the giraffe life

Time for a goals update! Financial   •  Save $300 per pay  - Yes! Easiest goal ever because this was automatically deducted from my paychecks! Personal   •  Attend more than 67 yoga classes  - Nope! I stopped attending yoga classes in June because I was modifying so many of the poses to accommodate my growing belly that it seemed silly to pay to take a class that I wasn't fully participating in. I couldn't find any local prenatal classes so I switched to DVDs from the library until the very end when just cooking dinner felt like a work out. How do pregnant women who already have children do it?? •  Read 52 books  - Yep, a total of 70 . It was a banner year for reading actually, considering almost all those books were read before September. Now baby girl and I listen to audiobooks (electronically downloaded from the library to my cell phone) during some daytime nursing sessions when I want to read something. Plus I read a kids book to...

Our family expanded earlier this week! Ahh still in shock that I have a baby! She is happy and healthy though and I'm recovering fine :) I chose to have her at a birth center and it was perfect. A relatively short labor and then I delivered her in a giant bathtub. I would definitely have a water birth again! Pushing was the hardest part and crowning was painful for me (though I'd already forgotten how bad it hurt when they put her on my chest) but I'm glad I did it drug free because I could feel everything and giving birth is an incredible feeling. Plus I was super proud of myself afterwards, haha! We love her so much. Just soaking in every minute.   I'm not sure I want to post her name and have it searchable on the blog, so check out  this list - her name is number 8 .  And to think, last November we thought we couldn't have children. Feeling sooo grateful! :) Oh and please excuse my absence around the web these past few weeks . . honestly, I probabl...

Sunrise on Sunday Mr. G and I decided to go on one last little trip before the baby arrives (called a babymoon around here) so we drove to the beach on Saturday morning, stayed the night, and then came home Sunday evening. It was the perfect short break from work and getting things ready around the house. We spent a lot of time walking and talking, and of course ate way too much like we always do on vacation, haha!  The weather was perfect, sunny and in the 70s (about 22-24° C). The ocean was chilly but it felt good to my hot pregnant body (I've never been a warm person until this pregnancy) and I was happy to get another wear out of my maternity swim suit!  A little less than 6 weeks til my due date! Crazy to think that on our next beach trip we'll have a baby in tow! Are babymoons common where you live?

We've returned from our trip to St. Michaels!  The weather was a warm, comfortable temperature for the whole visit, but there were some wild thunderstorms and a little flooding. To be expected this close to the water, I suppose? Many of the roads had ditches cut beside them to hold excess water and runoff so the sidewalks and roads were in good shape again pretty quick.  Most of our time in St. Michaels was spent walking around town. There are a ton of cute shops (we saw one with handmade three-dimensional wooden maps of various coastlines around the world) and lots of places to eat. I was impressed that one of the restaurants, Ava's Pizzeria , even offered a vegan cheese and veggie pizza! We spent a lot of time in the water too, since our B & B had a great pool. They also upgraded our room to a suite with a soaker tub next to the bed. It was awesome! I've never used one, but my pregnant self loved all the space and how light I felt. Super relaxing! ...

Back in February, I mentioned that Mr. G and I had started considering locations for our anniversary trip in June. In years past, we've vacationed in Daytona Beach and California .  After finding out I was pregnant though, we decided to pick somewhere within driving distance. Not only will it be cheaper, but it's good for peace of mind because the thought of flying makes me a little uneasy. (I had to take a ferry ride for work a few weeks ago and it couldn't end fast enough.)  Coincidently, one of my friends at work was raving about her vacation last year and how she can't wait to go back this year. Of course my ears pricked up and I asked her a million questions, then brought home her suggestion to Mr. G, who loved it. We've booked our stay in June to  St. Michaels, Maryland  - a small town on the bay.  We're excited! They have walking trails along the water, lots of seafood for Mr. G, museums, kayaking tours, and the place we're staying has a pool...

Yes, it's crazy - I'm pregnant. Ahhh! I was feeling off the last week of February. Mr. G and I agreed I'd take a pregnancy test on Saturday morning (our work schedules don't mesh any more so we're only both home and awake at the same time on weekends). I saw that second pink line and immediately sank to floor, head in my heads. It was such a shock! Mr. G was surprised (and I think a little overwhelmed too though he'd never admit it) - he drove to the store for another brand of test, and all told I took 5 that morning. Ha!  We just stared at all those positive tests and each other. Then we moved on to elation + surprise. :) a bump! I still kind of can't believe it. It's hard to wrap your head around! I've toyed with the idea that perhaps our infertility diagnosis was inaccurate but it doesn't really matter. Sometime this fall, we'll have a baby! (I'm officially due November 1st, but not holding my breath.) The first trimeste...

2015! It feels like a good, round number for some reason. I'm excited to share my goals for this year - a couple familiar carry overs and some new ones. Financial   • Save $300 per pay - Continued from last year . And to make it easier, I'm having it automatically deducted from my paychecks.  Personal   • Attend more than 67 yoga classes - Super random number, right? Last year I attended about 67 yoga classes (can't be 100% sure because I didn't start keeping track until late July) so I just want to beat my previous record. I'm going to use this daily goal calendar  - black Xs on days I do any kind of exercise (probably a walk), purple Xs for yoga, and left blank for no exercise. This method is quick and very visual so I think it'll work for me.  from the make29 shop • Read 52 books - A book a week (or so). Aiming for 50 books pushes me to make reading a priority without pressuring me to choose short books to inflate my numbers. So I just ...

I think the only thing better than dreaming up goals is checking them off :) Finances Put at least $2000 toward mortgage prepayment  - Yes! We actually paid $2600 by September.  Save for daycare  - Change of plans! My employer doesn't provide paid maternity leave so I figured we'd kill two birds with one stone - practice paying for daycare and use the money to pay bills while I was home with a baby. Since we now know we'll need medical intervention to have a baby, this savings account will instead be the start of our fund for that. I'm super glad we have this moolah set aside!  Personal   Finish my degree  - Probably my proudest moment of the year! I turned in my final project in April and graduated in May :) Read 50 books  - Success! 73 books in all. I'll have a post about my favorites soon. Marriage Travel at least twice  - Yes! We traveled to California to celebrate our anniversary in June and to NYC for a day in November. Learn something ...

Side note: Thank you so, so much for your comments last week. I truly appreciate all the love and kindness - it warmed my heart. Mr. G and I visited NYC over the weekend. We are lucky to live close enough to make day trips there by bus. In the past, we've taken some very early buses. But getting up at 3:30 in the morning is AWFUL and the sleep deprivation makes me hungry (and a little cranky) all day. Not worth it.  This year we took a later bus and didn't get into the city until 11. We had a little less time but I felt like a normal human all day! Three cheers for sleep :) The bus let us off at Radio City Music Hall, so we decided to visit Central Park first. Central Park holds a special place in my heart because that's where we got engaged (on another November day trip). Mr. G tricked me into standing on this rock with him to take a picture and then when we got up there, he proposed :) After our trip down memory lane, we walked to Doughnut Plant , home of the C...

I don't think it's a secret that Mr. G and I would like to expand our family - it's made appearances in both my 2014 goals post and my bucket list post. But I guess the secret is - we've been trying for a while with no luck.  So Mr. G and I had some tests done and the doctor broke the news to us last week that for us, becoming pregnant naturally is extremely unlikely. We are infertile. We're devastated. How could there be no kids in our future? Mr. G's doctor wants us to wait 6 months, then repeat the testing. If the results are poor again, then we'll be referred to another doctor to start talking about IVF (fertility drugs alone won't work in our situation). Unfortunately, IVF is a complex, costly procedure not covered by insurance. We could afford one round (about $12,000), but what if it's not successful? Adoption is just as complicated and even more expensive (about $25,000). So many what ifs. While we haven't given up completely...

Mr. G and I love going out to eat. It's a little break from cooking and cleaning, and we enjoy the chance to talk. (Meals at restaurants last longer than meals at home, so I feel like we talk more.) But since we don't have unlimited funds, we usually skip dessert.  So imagine our surprise when we broke tradition to order a scoop of ice cream and this came to our table . .  I think the official name was French vanilla ice cream with peanut butter swirl. The official taste was YUM. When did desserts get so big?! linking up for wordless Wednesday

Sometimes I get caught in an internet rabbit hole - clicking on one thing leads to another, and another, and another. When I finally look up, I find out two hours have gone by and it's time to start dinner. Usually that means whatever I was reading or watching was worthwhile and held my interest. Over the weekend, one of those rabbit hole sessions led me to  Why We Sleep Together .  Our bed covered with the quilt my mom and I made for Mr. G A fascinating article! It talks about how people (and sometimes animals) sleep together for a variety of reasons, some logical, some not so much (a fear of witches).  Personally, I share my bed with a kitty or two every night, and occasionally my husband too. During the work week, I sleep during a fairly normal time:  9pm - 5:30am, but Mr. G works overnight, so he sleeps from 8am - 4pm. Which means we don't sleep together at least five nights a week. Sometimes on the weekends we'll have a commitment that requires Mr. G to ...

June went fast, right? Can't believe the year is already half over! I'm still feeling good about all my goals though :) This month I was able to cross off two goals - traveling twice and learning something new. We visited Ocean City for a friend's birthday, and then spent 9 days in California. (I'll post my final recap on Monday.) We still plan to fit in a day trip to NYC in a few months. Learning something new was surfing  lessons! I've already met my mortgage goal for the year, but I've decided I'm going to continue to overpay. I'm in the habit of putting extra money toward it anyway, so why stop? $2,330 total - yay!  As of the end of June, I've read 35 books this year so I'm on track for 50. This month's reads: The best was Daughter of Smoke & Bone , hands down. Bread & Wine - Memoir mixed with favorite recipes. I loved that she advocates inviting people over for dinner even when your house is a mess - been ...

My husband wanted to go to Cabela's (a store for camping/hunting/outdoorsy stuff) over the weekend and I didn't really feel like tagging along. I'm not a fan of guns/hunting in general, and while I've been camping plenty of times, day trips or spending the night in a cabin are more fun for me.  But he likes it when I come along so I joined him.  And I had a good time.  There, I said it! :) Things started out on the right foot when we walked in the door and were offered glazed doughnuts (my favorite!). Then we saw the huge fish tanks, which I enjoyed. The women's clothing section had some cute stuff (I bought a new dress ). And the final tipping point was when we found two comfy chairs (they recline!) for our porch:   SOLD. Yes, I was hesitant to go - but it turned out to be a lovely time with my hubby. Glad I went! :)

I talked about the Pedometer Challenge my work is sponsoring a few weeks ago, and since all I had to share at that time was baseline information - I figured I was due for an update. :) I've been doing well increasing my steps each week (although I still haven't quite made it to the mystical 10,000 steps). Thankfully other activities count as well, like cooking, cleaning, and yoga, which boosts my totals. My work also posts the participants' weekly averages in the break room, and looking those over while my lunch is heating up has encouraged me to walk several times when I didn't feel like it. Mr. G is having a tougher time improving his totals and we've talked about it a few times. He thinks the challenges have been easier for him when they're offered by his work because then there's a group of guys in his division that walk together for the second half of their lunch break and during their shorter breaks as well. I think he's not giving himself e...

Happy Easter! I hope you enjoyed the day :) We were even visited by two of the Easter Bunny's friends: Do you guys outside the US have an Easter Bunny too? You know, a bunny that breaks into your house to leave children a basket full of chocolate and candy and hide plastic eggs around your home/yard. (Even as a kid, I thought the idea of the Easter Bunny was just plain weird. I mean, rabbits don't lay eggs. Where did the Easter Bunny get them from?!) And now onto my post, which is completely unrelated to Easter (or at least I couldn't think of any good segues . . ). My work is trying to encourage employees to exercise regularly by hosting a Pedometer Challenge (I say it like the Cash Cab host says "Red Light Challenge!" - as seen at about 3:17 in that video). Basically, you're given a pedometer to track your steps daily for about 5 weeks. For people who don't do much walking, but participate in other activities, we're allowed to use this chart ...

So I promised you more details about the quilt I mentioned here . It was a present for my hubby. Care to guess the theme? I guess the post title kinda gave that away ;) While I am super proud of this quilt, I did very little of the actual sewing, pinning, etc. and don't feel comfortable writing a post with any semblance of a tutorial. Instead, I just want to share photos and some of the behind-the-scenes logistics.  I came across the quilt above online (sadly, I have no source) and loved it immediately. My mom's made tons of quilts - probably around 35 - so I emailed her the picture to see if she could recreate it. Usually, she starts with a pattern or measurements in mind, not just a photograph, but she was willing to try! Picking the colors was easy - my husband loves the Flyers, so we took a Flyers' hat to the fabric store, and bought the closest color matches. Then we played around with varying size stripes that would add up to 84 inches (since our bed is...