Addendum to previous blog

Here is a picture of Will's salad :)

Explosion of sorts

Before I even start this blog, I want to point out a bit of advice that my Grandpa gave us when we got married, which was to "Never say negative things about your spouse in front of other people." I'm sure he said it much more eloquant than that, but you get my point.

Let me just say that I am not going to say negative things about my spouse. I love him more than anything in this world and it would tear me up inside to know I hurt him. BUT, our little kitchen fiasco last night was so notable I had to blog it, if for only the reason so that we can look back in years and laugh about it.

So Will, forgive me.

In our home, I usually make dinner most of the time. But every now and then, Will chimes in and offers to help out. In fact, he offers to help out quite a bit but most of the time I turn him down because I'm downright afraid of what he will cook.

For example, some of his staple favorites are:

Macaroni 'n Cheese with BBQ sauce, pineapple, poppyseed dressing, and chopped up hotdogs.

Scrambled Eggs with chicken, turkey, ketchup, and cajun seasoning.

"Surprise" Pizza

Well, you get my point. I do have to say though that he does make absolutely heavenly french toast. He's got that one down. But from the few examples above, you see that he is no plain-jane type of guy. He's got to jazz everything up.

Well, yesterday was a long day for me. I had doctor appointments in the morning, and then taught piano lessons all afternoon. I didn't get much of a chance to eat very much, but was just not really in the mood to cook, or rummage through cupboards trying to think of something to cook.

Will comes home from work and the first thing he says after hello is, "Would you like me to start on something for dinner?" This translates to: I can see that no dinner has been started, I'm starving and so let's eat.

I'm actually relieved that he wants to cook because I really don't want to. So I ask him "Well, what are you going to make?"

His reply: "Whatever you want me to."

And because I am pregnant and hormonal and have a very short stick lately when it comes to my tolerance level, I get annoyed that if he is the one cooking dinner, why do I have to be the one to come up with what to eat? If I wanted to come up with dinner, I would have just made it myself.

So I tell him "You can make whatever you want."

So he says, "Okay well I'm going to make a salad."

"A salad? And anything else?" I respond.

He says, "No, but if you would like something else you are more than welcome to fix it if you want."

I reply, annoyed, "Okay I've barely eaten anything today, I'm almost 8 months pregnant, I'm starving and you want to make a SALAD????"

And so then the conversation is back to him asking me "Well what would YOU like me to make then?"

I just end up telling him to make whatever he wants and if I don't want any, I'll make myself something.

A few minutes pass and I can hear him in the kitchen chopping up lettuce. I started feeling bad about my attitude, so I went in there to join him and sort of spy on what his salad creation was turning out to be like...

I find the kitchen to be a whirlwind of wonderous creation as I see this huge bowl of lettuce topped sliced lunch turkey meat, canned salmon meat, and chicken strips. Not just any chicken strips -but the ones that have been in our freezer since October and are mostly the "bad" pieces that I won't eat. I'm already thinking that this salad is not something I'm interested in.

He is standing there slicing up spreadable cheese. Uh huh. And I look over to the microwave and ask, "So....what are you doing in the microwave?"

"Boiling eggs", he says. I look and there is a bowl of water with 3 eggs in it.

Not even a few seconds later, there is this huge EXPLOSION, the microwave door flies open and egg is flying everywhere. There is egg on Will, all over the counter tops, on the kitchen floor and the inside of the microwave is covered in eggs and smoking. I scream, Will jumps, and then looks at me and says "You're not going into labor are you??". We both figure out what happened and then bust up laughing. He says "Don't worry, I'll clean it up."

Well, not wanting to get in his way, I decide to go and lay down on the couch. Over the next 45 minutes, I hear him going back and forth between the kitchen and the food storage, opening cans, hearing packages crinkle. Well, I know exactly what he is doing.

"Is that craisins you're putting on the salad?", I call out.

"Yes." he answers.

"Well, you do realize you don't have to put everything on the salad, and that craisins don't exactly go with the type of salad you are making." I say.

Will responds in the exact tone of voice as Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada when they say she doesn't know anything about fashion. Will says to me, "Well, I think that is a matter of opinion. Would you like to come get some salad now before I continue adding ingredients?"

"No." I say.

And then as I continue listening to his little chef adventure in the kitchen, my hormones are starting to explode at the seams because a) I'm starving and b) I'm getting annoyed that he's basically using any and every ingredient he can find to put in this salad, oh and c) that I can't get up and make myself anything to eat because there are exploded eggs everywhere in the kitchen.

So I start to cry. But I don't want him to see me crying. He finally gets done making his salad and brings himself a bowl over and sits next to me on the couch.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" "What are you thinking about?" He asks me. I know I'm acting stupidly, and I know he was just trying to be nice and so I conclude that all the reasons why I'm upset and crying are unjustified and I don't want to make him feel bad so I just tell him that "I'm fine."

Finally, Will goes to take a shower and by this time it is now 8pm. I haven't eaten since 3pm. I go to look at his salad and this is what I find:

Lettuce
Lunchmeat turkey
Canned Salmon
Grilled chicken strips (bad)
Canned corn
Olives
Orange Craisins
Hard-boiled eggs
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sliced up "laughing cow" spreadable cheese
Carrots
Paprika (among other spices)
Is that, salsa?

But I'm starving and I see eggs all over the kitchen and the microwave and conclude that its my only choice. So I start picking off the hardboiled eggs and eating them. Finally I give in and dish myself up a small bowl of his weird salad.

I eat it.

About 30 minutes later, my stomach is starting to cramp and I feel as though I am going to throw up. Will comes out of the bathroom and I tell him, "So....I had some of your salad. It was....interesting." He beams and says "Thanks!!"

Poor guy. He did spend until about 11pm last night cleaning up the exploded eggs and washing all of the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. And when he finally came to bed, I finally told him that his salad made me cry. LOL.

We both laughed, and eventually went to sleep.

I woke up this morning and the kitchen was immaculate. All of the dishes were put away, and then thinking the weird salad was gone...I get an email from Will at work saying "I'm so sad!! I left my salad at home!" I look in the fridge and there is still the gigantic bowl of weird salad sitting in the fridge. Guess what Will is having for dinner tonight?

I only wish I would have taken some pictures of it all. The eggs everywhere, Chef Will in the kitchen.

Ladies, I know some of you actually have gormet chefs for husbands (Kristi, Elizabeth), but all I have to say to the rest of us is, sometimes when your husband wants to cook for you, just pretend its like your little 5 year old offering to make you something and just be happy with the outcome no matter what. And then tell him "good job honey" and pat him on the head and he will be happy. And then you can blog about your true feelings.

And Will, thanks so much for making dinner last night. I love you. But I think I'll make it tonight..and the next night...and the next....

Taking the Plunge

Last night I had a good long phone conversation with an old friend (we've known each other since we were both 5 years old). After our long conversation, she told me to make sure to check out her blog that she just finished. You can check it out yourself if you want, her name is Noelle Jensen (on our friends blogs list below).

She said:

"Several of my girlfriends have recently taken the very icy, cold plunge and blogged about the things they DO like about themselves. I have throughly enjoyed reading them and it really made me stop and think about what I like about myself. So often I concentrate on all the things I don't like. I get hung up on my many imperfections and don't see myself in a very kind light. My whole life I have struggled with feeling like I was enough. Good enough, smart enough, thin enough, pretty enough. So after reading their blogs and loving it I decided, enough is enough! So instead of concentrating on the negative I thought about all the good things about me and I have decided I am Enough! So I hope you enjoy...and if you don't frankly, I don't want to know! :)"

And then she wrote a blog about all of the things she likes about herself. I have to agree with her, I like these things about her as well. But not sure if I would be brave enough to write such a blog about myself - considering that I'm going through a period where I feel anything but pretty, I'm overwieght (thanks to pregnancy) and most often don't think the best thoughts about myself.

She challenged anyone else to "take the plunge" and try writing good things about themselves. I wasn't going to do it. Because I honestly have been having a hard time coming up with things lately. I'm not normally this way I don't think, but I have a lot of hormones going through me right now. ;)

But then I realized it would be a good exercise for me to do and what a better time for me to try to find positive things about myself.

So I have no idea what I'm going to write yet, I'm just going along with this as I type. But I encourge any other gals out there to do the same and feel better about yourself. I'm hoping that Noelle is right and that by the end of this blog I will be glad I did it. If not, I'm not publishing it. :)

What I like about me:

Okay so first off, I have been sitting here staring at the computer screen for at least a minute. So I'll just begin with the obvious to me right now - the fact that I like that my body is able to create a baby. We weren't sure for a while if we would be blessed with the opportunity, and though it has been a very hard journey, I am grateful that I am able to do this. I like that my body just knows what to do and how to create another little human. I like that I'm creating a healthy one too. And though I haven't met him yet, I love him too.

20 week ultrasound of our son - due June 8th

I guess I also like that I'm not a very contentious person. I don't like fighting, yelling, or when people are mean to each other. I like that I am aware of how I treat people and try to make sure my relationships are in good standing. There have been times when I have been upset with people or they have been upset with me, and it is one of the hardest things for me to bear. I like to resolve contention as soon as possible and restore peace.

My family - sometimes both the hardest and easiest people to get along with.

I like that when I decide I want to do something - I do it. I don't let fear get in the way, or excuses but I find a way to make it happen. From learning to ride a bike when I was little, to learning how to give myself a French manicure, to producing my own album. I really believe that we can do anything we put our mind to.

A recent manicure - I learned how to do "flowers" - thanks to one of my 14 year old piano students.

Me in the studio recording violin tracks with my mom for my album

I like my hair. So I've been wanting to chop it all off lately, but I still like it. I like to style it, to make it look pretty, and I like the color.

I like that I laugh. I recently read that I will probably live an additional 5 - 7 years too because I'm a laugher. I like to make others laugh too. And Will says it is one of his favorite things that he likes about me too - so I'm not self-conscious about it.

I looooooooooooooooooooove Will, but this is supposed to be about me. I just had to put that in there though.

Ummm okay.....

Staring at the computer screen again....

...

...

Oh, I like that I can do music. Sometimes I feel like its all that I do, but I am grateful to be blessed with the talent. I also like that I can help provide additional income with it by teaching piano lessons.

Me at my last concert this past December - performing at Benarya Hall

I like my eyes/eyebrows. I know that sounds weird, and I used to hate my eyebrows when I was in highschool. But I like them now. So I don't know. I just like 'em.

This one is tough for me because my body is probably what I struggle with the most - pregnant or not. So I will just say that right now I am grateful for the miracle of creating a baby even though I have gained a ton of weight, have a few stretchmarks, a double chin and am a superwide load right now. I loved my flat stomach before I got pregnant, so I'm having a hard time dealing with the belly thing right now. But I like that I can exercise and take care of my body, that I was blessed with curves :), and that when I'm not pregnant I am fairly athletic.

Will and I up at the top of the Olympic Mountain Range - which we backpacked two summers ago

And I guess last of all (because I need to go before my piano student arrives in a few minutes), I like that I am computer savvy. I created my own website, know html, web design (limited though!), am pretty good at Photoshop and creating slideshows to music, not to mention most of my music software is pretty hard to use - and best of all - can document our fun memories by blogging! :)

Anniversary/Easter Weekend

We just returned last night from a nice relaxing weekend on the Washington peninsula.

So we didn't exactly do anything special for Easter, but we did celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary (it is on the 25th).

I'll be honest - I've had a rough month dealing with my church callings and dislocated ribs and just really needed a break from everything before my prego hormones made me irrational and chew a few people out (which is so unlike my personality too). Too bad I couldn't get a break from being pregnant for a weekend though!

So we started out the trip Saturday morning heading to the Edmonds ferry terminal, and followed a big old car with the license plate "Willie T", which is what Will's nickname was in high school.

As we passed the car, I noticed the driver and started laughing. "Um, there's a clown driving that car!" Will looked over and said I had to hurry and take a picture. I totally felt like the papperazzi to this poor old person. But nevertheless, I did snap a shot of him.

(You should be able to click on the pic to see full size version).

We finally caught our ferry and made our way over to the Eden by the Sea Bed & Breakfast. The WA peninsula is always one of our favorite getaways. We went there last year for our anniversary as well, but had a little bit better luck with the weather last year.

The rest are some fun pics from our time together.

This is the beach below our B&B. There was no beach access, so Will got a little adventurous while I was napping and climbed down the side of a cliff. He had fun exploring a pretty much undiscovered-by-humans beach.

Will's photography skills at work. "Look how I got the water to blur!" He said to me like an excited little boy. I love him.

Okay, so we came across this really weird neighborhood where there were obviously some troll-obsessed people. This troll was carved out of a large tree (he also had fence posts that were all trolls).

This troll was guarding the entrance to his driveway. Weird, and scary.

And this was one of the homes - a midevil castle.

Just another deer hanging out in someone's yard. There are so many deer over there.

Will and I on the beach.





More of Will's photography skills. He actually took these from the deck of the ferry on our way back to Seattle. I was impressed he was able to get the pictures horizontal because we had some killer waves hitting us with the windy weather.

See Ya!

We're taking off for the weekend!

Thanks to all the wonderful suggestions of anniversary ideas, we finally decided to book a bed & breakfast out on the WA peninsula called "Eden by the Sea". (Michelle, we actually tried to book that place up on Chuckanut Drive but it was full - it looked great though). We are really excited - it is right on a bluff next to the ocean with great views and great food.

Tonight we're celebrating by going to the temple, and then tomorrow morning we're getting up early and catching a ferry over to the peninsula. We're going to enjoy the sights all day long and then check into our B&B later that afternoon. Okay can you tell I'm just a little excited for this getaway? It is GREATLY needed.

Will - l love you - Happy 3rd Anniversary. I'm so glad I've got you for eternity! Honeybucket!

Anyway, see ya!

7 Month Belly Pic

Here it is - the 7 month prego pic.

And then also a collage to see a fun progression of my ever-growing belly (see below). We went and had another ultrasound today to determine how big Preston is and if he is measuring ahead. He is in the 61% percentile and measuring right about where he should be - but with a big head. LOL. Apparently, that is thanks to me.

At my last doctor visit 2 weeks ago, he was measuring 2 weeks ahead - hence the extra ultrasound. But the verdict is that I am measuring big because I have a lot of amnio fluid (more than average). So the little guy has a lot to swim in. So this means I am still on schedule for June 8th. Sigh. I was really hoping for the end of May.


His rear-end is mostly on my upper left side, his feet kicking my right side, and his head and hands pointed down and doing acrobats on my bladder.

Anyway, we don't like to bore everyone with my pregnancy, so for more updates on our baby and the pregnancy - you can visit my pregnancy blog.

We've posted the ultrasound there (we didn't delete it this time), where you will be able to see the little guy wiggle, kick me, hiccup, and even yawn.


It was cute.

Can I get your Autograph?

Jenni probably wouldn't mention this and it is mention worthy, hence, I Will am blogging.

Jenni always gets random requests for Autographs which is always fun and inspiring for her, but I have to tell you about her latest request.

At church today Jenni was in charge of the special musical number during sacrament meeting, she made her own arrangement based off of another composers arrangement of "Come thou fount of every blessing". After Sacrament meeting this little primary age girl came up to Jenni with the sacrament program and asked if Jenni would autograph her program. It was really cute.

Later in Primary (Jenni is one of the primary pianists), this same girl came and asked if she could get a hug from Jenni.

One of the neatest parts of Jenni's music is not the actual talent (which is amazing on its own), but watching how it can influence others. I had never heard our Sacrament meeting as quiet as it was today when Jenni was playing. The kids quit crying, everyone stopped what they were doing and just listened as the Spirit poured over the congregation. I am so glad Jenni uses her talents to uplift and edify, because of that I'm sure Heavenly Father will continue to bless her with more talent.

I have a great example right here in my midst. Thank you Jenni. I Love You!

Quote of the Week - Thanks to Will

So I have to embarrass Will for a second here. I have discovered something about him that I find hilariously funny. Maybe I am mean, but I have the most interesting conversations with him right when he has just drifted off to sleep. I find out things that I probably would never when he is awake.

For example, last week we were lying in bed talking and I was going on and on and on....and then realized he wasn't responding. I turned to him and said "Will! Did you hear anything I just said?" He jumped a little and instantly frantically responded "Are my pants up?" LOL

But my favorite so far was yesterday. We were watching a movie where someone kept mentioning how "neurotic" someone was. I couldn't remember what the word neurotic meant. I turned to Will (whom was just drifting off) and I said "What does neurotic mean?". This was then the conversation that followed:

Will: "Huh? Oh, I'm not sure but I know there are some drugs called neurotics."

Jenni sits there trying not to burst out laughing.

Jenni: "Ooooh. Thank you. You mean NARCOTICS?"

Will all of a sudden realizes the mistake he made, and fully wakes up and busts out laughing. For the rest of the night I teased him and kept asking him if he would like some neurotics.

Weekend Picnic

Saturday we got to get out of the house (yes!) and went on a picnic with our friends Chris & Jen and their daughter Katy. It started out cold but ended up nice and sunny by the end. We BBQ'd hamburgers and had brownies, chips and lemonade.

The guys took our kayaks out and had a good time.

"Uh, so, ....how do you work these things?"

The two prego chics (the one on the left obviously being a lot fatter, er uh I mean PREGNANT than the other) enjoyed sitting on the shore and watching their husbands paddle away. Katy enjoyed eating rocks.

Yes, it was a tad bit cold.

Will showing Chris how NOT to get in the boat.

Thanks Chris, Jen, and Katy for a fun outing!

My Very Own MySpace Layout!

I don't know how many of you have a MySpace page, but I do for the purpose of promoting my music (MySpace Music is huge and that is where I get the most hits and sales).



So anyway, for those of you who are MySpace savvy, you know you can pick layouts for your page and spruce them up. I usually use a design website called TopBun.com. I am a minimalist when it comes to web design and layouts, so I really appreciate their simple and clean artwork.

Anyway I'll get to the point. Last week I was approached by someone from TopBun who, after giving me a load of compliments about my music and stuff, asked if they could design a layout specifically for me. I was totally flattered, and nervously accepted. After many emails, and photo/idea exchanges, they came up with a really cool layout that even matches the color scheme I picked for my website (grey/pink).

Sooooo anyway. I'm totally excited. The layout is available to anyone else too who wants to promote my music. So here it is if you want to check it out!

My MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/jenniferthomasmusic)

The Topbun website (you can see my layout on the homepage) (http://www.topbun.com/)

Ideas Welcome

For all you creative geniuses out there, we could really use your brain right now.

What do you do for an upcoming wedding anniversary involving the following stipulations?:

- It's got to cost under $200

- The wife will be 7 months pregnant and uncomfortable

- The husband has no available vacation time from work (he's saving it for when the baby comes) - so any "overnight" ideas would need to be on a weekend.

All reasonable suggestions will be considered.

Double Digits

We just had to point out that our little baby widget is finally under 100 days now. As of today, 98 more days until my due date (June 8). (about 3 months give or take).

For more updates on how my pregnancy is going, you can check out my pregnancy blog.

Happy Sunday!