My Valentine

Ok, I generally try to avoid getting too mushy/gushy, but heck, it Valentine's Day, and not to brag or anything, but I have a pretty good Valentine. This lovely specimen of a man makes my life better each day. He is My Precious...(imagine those last two words being muttered in the voice of Golom from Lord of The Rings). So, in the spirit of love, and definitely a little boastfulness, here are a few reasons why I'm so fond of this man.

Blue Steel

 1) There's no use trying to get around it. I'm going to go ahead and point out the elephant in the middle of the room and state the obvious: I married a looker. I, Amber Elizabeth Wilson Olsen snagged me a hottie and I'm not one bit ashamed.


2) He tickles my funny bone. Yes, many of his stories may require censorship and usually deal with some sort of bodily function, but not a day goes by that he doesn't make me laugh.

3) He knows what he wants and will work to get it.  Success is attractive, and when I was studying at BYU just about every boy I knew stated they wanted to go to law school, medical school, get their PhD, etc.....but talk is cheap.One of the first things I noticed about Jamie was how driven he was. Not only did he talk of big goals, he actually had a plan to accomplish them. Now as a medical student, I see him work hard everyday to obtain his goal of receiving a solid education so he can one day support his family.

4) He's the jack of all trades. I'm amazed by Jamie's many talents and skills. He plays the drums, the piano, the guitar, and even the bagpipes. When we first started dating I remember thinking how neat it was that he was involved in so many things. He loved sports (which was a def. must for me), he danced on the BYU Folk Dance team (which I thought was kinda funny, but cool), he had sang on the BYU Choir, and he could even knit.

5) He makes me want to be a better person. We try to not let complacency exist in our marriage. I love talking with him about my hopes, my goals, and how we can be better people. He is such a caring, genuine, and honest man. When I think about him as a future father to our little girl I get all giddy inside.

Alright, I could keep going, but this is becoming a little too self-indulgent. The bottom line is I married an amazing man and I look forward to spending the rest of eternity with him. How can a girl get so lucky?

Together Forever

Bellies and Dragons

      Well I suppose it's that time again where I dust off the ol' keyboard and update the blog. Life is life as usual. I graduated nursing school in December, the holidays came and went (much too quickly), Jamie is back to the grind, and I'm just working and cooking a baby. Speaking of babies, pregnancy is such a weird thing. I mean think about it. Two microscopic cells come together and over the span of 9+ months evolve into a 6-10lb lovely little creature that completely changes a woman's body and her life. Now don't get me wrong, I am completely elated to be growing a little creature of my own. It's just that there's a few things about pregnancy that aren't the most fun. Warning! I'm about to get personal. You may read TMI, but its my blog so I'll say what I want to.

     Numero Uno: Belly buttons. I've tried to push it back in, really I have. Sometimes as I sit on the couch watching a show I'll apply firm pressure to my button, but of course, as soon as I take my finger off....POP GOES THE WEASEL! I've read online that some pregnant women put bandaids over their belly buttons to keep them "under control". Been there, done that, doesn't really work for me. My whole life I've been taught to be modest. But now, as a pregnant woman, I feel as though I've lost my modesty. When I wear a shirt that is tight snug over my midsection (which is often b/c I'm too cheap to buy maternity clothes) I feel as though I'm exposing my navel to the world. I swear you can see the outline of my belly button through just about any top I wear. Today while I was trying on an outfit for church, Jamie said, "Hey there belly button!" Thanks babe. IT now has an identity of its own. Oh well, I can honestly say that I probably have one of the cleanest belly buttons around. I guarantee you won't find an spec of lint trapped in MY button!

This is not my belly by the way.....I just wanted to illustrate what the "popping of the button" looks like
Mine's not quite to this level......yet anyways:)

    Number Two: Acid reflux. I feel like I literally have a slumbering fire-breathing dragon inside of my stomach. As soon as I lay down for a nap or eat a meal, the dragon wakes up, and it does so with a vengeance. Earlier in my pregnancy, I considered TUMS to be my trusty friend that I could rely on in times of need. I now, however, feel betrayed. In the last few weeks I've popped TUMS like tic-tacs and it still doesn't calm the dragon. So, I've done what any logical woman would do and have increased my intake of "base" (as in pH) foods such as milk or dairy......  

Ok so maybe the ice cream doesn't really help with stomach acid, but it sure makes me feel better -until later when I look at the empty bucket and realize Jamie only ate one bowl....
  
     And finally....insomnia. I blame it mostly on #2. However, if on the rare occasion the dragon I swallowed is asleep, I usually still toss and turn all night because of hip or back discomfort. Alright, I'm done complaining now.I will take all the acid reflux, strange body transformations, and insomnia that can be thrown at me if it means that I get a precious baby in the end. I've been blessed with a relatively healthy, complication-free pregnancy thus far and am incredibly grateful for it. So bring it on belly button! You've got 5 weeks of poppage left! 

Thanksgiving (un)traditions

For thanksgiving this year we played it pretty low-key. My mom came to Des Moines and we made the traditional Wilson thanksgiving meal-steak and potatoes. My mother doesn't like to eat turkey, so growing up I don't think she ever cooked the "traditional" thanksgiving meal. If we didn't visit our extended family for the holiday feast, my mother would usually cook steak (t-bone in particular). Here's a picture of our little feast for three.

My poor twice-baked potatoes didn't turn out too good, I blame it on the turkey bacon (Jamie doesn't eat pork). Note-NEVER use turkey bacon as a substitute for the real thing in recipes....it pretty much turns into a chewy jerky. Anyways, we enjoyed our quick break and the short visit we had with my mom.

So most people who read this blog already know, but we're having a little girl. I'm 26 weeks along now and I'm starting to feel large. I swear that one day my stomach just "popped". I can't even imagine what the last trimester of my pregnancy is going to be like. I feel like I've already reached my growing potential...I know Jamie's already tired of listening to me talk about how I can't breath or get up from a sitting/lying position. At least I know at the end of all of this I'll have a precious little baby girl. Oh the adventures! Here's a little picture of us on Thanksgiving day.

Name that Lump

Oh the adventures of cooking. Here's a preview of tonight's meal. Can you tell what it is?
Exhibit A)

Yep, these are meatballs. Look at the lovely shape and form they have! I forgot to add the egg to the recipe, so as I was fryin' up these badboys they began to fall apart into a large heap that ended up looking like dog food. The sad thing is, I DESPISE touching raw hamburger; however, I wanted to cook my sweetums a decent meal, so to think that I actually touched raw cow to form those little balls of love just to watch them fall apart in front of my eyes was too much. If I weren't an emotional stonewall, I could have possibly shed a tear. It seems like this scene is all too familiar in my kitchen. Want proof?
Take a guess at what this little number is supposed to be..............
Exhibit B)

If you guessed a piece of cheese that had been sitting in the fridge growing mold for two months you'd be close. But actually, this is a piece of cake I baked for Jamie when we were newlyweds. It fell apart the moment I placed it on his plate. It was like watching ice cream hit a hot pan, it just kinda "melted". I think this early glimpse of my cooking scared my dear husband a little bit, but he stuck with me:) He still talks of this as being one of his most memorable birthday cakes. I really don't know what goes wrong with my cooking. I try to follow recipes exactly as they're written and I tend to shy away from recipes that are too complex. However, I always seem to somehow put my own "special touch" on my kitchen creations.
Finally, we have exhibit C)

This is my attempt at homemade bread. I even cheated and used my bread machine to make this. However, it still came out looking lumpy, bumpy, and just plain wrong. Oh dear. I'm just glad I have a patient husband who eats my food no matter what it looks (or tastes) like. Oh well, I still have many years of cooking ahead of me, and many more recipes to destroy! Maybe one day I'll figure things out.....

Catch up

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's procrastinating. So since I haven't posted in a while, I'll give a quick update on the life with the Olsens. Our lives kinda seem like a scene from Groundshog Day at times. Not too much changes. Jamie is neck-deep into his studies again. Last week was crazy as he had multiple tests, simulation labs (he learned how to deliver a baby...cool), and he squeezed in a visit with his little brother who came home from his mission in Brazil. I've been busy with school as well, but it's my last semester, so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  So in the midst of the busyness of last week, we had a few curveballs thrown our way. I have a night class every Tuesday, so at 7pm I hopped into our truck to drive to class but it didn't start, which was just perfect. Since Jamie's parents were in Brazil and left their car parked at our place (with the keys) I decided I'd take their car to class, but no, it somehow got a flat tire. So I ended up skipping my once-a-week class to make repairs to vehicles. Funny how when it rains it pours. One other bit of interesting news is that Jamie got his flu shot today and the nurse hit bone. Jamie said the needle came out bent. EWWW. I remember the time when I hit bone once on one of my patients....grossest feeling ever. I felt awful, but the patient didn't even flinch or notice. Anyways, random story, but that's the excitement of our life lately.

What we're really excited for is next week. We find out the gender of our baby! I'll have to write a quick update then with the details. Until next time....

Man Caves and Boy Scouts

For mother's day weekend I had no school or work, so I took the opportunity to spend a few days with my momma. We decided to head to Kansas City to visit my aunt and uncle and a few of my cousins. It was a jolly ol' time as we shopped, ate, visited and just lazied around-one of my favorite things to do;) I was so glad to be able spend a few days with one of my favorite people!
Of course while in Kansas City, we had to eat some bbq, yum!

Unfortunately, I forgot to pack batteries, so these are pretty much the only pictures I got. My mother has been wearing these bad boys way before over-sized sunglasses were even in style!I know someday this will be me....:)
Although I enjoyed spending time with my mother, I began to miss my sweetums and couldn't wait to see him after almost a week apart. Jamie had been letting his beard grow for a little while before I left and I was hoping I would come home to a baby-faced hubby. However, my hopes were dashed. I opened the door to my apartment and found that what used to be my warm, bright, vanillaberry scentsy-pot smelling home had transformed into a cold, dark, moist cavern that smelled heavily of man. A man cave indeed. Jamie stepped out and I shrieked when I discovered that his face had been overtaken by copious amounts of hair. If he had been wearing a flannel shirt and coveralls instead of a polo (paired with sweat-shorts mind you) I would of thought he just came from off the side of a mountain. This is what happens when you leave your husband home alone, unattended for a week.....
Jamie grew so attached to his mammoth beard that it took him another week before he finally shaved it off.
In other news, we able to head to Estherville last weekend to attend Jamie's little brother's Eagle Court of Honor. Way to go Brad! Here's a picture of my handsome, baby-faced husband with his pops and bro. Don't they all look so cute in their little boyscout uniforms?

And finally, the countdown is on, Monday is Jamie's last day of school! Wahoo!

Well, I decided it was time for a new post since the last two have been about toenails (hey, that's about as exciting as our life is right now.) Anyways, we've been busy as usual, Jamie's winding down and only has 3 weeks of schools left, although, "winding down" is definitely not the correct term to use. School has been VERY busy lately and basically consumes his life. I now know what the term "medical school widow" means. Last semester he usually came home at 6 and we'd just hang the rest of the night, but this semester has been different. Monday nights I work, he studies, so we don't see each other until 10:30 at night, tues-thur we have a dinner/watch a rerun of The Office date, followed up with study dates at the library (calling them dates makes it seem so much more glamorous/exciting), Fri night we try to do something fun, but school still occasionally gets in the way of that, Sat I clean/catch up on life, he studies, and Sunday.....ahhh, we love our Sundays, no studying, no work, naps, church, what could be better? So that's basically been our lives for the last 4 months (are you still awake!?)

Today also marks a somewhat monumental day. After 5 years, I finally got new glasses. First thing Jamie said when I showed them to him was "those are kinda thick," thanks darling. You know, it was his fault I had to get new glasses in the first place. Jamie "buffaloed" ( definition: trampled/cracked/squished/broke) my old glasses about two weeks ago. We were kneeling on the floor praying and I had set my glasses on the bed. When we finished Jamie leapt from the floor and did a spin move that you only see in the WWF onto the bed landing directly on my glasses. So, for the past two weeks, I've been wearing my cracked glasses, hoping no one would notice, but enough was enough. Every time I bent over or moved my head too quickly I looked like I was doing party tricks as my lens would pop out and then I'd crawl around on the floor like Hellen Keller (no offense Hellen) searching for it. I finally made an eye appointment.
Apparently my eyes have changed quite a bit over the years; my prescription has almost doubled in strength. Remember in 6th grade when the police came to school and gave you those "beer goggles" to wear to show you how drunk drivers see? Well, I feel like I'm wearing those goggles right now. I'm fine as long as I focus on a solitary object, but the moment I look away, I don't recognize the hands in front of me to be my own. It's kinda trippy. I think it'll take me a while to adjust to the new 'specs, but its amazing what I can see now. I was squinting so much with my last glasses that I was beginning to get crows feet, now my eyes just don't know quite what to do.