Project Life Tuesday - Week 10

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.

Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.

And finally, my POTW:

Saturday - Juan visited his brother, Jaime, in San Antonio today.  Two of his three girls were there and Juan was able to give them their belated Christmas presents.  I was feeling too nauseous for an 8 hour drive, so I stayed home on the couch.

 

Sunday - Due to recent violence and unrest in Libya and Saudi Arabia the price of fuel has sky rocketed the past week.  It has increased almost $.50 per gallon in the past week and there is talk it will be over $4.00 per gallon by summer.

 

Monday - We had our OB appointment this morning.  I was surprised, but they didn't really test or examin me.  They just took my weight, blood pressure and had me pee in a cup.  Then they asked us a bunch of questions and said we'll see you in three weeks.

 

Tuesday - My African Violets are blooming heavily! I played with my macro setting on this one.

Wednesday - I am 9 weeks pregnant today!  Pregnancy stats: 220lbs, yes I actually lost weight this week.  Still very nauseous and our baby is the size of a grape!

Thursday - More yummy goodies that I won on-line arrived today!  But I forgot to take a picture......coming soon!

Friday - Juan brought me home flowers today.  White tulips from Central Market. They are gorgeous and smell fantastic.  When I asked him why he bought me flowers he said, "Because you are pregnant!"  How sweet is he?

Thanks for visiting!  It means so much to me.

Project Life Tuesday - Week 9

 Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.
Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.

Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.  I know I'm a day late this week, but I still wanted to post.

And finally, my POTW:

Saturday - Yes, this is my darling husband in an all-girl nail salon getting a pedicure!  I was on couch-rest for the pregnancy so Juan took our niece's daughter, Cassie, to get pedicures.  She had never had one and I think they both had a pretty good time!

Sunday - Today was Sandra Miller's baby shower.  She is the adorable wife of a dear co-worker.  They have had lots of trouble conceiving and we are all super excited that there little girl will be arriving soon!  I got them the mobile for their crib and some adorable little onsies - purple of course..... why purple?  K-State of course.  Sandra's husband also attended K-State.  Congrats Millers!

Monday - I arrived home to find multiple boxes of goodies in the mail!  Look at all the yummy candy I won! The top is from Kathy for the Power of Words Resolution during the Let's Scrap Blog Hop last month and the bottom is from Cheri at Let's Scrap for the card sketch challenge that I won in January for my Christmas card!  YUMMY and a special thanks to both Kathy and Cheri.  I can't wait to play with my new goodies.

Tuesday - We went to dinner tonight at Gloria's to celebrate Juan's father, Alfonso's, birthday.  The food was amazing and we really enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up!  Happy Birthday Alfonso!

Wednesday - I am 8 weeks pregnant today, our baby is the size of a raspberry!  This shirt is terrible and REALLY makes me look pregnant.  I swear I am not showing yet!  Pregnancy stats: 221.4 lbs and still nauseous and tired, otherwise everything appears to be on schedule.

Thursday - My office decided to get out of the cell phone game and just provide us with a stipend for cell phone service.  Since Juan has been complaining since the day he switched to Sprint and HATES his Palm Pre; we thought it was the perfect time to switch cell phone services.  He desperately wanted an I-Phone so we paid to cancel his contract with Sprint and went with the family plan at Verizon.  I was not planning on getting the I-Phone, but Juan and the salesman sort of talked me into it.  I still hate the keyboard screen for texting, but I do like a lot of the I-phone apps.  Juan loves his so that is awesome!  I got a pink cover...of course!

Friday - Mom bought Elfa shelving for her garage when it was on sale in February and asked us to come over and help her install it.  The plan was for tomorrow, but Juan decided to go visit his brother in San Antonio, so we went after work this evening.  Juan is VERY protective of me and did not want me to lift ANYTHING. In fact, he was a little on the extreme side; but I understand.  It only took us a couple of hours to get it all hung and the drawers installed.  Mom was super excited and since Vanessa was there with the kids, we got to play with Jakob a bit, although he REALLY wanted to help Tio!  Thanks Juan, you're the best!

Hope you had a fabulous week and thanks for stopping by to visit!

Project Life Tuesday - Week 8

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.
Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.
And finally, my POTW:

Saturday - While I was visiting my friend, Angie, this weekend her husband Kent was all excited to show us his helicopter.  He swore that I needed to get one for Juan and he would totally love me.  Boys!

Sunday - Our scrapping weekend in Tulsa.  Shannon and Angie are hard at work scrapping!  We had a lot of fun, although I didn't get many layouts done on account of all the pregnancy naps I took.  LOL!

Monday - My newest lens addition for my D90.  I used the gift certificate I won for the Dallas Zoo Photography competition from the Camera Stop. It is a "pancake" lens, or close to it. It is for tight focusing and blurring out the background.  Fun little addition!

Tuesday - We rescheduled our tickets for "Arsenic and Old Lace" for tonight.  We headed to a little mexican restaurant by the theater and then walked over to the Wylie Theater.  Except when we arrived, the building was dark.  Another couple also walked up, questioning whether or not the show was tonight. Our tickets were at "On-Call", so we couldn't even check them; but I was sure it was tonight at 7:30pm.  I even got a confirmation email. Then the other couple pulled out their tickets and said the show was at the Kalita Humphrey's Theater in uptown!  Why didn't they tell us that when we rescheduled our tickets three different times.  Needless to say, we didn't make it to the other theater.  :(

Wednesday - Preganacy Update: Today I am 7 weeks pregnant, the baby is the size of a blueberry.  I've been extra exhausted and just kind of blah, especially since Saturday.  Today was a very rough day.  I started spotting, heavily.  The doctor told me to go home and get off my feet and hope for the best.  I tried to stay positive, but both Juan and I were emotionally exhausted and sad for the outcome we were sure was beginning.  The doctor moved up my first OB appointment to 10:20am tomorrow morning.  It was a long, stressful day and night.

Thursday - God gave us a miracle today! After praying all night long, we went into the sonogram with heavy hearts.  Our greatest fears seemed to be confirmed as the stenographer obviously was having trouble locating a fetus.  After a few minutes she said that I had an enlarged uterus and appeared to have fibroids.  A couple of minutes later she tried a different angle and suddenly we could see a flicker.  It was a second sac!  We had twins!  Unfortunately the first one was not viable, but the second was there with a heartbeat.  It measured 7 weeks 5 days, right on schedule and the heartbeat was 142 bpm!  We are sad to have lost one, but so thankful to God that we still have one wee little raspberry progressing normally!  The doctor recommended I stay layed down through the weekend and make sure that all the bleeding had stopped.  What a roller-coaster it is already been.  We are still taking it one day at a time!

Friday - Juan's cousin's daughter Cassie from Laredo, TX came to visit this weekend.  Juan wanted her to see something a little different from her regular life.  Laredo is a tough place for a 13 year old girl.  We invited her to stay with us and show her a bit of Dallas.  Tonight we took her to Benihana's, where I think she had a good time.  She is very shy, quiet and introverted.  She is a very sweet girl, but does not have much self esteem.  We hope this little mini-visit helps her realize what her life could be like, if she so chooses!

Thanks so much for visiting, I hope your week was full of memorable events!

Project Life Tuesday - Week 7

 
Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.


Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.
Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.


And finally, my POTW:

Saturday:  My mom's birthday was today, so we took her to lunch at Benihana's.  She had never been before, so we thought it would be fun to take her and the cooking at the table would entertain Jakob.  I think Juan did more entertaining than the cooking did, but we still had a good time.  We had to wait 45 minutes for a table, so we were lucky that Jakob was on his best behavious.  Ashlyn was too, and she just slept the entire meal.  Jakob didn't eat anything, but had a great time playing with his chop sticks and food.  The ice cream he scarfed up!  Happy Birthday MOM!

Sunday:  We planned to take Jakob to the Children's Science Museum at Fair Park, but then Juan said let's go to the Train Museum first.  I didn't even know there was such a thing at Fair Park.  It was awesome.  There were about 30 different trains.  Some you could climb on and into and some you couldn't, although Juan and Jakob climbed on about everything!  Jakob is still in his train phase and just kept saying "Train, Train"  "More Train, More Train".  I can't believe he wasn't scared at all to be so high.  We bought him an old wooden train whistle on our way out and he blew it for the rest of the day!

Monday:  Valentine's Day was very low key for us this year.  We spent a ton of money this weekend on a new camera lens for me and a new tripod and case for Juan, so those were our Valentine's Day gifts.  I made dinner for Juan at home and gave him a handmade card.  He gave me this bracelet, made by a girl at his work and told me he had earrings for me too, but left them at work.  Fun colors for spring/summer.  Our true gift this year is that I am still pregnant.  Everything seems to be progressing on track.  Happy Valentine's Day little blueberry.

Tuesday:  Today was our professional resume photo session for work.  They update our photos and resumes every couple of years.  Here was one of my photos....I look way too happy to be at work!

Wednesday:  Pregnancy Update - Week 6.  I am 6 weeks pregnant today, the baby is only the size of a blueberry.  For the most part I'm just a bit nauseous all the time.  I seem to do better if I constantly nibble throughout the day.  I decided that I had better start weekly photos, since this seems to actually be happening.  Not the most flattering of photos, but oh well.  I had just stepped off a flight from an 18 hour day and was pretty exhausted!

Thursday:  Today was my friend, Abby's, birthday.  We took her to lunch at Toulouse, a French restaurant that I had never been to.  The food was great, but of course I was starving. Danna had been raving about their chocolate souffles.  You have to order them when you order your meal.  We had no idea they would be so huge or we wouldn't have ordered 3 for the 4 of us!  I didn't really care for the souffle, it was sort of a wierd texture; but it was fun to try.  Happy Birthday Abby!  Oh, by the way, she is pregnant and ready to pop any day!

Friday: Girls' Panty Exchange!  Every year as part of our Christmas gift exchange, my friends Angie and Shannon and I all exchange panties with each other.  Today was the first time we have seen each other since Christmas, so it was a February Christmas Panty exchange.  We always laugh a lot and have a grand time!  Merry Late Christmas Girls!

Project Life Tuesday - Week 6

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.
Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.

Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.
And finally, my POTW:

 
Saturday - This is my dear sister, Vanessa, and her adorable little ones.  Jakob makes everyone who meets him smile and Ashlyn just had abdominal surgery just over a week ago and is doing great.  I went over to give Vanessa a bit of help and relief after being stuck in the house all week with both kiddos due to the ice and snow.  We used this time for an impromtu photo shoot.  So cute!
 
 

Sunday - My sister came over to spend a couple of hours scrappin with me after church today.  She brought Ashlyn, who was a perfect angel and just slept at her feet. 
 
 

Monday - I received goodies in the mail today from Natalie over at My Creative Therapy.  I was a winner of her RAK during the Scrapbook Challenges Season of Change Blog Hop a few weeks ago.  My favorite color is pink, so Natalie sent me goodies in the form of pink!  Yeah!!! So much new fun stuff.  Thanks so much Natalie!!!
 
 

 
Tuesday - I had lunch with my friends Danna, Sarah and Janet today to share my exciting pregnancy news!  We had a fabulous time and the pizza was delicious!!!!
 
 

Wednesday - I tried a new recipe this evening - Baby Spinach with Ginger-Glazed Scallops.  I have never cooked any sort of fish or scallops so this was very new to me.  I tried to buy fresh scallops, but the trucks didn't make it in because of the snow this past week, so I had to make due with frozen.  The recipe called for 8 sea scallops and I thought the frozen bag said 3 scallops, so I bought two bags.  I didn't realize until they were thawed that each bag was 3 servings...so we had way too many scallops; but I made them anyways.  It turned out suprisingly good.  The ginger and spinach gave it a very citrus taste. 
 
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) fresh grapefruit juice
1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
salt
2-1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
1-1/2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 lb baby spinach leaves
8 sea scallops, about 1/2 lb total weight
 
Directions:
In a small nonaluminum saucepan, combine the minced shallot and the grapefruit juice and let stand for about 10 minutes.  Add the lime and lemon juices and place the pan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid has reduced slightly to about 1/2 cup, 1-2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in 1-1/2 teaspoons of the oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Set the dressing aside.
 
In a small bowl or cup, stir together the soy sauce, ginger, honey and mustard to make a glaze and set aside.
 
Just before beginning to cook the scallops, put the spinach in a bowl and pour the dressing over it.  Toss well.  Divide the dressed spinach among individual salad plates.
 
In a frying pan large enough to hold all the scallops in a single layer without crowding, warm the remaining 2-1/2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat.  When it is hot, add the scallops and sear, turning once, until golden, about 30 seconds on each side.  Add the soy sauce mixture, reduce the heat to low, and turn the scallops in the sauce for about 45 seconds.  They will be glazed a deep mahogany brown.
 
Divide the scallops among the plates, placing them atop the spinach.  Drizzle with any sauce remaining in the pan.  Serve immediately.
 
 

Thursday - Travelling today to Kansas City for a hospital project at Overland Park.  I was amazed to see everything still covered in snow.  So much snow everywhere!!!!
 

 

Friday - My blood tests were back today and everything is looking good with my pregnancy.  Because of my history with miscarriages, my doctor wanted to put me on Prometrium twice a day through week 10, just to help things out.  These are the stangest little pills, round and pink. 

Project Life Tuesday - Week 5

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.




Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.


Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.


And finally, my POTW:

Saturday - My friend, Shannon, did not have time to get her Christmas cards finished this year, so instead she sent out New Years cards! What a great idea and an amazing card!  She embossed the plastic and added beads to the bow.  I received ours today along with a super awesome card kit for Valentine's Day.  I, unfortunately, had food poisoning today and did a whole lot of nothing.

Sunday - I was still feeling miserable today, although my fever did break.  I spent most of the day on the couch surfing blogs. I was super excited to find that my Viansa Winery layout was featured on Let's Scrap.  How cool is that?  It made my day!

Monday - Still hangout out in bed today, but I was excited to receive a box full of scrapping goodies.  I was the winner a couple of weeks ago for the weekly sketch at Let's Scrap.  The sponser of the week was Angie Hartledge over at Loonie 4 Scrapbooking based in Canada.  Check out all the yummies I received!!!!!  THANKS so much Angie!!!!!!!!!  I can't wait to use it up.

Tuesday - Dallas received a deep freeze last night.  Freezing sleet for hours.  We awoke to a solid white sheet of ice.  I did not even attempt to make it to work with the terrible roads and crazy Texas drivers!

Wednesday - Today the roads were still a mess and there was a state wide crisis on electrical power, so there were continuous rolling blackouts throughout the city all day.  I could tell from my blackberry that we had no power at the office and I still wasn't feeling too well, so I spent the day indoors.  I did manage to make dinner tonight, a new recipe that Angie shared with me - Vegtable Fried Rice with Bacon from Food Network  - LOL that is what it is called.  It was pretty yummy and I will definitely make it again.

Ingredients1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 head broccoli, florets and stalks cut into 1/4-inch pieces
5 cups cooked long-grain white rice
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
4 large eggs
1 bunch watercress, stems removed
Spicy mustard or chili sauce, for serving (optional)


Directions
Place a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetable oil and bacon and stir-fry until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over the bacon and toss. Add 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce (watch out-the oil will bubble up) and continue to stir-fry until the bacon is glazed, about 30 seconds. Transfer the bacon to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Add the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes to the drippings in the pan and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and cook until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice, the remaining 2 teaspoons soy sauce, the broth and glazed bacon. Toss to heat through.


Push the fried rice to one side of the pan, crack the eggs into the other side and scramble until set, about 1 minute. Mix the eggs into the rice and stir in the watercress. Divide among bowls and serve with mustard or chili sauce, if desired.

Thursday - Apparently food poisoning/flu was not the reason I've been sick all week!  It is VERY early so I am not getting too excited; but apparently I am pregnant.  For those who are new to my blog, we have been trying to get pregnant for over 2 years with all the tracking, testing, and meds possible.  After the second miscarriage last Nov. I pretty much had a complete emotional breakdown and took a leave of abscence from work.  I started seeing a counselor, stopped all hormone medications, went back to church and used the next two month to get my life priorities back into balance.  I returned to work in mid-January and felt my life was finally in balance and I was also finally ok with not having a baby.  Ironic huh?  I like to think it is the Lord telling me that he has his own plan for my life and I need to trust in him and not try to force my own path. I definitely feel the holy spirit working in my life right now.  As I mentioned before, it is VERY early and with my history, there is still a fairly significant chance that I will miscarry again; but I am in a different place now and I am cautiously optimistic and happily excited.  I also feel I am emotionally ready for which ever way this new possibility turns out.

Friday - We awoke this morning to another blanket of white.  This time is was 5" of snow!  It continued to snow most of the day.  Our dogs have been going stir crazy trapped in our little house, so we decided to walk them over to our new community Dog Park.  They had a BLAST!  They just ran and ran and jumped constantly for almost an hour.  It was hilarious and the Dog Park was fantastic.  We will definitely be taking them back soon.  These photos of Dallas and Mia crack me up so I'm going to have to use them all for today's photo.

I hope you managed to stay warm this week and didn't go stir crazy! See you next week and thanks for visiting!!!