Rand Turns 23!

Rand turned 23 on February 8th.  We went to Fuji for dinner with his parents and then ate lemon cake at our apartment and opened presents.  He is SO old and mature now...

His Lemon Cake and Us!

Valentines Duluth Trip

For Christmas Rand gave me an incredibly thoughtful gift; A stay at a 2 day stay at a bed & breakfast in Duluth, MN with our dear friends, the Onyshuks.  I started crying.  The thing that spoke to me the most was that this would be something I would get to anticipate over the next few months AND it would be shared with Carica, who I have missed so much! We happened to select days over Valentines, so it was a double whammy of celebration.

We stayed at the Cotton Mansion in Duluth (http://www.cottonmansion.com/) in the carriage house and were directly across the hall from the Onyshuks.  Our room was incredible with a sweet fireplace and Jacuzzi and every morning they made a sick breakfast.  I have never eaten breakfast with fine china, silver, or with candles.

We enjoyed chess, walking in all the shops, yummy food, games, time with friends, and relaxation.  Rand even did yoga with me one morning... may have been my favorite part of the trip ;)

"She's Smokin" and Rand in a Heart

BOGO at Caribou

Lunch at  Neat Cafe

Valentines Dinner

Valentines Dinner

This is Rand's Focused Face

Living room of the Bed and Breakfast

Sweet Staircase

Really Neat Ceiling

Character!

School Social Work Dream

Still haven't been able to understand this all the way. I had been employed at Altru Health System for the past 6 months working as a FLEX Social Worker, which basically means being a substitute social worker.  While this position was very helpful in accommodating my graduate school schedule, it was definitely a position that forced me to rely on grace and Christ's strength each time I worked and has been my most challenging position as a professional so far.  I shed many a tear working there and allowing myself to remain in the uncomfortable feelings surrounding being there. In the wave of feelings surrounding my time there, I kept my heart alive through sharing with Christ where I was at. Last week after work, for the first time I realized that I had left work and enjoyed the fast-paced environment of the day. Miracle? Um, yes.

Last week I received a phone call from my undergraduate internship supervisor at the schools informing me of a possible part-time social work position opening up. I should make it clear that next to being an astronaut, being an elementary school social worker is my dream job. DREAM JOB. A week later I received an informal phone call from the principal setting up a time to meet with him the next day. The Friday before New Years  and before our planned trip to visit my parents in the cities, I was able to meet with him and less then twenty minutes in, the deal was sealed. Let me express the profoundness of this perfectly personalized gift from God:

1. Did I mention this is my dream job?
2. This temporary dream job was gifted to me in a time when literally I would not have applied anywhere else because I am nearly 7 months pregnant! It works out perfectly because the position is only needed to be filled, as of now, until April 1. NO KIDDING! 
3. Smoothest transition I have ever had in a job. So literally I spoke with the principal Thursday, had an informal, jean wearing interview Friday, and started the next wedding. 
4. I GET TO WORK WITH PRECIOUS CHILDREN!
5. I have my OWN office WITH a window! (The average social worker usually gets a closet office).
6. I feel energized after each day instead of feeling like I got run over by 3 buses. 
7. I have a consistent schedule that is flexible by the week and am able to spread out the hours over my open availability Monday-Wed
8. It is a part-time position (40% and 16 hrs per week) and perfectly accommodates my Graduate school schedule
9. I get to finally build relationships with staff, the kids I am serving, and families. This was tricky at the hospital because I was always on different floors and always had an entirely new caseload of patients each time I worked. Definitely something my heart has missed and thoroughly enjoys now
10. I can not believe how even in the challenging journey of being at Altru, the fruit it produced in me as a professional is making and has made my transition into this new role so much easier!

Today was day 5 there and I am still riding the high wave of this roller-coaster.  I really, really love it.

Christmas Season 2012.

As, we went down to my parents house in the Twin Cities for Thanksgiving, we chose to have Christmas with Rand's side.  We were invited to Rand's Dad's Cousin, Eddie's House in Devils Lake. We celebrated with around 25 people there and enjoyed a day of fun adventures and activity.

We arrived mid morning  after missing the quick turn to their house and making our way out of the ditch.  Good thing we had put "premium" gas into the Honda, otherwise we may not have made it up ;)We started the morning by enjoying brunch food and playing a fun game of Seafarers (Settlers of Catan Expansion). I think Rand has grown up around a lot of this food, but I got to enjoy some new things like Krumkake, boxed cheese from Washington, and pickled treats like Hering. I was proud of myself for exploring my horizons and pleasantly surprised by the new tastes.

 In the afternoon we went out into the frigid cold and XC skied. It was the first time for me since about 4th grade and I thoroughly enjoyed venturing out in Rand's company looking like that little kid from A Christmas Story with an added addition of Ski goggles.  I was really happy because I finally got to break a sweat, which is something I have been craving for a while! Sometime in the midst of all this, our party grew to include two little toy black poodles that belonged to one family that was there. It was like "trying out" the cute little pets that you see at the pet store and never get to play with. These two were 8 weeks old and about the size of a Gatorade bottle. The best was that they came from a family that included an 13 month old and a 3 year old who were delighted by chasing them around and picking them up.

We also enjoyed a traditional Lutheran Christmas Eve service where I made the mistake of drinking what I thought was "juice" at communion. Whoops! Ha it was a laugh, only after I realized that that wouldn't cause our baby to have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Before leaving for home we enjoyed a great meal at the largest table I had ever eaten at. It was similar in size to the tables you would see in pictures at Medevial Feast's and could set nearly everyone there! It was fun to enjoy the traditions of a highly Norweigan family, which included in this meal speaking a Norwegian prayer before supper, lefse, and Lutefisk (drenched in butter and salt of course).  It was a plesant day and it ended with Rand letting me open up the rest of my presents from him.  I started crying a bit when he told me that he had purchases a two-night stay at a bed in breakfast in Duluth with our dear friends the Onyshuks. I CAN'T WAIT!

Christmas day we spent just with the Seay family and we FEASTED. We had a delicious morning brunch, opened presents, and then had an amazing meal of prime rib, shrimp, and King Crab. YUM! I was so stuffed. Alys got me a really neat book and I spent the rest of the day dreaming about what type of person I would be in complete freedom.

Graduation

Well, it is official. Last Friday, Rand graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Art in Graphic Design and New Art Media. I am so proud of all the hard work he put in throughout his college years and for the creative and focused brain he has! I feel so proud of him!!!! Yay, Baby!

To celebrate the weekend, my parents came up from the Twin Cities, late Thursday night. On Friday, we enjoyed a refreshments at the new Alumni Center on campus, a trip to Red Pepper (My parent's first), a refreshingly brief graduation ceremony at the Chester Fritz, a feast at Red Lobster (Rand got the Ultimate Feast, YUM!) and a much anticipated viewing of the Hobbit to conclude the evening.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a UND basketball game before having all the Seays over to try a new stuffed-pasta shell recipe, enjoy bunch, and live in the freedom of dipping millions of different treats into both white and milk chocolate Almond Bark. We don't have any pictures to depict this enjoyable event, but I can tell you that dipping will never be the same again.  Who new that the boundaries for dipping extended to  mint oreos, animal crackers, potato chips, pretzel rods, and almonds? Yum.  The evening concluded with a family viewing of Elf. I realized that I had never viewed the movie the whole way through, possibly ever! Movies are typically pretty broken up or pieced together, as I have a tendency to fall asleep in them.

It was such a fun weekend of celebrating and felt like a party.  I love having a full apartment and can't wait to continue to fill it!

Month 6: Baby Seay

Little did I know until jumping into the literature of week 21 of pregnancy that this begins month 6 of pregnancy! Based on advice from my only other close friend who has delivered, I doubt the reality of a baby will set in until right before she is coming out of my body. But there are a few things I am excited about:

1. WE ARE HAVING A BABY GIRL, unless little baby Seay decided not to expose some of their  gear ;)
2. A little feminine soul to be entrusted with
3. A husband who is going to cuddle her, love her, and treasure her to death
4. That she likes to move around a lot and that I feel her kick about 4-5 times a day
5. To find a little sparkly, fluffy tutu
6. The flower clips and headbands I purchased
7. All the fun little outfits, including the recent additions from Grandma Laureen, Hailey, and Nora, including a pink and gray striped dress, little fur sweater, and some trendy onesies
8. To have freedom to be creative in my inspiration for her bedroom 

A few things that are not so fun:

1. My back has been really hurting when I am sleeping and wake up
2. I often feel as though my dinner is resting in the middle of my esophagus 

At our week 18 prenatal visit we had our first ultrasound. Three things you never really know about these visits outside of knowing you can find out if you are having a baby boy or a girl. First, you have to drink an uncomfortable 32 oz of water. And yes, you do feel like you are going to pee your pants. Secondly, while you are feeling as though you are going to pee your pants, the technician pushes on your bladder, making you feel as though you indefinitely will wet yourself. Thirdly, you really can't make out much of what you see on the screen and even if you can the angle you have of the screen while lying down is extremely limited.

With all that being said and my expectations of what this appointment was to look like starting to unfold, I discovered not being incredibly found of jaded male technician conducting the ultrasound. After sitting through the uncomfortableness of all that pressure on my belly, he did let me know that I could use the restroom, as my bladder was too large too make out much. Upon returning, he made it VERY clear that they are not able to know if you are having a boy or a girl because of blah blah blah. Being an individual who wears her emotions on her sleeve, I'm sure you can tell even in my writing that I was not too thrilled about this. I think I was expecting a more excited, warm individual to be the bearer of this news.

Rand did a good job of letting me release my steam ( Based on my ability to dramify things, I have a feeling that his recollection and version of this event may differ). And after discussion with our doctor he told us that  in ultrasound technician terms, that he is pretty certain we are having a little girl, relieving much of my frustration.

We have enjoyed narrowing down our list of names and have our backup set in case we are surprised.  It's still really crazy to think a little feminine heart that we made is growing inside me.

Baby Seay 

Week 21; Month 6

SO excited for these :)

Christmas Beginnings 2012

With the support of Rand's presence and strong arms to take down our organized Christmas bins, I was able to finish putting up the last of the Christmas decor in the Seay household. Most of our pieces hold fond memories from their use during my childhood, but their have been a few finds from Micheal's sales last year, clearance at Target and Garage Sales. If I had to pick an ultimate favorite, it would hands down be the sparkly red candle from last year.

I think the best part of all, though, is our tree. I grew up on the "packagable" tree while Rand has always had a real tree.  The past two years we have decided to bring in the fresh scent of pine to our apartment, along with all the messy pine needles and sap (No I do not like pine needles or sap). Last year, while trying to  remove our tree from the third story of our apartment I managed to get sap ALL over my arms, hands, and the floor.  I was near frantic as what initially was comical turned into tears and frustration as the sap refused to come off my body. Rand and I used butter I believe to get it off ourselves. To discard this fighter of a tree we decided to open our window and toss it out.  It actually worked too! I don't think we will have that same luck this year for getting rid of it and hopefully we found good solutions to the sap with a christmas tree bag and a plastic rim at the base.  I think next year we will shoot for a more elegant and tall looking tree, but this year we are getting to enjoy our "cone".

Our Cone Tree

My Sparkly Candle

Auntie Alys is going to be arriving back into Grand Forks this next Sunday from her 11 month trip on the world race.  We are both so excited to see her and hear of all her adventures!