|{ Time For a Vacation }|

After Jon took his exam we got to go on a little trip!! We went with our friends Katy and Clayton to Nashville, TN where we just stayed for the night.  It was really cool to see Nashville again! I love it there! The next morning we stopped at the Loveless Cafe, which we had heard about on the Food Network! It was delicious!! We got a family style breakfast and we all ate way too much!! We also took a little stop in Mt. Juliet and went to the Kroger that we used to always go to when we lived there.  It was a lot of fun!

Then we made our way to our true destination! The Smoky Mountains!! We stayed in a cabin that was up the road from Townsend, which is really close to both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  The cabin was awesome!! It was up a really steep road and very secluded.  It was big and open and had lots of windows and a HOT TUB!  We stayed for only 2 nights but spent the whole time grilling, and hot tubbing, and roasting marshmallows over the fire.  There was definitely a lot of creative marshmallows! Ones filled with Reese's and bananas and all sorts of other things.  Even a banana that was filled with marshmallows and too much candy! Haha! It was a lot of fun!

We also made a stop in Pigeon Forge one afternoon and were pretty surprised by how absurdly touristy the place was!!!  It was insane!! So we picked one of the many places to play mini golf and that was a blast! The last couple of holes we were being rained on, but that was fun too! Then we stopped for some cheese-steak sandwiches and frozen yogurt.  Then we took a lovely drive up the mountain! It was gorgeous!!  We even saw the Appalachian Trail!! Such a fun trip!!

A few days after that we finally went to Cedar Point!! We've been wanting to go since we moved here and we finally just decided to do it!! So we hopped in the car, drove the 2 hours down to Ohio, and got to the park as it was opening!  It was a little chilly and cloudy and early in the season so the lines were never very long! It rocked!! We had originally planned to say the whole day but about 3 hours or so before they closed we had been on all of the rides we wanted, a few more than once, and to be honest we were kind of roller-coastered out! It was an amazing day!! The rides were fantastic and I even got the biggest snow cone of my life!!! It was the perfect way to let of some steam and just have some fun! We needed it! :)

|{ Step 1 + Jon's Birthday }|

Jonathan took his Step 1 exam!! YAY!!! SO glad that it's over!  He hasn't found out what he got yet, hopefully soon! It was pretty much what all of the other wives of med students told me it was going to be like.  I'm glad they told me so that I could be prepared.  I honestly didn't realize how bad it had been though until it was over and all of a sudden I had my regular, happy, loving husband back! I sure missed that guy!! :)

After he finished his test I brought him pizza from Pizza House! We went to the mall for a bit and got some new clothes.  Then we went to see Avengers in 3D! SUCH a good movie!! We had a blast!!!

The next week was Jon's 27th birthday!! The night before we had some friends over for a BBQ and games! He got some fun gifts from his friends!  On his actual birthday he opened his presents from me! The biggest being a .22 handgun.  I couldn't actually buy it for him so we went to get his permit and then went to pick one out.  We got to shoot it the next day and he loved it! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, eating Korean chicken, and spending time together! It was a great day!

|{ April Showers Bring May Flowers }|

I am IN LOVE with my front yard right now! It's super tiny and would not be enough for little kids to play in, but I don't plan to be here long enough to have kids old enough to play in the yard.  We don't even have good grass, actually I wouldn't even qualify it as grass right now...

So, WHY do I love it so much you ask?

It is b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l!!!!!

View from the house

View towards the house

We have pretty purple flowers instead of grass....

A lilac tree right outside our front door...

A pretty flowering tree, whose petals gently flutter towards the ground, and whose branches drape elegantly downwards...

And a stunningly vibrant red tree...

I can't believe how lucky I am to get to look at my own little wonderland every single day! It is purely lovely!

In other news, Jon's takes Step 1 on FRIDAY! It came faster than I thought but still not fast enough! I can't wait til it's over! Jon is stressing like crazy and studying even more crazily! Please say a prayer for him that he will be able to get the score he needs to have the career he wants! We need all the help we can get!

|{ First Time At Drill }|

Jonathan had his first day of drill today for the National Guard and I took some photos of him when he got home! It's so crazy to see him in his uniform, it gives me chills just to look at him. I'm so very proud of him!

|{ Controlling Fear }|

Yesterday, Jon and I were driving in the car on the freeway.  We had recently stopped for gas and had been on the road for at least 10 minutes when Jon put his hand on my knee and I turned to look at him and smiled.....and then gasped in shock and fear and clasped my hands over my mouth.

Jon freaked out from my reaction and asked him what it was.  I told him he needed to exit and pull over....there was a wasp sitting on his shoulder.

*Not my photo

I am utterly terrified of bees!! I was surprised I was able to control myself as much as I did. Had I found it on my shoulder it would not have been the case and we would not have had time to exit before pulling over.  You should see the way I react to them, recoiling with lots of little pathetic girlish wimpers and squeezing my eyes closed, trying to move away without being stung.

After he got out of the car and got the bee of his shoulder I started to think about fears and how to handle them.  I realized that while I don't know if I can overcome this fear, I do need to learn how to control it better.  What's going to happen when I have little kids and a bee comes around? I can't freak out about it or else they will freak out about it, they'll be scared of them too just because of the way I react to them.  I need to be able to control myself so that even though I'm scared, I can look calm and collected on the outside so my children won't have to be afraid.  I'm supposed to protect them and care for them, not make life scarier than it needs to be.

|{ Baby Tidbits }|

I imagine I will be sharing these 'baby tidbits' posts as I get closer to trying to get pregnant and of course once I do get pregnant!

Some of these you may know but I just want to share the interesting things I learn. :)

Baby Tidbit #1
From Parent's magazine:
"Q: Can my newborn hear the high-pitched voice I use with him any better than my normal voice?
A: Yes. His brain is best able to process higher-pitched, slower-paced speech, says Dr. Landry.  Using "motherese" encourages him to listen to language and, eventually, repeat the sounds"

Who knew that the sweet, high-pitched 'baby voice' you with babies is actually GOOD for them!! Awesome huh? :)

p.s. I hate sharing a post without a photo, but I have nothing to share, sorry...

|{ Dunstan Baby Language }|

I saw this video a few months ago shared by a few friends on Facebook...



It's about a program called "Dunstan Baby Language" where this woman who has a photographic memory for sound started to realize that baby's were all speaking their own language.  It consists of 5 words that let you know what the baby needs and ALL babies around the WORLD use the same 5 words!

*This photo is not mine

I was pretty interested in it and looked at more videos about it and then decided to buy the DVDs!  I watched it as soon at it was delivered to my house and I was really excited to try it out, but realized that it would be learned best once I had a baby of my own.

Then yesterday during church there was a baby blessing and the baby started crying.  I was listening to the sound and it took a minute or two before I decided that I thought the baby was saying 'neh' which is the word for hunger.  As the baby was brought back to her mom, who was sitting right behind me, the mom said that she was hungry and pulled out a bottle feed her and she quieted down. I was incredibly happy that I understood the word she was saying! It made me want to watch the DVDs again and keep trying to pay attention!

If I can have even a tiny bit of experience with listening to baby's cries before I have a baby of my own then I will already be ahead of the curve! I can't wait to continue to practice!

|{ Pizza & Gelato }|

I'm pretty jealous because Jon's aunt and uncle and their family just went to Rome, Italy and I REALLY wish I could be there again! I miss it so much!! Every few weeks I get this super intense desire to just be back on those streets and eating their amazing food! It was the trip of a lifetime and I know we'll go back someday, just no plans in the near or partially near future.

Anyway, today I was particularly feeling dreamy about Italy.  We went out to eat with our friend Paul and his family and got NYPD pizza and it was really good!!! I even got to have ham and pineapple (which is my favorite) and apparently my husband complains to people about it...geez... ;)  It was really cool to meet his family, they are super nice!! :)

*This photo is not mine

While we were eating dinner, I was looking out the window and happened to see a gelateria!! I told Jon and we decided to go and check it out after we left! We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was FREAKING AWESOME!!!! They told us that they have something like 300 flavors that they just rotate around!! We got to sample a few of them and they were so awesome!!! Gelato is SO MUCH BETTER than ice cream!! They had some pretty interesting flavors.  They had one that was lavendar and chamomile and it actually tasted like that!! It was impressive!! It's called Iorio's! So if you live/visit Ann Arbor or Lansing (their other location), then I highly recommend trying it out!! YUMMY!!

|{ The National Guard }|

As of yesterday, my husband is now a 2nd Lieutenant in the medical division of the National Guard!!

It was a big step and something that we thought and prayed about a lot! We both feel really great about it and it was cool to see him be commissioned yesterday! He is so proud to be serving his country and I'm proud to be there to support him!!

More (better) photos will be coming once we get them back! :)

|{ Q & A: About Yours Truly }|

I was tagged to this post about myself!! As silly as it may sound, I AM SO EXCITED!!! I never get tagged for stuff like this!! Yay for blog sharing!! :)  Thanks Andrea!!


THE RULES:
1. Post these rules
2. Post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag
5. Tag 11 people

11 Random Things About Me
Let's see if I can think of 11 things.....
1-  I couldn't even think of 1 thing so I actually answered the 11 questions first... :)
2-  I LOVE fireworks, the 4th of July is one of my very favorite holidays!
3-  I need to have my toes painted all the time! I think they look weird without polish on them, even if most of it is gone.
4-  The only times that I really feel a strong desire to clean is when it's happy and sunny outside!
5-  I hate tomatoes...and zucchini
6-  I can't eat food when I have headphones on, the sound of me chewing is too loud and WAY too annoying!
7-  I don't really have a favorite season...I just like the change of the seasons! Though if I had to choose I would probably say Autumn...or Spring...
8-  I can't stand it when my feet get hot!! I can be hot all over my body and be fine but if I feel get too hot I freak out!
9-  My favorite pizza is ham and pineapple!
10-  I love it when my husband tells me about things he learned in school!
11-  I don't really have a favorite color... I have favorite color combos:  Gray & Yellow and Blue & Orange are my favorites right now




11 Questions

1. What instrument would you like to learn that you don't already know?

The piano! I don't play any instruments but the piano would be lots of fun! 

2. Do you celebrate the little holidays in your home (April fools, St Patrick etc)?

I do!! Today we didn't do much, mostly just wore green and snacked all day while the hubby studied.  I think these little holidays will be a lot more fun when we have kids!

3. What is your favorite TV series? 

The Office and Leverage at the top of a long list (too long of a list), currently though I am LOVING True Blood!

4. What is the best date you've ever been on?

Hmm...I've been on lots of awesome dates with my husband!! The best would have to be the date that he proposed though! We went around and did a bunch of things that we had done while were dating before he proposed to me in a park at sunset!

5. What did/do you want to be when you grew/grow up?

A mom!  I have just always wanted to be an awesome mom and be able to be home with them and raise them!

6. Do you like to cook? What is your favorite meal?

I LOVE to cook!! Not all the time, but most of the time!! My favorite meal is sushi (yes we make it at home) and I also really love Tangerine Stir-Fry Beef!!! YUM!!!

7. Are you a fan of social media?

Yes-ish! I am a big facebook and blogging addict BUT I refuse to join Twitter or Google Plus...

8. If you could live anywhere where would it be?

If language wasn't a factor it would be Italy.  BUT in real life, it would probably be California.

9. Who is your idol?

Hmm...That's a toughy.... I look up to lots of people! My husband, my parents, lots of my friends, any girl with amazing bodies.... Other than my husband I don't have 1 specific person I would say was 'my idol'.

10. Are you good at sports? what is your favorite sport?

Haha! NO, I am terrible at sports.  I do like to try and play though! My favorite sports are racket sports, particularly tennis and racquetball, even though I still suck at them! Favorite to watch:  Football and my husband's volleyball team! :)

11. What are you currently reading?

I am reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, not sure what I'll read when I'm done...

My Questions:

1.  What is your favorite vegetable?

2.  What do you like to do when you have alone time?

3.  What TV show/movie do you watch by yourself because no one wants to watch it with you?

4.  What is your biggest dream in life?

5.  What was the scariest nightmare you've ever had?

6.  What pet have you always wanted but never had?

7.  What is your guilty pleasure?

8.  Are you a Daddy's girl or Mommy's girl?

9.  What is something you just can't stand?

10.  What is your least favorite word? (Swear words don't count)

11.  What is your favorite blog?

I tag:

Jessica W.

Brianna P.

Kristin M.

Diane D.

Larisa K.

Jodi H.

Katrina L.

Ashlee O.

And anyone else who wants to do it! :)