Thankful Thursday: We Made It!

Today words cannot describe the gratitude I have in my heart.  It seems like it has all happened so fast but when I really sit down and think about it I remember all the hard work and prayers that went into getting us here.  Where is here? Here is University of New Mexico Pharmacy School.  Jordan and I have been preparing for this moment for 4 years! 4 years of ups and downs, and most of the time me feeling really scared that it wasn't going to work out, and I guess I had no real reason to be scared. 4 years of daily prayers always asking for guidance and help in pursuing this goal. 4 years of fasting once a month for blessings related to obtaining our goal (What is fasting?). 4 years of Jordan taking and sometimes re-taking really really hard classes,  and not to mention the nearly 6 months he spent studying for the PCAT, and then taking the PCAT twice! 4 years of Jordan working extra hard outside of his school work to boost his application, shadowing pharmacists, and volunteering. It was both exciting and nerve racking when we actually started filling out the applications and also VERY expensive.  We finally finished and submitted all of the applications by early October this last year, and then we had to wait.  We soon found out that all my doubting was in vain and all our prayers had been answered.  We applied to a total of 26 schools, Jordan received invitations to interview at all but two of them, he traveled to 9 of those schools for an interview and after all was said and done he was accepted to 8 of those schools! However, deep down we always knew that if he was accepted to UNM we would definitely go.  Luck would have it that UNM was the last school to offer him an interview and that was in April!  The good news is that we only had to wait 5 days to hear back from them. He got the acceptance and we knew that was where we needed to go.  So we forfeited our deposits at schools in Utah and Wisconsin and made the move.  And now we are here! He is in a class of 81 students and only 5 of them are not New Mexico residents which is a huge compliment to Jordan.  Today was the white coat ceremony, which is basically a ceremony to say "congratulations you made it to this point, you should be proud, but you still have a lot of work ahead of you".  And even though we have a tough 4 years ahead of us we feel a great amount of relief and gratitude that the last 4 years are behind us.

Norah did really well sitting through the hour long ceremony.

Here is Jordan receiving his coat from the faculty.

And here he is looking all proud.

This is his class, the class of 2018.

Doesn't he look so cool!

And Norah bit her tongue, I know it may appear that we are laughing at her pain, but I promise we care.

WOHOO!

And this is the VERY awkward statue that stands on the campus.

What to Wear Wednesday: Dress Turned to Skirt

It is next to impossible for me to find dresses that are long enough on me. I have this one dress that barely cuts it if I adjust the straps to be long, but then it looks funny at the top.  But I love the print of the dress, so I decided to wear it as a skirt on Sunday and it worked out quite nicely. It would probably be too loose around the hips if I wasn't pregnant, but since I am if fit just right.  If you aren't pregnant and you want to try this out with one of your dresses just throw a belt on it!

                                        

This is the dress. 

Shirt: Gap

Skirt, Necklace, Shoes, Belt: Old Navy

Tasty Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

This is one of my favorite easy meals to make, the combination might seem strange but trust me they are delicious. Jordan and I call them BBQ Bachadillas for short (Ba for bacon, and ch for chicken).

Ingredients:

(Amounts depend on how many you want to make)

Cheese

Tortillas

Chopped and Cooked Bacon

BBQ Sauce

Chopped Apple

Shredded Chicken

Butter

Heat a frying pan on medium heat and butter one side of a tortilla. Add some BBQ sauce to the chicken just to coat it.

Place the tortilla on the frying pan butter side down and add ingredients in the following order; cheese, chicken, apple, bacon.

Top it off with more cheese.

Close the tortilla and let it cook until golden brown on once side.

Then flip and cook until the other side is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Cut tortilla into triangles and serve with BBQ sauce for dipping.

ENJOY!

Mommy Monday: Last Summer Activity

Well Jordan starts orientation this week and school next week which means that our summer is officially over.  I can't complain, we've had the last month and a half to literally do nothing.  It has been nice to have a break, but it will also be nice to have structure in our lives again.  Plus Norah has been getting spoiled with constant attention from both mommy and daddy.
Over the weekend we went to Lake Cochiti, about an hour outside of Albuquerque, and went on a really cool hike.  It was a fun day and Norah had a blast with her cousins.

 The view at the beginning of the hike.  Norah was NOT excited to hike, but once we got to the awesome slot canyons and in the shade she started to enjoy herself. 

Yeah this was Norah's attitude when the hike began.

Norah and her cousin Matea, despite the look on her face she was having a fun time.

There were awesome trees like this along the hike, so cool!

and this is what the majority of the hike looked like.

Then we went to the lake, my Dad was kind enough to rent and bring a canoe. Norah got in and got right back out

But she enjoyed playing with the paddles. 

Me, Jordan, and our nieces on the canoe.  I'll be honest I wasn't really a fun, but at least I tried it!

And of course right before we left Norah decided to get in the water fully clothed, I didn't bring and extra pair of pants so she had to ride home bare bummed!

Spiritual Sunday: Prayers

Let's all take a moment to remember and reflect on the times in our lives when our prayers were answered. They are moments that are so easy to forget and yet they are the moments when we had absolute proof that God loves us.  And what greater knowledge can we have then to know that God loves us? Because when we understand that God loves us we can understand that we have worth and that we have a purpose.  We can understand that He loves everyone else and therefore we can too. We can understand that all the pain and suffering in the world is for a greater purpose, and in the midst of that pain and suffering we can find hope. If you can not remember a time when your prayers were answered then make it happen now. And remember to be patient because our time is not the Lord's time.

 

Thankful Thursday: Dar a Luz Birthing Center

Well yesterday was my first appointment since I've been pregnant.  And it went very well.  Jordan and I are lucky to have found a birthing center called Dar a Luz, the only birthing center not attached to a hospital in Albuquerque.  Since I didn't want to give birth in a hospital and I didn't want to to it at home either Dar a luz was really our only choice and boy did we luck out! We also went to a birthing center in Utah with Norah but we weren't very happy with our experience, well after our first appointment here we can already tell it's going to be 100 times better!  Before they even scheduled an appointment they took my insurance information, contacted my insurance, and found out exactly what I would have to pay, that was very nice to know. My appointment lasted an hour! The midwife really took her time to get to know me and Jordan and Norah and she was very sincere.  We got to here the heart beat, and Norah thought it sounded like a dog, but I thought it sounded beautiful. He or she was very active moving all around, the midwife had to keep re-finding the heart beat.  The midwife said I'm 16 weeks and 2 days (which was my prediction) but she said I'm measuring at 17 or 18 weeks which I'm assuming means its going to be another BIG baby, oh no! But everything else looked good, and we've scheduled our Ultrasound for August 26 so only 19 more days until we know the gender!

Here's a little tour of the center if you are interested....

This is the birthing room, complete with a beautiful tub for a water birth :)

This is a waiting area/lending library, not pictured are all the toys that are available for kids to play with, Norah had a blast.

This pond is near the entrance of the center, Norah loves finding the huge goldfish that live there.

This is the view form the center, they also have a beautiful outdoor area complete with a jungle gym.

This is the visiting room, also complete with a couch, two chairs, book and toys for anyone who accompanies me to the appointments. 

I'm very satisfied so far and I look forward to my experience here.

What to Wear Wednesday: Wardrobe Essentials for the 2nd Trimester

Well here I am 16 weeks along and feeling pretty good, just trying to soak up the next month or so before things really start to get uncomfortable.  I can no longer sleep on my stomach which is a very big disappointment.  My belly is definitely growing so clothes wise I'm wearing loose fitting pre-pregnancy clothes, using my belly band, and wearing maternity clothes here and there for comfort. I've become attached to some pieces in my wardrobe that I have decided are essential for the 2nd trimester.

1) A blazer and graphic T. Blazers are great to add dynamic to many outfits and they are also great to hide that muffin top that is developing on my back :)  Unfortunately this one is getting a little tight in the arms so I'll have to get a new one for the 3rd trimester, I've got my eyes set on This One from Forever 21.

Blazer: thrifted

Shirt: Old Navy, belly band from target

Pants: Cotton On

2) A loose t-shirt.  I have this shirt in 3 different colors, I couldn't resisist! They are seriously so comfortable and have a lot of room for my growing belly, I'm expecting to be able to wear them through the whole pregnancy.

Shirt: Old Navy

Pants: H&M Maternity

Shoes: Target

Necklace: My Mom's closet :)

3) Chambray and a cotton pencil skirt. Button up shirts are great for materninty, if they were loose pre-pregnancy you can were them for a good while and once they can no longer button, wearing them open with a t-shirt underneath works great too.  I'm not sure I'll be able to fit into this skirt much longer, but basically any knit skirt is wonderful for pregnancy.

Shirt: Old Navy

Skirt: Old Navy

Shoes: Famous Footwear

Necklace: Kohl's

4) Maxi skirt and denim jacket.  Maxi skirts are an obvious must for pregnancy, so comfortable and so versatile.  A denim jacket is perfect for wearing throughout your pregnancy adding excitement to many outfits. 

Jacket: Levi's

Shirt: Old Navy

Skirt: Target

Necklace: Old Navy

5) Denim Vest.  I don't know quite what it is, but I really like denim vests, they are really good at covering up curves and they can be worn so many ways.

Shirt: Old Navy, belly band from Target

Vest: Old Navy

Pants: Old Navy

Shoes: Old Navy

Tasty Tuesday: Coconut Curry Soup

Well its been two weeks since I posted, I wish I could say that I've just been really busy, but that is definitely not the case. Its something about being pregnant and having a lack of motivation, I can guarantee that my blog posts for the next few months will be sporadic and probably unorganized.  So hang in there with me!

So my last Tasty Tuesday post was Pad Thai, I had also made coconut curry soup and served it with the Pad Thai, it was delicious, and very simple!

Ingredients:

1 T vegetable oil

2 T chopped ginger

1 stalk lemon grass (or 1 T lemon grass paste)

1/2 red pepper, chopped

2 t curry paste (I used green)

4 C chicken broth

3 T fish sauce

1 T brown sugar

3 cans coconut milk

2 T lime juice

Cilantro

Begin by heating the oil over medium heat, add ginger, lemon grass, and red pepper.  Saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients, excluding the coconut milk, lime juice, and cilantro.  Mix well, bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Add the last ingredients and continue cooking until milk is heated through. And that is it!

YUM!

I would highly recommend serving over rice or noodles.