Adventures in the Northwest

My sister had her baby on Monday morning 3:52 a.m. Marlea Elise was a little over 7 lbs. and 19 in. long. She had a problem breathing and was found to have a mass in her throat (actually, right behind the soft palate) that was making life difficult for her. She was life flighted to Salt Lake City to Primary Children's. They did an MRI on Monday and then surgery on Wednesday. They have the mass at pathology to find out what exactly it is. The doctor who read the MRI was very catastrophic about it - the nurses and the surgeon are far less worried about it. So...we'll see.

Marlea is doing better now. She's been able to eat some and they have taken her out from under the lamps for jaundice. She's getting to wear clothes now, which probably makes her feel more comfortable. :) She does have TONS of hair...for that, she takes after her mother.

Things on my end are good. Baby is doing well, its heart rate is good. My weight gain is good (yes...there is such a thing) and all other vitals are good. I'm 16 weeks today and we'll find out gender on April 10th.

As I'm doing some chores around the house, I have put on a movie that I've seen a dozen times or more in order to not be distracted so I can get some work done - this is a trend of mine whenever I do housework. Tonight's movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I have decided that many valuable parenting lessons are present in this movie (and the book that inspired it). How could I not catch this when I read the book? (Oh yeah...I was about 8 when I read it.) I am waiting for the floors to dry...plus my back and feet need a break so here goes...

The overall lesson for parents is not to overindulge your children. Let's look at the several ways this is done in the movie. First, we have Augustus Gloop - he eats far too much. Not only does this include chocolate but all food. Next, we have Violet Beauregard - she is obsessed with chewing gum and does not listen when Mr. Wonka tells her not to try the gum that turns her into a blueberry. Next, we have Veruca Salt who wants everything - from a Golden Ticket, to an Oompa Loompa, the boat they ride in, a goose who lays a golden egg...you get the idea. She has clearly never been denied anything. Next, we have Mike Teevee - he watches entirely too much television and is overly curious about the way it works - he gets shrunk into a tiny Mike. Lastly, there's Charlie Bucket. His worst "crime" in the movie is stealing some fizzy lifting drink and flying around a room full of bubbles. All of these children, except for Charlie, are spoiled rotten. Each of them learns valuable lessons about this: if you continue to be overindulgent, you face rotten consequences.

What we learn from Charlie is that a life of few indulgences is really the most "rich" kind of life and really makes you a "winner". This includes food, candy, television, and material goods.

As I'm facing parenthood, I've started to think about this. I see kids out there who are given all sorts of luxury items. Young teens with iPhones (which is a pricey phone you can't take insurance out on), new iPods, terribly expensive clothing, and brand new cars. I get that there is a stigma with not having many of these items - it was the same when I was a kid, too. I think what worries me is that many of these kids do not earn these items they have. When I was growing up, we had to earn many/most of these so-called luxury items. Now it seems kids expect these things.

I want my children to have some of these luxury items because, let's face it, life can be "horrible" for a kid/teen who does not have the newest gadget. But, I want them to also learn the value of these items and earn them. I think this is an important lesson. Maybe I am being too idealistic here but as I embark on this journey, I intend to make sure my children understand that nothing is free and that you cannot have everything you want.

This year for Valentine's Day, we did something much larger than we usually have done. Shawn was in Vegas for work (what else is new :)) so we planned for me to go down to visit once while he gone. It turned out that Valentine's weekend worked best for both of us. We decided to go see a Vegas show for the first time. We went to see Zumanity at New York New York. We stayed on the strip. Vegas is a VERY different town if you aren't drinking OR gambling... (Neither one of us really like to gamble and I can't drink so Shawn really didn't either.) We actually had a good time.

We started out Friday night by really just hanging out between the Excalibur (where we stayed), New York New York, Luxor, and MGM Grand. We just walked around and saw what had changed...and what hadn't. We had a fabulous Italian dinner at New York New York - it was the best italian meal we've had since we left Italy. We then rented Madagascar 2 in our room...and I fell asleep! It was cute...what I saw of it.

Saturday we went to their new Town Square area and hung out at Borders reading and drinking coffee (decaf for me). We bummed around for a few hours there and then went to Hofbrahaus so Shawn could get a beer and we could listen to the Bavarian music there. It wasn't quite as planned since there was a wedding reception there so the music was a little different than we thought it would be but it was still a lot of fun. And, we got seated at a table with a nice couple...who ended up being from Boise!! It was totally weird!!

Afterwards, we went to Bahama Breeze for lunch. It was yummy!! I had a virgin Pina Colada, coconut shrimp, and Calypso Shrimp linguine. Ah...I miss Bahama Breeze a lot!! After our yummy dinner we went to get changed for the show.

Zumanity was awesome. I had heard it was "sensual"...I just had no idea how much. There was a small comedy sketch at the beginning...and when they dropped the first F-bomb I was a little shocked. The comedy sketch was hilarious though. The artistry involved in the show was typical Cirque du Soleil meets Vegas. If you're easily offended...I definitely would NOT recommend this show. If you're not offended by vulgar language or sexuality...then I'd recommend seeing this show.

Sunday we vegged for a bit and had lunch with our friend's mom...who is kind of like another mom to Shawn. Then I got on a plane and came home. It was a fantastic weekend and I was so thankful to get to spend time with Shawn after not seeing him for 3 weeks.

Here's a list of things I've done/not done... It's interesting to see all I've done in my almost 30 years...and how much more there is for me to do. I've italicized those things I've done. Mrs. B did a cool thing and wrote a bit of a bucket list. In Hawaii, I talked a lot about items on my "life list" which is my version of a bucket list and it's full of places I want to see. Here's the short list:

1. Backpack in the following places: Machu Picchu, Patagonia, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal
2. See the Aztec and Mayan ruins
3. Visit all 50 states (I have a way to go still)
4. Visit Spain, Greece, and Iceland (geothermal pools...)

The Bucket List:

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor

6. Given to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo (it's actually recorded history...scarily enough)

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (sort of...)

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisioning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables (peppers)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Drank an entire Sonic Route 66 by yourself

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (not in a while though...)

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon


29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Traced your family tree at least 4 generations

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Learned a new language (5 years Spanish and a little Italian to get around Italy)

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing (nothing huge but I'll count it)

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Swam with a dolphin

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been IN a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Cut your own hair (it didn't turn out well for me...and it was even worse for my sister)

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching (it wasn't the intent but we saw a lot of 'em)

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma (too scared of needles...)

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check (not intentionally...)

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square (not yet...)

74. Driven a stick shift

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone (not so far...knock on wood!!)

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican (if you've seen the Sistine Chapel, then you've been to the Vatican)

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible (It's taking me forever...)

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life (probably - I work with a lot of suicidal people)

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Read an entire series of books by one author

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby (not yet... :))

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Seen the Pacific Ocean

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person

101. Learned to play an instrument (I'll count the recorder that I learned to play in 5th grade! :))

I just spent the last week in Hawaii. It was great...as you might imagine. We stayed on the Big Island and were in the resort town of Waikoloa, near Kailua-Kona. We stayed in a nice condo there which was only about a 10 minute walk from the beach. I went with my friend Phung, two of her friends from Seattle, and a friend from Oklahoma.

The week started in Seattle and a trip to the Space Needle. I went up to the top when I was about 14 and my aunt got married at the top. I remember very little other than I could see forever and thought it was amazing. This trip was a little different.

As you can see, we couldn't see much. It was super windy, too, so we didn't spend much time out there. We then went to the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum. It was pretty cool. I have pictures of stuff I'm not supposed to...oops. We got to see some pretty cool stuff, though.

The next day, we flew to Hawaii. It was a LONG day! We didn't get in to Kona until around 10:30/11:00 p.m. We got our rental car - a super cute, yellow Jeep Wrangler - and then went to Waikoloa to get into our condo. We erroneously thought there'd be stuff open. Nice try. Everything closes around 10 there. We totally missed it and found that the only place open near where we were was a Denny's in Kona - about 30 miles up the road. So, off we went to Denny's to enjoy breakfast at around midnight. We decided to then go grocery shopping since we'd probably save some money buying in town versus the resort area. We got some breakfast stuff and some fruit. We didn't get to sleep until around 3 a.m.!! LONG DAY!

The next day we slept in some and then just sort of explored Waikoloa area. We walked along the beach near the Marriott and the Hilton Hotel. We saw dolphins at the Hilton Hotel and very briefly considered swimming with them until we found out that it was going to cost around $300 for 20-30 minutes. No way! We later swam in the ocean and took some fantastic pictures of the sunset. It was with my iPhone, so the pics aren't totally fantastic. I'll get some other pics up later...

The next day, we went to Volcanoes National Park. It was pretty fantastic to see Mother Nature in that capacity. On the way up, we stopped at a Black Sand Beach. It was amazing!! Not only that, we saw sea turtles sunning on the sand and one coming out of the water. So cool!