Dinner and a movie,

Maria and I went to Red Robin last night and after getting there, for multiple factors, decided that we really did not want to eat there. So we finished the water that had been brought out to us and stacked the silverware and menus and got up and left. We did not make it very far though.

As we walked out of RR and were trying to decide where we wanted to eat Maria suggested The Keg Steakhouse which just so happened to be next door! Neither one of us had eaten there but had both heard good things about it.

Maria ordered a top sirloin with a baked potato and a salad and I had fillet minion with a twice baked potato. The food was amazing and the atmosphere and service were great. Afterwards we came home and watched a movie together before going to bed.

Mission: Impossible

Maria has always done it in the past but it had not been done recently (the term "recently" being used liberally). And it wasn't entirely impossible but it was gross... I cleaned out our fridge yesterday!

I was pulling stuff out of there with a use by date of October! Some of you may be thinking "October! That isn't that bad" and I would agree if I was talking about pickles or marinade or something with a long shelf life that could easily get over-looked, but I am talking about milk, cottage cheese, avocados, left-overs etc. Two of the jugs of milk (yes, there were multiple) was all expanded and ready to explode!


Maria was so excited when she came home yesterday and found that it had been done, she even called me on my way to class to thank me. I am trying to do my best to carry a bit more of my own weight now that she is prego but if I am not careful she might get used to it and expect it afterwards too! :)

Maria's First Doctors Appt.

Maria had her first doctors appointment for the baby yesterday. It went well and was more-or-less uneventful (Maria may beg to differ, after all she was the subject of study, probes, and prods). It was fun though to see the genderless mass of tissue that will ultimately be our first child. The heart was beating and the doctor had only positive things to say about its development so far.

I want everyone to know what a great job Maria is doing in following doctor's orders, exercising, and eating better. I give her crap every now and again, as I am known to do, but I do it lovingly and am happy to see her working so hard.

Maria is walking regularly (and managed to lose some weight doing so), has cut out all refined sugar (at least as much as you can reasonably do), is drinking enough water to drown a fish, and trying her best to keep emotions subdued (although not always successful - but she is trying!)

Keep up the good work babe! Only 7 more months to go... until we have a whole new set of issues to deal with I am sure!

PS I also almost forgot to mention that her doctor is completely crazy! It is awesome!

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Our condominiums made news last night and this morning! The story was the first story told on the 10 o'clock news last night and my mom says it was again this morning. Check out the video clip by clicking here.

Many homeowners had troubles selling their homes before, can you imagine now...

Maybe a bit overboard...

Maria is not particularly fond of grocery shopping (or any shopping for that matter). It is not so much the actual shopping that she does not like it is the loading and unloading of groceries into the car and into the house. I don't entirely blame her and even more so in her current condition (is pregnancy a condition?). She, as do I, tries to to get as many, if possible all, of the bags into the house in one trip; which usually means carrying way to much!

Because of these issues and the fact that anymore the two of us are so busy we have not really gone grocery shopping is several weeks. Trips to the store for one or two things have been made but we have failed to replenish the necessary staples of the kitchen that had been completely used-up (i.e. ketchup) in quite some time.

Having a few hours between classes and wanting to do this for Maria I went grocery shopping! Going with out a list or really any idea of exactly what we needed and didn't need I bought nearly one of everything the store had! The checker was amazed at the amount of groceries I managed to fit in one cart and I was in a state of shock when I saw the total reach more than $260! After using my membership card it lowered a bit but was still over $200!

Despite having spent so much money Maria was still very happy with my efforts and needless to say we will not be eating out as much this week... we can't afford to!

Wakashan Oaksies West-Boyle

This is my friend Kash he is the best dancer, singer, and Whitney Huston impersonator in the world! Not to mention this prancing thing that always makes me laugh (you know what I'm talking about Kash!). Kash and I have worked together for a few years now and I have to say he is one of my favorite people at work. I know he always has my back and a few phrases in Spanish for me to laugh at. He recently applied and got the new mangers position at Walden University. He is already an honorary member of our family and has decided to hyphenate his last name to West-Boyle...Jake said it sounds like a disease. Your my Oak-Dawg...Dale Duro Kash!

Rules of Etiquette

A few months ago I got some readers a bit upset at my post titled "National Do-Not-Call (for a good time) List it appears that I have again made at least one reader upset with the post Pregnant and Camping.

In January I vented a bit because several people who committed to go the movies with us canceled the morning of or just did not show up. This is now being compared to my and Maria's decision to have Maria go to SJ with her sisters as opposed to camping with my family.

It is true that we too are in some degree flaking out, but is it the same? I mean the post made several days in advance, but was a general post sufficient or should we have called? Most everyone "affected" (in quotes because I see little affect to others by our decision - worse case scenario I'll eat Maria's share of the food that was bought so none is wasted) reads our blog semi-regularly. But still a phone call may have been appropriate, but necessary?

Maybe we should all work together and establish rules of etiquette when canceling plans. Post your ideas of appropriate time frames/notice, appropriate/inappropriate methods of communication, exceptions to rules, good/bad excuses, etc. Feel free to comment several times if you think of different rules.

It should be interesting to see what we come up with!

A sore subject.

I have been enjoying the extra time during the day and being able to be home in the evenings this week. I am not looking to go back to school next week but there is little that I can do to avoid it.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I woke up early (6am) and went to Peoria to pick-up a baby changing table that Maria and I found on Craigs List the night before. I got there about 7:15 and found the apartment with only a few difficulties and realized that the piece of furniture was much bigger and heavier than what I had expected and I had no help moving it. I did what I had to do and bent over and picked it up and carried it out to the truck. I faced the same problem when I got home, no one to help me carry it so I did as I did earlier and carried it myself.

After painting and replacing hardware on the changing table I went and helped friends clean their new house (it was a repo and needed some major cleaning!). After lunch and some TV I went and played Racquetball for a couple hours and got hit with the ball at least 5 times!

I had a fun time yesterday but it has left me a bit sore today!

Pregnant and Camping

Maria and I were supposed to go camping this weekend with my family. I have been pretty excited for a while about this and the closer it came the more I noticed Maria's indifference. I can understand her reluctance to going camping, she has to go to the bathroom every half hour and squatting behind a tree that often does not sound fun. I know my parents will be there with their trailer which has a bathroom but she does not want to disturb them throughout the night.

Finally last night at Lara's house we got talking about it after finding out that Kirsten and Lara are headed to St. Johns this weekend. I suggested that Maria go with them as opposed to going camping. Maria said she did not want to flake-out but eventually decided she would enjoy going to SJ a lot more.

It ended up working out even better when we found out that Spence will be headed back to SJ on Thursday evening after returning from a business trip and could take Maria with him.

Spring Break

Well spring break is now upon us (well upon me any way... Maria does not get a spring break from her classes!). Although I am not going to Mexico or Europe I am still going to enjoy the week off from school. Next weekend Maria and I plan to go camping with my family and other than that we have no other spectacular plans, and I am cool with that! It will be nice to be home in the evenings and not have any homework.

Just so you have an idea of what Jake looks like in his spandex!

Fat Man on a Bike (continued)...

Although I am sure that many of you don't give a hoot I am happy to say that I have continued to ride my bike regularly. At least once a week I have pedaled to ASU and back and have even gone out once or twice other than that. It has been fun and has proven to be somewhat effective and helping me slim down. I stood on the scale today at the gym on campus and found that I have lost about 10 pounds! I don't see any physical results yet but Maria claims that I am looking slimmer. I think when I multiply that by ten or so I will start to notice and be a lot happier.

When I left on the mission I weighed about 260 and when I came home I was closer to 190! I now weigh a lot more than both of those numbers but hope to return to either of them.

Tears and Dishes

Last night Kirsten and Josh spent the night and we made waffles for breakfast. The best part was that Jake decided to help me cook and clean up after ward. You should know that Jake is a wonderful and helpful husband. He does laundry and picked up Nacho's poop, but I can about count the times on one hand that he has helped with the dishes. He HATES doing the dishes! Just about as much as I HATE doing the laundry!

This evening Mike came over and we ate spaghetti and meat balls for dinner. After Mike left to go home to St. Johns Jake went in the Kitchen and started to clean up the dishes again. I think it might have been a combination of him helping with the dishes twice in one day and the pregnancy hormones but I started to cry at the sight of him doing something he hates so much. After he was finished I gave him a hug and he had a good laugh at my goofy crying. I feel so grateful for such a simple act of love and kindness.