Oh yeah. . .

Patrick got me a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of roses for Valentine's Day! For those of you who don't know, Patrick's birthday is February 14th. We try to keep it low key, but he really surprised me this year!

The other thing I wanted to mention is that SPRING IS SPRINGING!!! I saw the first sign in my neighbor's yard:

Hooray for warm weather making it's way to Bowling Green!

Also, I worked at a college fair in Louisville over the weekend. My co-worker (and soulmate), Casi happened to have all of her materials loaded up in her car. . .2 1/2 blocks away from our site! So what did we do? We called on a few good young men to carry 10 boxes of books for us! Below is our "slave-driver" pic:

Ahhhh. . .good times, good times

It's great to be back!

I know, it's been a while. I'm now officially 15 weeks, but I didn't update at 14 weeks. Here is a pic from 14 weeks! The last few weeks have been awesome. My job is amazing, I got to host a birthday party for my two nieces, we got sporked, I'm coming to terms with my need to reconsider the book challenge, we had a great doctor's appointment for Baby O'Rourke, SNOW!, and I discovered Family Guy on Netflix! Also, Patrick is away at a conference this week, which is really kind of sad because I just want him home (I've become needy during this pregnancy. It's like I'm super duper extra insanely attracted to and in love with my husband. Not that I didn't feel that way before, but now I just can't stand being away from him.) Oh, AND, my BFF got engaged!!!

So my job. . .I've been working with families all across my area on the FAFSA. The form is not too difficult, but there are some tricky things if you're new to it. Every time I leave a school building, or a library, or wherever the FAFSA happens to take me, I feel like the Pope! These people are so thankful to have me sit beside them while they complete the form. Every now and then they'll ask questions, especially if they have a special financial or family situation, but mostly I just smile and nod and tell them they are doing a great job. WOW!!!! At the end of every day, I know that I have made a positive difference in my area. I'm meeting some fun-loving people in the smallest Kentucky towns. They all have stories, remedies, superstitions, etc. about pregnancy too! Sometimes I'll end up in a place ready to present, and instead we talk about boob tenderness. . .crazy! I've seen some pretty sad situations with students. I try to tell them that they are not alone, and that they are doing the right things to ensure a positive future for themselves. I guess it teaches me even more about what type of parent I want to be.

PAR-TAY!!!!!! Ok, so Patrick and I got to open our home for a birthday party for my two nieces. First of all, I can't believe that they are one and three. My how time flies! I don't even recognize baby pics of Aniyah anymore. They are very very very very special to me. My mom got a lot of the decorating done, and my sister came over in time to help with some stuff. Her friends all came over with their children and so did some of our family. We had a blast! I can't believe I only got a picture of Alayah, and not one of Aniyah, but here she is. . .

Alright, so last Friday night, I got a call from one of Patrick's students. We'll call her Betty Rogers. So Betty says that she's feeling sorry for Mr. O because she know's he's had a particularly rough week (mainly because of her own behavior along with that of her friends). Anyway, Betty is honestly a really good kid, and I was curious to see how she was going to "remedy" Mr. O's week. She asked if it would be ok if she sporked our yard. After I got off the floor from heavy laughter, I told her that I thought it was the best idea in the world! She said she would come the next morning to clean everything up, which made it work even more for me. I told her how to not get caught, and made sure Patrick stayed in the basement during the deed!

The next morning, Patrick took our dog, Lee out on a walk. It was so early that the sun wasn't up yet, so sadly, he didn't see the yard. Once the sun came up, Patrick went to the front porch to get the paper. When he looked down, he saw this. . .

He says he thought. . .how curious that the newspaper man would leave a taco sauce packet and a spork with the paper. Then he looked out into the yard and saw this. . .

That's when I heard it. The sound came straight from the depths of his belly. In a low, growling voice I heard Patrick yell, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"!

BAM! The eagle had landed! I raced from our room to the front door, and all I could do was laugh. I imagined that as he yelled, he clenched his fists and looked to the sky! I asked him if he had any idea of who could have done this. Instantly he said, "This is the work of Betty Rogers". He knew!!!! What he didn't know, was that his sweet loving wife was in on the prank. So when his reaction was to clean up the sporks, I had to stop him. I told him my role and that he needn't worry about cleaning because the girls would be over later to take care of it at breakfast. He couldn't get over the fact that I was going to prepare breakfast for these vandals! I wasn't able to convince him to wait for the cleanup crew, so he went to work picking up all one-hundred-and-five sporks!

I found out a few interesting things at breakfast once the girls and one of the mom's came over. 1.) Sporks are individually wrapped. They had to put in a lot of work to make our yard art a reality. 2.) While they tried to be sneaky about collecting the sporks at Taco Bell, they got caught. After explaining their malicious plan to the worker, she gave them a giant bag full of sporks. That worker was one of my family members! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! She still doesn't know that it was our yard that she helped vandalize!

So one last thing about getting sporked. . .the taco sauce packet had these words typed upon it, "I'm with the band". This is extra hilarious, because Patrick is an Orchestra director (not a band director). Oh the charm of teens these days!

As far as the book challenge goes, I'm going to have to modify the terms. My goal was to read 100 books this year. I calculated that it means I'm going to have to get through 8.3 books per month. From the looks of the panel to the right, you can see that I'm approximately 7.3 books behind. I think I'm going to have to change this to the 12 book reading challenge. When I finish, I will still have completed more books this year than last. . .and that's a great start. . .right. . .RIGHT!?!?

We had a doctor's appointment for Baby O'Rourke. You'll probably remember from earlier posts that I had become really concerned about being over the morning sickness. Part of me thought that meant the baby was not OK. Well, at the appointment, our first nurse wasn't able to find a heartbeat. THEN, the second nurse couldn't find the heartbeat for what seemed like a LIFETIME (which probably meant it was only like 45 seconds). Anyway, once she found it, I took in deep breath and sighed in relief. Then, I cried (imagine that-I cry at EVERYTHING right now!) Our doctor asked if we wanted to hear it again once he came in. We told him that we felt confident, and would be alright moving along with the appointment. Needless to say, my worry was for naught. All is progressing as it should with Baby O'Rourke!

It is snowing like crazy in Kentucky. It's quite beautiful really. I love taking Lee out in it because it's comical to watch him bury his nose deep into the snow to catch a whiff of something delectable. When he pulls his face up, there is a mini mountain of snow on his schnoz! Such a cutie! Since I don't like being out in the snow at night, it allows me to catch up on some incredibly important matters of business. . .on Netflix. . .like the Family Guy. How did I just get on this bandwagon? It's HILARIOUS! Anyway, I'm mostly through the first volume, and loving every second of it.

As I mentioned before, Patrick is away at a music educator's conference until Saturday. I've kept myself busy by inviting myself to people's houses. Last night, I had dinner (a feast really) with my best friend, Angela, her new fiance, Willie, and his father and brother. We had a great time! So great, that I spent the night. It was an awesome impromptu slumber party! One less lonely night for me!! Tonight, I'll end up at my mom's house and Friday I'm going to watch the Justin Bieber movie with my little sister. I can't believe she invited me to come with all of her girlfriends. I'm really thrilled to see Justin Bieber shake it on the big screen that my sister still thinks I'm cool enough to hang out with. It's going to be the highlight of my week!

I'm going to save the engagement of my BFF for another post! I'm so excited for her, that she deserves her own entry!

So. . .that's all for now, folks!

I'm Pregnant!!

Patrick and I are so excited to announce that we will have our first little baby this year. Baby O'Rourke is expected to arrive on August 3. We are 10 weeks (and 5 days) along!

It's pretty hard to believe that we are going to be parents. This is something we've looked forward to for quite some time, so to have it finally happen is just wonderful!

We first found out on December 8 when we got a positive result from a home test. I was so shocked that I took a test on December 9th and December 10th too. . .just to be sure. I told Patrick by showing him the result on the 8th, to which he replied, "What does that mean?" Once I explained that we were pregnant, he scooped me up and couldn't stop saying how great it was. I'll never forget that moment.

We knew we wanted to use Dr. Gass right from the start, and knew it would take quite a bit of time to get in to see him. Not only that, my insurance from my new job hadn't kicked in at that point, and wouldn't for another 3 weeks. It was pretty difficult waiting around for that first appointment.

Long ago, Patrick and I decided that we'd keep the news between the two of us, but I couldn't help myself. I later confessed to Patrick that I told multiple people :/ (like 8)

Luckily, he wasn't upset!

Our first appointment with Dr. Gass was Thursday, January 6. Immediately they took us back for an ultrasound. Patrick got to see our baby first, and instantly began asking TONS of questions about what he saw on the monitor (in true O'Rourke fashion!). After some photos, the technician turned the monitor for me to see. I couldn't stop smiling. The feeling of seeing our baby for the first time was pretty indescribable. Then our baby moved its little arms, and I melted into a sea of tears. It suddenly became real!

After the appointment, Patrick and I took the ultrasound pictures to his parents house. They were very happy for us. We then went to tell my mom, who wasn't home! Ahhhhh! To add to the drama, Patrick had a rehearsal that evening. We had to wait until that was over before heading back to mom's house. Upon arrival, I barged into her home saying loudly that she needed to settle a bet that Patrick and I had going on. I then pulled out the pictures and asked her what she thought they looked like. Once it all processed, she jumped up and screamed for joy! It was priceless. Another moment I'll never forget.

Everything has gone pretty smoothly. I had most of my sickness during the first few weeks. Every now and then it comes back, although as I improve my diet and eat more often, I'm able to hold it off. The doctor says I shouldn't feel this nauseous for much longer. I can't wait until that part is over. Luckily, I haven't thrown up at all.

I have had a few strange cravings. . .tuna and oranges was pretty strong early on. Also, I LOVE the smell of dill pickles! Yum! Tonight I really wanted potato salad. I've had a pretty strong aversion to hamburgers and french fries, which was once a staple in my diet. Just the thought of them make my head spin. . .blech!

Patrick has helped satisfy my crazies! Anything I need, he takes care of it. Even over the holidays when I needed someone to make me put my "big girl panties" on, he was there kicking my butt, and telling me to pull it together. I really have a wonderful husband, and I can't wait to see him as a father!

I'm looking forward to this awesome journey! What a blessing this child is! We are thankful that God has trusted us with this little life. He is good!

LIGHTNING BUGS!!!!

The official start of summer has arrived as far as I'm concerned. As Patrick and I took Lee on a walk, I saw lightning bugs in the backyard! I still get really excited about lightning bugs even as an adult. Seeing the lightning bugs made me think of other things that, to me, mean it's summertime. Here they are (in no particular order)

Graduation ceremonies

Sno Cones/ice cream truck music

Sprinklers

The song "Summertime" by Will Smith

The smell of bug spray

Bowling Green humidity

People talking about going to the lake

Flip flops and tank tops

I'm sure there are tons of other things, which I'll probably throw into future posts here and there.

What reminds you of summertime?

Straight Off the Chain

Last weekend, my coworker and I went to Atlanta for work. On the way down, we were able to stop by a super cute boutique that had lots of unique gift ideas. One item sent me into absolute hysterics and I immediately made the purchase. It was a deck of Slang Flash Cards boasting to help people "Get hip in mere days". As if that weren't enticing enough, the front cover of the deck showed a lovely couple formally dressed at a fine restaurant as the waiter stood anticipating their order and making sure they knew that "The filet is straight off the chain tonight."

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, the back of the deck asks "Are you over the hill? Dorky, unpopular, or simply into math? It's time to jock some fresh!" Each card has a pronunciation guide, tells you the part of speech to which the word or phrase belongs, a definition, and synonyms. Also included is an illustration to "help with context" and an educational sample sentence. Three words: Solid Office GOLD! My co-workers have been working hard to "up their steez". They have even come to me with sentences they've created all by themselves. Folks, when I hear them talk about how the word triflin' is an adjective and not a verb, or that they prefer the term "onion" to "badonkadonk" I can't help but roll on the floor in laughter! I have a feeling that it will now be hella fresh to death to roll deep with my new hyphy crew, for reals son! I mean, every other triflin' office will be straight jockin' us while we make it do, boo.

Aiight, I'm dunzo. Holla!

Best Day

Today was a really great day. So great, in fact, that I am inspired to blog about it. This morning, Patrick and I went on a run. We've been running together for about 5 weeks, and I love it. It makes me feel like I'm helping to keep his heart healthy, which is a big deal in his family. Then, I worked my tail off at the gym. I WILL FIT INTO MY BIKINI THIS SUMMER! The office was great today. I got flowers from a student and her mother because I helped her prepare for her Spirit Master interview. How thoughtful! It felt a little strange to be honest. It has been a very long time since I've received flowers. The delivery guy walked in and asked for me, and my heart sank. Really, it felt the same as when my name was called for Homecoming Queen at WKU (Fall, 2004 -- but who is holding on to her glory days?)

I had a chance to spend some time with the student I mentor at a local elementary. My student is fabulous, and I'm so lucky to get a peek into her life. She makes my week extraordinary! Then, I had lunch with a great friend who shared with me a community project that she is working with. I'm so proud of my generation that I could squeal!

Upon returning to the office, my sister and her girls were waiting for me! I got to show off my nieces to the entire office. My oldest niece is all about drawing Mickey Mouse. She's 2, so right now he just looks like a bunch of squiggly marks, but her enthusiasm is contagious. Just the fact that my youngest niece is home from the NICU and thriving is phenomenal in itself. How blessed we are!

To top it off, I had a student drop by who I used to teach clarinet lessons to. I've worked with him since he was in the 8th grade, and he's coming to the Hill this fall. First off, I can't believe time is moving so quickly! Secondly, he's coming to the Hill!! GO TOPS! He stopped by to thank me for serving as a reference for him, and to share that he'd been awarded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Millennium Scholarship! There isn't a more deserving student and family! His entire college education will be paid for. It was tough not to start crying on the spot. I hugged him (probably more than necessary), and told him how proud I am of him.

My goodness, I feel like a princess!

And the winner is. . .

Me!! I'm the winner. Well, I'm a winner tonight. After surfing through some of my favorite blogs, I learned that I was chosen by Sarah to receive a Blog award! Hooray!

Now, Sarah was supposed to award this to 10 bloggers. However, she admitted that she doesn't know 10 bloggers. So, I kind of win by default, but who swims around in the details?!? Many thanks to Sarah!

Ok, the award requires me to share 10 things that make me happy, and to award 10 other bloggers. In no particular order, the following makes me happy:

1. Our doggie, Lee

2. Food and wine pairing

3. Justin Beiber (don't judge me)

4. Happy endings

5. My iPhone

6. Sleeping

7. HGTV

8. Shopping

9. Summertime

10. Spontaneity

Ok, so I'm going to pull a Sarah here, because I also don't know 10 bloggers. The award, therefore, goes to these fab folks:

1. Jenny at My Big Fat Billman Blog

2. Sarah at BoLOGna

3. Rachel at HomeGirl

4-10. I don't have a 4-10.

So there you have it. And to think, I was going to blog about the vegetables that I made for dinner. This was waaaaaaaaay more fun :)

Today, I'm a Blogger

. . .but tomorrow it could all change! I've recently been inspired by friends to start blogging. So here it is folks. My first entry.

Last night I went to Nashville to celebrate Best Friend Angela's birthday. We spent time at a karaoke bar, then went to a dance club. The best part of all was people watching. We got to enjoy people such as this guy:

I must say, it was refreshing to see a little old man who understood the importance of wearing a nice pair of pressed white gloves to the club. Not only could he shake a tail feather, but he also had a smaller chance of collecting and spreading germs than the rest of us. Smart cookie!

We had a great time, and I was glad to spend it with some of my favorite people! I did, however, realize that maybe I'm not cut out to stay up until 4 am anymore. Only for Best Friend Angela! Enjoy the other pictures.