And so commences Meme day

A - Allison. That's my name.
B - Brunette, my natural hair color. It didn;t really see the light of day until these past couple years, but it is growing on me (not funny), so I keep it.
C - Christian, can't get around that.
D - Doggie owner, and I love my FURBABIES!!! Xeus and Lunabell are my pride and joy (well, they will have to share Baby Jethro in a few months), and I am overjoyed to have their happy little tails in my life!
E - Ecstatic, since we are expecting our first baby in November! (Here's hoping it's twins.)
F - Fashionista. I am happy to be one of those pathetic consumerist girls that purchases new items every season and wears them to death. :)
G - Girlfriend - I love to hang and dish with all my friends. (As a side note, I miss my close girlies terribly)
H - Hot, as in it's 80 degrees here today and it's 35 back in Michigan. Yay Virginia!
I - Inner-diva. I tend to be a little over-dramatic when it comes to things not going my way. It's sad, but a fact of reality I have come to embrace and accept.... no only if Shark Fin could do the same.
J - Jewelry. Coming from a family that owns two fine jewelry stores, I have more of it than I will ever wear. Also, I have a crap-ton of costume jewelry since I tend to over-accessorize. Hehe. :)
K - Kitchen Diva, something I never thought I'd say, but I really like cooking. A LOT. Cooking is fun! AND TASTY!
L - Laughs.... I. LOVE. TO. LAUGH!!!!!
M - Mamacita on the way.... scary, scary thought. I'm terrified.
N - Northerner. Gah, to be from Michigan, land of ice and sleet and generally nastiness for 6 months out of the year. And yet, to pine for my family to the extent I am considering moving back to the state (not to the nastiness of the Tri-Cities, mind you) after Shark Fin's time in the South is up. What a mess!
O - open to interpretation. I tend to ramble and can be selfish and complain and be sleepy a lot and really like material things, but I LOVE MY FAMILY more than anything. The rest, you can take how you want. I don't care.
P - praise-worthy.... at least I think so. :)
Q - Questionable, both towards myself and everything else. I am just curious person by nature. And I don't like rules for some things.
R - Redundant. I tend to say things I like a lot, to anyone who will listen, including myself.
S - Seeker of Truth, see C (and Q)
T - Truthful. I just don' like liars and (as hard as it may be sometimes), I try my darndest not to lie myself, not matter how much easier it will be. It's definitely a struggle for me, though, but one I am finally able to admit to to and address.
V - Vulnerable to depression, low self-image, etc. Dumb, but true.
W - Wonderful wife to the amazing, talented, and compassionate Shark Fin, my personal superhero. :)
X - X-pensive to maintain. Even with our budgeting trials and tribul;ations of present, I stil need a lot of food, and fun to survive. Just now, I was asking Shark Fin if we could re-institute my allowance. (It needs more convincing evidence)
Y - Young.... I'm only 24
Z - Zestfilled! What would life be without it?!

The most boring day ever

I officially think today is the most pointless day EVAH to be at work. It's 4:25 and really, I have only been here since about 11:30.... but OMG!!!! What a waste! I haven;t had to answer the phone to help parents or anyone, really, at all. I have just been sitting here at my desk, aimlessly crusing the interewebs, reading up on celebrity gossip and Rachael Ray recipes, watching the minutes click by ever so slowly. It sucks the big one.

I had enough time to call TriCare, oh lovely military insurance, and find out that my referral was fixed, AND I got to call and make my first appointment with the OB. April 18 at 9am. (That remins me, I must email my supervisor to tell them about that... right. Done.) Anyways, I am pretty flippin' excited about it and hoping & praying for everything to be on track.

To top it all off, it's 74 degress out, sunny and gorgeous.

I did have a nasty bout of "morning sickness" today which led me to a stop at the Walgreens on my way to work to get a large bottle of ginger ale. I made off with the ale, plus some 50% off Easter candy, some folic acid, and a lunchable. Apparently, the appetite had recovered.

Anyways, I hope Shark Fin makes something tastey for dinner.

Dandelions

I got this neat little card with a quote on it from church this weekend. (I wish I had a scanner at work so I could show it to y'all!) Anyways, it's chocolate brown with this awesome silhouette of of a white, poofy dandelion on it, with some of the little pods being blown all around like there is some breeze only it can feel. It has this quote on it:

" We were born to manifest the glory of GOD that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light

shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

- MaryAnne Williamson

I love it.

In other news, this weekend was A-MAY-ZING in a big way. Shark Fin and I labeled it as the "Purge Party Weekend," which is basically a fun way of stating that we had a lot of junk that needed to be dealt with to a) get ready for Baby Jethro and b) because we don't need it at all and it should have probably never made the trip here from Michigan in the first place. It was quite successful. We took one truckload to the Salvation Army on Saturday and my Jeep is full with another to go sometime this week. We took probably 20 bags of stuff to the dumpster and have a few items to put on Craigslist, mostly appliances that we got as wedding gifts and never touched after I unboxed them. Whoops. Shark Fin's momma and poppa, The Monarchy, sent us a care package, which as usual, was incredibly generous and large. I will never be one of those girls that hates their in-laws. They are WONDERFUL..... and not just because they sent us the Horton stuffed elephant from Horton Hears a Who for Baby Jethro. :)

My momma, Short Stuff, wants to plan a trip out to see us for a weekend in May. My relationship with her can be slightly complicated at times, mostly due to the fact that I was (and am) an extremely strongwilled and hard-headed child. I stopped wanting to be parented at an early age, and I am big on forging my own way, mistakes & all. She says this is why I never learned to cook or sew properly or swim.... all because when she was willing and ready to teach me, I wasn't having it. Oops (this is why I still cannot swim and am terrified of drowning). I can, unfortunately, be abrasive at times, which although unintentional, can hurt Short Stuff's feelings, making our interactions even more complicated. The point is, now that I'm pregnant, I kind of miss my Short Stuff and when she asked, ever so gently, if I would mind her coming out in May (in addition to her already planned trip in September and my trip to Michigan the end of June), I honestly said, "I'd love to have you come." Who ever thought that would happen?! Must be the hormones.....

Shark Fin works late tonight, till 10 or so. Boo. I hate the late nights, mostly because of the exhaustion and the fact that even if I do take a nap when I get home, there is no human to play with even though I have energy again. (No offense to my furballs)

Back to the AMAZING weekend, though..... it was so good because Shark Fin and I really came together for a common goal. We worked hard, cleaned closets and cupboards out, deciding if any other crazy person could ever want this item, what we could donate and what should just be tossed. We made bologna sandwiches and blue lemonade kool-aid, reminisced about when we were youngins' in high school & college.... all that type of stuff. It was, well, to be honest it was just NICE. And Sunday was great, too. Something about Resurrection Sunday always makes me beam from ear to ear. Just celebrating and thanking God for how much he has doen for ME, his amazing grace, his love, his sheer belief in my abilities and dreams is always re-affirmed and solidified on Easter..... and my ham wasn't too bad either.

Ah, weekends.

The good ones alwasy end too fast.

DEATH!

And THIS is why stingrays are one of favourite animals.

Oh man.

Boyeez

After my post from a few days ago, I decided it was time to do some searching for boy names. (Someday, when I'm feeling particularly brave, I'll post my Baby Name Spreadsheet. Right now, though, I'm not ready to be that embarrassed.)

Here's what I came up with (and their meanings, 'cause I'm sucker for that):

Caden - Battle
Rhys – Enthusiasm
Findley – Fair Warrior
Ronan – Seal
Seamus - Supplanter
Torin – thunder

and these we already have:

Draco (dragon)
Griffin (reddish, also a mythological half-lion half-eagle creature)
Cooper (barrel maker)

Ultimately, I want to have five solid choices for each, with middle names from our friends & family. I know I'm neurotic, but such is life. :)

Thoughts?

Starting now, Friday is Meme Day!

Four Films I’d Watch Again
1. Dream for An Insomniac... although I can already quote the whole movie, I love it dearly and will watch it ill the cows come home (whatever that means). If I loved a quote from the movie even before I ever saw it, is it fate?
2. 50 First Dates.... truly one of my favourite movies EVAH. Again, highly quotable.
3. Singin' In The Rain.... What can I say? My childhood was filled with musicals, not cartoons.
4. PS I love You.... truly, a great chick flick. How can a girl not love the Irish accents?!

Four Places I’ve Lived
1. Saginaw, Michigan... home, sweet home.
2. Bay City, Michigan... my first apartment.
3. Ann Arbor, Michigan.... my first year of college. (ugh!)
4. Hampton Roads, Virginia.... bring on the BEACH! :)

Four TV Shows I Watch
1. Gossip Girl.... don't mock it till you try it.
2. Beauty and The Geek.... sad, but true.
3. Ugly Betty.... me loveee it.
4. Grey's/Private Practice.... they've been off for so long that I don't know if I even love them anymore!

Four Things to Eat
1. Mashed potatoes.
2. Jell-O No Bake Cheesecake with the cherry topping.
3. Chicken fried rice and an eggroll from Chen's.
4. Chili Cheese Fries from Sonic.

Four Places I’d Rather Be
1. In a new house
2. With Jess in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
3. Puerto Rico, brushing up on my Spanish
4. At the mall shopping, and being able to spend whatever I wanted (ain't that the truth!)

Consider yourself tagged!

When I am Queen

There are certaing that just must happen when I am queen.

• Everyone will work jobs they love. If at any point in time, they are no longer in love with their job or the place they are employed with that job, they may quit and move to a happier job/workplace with no repercussions or complaints.
• Families will get mandatory 6 month paid family leave following the birth of any child.
• Dinner will be a family event. Period.
• Holidays will also be a family event. Each newly-married, or newly-babied family will get to have at least one major holiday at their home, by themselves, within the first year of said event, with no complaints from mother-in-laws or parents or grandparents.
• Women will get one child/husband/boyfriend-free day each month, for gabbing and relaxing with girlfriends.
• I will be able to bring far-away friends and family to where I am with the twitch of my nose. (I will also be able to send them back the same way)
• Instead of looking for a parking space like a vulture, with a snap of my fingers, my car will fit in my pocket, no matter how crammed the backseat.
• My children will take naps everyday. Period. One hour minimum.
• I will have a fountain drink dispenser in my kitchen. Varieties will change weekly, with the exception of Cherry Coke & Lemonade Tea for me and Root Beer (ew!) for Shark Fin.
• Pizza Hut Pizza, chinese food and mexican yummies will be calorie & fat-free, yet extremely tasty...... and delivered to my house at random. :)
• Shark Fin will get long weekends once a month. He'll love that.
• Housing in Hampton Roads will be affordable and come with large yards. Someone will by our condo (aka Alcatraz) one month after we list it. Happiness will ensue.
• I will graduate from college with my Registered Nursing certification... in the next two years. *sigh*
• Cheesecake will be a weekly occurance.
• SpellCheck will automatically happen on anything I write.... even if no but me will see it.

There's more coming.....

It's early

Hope you all didn't miss me too much yesterday. I had a bout of what could be considered morning sickness and ended up staying home, doing a lot of sleeping and television watching. The most boring day ever, really.
Lucky for me, Shark Fin got out of work early and was home by 3, so at least I had him to entertain me for a little while. Also, my GYN ended up calling with the results of my two blood tests last week. She said that my cells are multiplying, but they are lower than she'd like. I don't even know what that means, but it doesn't really sound all that great. She wanted me to go give another blood sample, so I did that yesterday afternoon, too. I'm kind of getting sick of it. And, this time, I am kind of nervous about it. I mean, what does "low cells" mean exactly? I need to do some more research, I guess. Google search, here I come. :)

Week 5

Here we are again, celebrating a lovely Tuesday. Today, Baby Jethro and I hit the 5 week mark. Yay for us.
I have registered on more pregnancy and baby informational sites in the lst few days than I ever thought possible. The newest one is called Parents Connect and it is a partnership site of the Nickelodeon conglomerate we know all children love. It looks like it is going to be a great site, but you can definitely tell that it is still in it's beginning stages. If you're on it, feel free to look me up. My screenname is LadybugBaby. :) (It's also connected to BabyNamesWorld.com, the web's largest baby naming site.)
I am considering the name Scarlette again and Isabeau instead of Isabella ( I also like the name Francesca but Shark Fin has vetoed it until further notice). I happen to love the character of Scarlett O'Hara and Gone With The Wind in general, so giving a daughter such a strong, confident name seems appropriate. Convincing Shark Fin of that, however, may be a bit more complicated. Boy's names are causing me more issues, as it very hard to find names that both of us can agree on and that are unique enough for our tastes. As you can tell from my previous post about names, we like 'em a little weird. :) Funny thing is, boy names are the ones I should be searching for, since I am really hoping for a little boy this first time around. I know it sounds patriarchal, but I like the idea of starting our family our with a "big brother type." I was the oldest in my family and I inevitably adopted the attitude of "I need to fix everything" in my family, from my mom's breast cancer to my little brother's legal trouble and my dad's recent divorce. In boys, (like Shark Fin, who is the oldest in his family), I think there is a protection-vibe that goes along with this care and concern, enabling a boy to create a safe environment for their siblings but protect against the emotional turmoil associated with the bad events that I seem to be so prone to. Older girls only seem to cultivate the care, concern, and emotional distress (or empathy, but I seem to have the distress) over the bad situations. I'd like my family to have the "big brother" type to run to if they don't want to come directly to us. I also think that big brother is a stabilizing element in the family. (Of course, I may be totally wrong, but this is how I feel.) Anyways, I need more boy names.
I did find another interesting historical character that I'd like to share: Alice Roosevelt Longworth. She's pretty freakin' sweet.
Shark Fin had to fly late last night and when he climbed into bed at 1am this morning, he informed me that it is in our best (financial) interest for me to have my OB and prenatal care/birth at the Naval Hospital. Seems our insurance will cover more if I stick with a military doctor/facility, rather than try and go all civilian on them. Oh well. Let's hope I get a good doctor first time and don't have to switch because he's creepy. Darn it. I was really hoping for a girl... or a midwife.

Cue the scary music

Welcome to your daily dose of me. Today is Saturday, my most beloved day of the week. Today is slightly less wonderful since Shark Fin has to work from 4-midnight today, but we will make it work. We always do. :)

We have everyone necessary told about the impending arrival, so I can shout it from the rooftops as much as I want. That is kind of cool. We got a lot of support from our young married group last night and I was able to have a really good conversation with one of the other girls about my initial mixed feelings about this whole thing. It was really cathartic to be able to be completely honest about my first feelings towards the "invasion" of Baby Jethro, even though now I am completely falling in love with this little person on the way. For example, right now, I am overwhelmed with this feeling of great responsibility, and even greater thankfulness that God believes I am ready for and can handle this challenge. I am really looking forward to the next 36 weeks of incubating my little person. Secretly, I think I am hoping for a little boy, but we have decided not to find out until the birth. Yes, this will make a lot of things harder than normal, but we both want to be surprised, and hey, I was going to do the room in greens and browns anyways. 

As usually, I have already started doing some "pre-shopping" and have picked out some patterns for the necessary items. (It's to be able to justify the online shopping for something legitimate, instead of "I need a pair of green shoes to go with my new shirt and purse.") For example, we've decided to do the carseat, stroller, pack-n-play, etc. in Graco's Kasbah pattern. You can see it here . I just think it is so attractive and more importantly, long-lasting and gender-neutral. I also picked out some cute green crib sets and stuff, but the crib itself is a bit of a sore-spot for us right now. Shark Fin's parents still have HIS crib from the 80s, one that has been used for about 4 babies since him, back in Michigan and said we can have it "whenever we are ready." Now, not to be greedy or unappreciative, but I really am not feeling having that crib when there are teeth marks and several babies nastiness on it. I know, I know, you can disinfect anything and with a coat of white paint, it would probably be just as nice as any other crib. Maybe I just have "first-baby syndrome" or something, but I really want to get as much stuff as we can for this first baby new, so that it will be able to last for all our babies still to come. (Have I mentioned yet how Shark Fin and I want a tribe of children? This stuff needs to be durable.) Needless to say, no decision has been made on the crib situation. We have many months left for that anyways. 

In the world of the OB situation, I have a couple I think I'm considering picked out. I am going to take my doctor's referral to the Naval hospital and see what I think of them, but I am also going to see about my friends' Jen & Carley's OB, Dr. LeCourt, and one I found out of the parenting magazine we get at my office, Dr. Valentine. The latter's practice is midwife based, which I kind of like the sound of. Anyways, we'll see. 

That's all for now. Happy weekends to everyone!

Issues

I talked to my beloved Jess a few hours ago and she now knows all about the baby on the way.
All we need to do is verbally tell our young married group and then I can post it anywhere on the internet I want! Yay!
I think the things I am most worried about right now is our living and financial situation. We currently live in a condominium we own on the third floor. Normally, not so bad for a young married couple. We own it, for one, and it does have beautiful cathedral ceilings, laminate wood flooring in the living room, and lots of natural light, which I love. However, it IS on the third floor. And I am having a baby. Plus, we have two big dogs that I might have failed to mention....

Xeus (the brown boxer-lab mix)

& Lunabell (the brindle American Staffordshire Terrier)

We adopted Xeus about two months after we got married and Miss Lunabell in February 2007. Needless to say, not having a yard for them to run around in has made us much more active people (since they need a lot of walking and romping to calm down). Now that I am incubating a human baby, the need for more space has become even more apparent. I am more hellbent on it then Shark Fin, mostly because we cannot even consider purchasing another home until we sell this one. The housing market down here is awful right now, and being that it is a condominium with extra homeowner's association fees and it is on the third floor, it will take a specific type of person (ie. young married or professionally-minded couple with no kids, or a single person) to purchase it, anyways. We are dilligently working on a plan to eliminate the rest of our debt (from credit cards, car loans, and student loans) but even then, we are steadily spending about 60-70% of our monthly take-home income just to live. That needs to stop sometime soon if we are ever going to get out of this condo. No matter what, we will have to do 100% financing anyways, which, well, sucks. I am steadily devising a plan to shave off some of what we spend every month and with trading the Scion (although better on gas mileage) for the Jeep Cherokee, we already are saving about $40 per month. I'm going to start documenting my progress and setbacks in here, so I have something to base my success (and failure) on in writing.

In the meantime, as far as the housing situation is concerned, we are having our realtor come in to give us some tips on what areas we should invest and improve on to make our unit shine above the rest. I am going to call T-Mobile (our wireless provider) tonight and move us from MyFaves to mobile to mobile and from unlimited texting to 300 per line. That should save us a little more money.

Due Dates & OB

Per Dr. Dawn, Baby Jethro is due November 24.

Th fun part is that is my dear friend Gus' wedding anniversary. I like that.


The not-so-fun part is that I do have to find an OB. Boo. I am going to start a search online, and check the Tidewater Parent magazine, but I also have our young married group tonight where we are going to tell them, and I know some of them will have suggestions.

I told my super-wonderful friend Erica, who I have been friends with for close to 17 years, about Baby Jethro yesterday and she was more excited than ANYONE else I have told. I really expected her to be diappointed, because Erica is really career-minded and having her "me" time right now, and she really thinks I should be doing the same with Shark Fin, but she immediately screamed "I'm going to be an AUNT?! That's AWESOME!!!!!" Who just goes to show that I have the best people ever as friends.

I'm full of love right now.

The announcement of Baby Jethro

The only person of my inner sanctum that I haven't been able to contact about the impending hillbilly baby spawn called Baby Jethro is my best friend Jessica.
She and I have been best friends for about 5 years now, all starting back when we were working the retail world of Charlotte Russe in the Fashion Square Mall in good ol' Saginaw Michigan. We clicked the first day of training when we both ended up at Arby's for roast beef sandwiches and turnovers for lunch in the food court when everyone else was eating salads at Subway. :) Nothing like bonding over food.
We became roommates a few months later and stayed together through two apartments, numerous fights with our significant others, many many nights of stolen Style Network and my wedding planning. Once I discovered Shark Fin was going to be stationed in Virginia and I was going to be moving, Jess made the decision to move, too, to Colorado State University to pursue her dream degree in Metalsmithing. Why? Because she's amazing like that and that is all the reason she needs. Anyways, I miss her terribly. She's probably the closest to a twin I'll even have and having her two time zones away, frankly, sucks. She is one of the people I really, really want to know and share the excitement with me, because I lurvvvvvvvvve her. Combined with my exhaustion lately and the aforementioned time zone difference, we haven't caught up yet.

Tonight, though........ will be the night.

I hope.

Pregnancy Shockwave, Day Two

Welcome, my friends, to day two of the pregnancy shockwave.

I think I am a little more accepting of it now.... especially since I lost a lot of sleep thinking about it last night. I have an appointment with Dr. Dawn, my current OB/GYN at noon, so I will get some more answers then, as well as the "do not eat/touch/do/go near" list. That will be interesting. I say "current" OB/GYN because I am getting mixed reviews about if she does OB or just GYN. Never having been in this situation before, I have no idea. If she doesn't do OB, though, I will be commencing The Great OB Search. Oh man. A lot of girls I am friends with have recently had babies or become pregnant, so I am sure I will get some excellent recommendations. I am just super-picky about my medical people and I hate having to re-interview new ones.

Based off the lovely due date predictor thing-y I found last night from a Google search, current estimated due date for Baby Jethro is November 18. A winter baby, just like me and Shark Fin.

More after the appointment. Keep your fingers crossed.

Dammit

So, for anyone interested, my life has altered SIGNIFICANTLY in the last 3 hours or so. 

why, may you ask?

i'm pregnant. 

:: head to desk ::

Meghan McCain

Now, let me say that I am 85% sure I will be voting for Barack Obama in this coming election. Why? He and I tend to agree on a lot of things, like healthcare, Iraq, same-sex marriage, etc. Plus, there's my general like for having a president that is young enough to not have the possibility of dying from old age during his term in office. Buth that's just me.....
anyways, back to my point. even though I will probably be voting for Barack, i am presently fascinated by none other than Meghan McCain. For being the daughter of a presendential candidate, she makes Chelsea Clinton look like crap! and I know she doesn't talk a lot of the "issues" or post anything but fun pictures of her dad and the other people on the campaign trails and her minions, but i like her. a lot. she's fashionable, well-spoken, and provides us 20-somethings with an inside look into the life of a possible-presedential daughter. i think that's pretty sweet.
here's the link to her blog: http://www.mccainblogette.com/

enjoy.

Names

let me the first to admit i am a little south of "normal" when it comes to most things.... eating habits (i eat all day, everyday, and i am still one of those women other women like to hate), taste in music (my faves are no doubt, aerosmith, and country, at the moment... make that connection!), and now, baby names.
not that i am having a baby or even actively trying to procreate one. but, for the sake of making the baby-naming process easier whenever that will become a need, i have made a baby name chart, in Excel, complete with first and middle names, and their meanings.

my question is: how big of a raging weirdo does that make me?

i want some opinions on some of the first names i like. yes, i know i'm a little odd. yes, i know the names are a little odd. spare me those comments. please, weirdness aside, tell me what you think:

Girls
Wren
Noelle
Isabella
Eisley
Addisyn
Boys
Cooper
Titus
Jackson
Draco (can you tell Shark Fin likes this one best?)
Griffin

and to round today's post up, another fun thing that has recently happened is i got a new car! yayayayayaya! it's a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. sweet.

xo!

Hola!

hello, blogging world.
(that sounded dumb)

anyways, welcome to the inevitable, the expected, the delightfully deranged..... my blog.
my little slice of home on the web. i figured i should open this little baby up by explaining a little bit about my self and what brough me here (all of which will be available, once again, on my about me page in about five minutes). :)

my name is Ally and i live in the lovely state of virginia, about 10 minutes from the atlantic ocean.
(pleased to meet you)
i am originally from michigan, and moved here about two years ago after i got married (9/2/06) to my high school sweetheart, who will for blogging purposes be known as Shark Fin. he'll like that because he's a big goon. i am (unfortunately) a Navy wife. i love my husband and i love my country, but man, do i loathe the Navy. mostly because i feel it is not condusive to a family of any sort, but hey, that's for another post.
i am twenty-four years young and i love being in my twenties. to me, it truly is the time life gets started. i am the proud momma to two rescue puppies: Xeus, a boxer-lab mix, and Lunabell, an American Staffordshire Terrier. no human babies, yet, but you never know.
i recently discovered i love medical things, like blood and bones and medications, so after almost six years of lollygagging around, i am entering nursing school, in the fall of 2008. i used to have pink hair and a bunch of piercings, and i miss them a lot some days. i think i may get my nose re-pierced anyways. i love the Spanish language, green things, cheap yet chic fashion, and the Oprah magazine (unfortunately). i don't usually capitalize anything but my own name. i apologize if this bugs you. that's a me thing.
Life is good...... sometimes hard, sometimes rough..... but always, always good.