Difficulties

I swear, all I blog about is my pregnancy now. For that I apologize, the fact is, i just don't have anything else really going on, and it kind of consumes your life. There are those women out there who really just loooove being pregnant. I am NOT one of them. Don't get me wrong, it's miraculous, and amazing when he moves around, I love knowing there's a baby in there. But, being pregnant tears your body apart, and I just dont understand how you could love that part. I am used to being very independent, and now i cant do a lot of things. I cant bend over normally anymore, cant lift heavy things, cant do more than a few chores without needing a nap...cant sneeze without having to pee, cant stand up for more than 2 hours without my feet swelling up, etc etc. I feel like the living dead half of the time, and i still work almost 30 hours a week. And, to top it all off, i still dont look as pregnant as i should. For those of you out there who have not been pregnant, this is NOT a blessing, despite what everyone seems to think. When you dont look it, people still expect you to be able to do things, that frankly, your body wont let you anymore. Its probably 5x worse not to look it because i feel like because of that my body gets beat to death even more to compensate. I am now 30 wks pregnant, and i still have customers tell me i look more like 12-16 wks. I guess I am very frustrated with my lack of efficency, and effort, i feel like a total bum. My house is always messy, i cant ever get the laundry done, the dishes make me sick to do, and i just cant do it all and work anymore, and its making me crazy. I should probably just get used to it, considering once the baby gets here, its still gonna be like this. What can I say? Once a perfectionist, always a perfectionist.

Top Ten things I've wanted to eat while being pregnant

Everyone always made it seem like you would get these uncontrollable cravings that just make you crazy while pregnant. I have not gotten any of these, my "cravings", if you can call them that, are more like, hmm, that sounds good. and then like 75% of the time i cant find exactly what i was wanting, so i go without or find something similar...here are the ten thing i want most.

1. Arbys Roast beef sandwiches. My favorite is still the french dip and swiss despite my throwing it up.

2. Subway. Anything from subway is delicious, but turkey and meatball are my favorites.

3. Salad. About once a week I want to eat salad, sadly when these hit we don't usually even have lettuce.

4. Salty Food. anything salty, this includes :chips, popcorn, beef jerky,pretzels, saltines...stuff like that.

5. Pizza. it was good before, now its Heavenly.

6. Cheese. Especially frozen cheese, or anything with cheese in it or on it.

7. Ice cream. This week i have officially polished off one thing of dreyers peppermint ice cream, and about 3/4 of and off brand vanilla. alone. i ate all of it. haha.

8. Air head Sour Belts. if you haven't tried these, go find one, they're really good, but then again i could be crazy, i am pregnant after all.

9. Chik fil A. this one sucks because Idaho sucks and Chik Fil A doesnt exist up here. so i have yet to satisfy this craving.

10. Cafe Rio. another horrible one. Once again, no Cafe Rio in Idaho. but it always sounds sooooo good.

Of course i eat lots of other things, the weirdest one I want, but not all the time is milk. i hated milk before, but now its really good sometimes. being pregnant just makes me think about food a lot, i feel like an addict. im gonna go eat breakfast now.

Prego Perky

So, as most of you who read this probably already know(considering I only know of 2 people who do..) I'm PREGNANT! I thought it might be kinda fun to share how the last 3 months went down, considering we were hiding it until yesterday. It was kinda surreal at first, it still is in a way;even though I have now seen our little baby boy moving around and felt him moving around...i still cant believe it sometimes. PJ and I have known about this since July 22nd. We were in UT visiting my parents, and brought a pregnancy test (pee sticks, as we so lovingly dubbed them) with us because we had a hunch. The next day I went to go visit my sister, Heidi, who just had her baby girl. As I was holding her my mom said something like "Don't get any ideas"....um a bit late for that, but we didnt want to tell anyone yet. Our first appointment was August 17th. I though i was 8, maybe 10wks along at most. Dr. Bitters felt my stomach and announced "no, youre bigger than that, probably more like 12-13" I was shocked to say the least. My stomach was still relatively flat! I had morning sickness, sure, but 3 months already?? I was excited, scared, happy, worried, and didnt know what to think. The next month was a whirlwind of working 30 hours a week, losing my equilibrium,throwing up 75% of what i ate, bubble baths, and sleeping more than usual. I started to feel useless, very dependent on others. I couldnt lift heavy things at work, couldnt do the dishes without getting sick, or clean my house without having my legs turn to jello and my body wanting a nap. I had to change my mind set a bit, I admit, I still dont quite have it changed. I couldnt expect myself to be the same as I always had been, I felt fragile, and it was weird. On September 16th we had our second appointment, with a different doctor because Dr. Bitters was gone. She treated us like idiots, and didnt answer any of my questions. And, announced that I was 12-13 wks THIS month, I told her she was wrong, that they said that last month. She then said "well, youre small enough to be 12, but you could be big enough to be 16, we'll have to get an utrasound to be sure" Sooo we scheduled the ultrasound around our busy work schedules. They make you hold 32 oz of water so that your bladder is reallllly full, telling a pregnant woman to hold that much water is insane. Darcy got some measurements, and then let PJ and his dad in. She asked if i wanted to know what it was, and of course I did, when i was far enough to tell. She says " oh you can tell...want to know?" YES! "its a boy, thats not a third leg." The utrasound was...amazing to say the least, to see that little person moving around inside...knowing its yours...is something so incredible, so gratifying, I could have watched him all day. I am officially 17 wks pregnant and due March 9th! We still have noo idea what to name him, I dont want to name him the wrong thing and later go, ooops....so we're still working on that. There's a reason they call them miracles, he really truly is the most beautiful little miracle I've ever seen.

Chick Flicks

Today I watched the movie "Ever After" and realized, chick flicks are not the same as they used to be. Before I got married watched them alone, or with one to a few of my good friends. Now I usually just watch them alone on my days off. The weirdest part is how I think about them now though. Watching them with my friends we would always talk about how we wanted a quality from one of the princes, or amazing characters the writers came up with. We would say how we wanted the way he looked, the way he was so smart, how he was so kind, the way he sang, or played guitar...etc etc...taking pieces of them to create in our minds our "ideal guy", our "prince charming" And now, I watch them alone most days, with completely different thoughts. I find myself thinking "haha, i have that, and that, and that." It's odd how after all those years of compiling a perfect man from movies and books, that I no longer watch and want what the girl in the movie has. Who I have is so insanely perfect for me, there's no fantasy I can find that's better. And... occasionally he'll watch them with me too...Life is good.

The Treasure Valley and Their Love for Boise State

Boise State's football team was about as popular as Duke University's (Duke doesnt win games. ever.) before the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. That year, BSU was undefeated, but a small-town, low-class, no-name enough school to not get a playoff with the no. 1 team in the nation or anything like that. they beat the Sooners in their Bowl game, everyone was shocked, amazed, happy, woo. The next year - last year - Boise State finished their season 12-1. they werent undefeated like the year before, but still, that's pretty good. that's one team with talented players who all play well together.

But as the first game of BSU's 2009 season approaches, against a well-ranked Oregon Ducks... Boise is going psycho. I counted in the car. 3 radio stations: 100.3, 101.1, 103.3 - for every commercial break, there's about 7 to ten commercials. for every commercial break, there's at least one BSU/DUCKS ad about "winning tickets," "it's duck season," or some other pathetic attempt to publicize and capitalize on their sudden burst of talent, and at least one more ad about "catching bsu fever" in general. that's a fifth of the commercial airtime (not to mention the dj's talking about it over and over and over and over) committed to Boise's biggest "hit" since potatoes or the worlds first chair-lift ever. woo.

But I dont care. I dont get the hype (well, kinda, but this is way too much.) Let me explain. I grew up in North Carolina. The heart of high school and college sports. as for college ball, I lived in the center of Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest. even Appalachian State wasnt too far and they've made the news recently too. But for all these sports teams surrounding me, I knew it was game DAY when car flags were up and shirts were worn, and less people came to Chick Fil A because they were all out at the game... there was no game WEEK. No radio announcemnets or stupid tv commercials were the mosquitoes have some teams' colors for blood... The NCAA basketball tournament was played in my highschool in every locker bay and all around the commons area. And (as usually occured) Duke or UNC would make the Final Four, and ONLY THEN would everyone would begin to sensationalize the radio and tv ads, give away tickets, and have raffles and parties and all this CRAP idaho is doing for BSU's FIRST game of the 2009 season...

But here is were all this BSU hype crap seems familiar to me. My high school foot ball team was TERRIBLE until my sophomore year. They got a great team together and had some luck, and made it pretty darn close to the playoffs. then my junior year they did make it, and lost. (but the other school had a rule you could come there just to play football, as long as you got a ride yourself. so there were kids from all over the state that would go to Independence, just to play football. so it wasnt surprising we lost to them.) BUT... it didnt last. as everyone graduated, and moved on, the JV team took over the varsity team, and we went 1-11. the only win was due to a forfeit...

So BSU won a bowl. they went undefeated. they had a great team. whoopdy-freakin-do. I understand enjoying it while it lasts, and good for them if they win and can keep winning. But seriously, all you BSU fans are in for a HUGE "i told you so" when they start to suck again. not if, but when. and I'm guessing within three years. So I may be sick to death of your ads and your hype and your shirts and colors and even wal-mart hanging up squeaky-dog-toy ducks on a BSU-themed display... But now that I've complained, I'll sit back and swallow my words for now. We'll see how game ONE, and the rest of the 2009 season pans out...

but i'll still be sitting on my 'i told you so.' just waiting for the day I can listen to the radio and watch TV.















or i'll just move somewhere else and leave you guys to your Bronco Nation bs.

Closed Captions are funny

So, I was watching TV today with subtitles on... i saw a few typos

"somebodyce" - somebody's
"hoo-rah" - the marine yell, oorah.
"evaculation" - evacuation
"absoultly" - absolutely
"swhoosh" - it put that up every time the display on 24.7 news channel changed. they subtitle every little sound. they even subtitle the timer for when the audio and stuff should be played.  (which is probably the worst news reporting i've ever seen)

Maybe i'll post about that later: Idaho's really crappy local news and 24/hr newschannel reporting.

alcohol makes people stupid - by PJ

You may have been at wal-mart at some point and picked up an item that doesnt have a barcode on it. for some, the experience is unbearable and is just terribly time consuming. i think the longest price check i've ever had was under 5 minutes. maybe 7? but anyway... anything over a few minutes and people start to get antsy - some people decide against the item, some wait, and some complain ever 10 seconds to themselves til the price check comes back.

but the one thing people FREAK out most about when something goes wrong is Alcohol. no matter if it's 10 am or 7 pm, people just want their alcohol. since alcohol has quite a few laws about it - and a lot of people dont know the laws, i'll list most of them for you.

in idaho:
1. alcohol is not sold between 1 am and 7 am.
2. you have to be 19 to sell it, 21 to buy it
3. ID must be state or government issued with a birthdate and photo.
4. even if they're related to you, if they're under 21, they cannot touch the alcohol.
5. to prevent third-party purchases, if you come to the register in a group, all of you will be carded - if one doesnt have ID, or if one is underage - the alcohol is denied to the buyer.
6. we card if the customer looks to be "under 40."

and so on.

SO - today i worked a 5 hr shift which is one of the shortest wal-mart scheduals for. i figured it would be an easy shift. ha.

first, a lady and her young daughter came up to the register with about 70 or so items - a full cart. six of which were 12-pack of soda, and one 30-can box of beer. i set the beer off to the side first and didnt card the mother because she looked WELL over 40... i then piled the sodas and a pillow around the beer can and began bagging the smaller items. the daughter then started to load their crap into their cart. now, most parents say "dont touch the alcohol," because they know the laws and store policies. most kids know the rules and dont touch it. i assumed. oops. i turned my back to scan some more stuff, and turned back and poof. the kid put the alcohol in the cart.
"are you 21?" i asked her
"uhh... nope..." she backed away from the alcohol putting her hands up.
"oh, i'm sorry. i cant sell it anymore. it's the law, i'm sorry. it's nothing personal."
the mom then asked "what's going on?"
so i explained it again. "it's the law. nothing against you. store policy and state and federal law says who can touch it..." etc.
old little fat mommy wasnt happy. not one bit.
"well, of COURSE she's under age - all she's doing is loading the freaking cart. this is bullshi..."
so i checked out her stuff, she told her daughter to take her cart to the car while she paid. she paid and left. i figured shew as going to complain...

about an hour or so later, four guys came up. one guy in a blue Duke hat was the buyer, but they were all together. they were buying an assortment of chicken, sauces, ribs, charcoal, typical cookout stuffs, and beer. as i was getting close to the beer, i asked "so, are ya'll together? gonna have a cookout or somethin big?"
one of the others says "yeah, we're grillin and swimming at his house," pointing to the blue hat bro.
so there was my proof. they acknowledged they were all together. i rang up the beer and requested ID from everyone. another guy said "wait, but he's buying and we havent touched it?" (ok, so he knew the touching thing law .)
i said, "yes, but if you're all together, our store policy is that we have to ID everyone."
the buyer had it. a guy to the left had it. the girl had it. so i asked the kid lingering in the back.
"do you have id?"
"no... not with me."
"i'm sorry then. store policy is, i cant sell it."
the main guy nearly cut me off mid-sentence with profanities.
"well, what the eff. eff this, stupid ... you - nah, just eff it all." and they walked off mad, leaving all their food, and their beer - everything.

i canceled the order, explained the story to the confused-as-mess guy in line behind them - he hadn't been paying attention. but i got off 30 minutes later and clocked out. i came back up front with a few items i was gonna buy and my CSM (customer service manager - they tell the cashiers were to go and deal with the customers who get really mad) called me over. he said "you had a couple complaints tonight. one from a short, blond, bigger lady, and another from four REALLY pissed off guys. both about alcohol?"
i looked at him and said "yeah..." and my face must have been a look of shock because he followed up his comment.
"dont worry about it tho. you followed the law and did the right thing. i tried to explain that to them, but they were all pretty mad so they didnt want to hear it. we'll always back up a cashier when it comes to alcohol sales."

sooo yeah. i mean, seriously. it's just alcohol. go to a gas station on your way home??? or here's a theory. DONT DRINK??

Oh, BTW

... i love my wife. :D!!!

- PJ

PJ gots a new toy...

I like to look at random stuff for sale; Ebay, Craigslist, and the ever-growing popular ZIdaho.com (for those of you who live in ID, at least.) I find it kinda fun and interesting to see what people will price a table or an 80's transformers toy in the shape of a cassette tape. or to see what a 1976's toilet looks like and why it's worth 120 dollars.

Zidaho, however, is unique in the aspect that it follows only IDAHO's laws. Craigslist follows californian law, becuase that's where it's baised. ebay follows... Planet Ebay laws? i dunno. but anyway, Zidaho allows the posting of ammo, guns, and stuff of that nature. and Idaho law allows private sale of a firearm to anyone 18 years and older. So I was looking over it the other day, and saw a VERY good deal on a Springfield XD SC .40 cal handgun. aaaand i took the guy up on the offer.

I'm the proud new owner of exactly that. :D

"Thank you for calling Bed Bath and Beyond. This is Rachel, how may I help you?"

Most days I love my job. Some days, I want to just scream at all the customers. I swear we get the worst people in there because of our policy of the customer ALWAYS being right. Here are some things that make me hate my job:

1. Cell Phones. GET OFF OF THEM! when you come up to check out, dont be talking on your cell phone! it soooo insanely annoying, and rude.

2.Trying to barter down the "As Is" merchandise or complaining when something is wrong with it. First of all, its AS IS. There is a reason it's been marked down to less, and its labeled clearly on the bright red As Is sticker on the product. The other day this lady came in and when she brought everything up to me i rang up the comforter set that was marked as is. It was already down 50%, and she goes "can you possibly mark that down more, its an As Is product, i feel like there should be more off it." so I explained that it was marked down for missing an item, and showed her the tag, which stated that it was missing the sheets. and she gets this shocked look on her face and goes " but, but i want the sheets, thats the whole reason I'm getting this set and not just the comforter....since it doesnt have what i want, it really should get marked down some more..." oh my gosh, i wanted to shoot her. that's the reason its ALREADY marked down!

3. People that come in looking for the same product that they've had for 20 yrs. Theirs just broke and they want a new one, exactly like the old one. I have some really hard news for ya, they just dont make things like they used to, there's no way we'll find the exact same thing.

4. Our return policy. This guy came in the other day wanting to return 2 plate sets. when we asked him what was wrong, he simply explained that he wanted to exchange them for new ones because he has had them for 2 yrs now, and after putting them in the dishwasher for 2 yrs, it was allll the dishwashers fault he said, they are beginning to crack, and he would like some new ones in place of the old ones, free of charge. We said okay. lame.

5. We are no longer allowed to make a closing announcement. can you say aggravating?? if people are still walking around at 10:30 (we're supposed to be closed at 9:00) we cannot kick them out, we have to let them stay.

6. when people say "It doesn't matter" when i ask if they would like to run it as debit or as credit and then get mad if i pick the one they didnt want. well yes it does matter actually, for one you need to have valid ID, and for the other you need a pin number....and then when i ask you to sign and i need ID they say" well, hello? what about my pin number???" like I'm an idiot. yeahhh....don't do that.

7. Trying to look up Bridal Registries when they dont know the name. "i'd like to look up a registry for a bride." they say "ok, whats the first and last name of either the bride or the groom?" i ask, then they go "uhh... well....it starts with a D and ends with Smith, or Johnson, or... something...?" we keep registries for 2 yrs...that little information, makes it impossible to find who you want.

Just because the customer is always right, doesnt mean you're allowed to be stupid.

impatient

So basically i think im the MOST impatient person on the planet.
There are so many stupid little things that i just don't see the point of waiting around for,patience is a virtue i do not have.probably never will.

1. Checks:I work at Bed Bath and Beyond...and the other day this old lady decides to write a check to pay. Normally this is only kinda annoying because it takes so long to fill out the check, that the line backs up, and that causes problems...but that day, I was soooo annoyed at anyone filling out checks because we were so busy. Then this lady, takes forever and a half writing everything in, and then we have to ask for ID, which she conveniently left in her car. Once she finally gets back in, the check is denied!! As it turns out, she had to cancel those checks because of some crazy thing that happened, and takes forever telling me this crazy story, trying to decide how to pay. then remembers she got her new checks...and starts alllll over again writing it. It probably took like 20 minutes to finish a $20 purchase...i hate checks. they take forever..

2. Boiling water. I make a lot of pasta, i think water should boil faster. haha

3. Closing. Even though we Close at 9 on week days we never really close at 9. People walk in the door at 915, because we are Bed Bath and Beyond and have impeccable customer service. haha. and we cant lock the doors at exactly 9(which is a total safety risk if you ask me) and they continue shopping until 945 ish. go home people!

I should probably just relax and stop wanting things to go so fast, life's only so long, no reason to rush it. but i cant help it. I'm one impatient girlie.

Bye bye hair!

My hair was was finally getting longer again, it was just past my collarbone and it was drivin me crazy! i kept saying i was just gonna chop it all off, but i was too chicken until Monday. i thought about it all day at work. there was no point in having it long if it's just up in a ponytail all the time..why not chop it off? and right when i got off, before i could change my mind..i went into great clips to chop it. there was a 35 minute wait, so i had 35 minutes so sit there and reconsider. then they called my name. i told her just to chop it off kinda like one of the pictures in one of the hairstyle books. and the stylist goes "that's about 5 inches, you sure?" i was sure. i looove having it this short, guys are so lucky, short hair is the easiest thing in the world to take care of. I can towel dry my hair now!! and, the best part, i can give myself a Mohawk now :)

Does anyone actually read this or am I just writing for no reason at all??
I mean seriously, blogging is weird. I'm sitting here spilling my thought onto this page that someone may or may not read...and really...who wants to read my random thoughts, I'm not that witty or funny. And then as i was writing another posting (yet to be published, its screwy for some reason, the font is freakin out...) i thought why do i do this? i really dont think anyone follows this. i have fun reading other peoples blogs...but i wonder if anyone actually reads mine. which in a way, if they do, if YOU do, its totally weird, like i said, my life isnt that interesting, i dont know how to blog. am I writing this just to appease me? cause thats just ridiculous.

we got our kittens!!

So, we drove to Payette yesterday and got to meet the six little mewing fluff-balls. I (pj) had already kind of liked one from the pictures Tony had sent us - he's a grey-black tabby with a little bit of orange calico in him. He's a total scamp, too! and a very loud meow-er. but he came right over to me to start with, and I knew I wanted him. We spent a little while looking at the other kittens, two short haired tabbys, one all black, one orange, and one poofy black and grey one. Once they were out of the crate, they started wandering EVERYWHERE through the house, so it was somewhat hard to see them all. But Rachel pickced up the fluffy little shy sad-faced kitten and fell in love with him when he just sat down on her lap.

We brought our kittens home - mewing VERY loud all the way home - and let them out to explore their new home. they were very fun, playful, cute, and adorable!!! they fell asleep a few times on their parents' laps while we watched movies before we too were tired.

we were, at first, unsure of where we should keep them - especially at night. we tried our room for a while. we got them to sleep - for 20 minutes - before they were up, meowing and climbing on us. we put them back in their little petbed/house thing and realized then, that one of them pooped on the carpet. blah. i cleaned that up and we then moved the kittens to the bathroom where they stayed the night.

I'm way sick right now - headcold, congested, and all i smell is snot. gross, i know - so I downed some nyquil and sudafed after moving the kittens to the bathroom. needless to say, i was pretty out of it. i woke up several times during the night - i THINK i thought the cats were still in the room, and i woke up quite sweaty, with a sweaty pillow just from being sick and hot and out of it - but i totally thought the cats had peed on my pillow or something. now i realize how funny that seems. it freaked me out at night though.

but we love our kittens!!! we're working on litter training, etc. but they're still young - only had them for a day!

Kitten UPDATE

So,
Our kitten-supplier (like they're drugs or something?), his name is Tony, emailed us this last monday and sent us more pictures. We're planning to get two of the little fluffy bundles of cuddle. the kittens are up and playing around, playing with each other and developing their curiosities and such. He says they're growing well!! There are a lot of pictures on my (pj's) facebook, and I'll hurry and post some here once i figure out how. We're very excited and keep putting the newest and cutest pictures on our computer's background. My brother-in-law, Derek says it's like we're expecting a child or something.

Derek and Rachel have a cat too. she's a bit over a year old, but we're hoping she'll enjoy the company of our kittens. we'll slowly introduce them. but who knows.

Kittens!!

We posted an ad on craigslist saying we wanted kittens, and got several responses. We have kinda of been corresponding with one guy, annnd...we'll be getting a kitten in a month!! He's going to send us weekly updates and stuff.

Being Married :)

1. Firstly, i love it. I was never one that like being "tied down", when i got engaged people told me i was a free spirit, and they never thought I'd get married so young. And its not like i planned to get married this young, i really just enjoy being an individual, weird, odd...whatever. But...this free spirit actually really likes it :) it doesn't change who i am at all, i just laugh a lot more.

2. It's weird how after you get married it's no longer a "me" or "I" it's a "We" and "Us" thing. and how in conversations its no longer today I did this, its today WE did this and... blah blah etc. Notice how the "about me" thing on the blog is not a "Me" it's and "Us" it's as if being married makes you one and the same, we're (there's the plural thing again..) a pair, not one without the other, its strange.

3. In the morning you wake up, and there's someone there. If that's not weird after years of being told not to have boys in the bedroom, i don't know what is.

4. When i cook, or bake, I have suddenly started making way too much. i never made too much food before, but now I over estimate the portions that the two of us will eat a lot. this last week i made sugar cookies, I cut the 1/2 recipe in half, and there were still like 24 ish cookies. needless to say we ate them. my over cooking skill is going to make us fat, especially if i keep baking.

5. two people can make a sink of dishes fill up as fast as a household of 7. i really dont know how this is possible, but i swear, im doing dishes all day long. haha.

Our Blog Name

PJ: it's kinda a long, fun story. here's rachel to tell it

Rachel: today after church we decided to take a nap. when both of us were semi awake pj went downstairs to get a drink, and when he came back up he had captain crunch, bowls, and milk. so we ate captain crunch in bed for...i guess it was dinner...and while we were eating captain crunch in bed, i decied to create a blog. But it says you have to name it, and i'm really bad at naming things (our poor hampster had like 5 names before we finally decided on mo...and we named our girl snake rasputin...) so i texted my little sister and asked her what i should name it, and she says "name it..I have a black pig. He is my pal. hahahaha" apparently its from this poem my mom wrote when she was really little, its ridiculous. umm.... then some how it went from black pig to blue sheep...and since we were only half awake, it was funny, hence the blog being named i have a little blue sheep he is my pal. =]