Tagged.

Thanks to Callie, I can no longer avoid taggage. Here you go!

4 Jobs I have had in my life:

1. Waitress
2. Lifeguard
3. College Professor
4. Event Planner

4 Movies I've Watched More Than Once

1. Steel Magnolias
2. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (This was before Sarah Jessica was Carrie...)
3. Rad (a super lame bike movie my brother and I loved when we were little)
4. Elf


4 Places I've Lived:

1. Fort Worth, TX
2. Riverside, CA
3. Istanbul, Turkey
4. Des Moines, IA

4 TV Shows I Watch/Watched

1. The Office
2. The Office
3. The Office
4. The Office

4 Places I have Been:

1. Italy
2. India
3. Morocco
4. Greece

4 People who email me regularly

1. My husband
2. My mom
3. Jennifer
4. Facebook

4 of my favorite foods

1. French Fries...especially yummy during pregnancy.
2. Tomatoes
3. Mexican
4. Cheesecake

4 Places I Would Like to Visit

1. South America
2. Canada
3. Paris
4. New Zealand

Things I am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year

1. The birth of our baby.
2. Warm weather in Des Moines
3. Visiting Family
4. Family & Friends coming to visit

Friends I'm Tagging

1. Rebecca (you gotta do it now, Bec, both Cals and I tagged you!)
2. Keri
3. Kimmy Sun

Here's a picture of our Easter celebration at home...

Happy Easter!
Here's a picture of the cute Easter cupcakes I made this week - they were yummy but most all of them ended up going over to the hospital with Jason. I actually love that people know Dr. Reynolds' wife as the one who loves to bake! I have always loved the kitchen but it's especially fun when I have a place to send all of my homemade treats.

Jason and I will be at home for Easter. We are really excited to celebrate resurrection Sunday in our new city, in our new home, with our new little family. We have much to be thankful for and will enjoy the celebration of new life that Easter brings.

Happy Easter weekend to all!

To my mom on her 60th...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my mom turned 60 last week while we were in NY. I thought it appropriate to take a minute to recognize this amazing woman that brought me into the world...Even now as I experience the joys of pregnancy and look forward to the gift of motherhood, I have so much gratitude for my mom.

When my mom finished high school in our tiny hometown of Albany, Texas she set out for her own adventure. I can understand her desire to get out and see the world, after all, because I felt the same way. While I loved small town Texas, I was itching to do something new. Anyways, Mom went to a small junior college in Cisco - simply because she could join the drill team there and get a full scholarship. After Cisco, she and her girlfriends set out for the ultimate "coming of age" experience, renting an apartment in downtown Dallas in the 1960's. She worked downtown, walked to work every day and loved city life.

She and my dad married and set out for a new adventure together living in Germany for 3 years. She gave birth to her first child, my sister Melissa, in Germany and lived without email, digital pictures, and cell phone calls to America (beyond what I can fathom). She often comments that her experience in Germany was something she would NEVER take back - even though at the time it seemed a little crazy to move halfway around the world as a newlywed.

After my parents moved back to America, my brother and I came along. My parents divorced when I was in the fourth grade, but for as long as I can remember, I never heard a negative word from either one of them about the other. I am grateful they allowed us to grow up and learn to see them and love each of them as they are.

My mom always worked full time and provided what we needed - without us ever knowing that we were often in need. She leaned heavily on her faith through losing both of her parents before she turned 50. Within the same period of 4 years, she lost her dad to cancer, her mom to heart complications, and her second husband a sudden heart attack. He was only 48.

When I felt called to go overseas, she was supportive and never once questioned if I was doing the right thing. She came to visit me in Turkey and California and has vowed that no matter where I live, she'll come.

In the last 10 years, she's welcomed four grandchildren into her life and been transformed into a very cool Mimi. She's also survived breast cancer, a midnight car wreck with four cows that totaled her car, a broken ankle and reconstructive surgery, and numerous West Texas highway run-ins with deer. She is a woman of faith, always relying on the Lord to see her through the difficult times.

And, in the last year, she graciously survived being mother of the bride AND mother of the groom for me and my brother.

The quality that I love most about my mom, though, is her sense of humor. She is one of the funniest people I know and has always, always seen things in life with humor. I hope I can learn from her motherly sense of humor and the ease with which she can make us laugh.

For so many pivotal times in my life she has been a counselor, a listener, a comedian, and most of all, a mom.

I truly hope I can be half the mom she is...

I love you, Mom!

p.s. She's beautiful too, isn't she??

Fav NY Pix

New York

New York City is one of my absolute favorite cities. Jason and I had the privilege of going to NYC last week with my mom for her 60th birthday. We had so much fun celebrating in the Big Apple! We ate (a lot), went to the theater, and enjoyed hanging out in the City. We saw three fabulous shows (Thanks to the Half Price ticket booth): Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - starring James Earl Jones & Phylicia Rashad, Mary Poppins, and Legally Blonde. All of them were great shows but my favorite was Legally Blonde. If you are planning a trip to Broadway anytime soon, I highly recommend it. We laughed hysterically!

This was not my mom's first trip to NYC, but it was Jason's first time. If you know me at all, you know that I am the natural trip planner/coordinator in most any group, so I was happy to plan our itineraries for each day. Most of all, I was really thankful that my mom and Jason were willing to put up with my "tour of NYC via the best food joints". Oh, the perks of having a pregnant travel guide. =) My favorites? The Buttercup Bake Shop - cupcake heaven! And, Good Enough To Eat - a fabulous little place in the Upper West Side serving yummy comfort food...macaroni and cheese to dream about.

My mom is such a fun traveler. She loves to laugh and I'm convinced she can have a great time ANYwhere. I'm so glad she's my mom! Thanks, Mom, for letting us celebrate in style with you!

Next Post: A few of my favorite pics...

Baby Bump.Here's the Baby Bump, folks! 20 weeks worth of baby in there...

1.5 Hours

So, I have learned a lot about Iowa weather in the last few weeks...Lots of people joke about Texas weather being unpredictable and changing on a dime. Well, yesterday's Iowa weather beat anything I've ever seen in Texas! Yesterday it was so warm with the high at 58 degrees - truly balmy compared to the last several weeks. All of the snow even melted! It was great to catch a glimpse of the grass! It started to rain in the evening but still wasn't much colder. Long story short, when I fell asleep at 10:30p and woke up at midnight when Jason got home from work, there was 6 inches of snow on the ground!! I seriously couldn't believe things had changed so drastically in 1.5 hours. It snowed all night and now everything is covered in a blanket of snow again. Today the high is 20 degrees. Crazy!