BELLY: Week 20

 

Here's a couple pictures of the tummy today... high-quality mirror pictures, of course.
At least I was smart enough to write the sign backwards this time!

Corn & Pumpkins

Now that we're a month into fall (or "autumn", if you're the sophisticated kind) and it's actually starting to feel fall-ish outside, I'm going to welcome the season with a little text and a lot of pictures.

My family and I have actually done a decent job celebrating the harvest this year.  For example, Daniel and I joined Scott and Stacey (my siblings-in-law) on a corn maze mission.  It was actually more fun than I expected.  One, because they have lengthened and elaborated the maze a lot since over the last six years.  Two, because my group was drunk, so it was easy to sneak away from them and do some scaring of my own.  And three, because we were closely followed by an amusing black couple that were frightened by EVERYTHING.

Corn faces... mine fails.

Better?

This is exactly what it looks like.

Waiting to jump out and scare those inebriated.

A few days later, the boys and I went visited Tate Farms -- a local pumpkin farm that has lots of fun things for the kiddos slash the young-at-heart this time of year.  Dylan had a blast, packing in as much as he could the two hours we were there.  Daniel had a blast trying to keep up with him.  And I had a blast taking over 100 pictures... most of which ended up featuring Dylan's back.

Thanks to McDonald's ridiculously slow internet, it took 45 minutes to upload those last fourteen pictures, and now I don't even have time to add captions.  Actually, I technically do, but I like my family too much to spend much more time in this fried food haven... and I still want to upload my most recent belly photos.  SO I'M SPENT.  Ta ta.

Tuscaloosa

Roll Tide

I have a confession to make:  I'm a fan of the University of Alabama. (And I'm not only referring to their football team... although I have been known to get really high blood pressure on gamedays.)  But, unlike most of the Bama fans I know, I wasn't born with crimson blood pumping through my veins.  Not figurative crimson blood, anyway.

When I first moved to Alabama from Pennsylvania in the 10th grade, one of the very first things a fellow Buckhorn student asked me was "Alabama or Auburn?"...  to which I replied "Um, what's Auburn?".

I responded that way because was sincerely confused, and my confusion horrified the inquirer.  I wish I remember who it was that asked me this question, cause I'd like to go back in time and slap him or her around a little.  After all, this person was more interested in knowing what team I rooted for than learning my first name.  But that's Alabama for you.

Gotta love the government

You see, I grew up with a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan as a father.  He was not a college football fan, and I was not old yet enough to begin shopping for colleges.  I had simply never heard of Auburn University.  So shoot me.  However, now that I've spent a lot of my time in this fine state, I (kind of) understand the importance of the question imposed upon me.  But in my defense, the southerner should have known to only expect so much from a blonde girl that "talks really fast and like a Yankee."

Nine years later, here I sit in a Barnes & Noble, a proud alumnus of UA. Although I only lived in Tuscaloosa for two years (due to some serious college hopping), I have a lot of respect for T-town, its university, and its Nick Saban.

Needless to say, I was heartbroken to hear about the enormous tornado that ripped through the town back in April.  The storm leveled businesses and houses that were located only blocks away from apartments in which I had lived -- information that does not sit well in the pit of my stomach.  I saw the destruction with my own two eyes three weeks after the storm.  And I know it's cliche to say, but pictures do not do it justice.

Below are some of the photos I snapped.  Most were taken in a neighborhood about 100 yards from Bent Tree Apartments, where I lived my junior year.  The others were taken on 15th street.

My friend Amanda's footwear proved more appropriate than my flip-flops.
I punctured my left foot on a nail during our adventure.
And, by the way, those grapes were not ours.

I LOVE YOU, TUSCALOOSA!

Thank you, McDonald's Wi-Fi

I know, I know.  It's been a while since I last posted (and I left you hanging with a super lame post about an insect). Before you get on my case, let me say that I have a couple good reasons as to why I've been MIA.

The first and most uninteresting reason is that a couple weeks ago, my husband finally got mad enough at Mediacom to break up with them.  I was fine with his decision (I was tired of the inconsistent service... and his bitching about the inconsistent service), as well as the decision to start a relationship with Dish Network.  But we only signed up for them to provide us with TV....which we really only watch on game-days.  So I, Amanda, AVID BLOGGER, have been without internet at the house for a little over two weeks now.  Gay.

Secondly, I've been in various hospitals a lot over the past two weeks.  

That cyst that I told you about finally decided to become a serious problem during my "relaxing vacation" in Ft. Campbell.  (Daniel was working there temporarily, and my parents only live an hour away, so I got the great idea to visit him and take advantage of their grandparenting services.)  The plan was to spend a lot of time sleeping, eating, and perhaps even blogging.  The actual result?  I spent the majority of 72 hours throwing up, in horrible pain, and in emergency rooms.  Might I add that I spent very little time sleeping due to the pain, retching, and being in emergency rooms.

By the time I made it back to Huntsville, it was clear that the stupid cyst (which had grown from 10 centimeters to 14) needed to get the hell out of my body.  So last Tuesday, my ob-gyn performed a *joyous* surgery to remove the thing -- and my left ovary and Fallopian tube came out with it.  Lucky for me, the c-section I had with Dylan prepared me for the excruciating pain that follows having your stomach ripped open.... and at least this time, I didn't have to deal with all of the hospital "hooplah" that goes along with having a baby.  Regardless, it pretty much sucked.

Now that I have had TWO different abdominal surgeries in the month of September (the month that I am most allergic to), I know that I do not want another fall baby.  Ever.  Sneezing is the most God-awful thing everrrrrrr.  March should be much nicer to my sinuses.

Baby Dos, 15 weeks

In other news, I am enjoying a caramel frappe and french fries at McDonald's while I type this.  I had a doctor's appointment earlier today, and the the plan was to grab some Taco Bell afterwards and head to Books-a-Million on Whitesburg Drive to use their internet.  Well, I got my Taco Bell, but apparently the BAM has shut down?  Sooooo, I came here, where I was "forced" to buy even more things to consume.  

I would blame my obese tendencies on the adversity I felt radiating from employees for taking advantage of their wireless internet.  But since there was none, I guess I have to blame my fatness on the fact that I'm pregnant.

(Speaking of pregnant, here's a picture from today's ultrasound for good measure.  Baby Dos says hello!) 

Praying Mantis

I found this little guy clinging to my back porch ceiling earlier this afternoon.

I'm a fan of all walks of life (except for sharks, but they swim and kill people), so naturally, I dropped everything I was doing and took a picture.  Does it help my case if I mention that Dylan was not one of the things I dropped?

Okay so I'm probably more amazed by my finding than I "should" be.  Praying mantises are relatively easy to come by.  I just think it's cool when creatures defy gravity, which he was awfully good at.  However, he lost some 'cool points' when he stopped posing for pictures, launched himself at my face, and frantically flew away.

FREE TO BE

My Love

It is safe to say that Miss Laurin Rudolph is one of my favorite people in the world.  Not only is she (extremely) beautiful, (painfully) humble, and a fabulous friend... but she is an amazing photographer to boot.

She has been taking "serious" pictures for the better part of the last five years, and perhaps the better part of her life.  She specializes in the photography of nature, catching little moments that you and I would otherwise probably never get to see.

Check out some of her work, shown below, that I took the liberty to compile (based on pictures located in albums on her Facebook account)... starting with a few from 2007.






2008







2009

2010

Facebook started to get all weird on me as I was trying to download some of her more recent pictures.  So instead of sharing 32847 more with you, I'm stopping with a couple that she took during her summer-long stay in Alaska last year.

If you just can't get enough of the awesomeness, you're in luck!  She finally created her own Esty account this week. Please click on this link if you're interested in seeing some of her favorite pictures -- and please don't hesitate to buy one or twelve while you're at it!  Words cannot express how truly in love I am with this woman, nor how proud I am of her and her successes in life thus far.

Go ahead and believe in it.

Speaking of love, I am also happy to announce that Laurin is recently engaged to a wonderful man, Mister Stu.  I look forward to six months from tomorrow when MISS LAURIN RUDOLPH will become MRS. LAURIN SHELLEY!!!  Unfortunately, I won't get to see her wedding go down in person, due to my extremely inconvenient due date of March 18th.  Dang babies.

I was actually looking forward to being one of Laurin's bridesmaids... and even more-so, to Dylan being their ring bearer.  I am broken-hearted that I won't be there, but ohhhh soooo proud!!!!  I wish Laurin and Stu a lifetime of happiness.  

They deserve nothing less.