The last few weeks

So I realized that I am already falling off with updating this blog so I thought I'd better jump on it before I kept forgetting! A few weeks back my Mom and I took our little summer trip. Last year we drove everywhere and spent a week doing it. This year, with things being different, we decided to stay local. I'm not the best car rider right now with the whole nausea thing so we stayed in Dallas. The first night we stayed at the Westin Galleria. We shopped, ate at the Grand Lux, shopped, stopped at Corner Bakery, shopped, and then brought Potbelly up to our room where we watched the season finale of the Bacherlorette. Yeah Ed! The next morning we went to Northpark and played there. We ate at La Duni for lunch. Then, my Mom and I split a hotel/dinner package at the Mansion on Turtle Creek which wasn't too bad since we split the cost. When we got there we started laughing immediately because they were serving us all kinds of things and we realized we would need to tip everyone. We had dinner reservations that night at their restaurant (included our package). Thank goodness they sat us away from the rest of the customers. We were literally all by ourselves facing the patio by the window. So, we are already feeling uncomfortable and then they bring out this, "compliments of the chef"....

What is that you ask? It's Ceviche stuffed Squid. I love Calamari, but this was NOT Calamari. Immediately upon bringing it out I started laughing. How mature am I? I was like, no way am I touching that. My Mom started laughing too, but she was determined to try it and not think about it. Much braver than I was! She ended up eating them both and kept saying, "I just can't think about it." So, she saved us from insulting the chef. Blah!

Then, we got our appetizers. I got a grilled peach salad while my Mom got sliced Venison.

The salad was actually really good, but just small.

My Mom got the sliced Venison as an appetizer. She took her first bite and said, "Oh Amber, you would not want this." Of course, we started laughing as she ate it and she like, "Nope, definitely not." Then the waiter came up and said, "How is everything?" and of course, she went straight into Lynne mode and said, "MMMMMM...it's so wonderful!" I looked up at her and started laughing as she did too. Seriously, we were like a couple of elementary kids. Pretty Woman, but worse! Here is a pic of my Mom as we are laughing about the Venison.

For our entree she got a steak and I got giant shrimp with risotto. The entrees were great!

Afterward, we went to the Taste of West Village and walked around. I got some good school clothes that I can grow in :) Needless to say, we had a great time.

This last Monday, I had my first official appointment after my "confirmation appointment". They asked me a ton of questions about my health history, if we would be opting to do all of the testing prior to delivery (down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, etc.), and if I would be getting an epidural (yes!). They did a few other fun tests before they passed me on to get my blood work done. This is something that I dreaded long before even getting pregnant. I have had too many not so fun experiences with giving blood and I was super nervous. However, after praying about it a lot beforehand, when I got in there I wasn't nearly as nervous as I normally would've been. I felt a strong calm through me that definitely was not from me. Before my appointment I looked up scripture on peace, trust, and faith and wrote them all down to take with me. Just reading through those helped a ton. I told the girl about my experiences and I was able to lay down as she drew blood. It was NO big deal. If every other experience in my life (or at least one) would've been this easy I wouldn't have been nervous at all. It was great. Now I understand the people that say that giving blood isn't a big deal. Before I thought they were crazy :) They called today to tell me all of the test results. Everything came up great and normal. We did decide to opt out of the testing to find out if our child has Down Syndrome or anything else. I asked if it tested positive if there was anything we could do to change it and they said no. It is more to prepare the parents. God has formed our child to be exactly what He wants it to be and I'm okay with not knowing. The Holy Spirit is doing a great work in my heart. My anxiety about delivery is slowly fading. I am actually looking forward to the whole process. Don't get me wrong, I realize it will be painful, but God is transforming my thinking and my heart to realize that it is truly a beautiful thing and a moment where I will get to first meet our child. God is so wonderful.

This last weekend Adam and I spent 6 1/2 hours up at school finishing my room. Sweet Adam. I had already been up there three other days working on it. This week I will have a chance to relax and focus more on the curriculum side of things. Today my Mom and I are going to see Julie and Julia and then going out to eat. We will drop by the school so she can see my room. I went with a more beachy theme this year. Hope everyone has a great week! :)