You know you're Pregnant when:

You feel as though your argument has merit:

J: (9:30 am on a Sunday morning) Ohhhh, Babe... you know what would be SO GOOD right now?
A: What?
J: A chocolate milkshake from McDonalds!
A: You don't even like milkshakes.
J: (irritated) Well (huff) I do now!
A: Okay, I'm going....

10 minutes later my phone rings:

J: Hello?
A: Hey Babe, McDonalds is still serving breakfast... they don't open for milkshakes until 10:30.
J: Well, (irritated that he wasn't thinking logically) WAIT IN LINE!

It wasn't until I was "sober" (after I had my shake) that I realized how terrible and bratty I must have sounded. At the time, I thought I was completely right. Looking back now... not so much. Good thing I have the best husband in the world!

Made with Love

I just wanted to take a moment to "publicly" thank the very best mother-in-law in the whole entire world for feeding us almost every day since Monday. Aaron and I have been pretty sick over the past week and even though Linda works full time, she still makes it a point to nurture us back to health. It seems every time one of us even sneezes, she makes up a batch of her amazing "feel better soup." We are so lucky to have the very best people in our life.

Thanks Mom Molloy. You are the best! (and please don't kill me for posting a picture of you!)

Menu Monday: Wholly Guacamole!

It's no secret that I am in love with avocado; it has been a major pregnancy craving and a huge staple of my diet as of late. I've always liked avocado and guacamole but not to the point that I have to stop myself from eating it at every meal. I dare say that for two out of the (almost) five months of my pregnancy, I have eaten it a couple of times per week. I am constantly thinking about it. It's pathetic.

One way that I'm rationalizing eating so much of it is that it has a myriad of health benefits for a developing baby (especially where brain development is concerned). It is packed with folic acid, and has more potassium than a banana. For children, it contains more vitamins than any other fruit. It's also great for Mom too (and those trying to conceive.) Eat up, Baby!

After scouring the internet I found a good recipe for guacamole. Normally, I would suggest using a food processor to make this delicious avocado based delight but, given that I'm making it a couple of times per week, I have just taken to using my Pampered Chef chopper (much easier clean up).

Ingredients

• 2 avocados
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove/ 2t garlic, minced
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced (I use 2T of lime juice)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Peel and mash avocados in a medium serving bowl. Stir in onion, garlic, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill for half an hour to blend flavors.

This is a super easy and delicious recipe. There is much you can do with it too; put it on sandwiches, in fajitas, all over nachos, on a burger or, in my case, you can spread it on toast and eat it for breakfast!

Say What?

The other night we were sitting on the couch, looking at the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music on one of the Comcast music channels (like nerds). Well, if you tune to channel 533 for "Sounds of the Season" not only does it offer a pretty good variety of Christmas music, it also has holiday related facts that pop up on the screen "The Babylonian New Year Celebration lasted 11 Days!"

One of the facts sparked a pretty hilarious conversation:

A: Oh, "in Guatemala, the Christ Child delivers the presents on Christmas Eve instead of Santa Claus."'
J: Baby Jesus does? Instead of Santa?
A: Looks that way.
J: Huh. That doesn't seem very safe.
A: What do you mean, "safe?"
J: Well, Baby Jesus slipping down the chimney in his diaper and all.
A: I don't think he wears a diaper and I'm pretty sure the chimney thing is just related to Santa so, "Baby Jesus doesn't slip down the chimney." It's Guatemala... I don't know if they even have chimneys; it's basically located on the equator.
J: So he apparates and disapparates? Like on Harry Potter?
A: Yeah, Babe. Exactly like Harry Potter.

You know you're pregnant when:

You threaten bodily harm to whoever dares to touch your Chinese food leftovers.

*I'm horrified to admit that these were kept in my own fridge at home BUT, in my defense, my dear husband has pretty sticky fingers when it comes to food.

Freud on Friday: Paging Dr. Robert Downey Jr.

I've heard rumors that pregnant women have bazaar and vivid dreams. It wasn't until I started to experience these dreams that I truly understood just how strange these dreams could be. I am going to start documenting some of them here.

Being someone who loves to do research I, of course, started to comb through articles posted on the internet to find information that aims at explaining the bazaar pregnancy dream phenomena. Here are a few theories:

• The increase of pregnancy hormones
• Anxiety, caused by all things pregnancy (women who have been pregnant-- you KNOW what I mean when I say "pregnancy anxiety")
• The lack of restorative sleep
• Fears about the future

A few days ago the following conversation took place:

Aaron: (over breakfast), "You sure had an interesting dream last night!"
Jessi: "I did?"
A: "Yes, I woke up to hear you yell, (mimicking a high pitched squeal) 'Ohhhhhhhhhh!'"
J: (blushing) "I have no idea what that was about!" (horrified, because I really didn't!)
A: "For some reason I think you were dreaming about the sex of our baby."
J: "Hmm."

It wasn't until later that morning when I was walking the dogs that the brisk air brought my dream back into recollection. Below, find the strange details.

I was at my doctors office to have "the big" ultrasound (the one where you find out the sex [Aaron was so right!]) So, when I arrived the nurse asked me to completely undress, including all jewelry. I did as I was told. Having anxiety about my wedding rings (as I do in real life) I put them on the table in the ultrasound room but, to keep them safe, I stored them in the cup I keep in the shower which I use (in real life) to rinse the shampoo out of the dog's hair when I give them a bath. There, I knew my rings would be safe! Then the doctor, Robert Downey Jr., came in to perform the ultrasound. When he put the thingy on my belly to see the baby he said, "It's a girl!" To which I exclaimed, "Ohhhhh!" And then the baby waved at us.

I was so excited that I got up, threw on a hospital gown (opening in the front), slipped on my Uggs and ran outside into a blizzard to find Aaron in the parking lot, where he was changing the tire on a car that belonged to one of his student's parents. I told him it was a girl and then I ran back inside to get dressed.

Well, at some point while I was outside, they had let another family into the ultrasound room so they could have their procedure done. I was so upset because I was convinced they would find my rings and steal them. So, outside the room I began pacing... until a nurse (who also happens to be one of the people on the reality show Full Throttle Saloon) came by to see why I was lurking in the doorway. I explained the dilemma and she said it was okay if I barged in to get my things. So, I did. Once I got in there, naturally, I had to dig through a giant garbage bag full of treasure trolls to find my wedding rings.

How I wish I could explain this dream to Sigmund Freud so he could do some dream analysis work with me.

Am I the only one who?

Today isn't a "oui". Right now my entire life is a oui! But, clearly, I'm feeling pretty darn creative lately.

Blame the pregnancy hormones or lack of sleep but, not only am I creative, I am finding that I'm more curious than I have been in the past (if that's even possible.) So, tell me the truth... am I the only one?

Am I the only one who: uses Google as spell-checker?
Am I the only one who: gets annoyed that people think the word congratulations has a "d" in it?
Am I the only one who: shuts off the lights in my house to properly spy on neighbors at night?
Am I the only one who: would secretly love to be a cashier at a grocery store?
Am I the only one who: uses nightlights?
Am I the only one who: says things out loud like, "Well, aren't you special?" or "Who cares?!" When you sign on to Facebook and look at the newsfeed (although, I'm sure I get some of those reactions when I stream my blog right to FB)?
Am I the only one who: thinks they could be a winning contestant on Jeopardy?
Am I the only one who: likes the smell of their dog's ears?
Am I the only one who: loves to check the mail?
Am I the only one who: has to smell sour milk even though you've been warned it smells disgusting?
Am I the only one who: misses the postal stamps that you could "lick"?
Am I the only one who: after saying something clever thinks, "that will be my next Facebook status"?
Am I the only one who: thinks it's unrealistic that the "commercialized Jesus" is fair-skinned?
Am I the only one who: considers ice cream without jimmies or sprinkles sacrilegious?

Come on... Fess up, people.

You know you're Pregnant When:

Remember when I said I was not going to let this blog become a forum where I only discussed my pregnancy and the baby? I'm starting to think I lied.

Without further "ado" (or apologies for my pregnant banter), the latest edition of "You know you're pregnant when:"

• Your favorite person is, arguably, inventor Jim Howe.
• You wonder, "Where did that entire sleeve of Fig Newtons go? They were just here."
• You drive off with your emergency brake still on... something you used to be so vigilant about.
• You cry for 25 minutes because of the dead squirrel on the side of the road; "that squirrel had a family!!!"
• Soup tastes great at every meal.
• You make a cup of tea and leave the burner on for an hour.
• You wonder if you could spruce up your yoga pants with a smart sweater and get away with it being work appropriate.
• You don't see anything wrong with Doritos, a peanut butter cup, a box of raisins, a tootsie pop and anything else that's not nailed down for your morning snack.
• You can imagine eating an onion... like an apple... but drenched in mustard... without so much as flinching.
• Your normally immaculate vehicle is littered with discarded Happy Meal boxes and you keep $4.14 in cash in your wallet at all times.

Photographic Friday: Postcards from "The Bump"

Today I'm officially 14 weeks and 2 days. I have about 180 days to go. Looking at the difference between my 10 week picture and my 14 (+) week picture, it looks as though I've popped. It really happened in between my 12th and 13th week.

For now, I'm not walking about "sporting the bump" nor am I really trying to "hide it." I think when I wear certain clothing people just think I got a little carried away at Thanksgiving. I haven't had a chance to tell my Department Head at the college nor have I told the owner of the practice I work in so, until they know, I'm going to refrain from wearing my tube-tops to work to proudly display my new superpower... growing humans.

At 14+ weeks I'm feeling much better than I did in the first trimester. I was VERY lucky in that I didn't get morning sickness (or nausea really at all) but, the fatigue... man, the fatigue. I'm so used to being able to push myself; work 12 hour days then come home and work some more. Not anymore. I was seriously concerned all of my muscles were going to atrophy with the amount of time I spent riding the couch! Every day, if I wasn't working, I could be found laying on the couch. Aaron would come by every few hours and hold a mirror in front of my nose to make sure I was breathing, and roll me on to my side to avoid getting bedsores.

Now my energy level is slowly coming back but, in exchange, I'm getting terrible bloody noses (which the doctor said is normal), I need to go bra shopping, (AGAIN), and I'm starting to get a pregnancy appetite (which is scaring me, a tiny bit.) I'm one of those people who really has to monitor every morsel of food I put in my mouth or else I'll pack on the pounds like it's my job. Right now I can't deprive the baby (and let's face it, I'm hungry and I have cravings) so I'm trying to make really healthy choices. For instance, instead of a bag of Heshey's Kisses, I might make some trail mix with nuts, raisins and throw in a few chocolate chips. Luckily a lot of my cravings have actually been for really healthy things (avocado, pineapple, green apples, soups, and MILK! MILK! MILK! (I'm a milkoholic). I do, however, refuse to discuss my love affair with Doritos!

I couldn't have asked for a better person to be by my side for this pregnancy. Aaron is extremely supportive, helpful, and tolerant. I don't know how I would have survived the first 12 weeks without him doing everything for me. Seriously, laundry, cleaning, walking the dogs, filling my car with gas, dishes, cooking, grocery shopping and well, anything else that is supposed to be done. It doesn't hurt that he thinks pregnant women are delicious looking so I take comfort in knowing that if I completely let myself go, the sun will still rise and set on me in Aaron's eyes. ;)

You know you're pregnant when:

I'm starting a new feature on this blog and while I'll try my darnedest not to turn this into a baby blog, I have to admit that I want to document every morsel of information and "goings on". I'll do my best not to ONLY post about babies and bellies so, in an effort to do that, I am going to add a new segment called, "You know you're pregnant when". I'll most likely post it on Wednesdays as part of "Oui," and because each Wednesday starts a new week of my pregnancy. (I'm 14 weeks today-- officially out of the first trimester!)

Here's the first edition:

Let me set the scene. It's after midnight. I went to bed at 7pm for my "first round" of sleeping. Now I'm up, I have energy and I'm HUNGRY. I'm eating red Doritos, in bed, and watching Hardcore Pawn on TruTV (perhaps a bit loudly because, well, I can't hear the TV over my Doritos)

Aaron: (sleepy and frustrated) What the HELL are you eating and what are all these crumbs?!
Jessi: Doritos! (Offended and pissy. Doesn't everyone eat Doritos in bed while watching TruTV?)
A:What time is it?!
J: 1 AM.
A: (loud exaggerated sigh)
J: (under my breath) Fine, I'll starve.

What'd I do? ;)

Menu Monday: Pumpkin Cake

Every Thanksgiving I usually make a pumpkin roll for my father-in-law. Honestly, this year I was just too tired (pumpkin rolls are SO MUCH WORK) so instead, I made a really easy pumpkin cake. It was absolutely delicious. I have to admit, I don't love the taste of pumpkin when it's all by itself and have a hard time eating straight pumpkin pie, so this cake is very mild and really reminds me of the consistency of carrot cake.

So, my friends, please enjoy a super easy pumpkin cake!

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 2C. Flour
• 2C. Sugar
• 2t. Baking Soda
• 1t Cinnamon
• 1/2t. Salt
• 4 eggs
• 1C. Vegetable Oil
• 15 oz. (can) Pure Pumpkin

Pour batter into a greased 9x13 baking pan and bake @ 350 for approximately 30 minutes (or until it springs to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.)

ICING INGREDIENTS:

• 1 8oz. pkg. Cream Cheese
• 1 stick Butter
• Approx 2C. Confectioners Sugar (depending on consistency and taste you may need more)
• 2t. Vanilla extract

Frost cake once cooled and sprinkle top with cinnamon. Keep refrigerated! Very easy, tasty and pretty!

Oui're Expecting!

You read it right!

"I'm pregnant"

"With Child"

"Knocked up"

"Bun in the oven"

"Preggers"

"On stork watch"

"In the family way"

Aaron and I decided last year that after our Alaskan vacation we'd pull out all the stops on procreating. So, low and behold our very first month of trying, we conceived! It's funny, but I knew almost immediately I was pregnant. I know exactly when it happened and, at first, I was in complete denial about it. I didn't think it was possible that it could have happened so quickly. But, Aaron recently reminded me, "Do you ever not accomplish what you set out to do?" True, true.

Within a few days of when I suspect we conceived I started feeling some of the tell-tale symptoms starting with extreme fatigue and a few other nasty ones (I'll spare you the details of what those symptoms are; if you're supremely curious you can look them up here). When I took a pregnancy test and it came up negative I tried really hard not to be disappointed.

A few days later Aaron and I went for a hike and I said, "Aaron, I legit think I'm pregnant." He laughed at me and said, "There is no way you'd know already." What Aaron doesn't really understand is that I know my body. I live in it. When something is different, I know immediately.

So a few days after that I took another pregnancy test and it came up negative, AGAIN. I was baffled. Of course I was on the horn with my sister every second discussing every little symptom I had. She was convinced I was knocked up and kept telling me to take another test. I refused. I hated to see the words "not pregnant" pop up on the digital screen.

Finally, about 4 days after I missed what would have been my first "natural" (off the pill) period (in 15 years) I woke up around 3AM to pee (for the 2nd time that night) and sleepy-eyed I figured, "What the hell, I'll take another test, I have one left. If it's negative, clearly, I don't have a regular cycle." So, I peed on the little stick for the 3rd time that month and the word "Pregnant" appeared within seconds. It was like a movie. Immediately I rubbed my eyes because I wasn't wearing my contacts. Pregnant was still there. That beautiful little digital word staring back at me.

"Huh." I said out loud.
In a moment of pure confusion, I put the test in a drawer in the bathroom and went back to bed. It's typical Jessi to process it in my head before I told anyone, including Aaron.

The next morning I woke up and immediately thought, "was that a dream?" In the bathroom I opened the drawer and saw "pregnant" staring back at me.

I slinked downstairs and put the test on the counter... where Aaron was preparing breakfast. This is what happened next (pardon the profanity):

A:"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
J: (sheepishly, like this was my personal accomplishment even though he helped) "Yep!"
A: "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
J: "I know!!!"
A: "Seriously?"
J: "It appears so."
A: "Damn, I was liking all this practicing!!!"

Then, of course we had a nice little moment that I'll keep just for me.

I've had 3 doctors appointments including my first ultrasound where we saw Baby Molloy for the first time. It was one of the most precious moments of my entire life. We've heard the heartbeat. It's awesome to know there is a baby inside my body; hearing its little heart and seeing it moving around on the screen is a completely breath taking experience. (And yes, I am a nervous, paranoid first-time-pregnancy wreck!)

So there you have it. Coincidentally, every new week of my pregnancy starts on a Wednesday, our favorite day of the week. It's like fate. I'm exactly 13 weeks today. My expected due date is May 30th.  What I am really hoping for is a completely uneventful, healthy pregnancy. So, please keep your fingers crossed.

This year we have much to be thankful for, oui?

Wednesday, Oui? Happy Anniversary to Us!

October 7-10 we slipped away to a small cabin we rented just outside of North Conway, in Chocoura, New Hampshire to celebrate our second anniversary. We vowed to always go away on our anniversary, even when we have kids, so we're getting into the habit now.

North Conway will always hold a very special place in our hearts. It's where we went on our mini-moon and it's one of the first overnight trips we ever took together as a couple. While in hindsight it probably wasn't the best weekend to go (both the Fryeburg and Sandwich fairs were in town AND it was Columbus Day weekend) we still managed to avoid the crowds and traffic.

We did all of the typical North Conway things (a bit of shopping and a LOT of dining). If you remember it was unseasonably warm that weekend so it was quite a treat to only need a thin sweater all weekend!

 This is what we woke up to every morning. Tough life, huh?

Many walking trails at our cabin! Bing & Manny were in their glory!

This was the most romantic cabin. It fit all our needs and we will definitely go back!

We all caught up on some much need R&R.

(We also played some lengthy games of Monopoly when the sun when down)

In the 30 years I've been alive, I've never been to the top of Mt. Washington. We drove the autoroad (gulp!) to the top. It was a beautifully clear day. The winds were measuring at 70 mph. (Don't you LOVE the random dude striking a pose in the background?)

Yes, there was a shower outside. Good thing it was a warm weekend (there was also a bath inside)

25 Things: Because Amy said I had to do it.

1.       I love soup.

2.       Peeps terrify me and have since I was a wee lassie. 

3.       I’d love to punch Alan Alda or Alex Trebek in the nose.

4.       I watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy every night… like an old person.

5.       Clutter and/or a dirty house easily overwhelm me to where I become paralyzed.

6.       If it’s not in my schedule book… well in advance… it’s not happening.

7.       I can’t read a book in moderation. Once I pick it up, I’m likely to stay put until it’s done… Aaron fears any books that have more than one in its series (ie: Twilight, Harry Potter) because he won’t see me until they are done.

8.       I can’t stand the feeling of boogers in my nose. Because of this I’m often caught with my finger up one of my nostrils fishing out the crispy culprit.

9.       Facebook has become much less interesting to me as of late… I think I may be in remission to my earlier Facebook addiction.

10.   I think of Ashley every day and have yet to talk about her death with pretty much anyone.

11.   I LOVE the new schedule my current employment offers me. I don’t feel like I work 80 hours per week anymore… oh wait, I don’t!

12.   I love my Subaru Outback Wagon.

13.   I’m feeling the spirit of Christmas early this year!

14.   I’m one of the very few in my circle of people that can honestly say I love and adore my in-laws.

15.   I often wonder if I’m the only person in the free world that is disturbed by the amount of children that have been pushed from Michelle Duggar’s vagina. I would imagine her uterus is much like onion skin by now. Breaking news! She’s now 3 ½ months pregnant with baby #20

16.   Aaron and I decided on our future children’s names while we were in Alaska (yes, I have not blogged about Alaska yet. Sue me.)

17.   I friggen love dogs.

18.   I want to own an item worthy of Antiques Roadshow.

19.   I probably use too much salt.

20.   I hate raking but I love sweeping. Weird?

21.   I have to be very deliberate about table manners. In all reality, I have terrible manners.

22.   I dislike when the dentist tries to make conversation with me. I always think, “Really? Can you just clean my teeth?”

23.   I cut coupons (but not in a crazy way)

24.   I rarely forward emails.

25.   This list was really hard for me to do because I think this is the third time I’ve done one.

Fall Fun at the Farm 2011

The last weekend in September we ventured up to Maine for the FIRST annual "Fall Fun at the Farm." Our original plan was to spend the weekend with my Mom and Dan, Nicki, Rich and the kids doing fall like things such as going to a giant corn maize, visit a pumpkin patch, carve pumpkins etc. Unfortunately, the weather was so poor that we were pretty much stuck at the farm (in the pouring rain). It was a bummer but, we still enjoyed spending time with everyone!

Mom really went over the top by decorating an entire tent, which we aptly named "Spooky world".  She thought of every detail!

One morning I woke up early and joined Dan in tending the bees. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I am absolutely obsessed with the idea of being a beekeeper. I would love to do it for a living but, alas, my dear husband is deathly allergic to our pollinating friends so, I have to live vicariously through Dan, who lets me help.

Spending time with my mother and sister (especially at the farm) always allows me to recharge my batteries. Going to the farm is like visiting the most amazing country store with an on site orchard, fresh veggies, meat, honey, syrup, jams, jellies and baked goods. While our first annual "Fall Fun at the Farm" wasn't a complete success due to Mother Nature, I'm looking forward to next year!

Update

I've been horrible about blogging lately. What can I say? I've been busy/lazy/tired and otherwise occupied! McPepe commented on my last post earlier this weekend (I think to get my butt in gear posting) so, simply because I enjoy writing and he's arguably one of my favorite people in the world, I'll get the lead out.

I'm clearly too intimidated to write about Alaska; it's causing me some serious writer's block. To be honest, it was just such an amazing trip that the thought of even trying to recapture it via written word is just too much. So, I'm going to stop pressuring myself and continue to blog about the things I want to blog about. Every now and then, (when I find the time) I'll slip in a post here or there about our trip to the 49th state; most likely just pictures.

This summer we had a small vegetable garden. It was something we decided to do last minute given we were away for pretty much the entire month of July/Alaska. We grew cucumbers, squash, peppers, green pepper and we had more tomatoes than we knew what to do with. That was fun.

We are doing some major construction in/around our home. Thanks to our in-laws, we removed the looming accident waiting to happen (the 65+ foot spruce tree that was leaning and ready to fall the next time a big gust of wind came rolling through). Aaron rented a boom lift and with the help of his best friend Jason and McPepe, they took it down section by section. Doing it ourselves saved over $1000 and Jim & Linda took care of it for us as an early Christmas/Birthday present. We have a lot of pictures but y'all know I won't post pictures of my home on the world-wide-web!

We're replacing our heating system later this month, which is a huge undertaking. We've had to pull out all the old circa 1930 (300+ pound) radiators and we're doing gas/baseboard. This will give us a ton more room but behind all these radiators is almost 100 years worth of wall paper- so we're scraping and repainting (and remodeling some areas).

Let see, what else? My new job is going great! I'm at the max amount of clients I want to take for doing the 3 days per week. My teaching schedule is a bit grueling (I'm teaching three classes this semester which is a bit too much) but it was helpful income when I was building my clientele. Now that I'm where I want to be (income wise) I think I'll scale back to one or two classes next semester.

I hate to say, I'm NOT liking my Ed.D program in the least. It is not at all what I was hoping for and I'm really disappointed. Luckily, I went this semester for under $500 because I had a voucher for a majorly discounted class. So, if I decided to discontinue at the end of this semester (which I am SERIOUSLY thinking about) it won't be a huge waste of money!

That's it for now, I think. Our plates are full, our cups are overflowing and we got things cookin'. Life is good.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books!!

This is a total aside from my Alaska postings but I had to mention the 10 books I purchased about 2 hours ago at Borders. Unfortunately, Borders is closing their doors; going out-of-business. Make no mistake, I'm not tragically upset about the fact that they have gone out of business (although I don't like to see anyone fail). I am more upset when I think about the hordes of small business owners and privately owned bookstores they put out of business once they came gallivanting into town.

That said, the grief didn't overcome me to where I couldn't swoop in and make a few purchases.

I start my doctorate program next week and, although I haven't seen the list of required reading yet (I'm not bitter and frustrated that I can't get a head start) but judging by the 50 books on the recommended summer reading list, I am feeling a bit concerned that the workload from the required reading list won't lend much time to leisure reading.

I have already bargained with myself that if I read one chapter of "required reading" per night (textbook reading, blech) then I'll reward myself by a chapter of leisure reading. So, to dangle the motivational carrot in front of my eyes, I bought myself a few new reads; 10, in fact. It was purely coincidence that I bought 10 on a Top 10 Tuesday. The truth is that I planned to buy 8 because you were given an additional discount if you bought 8 and, well, after I reached 5 I lost all self control.

• Eating Out by Annette Natow & Jo-Ann Heslin:(You'd think they could have picked a better title, LOL) It is a book of nutrition information for every imaginable snack-food and restaurant.
• The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America by Hannah Nordhaus: Okay, so with this book I totally cheated. I've already started it. I couldn't wait another week. Over the summer I became OBSESSED with bees and bee-keeping. Lucky for me my step-father, Dan, keeps bees so it's not magical thinking that I feel I can use the knowledge about bees to help "keep bees." Bees are truly remarkable creatures and, believe it or not, we as humans owe them a debt of gratitude for perpetuating life.
• The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After by Melaine Gideon. "A disarmingly honest take on marriage and motherhood by a woman who realized she was sleepwalking through life when she decided she needed to do something about it" sounded really interesting to me. I thought, A.) Who doesn't sleepwalk through life, sometimes? and B.) What's her secret to living "intentionally?" Do tell, Melanie; I'm all ears.
• Whalehead Nation: Creating and Keeping an Environmental Ethic in Children by Scott Mercer (signed and dedicated copy) as someone who firmly believes that nature plays a huge role in my personal physical and mental health this is right up my alley. Plus, it gets better, the author writes mostly of NH, ME and MA.
• Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying (Among Other Things) by Abby Sher- Is supposedly "a brave and exquisitely written account of obsessive-compulsive-disorder..." We shall see about that, won't we?
• Walking Wisdom: Three Generation, Two Dogs and the Search for a Happy Life by Gotham Chopra (yes, Deepak Chopra's son) Basically, a book about spirituality and how he (Gotham) draws on things taught to him by his amazing father, his own son, and (of course) man's best friend.
• The Trouble With Black Boys... and Other Reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Public Education by Pedro Noguera. This isn't one of those guilty pleasure books but more of something that might help inform my one-thousand-page ramble of bullshit doctoral dissertation.
• America the Edible: A Hungry History from Sea to Dining Sea by Edible Richman Adam Richman- Isn't he just so clever with his title? This is a book about his travels and eats (yet another way for me to stalk this tasty morsel of a food-lovin' man!)
• Dissertation and Thesis from Start to Finish by John Cone & Sharon Foster- Blah, blah, blah.
• Citizen U.S.A by Alexandra Pelosi. I picked this up as an after thought because, well, if there's one thing I love more than Adam Richman, it's the red, white and blue. It outlines (via photos and personal stories) how amazing it is to be an American and what we take for granted on a daily basis. This book is phenomenal. I encourage you to view it on Amazon.com, which will allow you to "peek inside.

So, there they are, the 10 books I purchased-- 8 of which I'm actually looking forward to reading/using. I could always count this post as my Oui for tomorrow too because I paid $13.56 for all 10. Yep, under $15!

Alaskan Vacation: Anchorage

I think I neglected to mention (or perhaps I didn't) that we elected to do a cruise-tour vacation package through Princess Cruise Lines. What this basically means is that we booked ourselves to go on both a cruise of Alaska and a tour to cover the land portion of our trip. Often people don't realize that many of the well-known Alaskan towns are islands (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway) thus they are impossible to reach by land. Further, other towns, (Denali/McKinley and Anchorage) are impossible to reach by sea so, to get the full experience, we did both land and sea. Perfect!

After our brief stay in San Francisco we landed in Anchorage (and retrieved our luggage, which arrived the day before we did). We immediately headed off to book ourselves a hotel; we had been traveling for about two days, hadn't really changed our clothes, and we were struggling with the four-hour time difference.  If you remember correctly we hadn't booked ourselves a hotel in Anchorage because we feared we would miss our connector flight (which we did). Our tour didn't officially start until July 2nd, so we had yet another day to kill until we were whisked away on the pre-paid portion of our vacation. We found the least expensive hotel we could book (after of course, I consulted the bed-bug registry). This hotel was quite comical and had very interesting... character.

Let me just say that I wouldn't recommend the hotel if you're looking for luxury. We were looking for something cheap, as we planned to go immediately to sleep, and we were due to check into our 5-star hotel in downtown Anchorage early the next morning when our tour officially started. This hotel was the kind of place where you'd expect to get a knock on the door by "C.S.I." Okay, so I'm exaggerating, it wasn't that bad but, we don't often stay in hotels (we opt for B&B's or rent small houses) so this place was a bit dodgy (and the bed folded out of the wall!)

I have to admit; one of the strangest things about Alaska was the position it is on the earth. Because of its location, the month of June/July gets about 21 hours of daylight. The other 3 hours are twilight. It NEVER gets dark. Ever. You can literally read a book outside 24-hours per day. So, on top of being a New England native AND the 4 hour time change, it was really weird trying to sleep in broad day light at midnight!! That took some getting used to.

We had a lot of fun exploring Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city (boasting a smaller population than many of the bigger New Hampshire towns.) One thing that really struck me was the size/quality of the flowers/greenery; I can't even begin to explain how beautiful the foliage is there. Due to the amount of glacial ice melting, creating a significant amount glacial silt in the soil (read: really high levels of nitrogen [the main ingredient in Miracle Grow]) plus add almost 24 hours of sunlight/photosynthesis, the flowers and greenery are giant sized. It really was something to see. On one of our tours the guide said, "we just grow our flowers really big here because we want to make tourists feel badly." The average size of a cabbage is about 20 lbs. (!!)

We did all sorts of touristy things in Anchorage: Went to an enormous farmers market/craft fair, ate way too much, went sight seeing (toured the Ulu Factory, and the start line of the iditarod) and walked and walked and walked.

The hotel associated with the tour portion of Anchorage was the Hotel Captain Cook (I accidentally kept calling it Captain Hook) and let me tell you, it was luxurious! It was the kind of hotel that has those gorgeous bathrobes for you to wear! As a matter of fact, when any celebrities come to town they always book themselves in the Capt. Cook. Everything about that hotel was AMAZING!

One of the highlights (for me) in Anchorage was Humpy's. Now, the food was amazing but, the main reason I wanted to go there was because it was yet another stop on the trail of Adam Richman (Man Vs Food [my boyfriend xo])!

Anchorage was such a cool city. It was so strange to think that it is the biggest city in the State of Alaska yet smaller than the city I currently live in! The people were so accommodating and the city was so clean; it just really felt like another world. We were there a total of 2+ days before we were whisked away to the McKinley Princess Lodge!