Swiss Days Parade

I am currently visiting my sister in Utah. (Yes, I know - it seems I've been traveling all month long. I have.) She just had her second little girl a few weeks ago and I came out to help in any way I can. We've been playing and having tons of fun, of course. This morning, we decided to head to Midway for the annual Swiss Days Festival. My brother, his two girls, sister, her two girls, and myself had a great time. We got there just in time to enjoy the parade festivities. I was of course traveling with some inexperienced parade goers and had to teach them the art of acquiring as much candy as possible. It was a huge success. We left with a bag full of candy.

I did notice something interesting that my husband, brother, and father can appreciate. Utahns are very passionate about their sports alliances and since today was the first official day of college football, the BYU and Utah shirts were out in force. I couldn't resist torturing one very obvious Utah fan dressed head to toe in Ute garb. I shouted, "Go Michigan" as he walked by. Oh my - I got the dirtiest look ever! It was hilarious - I couldn't help but just laugh. I'm sure if I weren't a pregnant woman, he probably would have wanted to beat my face in. Of course my husband wouldn't appreciate my sense of humor in regards to Utah sports seeing as how I am a University of Utah alumni and he is currently in Michigan to see the Utes vs Wolverines in the "Big House".

I am heading home tomorrow and am really looking forward to the next 10 weeks staying home and relaxing. Yes, I am officially 10 weeks away from my due date. I still feel pretty good aside from the usual heartburn and restless leg at bed time. I'm sure the days of discomfort are sure to come my way. I hope you have all had a wonderful summer. I know this has been one of the best summers I can ever remember and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Take me back to Chicago!

C and I just got back from a trip to Chicago. We had such a great time; Chicago is a really cool city. Granted, it was super crowded and there were people every where. We stayed in a town called Glenview and took the Metra in to the city every day. The first day we walked around for about 8 hours and my legs were totally shot for the rest of the trip, I could barely walk by the end of each day. It probably didn't help that I only wore flip flops. But, we still had a great time and got to do lots of fun things.

I had to go for work and we decided to make a whole weekend out of it. It's only about an 8 hour drive from where we live and went by quickly. I spent all day Monday and part of Tuesday at the StyleMax show in the Merchandise Mart. Basically, it's where all the retailers go to see the clothes coming out for the next couple of seasons and place orders to merchandise their stores. For someone who loves clothes, it was heaven and torture all at the same time. Thousands of square feet of beautiful clothing that you can't buy and I can't fit in to. But - I did get to help select the new inventory for the fall and holiday season at our store. Very exciting!

Here are some pictures of our trip...


This is C and I at the top of the Sears Tower.


In front of the river in downtown. We took a water taxi - that was fun!


At the Chicago Temple, our Mission President was just serving at the Temple President here.


We were taking a break inside at the Navy Pier and we decided to take a picture of my growing bump at 28 weeks.

We had a really great time in Chicago and I would recommend it to anyone. We are heading out this week to San Diego for one last 'hurrah' before the little one arrives. Can't wait!

My idea of reading

My friend and fellow blogger, PMB, recently made a post on her blog about TV and reading. I actually typed out a comment to her post and then when I went to sign in - lost it. So, I decided to post a comment by creating my own post about the subject. (thanks for the idea PMB)

Since I have only been working about 6 hours a week, I have a lot of free time. I try to fill my days with time at the pool, trips to JoAnn Fabrics for yet another sewing project, doing stuff around the house to get ready for the little one, driving to Sonic for 'Happy Hour' and chatting on the phone. But even with all that, I still spend a significant amount of time reading or watching TV. I am very easily entertained by television and even if there isn't something I am specifically looking to watch, I can almost always find something interesting on TLC, MTV, Bravo, or E!.

When I am not watching TV or doing any number of other activities, I am reading. I would categorize the genre of books I usually read as 'chick lit'. Basically, I find that the books I read are very similar to the type of shows I watch on TV. I like stories that move quickly without a lot of descriptive details. I recently admitted to C that when reading a book, I skim through most of it only really reading the dialogue. This way, I get the story and can move on to the next book fairly quickly. At this rate, I get through sometimes 2 books a week. He jokingly said that is probably why I flunked out of college, because textbooks don't usually have dialogue in them. Although I did not flunk out of college and graduated with flying colors, I did manage to do it without ever actually reading a textbook.

There must be something positive I am gaining from all the dialogue of 'chick lit' I'm reading because I do find that when I am reading on a regular basis I am able to talk better. Does that make sense? Meaning, I am able to put words, thoughts, and sentences together more clearly. I do enjoy reading and I enjoy being able to communicate effectively even if I am only reading the ever so pressing conversations that happen in 'chick lit'.

26 Weeks and Counting

Here I am at 26 weeks. And here it's what happening to my belly button.



Weird right? It's almost turning inside out. Funny! Pretty soon I'll have an outie - ah! When I tell people how far along I am, they always say, "You are all baby". What exactly is that expression supposed mean?