life to be had again and energy to move about and, gasp, NOT watch tv.

sure i'll miss project runway.

sure i'll miss the biggest loser.

sure i'll miss property virgins.

what i won't miss is feeling like i'm wasting my time.

what i won't miss is the dullness i feel flipping channels.

as we took you back to your home tonight odie and i beamed at our decision to get rid of cable. we couldn't be happier we said. sure the refund is $17 a month, but the time gained is priceless.

here's to lots of book reading, snuggling, blog writing, scripture reading and anything else that doesn't involve a tv.

who's with me???

halloween: ovard style

2009-10-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

i tried to look slightly possessed in this picture.

spooky, right?

any guesses on what odie's pumpkin is supposed to be?

you win the pumpkin if you guess correctly.

the incentives know no bounds on this blog.

never wake a crying baby. or husband.

2009-10-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

sometimes when odie takes a nap it's all i can do to NOT run in and jump on the bed, screaming for him to come out and play.

he's just so cute awake that having him slumber while i'm not

seems like a crime.

this past sunday when post-church fatigue set in we both went down for a nap. mine was over in 30 minutes, per usual. odie's lasted 2 whole hours. 2 hours!!! when the clock struck 9, i couldn't take it anymore. i crept into bed, slid under the covers and gently started rocking him awake.

and VOILA! my husband was awake and i was happy.

he, oddly enough, did not share in the same happiness that i was feeling.

"haven't you ever heard don't wake a sleeping baby?"

he mumbled as he stirred.

"um, yeah, but you're not a baby so it doesn't count."

nice defense, right?

he just laid there. so did i. things got awkward.

i don't remember what we did the next two hours. but i don't remember them being particularly as fun-filled as imagined. i went to bed at midnight with him still awake. i muttered a "sorry for waking you" before i dozed off.

he couldn't fall asleep until 3 a.m.

the next day when he went home early from work feeling sick i felt A-W-F-U-L. when he went in the day after that and tested positive for the flu i felt even more A-W-F-U-L. when he picked me up from the metro looking like this i tried to feel awful but laughed instead.

we don't take the chance of giving a pregnant woman the flu lightly.

so odie stayed away, wearing his mask and sleeping in the living room.

it's been several days and with tamiflu's help,

he's almost back to normal.

but it has NOT, repeat, NOT been a fun experience.

trust me, i will never wake a sleeping husband again.

choose you this day

2009-10-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

everyone needs a little clarity on what to do with their month, their week, their day.
how to prioritize their time, thoughts and efforts.
i DEFINITELY struggle with this.

especially on mondays.

i found this video yesterday
and it left me so motivated and rejuvenated.

hope it does the same for you.

2009-10-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

this is a pregnant me

next sunday i FINALLY hit 4 months

sweet mercy

p.s. someone PLEASE tell me what to do with my pregnant face.

me and my face are not on good terms.

i'm in need of some serious product recommendations.

i am with child

2009-09-21T03:17:00.000-07:00

it's true.

I AM WITH CHILD

twelve weeks along.

odie and i had a grand plan.
it went something like this... go to thailand and then start trying. simple enough.
we got home and were faced with the reality of actually doing what we had talked about: trying. feared set in and i did the "am i ready?" game again. i prayed and prayed to make sure it was exactly THE perfect time to start trying.

heavenly father had a lesson to teach me.

instead of given the opportunity to try, my body played a trick on me. problems with my bladder found me post-trip in a doctor's office. i've ALWAYS had bladder issues, but march-may brought lots of pain.

the month of june was spent with doctor's visits, blood work, ultrasounds, and a CT scan. those 30 days of being told i may have to have part of my kidney removed which would result in higher risks of miscarriage allowed me the time and perspective to realize that i really wanted a baby.
and i was as ready as i could be. lesson learned.

and just like that, i was fine. my tests came back negative and we were given
the green light to try.

one month later i found out i was pregnant.

these last 12 weeks have been the S-L-O-W-E-S-T of my life. each week when i could knock another week off the eternal first trimester checklist was momentous. i would celebrate by sitting on the couch feeling nauseous.

what i've missed most though is my desire to eat anything. it's a cruel, cruel trick my body played on me to turn my once favorite foods into bland, gross objects.
i'm still waiting for my appetite to come back.

that will be a glorious day.

so will be meeting this little one.

i want a girl.

odie wants a boy.

naturally.

either way, we've decided to name it tracy, jr.
just like i've always wanted.

new york

2009-07-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

new york

came a callin' and we answered.

we, meaning odie, odie's brother matt, and dear meg.

we headed to nyc to see sweet taylor
who happened to be in town for her brother ryan's wedding.

exhibit A: please note the following belt.
please also note how many times it was worn during the trip.

brick walls make for wonderful backgrounds.

this right here is the reason for the season.
cute taylor in the middle.
i'd drive 4 1/2 hours to see you anyday.

getting to attend a roof-top reception wasn't bad either.

nor was coveting over the bride's dress.
i LOVE tea length wedding dresses.

handsome groom right there.

get ready for this cuteness.
their favors were sandwiches and drinks
to be handed out to someone in need.

DARLING.

standard times square photo.
by this point my dogs were a barkin"
and the lady at mcdonald's was rude
and i was getting claustrophobic from all the masses of people.
and and and...

I STILL LOVED IT.

please note the guy in the do-rag behind us.
definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

noteworthy birthday

2009-06-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

june 1st was my birthday

i share it with

brigham young, marilyn monroe AND
andy griffith

that's an all-star line-up right there

on my birthday morning i woke up to the sound of tape being cut.
i knew odie was up to something.
i came out of our room and walked into this:

(if you've never seen my living room before then ta-da, here it is)

he had put notes about things he loves about me
EVERYWHERE
the kitchen
the living room
the hallway

it made for a pretty awesome birthday.
NOTEworthy, even.

thailand = fun

2009-06-09T03:45:00.001-07:00

i seriously can't put off writing a trip update any longer!
it's been two weeks since we got back.
we're officially over our jet lag.
though we have adopted the 10 p.m.-6 a.m. sleeping schedule.
we love it.

here's our recap:

for those that like lists (which definitely includes me) here's a list of likes and dislikes about the trip. because i'm all about being honest on this here blog and every trip has its downers, like taking three hours to find your hotel. but i'm getting ahead of myself...

LIKES:
*um, hello, we were in THAILAND
*the water in phuket was P-E-R-F-E-C-T
*i got an amazing grey purse for $5
*the massages were so cheap. i think we paid $9 for an hour.
*ELEPHANTS-we got to ride them. and become obsessed with them.
*rafts-we rafted around in some caves -- very cool
*i found myself a very fine looking fresh water pearl ring for $3 - i love haggling!
*flying in-country was so cheap and fast AND they gave you a meal with each flight
*the 14-hour flight went by so fast. well, relatively. but it was so much better than expected
*i learned how to make 5, count em, 5 new dishes! don't ask me how now though...
*we got to hang out with REALLY cool friends
*i won every set of rummy that odie and i played. and we played A TON
*we saw some awesome "lady boys"
*traveling to three different cities gave us a great feel of the land
*we witnessed thai boxing which is INTENSE. you can use your elbows and kick!
*i had my first fresh coconut. odie was so proud. it was like he was on his mission all over
*we had pretty sweet hotels
*the monks were everyone and i loved spotting them in their bright orange
*i found the wood elephant that was the only souvenir i wanted to bring back
*we got to check out narita, japan and loved it
*and let us not forget our purpose in going there -- cute odie got in some wicked surfing

DISLIKES:
*in bangkok most people do not speak english. let me clarify --they speak enough to ask where you are from (EVERYONE on the streets asked us that) but not enough to be helpful in finding one's way
*due to above fact it took us 3 hours to find our hotel once we landed. maybe one of the most frustrating nights of my life. note to travelers-if you're ever in thailand, print out addresses in THAI, not english.
*i got some sick mosquito bites when we first got there that were just awful
*the tuk-tuk drivers were always trying to rip you off
*when you say you don't want a "thai massage" they probably won't listen to you. i found myself in a headlock wondering how i got there.

and of course, here are some photos. if you want to see the complete set, check here.

the trip was a success in this very moment
nicely done, babe

that's a cute couple right there

the whole gang in chiang mai.
thanks tim and amy for planning an awesome trip.

trying to find our way around got so bad
that we resorted to asking directions from monks.
though cute, they were of little help.

when we landed in japan they made you put on these masks.
they were S-U-F-F-O-C-A-T-I-N-G.
then they had someone come through with a thermal scanner.
good thing my fever went down by then.
JUST KIDDING.

one phrase that was commonly heard was
"i want a baby elepant!"
sweet odie is in love
AND saving.
you can buy one there for $3,500
christmas, anyone?

here's where we learned to cook
cooking in hot bangkok over a hot wok is beyond hot
but the food we made was pretty great

this is what odie will look like
once our baby elephant grows up
imagine that's our backyard

i think this is called the standing buddha
fitting, no?

odie looks more natural on these things than i do.

happy 6 months

2009-05-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

dearest husband,

happy 6 months.

thanks for spending your forever with me.

love,

tracy

being childlike

2009-05-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

i have lots of routines. my church one typically involves looking forward to nursery which is seriously the highlight of my sunday. truly. but for whatever reason yesterday's church routine was different and odie and i were NOT looking forward to nursery. odd.

here's what yesterday's routine was like:

go to sacrament. be spiritually uplifted. hear closing prayer. exchange post-prayer glance at odie that conveys the dread we both feel. both of us begin to stall. who can we talk to to prolong having to go down to nursery? acceptance sets in. it's our calling, we must go. walk downstairs, hear cries coming from the end of the hall. feeling of dread sets in again. walk the walk, receive complimentary dose of hand sanitizer and enter.

that's the routine just to enter nursery.

there's no routine for once in nursery. one never knows what one might find with a group of 18-months to 3-year-old children. especially at 2 p.m. when many of them are supposed to be in dreamland. suffice it to say that you can expect lots of tears, child holding and puzzles. there has been only one sunday, ONE, where there were no break downs from any children. it also happened to be easter. i call it my easter day miracle.

here's the POST-NURSERY ritual:

clean up the rooms, put away the much-beloved bubbles (what would we do without them?), grab my purse and walk away feeling more of an endorphin high than if i had just run a few miles. no kids injured, some seemed to like me, and all of them left with smiles on their faces. i like to think that was due to a job well done but have to chalk it up to how excited they get when their parents come to pick them up. it's really quite cute to watch. i'd be in nursery just to see that event alone.

for having a fairly set routine i'm amazed each week at what i learn about life from these wee ones. here are some of yesterday's lessons:

*one of the kids is potty trained. good for him, i say. with 10 minutes left in class he yells out "poo is coming!" it's pretty funny. i smile, ask if he can wait 10 minutes assuming that reasoning can clearly work with a 3-year-old, to which he replies "poo is coming, NOW!" ok. enough said. he was whisked off to handle the dire situation.

moral learned-ask for help, and ask for it quickly. too many times i suffer alone trying to handle something before i ask for help, whether it be from odie or in the form of prayer. with so many available resources, why not ask for help? and soon?

*we have one darling girl that when we color she stares at her paper, crayon in hand, and turns to me and asks for help. i reassure her that she can do it just fine and then wait. it takes a few times for her to actually begin coloring. when she does begin, she colors a tiny amount, then repeats the process of asking me for help.

moral learned-sometimes you just have to experience things in life and give them a try, not expecting things to go perfectly. i think i'm more like this little girl than i realize. i can stare at something forever waiting for the courage to begin all the while not wanting to start for fear of not doing something perfectly or even well for that matter. but that's how life works. we're here to experience things.

*the lessons in nursery are about 4 minutes long, but they still begin and end with a prayer. just like any good sunday school class would. hearing these children pray is one of the most endearing, humbling things. heaven feels pretty close at those moments.

moral learned: pray. and pray often. there's nothing like a good prayer to bring things back into perspective.

for not being in sunday school or relief society every sunday i feel pretty blessed that i'm learning as much as i am. i never knew i could learn so much from children so small. i think i'm beginning to understand the Savior's invitation to become like a child. i've spent so long trying to be so grown up. i had it all wrong. becoming childlike is what this life is all about.

getting pregnant ???

2009-04-22T17:56:00.001-07:00

this morning i woke up and wrote a blog post.

and then deleted it.

it needed to be deleted. it was honestly weird. that's to be expected when you write ANYTHING at 6 a.m.

but my need to write something on THIS very day was not satiated.

so i thought. and thought. and thought.

and you know what's consuming my thoughts A LOT lately?

having a little one.

we're not pregnant nor are we trying to be. but my thoughts on getting pregnant are ever-present these days. i blame being in nursery. upon receiving our callings the counselor in the bishopric looked us in the eyes, laughed, and said our calling was the best form of birth control. he was WAY off.

my heart grew three sizes that first day in nursery.

i think about those kids, analyze them, get excited to see them, and oddly don't cringe anymore when they're screaming as i hold them.

and they aren't even my own flesh and blood.

i can only imagine how much i'm going to love my own little

tracy, jr.

i really hope odie reads that. and that he starts protesting again.

i've joyed when my friends had children but that life seemed worlds away until i got married. now i'm the one who can actually have an offspring. what? really? don't i have to take some kind of test first or a crash course? i keep seeing kids who are years younger than me getting married and having kids. it all seems so crazy. are THEY old enough? ready?

i asked odie the other day if we were ready to have kids to which he replied:

"We're a lot more ready than a lot of people when they have children."

touche, dear husband.

but seriously people...

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO HAVE KIDS?

DO YOU EVER FEEL READY?

big kid decisions are huge. and have huge consequences. but huge blessings. i have NO CLUE when we'll try to get pregnant. but i do know that i'll have one darling husband turned father. i'm really looking forward to that. and let's be honest, not working anymore sounds pretty nice.

until then, i think i'll put off these life-altering decisions and focus on what hotels to stay in in bangkok.

THAT i can figure out.

thailand = vacation

2009-04-10T04:27:00.001-07:00

odie and i are what you would call lazy vacation planners. odie-sorry for clumping you in with me on that generalization. but we're married now so what's mine is yours...and by lazy i mean, i never stress myself out with trying to plan a vacation when someone else can do it for me.

i've been pretty lucky in my life to have this system work for me thus far. it started young when my parents would plan vacations for us. i learned to show up, ask for souvenirs and call it good. that trend continued in college where i was blessed to have great roommates who had CARS (gasp!!!) and places to go. if someone planned a trip and wanted me to tag along i was WAY in (i don't use WAY as emphasis very often, but as it's so reminiscent of my college days i deemed its use appropriate).

the system has even worked post-college. ash wanted to go to guatemala and planned that one. in again. reed and grayden planned last summer's trip to ecuador and yep, me and odie were in. being lazy planners but having friends and family who aren't works out pretty well.

when this summer rolled around, our well-intended plan to go to bolivia to see odie's darling parents didn't quite pan out. see what happens when we try to plan our own vacation?

and THEN we heard from TIM & AMY.

tim's an old roommate of odie's who's now completing his residency up in NYC with his nurse wife, amy. i was pretty much sold on any trip idea knowing i'd be able to travel with a DOCTOR and a NURSE. that's comfort a-plenty right there. plus the two of them are super cool and fun so traveling with them was oh-so-appealing.

tim and amy had planned a trip to THAILAND and invited us to go. they had it all planned out. we just needed to come.

trip already planned

+

thailand and on-call doctor

=

a done deal

my sweet husband who is a FAR better planner than i am, worked his magic and made the trip uniquely ours by arranging to fly (just the two of us) for 14 hours to this lovely little place:

TOKYO

for an overnight stay where we'll get to check out the city.

after which we'll fly for i think 6 hours to head on over to

BANGKOK

we'll be in bangkok a few days and then we'll meet up with tim and amy and head to

CHIANG MAI

and then onto PHUKET

phuket is in the far south of thailand (the yellow part of the map) right above malaysia.
where odie is beyond excited to do a little of this:

please don't expect any photos of me joining him in that endeavor.
i'd hate for you to get your hopes up.

so there you have it. the lazy planner somehow lucked out again. if you need me at the end of may you can find me in thailand. hopefully not dying from jet lag. 20 hours is mighty far...

weekly recap

2009-04-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

spring is here. and all its showers.

i say, bring on the may flowers.

i'll stop there.

true to its title, here's a weekly recap:

*my husband is on cruches. it's quite sad. and sometimes funny. but mostly sad. i knew soccer would beat him up one day. you should check out the multi-color bruise on his foot. i would post pictures, but for the sake of any children reading...

*due to aforementioned cruches, my husband has had the royal treatment of getting dropped off and picked up in front of his office everyday. he's so spoiled. wait, he does that for me EVERYDAY. who's the spoiled one?

*i went to a concert at the romanian ambassador's residence wednesday night. it was celebrating the francophone 2009 festival. i applaud any effort to celebrate anything french. when the ambassador was speaking french i prided myself on every french word i could recognize. for everything else, i just made up what he undoubtedly was saying...

"i would like to personally thank tracy ovard, especially, for being here tonight. doesn't she look radiant? tracy, please, stand up so everyone can see you..."

the ambassador of france was also there in all his french grandeur. i wanted to introduce myself but he quietly slipped out before the concert was over. i had a dream that night that he was texting me. i love when technology and diplomats cross paths in my dreamland.

*i made awesome oreo truffles that involve THREE ingredients. that's right. three. they were a hit. want the recipe? let me know. i like to share good things.

*i bought some pink ankle tights. odie likes me in those.

on tap for this weekend:
GENERAL CONFERENCE. want to learn more about it? check here.

come here, junior

2009-03-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

odie/dewayne/husbandman is on the couch and reminiscing.
i think it's because i put on some big band music. that music has the tendency to make any one revert to memories of the
good 'ole days.

"remember when we were at the kite festival and my kite was
THE highest in the sky?"

i offer a slight nod as i recollect his triumphic run down the national mall with our superman kite.

"remember that?! and remember what happened when you took it over?"

sure do. i took over, ran the kite into the ground, and spent the next good while trying to untangle the mess. good thing when you're dating everything the other person does is pretty cute and not extremely annoying.

PRIOR to THAT conversation, we had decided to discuss baby names. you know, that topic that you secretly discuss when you're dating but would never DARE tell anyone for fear of seeming crazy. but now it's legit. we're married. we can talk about baby names.
and stock markets. and retirement.

and just to satisfy the curious mind, no, i'm not pregnant.

back to baby names. one cannot decide on a baby name the day of birth. this is a serious decision with serious consequences. ever heard of a boy named sue?

luckily for odie and me, i started a list of potential baby names when i was a bright-eyed freshman in college. i was 18 and at byu. don't ask. i had no clue if i'd ever use the list but pulled it out from my old journal and turns out i have pretty good taste in names. minus daisey.
what was i thinking on that one?

but do enjoy some of our favorites:

*Claire
*Macy
*Chloe
*Anne
*Caroline
*Adeline
*Luke
*Connor

Cute, right? Maybe? Somehow we have a slight obsession with names that begin with "C" or "A." I think they work well.

I ended the so-far pleasant conversation by adding "Of course we'll have to have a Tracy, Jr." Apparently them there are fighting words. As I barely finished uttering them, Odie promptly stood up and began to march around the room in protest. It's really quite darling to watch him protest. I decided to hand him a post-it note and told him to come back to me when he was ready to discuss. One more lap around the living room and he handed in the post-it note.
He sat down, looked at me calmly and said:

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GOURD???"

I handed him back the post-it note with a smile and we repeated the process.

Outcome of the discussion: looks like we won't be having a

Tracy, Jr. That's fine.
I think I like Claire better.

DISCLAIMER: If you're pregnant, ever will be pregnant, or like pregnant people,
FOR THE LOVE, please don't steal our baby names. Unless you're a random person reading my blog who i'll never meet and whose children's names have no bearing on me whatsoever.

always read the fine print

2009-03-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

THIS JUST IN ---My kind husband pointed out to me that it is, in fact, slightly lame that to be able to get something from me YOU have to put the same entry on your blog and make something for 5 people.

SO...

If anyone out there just wants something made by me, let me know. No catch. You have to do nada. Sweet, eh???

my daily blog perusal went something like this today:

blog #1-sister's blog. left daily comment.

blog #2-nie nie dialogues. it's a sad day when nie nie doesn't blog.

blog #3-c jane enjoy it. luckily nie nie's sis blogged today which was just as good.

blog #4-pioneer woman. i just don't get it. why is her blog so popular?

blog #5-rand and chelsy. skim, skim, something about making me a gift, get excited, skim some more, sign up.

no need to read more blogs. my typical daily reading of blogs gives me the satisfaction of knowing what's going on in people's lives, which is ALWAYS enough. but not today. today i was gonna get me a present!

oh the excitement!

somehow i missed the largely-printed THE CATCH part.

read below.

turns out i have to do something too. sign up if you know what's good for you.

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!
My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be srapbooky, or sewn or maybe even some creation I haven't even invented yet. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you.
Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

want to lose weight?

2009-03-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

i'm fairly confident that that title caught the attention of almost every woman alive.

i was reading glamour tonight and came across an article that connected women getting at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep a night with losing weight. it was honestly amazing. they tested it out on several women, all with different body types. they were asked not to change anything else about their normal routines but to just get at least 7 1/2 hours. all of them lost at least 5 pounds over 10 weeks.

i'm off to bed -- 7 1/2 hours never looked so good.

two weeks

2009-02-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

my, how quickly two weeks can go speeding by. darling odie, thank you for your humorous post that made me laugh. not just the first time, but the SEVERAL times i read over it thinking "goodness, i have a cute husband." true story.

let's see, let's start with the contest first. everyone wants to be a winner, and though you all are (really), karon may was the winner of this here contest. she was right, the location is COCHABAMBA, bolivia. in honor of her quick and correct response, she was given a raspberry cheesecake shake. in honor of my coming up with the contest, i also partook of my own raspberry cheesecase shake. always reward yourself when you do something intelligent is what i say.

training in salt lake was WONDERFUL. i came away motivated to be better at my job and refreshed. that is such a great feeling. i welcome anything in life that leaves me feeling invigorated.

other highlights of the trip included seeing the darling laura lamb pressley. she just gets cuter every time i see her.

and i also got to see this cute family too. karon may, you are so dear to me. i love that we've known each other FOR-EVER and every time we see each other it feels like it was just last week. and i got to meet your little carter! you can't have anymore kids though until i have one. that way i'll have a slight chance of catching up...
so that was utah. just as soon as i came home it felt like i was packing up again and headed to celebrate their wedding:
in this town. know what it is? want another contest? ok, ok, it's seattle. seattle is a LONG way from D.C. but when you get to see Taylor it makes the flight all worth it.
here's tay and todd after coming out of the temple
in between the sealing and reception we headed to pike market. oh, how i loved this place! i have only been to seattle once before and this place was one of the only locations i remember. they have these crazy fish markets where everyone's throwing fish and so much great produce. meg and i stocked up on our fill of french bread...
look how cool this broccoli is!
want to see the original starbucks? here it is...
eating some russian piroskys. these little things were TASTY.
tay's reception was held at a flower shop. so cute and so fitting. this is me loving being part of the whole experience. i love weddings.
the gang. minus adri. adri, where are you? i don't have you in any of my pictures!
"flowering around." darling reception site, right?
on the ferry ride the morning we left, consuming our fresh fruit from the market.
the end.

DISCLAIMER-i know people that this post is NOT extremely witty. you may be reading it and thinking, where's the humor? why am i not laughing more? i waited two weeks for this? and the reason is this my friends: i'm really hot. not attractive hot, but BLAZINGLY, hate to have clothing on hot. dear odie has some fluish thing going on (i think i just made up that word) and he's currently sitting under 5 blankets (how can being sick make you turn on your hate for being hot so quickly?) and he has the space heater blaring on him and the heater is on. HOLY COW. my brain is slowly melting. and i hate being cold, but right now that seems beyond appealing. and so, i ask you for patience. once i cool down, my brain will solidify again and i'm pretty sure i can find SOMETHING humorous to write. it may be knock-knock jokes, but you have to start somewhere.

until then, i'm headed to sleep.
outside.

The industrial revolution as it pertains to colonial America

2009-02-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

Yeah right I'm not talking about that, it's boring. Plus I misplaced my 6th grade report.
So I'm no good at this blogging thing, it seems pretty feminine unless you have some sweet photos or monkey shoes to show and I'm pretty sure my dude friends think I'm lame behind my back for doing this. Well guess what, you're reading blogs... dude. So here I go, I'm bloggin' it up.
I recently had to go to the doctors office because I might have broken my leg and I woke up this morning feeling like I'd had a mini stroke during the night. My left eyeball hurt, the left side of my jaw hurt whenever I opened my mouth and swallowing drew pain in the back of my throat. This was all the result of two collisions in an indoor soccer game 9 days ago.
(Just in case you call soccer players lawn fairies) So to some of you going to the doctor may seem trivial, but I haven't been in years. I didn't even know how but to be fair, whenever I do go, it's usually straight to the emergency room. Tracy is out of town, so I called two close friends who I knew wouldn't make me feel too stupid since they like that part about me and walah, the doctor's office.
Now, the key to the doctors office is to know 3 essential things:
1. You will wait in the waiting room for at least 45 regardless of whether you're the only one there or not.
2. Getting your name called and your vitals taken just means you will sit in a clammy poorly decorated room alone for 45 minutes. It's detention... that's right they could read your nasty thoughts while you waited in the other room.
3. And three, I think that once you're in there the doctors are required to answer any questions you have! So go ahead, have some fun.

There you have it, bring a dang good book or a pillow and enjoy the 3 hour block... oh and don't forget your souvenirs:
They gave me my x-ray for $5!! What a radiological steal! And this 1 and half by 2ft photo will look fantastic over Tracy's bed stand. Look at that unbroken leg, mmhmm! That is a fine looking tibia if I do say so myself... and I do.

saturday recap + some

2009-02-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

Before I recap el saturday, let me first say HAPPY 3 MONTH anniversary dear Odie! Goodness, there's so much to celebrate in our little family this week. Odie's birthday, we've been married for three months, we caught another mouse yesterday... Does life get any better? Only if you insert IHOP into the picture...Odie and I in our three months of marriage have decided to start our own traditions. We began by getting married, then celebrating Thanksgiving and followed that up by the oh-so-popular Christmas festivities (HIGHLY recommend that one). One tradition that we began ions ago BEFORE we were married was going to IHOP for Odie's birthday. It happened last year back when we were just nothing more than young, recently dating love, and it happened again this year.

To spice things up we invited dear friends and to top if off LOTS of people asked about Odie's new Vibram Five Fingers shoes, something he LOVES LOVES LOVES to happen.

Other Saturday activities:
*Dinner with the fam at Guapos
*Getting the okay by the land lady to hang things in our abode (PHEW!)
*Get together with friends to contest who had the best travels last year. We did not enter as we would have undoubtedly won. Or was it that we were lazy and didn't enter?
*Eating vanilla ice cream to cap off a great day.

In other news, I'm headed here today:
I'll be gone a week for work training. I do work for the Church, you know.

Please miss me.

As I'll surely miss you. And you. And yes, you too.

In more exciting news, we're headed here this summer:

ariel view

closer up

I know you all love contests, so I'll give a prize to whoever guesses what city and country that statue is in (prize TBD. don't worry, it'll be good).

To help alleviate the sadness that must be consuming you upon reading that I won't be blogging for a WHOLE week, let me give you the MOST exciting news....

not only can this boy breakdance like no other,
and run marathons in record time,
AND feed wild iguanas,
but the boy's got skills in BLOGGING too!

odie will be blogging this week to represent our dear family.

have a great week....xoxo....

look who's 27!!!

2009-02-02T06:08:00.001-08:00

our dear dewayne is turning 27 today.

happy happy birthday darling!

it seems like the list of 20 things about yourself are all the rage now. instead of writing about yours truly, here are 20 facts about dear odie that show just why we should celebrate his arrival in this world 27 years ago today.

1.he loves, loves, LOVES his 16 nieces and nephews. it's quite charming to watch him with them. oh the excitement when uncle de is around!

2. odie's real name is DeWayne Spencer Ovard. DeWayne is the name of his grandfather.

3. odie has 5 sisters and 1 brother. is it any wonder this kid is so sensitive and caring? is sensitive too girly a descriptive word for a man? either way, he's still sensitive and i love it.

4. he loves to jump off cliffs. can you say scary? what would be my worst nightmare is beyond thrilling to him.

5. he served his mission in hawaii and christmas island.

now that is one mission that i wouldn't mind revisiting...

6. he is really, really strong.

as noted by the frequent flexing he'll bust out when a camera appears.

7. he majored in integrated science and technology at JMU. which means a lot of things (most of which i'm not sure), but one of which is that this kid can build things. yet another reason the kiddos love their uncle. who wouldn't when you do fun projects like this?

8. he loves to read.

9. he has an awesome taste in music. when we first started dating he got me into ratatat. if you haven't heard them, look them up.

10. he has pretty awesome balancing skills, as seen below.

11. odie's amazing at coming up with great food combinations. one thing he likes to make is cereal with yogurt. i thought this was disgusting the first time i saw it,

but have grown to appreciate it.
12. one thing about odie that really drew me to him was his ability and desire to keep in touch with people. i'm AWFUL at answering my phone and contacting people, but if anyone calls him he's so great about talking to them and he actively tries to keep in touch with old friends.

13. odie has these awesome pants (below). a woman patched these jeans for him on his mission and patched them with a sweet hawaiian print. he found them again recently and after trying them on realized that the woman who patched them put money in the pants for him. so cute.

14. odie has a horrible time remembering lyrics to songs. i find it adorable. it makes for fun times in sacrament singing songs together.

15. odie is one of the most patient people i know. he always helps me through anything i'm struggling with and never seems to get annoyed.

16. odie LOOOOOVES him some sports! this is him getting ready to play football. a ritual that takes place normally every saturday morning.

after his love for football comes his love for soccer. and then hockey. and then basketball.

17. odie knows the scriptures. i find this so attractive.

18. he is so grounded in what's important. it really helps to keep me grounded too.

19. i'm pretty sure he's one of the funniest guys i know. if you need a laugh, call this kid.

20. and lastly, odie has one of the best hearts. what a gentle, kind, caring guy this is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ODIE!!!

i was definitely feeling magenta

2009-01-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

a few nights ago you could have found me sitting on the couch, soaking in the warmth from our space heater placed approximately a foot in front of my legs. can that cause cancer? no matter, for i was loving life and reading the following book: before i go on with the story, let me insert a small, er, HUGE, plug for this book. ladies, if you have ever had a dream or feel like there's so much you want to accomplish in life (this means YOU) then please get this book. it's a merit badge for grown-up girls. how clever. each chapter is a different badge and includes such goals as learning to dance, becoming a better writer, how to start a business, etc. for each badge they give you instructions and a "mentor" who tells her story and gives great resources. it's quite motivational.

unless you're me.

who upon reading the first chapter found herself going from the pumped up with energy to achieve each and every one of these goals to riding down a slippery slope to despair at NOT having already accomplished any of the goals in my head. why haven't i become a better writer yet? what in the world was i thinking not going on a study abroad? will i ever accomplish anything productive in this life? who am i? and why am i here? ok, i didn't ask those last two, but you get the picture.

it was like putting into a blender SADNESS, DESPAIR, and DOUBT and pouring it into my heart.

i turned to mi husband and told him my thoughts. thoughts on how i wanted to get SO much done in this life, but how easy it is to feel discouraged by all the times in my past that i've tried something and haven't succeeded. and how hard it can be to find the courage to try something YET AGAIN.

my response from my dear husband was, and i quote,:

"OK, WELL THEN JUST DO IT"

nike, anyone?

i, in my natural girl fashion, completely shut down from telling anymore about my precious feelings and that was the end of THAT conversation.

UNTIL...

the next morning when we sat down like the grown adults that we are and talked about our feelings and what i need, yada, yada. lest you think my husband is not extremely caring, sensitive and utterly awesome (for he is), let me share with you the analogy of the crayons to better understand the situation.

girls have a 64-crayon box WITH a deluxe pencil sharpener on the back (built in, no less). on any given day we can pull out any, or all, of the colors and say that we're feeling that color. today... today's a good day, so i'm feeling, um, sky blue. last week... last week, i was feeling excited, so i was feeling lavender. and so on and so forth. we have a mirage of colors in our emotional library.

guys, on the other hand, they are blessed to have an 8-crayon box. they can understand all of the primary colors.

SO when i gushed my feelings the other night it was in essence me pulling out my magenta color and dear odie pulling out his red and saying "here, i have red! and i understand red. is that how you're feeling?" "no, ok, well i have blue! blue's my favorite and i really get it, is blue how you're feeling?" when NONE of my colors matched up to what he had, well, that's where confusion sets in.

guys and girls are just DIFFERENT. sure he may not get my magenta emotions but he TRIES. and i LOVE him for it. and somehow in my box i didn't get the sports crayon (is there such a thing) or the i'm tough crayon, but that's okay. i try in my own right. maybe one day i'll downgrade to a 24-crayon box and he'll upgrade to a 16-crayon box and we'll call it good.

BUT FOR NOW, we just love each other the best we can. each day learning more and more about what the other person needs. and how we can love each other BETTER, not necessarily more. and how we can COMMUNICATE in a way that the other one needs. and for goodness knows, this man loves me and is concerned for me and WANTS me to achieve all those goals i get so wound about.

and about those goals? i'll get them done. slowly but surely. no nike needed.

recap of the morning

2009-01-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

we woke up to snow outside.

it actually snowed YESTERDAY, so this morning brought us

mucho ice AND snow

this dapper young fellow went out early to start the car while i was inside, still warm

what he saw on his walk to the car.
"i'm dreamin' of a white..."

thanks to the ovards, i am sporting the lastest in winter fashion:

some awesome gloves from bolivia

doesn't looking at our frozen car make you cold?

this picture looks like odie's a celebrity and i'm hiding in the bushes,

trying to steal a shot

me putting those gloves and my WOODEN spatula to work.

why buy an actual ice scrapper when you can use a wooden one from your kitchen?

WHY?

15 minutes of defrosting, scrapping and waiting, and then we were off for our day...

my sister, the organized rockstar

2009-01-25T04:41:00.000-08:00

my sister

i'm all about giving mad props when mad props are due (i'm so relieved that i FINALLY got that saying somehow on my blog, one less thing off my list). my beautiful sister has a beautiful blog that was beautifully mentioned recently on another website called unclutter. to see the article about my sister's blog, go here. to see my sister's blog, go here.

while we're at shoutouts, why not mention some more? it's sunday, and i'm feeling generous...

#1: my brother, derek, had a birthday this week. if he had a blog, i'd insert his link here. and his darling daughter, maya, turned 8 this week. AND, holy birthdays, my dad's birthday was a few days before that! want to learn more about my pops? how convenient, he started a blog this week. go here.
#2: i FINALLY took back some of the final wedding presents. and charlee came along too. i'm not sure who/what this shoutout if for, but it made me happy yesterday.

inauguration fever

2009-01-22T15:05:00.000-08:00

d.c. has been quite busy this last week with the inauguration and all.

this is our beloved capital building, just waiting for THE ceremony.
this is me.

in front of the capitol.

NOT on inauguration day.

it's the saturday before.

close enough for me.

30 degree weather + these chairs + a mandate from father not to attend + really, really sore legs from gym workout + premonition that tons of people wouldn't get through the security gates

a tracy at home, warm, bundled up, decorating her living room while watching obama say "i do."

i DID, however, take an adventure to the library of congress last saturday (and stopped by the capitol, thus the above photos).
want to learn more about it?
i'm a big fan now, so let me inform you of the stats i remember...
let's see, it has the largest collection of music in the WORLD, and the largest collection of books (sad, i actually had to look that one up. but i got nervous, no one wants to write an error on their blog so i had to double check myself and OF COURSE it has the largest collection)
AND the coolest part for me was that they have thomas jefferson's library collection on display right now. here's my version of the story: shortly after the library was founded the brits came and burned the books. jefferson, knowing how important books are and wanting to help out, allowed the u.s. government to buy his over 6,000 books from him. there was oddly ANOTHER fire that destroyed a lot of his books and about 2/3 of them remain.

i can't describe the feeling of walking into the room that had all of his books. they're all encased and in a beautiful display. i was the only one in the room and it felt amazing knowing thomas jefferson had held these books, studying them, learning from them...

sisters
i LOVED this part. they give you "passports" when you come in, making you feel oh-so-important. they have all of these kiosks that you put your passport into and depending on what you like, it'll save it to an online account for you to go back later and look at. brillant! i hate going to a museum, finding a painting i like and then not remembering what it is. this passport remembers for you!

this is me taking one of their quizzes. i haven't struggled that much on a quiz since stats 221.

GORGEOUS

it's fun to feel like you're in europe for a bit

odie was playing football, or was it basketball, this morning. either way, he was being athletic. and i was being intellectual. i think we represented our family that morning quite nicely.

he's back...and so is she

2009-01-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

my dear odie is back home, where he belongs. it was a joyous reunion that entailed me leaving work early to go meet him at home. when you're attached at the hip and do nearly everything together, you don't always remember that you only have one house key. so if spouse A comes home early, it necessitates spouse B (in this case, me) coming to let spouse A in. got it? as i drove down 6th street i saw my husband come run into the street to greet me. everyone should be greeted like this when they drive home. it felt fabulous. my own little welcoming party. it felt like it had been ages (no, really) since i had seen him. three days never felt so long. or lonely.

but all is well. he is home. it's friday. we're playing Wii bowling tonight. and it's 14 degrees outside. yikes!

on an uplifting sidenote, for those of you that have been following the story of stephanie nielson (who hasn't?)of nieniedialogues she wrote her first blog post today since being in a plane crash on august 16. i've been following, somewhat obsessively, her sister's blog for updates. nienie has found a small place in my heart even though i don't know her, and it's great to see her back.

Dear DeWayne,

2009-01-13T09:36:00.001-08:00

PLEASE COME HOME.

Our house misses you. It seems even MORE cold than it normally does, which I didn't think was possible. The couch on the front porch that you started taking apart to reupholster misses you. The mice in our kitchen miss you. I don't actually think that one's true. You try to kill them so they're probably glad you're gone. ESPN misses you. Your favorite station hasn't been on our TV and I think it wants to come back on.

Maybe in the future I'll get used to you being gone on your business trips.

But I sure hope not.

Love,

Tracy

ahem, welcome...

2009-01-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

ah, the beginning of a married blog. this is not my (tracy) first time at a blog. some of you may be familiar with the almost infamous blog that i had running. running until i got engaged, had a first bridal shower, and then wrote my fateful last entry. my college roommates used to joke that i was a red-headed stepchild (in reality, i am) and i fear that my blog became that to me. each time i pulled up the blog it glared at me and screamed "stop ignoring me! write something already!" but ignore i did. until now. now it's time to wipe the slate clean and start anew.

we hope you enjoy our blog. you'll see that the next extry is by mr. dewayne himself and the last two are mine. we'll switch off writing and such. all in an attempt to keep you, the reader, entertained, laughing (we like to think we have some humor in us) and aware of what's going on in our lives.

so here's my promise to you new blog: i will never wait more than a week before updating. that's a pretty good goal. that way, if i update more frequently you'll be pleasantly surprised. enjoy!

Monkey Feet..... I see you looking

2009-01-08T17:14:00.001-08:00

My Christmas list for Santa was short... very short. Actually until I realized that Kung Fu Panda came out on DVD in December it consisted of one item, 'Monkey Feet.' You have got to see these things! I first saw them this past Summer while visiting the Schindlers, long time friends of our family (more like actual family). Their daughter Kristi was in town with her new born baby Jake and while chatting, there next to the couch were these things:

I made her model them and when they're on with jeans covering the strap, you straight look like a monkey!... from the ankles down. She said her husband Wes wore his to work . 50 online reviews later and they went right to my Christmas list. These shoes are part of a new 'barefooting' craze with vibram defining the word on their website as:

barefooting (bare•foot•n) n. 1. The exhilarating joy of going barefoot without leaving yourself exposed; 2. any activity requiring unconventional footwear offering the protection of a thin, flexible Vibram skin; 3. an intelligent way to deepen your connection with your natural surroundings.

You can run, swim, climb, hike or whatever you want in these things. It really feels like you're barefoot with protection. I've had them 2 weeks and I wear them everywhere. My calves are even sore from using those stabilizing muscles that normal shoes don't allow you to build because they do that work for you. I haven't actually taken them on a full out run yet but I have taken them to Golds Gym and the work out was great and everywhere you walk you can feel the surroundings of the surface... it's quite nice really.

Opening them on Christmas with Tracy's family was fun. I got insanely excited and her family was mostly open mouth with semi-confused semi-astonished eyes. A familiar face from 6 months ago and expected, here's me putting them on for the first time:

As far as looks go you would think they stick out like no other but... well they do, after somebody notices them. I wore them to work and after I showed them to people they couldn't stop staring or commenting, but seriously only a few people notice on their own! This one co-worker named Oliver was with me half the day and only after I mentioned them did he stop dead in his tracks bursting out in laughter for a split second before having to gag, choke and cough up the spit, air and who knows what else that went down the wrong pipe. Now he wants a pair. When I was in Atlanta that first week nobody noticed! I felt like a girl on a date with a new pair of shoes just begging for that compliment. Turns out all I had to do was take a ride on the metro... nobody knows what to do except look down and.... yup, kids are the cutest, no shame and no volume control.

So there you have it, get out there and join the freedom! Get yourself any of 4 styles and multiple colors and watch the pain in your knees evaporate along with your bad posture. That's right, both knee pain and back pain fixes were noted in almost all of the user reviews I read and I'm loving the feel of my feet.

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_footwear.cfm

And oh yeah... they machine wash warm.

el honeymoon

2009-01-08T04:31:00.001-08:00

i sit here trying to recap our week in cancun. the saying "pure bliss" comes to mind. if it wasn't for the near-death experience we had on our supposed leisure bike tour, i would say the week was perfect.

in deciding where to go for the honeymoon i knew it would be someplace warm, namely a beach. not because i have an affinity necessarily for the beach, but because odie does and i did want to be warm. i also wanted to go someplace completely touristy. where everyone spoke english and bathrooms were clean. and i didn't have to worry about getting sick from the food. you know, an easy vacation. and the ruins. oh how i wanted to see some ruins! put all of those necessities together and you get cancun.

we stayed at a relatively new resort called the royal. insert advertisement here: THIS PLACE IS AWESOME. please go. but don't ask for the bike tour (see above). it was so great to just relax, read, relax, eat, eat some more and then order hamburgers at midnight. i think we did that everynight. we also took two day trips. one to chichen itza and one to cozumel to go snorkeling. i was SO scared to go snorkeling. i am not a water person, but it was amazing. i felt like a fish and loved it. and the ruins were so worth it. a great history fix.

to recap our honeymoon: eating, ruins, almost dying on bike, lots of room service, NO sunburns, snorkeling, pina coladas (virgin, of course) and eating and reading some more.

this was our view everyday. we had our own little bed and would read and read and read.

at one of the 5 restaurants they have on-site

ole!

this is the life!

at chichen itza

about to go snorkeling. see the fear?

in cozumel

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

2009-01-06T10:23:00.001-08:00

your wedding day is easily the single day where everyone does in fact know your name and not only that, is there to celebrate on your behalf. add on that you get to wear an awesome dress, get your hair done and speed off to a honeymoon and up until this point i can honestly say it was the best day of my life.

here are some of the dear people included on that day:

the whole group of married friends (and one engaged. congrats tay!)

dear college roommates and life-long friends, larissa and melissa (melissa is the photographer. not of this picture obviously, but the rest).

the ovard clan. minus two sisters and one brother.

i lived with all of these girls at one time collectively. it was amazing. and i was the final one to get married. onto having kids! it is not my turn though. i get to go last on that one.

mi familia

ogreid as they are known by the world at large. that would translate to grayden, odie and reed.

t&t

8 november 2008

2009-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

if you're reading this blog then chances are you know me to some extent and know that odie (also known as dewayne) and i recently entered into wedded bliss. said wedded bliss began on saturday, november 8, 2008. you know, last year.

we were wed in the d.c. temple for all time, eternity and everything in between. we couldn't have had a better day. truly. even the time when we ran up and down the stairs twice after the reception until we found whoever had our keys was fun.

thank you to all who came, sent presents, cards, prayed for us, did my hair, helped in anyway, etc. weddings take a lot of effort and we're grateful for all the support. let me stop before this sounds COMPLETELY like the hundreds (really tracy, hundreds?) of thank-you cards we've written and post some pictures.

before i do, let me give one shout out to our photographer melissa fullmer, my dear friend from college who flew up from the great state of texas, being with child and all, and took amazing photos. we're so glad to have our day in print looking so beautifully.