Western North Carolina

Everybody keeps telling Daniel and me to travel now, because once the baby comes, we won't want to.  Although I slightly agree, I don't think there is anything that could keep Daniel from visiting out of town friends and family whenever he gets the chance.  He's almost too dedicated to the people he cares about, so this past weekend, we drove about 5 hours to Western North Carolina because the MacCourtney's were in town.  More specifically, Sean, who just got home from his Sydney, Australia Mission. 

This trip was a little easier than last weeks because Daniel's parent's house is almost exactly half way between Carrboro and Cherokee (our final destination/the Indian reservation that the MacCourtney's live on), so at least our drive was broken up. 

Let's start at the beginning--

Thursday, November 17, 2011: Daniel went home to visit with his parents after class and that left me home alone for the night.  It was weird.  Daniel and I haven't been apart for a long time haha, but don't worry, I kept myself busy:  I washed our sheets, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed the whole house, and started the "nesting" process--I set up the crib and I pulled out some of the toys and blankets I kept from when I was little :-). I even laid out the smallest onesie we've been given because it's so gosh-darn-tiny and cute and will serve as a reminder of the tiny little girl that is going to join our family in THREE months! (I really can't think about the time frame because I get too excited, overwhelmed, scared, excited, etc.)

Friday, November 18, 2011:  I went to work.  It was a long and boring day, but as soon as the clock struck 5:00pm, I was in my car headed to meet up with Daniel.  The 2.5 hr drive wasn't too bad.  I listened to the end of the Davinci Code (again) and then blasted Christmas music (that's right, I'm already into Christmas music).  I sang really loudly too and the baby either loved it or wanted me to stop ASAP.  She was so wiggly and even though I have no idea if this is the case, I told Daniel that she was being "cute" and "funny" in there.  I like her haha.  When I finally got to the house, Daniel wouldn't let me come inside right away.  He had a few "finishing touches" to add to the really nice dinner he made for us: grilled chicken marinated with olive oil, garlic, capers, and Greek(?) olives, served over top couscous with blanched broccoli (from the garden) and a cheesy sauce.  Yum.  After dinner we were going to go to a dollar movie, but opted for a night-in instead.  We just hung out and watched Rango (Well Daniel did.  I fell asleep like 30 minutes into it).

Saturday, November 19, 2011:   Saturday morning, Daniel and I woke up around 8:00am and got ready to drive the rest of the way to Cherokee.  Seeing as it was a "special" weekend, we went to Bojangles for breakfast (one of Daniel's favorite fast food restaurants that we usually never go to).  We listened to the Transiberian Orchestra CD and talked the entire way there.  We got to the MacCourtney's house around noon and to our surprise, no body was home.  Typical ;-) haha.  We eventually got a hold of them and found out that they were at their aunt's house about ten minutes down the road, so we met up with them there.

We got to Aunt Pooh's house, visited a bit, played with the little cousin (Andrew, age 4) and then headed off to a quick lunch sponsored by Grandma and Grandpa Cooper at a little burger shop.  After lunch, I continued to play with Andrew and the "big boys" played football in the drive way.  We tried to play a board game, but were too distracted and then the guys all had to get ready for the "Welcome Home Sean" gathering that was being held that night. The gathering was at the hotel across the street and was really nice.  Sean played slide with pictures and movies from his mission and everybody just talked and enjoyed some good food. Afterwords, the boys all watched football, but I fell asleep on the couch.  Cooper's mom booked us a room at the hotel, we eventually got there and I slept great.  Ps.  I LOVE king size beds haha.

Sunday, November 20, 2011:  Sunday morning Daniel and I got a complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel.  Awesome.  We then headed back to the house to make sure that the boys were up and ready for church.  They weren't haha. But they got ready very fast and it was off to church.  The main reason for our trip was for Sean's homecoming address and it was wonderful. I really enjoyed his talk and the entire church service.  It was probably one of the friendliest wards I have ever been to.  For example, I mentioned to one of the women that I was learning how to embroider and she handed me a HUGE bag full of thread, material, and she even gave me a few tips.  Apparently a woman in the Relief Society had passed away and had left a bunch of sewing things that were "up for grabs."  No body knew me, but they shared with me anyways.  Also, another woman came up to me asking me questions about the baby.  I put this in here because during the lesson, the baby was wide away and dancing.  The woman said that she could see the baby moving from across the room!!  I loved that.  This baby girl is going to be a handful. 

After church, we started getting lunch/dinner ready and I sat and visited with Grandma Cooper.  We ate (a really big and delicious meal) and then headed out to toss some footballs and soccer balls around.

Daniel and I left around 6:00pm and we decided to drive straight home to Carrboro.  It was so good to see the MacCourtney boys and family.  They really are a great bunch.

****Let me explain Daniel and my connection to this family. Daniel met Cooper his freshman year of college and they became really good friends. After their missions, Daniel became Cooper's roommate. Throughout the next 4 years of his college experience, he also roomed with Chase and Sean (the other two MacCourtney boys) becoming close with them. As the years passed, Daniel also met and became friends with members of the extended family that would come to visit or lived in the area (that includes aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and even great aunts and uncles and second cousins!) Daniel and I started dating, eventually married, and I was blessed to become friends with this family as well haha. In fact, one of the MacCourtney cousins (Jillian) and her husband (Trenton) became our go to hang out people every weekend when we were first married. So what I'm basically saying is that Daniel and I feel like we know the entire mother's side of the family and we are trying to be adopted in because they are really cool haha.*****




   

 

Pennsylvania & Maryland = Friends & Family

This past weekend, Daniel and I drove a lot.  It was worth it.

Thursday, November 10:
Right after I got off work, Daniel and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to Pennsylvania--my home state :-).  I drove first, but only lasted about 3.5 hours before Daniel made me pull over because I was making him nervous haha.  For the record, I wasn't falling asleep. My contacts were just getting blurry. Daniel drove the rest of the way but it went by really fast because we were listening to the Davinci Code on CD.  We got to Jessi and Richie's new apartment around 1:00am.  We said some brief hello's and immediately hit the hay.  We were exhausted.

Friday, November 11:
Jessi had to work a partial day, so Daniel and I decided to go into the city (Philadelphia).

Daniel had never been and there is some pretty cool stuff there!  Because it was Veteran's Day, the traffic wasn't too bad.  After several detours around the city (due to our GPS being stupid), we found parking and headed to the Historical District.  We saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Cool. 

I remember going to those places in elementary school and it was fun to go back when I actually appreciated them haha.

After that, Daniel and I just wandered around the city a bit and we eventually made it to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch.  We were torn between there and Pat's or Gino's (the famous Philadelphia Cheese Steak places).  It was a tough choice, but lets just say we were not disappointed.  We started off with an appetizer: a soft pretzel.  We got it from what appeared to be a Mennonite stand (judging by the dress of the women).  It tasted exactly as I remembered it from growing up.  I never even knew that Philadelphia pretzels were special!  But man oh man, Daniel LOVED them :-).  After that, we went to a number of different stands and tasted all of the free samples of cheese, peanut butter, crackers, etc.  until we eventually found the stand Daniel had seen on the food network--Hershels East Side Deli.  "Classic hand-carved deli sandwiches & authentic homemade Jewish specialities." YES. I ordered a pastrami sandwich and when Daniel saw how big they were, we decided to just share it.  We watched the man cut the pastrami off a huge slab of meat and then pile it on the bread.  Literally.  There was about 2.5 inches of meat on that sandwich!  We got a deli pickle and shared a can of root beer.

We eventually found a seat (that's right... just one) at a table and shared that too so we could eat our lunch and listen to the jazz-like band that was playing.  Eventually a second chair opened up and we relaxed out butt cheeks and ate away (at the sandwich).  It was great!  We picked up another pretzel on our way out and marveled at all of the delicious sweets that we can't yet afford but will one day devour haha.

After that meal, Daniel and I went to "LOVE" park.  It was my first time there and I was so shocked. In my head I had envisioned this beautiful park with lovers left and right and a HUGE "LOVE" sign right in the middle.  Instead, Daniel and I ran into a bunch of 12 year olds and foreigners standing in front of a 3ft tall LOVE sign which was placed in front of a cement circle.  There wasn't even grass haha.  To our further dismay, the 12 year olds and the foreigners were not adequate photographers (you'll see what I mean in a second), but we did get away with a couple good shots before my camera died (<---proof that I'm an Alexander haha).

Foreigner's picture

12 year olds picture

From there, we headed back to the car. But not without a few random Philly Photo's :-)

Anyway, we wanted to be at Jessi's apartment waiting for her when she got done work, but traffic disagreed with us.  Our thirty minute drive into the city turned into an hour and thirty minute drive out of the city.  When we finally did get to Jessi's apartment (which is beautiful by the way), we jumped right back into the car and headed to Boyertown--my home town. We drove into my old neighborhood and I just stood staring at my old house.  I was surprised at how many memories it brought back and how much I actually missed the place. We visited with my old neighbors (the Bertino's) for a couple of hours and it was like I never left.  Well, minus the fact that Michael's a little more gray, Jillian is now taller than me, and Mr. Woody (the family dog) wasn't there :-(.  It was fun to reminisce.

Our next stop was to surprise Joann and Gar--Jessi's parent's.  They were surprised.  We caught up on life and then we had to ship out of there.  There were not enough hours in the day and we had to go to Zerns haha.  That's right.  Zerns--one of the largest flea markets on the east coast.  A place that I actually went to quite often with friends and family when I lived close by.  1. They have the best beef jerky. 2. They have the most interesting people. haha.

From there we headed back to Jessi's place (about 30 minutes away IF that), Richard made us dinner (at 9:30pm), and then Sarah Kerns and her fiance Ryan came over.  It was fun to just sit around and visit. A few other people said they were coming and then didn't because it was "too far away".  They asked me to pick a "more central" location to meet up next time. Oh OKAY. See ya in Virgina next time JERKS! haha  I probably shouldn't publish that tidbit of my trip, but I was very excited to see those kids and they broke my heart when they bailed on me for such a stupid reason. Boo.  Oh well.

Eventually, Sarah and Ryan had to go to leave and the rest of us had to go to bed.  I was exhausted.

Saturday, November 12:
Richie had to work Saturday morning so Daniel, Jessi, and I decided to go out for breakfast. We walked to a cute little breakfast/lunch joint called Annamaria's (recommended by the Bertino's) and met up with MATT HAUSE!  It was so great to see him.  Jessi and I supplied him with all sorts of highschool "dirt" that was never dug up back in the day and we spent the morning laughing away.  As Jessi put it so perfectly (when explaining Matt to Daniel), "Matt Hause is the kind of guy that doesn't show emotion that easily, so we would do all sorts of stupid things to try and get him to laugh, and when we did manage to get him to laugh hysterically, it was like hitting the jack pot." Well friends, it still is. I felt like I had won a million bucks after eating breakfast with those kids.  Poor Daniel had no idea what was going on, but I was so happy.  I'm so grateful to have a husband who is willing to trek all over the place just so I'll have a few hours to reminisce my childhood.  He was such a trooper the whole time.  After we left the restaurant, (this is where my entry gets sad for a bit), we had to say goodbye.  It was a quick trip to PA, but we were off to Baltimore to visit Nate, April and my adorable nephew's Edison and McKay.

I drove so Daniel could do some of his homework.  It was a stressful car ride but I won't get into that haha.  Lets just say that our GPS took us on these tiny back roads to avoid tolls only to put us thirty minutes behind and right on a toll road anyway. When we got to Baltimore, I was so sad that Edison wasn't running out to greet me.  I absolutly LOVE hearing him say "Aunt (sometimes Uncle) Mandi" haha, but he was napping, so Daniel and I got to visit with Nate and April for a little bit which was nice. When the little boys finally woke up, we went for a quick drive and then to a park where the Baltimore skyline was absolutly beautiful. Edison was going crazy (putting on a show for us) and I loved every second of it.  For dinner, Nate took us to a really awesome NY Pizza shop and we ordered 2 pizza's and a sub.  I was disgusted at how much I ate... haha but it was so good. After that, we walked around a little and we got some Canoli (?) bits from an Italian bakery.  Next time we go to town, we're definitly getting the eclaires from that shop too haha.

We went to bed early which was nice.  This whole pregnant thing is starting to wipe me out fast, but it ended up being a good thing.  Edison isn't sleeping through the night anymore and poor Nate and April have to get up with him atleast 3 times per night.  They were both exhausted too. 

Sunday, November 13
We went to church.  Edison got kicked out of nursery because the teachers were "unable to control him" haha --he dumped out all of the snacktime water cups, and after church we went back to the house and played.  McKay is absolutly adorable.  His big blue eyes have so much emotion in them and he's so ticklish and squishy that I just want to squeeze him all day haha.  Edison is just too smart for his own good.  He loves having pillow fights and he loved shouting "Good Morning!" at baby Baird and then patting my belly.  He also said that she would kick everytime he talked to her. (Actually, he referred to the baby as a boy the entire time even though I told him it was a girl.  I don't think he's got the whole "she" vs "he" thing down yet).  At one point, Edison told me that the baby would pop out just like buddy boo (what he call's McKay), but that she might want to go back in after a while because he might make her cry by bonking her on the head haha.  Daniel had a one on one conversation with Edison at this point about how he was going to have to be nice to the baby.  It was cute.

We ate dinner, we talked, we went for a walk, and then it was time for Daniel and I to head home.  Daniel drove the whole way and I had the worst heartburn I've ever had in my life haha. We got home a little after midnight and went to bed.

We did eventually get a semi good one

It's so crazy to think that I'm all grown up & having a baby, visiting old friends in their homes, and visiting family--Nate and April (Christian was going to come, but ended up having a "situation" at his own apartment that made him unavailable. Boo. Next time.).  It makes me laugh because I remember going to my Aunt and Uncle's houses when I was little but I never thought of it as "oh, my Dad visiting his brother!"  But here I am, visiting my brother/s, and soon, my baby will be visiting her cousins.  That's what I call a circle.  I love it. 

I love having family and friends close enough to do a whirl-wind weekend trip.:-)     

Today I am officially SIX months pregnant!

Crazy.  My whole pregnancy thus far has been a breeze and it has gone by so fast.  (I guess finding out when you're already a few months in helps!) And although I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of the little girl growing inside of me, I just wanted to make note of how much I am enjoying my last few months in my family of two: me and Daniel. 

With me working full time and Daniel being a full-time grad student, it's hard to find time where we can just "hang out," but the few minutes we do squeeze in each day are what make me the happiest and I feel like we have grown together so much over the past few months.  This weekend is a perfect example of this.

Friday night we picked up a free pizza and ate our dinner in the Domino's parking lot before heading to Durham where were going to spend the rest of the night butchering chicken with Daniel's mom, sister, and brother-in-law.  There was nothing glorious planned in that evening.  We even got caught in horrible traffic on the way there, but Daniel and I managed to entertain ourselves, eat the rest of our large pizza, and then at the end of the night (and 80lbs of chicken later), take home about 14 large chicken breasts to keep in our freezer and use (Thank you Sally!!).  Why did the night turn out to be such a success?  Because we were together.

Saturday, Daniel woke up early and went to play soccer with his friends.  As usual, I slept in :-).  When he got home, he had a HUGE box of produce from the farmers market with him.  Because we can't possibly use all that's in the box before it goes bad, we spent the rest of Saturday morning washing, cutting, and freezing different fruits and vegetables for later use.  We had the Disney movie "Songs of the South" playing in the background and even stopped to fully enjoy the epic film while we ate our lunch of cheese and bean quesadillas with chips and salsa.  Let me just say that I love Uncle Remus and his chipper laugh :-)  After the movie, we made homemade black bean soup and went for a long walk through down town Carrboro and got to visit all the art studios of locals.  It was awesome.  When we got back to the apartment, we ate our soup and Mattie and Matt (some of our friends) came over and watched a movie with us. Once again, there was nothing glorious about the day, but we got to spend it together and I had so much fun.  We laughed the entire time. Also (for the record), Matt and Mattie left at about 11:30pm.  I was tired and wanted to go to bed, but Daniel wanted to stay up and watch football.  I went to bed and fell asleep, but needless to say, the "late for bed" fairy visited Daniel and stole and hid his pillow.  I think next time he'll come to bed when I ask him too. haha         

And Sunday.  Daniel woke up and made me waffles with fresh strawberries (we forgot it was fast Sunday! Whoops.) We got ready for church, went to church, and enjoyed church. We had put a roast in our slow cooker before we left and came home to a delightful smelling house. We had all the typical veggies, a side salad, and we even made a gravy!  As we sat at the table and blessed the food I was reminded of my own family's Sunday dinners and couldn't help but think, "Wow. I'm married. I have a cute little apartment, a cute husband, and now we cook our own fancy schmancy Sunday dinners.  I'm a grown up!"  And for whatever reason, having that pot roast on the table made made me feel like I could do this whole mother thing no problem. haha  What's even better is that Daniel was sitting across from me and I knew that I had the best helping hand in the world.  We spent the rest of our Sunday going for a long walk in the beautiful autumn weather, swinging, and playing fargo (a dice game that I usually win :-) )

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I got to spend so much time with just Daniel.  I feel like time has only made us we laugh harder, communicate better, and genuinely enjoy each other (which is great considering we are going to be together forever). 

So yeah.  Even though three has always been my favorite number,  I'm really enjoying my family of two :-)