Blessings come in small and simple ways!

Since being in Iowa I have had a myriad of jobs as I have described in an earlier post. It has been pretty crazy, but I think it has finally worked out to be the perfect set-up for our little family. I have been enjoying my job as the group exercise director at Aspen but know taking on the full-time position after the baby is born would not be something I could do. It takes way too much time and energy. I went to work a few days ago and was approached by the Operations Manager who proposed the idea that they are going to split the Director job up into 4 coordinator jobs and each of the coordinators would be in charge of one gym and would work about 10 hours a week. And they would like me to be one of the coordinators. This really is the perfect set-up because I will be able to do most of the work from home. I know it won't bring in a lot of money but it will help to pay the bills and I really enjoy this type of work. I feel blessed that things are working out so well for us right now.

Nate Has a New Hobby

In an attempt to get our apartment a little more organized so that we have room for the baby Nate took it upon himself to build us a bookshelf. We had to borrow some tools from our Home Teacher and our front room became the workshop (because it was below zero for about two weeks; therefore too cold to work out on the deck). After a few trips to Lowes for supplies and ideas Nate was able to pull of a very good looking bookshelf. I think he enjoyed it a little too much because he started contemplating dropping out of med school and becoming a carpenter.
It was supposed to be stained a dark wood color, but the stain we tried at first was a nasty brown color (and it had the most potent smell ever) so we had to cover it up with white paint.

As we have been looking for cribs and realizing they cost a fortune Nate threw out the idea that maybe he should build a crib...I think I am going to have to say no to that one. As much as I like the bookshelf the crib idea scares me a little.

The Bump has Emerged!!!

21 Weeks 2 Days

My belly has pretty much been in hiding thus far but when I put my workout clothes on on Tuesday my stomach was much bigger! I know it is still small but it had a major growth spurt this last week. If I keep this kind of growth up I am going to be HUGE!

Iowa Sucks!

Not everything about Iowa is bad, but for the last week it has been freezing cold. When I left my apartment this morning at 5:30am it was -12 degrees. And with the lovely windchill the temp. came in at a miserable

-23 degrees. I think we are supposed to get up to a high of 10 degrees today. By the weekend it is supposed to finally be above freezing.

Here is a little bit of random trivia for you...the coldest tempurature that has ever been recorded in a place that is inhabited by human beings is -90.4 degrees. It was somewhere in Russia. The coldest tempurature that has ever been recorded in the United States is somewhere around -70 degrees. And that was somewhere in Montana. Which is one of the many reasons we will never live in Montana (sorry Kevin and Marianne).

We are having a GIRL!!!

I am sooooo excited! I would have been just as excited if it was a boy too. I just love knowing. The ultrasound was amazing although it still doesn't feel real that there is a baby inside of me. I will try to get the pics posted but I need a scanner and don't have one today. Last night I went to bed before Nate did. When he came to bed he cuddled up next to me and said "My girls need me to hold them." It was way cute! Anyway, it is fun to be one big happy family!

By the way...I took the job. It has been keeping me busy. My phone rings all the time! I enjoy the work butI am glad it will be temporary.

Am I a bad person?...

I was made aware a few days ago that Jen the , group exercise director at Aspen (essentially my boss) was probably going to be let go. Or should we say forced to resign. Apparently the company wants her to work 40 hours in the gym instead of from home like she has been doing for the past 7 years. She has a baby and one on the way and does not want to be away from them. They also told her she was overpaid and that no one liked her. They dropped this bomb four days before Christmas. I have become quite close with Jen so we had a good long conversation about it on Sunday. On Wednesday as I was walking out of the gym Jason, one of the owner/manager guys, stopped me and basically offered me her position. It would basically be for the next three months because I too do not want to work full time once the baby comes. They told me this was okay and that I would just help them until they can find a full-time employee. The money would be great and the experience would be amazing...but am I a bad person for even considering it. The company wouldn't even be considering me if it weren't for Jen and all that she did for me. I have to make this decision asap because they want me to start Monday.

Help!

Boy or Girl?...

Only 5 more days until we find out if this little munchkin (or howerever you spell it) is a girl or a boy! I have been so excited I actually tried to move the ultrasound up a few days, but there were no appointments available:(. You can send your votes in now. The winners will receive the pride of knowing they got it right, and those of you who are wrong can buy me presents:). People keep asking if I think I know what he/she is. You know the whole mother's intuition thing...apparently I haven't quite developed that skill yet.