Sunshine!

Life is so good right now. Spring has finally come to Alaska! The temperatures have been getting up to the mid 30's (yes, that is WARM up here.), the snow is melting slowly but surely, the sun is out 12 hours a day now, and the roads are clearing a bit more every day.

A while back I went to Virginia for a couple weeks to visit my family, and wasn't really looking forward to coming back home, since I was leaving warm air and ice-free roads for what I had left: -40 degree temperatures, snow, clouds, and darkness. But during those two weeks I was gone, Alaska changed drastically. I came home to this weather, and it's getting better every week. This is making me want to go out and get clothing with bright colors and grow flowers in our windowsill and do things outside every possible chance I get. I have never in my life been so excited about spring and summer coming.

On top of all that, the nausea seems to have finally left me! After 4 and a half months of getting sick every...single...morning (and often multiple times a day!), and feeling very nauseated all day and night long, it is a huge relief to feel almost normal again. Almost. For now, changes are happening in my body that I've never experienced before. Some of it is very strange, some things frustrating, and much of it makes me smile at random moments throughout the day. I felt good enough last week to take a mile long run, but today I tried it and had a lot of discomfort that prevented me from running. I walked a mile and a half at least, hopefully I can try again and succeed later on this week. I felt the first little kicks while I was in Virginia, and every week they've been getting stronger. Sometimes now I can watch my stomach and see little ripples and bumps where the baby is kicking or moving around. This is all very strange, but thrilling at the same time. I can hardly wait to hold our baby in my arms and see him for the first time.

And yes, it is a "him." We wanted to wait until the baby was born to find out what gender he was going to be, but when we had the 20 week ultrasound, it was so blatantly obvious what the baby was, we couldn't really help but know. And then we figured it would be ridiculous to keep it a secret when we knew what he was. Still keeping his name a secret until he's born though. ;) I'm sort of disappointed that we won't be surprised, since we'd both always imagined it'd be that way, but at the same time, it's fun to know so we can better prepare for him.

Anyway, that's a very brief update on my life at the moment. I can't make it longer though, due to this ridiculous "to-do" list. Just for fun, I'm posting it.


To Do:

Go to bank for quarters
Write Rachel
Write Grandad
Write Grandma and Pappy
Put laundry on
Take a shower
Sweep kitchen/bathroom
Mop
Vacuum
Load dishes

Start dishwasher

Tidy up clutter
Change bedding
Fold laundry
Unload dishes
Clean the bathroom
Figure out what to make for supper
Wash bedding/throw blankets/towels - if there's time and quarters left after clothing has been washed
Piano lessons: two students today