What would this world be without iTunes?

Last night Ryan and I had an iTunes party to find some new music to add to our ipod. Consequently, today is a great day! Working out and editing (though very different tasks) benefit equally from the same the new songs. I thought I'd share our new discoveries, which probably aren't so new for most of you cooler people out there.

1. Dear Maria, Count me In by All Time Low
2. Until You by Dave Barnes
3. Say It Again by Marie Digby
4. Beauty in Walking Away by Marie Digby
5. Tim McGraw by Taylor Swift
6. Madly by Tristan Prettyman
7. Breathe In Breathe Out by Mat Kearney
8. All I Need by Mat Kearney

Eight dollars well spent!

Feast or Famine

In January and February, business for me was slow. I had been busy June through December (thanks to many answered prayers!), but then January came along and BAM--where did the work go? I figured that most of the personal historians I was editing for had recently wrapped up projects for Christmas gifts, so they weren't at the point where they needed editing help.

Apparently, high season begins in March and is insane in April! I currently have four major projects going on (one of those manuscripts is 400 pages!), and ALL of my clients have given me end-of-April deadlines. I love it! (and I'm not even being sarcastic)

Ryan encouraged me during my slow months to market my services adequately to bring in some major business later on, and he always said to just enjoy the slow times because before I knew it, I'd be back to staring at my computer screen eight hours a day. He was right(!), and I'm grateful I had him to tell me to chill out and enjoy it at the time.

Mainly I'm just writing this because I felt the need to express my immense gratitude for my blessings. Isn't life great?

Life Update

It's a little weird putting pictures of your whole profile into the public domain...But in response to popular demand, I thought I'd share with all my out-of-town readers what I'm looking like these days. My belly isn't too much to talk about, even at 21 weeks (just over halfway!), but I like it. :)

* The baby has been giving me some early Braxton Hicks contractions in my back...Who knew they could start coming this early?! I've redoubled my efforts to drink unreasonable amounts of water, and so far, they've eased up.

* Call my hoaxy, but I do breathing and relaxation exercises most every day. I am convinced that labor can be a calm and beautiful experience. (So if you have any horror stories for me about birthing, tell them to some other pregnant lady!)

* Business for me is going wild (so to speak), and I love it. I'm also working with a business coach to get everything ready to launch my business in California.

* Ryan's working with the Scouts, and I love hearing all the crazy stories about the boys running around, bulldozing each other, crying in the corner, yelling like mad, etc.



* From the front, I think I just look like I've gained 12 pounds. But that's okay. Also, thanks to my friend Larissa and our downtown Chicago extravaganza last Saturday, I've finally entered the 21 century and gotten some funky accessories. Thanks, Larissa!

* Hope you enjoyed the life update...well, mainly pregnancy update. Life is good. Spring is coming. Love you all!

Meet Baby!

We had our ultrasound yesterday! I was so excited all day, telling Ryan practically every five minutes, "I can't wait to meet our baby!"

I'll admit that before I had a little baby growing inside of me, other people's ultrasound pictures didn't mean a whole lot. In fact, it's possible that I thought the pictures looked a little weird and that I could never really tell what I was looking at anyway. Just possible. ;)

Nonetheless, here are our pictures of Baby!


This is the cute little profile! For a while the baby had it's mouth wide open, as if it were yawning. So cute!


And this is a picture of one of the feet.

The technician said everything looked good and healthy to her and confirmed our due date (Aug 15) as right on track. I decided that our baby didn't particularly like the prodding, because he or she was so wiggly the whole time! (Not exactly cooperating for the picture taking...Maybe we have another young Rachel on our hands!)

So in case you haven't guessed from this post, we didn't find out the baby's gender. We love talking and imagining the baby as either a boy or a girl, and I think we just didn't want to give up that suspense! If either of us had a preference, I would have wanted to find out, but we're both just so eager to welcome the baby into the family that it doesn't matter to us what it is!

And one last thing - I think my favorite part of the ultrasound was just being told exactly how the baby was positioned at that moment in my tummy. Knowing where it's head and feet were made it all feel so real!

Spring is coming...

...And I couldn't be more elated! Today, instead of going to the gym like I'd planned, Ryan and I went on a run/walk around Notre Dame's lakes. It's supposed to get up to 50 degrees today, which is jaw-dropping shocking, so we HAD to take advantage of it (especially since I think it's supposed to snow next week).

It was beautiful! After a long winter, we finally got some sun on our skin and listened to the birds chirping while we exercised. The lake is still frozen, and there is a little remaining snow, but you can still feel spring in the air.

We talked about my favorite subject most of the way--my business--and also about how grateful we are to be here at Notre Dame.

I hope everyone else is getting to enjoy some early springtime in your part of the country.

Hair and other stuff

Can you believe we only have two months left in Indiana? We sure can't! I'm sure we'll always remember our year at Notre Dame with so much fondness. We've been talking so much lately about our plans over the next few months that I feel like the move is right around the corner. Luckily we still have two months to enjoy our friends here and our wonderful apartment.

I've made a bad discovery: Shopping for furniture online is more fun than researching housing...So now I'm determined to work extra these next couple of months to save up for a couch!! (I've already picked it out!)

Anyway, since I don't have a ton to blog about, I thought I'd throw in this picture of my new(ish) haircut, for the benefit of the girls.



Have a happy Tuesday, everyone!

Baby's First Words

This little book at the Notre Dame bookstore was just too cute to pass up. We like to joke about how we can possibly make Leprechaun be our baby's first word. So next time you see us, if we're throwing the word "Leprechaun" into every sentence, you'll know why.

My dear friend Kimber sent me the cutest children's book called "Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here! A Word from Your Baby-in-Waiting" by Barbara Park. It is darling! Here are the words from one of my favorite pages:

"I'm all in a heap here.
My feet are asleep here.
I'm flat out of space. I've got knees in my face.
And I'm totally bored with this dumb bungee cord...
I'm not kidding you...
There is nothing to do!"



Anyway, we spent all of yesterday in Chicago. It was ward temple day, and we went out with some friends to get some authentic Chicago-style pizza. It was a great way to kick off Ryan's spring break! Hope everyone had a great Sunday. Love ya!