Windy road types of peeps.

On August 15, just three and a half short months ago, I wrote on this very blog; “Don’t quote me on this, but I have a feeling that Durham will be our home for quite a while.” Ha, I now laugh at myself! Feel free to join in. Either we are the type of people that are extremely indecisive when it comes to figuring what we want out of life. Or we know exactly what we want and just take ridiculously windy roads getting there. Well we are windy road types of peeps and guess what I am over North Carolina! Some people may laugh at us, tell us to stick it out, or think we are just plain dumb moving over and over and over and yep now have the desire to move once again. I’m not saying we have official plans to move just yet but this has been a major topic of discussion between Glenn and I recently. Don’t get me wrong we don’t hate our lives here by any means. We love the green, the people we have met, and the opportunity to establish ourselves as a couple away from a place where people have known us our entire lives. But we dislike Glenn’s job, having no money, and the thought of raising our baby 2,785 miles (Yes, I just Googled that.) away from our families. We have given the East Coast a fair shot. Plain and simple though we are West Coasters born and raised and it’s where we belong. There are a lot of possibilities up in the air right now but I will say that Glenn is looking at jobs teaching at Colleges located on the West Coast. We’re not talking California specific but anywhere within a day’s drive of California is our preference. We don’t exactly love the hassles and expenses and starting over in a new place constantly. Our current plan is that Glenn will remain with his current job teaching at a High School and will apply like crazy at Colleges for next fall. Last year Glenn was narrowed down to the final two applicants for College positions twice, so we are confident that with another year of teaching under his belt he stands a decent chance. We are optimistic, hopeful, and trust that life will work out the way it’s supposed to for us. If we have to stay in North Carolina for another year we know it’s not the worst scenario for us. We could deal, but I just don’t wanna! If life goes according to our plans we will be making a road trip to California next summer, have our baby there, and Glenn will be a College professor in the fall! We’re daring to dream!

I can’t believe I actually kept this secret so long!

We’re having a baby!!! Baby Fox will be arriving on June 27, 2013! In November I took a trip to California and thought I got sick on my flight. A week later when I was back home in North Carolina and still feeling exhausted and like my body was just off somehow I decided I should probably take a pregnancy test. I was so nervous I couldn’t even look at the stick. I made Glenn look first and then tell me, positive! We scheduled a Doctor’s appointment for the day before Thanksgiving. I thought the Doctor would confirm that I was four maybe even five weeks pregnant. So when the Doctor does an ultrasound and tells me I was 8 weeks and 6 days pregnant I was shocked to say the least. I was not expecting to see our baby and hear a heartbeat on this first visit. I stared at this picture of our baby all day long just to believe that this was real. Glenn will love that I’m telling the world that he cried during the visit, but I think it’s just so sweet how excited he is to be a Daddy. Mommy was a little surprised, but Mommy and Daddy are both elated of course and just can’t wait to love on our perfect baby!

Over our Christmas vacation to California we finally had the opportunity to tell our families our little secret. I thought it would be more fun to see people’s reactions in person. And so the secret keeping began. I talk to my mother on the phone practically every day so imagine just how difficult it was for me to find other topics to talk about. I felt so guilty. I am so happy that we waited though. I loved seeing all the different reactions from people: tears, screams, squeals, hugs, we had it all. Since this will be grandbaby #1 for my parents I wanted to tell them in a special way. We bought an ornament that says Joy, and the O was a tiny picture frame. Glenn took the ultrasound photo and photo-shopped in, “Hi Grandma and Grandpa!” We sized it to fit in the ornament and I gave the soon to be grandparents their present the second I was in California. I flew in Monday and Glenn was flying in on Friday. He knew in person I would not be able to hide our secret that many more days, and he was right. The second my Dad walked in the door from work on Monday I jumped up and ran to go get their present. I wish I took a picture of the frame. My Mom just cried and cried and even my Dad’s eyes welled up with tears. I know this will be one spoiled baby. It didn’t take long before this baby dominated our conversations. Baby you are so loved already!!

That entire month between Thanksgiving and Christmas was surreal to me. Telling our family and friends was unforgettable and truly makes this baby feel more real now. I still can’t grasp that I’m already in my second trimester. Today I am 14 weeks and three days pregnant. Honestly, I feel fantastic! I am definitely more tired than normal and feel like I need a nap every day. I have only had just a handful of times where I feel a little nauseous at night. When that happens Glenn has found a secret potion of half diet mountain dew and half pink lemonade slushee that helps. I never drink soda so it’s sweet he found a way to make it not so icky for me. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is kind and takes care of me. Aww I’m in LOVE! Next big baby news will be boy or girl in just four short weeks!

Fall Festivities

I can’t express enough just how much I LOVE fall! I seriously love the whole month of October, and all the many fall activities. We have had a date to a pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving for FHE, trunk or treat at church, and have been enjoying lots of candy corn! I figure the best way to share our fun is to show through pictures. Enjoy us and all our cuteness.

Glenn's pumpkin. What a lighting nerd.

I am not very artistic so I'm very happy you can actually tell my pumpkin is a Fox.  

Pumpkin carving makes me happy.

Rocky goes crazy for candy corn. Video coming soon.



We won the best decorated trunk at trunk or treat! I was ridiculously excited considering the prize was just free frosties at Wendy's.

 

Seriously though we deserved it. We will be finding hay in our van for months. Too bad Glenn didn't come up with the brilliant idea of using a tarp underneath until after we put a barrel of hay all over the place.  

Rocky is a pumpkin.

Glenn is a dog.

My friend Alyssa as Mrs. Frizzle.

Someone caption this please.

Tired from Trunk or Treat.

Lexi the devil dog. The dogs were such a big hit with the kids.

I always thought it would be fun to get stuck at the top of a ride.

I am not afraid of heights. Skydiving from 10,000 feet in the air, zip-lining through the Alaskan rainforest, those swings at the North Carolina State Fair, I love a good adrenaline rush! This last weekend we went to the North Carolina State Fair with our good friends Zach and Alyssa. I really wanted to go on the spinny swings, not the kiddy version, the crazy ones that go way higher than all but one ride at the fair (drop zone and we went on that too!). We couldn’t convince Alyssa to go on the swings so they sat out, and good thing for Alyssa too. Glenn and I were sitting ready to go in our seats, all buckled in tightly (ya right, it’s just a loose bar) and they start to take us up, jk, they bring us down, start to take us up, jk, back down again, third time is a charm and we finally made it all the way up. We marveled at the amazing view, the lights, the people, kissed romantically at the top, and I joked with Glenn that it would be funny if we got stuck at the top. The ride was nice and slow and mellow. We did like three circles and started to drop back down, bump, bump, and bump! This was not a smooth ride, it’s the State Fair so we figured well that’s that, and started to unbuckle and walk away. A man walks up to us and says, ‘sorry, the generator went out and we lost power, you can go again if you like.’ So we buckle back up and wait to go again. Sure enough as we look around the lights are completely off on three rides all right next to each other. We go back up, much smoother, and much faster this time, and lucky me it just meant another kiss at the top. So not quite my wish of getting stuck at the top, but pretty close and still a good story.

Oh and I learned something about myself at the Fair. I am completely intolerant of line cutters. I hate it. I think it’s so rude, especially when the line is like 45 minutes for everyone else. I am not the type of person to let this behavior slide, so twice, yes twice, I yelled at a group of kids who tried to cut in behind us. Yes I’m that person, yelling at teenage kids at the State Fair. Am I getting old?

It's a little dark, but you get the idea.

I have a goal.

My Mother has told me on multiple occasions that I don’t blog enough. She’s right. I don’t. I get so caught up in thinking that I just don’t have an exciting enough life to share with other people. Well, here is my new motto. Oh well. My “we still feel like newlyweds” life with my husband is plenty of happiness to me. So I’m going to write more. Lot’s more. At least once a week. My goal is twice. It might be a funny anecdote. A cute picture of my puppies. My thoughts on life. Whatever, I feel like, because this is my blog. I love to write, so it’s been quite silly of me that I have not been putting this talent of mine to good use.

Perspective.

I debated back and forth whether or not I wanted to write about this on my blog. For some reason, I feel like I can only share the happy and positive in my life. I think because it’s easier to portray yourself as someone who is picture perfect. Let’s face it though, I’m not, not every day is happy, I get sad, and I had a really bad day, and I’m going to share it.

It was your fault! I stood there with a tear stained face, feeling a mix of emotions from confusion to anger to frustration to sadness and devastation as a police officer told me the car accident I was just in was my fault. These words have been ringing in my head ever since. I stood there in shock repeating over and over to the police officer, “I’m confused, I had a green light, I was hit,” over and over. I was told that she also had a green light, I was supposed to yield to her, therefore my fault. This was a very non-sympathetic police officer and didn’t seem to care that I was in a very fragile emotional state and not really grasping his words. No matter what age you are, it sucks being told that something is your fault. And no matter what age you are when you hear these words you cry and cry and cry some more.

I was on my way home from a Relief Society getting to know you activity last Thursday. I am new, I needed to know people, and was actually really excited to go. Now I’m not sure how long until I work up the nerve to drive myself somewhere ever again. I’m horribly directionally challenged and even though we have been to the church a bunch now, I needed a GPS to get home. When I don’t know where I’m going I drive really cautious so I don’t miss something. I was not speeding, I look up at the light and have greens all the way, and I start to veer left onto Cornwallis. The street I live on, yes I got in an accident less than a mile from where I live! And WHAM!! Out of the corner of my eye I see the car, and there was nothing I could do in time. I was hit on the passenger side.

I called Glenn immediately, I was shocked and confused and feeling guilty that I just wrecked his car. One of a million reasons I love my husband – he has soaking wet dogs in the bathtub at the time and runs to my rescue on a bicycle. My scooter was out of gas. So my unbelievably forgiving husband comes on a bicycle just to be with me and so I don’t have to deal with the car, cops, tow-truck, and waiting all alone. I love him! Glenn kept telling me that he was never angry for a second, that he was just so grateful I wasn’t hurt, and he just held me on the side of the road for as long as I needed.

I will never understand why people think green light yields are a good idea! Personally I would like to tell this person giving people green lights at the same time like that is dumb, and that people can get in accidents. I moped for about a day, staying in my pajamas, cuddling my puppy, taking a nap, and wanting to hide from the huge mess I just created. My husband wouldn’t let me. And from 3,000 miles away my mother wouldn’t let me beat myself up either. It was just an accident! That’s what people kept telling me. Glenn came home and forced me out of the house, and I almost ended up at our ward cookout in my pajamas. I rode there on the back of our scooter and jumped every time a car came close. But it helped. The fresh air, the people, the pushy husband, it all helped.

I’m fine now, and I have gained some perspective. I woke up the next morning in my own bed, next to my husband, and not a hospital bed. The woman in the other car and her dog are both fine too. The car isn’t completely totaled like I thought in the moment, and will be drivable about $1000 from now. Most importantly I have such an understanding husband. I was so angry at myself for making a mistake that I couldn’t see that it was just that, a mistake. I begged Glenn if he was angry at me at all just tell me, I deserved it, and he never was. I’m grateful for all the offers to get rides and borrow people’s cars. I’m grateful I’m here, just a sore back, and some emotional damage, but I have a lot to be grateful for!!

N is for Nomad.

New Jersey, New York, and now we can add North Carolina to the list of states Glenn and I have lived since we were married almost 15 months ago. Either we are working our way through all the N states or we are nomads?  What is the reason for yet another move? Glenn was offered a job at a High School teaching technical theatre. I am so proud of my husband! I am so appreciative that he has been willing to suck up any pride and work in crappy jobs up until now to take care of his family, he really deserves this.

Once again the job application process proved to be challenging. Glenn was offered this teaching job in Durham, NC and he accepted. We told family, friends, chose a place to live, and researched the town. We were both ready to leave New York, and excited for our next chapter. The very next day Glenn received a call from a University in Alabama wanting to fly him out for an interview all expenses paid. The interview went well, teaching at a college is Glenn’s dream, and it was looking like we might be moving to Alabama. We were split on what to do if Glenn was actually offered a job. I voted North Carolina, and Glenn wanted Alabama. The best way to describe my feelings about Alabama is like moving to Mars. I was feeling like the worst wife. I should be ecstatic to see my husband’s dream come true, and I just couldn’t shake all my anxious feelings about Alabama. I tried to prepare myself for either location, I consulted advice from friends and family, we made lists, talked the subject to death, and I cried. When I finally started understanding why Glenn wanted Alabama and started coming around to the idea, in the end there wasn’t even an offer. Of course there were initial feelings of disappointment from Glenn, but as our new life was around the corner we were counting down weeks, days, hours, and minutes together.

The last week in New York was difficult for a couple reasons. We loaded up a truck with all our stuff on Monday, and then lived in an empty apartment until Friday. We also had a week’s worth of goodbyes. We truly loved West Point Branch, and never had a single day we felt like we didn’t have any friends. Friday at 3:00 felt like it would never come, and when it did we loaded our last few things in the car, said one more goodbye, and had no desire to look back. We will miss our friends, but in all other aspects this change is for the better.

Here we are Day #3 living in Durham, North Carolina. After a rocky first day, things are going pretty well now. Our apartment was looking really dark and uninviting. We were driving through a lot of shady neighborhoods and I was worried that we were living so close to the ghetto. Now we have scouted out the nicer routes to drive, where to eat out, Lowes, and of course Target, which we seem to have a need to visit everyday so far. A couple new light fixtures, hanging up curtains, putting pictures on the wall, and we’re slowly starting to feel a little more at home every day. My favorite thing to note, we have a washer and dryer!!! Those excessive exclamations don’t even come close to expressing what this means to me. We have not one article of dirty anything right now :-) Glenn is teasing I am getting things dirty on purpose just to have a reason to use it. We now have two floors, two bedrooms, tons of storage space, fireplace, patio, and my other favorite a spacious master bedroom, with a bigger closet, and a huge bathroom. Other than feeling like I need more stuff to fill up all this new space I am happy. The dogs are busy exploring every square inch of their new home and happy to have a backyard area with grass. Glenn is busy with meetings at the school and preparing for his classes. I am hoping that I will be able to work as a substitute teacher while I continue to look for a job that I would be happy at and want to stay more permanently. Don’t quote me on this, but I have a feeling that Durham will be our home for quite a while. 

Our new townhome!

DCI & A day in NYC with my Momma!

My very talented little sister has been a member of the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps for four years now. She has spent three of those years playing trumpet and this year is the backfield drum major. They spend practically all year rehearsing and then spend summers traveling the U.S. wowing people with their musicality and impressive field performances. Lucky for me they stop in Allentown, PA. Which just so happens to be a quick 2 ½ jaunt away. Trust me this show is all I have heard about from her for months and I was so stoked to finally watch. I continue to be in awe of Rebekah and how talented she is! Lucky for me again, my Mom had been traveling as a cook, and my Dad and Kayla as drivers for the past week. I was so happy to see all my family!! I miss them so much! We stole my Mom away with us and took her back to our incredibly chaotic apartment in the midst of a move.

We spent the best day in NYC! This is really saying something for me. I remember our first trip into the city and I was nervous, overwhelmed, claustrophobic, felt everything around me was dirty, and it was hard for to understand why people are so in love with NYC. This time everything just went perfect! The drive there didn’t really have traffic, we parked for $11 all day, we navigated the subway like pros, and my favorite we got an awesome deal on Broadway tickets! This was absolutely my #1 thing I wanted to do while we lived so close to NYC, and I’m so grateful to have parents that spoil me! We spent the morning wandering in shops and bargaining with street vendors. My Mom and I got matching hippie chic NYC bags (I wish we took a picture). After a yummy lunch at Hard Rock Café in Times Square we made the walk around the corner to see Mary Poppins! The show was incredible! The theatre was gorgeous, the set constantly changing, people tap dancing on the roof, Mary Poppins flying over the audience and pulling objects out of her magic bag, and just so much overall fun to this show. I have been humming nonstop since this weekend the practically perfect song. After our show we met up with my Dad and sisters who spent their afternoon watching a Yankees game, and went to the 9/11 Memorial Site. It was such a beautifully done memorial and so humbling to see all those names.

That evening we went on a lantern tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. My Mother, the eccentric, strangely fascinated with cemeteries woman that she is, didn’t understand how we could live so close and not make it on a tour yet. So to please her we spent the next two hours wandering around a cemetery in the middle of the night, solely lit by lanterns, listening to stories of some of Sleepy Hollow’s most popular patrons. There is never too much fun in a cemetery to be had so the next day we walked around the cemetery on West Point campus. My Mom was actually giddy to be taking pictures, and looking at all the names. Who remembers General Custer? I however, had the most fun lying on top of people’s grave markers pretending I was sacrificing myself. Maybe that’s slightly irreverent to some, but I guess I am my Mother’s daughter a little bit. I love you Mom! Looking forward to the cemetery tours we will take you on in N.C. ;-)

George Wahington Bridge. Picture taken from a moving car.

My Momma and Me! I wanted the Hunger Games backdrop.

Glenn wants to be an Avenger!

 

Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square!

The new trade center that is being built. Already the tallest building in NYC.

Glenn hypothesized that each individual stream of water represents a person.

Touching the tree for luck. This is the only tree that survived the 9/11 attacks!

How NYC parks cars.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery lantern tour.

The angel of hope. She sat the highest of all the statues in the cemetery.

Ummm?



Washington Irvine





Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise.

Candid photo of what Glenn and I looked like at the end of the tour.

Virginia Vacation :-)

We absolutely love having family in Virginia because it is such a beautiful place to visit. Glenn’s oldest brother Bill, his wife Suzanne, and their beautiful girls are the only family on the East Coast with us. We have lucked out that when we lived in New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina (in a matter of days) that they have never been more than five hours away. Normally we only have time to make a quick weekend and sometimes just a 24 hour trip, so it was so nice to have a whole week to spend there! Since Sydney and Savannah were so grown up by the time I became a Fox I look forward to these visits with my nieces so much! To top it off we were able to persuade Stephanie, who I have never met yet, with roller coasters and water slides to join us on our family vacation. Glenn’s Mom even flew out all the way from California to join us too!! Months ago I suggested we go to Busch Gardens for Glenn’s birthday back in June. A trip to Virginia was of course a perfect time to meet up with some of the Fox’s, and I’m so happy they all jumped on board with our plans.

This ended up not being a birthday trip since we went in July, but it was way better having more family involved. We left on a Thursday right when Glenn was home from work. He always teases me because whenever I’m excited for something I’m literally bouncing up and down at the front door ready to leave right when he pulls up in the driveway. We have driven right near Washington D.C. and never had the chance to be touristy yet. We stayed at my friend Emily’s in Maryland for the night and spent all day Friday walking around all the monuments. I had no idea that there were so many, we mapped our walk at the end of the day and walked more than 6.5 miles. I felt so patriotic all day just being there and thinking about all the wars and all the people who fought for America. We’re so lucky to live here!

On Saturday we drove the last hour to Virginia and met up with the Fox’s. We spent a chill day going to see Dark Knight Rises. Then later that night we went to watch Syd and Sav in their Youth Conference Extravaganza celebration. Oh how I remember well all the silly dancing and singing you do as a youth. Sunday we drove down to Williamsburg and settled into our little home for the next few days.  

Monday morning I French braided all the girl’s hair for our day at Water Country USA! We were so lucky to never have very long lines and were able to go on our favorite slides over and over. My favorites were the giant tube rides where we could cram in five people. I also had to go on Vanish Point, the crazy cliffhanger water slide where you drop straight down. They had a new ride where you step into a clear tube and they close a door on you, after you wait a few seconds the floor drops out beneath you. Crazy right! I wouldn’t say it was my favorite but I wanted to go on everything. I loved soaking up some sunshine, eating some dippin dots, and was just as excited as all the little kids there! Tuesday we went to Busch Gardens. Again we had no lines! Who has ever heard of walking straight onto the front row of a roller coaster?! The longest wait all day was like 20 minutes for their brand new ride, and everything else was like 5 minutes or less. We went on every major coaster in the park, ate our lunch with fairy tale characters, and watched an Irish dancing show. Our day ended when the monsoon rain started and we had to make a mad dash to our car that was a good 15 minutes away.

It was clear skies the next day, perfect to hang out at Virginia Beach! The waves were so strong I was being tossed around like a rag doll. Literally at one point Glenn and I were holding hands when a huge wave came that we dove under, and it completely ripped our hands apart. I didn’t last that long in the water but Glenn stayed in and toughed it out. After a yummy late lunch at a Greek restaurant we had to sadly say goodbye. Even our drive home was memorable. We decided to suck it up and take the toll route so we could get home an hour sooner. We drove across this freeway that literally cuts straight through the ocean, seriously like 20 miles surrounded by water on all sides, two tunnels, and no exits! I didn’t even know that was possible, I was so freaked out! I am so thankful we were able to have this super fun vacation, and for me the chance to get to know my nieces a bit better. It gave me a break from waiting impatiently for our move, and let me relax and focus on fun!

Water is dangerous!



Pictures don't do these waves justice.