and they all fall down

This election season started out so fun. It felt different. More energized. People were getting excited about politics instead of just annoyed by politicians. Well, I'm sad to say that we are back to square one. At least I am. I'm not excited anymore. I'm sick of it all. The Republican race ended so anti-climatically with McCain the presumptive nominee. And the Democrats... well they've gone and made the chances of a Democratic president getting elected MUCH harder by how long this fight between Clinton and Obama has drawn out. Neither of them look so good anymore. I feel like they've divided their party almost irreparably. I'm not a Democrat, but here's hoping that the party will put itself back together again for the sake of their nominee.

I guess I'm just disappointed because I had high hopes for our next president. And now I'm left feeling more confused about who I want in that position than I did when there were 3 times as many candidates still in the race. Wouldn't it be nice to really LOVE a candidate enough to be active in the campaign and feel like you are making a difference? I don't know that that will ever happen for me. I'm too much of an Independent I guess to ever really agree with any one candidate in our polarized two-party system.

It's most likely going to come down to Obama and McCain. And while I was once quite excited by Obama, his shininess has become tarnished by this process. As for McCain... I respect him and actually would have preferred him over George W. 8 years ago, but now I don't know. He seems to be subscribing to too many of the Bush policies.

We shall see how this pans out. It's hard to believe that North Carolina's primary on May 6th will actually count for something. While that is fun, I also think this drawn out primary season has just gone on too long. I think next time around, there will be some major reconsideration of the way primaries are executed.

Here's an op-ed from the New York Times: How Obama Fell to Earth

Does anyone else feel let down after starting out with such high hopes?

congratulations, jared!

Congratulations are in order for my wonderful husband, Jared. Last night he turned in his Masters' Thesis!!! This project has been in the works for longer than he's known me, and now he's finally done!!! The poor guy has hardly slept the past couple weeks, and as I type this he's dreaming sweet in our comfy bed. I'm so proud of him. His thesis was a huge complicated project and ended up being close to 150 pages! His defense is coming up and eventually his thesis will be published as a book, so it's not out of his life forever, but the hardest part is over. Congrats, Jared!!! You did it! Sleep sweet.

so true

Good sense from CNN's Roland Martin:

Commentary: An 'average' American will never be president

Quite frankly, I dont' think any of us want an "average" guy or gal to be president. Whoever runs this country should definitely be the cream of the crop. They'll have to be to sort through the complicated mess we're in.

a fine frenzy

I don't really listen to music on the radio and only very occasionally watch Vh1, and therefore have no idea what's playing these days, so forgive me if you've all heard of A Fine Frenzy. I just discovered her and she is great. Jared has been listening to her album practitcally non-stop the past few days whilst working on his thesis.

A Fine Frenzy is actually just 22-year-old Allison Sudol. She is a self-taught pianist/singer/songwriter. Her songs have catchy melodies and great lyrics. Check out her website and watch the "Almost Lover" video, and I think you might get hooked too.

oy!

Saturday morning I did the other pregnancy workout DVD I recently purchased. Great workout, fun instructor, excellent production values. Many squats and two days later, I am one sore mama-to-be. It had been WAY too long since my legs had done that kind of work. There are muscles I apparently forgot I had. Now every time I sit down or stand up or, you know, walk, I feel like an old woman. Oh the burn! Fortunately I know it gets better and easier. So don't worry, I'll be back at it..... tomorrow. Today I'm doing yoga.

24 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when he was just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), that makes a pretty lean figure, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, his brain is growing rapidly, and his taste buds are developing. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

I am definitely feeling more pregnant this week! My kid had a bit of growth spurt or something this week. My belly has finally passed my boobs in growth.

getting yoga

Jared took a break from writing, found me like this, and couldn't resist snapping a picture.
Please ignore the messiness behind me. Just trying to keep it real around here. :-)

My new workout dvds came yesterday, and I did the yoga one last night. I loved it! I feel like this was the first time doing yoga that I actually "got it". I've taken a few classes here and there and done other home workouts. I've never too had much trouble with the poses, found the stretching good and enjoyed it alright, but I never felt that in-tune with my body thing that yoga is supposed to provide. I never have felt like I got the breathing rhythm down either.

I'm not sure if it was the instructor on this dvd or just being more in-tune with my body now that I'm pregnant, but I really felt like I was getting it last night. The way she described breathing made way more sense to me, and I loved how she says to follow your own breath instead of always saying exactly when you should be breathing in and out.

I also loved that this was made for pregnancy because the instructor really focused on how certain positions will help during labor or will help relieve pregnancy strains. I feel like what I'm learning is a great resource that I will be able to use during labor. I was definitely able to relax and get inside myself, which is very important during labor. One of my favorite parts was a humming exercise. I can totally see myself humming during labor to stay focused.

I also appreciated that the students on the video were totally normal looking girls. They were quite large and pregnant and not tiny little things with just basketball bellies. It shows that you can do this stuff right up to the end.

I'd definitely recommend this workout to anyone who is pregnant. It's called Yoga for Pregnancy, Labor & Birth (the link will take you to Amazon where I got it).

wow, this is my life?

Do you ever have moments where you can't really believe your own life? Or you feel like some sort of an observer to your own life? Am I making any sense?

The other day I woke up and looked over at my still sleeping husband and was semi-shocked to find that I live and sleep with a boy. That I really am married. That all those girl-hood daydreams of falling in love and the like really did finally happen.

And then I felt the other boy in my life stirrin' around in my tummy, and I realized that I live with TWO boys! Not only did the girl-hood dream of marriage actually happen, but I'm having a baby too! Wow!

Life is pretty crazy. And wonderful.

Today I walked by a glass door and caught my reflection and was semi-shocked once again to see a visibly pregnant girl. This baby is a growin' and therefore so am I!

Life really is a miracle.

getting motivated

So exercise is important. We all know that. But I have had the darnedest time the past year or so staying motivated to exercise regularly. I just have not gotten into a routine. And I know it's especially important during pregnancy that I keep moving. I won't give you all my excuses because I know you don't want to hear them. I'll just show you my latest motivations--a couple dvd's I just got on Amazon with the gift certificate I won awhile ago from Nicki. (Thanks girl!) They both have great reviews and look to be appropriate for pregnancy, while keeping me challenged. And hopefully will keep my boredom at bay. (I get bored easily while working out.)

I do have a question for all you busy ladies out there. When do you exercise? And what is your method of choice? I'd especially love to hear from any working girls because I have found that joining the 8-5 workforce has been the biggest stumbling block for me finding time to workout. Basically, I'm lazy and don't want to wake up at 6 in the morning. But I am also way tired, exacerbated by pregnancy, in the evening. I need to suck it up and either get up earlier, or start working out right when I get home.

So how do you stay motivated?

23 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). His skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing. He can swallow, but he normally won't pass his first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when he hears them outside the womb.

*added 4/9* For Nicki, here I am looking hot with no makeup left on my face.
This was taken Monday night.