real talk

school is hard. 

i feel like i just kinda coasted through high school and even my associates degree. the classes i took were boring and meaningless and i never really had to put much effort into any of them. then i came here and found that science degrees are no joke. this is seriously the hardest semester i've had EVER. when i'm not in class, i'm in lab. when i'm not in lab, i'm studying in the library. when i'm not studying in the library, i'm writing papers at home. when i'm not writing papers, i'm doing chemistry homework. it's an endless cycle of school and it's piled on top of being pregnant and constantly hungry and sleepy and worried about my due date that seems to be creeping up on me and will be here before i know it and i'm not prepared! 

this week i have an exam in every single one of my classes. it's not mid term week or anything like that, this is just how almost every 2 weeks go. it seems that almost every teacher is on the "2 week exam" schedule this semester and they plan their weeks to be exactly the same! my week this week will consist of all my regular classes plus two 3 hour long labs plus homework plus 2 book reports plus an exam every single day. 

i might die.

i'm starting to have serious doubts about whether i'll be able to handle this school thing. it's a full time job and i'm about to have a newborn around here that's gonna need a lot of love and attention. it doesn't help that i also have every teacher at school telling me "oh you'll drop out as soon as that baby is born." really?? that was super helpful mr. biology teacher. thank you for reinforcing my biggest stress and fear as of late. 

i really don't know what i'm going to do. i don't want to drop out. i'll only have 3 semesters left by the time our little baby boy is here but if they are anything like this semester has been...

someone send help. and cookies. 

last first day of school before baby

was it seriously the first day of fall semester already?!

i literally just finished summer semester a week ago and i'm already back at it.

today really felt like it flew by.

i had four classes in a row today. that seems like too much and then i remember that on wednesdays i have to be at school from 8:30am-5:30pm.

yeah...this semester isn't going to kill me right? RIGHT??

baby boy was a champ today during all the syllabus reading and introduce yourself-ing.

the only time i was like "ok baby and i are over this" was when i was standing in the ridiculously long line at the bookstore waiting to waste a good chunk of a paycheck on books i'll never use again after the next 3 months.

oh the joys of being a college student.

Matt reminded me yesterday that this is the last first day of school i'm gonna have before the little nugget arrives.

and then he realized that we probably should've done something super fun this summer because now when are we gonna get a chance to take a vacation before the little nugget arrives?

oh well, hopefully we can swing something for our anniversary in november.

all i kept thinking about all day was when exactly the final exams are being held because if this baby comes sooner than he's supposed to (which doctor said is very likely) then how the heck am i going to take those exams??

i refuse to sit in these classes all semester just to miss the finals and fail the classes! 

so baby, are you listening? you need to stay in there until my very last final is turned in. get it? got it? good!

the very best part of my day was wearing my new flannel jacket Matt let me buy! 

pretty sure i'm never taking it off for as long as i live! 

baby update listy list

a list of things that are going on in the world of making baby Mason! 

(this pic cracks me up! how cute is this guy?!)

- while no one has tried touching me yet i find myself getting stared at all the time while i walk around campus. apparently most girls that were going to school and then got knocked up drop out pretty quickly. so there i am, the prego girl still sitting in classes and people are weird around me. it might be all in my head but i feel like everyone avoids eye contact with me and doesn't want to sit or stand near me. i find myself wanting to scream "IT'S JUST A BABY GUYS, NOT AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE!" 

- Matt finally felt baby kick last saturday! baby was especially rowdy that day so i just knew Matt would be able to feel it and he did!! he put his hand on my belly and we hardly even had to wait before baby boy gave him a few hard kicks! Matt was so excited! he's been trying to feel the little guy moving all the time now and i don't know if it's just because he knows what it feels like now or if he and baby are bonding but baby always seems to know when his daddy wants some love and he goes nuts! 

- i'm experiencing one of the many joys of pregnancy right now - a pain in my left butt cheek that sends shooting pains all the way down my leg every time i take a step or lift that leg or turn in bed or twist my body. it's super amounts of fun, as you can imagine. i'm gonna talk to the doc about it at my next appointment because it was seriously so bad on wednesday that when i went to sit on our bed i started crying. it's probably a bad sign when you're in so much pain from sitting on a BED that you cry. from everything i've read this is totally common i'm just hoping there's something i can do to make it GO AWAY! 

- sometimes Matt and i wear matching shirts and have bump contests. cause we're awesome like that!

- my new sleep position is on my side sandwiched between two body pillows. not only does it help with the previously mentioned pain but its cozy, like i'm sleeping in a little nest.

- my very favorite purchase we've made lately is an ice machine! i don't get to indulge in pregnancy cravings like most prego people but one thing baby really likes is freezing cold water throughout the day. i used to bring my water bottle everywhere with me and snag ice from restaurants and stuff but now i don't have to! Matt was worried the ice machine would be a waste of money but now he realizes it so SO wasn't. we make a huge batch of ice almost every day!! it's just so nice to be able to walk around the freakishly hot and humid campus with my water bottle jingling because of the ice inside. i'm obviously very easy to please. 

plus, if you combine ice with diet coke with splenda in my new mason jar i will be the happiest girl on the island! 

- i was put on insulin to control this whole gestational diabetes thing and it seems to be going pretty well. all of my blood sugar numbers are within range and it actually helps me eat a little more carbs than before so i don't get too low. my tummy is starting to get really sore from all the needle pricks though. sad day. haven't doctors come up with a better way to take insulin already?

- baby LOVES music! i was making breakfast the other morning and listening to spotify when Billie Jean came on and baby started movin' and groovin', the natural response when listening to any Michael Jackson song. this baby is so my kid!

(20 weeks)

- i have caught my first glimpse of stretch marks starting to form. i want to be one of those girls that's like "stretch marks are my battle scars and i will wear them proudly!" but right now i'm just sad and hormonal and fat and i'm gonna complain about them for a little while mmkay?

- the past week or so baby has been so incredibly active! i feel him ALL THE TIME! part of me thinks it's so stinkin' cute and the other part of me gets creeped out that there's a living thing rolling around on my insides. i watch too many sci fi movies.

(22 weeks and you can't see my feet!)

Back to School

so the first week of school was...all sorts of things.

rough, exciting, overwhelming, dramatic

let's bullet point this shall we?

- i'm not at MCC anymore. it's also been a loooong time since i've been to school. i feel stupid ALL THE TIME! i know it's only been one week and i'll get back in the game soon enough but man, can't that just automatically happen??

- making new friends is super awkward and weird. 

- it only seems to rain when i'm walking/bike riding to and from school. FYI sitting in class while completely drenched is very unpleasant.

found this little gem on amazon and while i believe it would keep me nice and dry (and incredibly popular) i didn't buy it.

- my feet are so sad here. i have blisters on my heels, sides of my feet, in between my toes.

i can hardly walk, guys. it's a problem. 

- i'm at school all day until about 2 PM and i haven't quite figured out how to eat lunch yet so i'm starvingggg every day! 

i should probably go to the grocery store and buy some more snackies but i'm also afraid of the grocery store and its prices. 

i was explaining to my sister that we tried buying a broom this week and found out it cost $12 for the broom and another $12 for the dustpan. we agreed that any broom that costs $24 should do all the work for you! agreed??

anyway, i'm hungry.

- please don't hate me for saying this but...i haven't become used to hearing the waves during the night. i'm not a very good sleeper and when you add stormy, super loud waves to the situation it just makes things worse.

i'm so sleepy!

- i really miss my puppy

now on to the good things!

bulletpoints!

- the view from across the street is unbelievable!

- we finally set foot on the beach!

- i'm getting way better at riding my bike! 

i named my little bike Lorelai because every time i ride it i feel like Lorelai Gilmore the day her Jeep died and she had to ride her bike everywhere.

the similarities are uncanny.

- we went to Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and had some of the best shrimp i have ever EVER had!

it was totally worth the 3 mile bike ride there and 3 miles back!

i can't wait to go again!

so to sum things up, Hawaii is a huge adjustment for me. 

i went from sitting at home all day every day for the past 3 years to having to do all these crazy new scary things!

but all in all, i'm super happy here! i'm super happy to study something that i love in a place that i love!

and i can't wait to do more crazy new scary things every day! 

New Life

we have officially lived in Hawaii for one whole week and i still can't even believe it.

pictures to prove it!

 bye bye AZ

heel clicks for making it to our new home

time change woes

intro to humidity hair

food heavennn

the front yard

the backyard

our only form of transportation now

trying to embrace the curly humidity hair that gets worse every day

first Hawaii sunrise not completely covered by clouds and rain

cooking never seemed so awesome

Matt saying "how do i climb down there?"

my life now.

today, i successfully woke up around 5:30 AM, got ready, rode my bike to school in the rain and went to class soaking wet.

great start to a great semester!

aloha!

hawaii?

so...remember how i'm moving to hawaii?

yeah...i'm moving to hawaii.

i really don't get tired of saying that, ever!

in fact, matt and i will just randomly look at each other and say "hawaii?"

HAWAII!

ok but seriously i guess i should tell everyone why we're going.

ya know shark week?

ya know how i looooove it more than any other week out of the year?

well one day you will be able to turn on shark week and see MY face!

or at least that's the dream.

i'd also consider being a shark diver in hawaii any day of the week, working for an aquarium possibly as that weirdo that's diving in the large tank and answering kids' questions or...a lottery winner, obviously.

but seriously, i'm going to school at BYU Hawaii for marine biology which means i will be able to learn about oceany things while seriously living on the beach.

it's going to be unbelievable!

there's obviously a lot of  stressful things going on right now with trying to make preparations to move and start school and everything but i have gotten one very important thing out of the way already, where we're gonna live.

i found this perfectly quirky and great place that offers everything we wanted, will let our little pup live there and has views to make all of our friends and family ridiculously jealous.

like this is my front and back yard...

jealousy to the max amiright??

the absolute hardest part of this moving process so far is getting little puppy Padme ready for the journey.

hawaii is seriously ridiculous about bringing pets into the state.

they've never had rabies there so they make you prove a thousand times over in crazy insane ways that your pet is healthy enough for island living.

and if you don't do every single little thing right they make your pet stay in quarantine for 120 DAYS! 

do you know what my little antisocial dog would do if she had to stay in a quarantine facility for 120 days??

probably commit puppy suicide or something.

and do you know what i would do without her for 120 days??

probably commit people suicide or something.

so we're being extra careful to make sure she can make the trip and move into her new home with zero problems.

it seems like every day i think of something else we have to do before we move and it's ridiculously stressful but luckily i have matt around to remind me of what's really important...

WE'RE MOVING TO HAWAII!
24, you are definitely not letting me down.
i knew you were going to be my year.

who's got two thumbs and is moving to Hawaii??

THIS GIRL!!

don't believe me?

well here's my fo realz face.

i can't wait to hang out with the locals.

we obviously fit right in.