A place for wandering thoughts to gather...: September 2011

It has been several weeks since I got the chance to sit down and blog. Life is moving forward a bit too quickly at times and we are simultaneously settling into life in Cleveland and not settling in because each day holds a different schedule for us!! A good indicator of exactly how busy we have been is the odometer on our newly purchased Sorento – just crossed the 3,000 mile barrier in a little over one month! It seems we are always driving somewhere lately whether it is back to Iowa, Chicago, or to Niagara Falls!

Rob is liking his residency program and we have settled into some great friendships already here. We have really enjoyed getting to know our new “southern” friends Jenay and Chris. They are LSU fans who love grits, crawfish, red beans and rice! We have gotten the chance to hang out playing board games, mini-golf, and just chatting late into the night. They are also expecting a little girl in January. It has been so nice to have Jenay to chat with over coffee talking babies and OB care. I can’t wait until we both have our little girls and can have girls days out! Rob and I are incredibly sad they will be in Westlake at the St. John’s residency program just one year but glad for the new friendship!

I have also really enjoyed my time with another resident wife, Joslyn. She is so sweet, energetic, and crafty! Without my sister, mom, or friends here in Ohio Joslyn has jumped right in and made planning for Bella so exciting and fun. Joslyn is the queen of crafting and has helped me get the nursery ready. I will post some photos soon of the decorated nursery (when the crib comes in) and point out the adorable stuff she has helped me make. It has been such a blessing to have a friend here to hang out with while our husbands are hard at work. We have explored Cleveland together and found some interesting antique stores – some we love and some that creeped us out!

In mid-August I got to head back to Iowa and Chicago for two baby showers. My oldest brother, Seth, was home from Afghanistan for the Iowa shower and my sister, Jolie and her husband Mark were also able to make is up. It was nice to plan the shower around a family “reunion” of sorts although I will blog about the showers separately on Annabelle’s page! Both showers were absolutely adorable and it was so nice to see family and friends before the baby gets here.

When I got back from Iowa/Chicago Robbie decided (on a whim) that we should have a one year anniversary trip. He surprised me on Friday by asking if I would like to go to Niagara Falls the next morning. I am always in for an adventure so of course I was ready to go! The crazy part of the whole idea was Rob had to work the overnight shift that night so I packed our things up while he was working, he came home and crashed for 3 hours of so and we were off on our “international” anniversary trip. Granted, it’s not the type of international anniversary trip we had originally said we would take when we thought we would be child-free and it was 6 weeks early because of the baby but it was so much fun! We decided to spend the night on the Canada side and as soon as we crossed the border Rob switched to “kilometer” mode and drove ridiculously slow to avoid getting pulled over by the mounties. We got to our super-cheap hotel, checked in and took off for the falls as soon as we could. We walked next to the falls for a bit, grabbed dinner, and then came back after dark to check out the falls all lit up in different colors. It was gorgeous! The next morning we took the Rainbow Bridge over to the American side of the falls. After breakfast at a café we decided to go on the Maid of the Mist boat tour of the falls. Despite getting soaked in the rain on our way down to the boat and the fact that in the back of my mind I thought a boat ride could be a little bit lame, we hopped on the boat and headed out to the falls. It was absolutely incredible!! The boat ride took us right next to the bottom of the falls and we couldn’t stop laughing from our goofy blue ponchos, getting pounded in the face with water and my mascara running all over the place! When we got off the boat we spent some time walking around Goat Island and looking at Horseshoe Falls from the top. The amount of water going over the falls was mind-blowing and I rolled my eyes as Rob excitedly told me facts about the falls like the fact that 750,000 gallons of water go over the falls each second. He then spent time calculating out how many gallons that would be per day and how many gallons that would provide for each American, etc. etc. I had to laugh to myself to think that our kids are going to think at some points in their lives that he is the smartest person they have ever met and at other points in their lives that he is the cheesiest person on the planet. Regardless, I love him tons and am excited that at the end of our first year we are about to have our first little girl. I honestly can’t imagine a better first year. When it started to rain again Rob turned to me excitedly and said, “I’ll bet there are a million gallons of water going over the falls each second now!!”. Oh, I love my husband!!

The week after our trip to Niagra Falls I worked a short temporary office job which my landlord’s wife had referred me for. It was so nice to make a little bit of money and get out of the house for a bit but it definitely re-affirmed our decision for me to stay home. It was hard to keep up on everything with Rob working crazy hours and my working each day. Our time off didn’t line up so well and a lot of household chores fell to the wayside! I am so grateful that we will be able to have me stay home once Bella gets here – it will definitely help us maintain a more harmonious home. :)

We are getting excited for some friends to come visit with our good Chicago friends Jeff, Little, Hunter, Kara, Gil, Libby and Brian coming up next weekend. The week following, my brother and his girlfriend Ashley will be coming out from the D.C. area. Time is definitely going to fly between now and October 18th…I just hope we slow down the miles on the Sorento!!