Lately

I've really been a loser at blogging lately. I know that most of you probably don't care. But I do. I love having my blog as a place where I can let out what I am thinking and record the events, large and small, of my life with David. However, I have been so busy and so tired over the past month that my blogging has been sorely neglected. In fact, as much as I want to write a detailed post about Thanksgiving... I just don't think i'm up to it. I probably shouldn't even be blogging right now - but i'm on my lunch break and I seriously need a break. So here I am.

As you read about in my last post. David was gone for the full two weeks before Thanksgiving - traveling for business in Kazakhstan. I was really worried about being alone and so I packed my evening and weekends full of things to do with other people. Unfortunately, this "having plans" thing meant that I got no schoolwork done and no housework done either (which were both large parts of my "what i'm going to do while David is gone" plans.) Not that I am complaining! It was great to spend so much time with friends and family and it definitely helped the time to pass by more quickly and less painfully. (I had a really hard time of it when David first started leaving on his business trips.) I know that lots of people have their husbands travel a lot, and that I really shouldn't be complaining... but it was definitely hard for me and I am super glad that he doesn't have to travel anywhere else for a while. It is just so nice to have him home!

Not that we have been "home" very often since he arrived back in the US. Pretty much the day after he got back - we headed to Morgan to start our awesome Thanksgiving holiday. Honestly - this is the best Thanksgiving i've ever had. The only thing that it was missing was my sweet little sister Jenna and her new husband Kevin. (We missed you two like crazy!). We spend some time with my family in Morgan, celebrated my mom's birthday, figured out how to make a green bean casserole, then headed to Wyoming the following day to celebrate Thanksgiving with my dad's family. We ate and ate and ate, and then I ate some more. David had this crazy notion that he should save room for our next Thanksgiving dinner - which was only two hours after we finished with our first. (Sidenote: I'm super impressed with Google Maps. Although it has it's issues - it told us the drive from Lyman, WY was 2 hours and 4 minutes. Exactly 2 hours and 4 minutes after pulling out of my aunts driveway we were pulling in at the Peaden home in West Jordan. How is that for accurate?) I ate less at our second Thanksgiving, but still definitely filled up on the essentials: turkey, potatoes, gravy, and more turkey. It was awesome.

I hadn't gained any weight with the pregnancy so far - and was starting to feel worried about the fact that I was 16 weeks and still hardly showing at all. (Even though my doctor told me not to be concerned.)  However, my multiple Thanksgiving feasts did me good - and at 17 weeks I am finally starting to have a "baby bump". It's just a baby-"baby bump"... but it is there! I can even feel our little fella/lady moving around in there. It's crazy. At 5 oz (and 5 inches) - our turnip sized baby is starting to really move... or flutter rather. It's not really movements - it's like butterflies are trapped in my tummy and are trying to get out. I love it.

Unfortunately, the students are starting to arrive - so I must bid you adieu. However, as one last point of random "Peaden Life" information... David took his 3rd (of 4) CPA exam this morning! (Go Audit.) We have been busy and life has been crazy - but we are REALLY hoping that he passes. I have no doubts in his abilities, even though he has been so busy and is fighting a killer cold right now. Still, i'm sure we would appreciate any extra luck you have around sent his way!

Kazakhstan

Being away from Shantel is no fun. It is always better to be with her. There is a 13 hour time difference between Utah and Kazakhstan. This means Shantel and I had a very small window to talk to each other each day. However, if you have to go halfway across the world, you better at least try and have a good time and experience what there is. So here are some pictures from Kazakhstan and Frankfurt, Germany. We got to stop and spend a day in Germany on the way home. 

Me eating. They had pretty decent food and I got to try plenty of new things. 

Me in Almaty, this is pretty close to the hotel we stayed at, the Astana International Hotel. 

A huge cathedral.  

The green market, you could buy all sorts of fruits and meats. As you can see in this picture, they have some delicious horse for sale. 

An art sale.

We got to see plenty of cool stuff, but we also had tons of work to do. Here is a model of the base the company runs.

Cathedral in Germany. 

I had an amazing experience getting to see different cultures and visit some pretty cool places, but now I am so glad to be back with Shantel.

Kazakhstan

Have you ever heard of Kazakhstan? No? Well... let me tell you a little bit about it...

Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest nation in the world, about the size of Western Europe. It's major cities are Astana (capital, June 1998), Almaty (former capital), Karaganda, and Shymkent. Kazakhstan is a bilingual country. Kazakh language has the status of the "state" language, while Russian is declared the "official" language. Russian is used routinely in business; 64.4% of population speaks the Kazakh language. The government is a Republic(with a very strong presidency) that declared independence from the Soviet Union on December 16, 1991. One of the most commonly eaten meats is horse.

Kazakhstan is also the place that David has been hanging out for the past two weeks. Two long lonely weeks. I have a hard time blogging when David is gone, although i'm not sure why. So that is why this blog has been so neglected lately. David was in Almaty for the majority of the time and really enjoyed his visit. People have been asking me, "What does your husband DO that would take him so far from home?" My answer: He's an accountant. What happened to accountants being your stereotypical boring job? Who knows.

I was a pretty lousy sport about the whole thing up until David left. I didn't like to talk or even think about it. However, even though Kazakh time is 13 hours ahead of Utah time - we were lucky enough to be able to skype and email regularly. (He would just be getting back from dinner when I was starting school, and I would be getting ready to go to bed when he was getting up for work.) For that, I will be forever grateful!I even got to talk to him a couple of times while he was in Germany - playing the part of a tourist for a day or so. It was an awesome experience for him - and even though I missed him, i'm glad he got such a great opportunity. I will have to convince him to blog about his trip, because he has lots of pictures and funny stories and I just would love to have it documented on our blog.

Anyway, I picked David up from the airport last night around 11 (after several delays with his flight from San Fransisco) and I couldn't have been more excited and happy! Now just today and tomorrow of school and then it will be Thanksgiving break! I seriously can't wait. I've never been more excited for Thanksgiving in my whole life. Never ever.

Happy Monday everyone!

Thank You

A while ago I wrote about missing my friends blogging about things other than their baby, even though I mentioned that I would probably be the same way when I was in that situation. I hope not to stop writing about other things, but I feel so blessed to be in this place right now. Thank you everyone for all of your love and support!

I've had some tender feelings the past several days. Actually for a long time, but I've really been thinking about it a lot over the past several days. My friend Barb (who also recently announced her baby) worded my feelings so perfectly that I felt the need to share her thoughts. 

"To say that we have had some issues getting to this point would be an understatement, but everything is looking amazing!  We truly feel blessed and have been enjoying everything that comes along with pregnancy.  Well. . . almost everything! =)  We still know several couples that are waiting to be parents, and if any are reading this post, I hope they know that we think about them and pray for them often."

Thanks for letting me steal your words, Barb! They reflect everything that I have tried for days to put into words.

Tomorrow marks 15 weeks. I've been pretty sick all the way up through week 13 but once I hit 14 weeks it was like an overnight difference. I've been feeling so much better - although I still get a little queasy in the morning. Next Wednesday we get to go in and listen to the heartbeat again (it will be my third time hearing it - and I can't wait.) I have a lot of things that I would love to write about right now - but i've got sewing projects to grade. I just wanted to express my above thoughts, paired with my love and gratitude for the amazing people that surround me.

I promise, a fun-filled post to come! 

Kind of a big deal...

Hey Friends! We've got some new news round these parts that is kind of a big deal and it's about time that it made it to the blogging world. Most of you probably know, due to the incredibly vast force of nature that is Facebook, but for those of you who don't... this one is for you!

Come May 9th, David and I will be happily welcoming a sweet little baby into our home and into our hearts. Baby Peaden is already loved by friends and family alike, and is going to be the most spoiled and most loved little child around. I wish that I could come up with a creative way to post about this big news on the blog - but I just haven't been able to come up with anything... so this will have to do! We used up all of our creativity on telling our family and close friends. 

We designed and printed these cards and sent them out through the good ole' USPS:

 It was a way fun and unique way to announce that we are having a baby. Perfect for us.

So there you have it! Our big news.. and we are SO thrilled!

Halloween

Halloween is by far one of my favorite holidays. This year - I was late decorating my house, didn't watch a single Halloween movie, and *gasp* didn't make cookies and take them to two people after being doorbell ditched to find a plate of cookies and a cute poem on my porch. (I know, I'm a bad person. I did hang the sign up by my door though. Does that make me even worse?)

However, amid all of our busyness and craziness - we were still able to make it to the annual Walker-Oliver pumpkin carving extravaganza, and let me tell you it was an extravaganza! There were more people in attendance than ever before - and the night was full of food, family, pumpkins, hide-and-seek in the dark, and Werewolf. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

Here are a few pictures that I stole from Melissa's facebook - because we didn't take a single picture of our own.

The whole gang.

My cute Melissa sister. She isn't really that much taller than me. I was sitting on a stool.

And... here we are. With our cute pumpkin. Thats a "P" for Peaden in case you didn't catch that. Several of the people there seemed for forget that our last name was Peaden... not Walker. Isn't it cute?

We also were able to go trick or treating with the Rencher family. I sure love my nieces and nephews! 

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday and a great opportunity!

Is it Wednesday again already? I suppose it is. For some reason - this morning feels much more like a Monday than anything else. Not that I haven't had to go to school for the last two days. It just feels like a Monday.

It may have something to do with the fact that I almost ran out of gas on the way to school today and then had to buy sewing supplies during my lunch break - resulting in me being 10 minutes late to my Clothing I class.

In happier news... I am going to attend this Photography workshop in a couple of weeks and I can't wait!  I'm totally hoping to find a friend who is willing to come with me. Do I have any takers? Mindy Black is the photographer who took our wedding photos and I absolutely adore her. Holly Hyde is an equally amazing photographer and I have been following her work for quite some time. Happy day! I was thrilled when I realized that I would be able to attend their workshop - so here is my plug... Come with me and lets have some fun! I love photography - and just think it's a great skill to have. Don't want to pay the money? Lucky for you, they are giving away one free entry to the workshop! Check out this link:
http://mindyblackphotography.blogspot.com/2011/11/enter-to-win-free-seat-at-our.html to find out how.


Seriously. If you are interested... let me know. I think it's going to be awesome!