Week 7

I don't think there is much to write about at this point. I don't know when most start writing. Everyone has asked how am feeling just about everyday. Most days I have been fine. Going to the bathroom a lot. I will take this over the other symptoms if I didn't hydrate myself. If I don't drink enough I am sooo dehydrated I have cotton mouth, chapped lips, and the books say I will be constipated. I'll take the peeing.

According to the websites and books, baby is about the size of a blueberry. That seems kind of big to me for 7 weeks. I have been pretty tired, and glad that I had this week off to rest. Yesterday I spent the entire day watching Netflix instant que movies. Watch a movie, go pee, watch a movie, go pee...and so on. I think I slept through one of the movies. It was just nice to not have to do anything. Each time I went upstairs to pee, I would let Polly out, so she didn't bother me inbetween times to get let out. She seemed pretty happy to just be laying on the couch with me.

I go back to work next week, and most people have already found out through Facebook about being pregnant, so it will only be a surprise to a few. Next will be getting our ducks in a row for this fall so everything will run smoothly when I am on maternity leave.

Cravings: not so sure if they are cravings or just - ooo, that looks good, I'll have that. Turkey has been a big one, which is good, because we have lots of left overs from Christmas.

The Announcement

A VERY Merry Christmas

Written on Sunday, December 13, 2009:
I can hardly stand that I have to wait to post this until after Christmas. Jon and I have been trying to get pregnant since February. After 6 months I went for my normal yearly exam. The doctor told me there was nothing they could do yet, but to start taking my temperature. I've been doing that since September. Never really noticed the swing in temps. This past week my temp has been unusually high - in the 98-99 range. A friend was talking about how she was not feeling well and I mentioned how I was taking my temp for ovulation, but that recently it has felt like I have a slight fever in the morning. She asked some other questions and then asked if I had taken a test lately. I actually took one December 4 before going to a co-workers party. (wasn't sure if I would be drinking wine). It was negative. Then last night I kept having dreams that I was pregnant, when I would wake up I just told myself it was a dream. I decided to take a test this morning - there was a faint line, but there was a line. I couldn't believe it. I started crying and raced into the bedroom and woke Jon up (7am) and told him to come into the bathroom. I told him it was positive, he gave me a hug and went back to bed. Wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, but it was 7am. Later he was so excited, he almost slipped to his dad when they were cutting up branches. I had trouble this afternoon because all the aunts and moms got together to make Christmas cookies. Not being able to tell them was KILLING me! At one point I wasn't feeling great and both the moms looked at eachother and said, "could it be?". I just said, "it's gas". Although it is going to kill us to keep this to ourselves for the next two weeks, we thought it best to be able to tell the both of them at the same time. Luckily Christmas is right around the corner. Most of my friends have done the play by play thing on their blogs. I will probably do that on this blog - if you happen to want to follow along.

Halloween Bash

Last night I participated in the Shout House Jackass-O-Lantern Contest. I was forwarded an email from a friend. I signed up to wear a pumpkin head from 7pm-1am and get free drinks the whole time. They told me to show up at 6:30 to get prepped. No one else showed up until 7. We didn't start until almost 8. I had first pick of a "head". Everyone said I had the best one because it had the large opening for drinking. When there was one and half hours left they had us switch heads. Everyone was eyeballing mine. I ended up getting one that I could barely drink through and I had to sit with it resting on my chest for the rest of the night because it was so heavy. The guy that took mine quit shortly after. I was so mad, that was a great pumpkin. It rested perfectly on my back and forehead. My new one rested on my shoulders, head, and chest. Thank God for a large chest. I made it to midnight and thought-I could actually do this! Looking at the other guys left, one kept asking me how I was doing as if to syke me out or something. Then they asked us to come up to the stage. They had us dance off in groups and then the audience voted on who was best. I wish I could find video of it. I owned it! The crowd went crazy. I was the only girl up there-representin :) In the end they had two $100 gift cards to Shout House. There were two winners-I was one.

The S word

Yes I realize what it is and what the date is...but it was still kind of pretty.

Welcome Brianna Leigh

Jodi and Brian gave me the opportunity to witness the birth of their second child, Brianna Leigh. I was so honored that they let me stay. I didn't think I wanted to see much. I started by standing in the corner between the monitors and bathroom. The nurses kept going in the bathroom for things so I ended up moving to the other side by Jodi's mom. After a while of getting glimpses of "the action", I was desensitized and moved to right behind the doctor. It didn't even phase me at this point what I was looking at, it was all about what was happening. No play by play or details on that. I'll just show you some photos that I took...after Brianna arrived :)

Brianna Leigh Youngman
8lbs 11.2 oz 21 in

ok...what is that? OH I KNOW...

BABY!! MINE.

First being held by Dad and Mom.

Mooo 2

Mom: I don't know what you mean by that. When you enter a cow in the fair you have to sign a paper saying you will kill it to make sure you don't enter it again.

Now I'm sad.

Mooo

My mom sent me an email today.

(Mom) Hi Carrie, I am buying a half of a quarter of a cow. I am sure it will not fit in my freezer. Can you help me out?
Polly will be getting some huge cow bones! I need some freezer room, unless you want to buy the other half.

(Me) So how much does 1/8 of a cow cost? I think we have freezer room.

(Mom) She doesn't know until the butcher is done. It was a state fair cow, and it ate clover. The tongue and liver are free. So are the bones free. hamburger comes 1 1/2 LBS. She said it is comparable to what the stores sell it for.

The State Fair Cows will never look the same to me again.

Citizen Police Academy

My first night of "training". The Chief did an introduction and then Lt. Mark Bruley went over training and requirements. Lt. Bruley was a very interesting guy and has been in a lot of different areas of the department. Currently he is in charge of all the training of newbies. He also works on SWAT. So the requirements of a police officer:

Minimum of 2 year AS degree - check. I have an AS in Criminal Justice
Go through 9 month Skills Program - I could do that.
Take POST board test - possible.
Apply to a city that is hiring - no one is hiring.
Ex of applying to Brooklyn Park-written test, pass/fail; personality essay/stress test; physical fitness test; interview process/background check. This all takes around 10 months.
If hired, see psychologist and have medical screening. If both docs say you are ok you move onto a 5-6 week Academy that is similar to Skills Program but much harder.

I am quite happy with my job now and have a new appreciation for how my cousins got to where they are. I know I have congratulated them, but I really think what they do is awesome and wish I had the determination to get there. Great job John, Cory and Chad!

This class meets every Tuesday from 6:30-9. Some of the topics they will cover:
9/8-Police Training Overview
9/15-Use of Force
9/22-Patrol and CSO
9/29-Special Operations and City Attorney
10/6-Investigations and Gangs
10/13-Crime Analysis and Drug Investigations
10/20-Firearms/Shooting Simulator and Squad Car Tour/Crime Prevention
10/27-Evidence Processing and Detention Center
11/3-SWAT and Canine
11/10-Round table wrap up with Chief.

I am looking forward to getting info on the other departments within the police. It's possible with my degree that I may still qualify for a different position...that doesn't involve a physical fitness test.

Guilty

I have been having the worst week of work and it is only Wednesday. All I wanted to do when I got home was veg out. The dads came over to work on the deck again. I feel so guilty not being out there. It's our deck, but all I'm doing if I am out there is stand around. In the beginning and last week I was actually helpful because I was holding up beams, ripping up boards, or drilling in screws. Now they are a two man team and the rest of us stand around thinking we should be doing something but really just getting in the way. If Jon stays inside when they come over its a big deal that he isn't helping. Why isn't it a deal for me to be helping? I love the progress of the deck and am very thankful for everything they are doing, but I am also hoping it will be done soon. I think the more people that are there to help the faster it will get done, not true.

3-day recap

What a great experience. I feel so blessed to have been apart of this event. The training was brutal, but soo worth it. I knew I wouldn't be able to walk the full 60 miles. Everyone (at the 3-day) told me not to even try because too many people end up injured for the closing ceremony. My goal for the actual 3 days was to walk each day. I accomplished this. 15 the first day, 10 on day 2, and 10 on day 3. That alone was huge, because even during training, on the weekends where we had back to back big walks I always did Saturday and said screw Sunday. This time I got up the next morning and was ready to go at it again.

There were a lot of pictures so I will try and keep this short, but if you want the full details of all the pictures - go to facebook.

Day 1: Rained in the morning

Preschool that came out with signs and wore the Energizer bunny ears.

Awesome group of men on Harleys that followed us everywhere. Their wives were walking.

Neighborhoods were really creative with their signs along the route.


Jody's Couch with the Capitol in sight!

We made it!

It was all so worth it.
That same day...I signed up to do it again next year.

My other family

Sometimes you really don't like your job. I have those days. It's all worth it when you have friends so close at work they are like family. In honor of Tamara and I walking in the Breast Cancer 3-day all our co-workers dressed in pink and brought us flowers and cards.

You guys are the best!

Project update

We are making progress!!

We have grass!

Deck extension is up - steps were moved to make room for extension. A platform deck will go in level with the door to the left in the photo.

Rained out

We had a 17.5 mile walk scheduled for Saturday. It sprinkled through to 8 miles, then down poured from 8-10. Decided to head back to the cars - of course, by the time we got there the rain stopped.

Cantebury

I enjoy going to Cantebury because Jon is really quite good at betting on horses. Most of the time he wins. We may lose $20, but we were there for over 4 hours with entertainment the whole time. This last time Jon won $44 on the first race and we played on that for almost all 9 races. I made him bet on Ohbeegeewhyen. I had to. We bet win, place, show. It ended up placing, so we won.

I don't know why I always have to be the one holding the camera for our photos.

Much better
(I'm still holding the camera)

You could see the fireworks at Valleyfair.

14 miles

I had a training walk today that was supposed to be 17 miles. 1/2 the people were speed walkers and we don't know what ended up happening to them. The rest of us took our time, one lady shared her Crustables with Jess and I. They aren't bad. A few of the ladies decided to cut the route short-they ended up walking 13. Jess and I thought we could keep going so the trainer kept going with us. We made it to another fork in the trail. She asked how we were feeling. Given where we were, we could head back and get in 14 miles or we could continue to do all 17. If we continued and something happened she would have to call park patrol to evac us out. We went with the safer 14 miles route.

Things I learned:
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
TRAINING WALKS ARE JUST THAT -TRAINING
DON'T PUSH YOURSELF TO NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THE NEXT DAY
**LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

I'm back!

last night I put a heat pack on and then switched to a cold pack before going to bed. Took 3 Ibuprofen. When I woke in the morning I felt great. I went for a 1.5 mile walk during lunch and then 3.5 at the gym. No problems. I think I can get back on training schedule again!

11 miles

I really wanted to get back on track with training. I went on Wednesday to the gym and did the 30 min of cardio, and again on Friday with 45 min of cardio. I didn't do the walking on Tuesday and Thursday - but I was working on the deck instead so I figured that was pretty good exercise. So today I had to walk 14 miles. I figured 3 miles to the gym 8 there and 3 back. I got to the gym just fine, walked 4 miles and stopped to stretch eat a Go Lean bar and then started to do the next 4. 2.5 miles in my knee was starting to hurt to a point I wanted to cry. Actually I did cry. I figured it was time to get home before I couldn't make it home. At this point I would only be short 1.5 miles from the 14. Started walking home and 1.5 miles in I was in so much pain it hurt to walk. I stopped and sat for awhile thinking that would make it feel better - nope, as soon as I started walking again it hurt. I called Jon and he picked me up. I felt so defeated. It's just walking. I shouldn't have tried to do 14. I haven't walked in a month (busy fundraising-which I made goal!). I should have taken it easy and just walked as much as I could and try again tomorrow (without being hurt). Total walked: 11 miles.

At least I can put the 10 mile sticker on my 3-day name tag.

I think I can add pistachios to my list of nut allergies.

Garage Sale #2

At the start of this sale I needed $588 to be at goal to walk. What a turn out for the Oakdale garage sale. Margaret opened shop on Friday and I came after work. We took in $150. We figured if I brought in that much each day I would only need $130 left! Saturday took in $150, and Sunday took in $130 - so only $150 to go!! Many people were so nice in Oakdale, giving donations as well as purchasing from the sale, or having me keep the change. I plan on opening up one last time on Thursday during the parade. Anything earned over the $2300 will go to my other two team members, Tamara Linderholm and Jessica Mornson. If you haven't already donated to me and planned on it, please click on the team members name above - it will bring you to their donation page.

Thank you!

Summer BOW 09

Last February I attended BOW in Big Bay, MI. We had another chance to do it during the summer this past weekend. I couldn't get time off to ride with the moms so they left in the morning Thursday and then I flew to Marquette after work where they picked me up. We stayed at a hotel in Marquette Thursday night.

Friday - we had an early check in at Bay Cliff Health Camp. We had lunch and then introductions. First class was 2-5pm: Treasure Hunting - otherwise known as, geocaching. Our instructors hid 12 caches around the grounds and gave us the coordinates to punch in our GPS. We were off, they were impressed how we caught on so quickly with the GPS. Some people had never used their GPS before and thought it would have been helpful to take the beginning GPS prior to this class. They did just fine and it was fun trying to find the "treasure". After class we had dinner and I had to go to a Firearms Safety class. I felt like Bumby was there. I was taught very early how to safely handle a gun. This class was not just about gun safety, it was about different kinds of guns and at times was more hunter oriented. We were given the opportunity to get certified with Michigan DNR for hunter safety by taking a test Saturday night. It was free so I thought what the heck. It was a long day of traveling and having class. We played UNO and called it a night. I stayed up and read my gun safety manual. Everyone kept telling me that I didn't need to read it because all the questions were multiple choice and very obvious.

Saturday - early start, breakfast was at 7:45am. First class was 9-12pm: Archery. This was beginner archery. Just like with the guns, I have been taught archery by Bumby. Of course I hit the targets every time. The instructor gave me the $400 compound bow to try out. It was nice but I felt like I had more control when I was pulling the string back instead of this tool he gave me to pull it back. After class we had lunch and headed to our next class. Second class 2-5pm: Muzzleloader. There must not have been many people for this class because I ended up getting combined with the rifle class. Again - I am not a beginner to shooting a gun. I signed up for muzzleloader because I actually have never done that. Bumby has one and is building one, but I don't think I have every fired it off. We took so much time shooting the rifles that we only had time to shoot the muzzleloader once. Good thing I made it count :) Dinner was lasagna. They make the best lasagna. Bay Cliff also has their own bakery - they make 60 loaves of bread every day! Breakfast was french toast, lunch was sandwiches, dinner had garlic bread. YUM! After dinner I took the safety test. I was done before everyone else and didn't need any "help". Then I went on a geocache with the instructors from the class. They had already found them, so we were more following than actually looking. The first two were pretty easy, then we had one that had multiple parts to it. You had to do math and figure out dates in history and this made up the coordinates for the cache. The first place we went to had steep hills, a waterfall and a river. Quite the adventure.

Sunday - breakfast was early again 7:45am. It was raining - not a good thing for the class I was about to take. First and last class: Rockclimbing/Repelling. The rocks were too slippery to climb so we repelled instead. There were 6 of us. We were able to get through everyone twice - once down a side that had some obstacles and another that was more vertical. I did much better on the flat surface than the one that had different angles to adjust to. I would have liked to climb, but even with repelling we hit a few slippery moss spots. Lunch was small, as most people had already left. They handed out our certificates and patches for passing the Hunter Safety test. 100%!! and I didn't need any help. They may have helped us with the questions but I know that I aced the test without the help because I was done before they started helping. I also rec'd a bandana award from the Rockclimbing instructor because I made the sun come out - I put sunscreen on even though it was raining.

While I was away - Jon, Mike and Bumby tried to reinforce the deck. Unfortunately it rained all weekend. So they were only able to put the stakes in. Jon and Mike went to Tamara's Beer Bust to help with her fundraiser. I rec'd a portion of the funds for providing some raffle items that were left over from my silent auction. Made $95. At BOW, they allowed me to make another announcement and update everyone on my progress. I got some money from that. Then there was Kristina. She said she would speak on my behalf at dinner on Saturday. After her speech people were giving me fists of dollars, fives, tens, twenties. I ended up with $170. I feel very confidant that I will make the fundraising goal. Now I can refocus on the training.

There are a lot more photos on facebook - just can't fit them all here.

Observations

I haven't been very good about walking lately. I've been so busy that I am just too tired to do the major walking on the weekends. On Sunday I busted out walked 3 miles (was supposed to be 5). Some observations I made on this walk:

1. I walk with Polly and an emergency whistle, but I have found I still felt better about my walk when I could see through the bushes.
2. I hate cottonwood.
3. tree worms that hang in the path by a web-like string are gross.
4. I need a new route because the park is only good for one time around.

I clocked some new stops to walk to (all distance is one way):
Xin Xin is 1 mile
Brunswick Zone (bowling) and Aldi are 2 miles
Walgreens is 2.2 miles
Gold's Gym is 3 miles
Cub and Target are 3.3 miles
Petco, Chipoltle, and Jimmy John's are 3.6 miles

So far the walk to Gold's Gym on the weekend, work out for a bit, and walk back seems to be the winner. For the rest of the weekends mileage on the weekends varies from 10-18 miles on Saturdays, and 6-13 on Sundays.

Anyone that wants to join me is welcome :)

Locks 4 Love

I gave in. I couldn't take it anymore. My threat to Jon is no longer a threat. I took the dive.

Before













After

Pizza Benefit

I was supposed to have a 3-day fundraiser this Friday at Broadway Pizza in Fridley. I haven't sold any tickets except to Jon's parents. I have to tell her on Tuesday if this is still going to happen. I have a few people that have responded as yes but haven't purchased the tickets; a few are maybes and haven't responded yes or no. I don't know if I should cancel it or keep going with it.

Garage Sale Day 2

The day didn't start so well for Tamara - she got a speeding ticket. I went around and checked out the signs. They were all pointing the right direction. It was a beautiful day so we were able to pull more stuff out into the driveway. I think this made more people come in. Tamara was great at staging. Mike gave us a bunch of his shirts and they sold like hot cakes. They strangest things would sell. A container of chocolates that who knows how old they were in a Christmas container - sold for $3. Then there were the two boys who wanted to first trade a broken tent pole for Jon's Patrick Starfish ($2). That was a no, so they offered their knife in exchange(they were scouts). Turns out the knife was broken so deal was off. Then they came back with an offer of the knife sharpener in exchange for Patrick. Deal. Later sold the knife sharpener for $3.

Surprisingly it was not busy almost all day. Then a friend from high school stopped by around 3 and told us our signs were covered with Open House signs. Tamara went around to them and moved the signs, all the sudden we had 5 cars at once. Business really picked up. I really wanted to give that realtor a piece of my mind.

Jesus watched over the money box. Total sale=463.64 Thank you everyone!! Please spread the word about the next sale in Oakdale in June.