what is a hamburger reeeeaalllly all about?

Fact: I could probably eat In-n-Out every day and never get sick of it.

Fact: I wouldn't even care if I died of cardiac arrest...it'd be worth it.

Fact: This is not just a pregnancy craving... I assure you.

Fiction: In-n-Out uses top secret recipes that pitiful civilians like ourselves do not have access to.

Yes folks, it's true! Now you too can enjoy the delicious taste of an Double Double animal style In-n-Out burger in the comfort of your own home...no long drive thru lines in sight!


Exhibit A: THE RECIPE!:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/07/in-n-outs-double-double-animal-style-burger-recipe.html


Ok, so I admit...the recipe looks a bit daunting, and I highly doubt it can really rival the original, but I do want to attempt it one of these days, just for the hell of it.


....or I could just sit in the drive-thru after all...cause let's not kid ourselves, everyone wants some fries with that shake...and that Double Double.

29 Weeks Later

So since I still don't have a working camera, I've been kind of reluctant to post any new blog updates for fear that my entries would be boring without some kind of picture to go along with them. Fortunately, I ordered replacement parts for my camera and they should be arriving sometime this week!

In other news, last week I started my third trimester. I can't even believe it!! Only about 2 1/2 months left to go...I have to admit I'm starting to get nervous. The whole giving birth thing is kind of freaking me out, buuut the anticipation of meeting Levi is also really exciting. He's such a mysterious creature right now and I can't wait to just see him and hold him and know that everything is going to be all right and that it was all worth it. I think that not knowing what to expect and the fear of the unknown is the scariest part.

He is around 17 inches long already but only weighs a few pounds, so

he still has some chunking up to do before he makes his grand debut. Isn't that weird though, that he's almost as long as a full grown baby already? Here is a picture of what he looks like

Also, the hormones are really starting to kick in...I cry about everything that has to do with babies now. Ok, maybe not everything, but certainly pictures of newborns...and my 4 month old niece smiling... and those birth stories on TLC...I even get weepy when Levi gets the hiccups in my tummy or I think about looking at him for the first time. Poor Clay has to deal with my emotional outbursts...but he's really sweet and goes along with it. :)

And next week I will have another belly photo, even if it means borrowing someone else's camera!

need a little laugh?

I found the link to this website from another blog and it never fails to make me laugh. It's just pictures from home furnishings catalogs and funny little captions to go with them by the fictional yuppie couple Elaine and Gary. I can't really explain it well, so you'll just have to check it out the next time you're bored or in a bad mood. :)

http://catalogliving.tumblr.com

enjoy!

i'm back!!

I'm back to the world of blogging! This last month has been a busy one, so I apologizing for not updating at all. Every time I get a free minute, I find myself just wanting to veg out. This, however, has led to too many nights of mindlessly watching horrible reality t.v. shows, so I'd be better off blogging anyway.


So, I'll try to recap the last few weeks without boring you too much!


As I said in my last post (over a month ago - geeze!), I graduated college! My mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle, and Clay all came to support me at the ceremony. Thanks guys! It was cool to sit there in my cap and gown and know that I have finally accomplished one of my life's major goals. I can look back and know that I worked hard and didn't give up, even though there were times when I thought I couldn't stand sitting in a classroom for one more semester. And ok, I did take a semester off one year when I moved to San Luis Obispo for a few months, so maybe that helped me get through it too.

Here are some pics:


My little sis also graduated highschool, so my mom threw us a joint graduation party at out house. It was fun and my mom went to a lot of work, so thanks mommy! She always goes all out when it comes to parties and this one was no exception. Think streamers, balloons, posters, flowers, food...LOTS of them.





The night ended with a rousing game of Clue...which I ruined because I wasn't keeping track of my clues properly. Claire and Katie would have been the winners. Sorry guys.



On June 4th, I turned the exciting age of 24! It sounds so....old and yet I feel so....immature. Of course, I'll have a lot of growing up to do in the foreseeable future, so I'm not too concerned. My birthday this year wasn't anything much to write about; after I got off of work Clay and I went on a little hike and then got ice cream cones, and then we went home and made steak, baked potatoes, and salad for dinner. The next night, I had a little birthday dinner at Buca di Beppo. It was pretty good, except for less than satisfactory service. I guess they were busy with all the prom parties that were there. It was still nice to see my friends :)


A couple weeks after my birthday, my dad, sister Sammi, Clay, and I went on our annual camping trip to Yosemite for TEN DAYS! People think I'm crazy for camping for that long, being pregnant and all, but it was fine. I usually like to do a hike or two, but I had to take it easy this year. It was relaxing and nice to get away for awhile, and the weather was perfect. Unfortunately, I discovered that my camera is BROKEN!! The battery refuses to charge...not sure if it's the battery or the charger that is having technical difficulties, but I'm going to take it to get looked at a.s.a.p. So...no pictures of Yosemite this year :'(


I promise to be better about blogging and will do some pregnancy updates soon!

it's a boyyyyyyy!!

As you might already have heard, we found out last Friday that we're having a boy!!

So, if you voted boy, congrats, you were right! The ultrasound was SO cool, it was amazing to see the little human that's been inhabiting my tummy for the past 5 months. My mom and Clay were both in the room with me, which was really great. The only not so fun part about this visit was the fact that I had to drink 32 ounces of water and not urinate at least an hour before my appointment...which, let me tell you, for a pregnant woman is excruciating! I even cheated and didn't drink the whole 32 oz., but I don't think I would've been able to contain myself if I had.

Clay held onto my arm and had the biggest smile on his face the whole time, it was so cute! We got to see the baby's heart beating and saw him moving around while the ultrasound tech checked to make sure everything looked normal, which thankfully it did. He even yawned a couple of times!! (Ok, ok, so he might've just been swallowing fluid, but it looked like a yawn!) Seeing his little body and knowing what we're having makes it much more real now. I feel a lot more connected to the little guy and I can't wait to meet him in real life. For now, Clay and I are pretty set on the name Levi, unless we happen to come across something we like better. We both really like that name and hopefully it suits him. Now we just need to think of a middle name for him, so if you have any ideas, toss them our way!

Here are some pictures of our son to be!:

I think this is a head-on shot, you can see his eye sockets....and maybe a hand waving?:

Here's the shot of the boy parts! The lady said to look at the picture

as if he is sitting on a glass coffee table and you are underneath, looking up.

You can see his legs (they're pointing right) at the top and bottom of the image.

His bottom is on the left.

The arrow should help guide you too ;] :

Little feetsies! :

And here's my favorite, the profile shot. I think he already looks like Clay,

just look at that little button nose!:

Hope you enjoyed them!

faaaaaantastic!

Even though it's been almost 6 months since I've seen it, I feel compelled to write about one of my favorite animated movies, Fantastic Mr. Fox! If you haven't seen it, you should. Now, I'll have to admit that the trailer doesn't do it justice at all, and I wasn't even super excited to see it, but I was very pleasantly surprised to say the least.

Not only is it directed by the...excuse the pun...fantastic Wes Anderson (whose other films include Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, and The Darjeeling Limited), but it is also stop-motion animation (you know, like The Nightmare Before Christmas style), which I think is a huge part of what makes the feeling of the film unique. It's hard for me to really enjoy and appreciate movies with graphic animation these days, I tend to think that filmmaking has shifted too far into the spectrum of shock-and-awe computer graphics and each movie just tries to outdo the one before. It's almost not even impressive anymore. Don't get me wrong, I do realize the skill and talent that goes into any type of graphic art, and I am not one to judge. It's just my personal opinion. All you Avatar fans probably want my head on a silver platter right about now...ha. I was surprised to learn that the film was made using real, tangible, handmade models! I mean, who does that anymore? And while I know stop-motion is nothing new, it does somehow give the film a warmer, more organic feel, and I like that.

Another added bonus is the fact that the screenplay was based off of a children's novel by Roald Dahl, one of my favorite childhood authors (James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG...etc). The great thing about this movie is that it's not just for kids...in fact, I think it'd be safe to say that adults would enjoy it and understand it even more.

It also has a huge cast of big name actors - I'm not even going to name them, just try to guess who they are by their voices- voicing the characters, which adds a fun, grownup touch. And just when you think it can't get any better...wait til you hear the soundtrack. It is on constant repeat in my car, much to Clay's annoyance. ;]

So the gist of this rambling observation-turned-film-review is...go see Fantastic Mr. Fox! And like all the urging I got to go see Avatar "just for the graphics, if nothing else", I urge you to go see Mr. Fox for the NON-graphics, if nothing else. Let me know what you think!

(i don't know why the right side is cut off a little bit...i made it as small as i could! sorry)

the halfway point!!!

So this week marks the halfway point in two of my life's journeys!

For one, I finished my last semester at college and am graduating this weekend! My next step is going back sometime next year to start my teaching credential program, which normally takes about a year to a year and a half, but will probably take me a little longer trying to juggle life with a newborn. Luckily, I planned on taking time off after graduation anyway when I was going to move to New York, so taking a little longer to get my credential won't totally offset my plans. So yay! I can officially say I'm a college graduate! I'm halfway there to becoming a teacher someday.

My second halfway marker is my 20th week of pregnancy! 20 weeks down, 20 to go. My belly's gettin large and I'm feeling the baby move more than ever. My little alien friend.
Clay has actually felt it from the outside a couple of times, but it's kind of tough to feel it this early. There will be plenty more kicks for him soon, though. :) We get to go to the doctor this Friday to find out the gender and to see an ultrasound! My last ultrasound was at 10 weeks, and it still looked like a little lima bean with T-Rex arms at that point, so it will be cool to see something that looks more human. Clay is really excited to see it and to hear the heartbeat for the first time (I got to hear it at my last 2 appointments), and most of all we're suuuppper anxious to find out whether it's a boy or a girl! Stay tuned to find out...!