The Download

As the vacation afterglow slowly fades away with (even more) snow, emails, and the moan and drone of daily life, I wistfully think back to how 4 short days ago our routine went something like this:

Go for a Run by beach (or in my case a power walk):

Eat First Breakfast (yes there were multiple)

Read by Pool (while trying to pretend I didn't just look like a beached whale)

Eat Second Breakfast

Snooze by the Pool

Order afternoon non-alcoholic Pina Colada's and Eat Jerk Chicken

Watch sunset from our balcony (yes this was the view from our room...bliss)

School Nate at Ping Pong pre-dinner

Eat Dinner, Watch some Entertainment, Turn it in for 10 hours of sleep.

Wake up and do it all again.



We quickly learned what happens when you strayed off of that routine. For example, we went to the nightly entertainment on Tuesday which was the "Perfect Couples Competition." It was a tough sell since NEITHER of us are competitive, but we decided to throw our names in the hat. I mean, we have been together for nearly 13 years. Of course we can answer questions about each other.

Right? Well, we quickly try to prep each other: "What's your Favorite Color?", "What's your Favorite TV Show..". Etc. The host of this little show takes the women to Guam so that we can't hear the guys. They parade us back out, with the audience laughing and begin to start the game show.

The first question (and this was the most benign of all of the questions): What is your wife's bra size?

Ummmm...excuse me? This is not what I signed up for, nor is this a competition I care to win. In fact, after having sat through the whole wonderful 'show' Nate and I decided it should have been called the "perviest couple."

Anywhoo...the other, much MORE fun thing that Happened on vacation was that I had my very first stranger ask me if I was pregnant. And Nate swears he didn't pay this person off....I was a little concerned about looking too much beached whale not enough preggo in my swimsuit.

So we did a photo challenge.

One of these photos is my real bump. The other is with me puuuuushing it out as much as possible. :)



And because Nate likes to remind me that he, himself, is experiencing his own phantom pregnancy, here is his belly shot:

Yes, it is all fun and games until someone somewhere figures out how to actually have men get pregnant and deliver a child....

So we are back at it in the real world. The vacation was exactly what we needed, and the perfect way to bring in Nate's Birthday. And of course...I am already trying to figure out how to plan our next vacation....

30 years

We are back from vacation. (**sigh**)

BUT, before I indulge myself with stories and photos of said vacation, I wanted to take a moment (or post if you will), to wish my incredible husband a very happy 30th birthday.

30 years.  Nate always says, there is nothing special about a birthday just because it ends with a 0. BUT as I look backward at he 30 years he has already lived and the fact that I have been a part of almost 50% of them, I can't help but to feel lucky to not have shared only in those but AMAZINGLY lucky that I get to be a part of the next 30+.

And I feel pretty confident saying that his 30th year will be an unforgettable one.

Maybe it is the vacation afterglow talking (because--spoiler alert---we had an exactly-what-the-doctor-ordered sort of time), but I could not be more excited to celebrate another 70 birthdays with Nate.

So, HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY Nate!! Here's to many many more.

Magazine Cuisine: Episode 4

What could be better for a pregnant woman than a smoothie loaded with all sorts of fruits and veggies?

Enter: The Orange Carrot Smoothie.

Straight out of Real Simple, brought to me by my fellow preggo Amy, this smoothie is amazing. And what's even more amazing is it helps me use up my 25 pound bag of carrots that I bought at Costco (i wish I was joking but I'm not).

I'm talking folate, vitamin C, calcium, Beta Carotene....a girl could feel good enough about eating this that the guilt for eating an entire package of Girls Scot cookies goes away.

And there are more smoothies where this one came from. Next up, in honor of Sina: Kale Apple!

Snow.M.G

We headed home to Viroqua this weekend to spend some quality time with the fam, only to be greeted with a major snowstorm on Sunday which forced us to leave early and endure a 5 and a half hour trek home.

 And it truly was 'enduring' as Nate drove through shoddily plowed roads, no visibility, and ice-caked windshield wipers. And I enduring sitting in a car seat for that long with nothing to do, and trying to calm my pregnant urges to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes.

Yes it seems like a lop-sided endurance. And truth-be-told, Nate had it MUCH worse than I did. But I did feel very helpless knowing how stressed Nate was and there was literally nothing I could do, except not gasp every 2 seconds and freak him out.

But even with the EPIC journey back to MN, it was still fun to get to see everyone. To hear Finn tell Nate : "Don't push it," and tell me, "I can't wait until your baby is out so I can kiss it". And to get Leo snuggles in and watch him roll over and projectile vomit on Mom (sorry Mom..that was epic in and of itself).

And the best news out of all of this was the realization that Nate and I had that now the Christmas Cancel-er has a new standard to cancel Christmas...and it is going to be TOUGH.

None of this snow can get us down as we are OUTTA here very shortly for a warm-sunny destination. So to this load of crap mother nature calls weather I say PEACE OUT.

Baby Games

Friday Night was supposed to be a regular, old run-of-the-mill, have-some-casual-fun get together with friends. And don't get me wrong, it was definitely that.

But because I am quite certain I have the best friends in the world, it couldn't just be a get together. No, these ladies came equipped with two things that prove they know the way to make my heart smile:

1) Games
Not just any games. A game, the was specially made for Nate and I--the parents to be. Think pictionary with baby words...like Irish Twins (which I failed at miserably), Rock-a-bye-baby (which the boys got lucky on), etc. Everyone knows I like a good competition. Who knew the boys would be so in tune with baby stuff?

2) Food
Now it wasn't like party platters of food, or food that anyone would consider normal. But let's face it. I am not in a 'normal condition' right now, so 'normal' food is relative.

The prizes to the aforementioned games were each tucked into a separate game, and while Nate technically did win a few of these prizes, it was clear that they were purchased with one person in mind: pregnant Greta.

So, my recent food preference (because it isn't a crazy pregnant craving), is lemons. I want them in in every glass of water, mostly so I can fish them out at the end of meal and eat them. But with this gift, I can literally cut myself up a lemon snack. Yum! But really anything citrusy, or salty is where it is at. And I am loving the occasional handful of chocolate chips.....

But they also brought me this (which I have been eating all weekend)...

Chocolate dipped Citrus!! Brilliant.

Anyway, it was a very fun night. So fun, in fact that it was 12:30 before I went to bed which was the latest I have lasted since my epic New Years night. Nate was very proud of me :)

Magazine Cuisine: Episode 3

So I realize that the fact that we are only on episode 3 of the 2011 cookbook does not bode well. But the reality is we have  been cooking quite a bit, just have literally not had time (or in some cases the energy) to blog at night.

So, rewind like 2 weeks when this masterpeice came out of our kitchen:

Herbed Chicken and Parsley Orzo

Now, on first blush  this does not look special. It's chicken and pasta right?

Wrong.

First of all, we have had some epic fails on chicken, but for some reason this was the moistest (is that a word), most flavorful chicken ever.

Second, I love parlsey. So parsley orzo...pretty much my dream side dish. Side poll: does anyone like to just eat parsley? Raw?

I do.

Anyway, this was a great find and will be folded into the regular routine.

Green and Gold Glory

Yes, it was the Sunday of all Sunday's. And for the record I get extra special twinges of happiness knowing there are a few loyal readers out there that are Vikings or Bears fan...so for you I will try not to lay it toooo think.

A Super Bowl party was NOT an option for Nate and I as we actually wanted to watch the game. This is true for the first time in years. We had our neighbors over as one of them is a huge Packers fan. Now, Sina is the packer fan, but I have to give mad props to her husband, Ryan, who loves his Vikings but root for the Packers all the same. He is a rare breed as most Vikings fans are just cruel and merciless. :) He won MVP fan in my opinion.

Even more so than Hanson Packer Fan #3:

And I like to think that our dedication to the true spirit of Packer tailgating was a good luck charm that helped lead to the win. Nate muscled our grill out of many feet of snow, and fired that sucker up! And oooohhh the smells that wafted down. I forgot how amazing grilled food was. Especially grilled brats.

It was a joyous Packer evening. There was a little bit of swearing. Maybe some nail biting. A whole lot of Cheering and at the end of the came loud screams of happiness! :)

So, how do you sum up a post that is 14 years in the making.

I love the Packers.
Aaron Rodgers could quite possible be our first born sons name.
The Packers Rule, the Vikings Drool.
The Bears still suck.

and

Damn, it feels good to be a Packer.