Lion King

So this is a little bit old news, but this is the first time I have been able to do anything besides school work!! On Saturday the nineteenth, Alex took me to see the Lion King on Broadway at the Atlanta Civic Center. What an Amazing experience!! The Costumes were incredible and the performers were noteworthy - no pun intended! : )
I’ll start by saying that we left Athens at about 4pm because there was supposed to be some pretty serious road work going on . Well, turns out the road work was happening on the other side of the road so we got to Atlanta around 5:30 and the show didn’t start until 8pm. We drove around and saw some pretty shady areas as well as some really cute old neighborhoods. Their houses were all painted weird colors like bright green and blue and pink.. Kind of cool. So, we decided, we should go find somewhere to eat. Well, we didn’t know where to go downtown because they wouldn’t let us park at the civic center - it was too early. So we decided to get back on the interstate and drive up to the next exit that had food. We ended up going to Shane’s Rib Shack and had bar-b-que. We had never been there before, even though there’s one in Athens and it was in fact, pretty good. We recommend the fries, not the baked beans : ) but their sandwiches are really good.
Once we got back to the civic center we got inside and had to wait for them to open the theatre. Our seats weren’t amazing, but they weren’t super expensive and I didn’t mind. I would have liked to sit a little bit closer, but they weren’t the worst seats in the house either! We could see everything pretty clearly. Of course, no pictures allowed - so we don’t have anything cool from the actual performance!
The first scene when Mufasa is presenting Simba at pride rock was probably my favorite - as it is in the movie. For some reason, watching it that night brought a few tears to my eye. I have never really been to a show of this magnitude and this one touched me.
The show was so powerful and it made the story so much more alive to see real people acting out the characters and feeling their emotional experience as they told the story.
The show was about three hours long, an hour and a half for each Act with an intermission in between. The only thing that I might do differently if I were going to see it again would be that I would try really hard not to compare the broadway to movie. I felt like in the first part of the show I did that and once I realized that I tried to watch the show in a different way. I think that not comparing it makes it one thousand times better; because they share a story line, but they are in fact very different.
All in all I really enjoyed the Lion King and felt like it was one the best dates Alex and I have had in a really long time! Thanks, Honey!!

this is before we left our apartment ... Lion King, here we come!!

This is the little posters that were at the top of the civic center. I wish we could have taken one home with us!!

Our picture in front of the civic center. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Us in our seats before the show started. I don't really like this picture....

FAT phase

So… I feel like I am at that stage in pregnancy - the most dreaded phase…. I have been dreading it and now its here. You know, that stage where you know you are pregnant and you are doing all the right things, but you have started to gain a little bit. Of course, it is natural and obviously the best for thing for the baby that growing inside my tummy…. But, lets just be honest - this is the stage where you just have those few extra pounds, yet no evidence of a baby… so people who don’t know for sure that you’re a Prego, think that you’re just getting fat!
I am at the FAT phase and I HATE it!!!
I realize that this is a part of being pregnant that everyone, and that I too must go through, but I have to admit that it is not and probably will NEVER be my favorite. :) - I wish I could skip the fat phase and just get a cute round belly! I'm a dreamer, huh?
Other than this phase where I am feeling like a whale, all other things are going great! Still no morning sickness, which my doctor says I probably won't have - YAY! I am just so TIRED all the time... We have an appointment tomorrow and if anything exciting happens I will be sure and write about it.

Surprise Party

So... this weekend some friends from work decided to throw a surprise party. Another girl that we work with in PreK, Whitney, just got engaged and everyone just found out that I am expecting.... Our friends told me it was for Whitney and they told her it was for me; they had tricked us both!!! So, on the night of the party we all get there and we find that it is actually a surprise party for the both of us.... a sort of "before and after" party - so to speak!
Let me just begin by saying a couple of the women that we work with are pretty crazy... they made a "special" cake for the bride-to-be, and the party favors were the sort you'd probably only find at a place like Spencers. They had all kinds of finger foods - Zaxby's chicken fingers, a vegetable platter, fruit, chips and dip, pizza, cheese sticks, and varios types of soft drinks.
We spent the evening/night talking about experiences that happen at work and other things in general. We laughed and laughed, so hard that there were some of us to tears. It was so much fun! Then they made us sit down and open a few little gifts. Whitney got mostly gag gifts and just things that are funny... she got some edible underwear - for him, some sex dice, a fantasy coupon book, some candy, and an intimacy spinner.... yea, I think she got set for the honeymoon night!! :)
As for me, I got pampers, baby wipes, some toys, some green & yellow play jumpers, one of those cold care kits, and a gift card. I thought that was way sweet, especially since I wasn't really expecting anything - I just thought it was a party to celebrate Whitney's engagement. It was so thoughtful of those girls to do something like that - I felt so special because I've never had a surprise party before!
We usually go out to eat once every couple of weeks - those of who work in PreK, but I have to say that the food, laughter, and fun were awesome that night. I am thankful for such great friends and wonderful co-workers.

Night Out

So.... last night Alex and I had a night out since we haven't really seen eachother all week. We decided we would get something to eat and then check out the baby section at Target. We went to taco bell to eat - and it wasnt as good as we thought it was going to be, but what can you expect from fast food!?! So then we went to Target and it was in interesting experience. every aisle we went down Alex had to make a joke... not funny. So, we walked around for a little bit longer and then we decided to go.... Well, when we were on the way out, I happened to see these two girls sitting in the Target food center eating ice cream. That made me want ice cream. The thing is, there are not really any good ice cream shops on the west side of town.... so we went to Wal Mart to try and find some Edy's Mint Chocolate Chip... they didn't have any at Wal Mart. I really, really wanted it - so Alex said he would take me to Krogers. Well, on the way out of Wal Mart I saw these fruit bars... they looked really good!! So then, I couldn't decide did I want the ice cream or the fruit bars...? We left Walmart and went to Krogers and they didn't have the same kind of fruit bars, but they DID have the Edy's Mint Chocolate Chip!! So, that's what we got.
This trip may not have been the best of our nights together, but... it was the first of my probably many food experiences that will come throughout my pregnancy and Alex was a pretty good sport about it. I'm hoping that he'll be as understanding for the next six and a half months! Thanks, honey - I love you!

Conference Sunday

Today was General Conference and like every General Conference we went and spent the day with the Perschka family at Alex's grandmothers. We ate barbeque and watched conference and just relaxed and enjoyed the day. There were some amazing talks, but like always I am looking forward to when they come out in the Ensign, so that I can read them and fully take in the messages. This was the first conference that I fell asleep during it - I have just been so tired lately that sometimes I can't help dozing off!!
The biggest news of the day is that we told the family about that we are expecting. Alex waited until the last possible moment to tell them and actually his dad had to start it off for him!! He is so funny. He didn't want to tell his parents either.
When we got home from Grammies we decided we'd better call my Oma and Opa and tell them about the baby. They seemed to be pretty excited about it. I told my Opa first and he just laughed and he said he knew that was going to happen sometime soon. Oma was pretty happy, but I am sure she couldn't believe it! She said the thought it would happen but she didnt think it would be that soon. I dont think it happened really soon - I mean, I know people who have gotten pregnant on their honeymoon!! At least it wasn't that soon for us!! Oma and Opa said they weren't happy at all because when they become great-grandparents that means they are going to be old. I told them they can be called something else if it will make them feel less old!!!
So in the next couple of days I have to call my aunt and tell her. I wonder what shes going to say??
In other news we finally got plane tickets so that we can go out west in May and visit Valerie. We are pretty excited about that! We are also going to be going to Conneticut in May for Jordan's wedding -AHH- and then late May we are going to the Mountains with my parents and for our Anniversary. It's so crazy that we are coming up on a year being married... it seems like longer, but also that it hasnt been that long too - weird, huh? And then five months later, we will be parents. CRAZY.......

Our Peanut

On Thursday, March 27 we went to our first doctor appointment. It was a really amazing experience. We went in and they did a sonogram and we got to see our little peanut and hear its heartbeat! It was so surreal, but also the coolest thing I've ever experienced. To actually see the little baby that's growing in my tummy.... wow. I was just in total aww. When we heard its heartbeat, I just felt this rush of emotion come over me and tears came to my eyes. Alex and I made that little life - we made it. I never ever thought that I could do something that is so big and so important.

Our due date is October the 25th..... YAY!! So in about 7 more months we are going to have a new little family member! One of the craziest things is that from then on and for the rest of eternity, we will always be parents. I can't even imagine what that's going to be like, but I know it is an experience I will always be grateful for.



Alex is pretty excited too. I think he gets more and more excited as the time goes on. He thinks its going to be boy, which is what my family is pulling for. I don't really care what it is.... I wouldn't mind having either a boy or a girl. We should be able to find out at our next appointment, I'll update after that!!

Orlando

For Georgia's spring break Alex and I along with Jared and Katy went to Celebration in Orlando; where the Perschka family owns a codominium. We only had a day and half to spend there, but it was really awesome. We laid out at the pool for most of the day on Saturday, which was so nice. Then we went and played putt putt golf at Congo River. Alex and I both lost, but second and third isn't so bad. They were pretty close scores. Saturday night we got to spend watching a free concert in downtown Celebration. There were alot of bands that we werent really familiar with singing cover songs and then last we got to see Hootie and the Blowfish. That was pretty awesome. It was Alex's first concert ever, and you could really tell. I think he wasnt really sure what to do, so he just stood there. The band played for about an hour and we were at the whole concert from about 8:30 till around 11. We were so tired and had planned to get up early the next morning and go to the beach before heading home.

The next morning we got up around 9 and had to clean the condo and get everything together. We left about an hour and a half later. From Celebration we drove to Daytona Beach where we layed out in the sun and took walks. Alex and I went on a pretty long little walk and he got mad at me because I had took money with us so we could get something to eat and I lost it somewhere along the beach. I was pretty upset about it becuase it was twenty bucks - thats kind of a lot. I think Alex was really mad even though he pretended like he wasn't. So we just stayed hungry and ate later with Jared and Katy!!

It was such a long trip home, but an interesting one. We played all kinds of car games like twenty questions and the one where you find words on signs by going through the alphabet. It seemed like forever before we got home but finally we made it...

Even though it was a short and hectic trip with hardly time to relax and long rides in the car, we really enjoyed it alot. Thanks, Jared and Katy!