Happy {almost} New Year!

2014 is right around the corner and will bring the end to a very busy year!

In 2013...

I took a quick girl's trip to Florida over midwinter break with Tina and Laura.

We traveled to Quebec with Jon and Tina for a ski trip...so much fun!!

I had a laid back girl's weekend in beautiful {cold} Pentwater with Tina, Marci, and Tara.

I ran the 10k at the Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids.

I finished out my first school year at my new job in a new grade level in a new school district!

Gil was promoted to manager at his job. I'm so proud of him after all the long hours and hard work he has put in!

A new friend joined the family! Gil's parents got a new dog. Laila and Rya weren't so sure about each other at first, but now they are besties.

We celebrated 5 years of marriage! We had to forgo our anniversary tradition of drinking our bottle of wine from the wedding this year...and it was the last bottle! We're thinking maybe a trip to Traverse City to stock up for the next 5 years. :)

I began a new position when we went back to school in September, moving out of my own classroom and providing support to first grade and multiage students in our building. It was such a good year for that change to happen! I don't know what my work situation will look like next year, but chances are I will be back in my own classroom.

We found out we are expecting a little boy...and will be meeting that little boy in approximately 60 days! In a lot of ways, I feel like this pregnancy is flying by and in other ways I feel like I've been pregnant forever!

This was taken at work around 29 weeks on "pajama day". :) 

We were season ticket holders for the Lions again this year. Sad end to the season!

We bought a new house and moved {about two weeks ago} and sold our old house. We're so thankful our house sold so fast. It was sad leaving our little blue bungalow, our first house after we got married, but we are enjoying the space in our new house.

We still have so much to do in our new house but it's definitely starting to feel like home. We've started on a few little projects around here like starting to peel the wallpaper off in the dining room, and prepping the walls for paint in the nursery. We still need to buy furniture for the baby. Yikes! Ikea here we come!! We also need area rugs, a new couch, and a table for the eat in kitchen...all in good time.

We closed out the year with Gil's holiday party at Joe Louis Arena. We got to go in the {smelly} locker room, which was pretty cool.

Tomorrow, Erin, Matt, Ada, and Wrigley will be coming over to celebrate the New Year. We won't be lasting until midnight this year with a 1 year old and a very pregnant lady on board...but that will just let us rest up for an amazing 2014. :) Happy New Year, everyone!

Time is Flying By!

I thought I would be updating pregnancy related things on here all the time. But the truth is, once the school year starts, I don't end up doing much of anything else. On the weekends, all I want to do is veg out! It is also sports-a-mania in our house once fall hits. We been watching plenty of Tigers and going to all the Lions home games.

Playoff Game

Comerica Park

I am already 21 weeks preg and feeling good! I find myself getting bump-ier by the day! I was so ambitious with working out at the beginning and now I've kind of fallen off the wagon a bit. I move so much during the school day that I don't feel too bad about it though. At our 20 week appointment last week, we got to see our little baby. Everything looks good and healthy!! So thankful!!! We also found out that our little one is a...BOY! That was a great moment and has been gradually sinking in.

11 Weeks

21 Weeks

We have been busy busy searching for a new house. We put in an offer on a house over the summer and were outbid. Happily, I think we finally found a new house and will hopefully be moving by the beginning of December. It's an older colonial and needs some updating, but has the space we were looking for! The housing market has been a little crazy here, so I won't believe we bought a new house until the keys are in my hands! Now on to the huge project of getting our current house sold!

Wish us luck...things might be crazy for the next couple of months!

Beyond Excited!

* Written on June 24th *

Wednesday, June 19 was a life changing day! We couldn't be more excited! Although I won't be posting this until much further down the road, I wanted to capture my feelings and thoughts closer to the event!

For several days, I felt like something was up. I took a test on Monday (knowing it was probably too soon) and it was negative. On Wednesday, I just had the urge to try again and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw..."Pregnant"! I freaked out a little! Gil was at work while all this was going on, mind you. I hopped in the car and drove to CVS to buy another test...just to be sure! Sure enough, the second test was pregnant! I was so excited to tell Gil. He was working a little late and then going to workout. I texted him and said that I wanted to hang out, so he should skip his workout that night. Of course, he said he really wanted to get a workout in...so that meant I had to wait. I was going to make dinner for us and tell him over dinner, but I got so hungry I couldn't wait and ate without him. So pretty much by the time he walked in the door, I couldn't keep the news in anymore. "You're gonna be a daddy!!" He was really happy and claimed he wasn't surprised. Well, I was! Then he high fived me. Haha. That part cracked me up.

I'm currently about 4 weeks preggo and so happy and excited!! I feel great and don't really have any symptoms besides having to pee all the time! A couple of days before I found out, I had some pretty big headaches too. I've been hungrier than normal too (one of the things that tipped me off). I can always eat, but don't normally feel hungry so often.

It's awesome that it's summer so I can relax and be stress free. On the flip side, I'm having to work hard to keep myself busy or the time is going to draggggg by! I took a trip to IKEA today and am doing some house things, so that's keeping me busy. Next week we have a wedding to go to and it's 4th of July, so we will be in Grand Rapids a lot. So excited to head to the West side!

I have been running pretty much everyday. I have to run right when I wake up otherwise it is way too hot. It's been 86-88 degrees and humid the last few days. I'm really excited about having a healthy, active pregnancy. I've already been perusing Fitpregnancy.com  for some good workouts. I don't know if it's just in my head or not, but my body has felt slightly heavy and sluggish when I have run the past couple of days so I've kept my pace pretty slow. I'm only going about 1-2 miles just to take things easy and walking a lot. In the evenings, I've been walking Laila. Gotta keep movin'!

So hard keeping this a secret!!! 

Blue Skies, Summer Breezes, and Free Time!!

It's officially that time of year again...summer vacation! I really don't know how people have regular jobs without the promise of a summer vacation every year.

Our last day of school was on Thursday. I went in on Friday to finish up end of the year stuff and to pack up  my room. I'm going to be teaching first grade again in the same room, but everything gets packed up so they can clean over the summer. Before I took everything down, I took a bunch of pictures on my phone so I could remember how I had everything for next year (although I'm planning to change a bunch of things in my room). It was looking pretty bare in there by the end of Friday!

The end of the school year was a whirlwind as usual. I'm pretty much just relaxing this week and next week I will be more productive. Today I ran, returned books to the library, shopped a little at one of the stores on Main Street, bought ingredients for cookies, and now I'm doing laundry. I personally count that as one productive day during the first week of summer break!

I bought this dress today for a wedding in  July...cute or not cute? It's a floral print, if you can't tell.

Yesterday Laila and I headed over to the Lansing area to hang out with Erin. Laila was pretty excited to have a playdate with her boyfriend. Somehow Laila managed to get out of the fenced in backyard and wandered a little ways down the street. Luckily I noticed right away and ran to go find her...heart stopping!! She was greeting a neighbor when I found her, by the way.

And finally, Gil's parents adopted a dog named Rya. She is a 3 year old Malamute...so pretty! I can't wait to meet her. 

2013 River Bank Run

We just got home after a weekend in Grand Rapids for the River Bank Run. I ran the 10k this year and had so much fun. I have to say, I complain about the training and often don't feel like doing it, but when it comes to being a part of the event it's pretty amazing.

The crowd gave me bursts of adrenaline along the way and I felt great the whole run! I ran it in 1:01:59. I would love to run it in under an hour, but I am happy with this time because I felt so good during the race. I sprinted across the finish line...my favorite part. Can't wait to see the official race photos.

Gil and Laila both came downtown to cheer me on. Laila got lots of attention and pets. 

We also got to spend some time with friends and family while we were in town. Busy weekend!

Everything is in full bloom right now and it is making me so happy. Summer is just around the corner...

And finally...Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mom, Mary Jo. I love you!!!

Cooking Inspiration

Lately I have been feeling a little bored in the kitchen. I feel like I make a lot of the same dinners over and over. I've been searching around Pinterest lately for some new recipes. But I think I need to invest in a good cook book!

I whipped up a batch of the Pioneer Woman's salsa this week. I stopped using the cans of Rotel that it calls for (really high in sodium and I don't think the cans are BPA free). Instead of use Muir Glen organic tomatoes. This week I used the fire roasted variety and added some jalapeño. I also used red onion instead of white. Yum!

I made veggie "slaw" as a side this week. The idea came from the Proud Italian Cook. I used zucchini, carrot, red bell pepper, lots of basil, and shredded parmesan. For the "dressing", I just added a little olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. 

For dinner one night, we had BBQ quinoa salad. I have to say, this was only the second time I've ever made quinoa. I'm not sure why because it's super easy to make and adds a protein to the meal. This salad had cherry tomatoes, black beans, corn, chopped red onion, and quinoa over greens. I added BBQ sauce for a dressing. 

Classic tomato, basil, and mozz here. One of my favorite food combos! I added this to some penne pasta. I also added a can of drained canned tomatoes. I added the canned tomatoes in with the pasta, so it would be hot. I added the tomato, basil, and mozz later. I was a big fan, Gil was not so much. He really hates when I make pasta (which is not often). I think he only likes it when his parents make it at home...they are the experts on sauce and pasta!

I tried to make root chips yesterday. I was pretty excited about this at first, but they ended up being a huge pain. The recipe called for them to be in the oven for an hour and a half, turning them every 20 minutes or so. It was probably closer to two hours and I ended up turning the heat up because they just weren't getting done. In the end, some were burnt, while some were still way too raw. Next time, I'll prob just try one kind of veggie at a time. 

Anyways, I like cooking but need some new things to try out. My favorite kinds of recipes are those that aren't too fancy-shmancy and don't use 1,000 ingredients. I also need pictures! Does anyone have any suggestions for good {preferably vegetarian} cook books? Thanks!

A Quick Trip to Quebec...

Or not! Try 12 hours in the car! We headed to Mont Tremblant for some spring break skiing. It was a super long car ride, but well worth it once we got there! We road-tripped with our good friends Jon and Tina. Let me tell you, 12 hours in a car is the true friendship test and those two totally pass every time!

Gil found a condo on an app called Airbnb and it ended up being the perfect place. Close to the mountain, cute, and way cheaper than staying in a hotel.

The mountain was beautiful and the views were amazing. The first day of skiing was a little rough for me because I was breaking in a new pair of ski boots and as I said many times that day, my feet felt like they were in a silent prison. I had to stop a couple of hours early while everyone else kept skiing. However, day 2 and 3 of skiing were much more comfortable and so much fun.

Sunday and Monday were better skiing days because it was less crowded than Saturday, too. There was a Red Bull competition going on so it was a little crazy busy the first day. Skiing was so much more fun when it was less crowded (haha, Tina).

Monday was the best ski day because the temperature had dropped, which made the snow way more ski-able. It practically felt like we had the mountain to ourselves this day and we had considered not skiing that day. Glad we decided to go out!

On the way home, we took the scenic route and drove by the 1000 islands , which was pretty cool. As you can imagine, it was a bunch of islands. It was interesting to see houses built on them. I can't really imagine living on an actual tiny island.

We also took a quick ferry trip across to Ottawa, which was kinda fun. In typical Sue fashion, I had an awkward moment when I put the car window down to pay, realized we didn't need to pay yet, awkwardly said "Hi!" to the attendant, and then put my window back up. Strange looks ensued from said attendant. 

We got home on Tuesday night and picked Laila up from daycare on Wednesday. She has done nothing but sleep deeply for several days now. My favorite. 

And after some very cold temps in Canada, I am happy to say that it is finally starting to seem like spring around Michigan. 

I have aqua shoes to prove it!

Now hurry up warm weather!

Things I'm Looking Forward To...

* Warm weather
* Starting my garden
* Spring break
* Riverbank Run
* Summer Vacation
The end.

Spring Break Lovin'...

I feel like we just got done with mid-winter break and I'm already looking forward to spring break! I have a feeling that the rest of the school year will fly by after spring break is over.

So, spring break. I think we will be heading here...

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Canada ski vacation...here we come!