Week in Review

Monday: I had a doctor's appointment, it was just the basics: heartbeat, tummy measuring, taking my blood pressure etc. I walked there and it was really nice outside, but it was looking pretty stormy by the time I was done so I took the bus home. I've taken public transportation more here than anywhere else, it has been taking some getting used to, and I'm sure I'll feel more comfortable doing it when I've got more practice. I tweaked my back at the doctors, so I had a limp the rest of the day, and I didn't get much done. Some laundry, and packing a bag to get ready for sleeping over at my Mom and Dad's house. When Rick got home he changed and we left for Redlands because that is where we registered as voters. We had El Burrito for dinner and it was so tasty, my chicken tacos hit the spot.

Tuesday: First thing we did was go vote. It was raining and a little chilly, but luckily we didn't really have to wait in a very long line. It was exciting for both Rick and I because it was our first time voting. After that Rick just dropped me off at home and headed out to Thousand Oaks. Luckily he could be late to work because CA has a 2 hour paid window of time for voting days, employees can be 2 hours late or leave 2 hours early and not be penalized. The rest of my day I spent going with Mom to vote and than going with her to do Christmas shopping for Carlie and Kellie. It was fun to go to the Mall and hanging out with mom. I think the girls will like what we got them for Christmas. I picked up a couple of things too, which is always nice. We went to Motherhood Maternity and I got some pants to get ready for the coming winter months. I also got a dress because it was too cute and too comfy to pass up.

Wednesday: While the girls were at school and Mom and Dad were at work I helped get ready for Carlie's cast party. She wanted to have a party to help her cast bond, but she hadn't really made any plans. I baked some cookies and cleaned up the house. Mom got home from work and we got some more food ready and then her cast came. Mom and Kellie ended up taking naps and dad was either sleeping or reading a book in his room, so I just hung out in the back of the house to give Carlie and friends their space. I talked to Julie too, which was fun. Rick had to stay overnight in Thousand Oaks so I just stayed to play with my family. We went to Mervyn's because they are closing so everything is on sale. I got a cute jacket that fits over my pregnant tummy but will also totally work for post-baby too.

Thursday: Mom and I ran some errands and also had just some fun hang out time. We watched a movie, ate ice cream and just relaxed. That night everyone had somewhere they needed to be except me, so I was just chilling for awhile. Later Mom and I went for the last hour of band practice. It is fun to get to watch them march on the field.

Friday: I packed up and cleaned my room because it was finally time to head home to Pasadena. When mom got home from work I helped her dip pretzels for the other band booster parents for the REV v. RHS game. It was fun, and I had to eat a couple of the pretzels that were too ugly, so it was delicious too. After that Carlie got home from her festival, which meant it was time to leave. Mom was taking Carlie to the Inland Center mall, which is right near the train station, so they took me on their way. The train has been a pretty fun experience so far. They are double decker trains, and I like to ride on the top and look out the window. There isn't a ton to see because the Metrolink rails are out in the boonies, but I did get to watch the sun set. It is an almost 2 hour train ride, then I waited a few minutes for the Metro, and from LA to Pasadena it is about 25 minutes. Rick picked me up at the station and we had dinner. Rick looked exhausted so after dinner we watched an episode of the Office and than went to bed.

Saturday: It was fun to get to see Rick after being apart almost the whole week. I woke up with a headache, I think because I slept like a rock and barely moved all night. Rick had a physical first thing in the morning, and the guy came to our house to do it. It was for his life insurance, so now that is finally done. After the guy left I was feeling so yucky from my headache I took some asprin and fell asleep. I took a longer nap than I thought I would but when I woke up I felt much better, so obviously my body was trying to tell me something. After lunch we headed out on a fun adventure to the Huntington Library. It is an old property that has now been converted into museums, a library and mostly botanical gardens. It is on over 200 acres, so there is alot to choose from. We were there for almost 3 hours and we saw only the English art (which is in the old house) and parts of 4 gardens. We went to the Greenhouse, which they have part of laid out like a rainforest and another part we went into was the learning garden. It was so fun because they have tons of interactive learning stations. We went to the Children's garden which had fun areas to run around and play in, and lots of pretty plants. Next we headed over to the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, which were huge! They were so pretty and it was fun to just walk around and enjoy the nature around us. By that time it was closing time, but on our way back to the exit we passed through the Rose Garden (so many beautiful roses!) and part of the Shakespeare garden, which had english plants and near some of them were quotes from his plays and sonnets that mention the plants, it was cool. We also peaked into a garden with tons of statues, but I don't know what it was called. We are definitely going to have to go back because we saw only a small fraction of what there is available. After that adventure we went grocery shopping and came home and made dinner together. After that we curled up on the couch and did some reading, then we watched Wall-E. It was cute, but not my favorite.

Sunday (Today): Woke up and got ready for church. This is our second week in our new ward and it is fun getting to know people. Sacrament meeting was good, a newly married couple spoke and they were obviously both super nervous. It probably didn't help that the bishop only called them on Wednesday night to ask them to speak. We tried the other Sunday school class today, and not many people were in it and the teacher got off track, so we only made it through about 1 of the 5 chapters in the lesson. In RS we read letters from Joseph Smith to Emma, and they were sweet. One lady who was asked to read a letter was crying before she even started reading, she was so moved by how much Joseph obviously loved his wife and children. The rest of our day will be making bread for dinner, taking a nap, maybe go on a walk and talking baby business. I hope you are all having a great day!