An unexpected yet, expected surprise!

Baby Barinaga

Due May 2012

As everyone knows, we have been trying for the last year or so to get pregnant. Honestly I was starting to think that I was broken in some way and that I was failing my husband. In reality, it was all about God's plan, not ours and certainly not about other's expectations. Word to the wise and this is a general statement that is not directed to anyone in particular--don't ever pressure a couple about babies and why they don't have any yet, yada yada...that makes for some serious pressure that really isn't your call to make or demand.

On to the beginnings of this new adventure...

I had been feeling a little off for at least two weeks before I finally put two and two together. Obvious symptoms such as random nasea (no sickness, just felt naseous a lot-Thanks, mom...lol), no weird cravings necessarily, but the cravings were just at odd times along with cramping and other obvious female signs. I knew that I was pregnant before I did the home pregnancy test, which was on September 13th. Totally undeniable. And boy you couldn't get a more positive result...twice. I sat there in the bathroom staring at this blatently positive test and just couldn't wrap my mind around it without calling in Vince to check it, as well. Let's just say that big grin hasn't really disappeared from his face :-)

Headed to work later that morning and immediately contacted a highly recommended obstetrician and was able to get in the very next day to do the first exam, ultra sound, blood tests, etc, etc (Sept. 14th). Which by the way, all those tests are in the clear! It was so amazing to see a live image of this little life with such a strong heart beat, growing inside of me. Probably the most amazing moments in my life. As a little girl I always imagined being a mommy, but having it actually happen to you? Wow.

Afterwards (the time didn't even seem to pass during that appointment. In fact, it could've gone on a lot longer and I wouldn't have noticed), I ran to work while Vince drove out to his parent's place to show them the ultra sound photo. We will be having the first "Barinaga" grandchild to be born since Vince was born, 29 years ago. Needless to say, Mary and Joe are super excited.

It was so hard to hold back this exciting news from folks, especially my parents! We already had plans to visit them that Sunday to have a family day and hang with my brother and his fiancee so we just kept our mouths shut! 

Meanwhile, I was struggling with finding a creative way to share the news with them when I found some really cute t-shirts on a great website (http://www.cafepress.com/) that I just couldn't pass up. I had them overnighted to get here in time for Sunday's events and man was that a great investment!

 I passed the shirts off as a belated birthday gift for my dad since we didn't really get to celebrate with him. After we finished a fantastic meal and made sure mom and dad were sitting next to each other, we all settled in the living room to watch dad pull the shirts out of the gift bag. They both opened the shirts to read them and we all got to see their mouths just drop in surprise. Hehehehe!

Camping adventure Part 2

We arrived in Cascade and at our camping spot in the early afternoon hours on a beautiful, warm day by the lake. Vince is my tent expert and I am his side kick!

We forgot to get a malet for the tent stakes (of course, lol). Vince used his genius-ness and grabbed a nearby rock :-)

Final setup, nice and cozy :-)

After everything was all arranged and up, we decided to walk around the campground loop and scope everything out. Check out any nearby neighbors, see the area, etc.

A nice outlet to get on to the small beach area

Can you see the little white butterfly!? They would just swamp all of the trees, fluttering by.

I caught a bee on one of the flowers!

There was a cute little path that ran through part of the campground and we enjoyed walking by the lake. We settled back at our home base and set in for a relaxing first evening.

Our spot was just up on a small hill overlooking the loop and lake

Mmmmmm!

Vince playing the game called "Ten" with me!

Yep, I caved and had to buy a comfy sweater with the right logo :-)

After enjoying a wonderful evening just sitting around our campground snacking, talking, having Vince teach me some new card games and eating smores, we slowly woke up and I made scrambled eggs and fried spam for breakfast. Yum!

Organic eggs courtesy of Idahorse Farms!

Sporks and a spam & eggs feast!

A little while later we decided to do some more exploring and a little hiking. We drove down the road a bit to see if a neighboring campground was one that Vince had stayed at before with his cousins. Which, it turns out that it was the one so next time we will try that spot!

On the way there, we saw a golden eagle just chillin on a rock near the road!

Later on, we relaxed and I tried to stay warm! (Being in 50/60 degree weather after being acclimated to much warmer weather, I caught cold pretty easily). It was very chilly for the rest of the evening and into bed time. And when we finally climbed into our little tent and snuggled under the covers of our warm sleeping bags, we heard the nearby campers telling their children/grand-children some familiar bed time stories. I almost laughed out loud and wanted to hollar across the camp ground that the stories were awesome but I held myself back, enjoyed the stories and eventually fell asleep. I guess bed time stories still work no matter now old you get, lol.

Beautiful sunset by the lake casting some amazing light on everything

Vince threw pine needles on the fire to keep it going. My pyro side certainly enjoyed the large bursts of flame!

The next morning I made my way down to the shower/restroom facilities and it must have been super, super early cuz it was so beautiful out. The sun had just barely risen to the other side of the lake and there were big, rolling clouds of mist that covered it. Of course, I didn't bring the camera with me so I missed the most glorious moments :-( But Vince was my hero, who surprised me by actually running down and taking these photos of what was left of the mist on the lake while I showered and warmed up!

He caught the moon, too!

Camping adventure galore!

A nice view of gorgeous Cascade Lake

We are soon to depart on a "just us" little camping trip adventure and I'm about ready to jump out of my skin in excitement! I found just a few photos of the Ridgeview Campground in Lake Cascade State Park to tease myself with for now, enjoy below :

Entrance to the campground

Nice little fire pit, picnic table and grassy spot for a tent

Another view of the individual camp sites (here and below)

Shower and Restroom facilities (No way in hell I will ever do what they call "primitive" camping)

I will post more photos when we are home ;-) Leaving Sunday, August 14th and then we'll back on Tuesday, August 16th!

By the way, if you ever need to make a reservation for a campground, just visit Reserve America's website! Super convenient and easy.

Summer Days

Summer fun days, galore! Finally got in most of the the major things I wanted to do before summer is gone again. Next stop, camping! One more week to go!

Roaring Springs Water Park

Floating the Boise River

This is the BEST sunscreen, EVER! Spray on, no-rubbing in necessary, super sweat & water proof (this stuff STICKS to your skin, you can feel it as soon as you spray it on) and lasts for quite a while, 100% UV protection.

Used this for floating the river and came out unscathed from the sun at least, but man I forgot how scary some parts of the river can be on a tube, lol.

I almost lost my sun hat a couple of times while frantically arm-paddling to get out some very crowded tree banks, but it was still quite the thrill to float after my last adventure, which was about eleven years ago. Not sure if I would do it on a simple tube, next time. Probably will end up getting more of a "raft" type device with paddles, hehehe.

Keep on keepin on

 Still house hunting with no especially exciting places coming up quite yet. Hopeful hunting, for sure, though :-) Figured I better come out with a new post, it's been a while!

We recently celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 12th with a nice gathering at P.F. Changs China Bistro.






The weekend prior to that, we stayed at the Anniversary Inn in the "fire and ice" themed room...have to say the room itself was pretty lame and a bit cheesy. Every year we pick a different themed room though, so it's fun :-) Check out the photos below:

MFD

What a great Sunday we had :) A little laundry, a little food and great company for our Monthly Family Dinner. We celebrated my mom's birthday early, laughed and cried a little. It was so good that dad eventually fell asleep on the living room floor, on his face. LOL.

Offer on the table...

(bonus room above garage) 

Welcome to 1202 N Forty Niner Ave Kuna, ID 83634...yes, I know, if our offer is accepted we will be living on "forty niner avenue." L O L Too bad the street name couldn't be something less corny but oh well. Anyway, as soon as I saw this house come on the market (only 5 days ago) I knew this was it without having to see the property. I scrambled to get a viewing as soon as possible so we wouldn't lose the opportunity to at least bid on it.

Built in 2002, it has 3 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms and a bonus room above the garage for a total of 1526 sq ft. Beautiful hardwood laminate flooring in the living room and kitchen areas with carpeted bedrooms. The master bedroom has a spacious bathroom with a walk-in closet (yes, the walk-in closet is in the bathroom) and a roomy, rounded tub (we could finally take baths, wohoo!!). Asking price is $78,900.

So, this morning we stepped foot into a beautiful house, looked at everything and decided to put an offer on the table right then and there. Paperwork submitted, next step...wait to see what happens! We should hear a yes or a no within a couple of weeks (hopefully sooner but if not, well, that just gives us more time to keep saving up for some minor closing costs, etc.). I will keep everyone posted!