wedding @ Point Loma

One week ago, I watched one of my best friends from college walk down the aisle. It was a beautiful wedding, with a beautiful bride. The wedding details were amazing. Her choice of purple and grey complimented the ocean view venue. I loved the candy bar, and the cake was delicious! 

As a pregnant bridesmaid, I was most nervous about squeezing into my dress. I bought the dress back in December - before I was showing and after much deliberation I decided to buy one size up. About a month ago, I went to the store to pick up the dress happy that it still (if snugly) fit. However, from the week that I picked up the dress to the week of the wedding my baby bump grew. Thankfully, I made through the ceremony. For the reception I threw on my black maternity sweater and had another bridesmaid unzip the top of the dress until I could change into something else. 

I think the best part of the wedding was seeing how happy the bride was. She was positively glowing all night long. I'm so thankful that I got to be apart of her special day and I'm looking forward to making many new memories together as two married ladies. :) 

Harrison Baby Girl

It's a girl!

This post is about a month late. But hey..better late than never.

I had forgotten how uncomfortable having an ultrasound was. I arrived about fifteen minutes before my scheduled appointment hoping that maybe one of the nurses would take pity and see me early. Unfortunately, with my bladder busting at the seams, I was still forced to wait about 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment time. All I could think about during the first half of the ultrasound was 1) I just want to pee and 2) please dear God, please don't let me pee right here on the table.

Lovely.

It was worth the discomfort to see our little lady. She didn't want to be disturbed. The nurse had to probe around a little in order to get the necessary pictures. Which unfortunately, meant more discomfort for me. After the nurse gave me the ok to use the restroom, the remainder of the appointment went smoothly. Richard and I got to see just about every angle of our baby girl. I think my favorite picture was the one where she flashed the peace sign.

Now with only 13 weeks left before our due date, I'm feeling excited and anxious to meet this precious little one. Our family will never be the same. I've already created several "prep for baby" to do lists, and I'm sure my poor hubby is going to think I'm crazy, but hey..it's best to be prepared. The room is painted, the crib is up, and I've already started working on the dresser and bedding. My pinterest board is brimming with ideas and I'm ready to hit the stores for little girl things.

good by winter, hello spring

It's days like this where I feel blessed to live in Southern California. While so many families across the country are buried deep in snow here I am in shorts and a t-shirt enjoying a beautiful day at the San Diego Safari Park. Last summer our family was gifted with passes to the park. I've learned that its best to go early morning and during the week. It's less crowded during the week and the animals are more active during early mornings. The new Tiger exhibit is fantastic. It's one of our must do's at the park. The boys love climbing around on the playgroup equipment at the Logging camp, and seeing the tigers up close in their new exhibits. 

Though there wasn't much animal activity on our trip, it was still a fun day. I enjoyed wandering through the trails, soaking up the warm sun and watching animals snooze. 

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

“Women can change better’n a man,” Ma said soothingly. “Woman got all her life in her arms. Man got it all in his head.”
“Man, he lives in jerks-baby born an’ a man dies, an’ that’s a jerk-gets a farm and looses his farm, an’ that’s a jerk. Woman, its all one flow, like a stream, little eddies, little waterfalls, but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it like that. We ain’t gonna die out. People is goin’ on-changin’ a little, maybe, but goin’ right on.”

- John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath ch. 28 

Whenever I reread a classic I'm struck by how much more I get out of it now than I did when I was in high school and or college. This novel was part of my high school American literature class, but honestly I didn't remember much except that there was a lot of cussing, depressing chapters, and the ending was weird. I simply wasn't ready at age fifteen or sixteen to grapple with the deeper issues addressed by Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath. Now that I am older, and hopefully wiser, I feel that I have a better understanding and appreciation of what John Steinbeck was trying to say in this novel. 

Because there are thousands of excellent online reviews for The Grapes of Wrath, I don't feel the need to go into depth about the themes, motifs and other things about this novel. Instead I want to share a few thoughts I have about one of my all time favorite female characters - Ma Joad. 

Ma Joad is the heart and soul of the book. As the male characters give in to their fear, anger and depression Ma Joad holds them all together with a fierce determination. Without Ma, the Joad family would have fallen apart. She understood the importance of sticking together, working hard and the power of a mother's selfless love. She demonstrated these qualities over and over throughout the novel - Granny's death, protecting Tom at the cotton plantation, and in the families darkest hour towards the end of the novel. I can only hope that Ma Joad's story ended well and that she was able to live out her days happy, well fed and with a roof over her head.