Settling

We are moved and settled - yay! We absolutely love our new place... it already feels like a home. We love looking out the window and seeing a neighborhood rather than apartment buildings. I think we are 95% unpacked and organized for what we are unpacking. Unfortunately we are without the internet until Tuesday next week so we've felt out of the blogging loop. Expect some pictures of the inside to be posted Tuesday or Wednesday, though! (oh, and I love the stairs - call me a dork!)

Kelley starts his new job on Tuesday and we're very excited! He will miss his lazy days but being an inherent hard worker it will suit him just fine to leave those days behind. I just worked a few days this week and the commute (Salem to Corvallis) isn't bad at all. I just blare church music so I can avoid the road rage (which Kelley says is worse now that I'm prego). Haha - I don't think it's so bad but maybe...

The ultrasound happens in less than 2 weeks (Sept 2) - be excited!! Kelley is still hoping for twins - silly guy. Any guesses from you - boy or girl?

MOVING!!

Joo Lin and I are excited because we are able to pick up the key to our new place tomorrow. Then we get to move on Saturday. We are both excited and can't wait to move! If you are bored on Saturday, please feel free to stop by and help move some boxes. We will be starting around 10 AM on Saturday!

is it really there?

Well, i'm super excited to get a "baby belly" - just a tiny bump to right now... can you see it?? The left pic is 7 weeks and the right pic is 16 1/2 weeks. So maybe it's all in my head (and Kelley's) but we are so thrilled! :) I've gotten comments that I don't look like I'm 17 weeks along yet...I'll have to take their word for it.


I am eating better these days, although still not real hungry. Mostly just eating because I know I should. Smells are always there but I can control how I react. I can eat some chicken (not grilled so much) and simple salads now. Other than my little bump that's growing nothing else has changed. Of course there is lots I need to do... start exercising, stop worrying about what I can't control, and maybe sleep more...? Kelley still takes great care of me and talks to the baby every night.

I believe I've felt a few little movements but they were brief so I'm not positive. Kelley can't wait for the day that he can feel the movement too - he says I'm so lucky I get to experience this.

Kelley really liked the photo below as I am "bonding" with the baby by pointing out the little life inside me.



Every day is amazing and we can't wait until January when we get to hold the little baby we've created. I have to give a shout out to all the new mommies or mommies-to-be that I know - you are great and your kids are adorable!

New Home!

Joo Lin and I found out yesterday that we got into the duplex that we had applied for. We are both excited and we were surprised at how fast everything has gone. I found an ad for the place on craiglist (my new favorite site) on Thursday and we stopped by on Friday to have a tour. It is a cute duplex, two years old, and it has some faults but don't we all. The current owners of the duplex went a little crazy redoing the inside and I guess they ran out of money so they were not able to finish the yard. So the yard consists of mounds of dirt and spiderwebs. Joo Lin isn't excited about that but I told her that I would take care of the spiders. As I am not a big fan of spiders, this should make for an interesting experience.

We are going up to Salem today to sign the papers and if we have time, we will stop by and take pictures of it. Our tentative date for moving is the 16th. We are starting to realize that we have a lot of stuff so packing should be eventful.

UPDATED:
Here are some pictures of our new pad!

Exciting News

Joo Lin and I have some exciting news that we would like to share. We are moving to Salem! On Thursday, Legacy Health Systems offered me (Kelley) a position as a Desktop Engineer with their company in Portland and I will be starting with them at the end of this month.

I have been looking for quite sometime and I was finally able to find a position that offered me something that I was looking for, more hands on work and a better pay so that Joo Lin can stay at home with the baby(s). (I am still holding out hope that we are having twins, we should find out if this will be a reality at the end of the month as we will be having a 4D ultrasound.) Until the baby(s) is/are born, we will be living in Salem, so that Joo Lin and I can commute to our jobs. Once the baby is born, or shortly before it, we will be migrating up north to be closer to my work. We are both extremely excited about this opportunity and we can't wait to share in our new experience!

Prego Glow

This past weekend Joo Lin, Baby Rice, and I were able to travel to North Bend to visit my mother and my sister Klorissa. My sister has been living in Arizona for awhile and her and her husband made a trip back to Oregon to visit. My sister is also prego! She is about 7 weeks ahead of us and they already know that they are having a boy, which is exciting for them. They are having trouble coming up with a name but they still have time. I personally like George. Klorissa use to call our Grandpa George while growing up so I like that name. Below is a picture of the prego ladies together. I think they have a certain glow to them. It's cute, enjoy!

Favorite Things!

I have a number of favorite things in my life but one of them has to be little kids artwork. This piece of art was made during Sacrament meeting last Sunday and it was done by our niece Amanda. It's a picture of Joo Lin, also one of my favorite things. I hope that you enjoy it.

Pregnancy Update #1

So far it seems my pregnancy has been pretty simple and uneventful. I was only queasy for a few weeks about the middle of the 1st trimester. Nothing more than queasy, thank goodness! Smells were terrible - not as bad now. Some of the rest areas while traveling got the best of me. For a few weeks I was tired enough to take naps after work and still go to bed at my normal time (between 10-11 pm). I feel like I'm hitting a phase of being tired again but I'm trying to get to bed closer to 10 than 11 these days to try and prevent that and keep me functioning at work. The worst thing is right now I have food aversions to all food. I gag just thinking about what I need to eat... especially chicken and salad. Huh. Two things I've always loved. Any suggestions on that one? I worry that I'm not getting enough food, but what I eat is relatively healthy. What else? Oh yes, the famous baby bump. Well, I'm only 14 1/2 weeks along so I don't feel like I am quite at the point of having one, but some say that they can see it since I'm not gaining weight anywhere but my tummy area. It is most likely just the clothes I am wearing that make the difference. I have only gained a couple pounds total (on a good day) and the doctor told me I need to eat more - ergh! I do know that I can't button my regular pants anymore and I love the one pair of maternity khakis I have (the kind you can make different sizes to accommodate the growing belly... I'm not jumping the gun! I just want to be comfy!).

Hesitantly I attach pictures for you to judge for yourself. Left is 13 weeks and right is 7 weeks.


Let's see... emotionally I think I'm pretty stable so far. I admit that I feel slightly more stressed at work and less patient with the phone calls at work. Other than that I haven't had any breakdowns or thrown anything at Kelley yet. Lucky guy - ha!

I do have to thank Kelley for being such a great husband through all this. He is always willing to get me anything I want to eat, takes care of the house, rubs my back every night, and compliments me. What a fabulous man I have! [Kelley will add any comments/disagreements to what I wrote...]

KELLEY'S ADDITION:
I love that Joo Lin is pregnant...or as I call it, prego! I love that Joo Lin lets me be quirky and talk to her stomach and the baby every night before we go to bed. It's my payment for giving her a back rub. I also love that she has cravings because I get to benefit from them too. I think most of her cravings results from my cravings though. My little sister is also prego, six weeks ahead of us, so I talk with her and she always tells me when she is extra cranky so I just remember those moments and I am extra nice to Joo Lin when that time rolls around. I also like that our Doctor is a Beaver Alumni too!

Da Vinci Days 2008

This past weekend Joo Lin and I were lucky to have both of our nieces come down to spend the weekend with us. It was a lot of fun and we had a blast swimming till we turned into raisins! The main reason for them coming down was to attend Da Vinci Days. The girls loved the parade and they loved doing all the fun kid stuff that they had. The only problem that we ran into was with the crazy balloon lady that was supposedly working for tips that made us tip her. It was quite awkward. She was even dressed up as a crazy looking clown, CREEPY! Here are some of the pictures from the weekend.

New Calling

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to serve as ward bulletin guru. After contemplating whether or not I wanted to accept, I finally accepted. So I decided that I would come up with a Top Ten List of things that I shouldn't put on in the bulletin.

Top Ten Things not to put in your ward bulletin:
#10...OSU Football Recruiting updates
#9....Upcoming OSU Football Schedule
#8....Football betting lines
#7....Sports recaps
#6....Fantasy Baseball scores
#5....Pregnancy pool
#4....Baseball boxscores
#3....Corvallis Police beats
#2....Pictures of Joo Lin's belly

and
#1....Pictures of Kelley's belly

You all have been waiting and now the time has come...

... for a little baby Rice. We went to the doctor today and heard the heartbeat for the first time. It was the COOLEST sound in the world!!! (Kelley says better than any video game - amazing, huh?) We wanted to tell everyone from the moment we found out we are prego, and it's been the hardest secret EVER to keep. But now you know... we are 13 weeks 4 days along and we are expecting mid-January.

Kelley is hoping for twins, but realistically we will just have one little bundle of joy. The names have been picked already, even though we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet. For a boy, James Gresham and for a girl, Seoul Elizabeth.

More to come soon...

Rock Band!!!

Joo Lin and I purchased Rock Band last night. After hours of driving around Corvallis and Albany looking for and contemplating the purchase, we found it at Target in Albany. I used some of my graduation money to purchase it. I wanted to buy something that both Joo Lin and I could have fun with and when I found out that Jooge was excited about it, I knew we had to get it.

We played last night for about an hour. Lets just say that Joo Lin is a rockstar at the drums. I struggled with the guitar but I am getting better. I had to cut us off last night so that we could get to bed, as it was nearing 11 PM when we stopped.

Hopefully our anal upstairs lady will enjoy our performances and not boo us off the stage! For those of you who don't know what Rock Band is, it is a video game for the PS3 that lets you play the guitar (bass/lead), drums, and even sing while following steps on the screen. It's super addicting.

We finally did it!!!

On Sunday, July 15th, I was able to receive my College diploma! It was an exciting experience and I am so glad that I decided to go through the ceremony. It will rank up their as on of the most special moments in my (our) life(s). It was such a journey and I get teary eyed about all the hard work and lack of work that I did during my time at Oregon State. I also get teary eyed thinking about my grandparents (Grandpa and Grandma Rice) and how happy they must be that I finished. I know that they were high fivin' each other in heaven as I got it.

I want to thank Joo Lin for giving me that extra push to go back and finish up. WE DID IT!!!






I also want to thank my family for coming to support me during this special moment. It meant a lot to Joo Lin and I that you attended.








If you would like to see some more photos from this special day, please click on the this link.

Here are some silly photos from my graduation. I love silly photos!



Was it really that boring???


One of the ways that my family was able to spot me was because of my orange flip flops.


Here I am making sweet love to my diploma!


It was so hot that I had to cool off after the ceremony.


My mother ordered a cake from Albertson's and they accidentally screwd it up. It was suppose to be orange and black frosting with a Beaver on it. By the way, that is a Bulldog on the front of it, my high school mascot.

Graduation Pre Funk

I was curious what I would look like in my cap and gown yesterday so I surprised Joo Lin when she got home for lunch yesterday. She had the cutest grin on her face when she arrived home to this surprise. I didn't take a picture of her expression but I wish I would have. Instead she took a picture of me and I thought that we would share it with everyone. Please note that I will not be wearing sweat pants underneath my gown come Sunday and the gown will be ironed.

Is that an animal?

Last week while Joo Lin was getting ready to come home from work, a lady that works below her office came over to her and asked her if that was her car. She was pointing to Jasmine and Joo Lin said "yes, that's my car."

When Joo Lin first started telling me this story I thought to myself that someone had hit and ran our Jasmine. There has been quite a few incidents in that parking lot lately so I was relieved when let Joo Lin finished her story. I guess the lady thought that we had left our pet in our car. It was a scorcher that day so she was concerned when she looked over and she saw this in our car (the brown thing between the orange jacket).

Joo Lin chuckled and politely informed the lady that it was a stuffed Beaver in the car and not a "real" animal. I guess the car was a bit messy and we had some blankets and hiking gear in the back seat. The lady was relieved!

The moral of this story is don't store your stuffed animals in your car because someone might actually think it is a real one.

Graduation!!!

The final step in my journey that I called "college" will take place this Sunday at 1 PM at Reser's Stadium. This final step is the Commencement Ceremony. I am super duper excited! I started college a long long long time ago. Lets just say that the price of tuition has tripled since the time that I started to the time that I finished. At first I wasn't going to participate in the walking ceremony but as time got closer I thought that it would be worth it since it was a journey to finish.

If you are going to be attending the ceremony, keep a look out for the bald man with rosy cheeks. That will be me!

PS...We are having a BBQ afterwards if anyone would like to attend. It will be at our apartment's clubhouse.

So You Think You Can Dance!

Joo Lin loves this show and while we were watching it last night she paused to tell me that "So You Think You Can Dance" (SYTYCD) is her all time favorite show. She said that she loves it more than "Little House on the Prairie" and I even asked her if she loved it more than "Quantum Leap"...she just looked at me funny and said yes.



So far we love Twitch and the Mormon Girl (Hightower is her last name, well, I love her, not sure if Jooge does) and we hate the skanky school teacher.

Here are some of our all time favorite performers from last season.




SKREET DANCING???

sewing machine

My birthday was in March but somehow I neglected to write about it... oops! We celebrated at the same time as Easter since it was just days apart. It was so fun having family and friends around. My family and friends are so generous with their love and gifts! Many things made me SMILE... dinner out, gift cards which bought me clothes, shoes, books, and my first flower pot for our porch, a BYU sweatshirt, hand-knitted pot holders, hand scrubs/lotions, cash which provided cool rubber stamps for scrapbooking, a cool CSI scene cake, and the most used....
my sewing machine! I asked Kelley for one when I got the whim and he got one for me. The coolest thing is that it is RED!! We picked it up at Symantec (where he had it shipped to surprise me) and I held it in my lap on the way home looking at the cool features.
The point of this was that I was all into the thought of sewing for whatever reason. I bought fabric and a simple pattern to make work out / lounging pants (we will see what they will be used for - ha!). Red fabric and off I went! I cut them out and did the inner and outer seam. I then tried them on and realized they were ridiculously LARGE on me. I was positive I measured correctly (and my mom even double checked, probably thinking I didn't know how to measure :). Fortunately they're just pants so I sewed the outer seam much farther in on each leg. Still no luck. Although I took a looong break from sewing then (why? not sure... maybe lazy...?) , the story doesn't end, thank goodness!
I FINISHED my pants yesterday - YAY!! I cut off the sides and did a bigger "seam allowance" (HA!). I finished off the directions with the elastic and ribbon. Hemmed up the bottom and realized.... I CAN'T sew a straight line! Either I get too excited and sew super fast or I have no hand-eye coordination. Votes for either? But they're done and huge in the waist but I rationalize that they can expand with me so they'll last forever.... or not. I'm excited and they're pretty comfy. I was on a roll and even fixed Kelley's pj pants and my pj pants. I'm a regular little seamstress! (my mom wishes!!)

Couch-to-5K running plan

I've gotten a couple questions about the running plan. Here is the link:

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

It's a good schedule and very do-able. Good luck!

BEACH TRIP!!

I loved my wife's 5k run but I had to tell about our fun trip to the beach that we had a couple of weeks ago. We decided to grab our kite and we hopped into the car and headed off. It was soooooooo windy and we lots of trouble getting the kite in the air (well, I had trouble, Joo Lin was able to get the kite off into the air without any issues) but when we finally did it was a blast.



Afterwards we went to Mo's and had some tasty clam chowder! We love that place. Not sure what my hands were doing but don't worry they are not gang symbols.